Caramel Popcorn

Chapter 14: Like A Raccoon?

"Third?"

"I'm good at my job." He smirked.

"I--I can see that."

"You're not half bad yourself but I need to know that you're not going to blow this."

I nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to go now, be careful--" he looked like he genuinely cared, not just because it would have direct consequences on him.

"Wait." I was surprised at the power in my voice.

"What?"

"What do you know about Will Sawyer?"

"Why do you ask?" His lips turned upwards, amused.

"Flynn mentioned him."

"No, he didn't." He shook his head.

"Yes, he did." I stood my ground, I had to.

"Do you take me for an idiot? He doesn't talk about any of it." His confidence was unwavering. We weren't answering to the same people, that was for sure.

"He does with me." I had this. I knew this. I knew Flynn would lead me to Will and I had to take this chance.

"And he mentioned Will? How did that conversation go?" He challenged me.

"It--it doesn't matter. I need to get more out of him and I need to know more about Will to get it out of him." I shook my head, frantically feeling the panic rise in my throat.

He contemplated it for a moment.

"If you're not bluffing, if he actually mentioned William, we have a problem." He looked tied just thinking about it.

"I understand that but how would this problem be solved?" I wanted to know if they'd hurt him. I didn't intend for him to get hurt but if he was the cost, I was willing to pay it.

"That's not our mission, is it? We report what we see, we try to find out as much as we can and we report." He smirked.

"Is that all you've been doing?"

"Yeah. And you may be right about the William thing. His partner did come over, remember?"

"I remember." Ace. How could I ever forget Ace?

"Yeah, funny hair colour, guy's always pissed me off but you're the one fucking him so I guess you already knew that."

He knew about Ace. He wanted me to know that he knew. My mind froze momentarily, I couldn't think of anything. I just knew that I had to protect Ace, somehow.

"You know." I stated, unsure of how to put it across without spilling my heart out.

"I know and I won't touch him, if that's what you're worried about. Juggling the two of them is dangerous but I won't tell you how to do your job."

"Ace isn't dangerous--" I knew I shouldn't have said it as soon as I did. I knew it wasn't true.

"Does he know?" I vaguely gestured towards him.

"Ace? No. He's psychotic. Blowing my cover in front of him means a one way ticket to his best friend's fist. The fact that he hasn't ratted you out is--well, it's bad for you." He smirked. I was a liability for Ace. A way in. A vulnerability.

"You don't scare me."

"Look at you shaking in your little fluffy socks. My advice? Finish the job and run. Run so fast nobody can find you even if they scour the earth."

"You're majoring in creative writing, aren't you?" I glared at him.

"Finance." He corrected, "mistakes like that will get you killed. Focus Jamie."