Page 8 of Catching a Con Man

“Oh no, I…” I started, but he shook his head a tiny amount. My father was looking at the laptop again with his glasses at the end of his nose. “Yeah, go on then.”

We both got up and as we left the room Cam made sure the door clicked closed behind him. We walked down the stairs and ended up at the front door.

“Dad was on the warpath,” he said. “I was waiting to show you what I’d gathered before taking it to Dad, but he insisted and you know what he’s like.”

“Well I don’t want anyone arrested,” I said.

Cameron snorted. “Wow, he must give real good head.”

“Fuck you, what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. It wasn’t like I was known for being a monk, but still…I wasn’t going to let pretty looks cloud my judgement.

“A man commits fraud and tries to get you to invest in a fraudulent scheme, and youdon’twant him arrested? There must be some good reason. Somereally goodreason.”

“I just…there’s something about him,” I admitted. “Something good. I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character, and Tyler isn’t evil. What you’ve just shown me is proof enough of that.”

“What do you think Holden would think of it all?” asked Cam. “Someone stealing his family name and doing bad business with it? Do you think anyone’s told him?”

“I tried calling him on Monday, no answer.” I paused, hand on the front door handle. “But maybe I can pay him a visit.”

Tyler

Ichecked my watch. Ade was late. But then maybe it was customary for him to be so late; it was his father I’d spent so long researching. But I had done my due diligence in the last week. Ade was the eldest of five of Addison Senior’s children, four men and a woman. All beautiful to a fault, and all filthy stinking rich.

Ade was the one of the family who’d spun off his own company with Daddy’s money. Two of the others worked for his father, and the other two did their own thing with a nice cushion of money if they ever happened to fail. Rich people, it seemed, could only fail upward.

Ade had asked me to meet him on St Mary Street, one of the busiest streets in Cardiff, But I’d been sitting on the bench in the middle of the street for a quarter of an hour without catching sight of him. I itched at the starched collar of my shirt where it brushed up against the little stubble that I could grow. I’d had to swap my only suit jacket for a different one at a sympathetic charity shop, so that Ade couldn’t tell I only had the one. Perhaps it was overkill, but I liked to be one step ahead.

“Mr Quinn,” said a now familiar voice as a shadow fell over me. “So nice to see you again.”

I jumped up and turned to face Ade — Addison — and unfortunately for me, it hadn’t just been the lighting of the gala that had made him look so gorgeous. Even in the September sunlight, he shone. He was wearing a sharp dark green suit without a tie, aviator sunglasses with gold rims, and the most gorgeous, expensive looking Omega Seamaster watch I’d ever seen. It had to be worth tens of thousands. I felt like a complete fake around him. I was a complete fake, I knew that, but I could usually pull off some semblance of belonging. But not around him. Around him, I knew I was punching way above my station.

“Mr Crane, so nice to meet you again,” I said as smoothly as I could, holding out my left hand to shake his and letting the Rolex peek out from under my sleeve. It was probably worth a tenth of his watch, and I’d not obtained it legally, but it was a status symbol either way. Ade’s grip was soft but strong, the sign of a man who’d been to the gym plenty of times but never had to work a hard day’s manual labour.

“Lovely to see you too. You look…as well as ever,” he said smoothly. “Walk with me.”

It was like he oozed confidence and control from every pore, and I found myself walking in lock step with him just because he’d asked. He led me off the main thoroughfare, into one of Cardiff’s old Arcades.

“I figured since we were talking charity,” Ade said, “we should check out the local initiatives already here in Cardiff.” He led me to a little cafe, and opened the door and gestured for me to go ahead first.

“This is Little Goose,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d get anything here - perhaps a latte to go, but they’re a non-profit who employ local homeless people. I thought, with our combined wealth, it couldn’t hurt to make a substantial donation to their initiatives. Just to show good favour. What do you say, two pounds each for a coffee and a three-thousand tip?”

I glanced around the cafe. It was sweet, comfortable and obviously not high end.Abort abort abort, my brain shouted at me.Shit.How the fuck was I going to get out of this one? I didn’t even think I had a thousand pounds in my bank account.

“See, uh, I…” I patted my pockets. “Had I known we were going to get food, I’d have asked my grandfather to wire me more money over. He likes to…keep me on a tight leash. Worries I’ll overspend.”

“Of course,” Ade said. “I’ll get these in then, you can have Holden send me over the money later today. What’s a few thousand between friends?”

Indeed. We queued for our coffees and as we got to the counter, Ade bought us each a latte to take away. When the screen flashed up with an option to give a tip, I watched him casually type a one, followed by four zeroes. Ten thousand pounds. I felt a lump rise in my throat. I was simultaneously disgusted by his ability to pay that much money on anything without his hand even trembling, and in awe that he’d so casually give it away to those in need.

Ade put his black credit card into the machine, and the amount must have showed up on the other side of the counter. Because the girl who’d just put the coffees down on the counter screamed, and gripped the counter with two white-knuckled hands. I knew how she felt.

“Wha-wha…sorry, there seems to have been a problem with the machine, I’ll have you refunded as soon as possible,” she breathed. “I don’t know why it’s…”

Ade put a hand over one of her shaking ones to calm her. “Just…share it out, if you can. Use what you need to get back on your feet, and share the rest amongst everyone who works here. Can you do that for me?” He grabbed the coffees and took a sip of one whilst she nodded, still white as a sheet. “Really good coffee here, worth every penny.”

Ade gestured for me to follow him, and once again, I found myself obeying like a dog after a bone. As we left the shop, he passed me my coffee. “Thanks for doing that with me. No rush on sending me the money. I’m sure Holden has my company details. And I’m sure he’d never object to charity. Especially with a grandson whose ideas on charity at home are so revolutionary.”

“Of…course,” I said. Ade had put a deadline on my con, it seemed.

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