He’d been real with her too. Damn. That wasn’t something that was easy to undo. It wasn’t something he was certain he wanted to undo, in spite of all the rules of the profession. Double damn.
“Joe, how does he think he can get us to go along with this plan and why is it so important to him? He’s changed his tune drastically since we talked the first time.”
He let her true words take him, let the concern in her deep intelligent brown eyes convince him to tell her about what Sal was up to, according to Harvey. But he left out the part where Harvey had threatened Joe. Nothing could be gained by spilling that.
Mae studied him for a breathless second and when he thought she was going to say something, to tell him of course she wouldn’t do such a recklessly crazy thing as make herself a target for Sal to come after, the door banged open and Detective Harvey walked back into the room.
* * *
She should have beenoutraged but, in truth, Mae wasn’t surprised at all. She would have scripted the plot this way if she were her in Harvey’s shoes. But what overwhelmed her, what she focused on most of all, was that Joe didn’t want her to play bait, that he wanted to protect her from danger. That he cared. And she knew deep down in her soul that it was more than a professional caring.
Detective Harvey took a seat opposite her while Joe glared at him. Mae leaned in closer to Joe and put a hand on his thigh. It seemed the most natural thing to do to reassure him, to make him understand that she was okay. Because she knew he wasn’t going to like what she was going to tell the detective.
“Here’s your key back. The original. We didn’t need it for fingerprints. The surface is too uneven.” The detective sat back in his seat and looked around the room. Mae realized there were no windows, no two-way mirrors. Nothing but blank walls and lighting. She looked up and wondered if there were cameras in the lighting fixtures.
“Get on with it, Harvey,” Joe said. She heard the temper in his voice. His defense on her behalf warmed her, but kept her smile to herself.
“Ms. Monday, we want to catch this guy more than you do. He’s suspected of more than a B&E at your house—”
“That was a hell of a lot more than a B&E, detective. He shot my place up—while I was there. That has to count for something.”
Harvey put up his hands in surrender. “Fair enough. He’s a dangerous man and he’s out to get you because you have something he wants. I have a plan to catch him. If we can get him in the act of doing something illegal, we can arrest him and build a case for a few other even worse crimes—as hard as that may be to believe.”
“What crimes are those, detective?” She didn’t like being patronized one bit, but she was used to it. She was also used to using it to her advantage when people underestimated her.
“Very nasty stuff. I can’t really get into those details. Ongoing police investigation. You understand.”
“So why are you telling me about your plan?” She felt like a spider casting a web. She also felt a little guilty toying with him and looked to Joe for encouragement. His face was the usual implacable wall. It was a look she wished she could master, but had given up long ago as outside of her nature and ability.
“We need your help. We believe that, with our undercover officers surrounding you and Joe’s close protection as well, if you put yourself out in the open, if you went back to your house and to the warehouse and studio and then out in public where Sal could see you and follow you, that he’ll make a move. That’s when we jump in all over him and make our arrest.”
“What do you mean by ‘make a move?’”
“He means Sal and his men need to snatch you from the street or your home and attempt a kidnapping or rough you up, threaten you at gunpoint, something like that.”
Joe looked at her hard. “You shouldn’t do it. I don’t want you to do it.”
“Wait a goddamn second—” Harvey sputtered.
Mae jumped in before things went any further. She spoke in a loud, definitive voice and said, “I’ll do it.”
A resounding echo of silence filled the room. Joe gripped her arm.
“Mae, no—”
“Leave her alone, Temple. You heard her. She has more balls than you do.”
Mae clutched Joe’s arm as he started to rise with a murderous look in his eyes aimed at the detective. Harvey sat back with a Cheshire cat smile that she wanted to slap. But she maintained self-control and calm, not that she could claim credit for it. She was running strictly on instinct now in new territory. Putting herself in danger was not her normal behavior—not unless you counted emotional danger. That she did all the time, albeit unwittingly.
“Harvey you’re a—”
“Never mind, Joe. I’m happy to help the police catch Salvatore Vito. I want to put an end to this. I can’t hide away forever.” Joe turned a belligerent stare to her and she continued in a soft voice. “Besides, I’m counting on you to be there, to not let anything happen to me.”
It took a few breathless moments before she saw the softening, the relenting in his posture. He didn’t return to his seat, though, instead reaching for her to stand with him.
“We’re out of here,” he said.
“I’ll be in touch to let you know when—”
“Two days. You’ll wait two days. At the end of her work day at the studio two days from now.” Joe used the tone of voice that a person didn’t argue with, not even Detective Harvey. He only nodded his head.
Joe rapped on the door and it was opened from the outside and they left. He seemed to know his way back to the lobby and they walked fast with Harvey trailing silently behind them all the way to the front door.
“I’ll be in touch,” Harvey said.
Mae turned back once to see the annoyed look on the detective’s face. But Joe kept going, pulling her with him by his magnetic power, his force of will rather than any physical force. She found herself anxious to get back to the hotel, found his explosion of passion a major turn-on whether it was appropriate or not—probably not. But man, was Joe hot and man did she want to feel some of that heat.
Once inside the car, Joe said, “Harvey’s plan is shit. I have a better idea.”
Air sucked into her and caught in her throat without her knowing she’d taken the strangling breath. His words shouldn’t have scared her, but they did. Because she knew what kind of guy Joe was. She knew he would put himself in worse danger before he’d let her take any small risk at all. And the knowledge that he was this heroic man, this knowledge that had made her weak in the knees a few days ago, now terrified the hell out of her.