“I’ll keep doing it,” Finn assured him. “My new contract in New York still allows me to donate a percentage of my time to the underprivileged who can’t afford representation. But for now, if I can help you put him behind bars where he belongs, then I’ll consider that paying it forward tenfold.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I’m here, and there’s still time. A lot can happen in a month.”
Liam dipped his head in acknowledgment, then took a healthy swig of beer.
“And after what he did to you, Cora?” Finn’s face grew cold and emotionless, reminding her of the night he’d fought as the Jackrabbit. “I’m making this my sole focus.”
She suddenly felt a wave of gratitude for both the men sitting at her kitchen table. They were like two sides of the same coin, both warriors at heart, and both so willing to champion her cause.
“There’s nothing I’d like more than to jump that man in a dark alley when he least expects it,” Liam said fiercely. His pepperoni pizza remained untouched on his plate, which was proof he wasn’t kidding around. “I say we rough him up and threaten him at gunpoint. Or we can tie a rope around his ankles and dangle him from a bridge for a few hours. That should get the blood flowing to his brain, so he’ll talk. There’s this man on TV called the Punisher who—”
“Whoa there, vigilante,” Cora said, patting Liam on the shoulder. “As much as I’d like to see Magnus go down, we can’t get physical, and we can’t threaten him with a loaded weapon.”
Liam cocked a brow as if to say,Watch me.
“We’ll have to be careful how we get our information,” Cora continued. “Magnus isn’t stupid, and he’s probably going to be more diligent than ever covering his tracks.”
“What would you have us do?” Liam asked. “Send him a polite text message with a request for damning information? Men like him never talk unless their lives are threatened, or they stand to lose something they value.”
“If he’s working with someone, we’ll need hard proof,” Cora said. “Emails. Phone calls. Pictures.”
“I thought about ‘creatively procuring’ his laptop, but he hasn’t come back to Johnston & Knight since his arrest,” Finn said. “Apparently, he’s taking time off to recuperate from his undeserved hardship.”
Cora rolled her eyes. “The only hardship that man suffered was the lack of designer sheets and gourmet meals during his brief stint in lockup.”
“I can try to get his laptop when he returns to the office,” Finn offered.
Cora shook her head. “We can’t wait that long.”
“Then we spy on him now,” Liam said, thumping the table with his fist. “We can do that thing where you sit in a car and drink coffee and eat food from bags while you watch someone’s house.”
“A stakeout.” Finn gave Liam a strange look. “It’s not the worst idea. I have a friend who used to do consulting work. Private investigations. He might have some equipment we can borrow.”
Cora paused with her pizza halfway to her mouth. “Surveillanceequipment?”
Finn nodded like it was no big thing.
She blinked. “Forspying.”
“Yes.”
Cora studied him like she’d never seen him before. First, he was a former underground cage fighting legend, and now he had access to secret surveillance devices? The more she got to know Finn, the more she realized she never really knew him at all. “Who evenareyou?”
His mouth kicked up at the corner. “Just your friendly neighborhood—”
“Don’t.” Cora pointed her pizza crust at him. “You and I need to have words. I’ve got a lot of questions for you. But more to the point, we can’t just rush out and go all MI6 on Magnus’s house. Someone in the neighborhood could see us—or worse, he could catch us. Can you imagine the backlash? We could lose our jobs.”
“We won’t get caught,” Finn assured her. “Anyway, I’m not suggesting we rappel from the ceiling to plant bugs in the bookshelves or anything like that.”
Cora folded her arms. “Then what exactly are you suggesting?”
“Nothing too crazy,” he said with a shrug. “Some jet packs. Exploding chewing gum. An amphibious car. That sort of thing.”
“Uh-huh. Nothing too crazy.”
“Just the basics,” Finn deadpanned.
She tried not to smile but failed. This teasing, mischievous side of Finn surprised her. He was full of surprises lately.
“Well, that’s settled.” Liam slapped the table. “Let’s drink to it.” He rose and walked to the fridge for more beers. “Tomorrow night, then?”