Framed

Chapter 2 #2

“Ah,” Cole said. He plucked the glasses off Will’s face a moment later and stuck them into his own pocket.

Fuck.

“A word to the wise,” Cole continued as he moved Will out of the small gallery and back into the bigger room.

“Thick-rimmed glasses like that are very last season. They make you stand out as a second-tier hick even more than the rest of you does. I understand that you need a fairy godfather to walk you through your jobs, but you give all of us a bad name by being sloppy.”

Son of a goddamn bitch. And I know she is, she’s right over there.

“I was told you liked it sloppy,” Will replied, then found himself abruptly pushed back against the wall between two priceless paintings.

There was anger in Cole’s face now, and it thrilled Will in a way that he knew was dangerous.

Pushing Cole Dalton was like poking a bear; stupid at the best of times, suicidal at the worst, but there was something irresistible about aggravating him.

“If you know what’s good for you,” Cole murmured, leaning into his space and staring him down, “you’ll stay here for the next sixty seconds and not make a fucking sound.

Otherwise, it’s your funeral.” His cologne filled the air between them, cedarwood and Calabrian bergamot blending into something cool and subtle that made Will want to lick Cole’s neck to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.

Will stared at a thin gray hair on the man’s shirt, resisting the urge to reach up and pluck it off, maybe run his hand beneath the collar of his jacket at the same time.

Then Cole was gone, vanishing back into the crowd like a gorgeous ghost—and taking Will’s glasses with him.

Shit, shit, shit…

Follow him, get them back! You need Reed to finish the job!

But something in Will balked at the idea of moving. Fuck being told what to do, but Cole had piqued his curiosity. Sixty seconds… more like fifty now. He could give the man that.

Now that he was stationary, Will noticed a lot of other people seemed to be on the move.

There were still the knots of conversation going on, Alders himself holding court in the center of the room now that Cole and his mother were leaving…

and his mother, why his mother? Why leave now?

And Alders seemed uncomfortable, his eyes darting this way and that as the people with the worst clothes in the room converged on the smaller gallery, and—

The sprinklers suddenly went off overhead. Foul, stagnant water sputtered out of them, drenching the beautiful people and causing an outcry. At the same time, there was shouting in the small gallery.

Will pried his back off the wall and got close enough to glance inside, where Jansen Mortimer had the Puffin in one hand and was using the other football-style to block the undercover cops as he darted for the back door. It looked like he had help—oh, that was Eli, what the hell?

Jansen’s break failed. He was tackled by a redhead in a Lycra dress two feet from the exit. The Puffin flew out of his hands, bounced off the wall, hit the marble floor… and smashed into a thousand pieces.

Oh damn.

What felt like hours later, his ruined tuxedo stashed in a dumpster and the smell of mildew still clinging to him a bit despite the fresh jeans and T-shirt he’d changed into, Will came to a stop outside of Cole Dalton’s apartment building.

It had been a bit of a bear to find it, but only because Will had to play telephone to get back in touch with Reed after Cole so rudely stole his glasses.

Baby Boy kept up with Reed, though, and was able to give Will a good number for him.

Davey

Please don’t do anything stupid.

Will smiled down at his phone. Davey was such a good kid.

I won’t, just need to visit an old friend and get some answers.

Reed says he isn’t a friend.

Frenemy, then.

He says this guy would happily piss on your grave.

Oh, definitely.

Probably, but I’m not dead yet, Baby Boy. Besides, this guy came through for me tonight. I want to know why.

More than that, though, Will wanted to know what had happened to the real Iberian Puffin, and he had the feeling that Cole was the man in the know.

He had skills Will had never bothered to pick up and access that only a shit-ton of money could buy.

Will was comfortable but he was never going to have that much money.

He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did.

I repeat—don’t do anything stupid.

There was a pause, and then a picture came through.

Ellie says goodnight.

It was a close-up of Will’s three-year-old towheaded niece, clad in Moana pajamas and resting on her daddy’s shoulder with her eyes almost shut. She had her stuffy Pangy clutched against her chest, and Will’s heart clenched for a second.

Goodnight, Ellie. Goodnight, Baby Boy.

Will stared at the picture for a second longer, then deleted the entire thread. No backups to the cloud, either; this phone was a dead end for anyone who might take it off him. There were no loose ends allowed when it came to Davey and his girls.

He took a deep breath, then stared up at the building.

It was a nice place; probably had someone manning the front desk and everything.

Locked elevator, long stairwells, and knowing Cole, he was high enough up that Will didn’t want to free climb unless he had to.

Not to mention, he didn’t even know the man’s apartment number, just his address.

So… that left a few options. He could partake in some targeted vandalism of his car and let the alarm system summon the man in question, but that would put Cole in a bad mood and Will was trying to avoid that right now.

He could try sweet-talking the security guard into letting him up, but that was an iffy maneuver and might end with a call to Cole, which was also a non-starter.

A pizza delivery car pulled up in front of the building, and Will smiled. Sometimes the best ideas were the classics. He darted over to the driver as she got out of the front seat.

“Hey!” he called out, a big smile on his face. “You’re here!”

“Um… yeah?” The driver was a young woman wearing a basketball jersey and a trucker hat.

Interesting combo.

Will got his head back in the game. “My boyfriend asked me to pick up the food if I saw you on the way in.”

Her eyes went wide. “You’re Mr. Dalton’s boyfriend?”

Oh, wow. He’d hit a bigger jackpot with this than he knew. But Will got it; who wouldn’t need some comfort food after the night they’d had?

