Page 35 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

Logan

The small house was well kept and clean.

Still, there was a smell that permeated throughout the dwelling.

Something that Logan could not at first recognize.

It was chemical in nature, but not something familiar.

And not something used for domestic cleaning.

Logan sat on Cross’s couch, a glass of water in front of him on a hardwood coffee table.

He had taken a small sip, out of courtesy, but nothing more.

He did not trust Cross at all. The feeling was mutual, as he had seen Cross slip a pistol into his waistband in the kitchen.

They were still feeling one another out, carefully.

‘So you’ve read all about me , Logan,’ said Cross, ‘but I know nothing about you.’

‘As I already explained, Flynn and I have a personal matter. Not something I can discuss, not something in the public domain. I want him to suffer. Isn’t that enough?’

‘Not nearly enough,’ said Cross, leaning back in his chair and smiling, as if Logan should know this.

‘We don’t know each other. I grant you that.

Neither of us are individuals given to placing trust in others.

I’ve always been an outsider, Arthur. My guess is that you are too.

We are not like other people. We can accomplish things that others cannot.

We are unbound by the societal norms that tie other men down.

We don’t need to exchange vows. This isn’t a marriage. It’s an alliance. Nothing more.’

‘And yet I don’t trust you. How do I know you are not working for Flynn? How do I know this isn’t a trap?’

Logan had spent an hour talking to Cross, letting him know how he had discovered him and why he had sought him out.

Everything he’d said was the truth, precisely as it had happened.

The only information he’d kept to himself was why he was interested in Flynn.

As he had laid out his story, he knew Cross wasn’t just watching him.

He was being studied, his every move minutely weighed and judged by a fellow predator – o ne who was looking for warning signs.

Lies were red flags and to be avoided, but Logan could not risk telling this man the truth.

Cross wasn’t to be trusted. His whole life and everything in it had been obtained by exploiting others.

‘What if I told you I am not working for Flynn?’ said Logan. ‘You’re a man who can easily spot a lie. Tell me, am I lying?’

‘You haven’t said it yet.’

‘Clever. Alright, Arthur, I am not working for Flynn, nor any of his team. I am here because I want to see Flynn suffer.’

As he spoke, Cross stared at him intently. He felt as if every word, every gesture, wasn’t just seen or heard by Cross – it was being absorbed. Weighed. Tasted.

Cross said nothing.

Then he sat upright in his chair, placed his good hand on his knee and spoke with a different intonation. It was more direct. No longer soft, his words came faster and harder than before.

‘Say I do believe you. What exactly do you want from me? I’m hardly in a position to back you up if you decide to corner Flynn in a dark alleyway. Besides, I have a friend who is going to help me.’

‘Bruno Mont?’ asked Logan.

‘You have done your homework. Bruno is going to seek justice for me, in his own particularly brutal fashion.’

‘What might that entail?’

‘Something violent, if I know Bruno. He has a talent for it.’

‘And you don’t?’

Arthur’s thin lips pressed together then spread into a smile. It was an unnerving sight.

‘I don’t have Bruno’s taste for it. He will choose his moment and hurt the ones who hurt me.’

‘But that’s not enough, is it, Arthur? You’ve been looking for revenge since the day Kevin got that will overturned in court.’

‘Kevin took everything from me. I want to take everything from him. Slowly, methodically. This . . . ’ he said, holding up his ruined arm. ‘The ones who hurt me will feel the same pain, but it’s nothing compared to what I want to do to Kevin and his family.’

‘It’s not so easy, though. You have your friend, Bruno, but my guess is if you had a plan to hurt Kevin and his family you would have done it sooner.

If you could do this on your own, then you wouldn’t have invited me inside.

Brute force can only get you so far. Flynn has a weakness – his family.

I want to hurt him in the worst way possible.

That means targeting his ex-wife and child. ’

Cross’s dark eyes flared, and for a moment Logan thought he could see a scarlet spark dancing in those black pools.

A trick of the light, somehow. Logan noted that the reaction came at the mention of Flynn’s daughter.

This wasn’t just about revenge for Cross.

Logan had stumbled upon something important to Arthur.

Logan sensed that Cross wanted the girl.

He did not want to know why. He could guess, but such thoughts were pointless.

As much as Logan understood Flynn’s weakness, he had also just discovered a weakness in Arthur Cross.

‘What if I brought you Amy Flynn? You could take her some place where she could never be found. If Flynn’s daughter went missing, the pain and the fear would tear him and his ex-wife to pieces. Kevin too.’

Cross’s gray tongue wet his lips and he allowed his eyelids to close and open again.

‘You could do that?’

‘My only issue is getting inside the house. That’s why I need you, Arthur.

You are a resourceful individual and every bit as watchful.

You’ve been watching the den of our lion for a long time.

I need to know where the cub sleeps and if there is anything in that particular den that might cause problems for a hyena creeping in at night. ’

‘They have a gun.’

‘Where do they keep the gun?’

‘Downstairs, on a high shelf in the kitchen. It’s in a lockbox with a keypad.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘I saw the wife grab it when that delivery driver appeared. I have been watching for a long time now.’

‘What kind of home security do they have?’

‘There’s a full security system.’

‘Do you know the brand?’

Cross smiled coldly, said, ‘Nici. It’s on a decal sticker in the corner of the front window and the alarm box below the eaves of the house.’

Security companies are in the business of selling home-security systems. They tell consumers that showing potential robbers that this home is protected can be a powerful deterrent.

This is at least partly true. The companies brand their alarm housing, which is bolted high up on the front of the house, and they always include decal stickers with their products for display in their customer’s windows.

Logan had advised several security companies and even introduced branded decals to some of them.

This home is protected by Simply Safe.

This home is protected by Ajax Home Security.

This home is protected by Ring Alarm.

In the marketing trade, it’s free advertising. Someone sees a nice house and the type of alarm system they use. Maybe they can’t afford a house like this, but they can afford the same quality of home security. This works. It sells products.

In reality, from a security perspective, it’s a terrible idea, because it tells every potential intruder exactly what type of system is being used.

No system is perfect, but knowing the mechanics of an operation of a particular security system is a huge advantage.

May as well leave an instruction manual on the porch on how to disable or bypass the security system.

It was always an argument in the boardroom of home-security companies: the security professionals wanted their products to have a generic decal – This home is protected by a security system – which has the same deterrent effect for potential burglars, but it doesn’t help sell your products.

Logan’s branded decals won in the boardroom. To hell with security.

‘So you’re just going to break into their house and steal the girl from her bed?’ asked Cross.

‘Yes,’ said Logan.

‘And what happens if the girl screams and wakes up her parents?’

‘Well, then I’ll just have to kill them all, won’t I?’