Page 43 of Just Trouble

I blink. I’ve never seen Phil in the grocery store in Havelock. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll have to ask him then.” She looks around the empty restaurant but I know she’s not really looking at it. She’s thinking. I wait in silence, following her gaze and deciding it must have been an attractive place with lights, tablecloths and such. Crummy neighbourhood, though. I was glad it was daylight when I parked the Benz, and more glad that I got a spot right out front.

I look. The car’s still there.

“I have an unofficial partner,” she says finally. I nod, wondering if I should tip my hand that I know it’s Sylvia. “It’s only fair to check with her.”

“Of course.” I hide my anticipation. She’s actually thinking about it! I’ve got butterflies in my stomach and they’re cavorting happily in anticipation of good news.

I avert my gaze and stare out the window as she makes her call. When she starts talking, I get up and move to the window, gazing out at the quiet street without seeing it. I guess the rent here was comparatively cheap. Evidently, it wasn’t cheap enough.

I’m thinking all of this, my thoughts running like a gerbil on a wheel, in an attempt tonoteavesdrop.

The strategy fails.

“The lawyer’s name? Daphne Bradshaw. Why?” Meredith’s voice sharpens. “What do you mean, youknowher? How could you know her?”

There is a pause as she listens, one that seems tense.

“That is seriously against the odds. What do you know about this Empire place that I should know?”

Oh, I wish I could hear Sylvia’s response.

Meredith laughs a little. “Okay, keep your secrets. What do you think? It’s looking to me like the proverbial offer I can’t refuse.” Another pause. “Depends who’s asking. What does that mean? Are you going to explain? No, you won’t and I know it. Hang on.” Meredith raises her voice. “She wants to know who your client is.”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Even if it’s a dealbreaker?”

I shrug. Luke said not to reveal his name, so I won’t. I never considered that she might decline, just because the benefactor’s name is a secret.

“No dice. She won’t tell,” she informs Sylvia. She rolls her eyes. “She wants initials.”

I shake my head. “Still a breach of client confidentiality.”

Meredith’s eyes start to sparkle. “She wants to know if she can give you initials, and you can either agree or disagree.”

“This feels like high school.”

“There is that,” Meredith cedes. She listens, then looks up at me. “Is it someone with the initials M.C.?”

M.C.? Mike Cavendish? It makes sense Sylvia wouldn’t want him luring her back to town after she broke off their engagement. But then, why would he? And why now? How would he even know where to find her? The offer was for Meredith and, unlike Luke, Mike didn’t hop into Toronto for dinner. I wasn’t sure he ever left the property of Cavendish Enterprises.

Who else?

M.C. Martin Carmichael. He’s the old guy who runs the auto repair shop. I can’t imagine he’d even know Sylvia.

M.C. What’s the name of Phil Chang’s younger brother? I’m drawing a blank.

“Well?” Meredith says, reminding me that she’s waiting.

“No.”

She searches my gaze then turns away. “She says no. I trust her. You do, too?” She glances over her shoulder, smiling a little. “Daphne Bradshaw couldn’t tell a lie if her life depended on it.” She’s obviously repeating something Sylvia said and it makes her smile. “Is that so? Why do you make that sound like a bad thing?” My ears are burning, but Meredith laughs, says something quietly then ends the call. She tosses her phone on a table and goes to a cash register I hadn’t noticed. She presses a button and the drawer opens. She takes five twenties, then returns to put them on the table in front of me, her hand flat on top of them. “First payment.”

“I thought there was no money left.”

“There isn’t much. I figure this much of it is mine. Where do I sign?”

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