Incubus Dreams - Laurell K. Hamilton [136]
“But we’re not going to,” I said.
“But we could.”
“Bert, either tell me the truth, or get away from the door.”
“A bonus, Anita, for them beating the hell out of you. What’s wrong with that?”
“How much?” I said.
He looked uncomfortable.
“How . . . much?”
“Ten grand,” he said, and then went on hastily, “he owns his own contructuion firm. He can afford it, and they did go way over the line.”
I shook my head. “Bert, you bastard.”
“The wife offered me the check for the refinancing of the house when I started to talk about pressing charges. I didn’t take it. So I’m not quite as much of a bastard as you think I am.”
“You can’t take money not to press charges. That’s illegal.”
“I didn’t say outright that that was what the money was for. Hinted at it, maybe, but I know better than to say something specifically. Give me a little credit.”
I stared up at him. “You get as much credit from me as you deserve, Bert. If they calm down and tell the cops what you did, what will you say the money is for?”
“A retainer,” he said.
“I can’t raise their son, Bert, or his girlfriend.”
“Can you at least talk to the detective in charge of their case?”
“So you can keep the money?”
“I was thinking more that you might offer your expertise to the police.”
“I am not a specialist in murder, Bert, not unless there are monsters involved.”
“Does a serial killer count as a monster?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Their son and his date were the first, but not the last. He killed a couple the year after.”
“Are they sure it was the same person?” I asked.
He shrugged. “You’d need to talk to the police on the case, and for that you’ll need the permission of the parents, since as you pointed out it’s not a crime that you have jurisdiction over.” He almost smiled.
“I’ll make you a deal, boss man. I’ll talk to the cop in charge. If they think they know who it is, but don’t have proof, then I can’t help, but if they’re lost, then I have one idea.”
Bert smiled full out. “I knew you would.”
“But if my idea tanks, and they get nothing out of it, you will write them a personal check for ten grand.”
“Anita, I’ll just give back the money.”
I shook my head. “No, your personal check for ten grand.”
“You can’t make me,” he said.
“But I can start a vote to kick your ass out of here. You don’t know shit about raising the dead, or crime, or vampires. You’re the money man. But you’re not the only money man in the world, are you?”
“Anita . . . you really mean it,” he said, and he sounded surprised.
“You just cheated these people out of ten thousand dollars, Bert. It makes me wonder what else you’ve done. Makes me wonder if we need an audit of the books.”
He was getting angry, it showed in his eyes and the tight line of his mouth. “That is out of bounds. I have never cheated anyone in this company.”
“Maybe, but if a man will cheat in one way, he’ll cheat in another.”
“I cannot believe you would accuse me of that.”
“I can’t believe I haven’t wondered about it before,” I said.
His face was darkening with his effort not to explode. You could watch his blood pressure rise. “Audit and be damned.”
“I’ll make you a deal, Bert. I’ll settle for you giving them back their check, instead of a personal check from you, but you have to stop this shit. We make enough money, Bert, you don’t have to cheat people.”
“They offered the money. I didn’t ask for it.”
“No, but I bet you made it so they’d think of it. Nothing said outright, like you said, but you put it out there, somehow, you made them think of it.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, then leaned back against the door. “Maybe I did, but, Anita, they made it so easy.”
“You just couldn’t resist, could you?”
He let out his breath in a long shoulder moving sigh. “I lost my head, a little.”
I shook my head and almost laughed. “No more losing your head, Bert, okay?”
“I’ll try, but I can’t promise. You wouldn’t believe me.”
I did laugh. “I can’t argue that.”
“Do you want me to tear up the check now?”
I watched his face for the signs of pain that parting with money usually cost him,