Page 50 of Agent's Integrity

At least he was admitting he knew who Emerson was. “I bet he doesn’t tell you everything. But he did tell me about this place, and how much he likes your house lager.”

His chin lifted and his body puffed out slightly.Pride.

My eyes swept the area again, looking for anything I could use, something that would tell me a little bit more about the bartender’s personality. I didn’t see anything remotely useful. “He mentioned how he likes to come here when he’s in the area. Kind of has a soft spot for you I think.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

Liar.I saw the light swallow, the flicker of the eyes. He was a bad liar. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to glean anything from a stranger knowing as little as I did about his baseline, but he was signaling so strongly that he was lying that there was no way I could miss it. I took another sip. “Emerson and I worked a job a while back. Helped find a friend of his. Kit.”

The name registered, just like I was hoping it would. He blinked, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. I’d bet Emerson had discussed his former girlfriend before, or he might have even brought her there.

I pretended to study my nails. “It’s a shame the two of them broke up. I mean, Kit is a free spirit and all, but Emerson practically worshiped the ground she walked on. Poor sap. Thought he might be willing to move past her with me, but he wouldn’t bite. She goes missing and he practically opens a black hole to find her.” I let derision leak through my voice, trying to feed him the perfect amount of emotion to form a connection.

The bartender grunted, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He agreed with me. “He was always head over heels for that girl.”

Smiling, I nodded. “Look, I left something…personal with him, and I want to get it back. He won’t pick up my calls, and every time I’ve almost tracked him down, he’s slipped away. I was hoping I’d get lucky here. Can you help a girl out?”

For a long moment he looked torn, battling within himself. If he decided I couldn’t be trusted, then I would never get the location out of him. I took a gamble and leaned back. I slipped backward off the stool. Ethan grabbed for me instantly, catching my side and keeping me from crashing to the floor. The bartender was almost as fast, catching my outstretched hand. Both men helped me right myself in the seat. All the eyes in the room were on me, but I ignored them. Embarrassment was inconsequential at that point.

I couldn’t help but wince, and my side flared up in pain again. I pressed my arm across it and focused on breathing.

“Are you okay?” Ethan sounded genuinely worried. “You have to be more careful,” he whispered. He kept his arm around me, though I could tell he was holding back from what he really wanted to do and say.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” I patted his knee to reassure him.

The bartender’s brow furrowed, as though he was worried about me, too. “Are you sure? You look hurt.”

“I’m okay. Really.” I tried to make my eyes look as vulnerable and in pain as possible while I looked up at him. “I just need to get my stuff back from Emerson. I promise I have no ill intentions towards him. Can you help me? Please?”

My act appealed to his masculinity. After a few more seconds of hesitation, he reached for a napkin and jotted down an address. “He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. He’s meeting someone, but I don’t know who. I think he’s planning on heading off-planet after that, but he didn’t say. He was in here last night and was unhappy with something I presumed was work related. I overheard him talking with his second mate about the meeting.”

I accepted the napkin from him with my best smile. “Thank you, so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Just don’t tell him I’m the one who sent you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I took out some credits, more than enough to pay for the drinks, and slapped them down on the bar. “We’d best hurry.”

“Good luck.”

Ethan helped me down from the barstool, but I refused to let him help me walk to the door. Faking that fall had hurt, but it was worth it. My hunch had been right. The bartender was a sucker for a dainty female.

As soon as we were on the street Ethan touched my elbow. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” I smiled at him, pretending I wasn’t in pain. “He fell for it, hard. Seems even you believed it.”

His jaw dropped and his steps faltered. “You did that on purpose?”

I nodded. “I had a feeling he’d be a sucker for a damsel in distress. Worked like a charm. We need to hurry if we’re going to catch Emerson. He’s all the way across town.”

We hailed another cab, and before long we were zooming above the city again. Ethan rubbed his jaw and studied me with probing eyes. “How did you do that? Manipulate him like that?”

I flinched at the term manipulate, but I couldn’t argue against it. “I know how to read people. When I joined the—university,” I almost said IPF, but managed to cut myself off at the last second, “I tested well for a psychological program. It sparked my interest. I studied psychology and deception. I learned a lot.”

“You can tell when people are lying?”

“Usually.” I couldn’t elaborate on it without the cabbie overhearing us.

Ethan seemed impressed. Or a little worried. Perhaps it was both. Most people were a little unnerved when they discovered I was basically a walking lie detector. People didn’t like knowing I could see through their words.

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