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He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the room. “And you’re here alone?”
“Yup. You ready to talk?”
His gaze fixed on her and he turned down the attempt at being charming. It wasn’t much, and yet it left her wanting to hold the stool in front of her like a shield.
This man was dangerous.
But that made sense if he knew anything else worth knowing about Maxwell Edward.
Oliver crossed his arms on the table and frowned as if he’d heard her thoughts. “You shouldn’t be asking questions about that bugger.”
“Is that what you had me come all this way for?”
He blew out a breath. “Why do you want to know about him so much? You got a thing for old, rich guys?”
She bit the inside of her mouth, content to wait this out.
Oliver shook his head. “This isn’t good for either of us, I hope you know?”
“So you’ve told me.”
“How can I trust you? Really? Are you a copper?”
“Would it matter? I’m American.”
His gaze narrowed. “That’s my point.”
She shrugged. “No, I’m not a cop. I’m not a fed. I’m just trying to look out for a friend.”
He shook his head. “Better be some good friend.”
“Are we going to talk business or shoot the shit?”
“Shoot the shit?” He chuckled like she’d told a joke. “Yeah, I’ll need some time.”
“What? Wait, that wasn’t the deal. You told me—”
“Yeah, well I didn’t think you’d actually come, and I wasn’t about to stick my neck out for you without a good reason to.”
Jessica glared across the table at him. “You told me. You said very clearly you were in possession of police records that had been removed or hidden. Is that a lie?”
“No. They exist. I just… I don’t actually have them in my possession.”
Her jaw dropped.
This whole trip was about coming here to meet with Oliver and get these files. Files someone with the police had carefully removed and never allowed to be digitized.
Was it all for nothing?
“I’ll get it,” he said quickly. “I just needed to know you were serious before I did this.”
“How long? How long will it take?”
“Calm yourself.”
“You are wasting my fucking time.” She slid off the stool.
He reached out and grabbed her by the arm. He held on so tight it hurt. “And I wanted to make sure you weren’t wasting mine. These little requests of yours are dangerous.”