“Sure am,” he said, letting a bit of his drawl back in.

“I didn’t know he had a boyfriend.”

Why did she expect to? Was Cole in the habit of confiding in his pizza delivery people?

“I’m just back from deployment,” he said, mentally apologizing for stealing his brother’s backstory. “Cole doesn’t like to dwell on me not being around under the circumstances.”

“Oh, yeah. I get that.”

“I’m happy to take the pie up for you, though.” He winked. “Save you a trip.”

The charm offensive didn’t work as well as he’d hoped it would. “Mr. Dalton always tips in cash,” the woman said.

Ah, that was it. “How much?”

“Fifty bucks.”

Fifty bucks’ tip for a single pizza… of course he did.

“He’s a generous guy.” Will reached for his wallet.

“But since you’re doin’ me a favor by lettin’ me take it off your hands tonight, I’ll do you one too.

” He handed her a hundred, glad yet again that he made it a habit to carry cash on him at all times.

She took the bill a bit gingerly. “It’s wet.”

“Yeah, I got into a fight with a fire hydrant earlier tonight and lost.”

Finally she laughed. “Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy your pizza. Say hi to Mr. Dalton for me, please.”

“Will do…” He glanced at her name tag. “Cassie. Will do. Much obliged.” He tipped his imaginary hat to her, and she laughed again before getting in her car and driving away.

Will watched her go, then straightened his shoulders and headed for the front door.

Time to talk his way through the next obstacle.

He didn’t even need to say anything to the man at the front desk, though. The guy saw the box and said, “Oh good, he looked hungry,” then unlocked the elevator for him.

“Thanks,” Will said. He got into the elevator and stared at the numbers for a moment, then grinned as it began moving without him even needing to touch anything.

Of course Cole Dalton had an automated life.

He was a man who wanted control over his surroundings; a creature who thrived on routines.

Will had gotten lucky enough to sneak in to that routine at just the right time tonight.

Sweet ol’ serendipity, luck taking the reins…

whatever it was, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The elevator doors opened on the thirtieth floor—the penthouse apartments.

Will was a little surprised to find out there were four of them up here; he’d expected two at most. Not as bougie as a man like Dalton could go, but maybe he was trying to distance himself a bit from his parents’ lifestyle.

Now, to figure out which apartment was his.

The receipt on top of the pizza box was no help.

He could knock on them all, but that was risky and Will was tired and now his stomach was grumbling, too.

Fucking hors d’oeuvres and goddamn crudité; that shit never filled you up.

No, it was fine, he could figure this out.

Will thought about what he knew of Cole.

Fancy as fuck, refined but a night owl, so it was a safe bet he liked to sleep late in the morning.

He could have the mother of all light-blocking curtains, but he was the sort to think about these things, so not the east-facing side if he’d had a choice.

That left two apartments, and only the ones on the north side appeared to have balconies.

Was Cole the sort of man who’d appreciate a balcony?

Unbidden, the thin hair Will had honed in on when they’d gotten close came to mind.

Cole might not appreciate a balcony for his own sake, but if he had the furry companion Will suspected he did, then a balcony was pure enrichment.

With a smile, he moved to the northside apartment and knocked firmly on the door.

He knew he was on camera, where was it, where…

right up there. He grinned at the little nook and spun the pizza around on his hand. “Deliveryyy,” he sang.

The door opened, and Will found himself looking down the barrel of a matte black handgun. On the other end of it was the irate personage of Cole Dalton himself, dressed way down in sweats and a Harvard T-shirt and no less intimidating because of that.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Cole demanded through gritted teeth.

Will frowned. “Is that any way to greet the person who’s bringing you food? I was told you were nice to delivery people.” A long-haired gray cat peered around the edge of Cole’s legs. Ha, bingo. “Aw, pretty kitty. Does she like the view from your balcony?”

There went the vein in Cole’s forehead. Will felt mildly accomplished. “Where’s Cassie?”

“Probably off enjoying the hundred bucks I gave her to let me bring this in for you.” He hefted the pizza. “I promise I didn’t spit on it. I just want to talk to you about what happened tonight.”

“I saved your ass. You’re welcome. Now—”

“The real Puffin is missing,” Will said quickly. “The fake broke at the scene, Alders is pissed beyond all belief, and Jansen and Eli got nicked. You knew the cops were going to be there. Did you know the Puffin was a fake too?”

The gun slowly lowered. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t know the cops were going to be there beforehand either—I just saw them and made the connection.”

Smart cookie. “Someone played a hell of a lot of us,” Will said. “And made off with the real statue, too.”

Cole’s posture stiffened, and he couldn’t hide that Will had his attention now. “The real—are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Bullshit.”

“Nope. I was trying to make my escape, and I heard Alders losing his goddamned mind over it.” Will shifted his weight. “I’d like to know who knew the one in the party was a fake and got their hands on the real one.” He gestured at Cole. “And two heads are better than one.”

“Not when one of them’s yours.”

“Aw, honeybee.” He put a hand over his heart.

“I swear I’m not here to cause trouble for you.

I just want to find out who was willing to watch me burn in order to get the grand prize.

” It wasn’t surprising to be set up by someone—no honor among thieves and all that—but Will needed to know who it was.

He needed to know the kind of guardrails that had to go up now, and more than anything he needed to make sure none of this blew back on his family.

“Please,” he added, batting his eyelashes in what his sister-in-law had assured him was very adorkable.

“Fuck.” Cole sighed. “Fine. But you’re not getting any of my pizza.”