Fatal Connections

Chapter 50

Adams offered another quicksilver grin. "Funny how we keep crossing paths."

"Hilarious," I said. "What are you doing here?

"Good," he said, with a nod. Like I'd passed a test. "That's good coming from you," he added with a smirk on his face.

"Back at ya."

His smile widened. "You're funny."

"And you're a riot. Now, why the fuck are you here?"

Adams crossed his arms. Even in the dark, he looked amused. "I'm sorry. Need to know only."

He gave a quick nod. "Well, I'll leave you to it, then," he said, moving toward the door. "Hope you find what you're looking for."

Adams turned on his heel and started to leave.

"Hold it," I ordered. "You still haven't answered my question."

With a quick shake of his head, Adams swatted away my words and kept moving. Fine. Let's make this fun.

As Adams moved toward the door, I sprang into position and ran at him. By the time Adams realized I was coming at him from behind, it was too late for him to counter me. I slammed into him with full force. We sailed right through the door, hit the opposite wall, and landed on the floor.

Despite my body's continuous reminders about its limitations, I managed to get to my feet, grimacing. When I approached Adams, it was with caution. I turned my camera flash on and aimed it at his face. He was lying sideways on the floor, propped up on one elbow like a harem girl. His expression was still hard to read. He didn't seem to be amused, but he was hardly angry.

"You didn't have to knock me down," Adams said, sounding a touch perplexed.

"You should be more cooperative."

He let out a short, breathy laugh. "Okay, Erica. You got me. What do you want from me?"

"What are you looking for? And why are you looking for it here?"

Adams held up his hand in the palm-forward, "put a pin in it" way he had. He stood with slow, deliberate movements, keeping his eyes on me. "I doubt we're looking for the same thing."

"I don't like to assume anything. Remember?"

We spent a few minutes batting words back and forth in the dimly lit hallway. I wasn't going anywhere until Adams answered my questions. I could keep up the questioning all night, if I had to. Of course, that never works. Direct questions never work. Ideally, one should cozy up to one's source and at least pretend to care about one thing, even if what you really want is something else entirely.

He refused to discuss his client or the nature of his investigation but he did empty his pockets. I asked if he'd taken any photos here. He showed me his recent photos. None were of this office.

"I have not taken anything from this place," Adams said. "So, if you are looking for a particular item, I'm not keeping it from you."

Fine. Problem was I didn't have a particular item in mind. I figured I would know it when I saw it.

"Does your being here have anything to do with Troy Fairchild?"

Adams maintained a mostly expressionless face, but one eyebrow lifted a fraction. Was it in surprise?

"No," he said, after a second or two.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Yeah, whatever. Maybe it was a tell. Maybe it was deliberate. I was fast running out of a desire to keep this up. Eventually, Adams turned to leave, and I didn't bother to stop him. But I kept him in view until he actually boarded the elevator. He turned my way, gave me his sneaky grin, and saluted before the doors closed. I watched the floor numbers count down, to make damn sure they reached all the way to L and without stopping. I wondered how he had handled the guard. For all I knew, they could have been drinking buddies.

I returned to Gallagher's office to finish what I'd started. Amid the semi-organized clutter on his desk, I found a photo of him with a grade-school-age kid I assumed was his daughter. A casual photo taken at what looked like a fair or an amusement park. The lawyer and the child sat on a bench, smiling for the camera.

It was the yellow sign that caught my eye. The girl in the photo held a stuffed animal. A plush koala toy. It looked mighty familiar. Then, it came to me. There it was again. The koala logo. Embrace the Wild.