Page 23 of Identify

“I’m getting fluffy.”

“Fluffy?”

“Yes. On the inside.”

“Not Dirty Daria?” He fakes a gasp and covers his mouth with his hand.

I flip him off.

“Any place, any time.” He pauses a moment. “And it’s soft. You’re getting soft on the inside. Fluffy is like cotton candy or a big pillow.”

I grunt in response, then busy myself with gathering the file and loose pages from my desk. “What about using someone as bait?” I ask returning to the subject at hand.

“We thought of that, it’s leaving too much to chance. He has an engagement party coming up, do you have any girls we could plant?”

“To do what, exactly?”

“I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws here. I need something to convince Reed.”

“I can send a girl in, but I don’t know what good it would do. It’s not like he can hit on her at his engagement party. Or kidnap her even.”

“I just need a confession. Maybe if he thinks he’s in danger, or we’re about to catch him?”

“Okay, how can I help?” I ask. Because I want to help, assisting Mack makes me happy.

“Reed’s already going to the party, he’s the best man. Maybe we could hook him up with a date?”

“Wouldn’t he wonder why one of my bartenders was there?”

“Probably. What about Quinn?”

“What about her?”

“It’s slightly more believable if she’s there, right?”

“No way will she go to David’s engagement party. She’d feel too awkward. Especially on Christmas Eve. She likes to make popcorn and binge on all the holiday movies. I’m supposed to do it with her.”

“What if she didn’t know that’s what she was doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if she thought she was going in as one of your Dirty Darlings, but really she’s the distraction so I can get Tremblay alone?”

“I need more to go on than that.”

“I don’t have it. This isn’t a fully thought-out plan. I’m just trying to figure out how to appease Reed, get Tremblay alone, and get a confession.”

“How are you getting in?”

“I’ll be security.”

“And then you just conveniently get a confession?”

“It sounds flimsy when you put it like that.”

“Because it is.” It’s rare I’ll go against Mack and his ideas, but I have a feeling this isn’t one of his good ones.

“I think this can work. Help me flesh it out.”