I bit my lip, trying to wonder why my belly pulsed with heat as he pulled together the two halves of his jacket, and as he buttoned them, looking nothing more dangerous than the usual sociopaths that were CEOs on various boards around the city, I almost swallowed my tongue.
"I expect you to give me everything you’ve discovered without argument. I’ll be by your place around eight this evening. I don’t want to be kept waiting."
For a second, I knew he’d done the impossible.
He’d made me speechless.
As I sat there, sputtering, he strode away without another word. Without even a backward’s glance.
His arrogance knew no bounds, but I guessed it was forged in fire.
He knew I’d comply. Knew I had no alternative if I didn’t want my next address to be in the city morgue. Still... he’d given me until this evening, hadn’t he?
I was pretty sure I was close to cracking exactly who was behind Paddy O’Donnelly’s death, and like any journalist worth their salt—a deadline wasn’t something to fear, but something to embrace.
Switching on my phone, I glanced at the clock and then whispered to myself, "Eleven hours. Plenty of time."
To solve a murderless murder.