Intimate Relations, Rebecca Forster [best ereader for manga .txt] 📗

him, so I doubt your guy would have a clue what Satoshi Nakamoto looks like," Thomas said.

"The man didn't say it was him. He said whoever he saw was 'said' to be him."

"Call me when you have the name, and I'll run it down. If it turns out to be Satoshi Nakamoto I want to shake his hand when you find him ."

With that, Finn walked them out. He watched until Cori and Thomas were at the bottom of the stairs, and then took a minute to enjoy the soft night air. It was a quiet evening. Lights glowed golden in his neighbor's windows. The stars were bright, and there was a sliver of a moon. He looked at the Sento, his landlady's Japanese bathhouse, and thought he might ask her for an hour in the big tub.

As a war bride, her husband had built it to keep her homesickness at bay. When she was widowed and left with a blind daughter to provide for, she had opened the bathhouse to a select group of clients. Since Finn had lived in his apartment, she had welcomed him into the Sento to soothe his troubles

Tonight a soak in that bath was an enticing idea, but Finn had no problems to wash away only mysteries to solve. One day he hoped to find the person who took his brother's life. Sooner than that, Finn was determined to put a name to the dead girl from The Brewery, and another to the girl who haunted the top floor of the Cucas’ apartment unless they were one and the same—

"O'Brien?"

Finn looked away from the sky where Venus had been winking at him. Cori was at the bottom of the stairs looking up at him.

"Have you sent Lapinski on his way, Cori?" Finn asked.

"He's waiting in the car." She took a step up. Then another. "Look, I wasn't going to say anything 'till it was done, but if I don't say it I won't get a wink of sleep. I'm dog tired and I need my rest, so I'm not going to take any guff from you about this.  I'm just going to tell you the way it's going to be."

"Then time to get whatever it is off your chest." Finn turned toward her. He rested his hip against the stairwell wall that ran the length of the walkway, crossed his arms and gave her his full attention. "Sure, I wouldn't want to be responsible for you losing your beauty sleep."

"Stop smirking and cut the deep-dive into the Irish," Cori said. Finn settled his expression into one appropriate to his partner's mood. Cori took a deep breath. "Okay, here it is. I'm going to be late tomorrow 'cause I'm headed out to talk to Bev."

Cori held up a hand, anticipating his objection.

"Look, she's involved in this thing no matter how you look at it. You didn't tell Captain Smith about her, and that tells me you're none too sure how you're feeling about things."

"But—"Finn got no further. Had Cori been a cat she would have arched her back and hissed at the interruption.

"I mean it, O'Brien. I'm sympathetic, mind you. I near lost my mind when Amber got involved in our business and almost got herself killed." Cori shook her head, trying to banish the horrible memory. "Family should never even come close to what we do. I was going to fib and tell you I was going to church, but you wouldn't believe that.  And God would damn me to hell if I lied about His house, so this is the truth. I have some questions for Bev, I'm going to ask them, and I'm going to do it alone. Got it?"

"I do, Cori," Finn said, but Cori kept on.

"I mean, I know you can pull rank here. If you want to stop me you can, but it's for your own good." She tossed her hair. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and stared him down. "So, you can talk now, but it won't change anything."

"'Tis kind of you to let me know how it will be."

Cori opened her mouth. She was still leaning into the next step, ready to take it if she had to get in his face. When it dawned on her that there was not going to be a fight, she buried her disappointment behind a flare of her nostrils, a lick of her lips.  She  pulled her shoulders back. She looked majestic.

"Well, you're welcome." Her head snapped down. Her eyes cut away from his. Finn tried not to laugh as he waited to see what would come next.

"Yeah, well, that's it." Cori turned away, went down the stairs, and started toward Thomas's car.

"Cori." Finn called to her before she was halfway across the lawn.

"What?" she snapped as she turned back around.

"I remembered the man's name.  Ding Xiang. Tell Thomas."

"Sure. Whatever."

With that Cori was gone, and Finn knew she hadn't heard him. That was fine. She deserved to enjoy her victory. Thomas opened the door for her, waving back at Finn after she was safely in the car. Finn waved too.

There was no question that Cori was a friend for life.  She was wrong about Beverly and her impact on him, but she was right that it would be better if he did not do the follow up. Woman to woman might get further than ex to ex. It was information Finn wanted, and he didn't care how it came to them.

Leaving the night to itself, Finn went back inside, cleared away the empty beer cans and nuts. He put the folded sheets on the couch. Everything was in order but he wasn't tired enough to turn in, so he got his jacket and left the apartment. He paused after he closed the door, and then put the key under the mat. You never knew what might drag you away in the dead of night, and he never wanted to leave Cori out in the cold.