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Which was true, but even as he said it, Andy realized he wasn’t being totally honest with himself or Quinn. The truth was, he’d never stopped caring for the boy Quinn—and sure, the tragic end—or what he’d believed had been a tragic end—to their teen romance had kept that boy enshrined in Andy’s heart. But the adult Quinn was pretty all right too.

What was there to object to in a smart, competent (yes, okay, handsome) guy who seemed sincerely determined to supply help when you needed it the most?

Well, other than the fact that this particular guy could forget you without a second thought and leave you believing for over a decade that he was dead.

Quinn seemed to take Andy’s hesitation as his answer. He said ruefully, “Time’s never on our side, is it?” That timehe didn’t wait for Andy’s reply. “Anyway, yes, their search and seizure are legal. My right to file a claim for damages is also legal.” His smile was unpleasant, and Andy realized Quinn was not quite as stoic as he’d thought. “That evil old bastard Millard is going to regret starting this fight.”

“Evil?” Andy didn’t have a lot of confidence in Chief Millard, butevilseemed rather extreme.

“You’re damned right. He knew how things were—” Quinn cut himself off. “It doesn’t matter.” He glanced at his watch. “We should get some sleep. Then maybe tomorrow you can go through those ledgers while I take a little trip to Bangor.”

“I agree we need some sleep. But I’m going with you tomorrow.”

“Not necessary.”

Andy repeated, “I’m going with you.”

“I appreciate the offer, but if you can find a pattern in—”

“We alreadyhavea pattern, Quinn. Enough of a pattern that you feel justified driving over to Bangor and checking out that pawnshop. You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be helpful to have a second pair of eyes.”

Quinn hesitated. “It would be helpful, yes. But. I need to warn you that I don’t have a search warrant and I don’t have any legal authority to do what I’m probably going to be doing.”

Andy absorbed that. Marcus had ignored the law too, when it suited him, and Andy had been appalled. But everything Marcus had done had been out of self-interest. Maybe there was an element of self-interest in the choices Quinn was now making, but he had invited himself to this catastrophe banquet out of a sincere (probably regretted) effort to help Andy and Uncle C.

The least—theveryleast—Andy could do was tag along and make sure Quinn had some backup in whatever he was planning.

He said firmly, “I understand what you’re saying. I’m in.”

Quinn took a moment to absorb this. His cheek creased in that slow, familiar grin—the grin that used to precede getting thembothinto trouble. “Have it your way, Andrew. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

On Tuesday morning they got a car from one of the rental places at Bangor International Airport and then picked up two burner phones from a 7-11.

Andy viewed these preparations dubiously. “Where do we buy the trench coats and false mustaches?”

Quinn grinned. “I’d pay anything to see you in one of those Groucho Marx getups.”

Andy laughed, but he did wonder about all the cloak-and-dagger stuff. He had to assume Quinn knew what he was up to, but these precautions seemed to underline Quinn’s warning that they were embarking on not-strictly-legal activities.

“How are we going to know who to talk to at Whittaker’s? What if it isn’t the right Whittaker? And even if we have the right Whittaker, how will we get them to tell us what we need to know?”

“We just take it one step at a time.”

“Really? I admire your confidence.”

Quinn was still smiling. “No, you don’t. You think I’m delusional. But this is how it’s done. You grab onto the end of the string and start pulling, and eventually the knot unravels.”

“Okay. What if we’re being watched?”

“Millard had a tail on us—”

Andy interrupted, “And you lost him on Timbercliffe Drive. I noticed. But Sirius is probably still watching me. And what about the guy who attacked me at the motel? He’s obviously been following me.”

Quinn said slowly, “I keep underestimating you.”

Andy snorted. “Because I noticed you were taking ‘shortcuts’ that took twice as long as our normal drive? Come on. I’d have to have been sleeping not to notice.”