Bit shorter than previous chapters but I like the way it came out.

Chapter Fourteen – Dig the Grave

A damn near full day of research into Connor MacManus's life didn't turn up anything other than what everyone already knew. Michael rubbed his eyes in frustration then groaned when he saw his bottle of Jack was nearly diminished. Lighting up a cigarette, he stood up from his desk to stretch and think about how he could dig up the dirt he needed in order to break up the writer's relationship with the woman the stock broker wanted for himself but nothing was coming to mind. At least, nothing legal anyway. Although, there was someone he could call but the last time he did that, it'd cost him a week's pay and then some. Almost not worth it to go through that again. Almost.

He shook his head as the thought of breaking into Connor's residence crossed his mind. "Last thing I need is to get arrested for something stupid. There's gotta be another way to go about this. Think I'll go out for a stroll." Grabbing his keys and smokes, he walked out to the street and was about to head to the coffeeshop for a much-needed Killer Vanilla pick-up when he was smacked into by someone running from the direction he was heading.

Being tall and somewhat muscular, the impact only sent Michael back a few steps while the other person fell to the cement walkway. "Damn! Need to watch where yer goin', bub," the taller man said, reorienting himself.

"Sorry sir. I didn't see you there." The younger man apologized while shuffling around for what had fallen out of the bag he'd been carrying.

"That goes without saying," Michael stooped to help pick the items up. "What's yer hurry anyway?"

"Just trying to get home," the other answered until he looked up at him. "Do I know you?"

"That depends. Who do you think I am?"

"Not sure but I feel as though I've seen you before. You go to the Café Bean much?"

"Five days a week, sometimes two or three times a day."

The younger man squinted his eyes. "Now I remember! You're the one who gets that amped up drink. What did they call it?"

"Killer Vanilla. Now, I think I recognize you. Didn't you used to date Jewel?"

"Jewel?" His face became thoughtful. "Oh, you mean Julia?"

Michael's face brightened. He finally had a name. "Yeah, that's who I meant. Mind if I ask what happened?" He paused in handing over the fallen articles when he noticed that Connor's photo was in all of them.

The other straightened up. "Not sure if I want to tell as I don't even know who you are."

"McCarty. Michael McCarty. I work at the London Stock Exchange."

"Bruner. Mark Bruner. Freelance writer." They shook hands.

"Now that we're acquaintances, mind answering my question, Mark?" Michael wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by as it literally fell into his lap.

Mark adjusted the tote on his shoulder. "If you'll give me back my research material first," he indicated to the articles the stock broker still had.

"Now, you've really piqued my interest. You got an interest in this guy?" He handed over the press clippings.

"Something like that. I broke up with Julia because she refused to sleep with me. Looking back, it was pretty stupid of me. Now, she's with this guy."

"Yeah, I know. I've seen them together myself."

Mark immediately picked up on the other's irritation at the fact. "What's it to you anyway?"

"Never thought I'd say this to a nearly-complete stranger but I've had it bad for her since I first saw her. More than likely when you were seeing her too. Never had the nerve to say anything about it."

"No point now. When I saw them, it looked pretty serious."

Michael sighed. The kid was probably right but he wasn't about to let it deter him. "That may be true but there's always something a man doesn't want a woman to know about. I aim to find out what that is but my search hasn't been fruitful."

Mark eyed him. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it appears we have the same objective. Otherwise, you wouldn't have a bag full of information on MacManus, am I right?"

"Hit the nail on the head there. Don't know if I'm willing to share what I have though."

"Something tells me you won't find anything new in what you've got that isn't already public knowledge. Maybe old addresses and such but that's about it."

'This guy's good,' Mark thought. 'A little too good. Maybe he knows more than he's letting on.' "Suppose I don't find out anything new. What of it?"

Michael smiled coyly. "Suppose I could help you find what you wanted. Of course, it'd cost ya as we're in competition for the same lady." Something clicked just then. "You said yer name was Bruner?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Don't you have a sister who writes for the Times?"

"Marley. I send all my work through her."

"Knew I recognized that name. Think you should ring her up as she could point you to someone who could find what you want. It don't come cheap though."

"How do you know?"

"Let's just say I have friends in certain places others wouldn't know to look. Matter of fact, I might just phone 'em up and leave you outta the loop." He stepped around Mark and started to walk away.

"Wait a minute!" Michael turned around. "How about this." Mark ran up to him. "You tell me who to ask for when I call Marley as she'll know if it's for real or not. Then I'll tell you what they tell me. Deal?"

The stock broker thought about it for a moment, nearly leaving the kid in suspense. "Hmm… I suppose I could do that, but I'll tell ya right now: you screw me and you'd better dig yerself a grave cuz that's where you'll end up."

The look in the older man's eyes was enough to tell Mark he wasn't messing around. 'What the hell have I gotten myself in to?' he thought in a panic. Of course, he had yet to say yes but he'd already come this far and wasn't about to back out. "Alright. I agree. Now, who do I ask for?"

Michael took a card out of his wallet and handed it to him. "Ring this number and ask for 'Gordon.' No, I don't know if that's their real name and I've never asked since they've always delivered. I suggest you don't fuck around either or you'll be dealin' with a lot worse than me. I'll be seein' ya," and with that, the stock broker turned and headed towards his original destination.

Mark stood on the walkway, dumbfounded at what had transpired and looked at the card in his hand. It wasn't a UK number as the country code was different but he couldn't recall where it was. Opting to think about it later, he shoved the card into his pocket and continued towards home so he could call his sister. He only hoped this guy McCarty wasn't steering him wrong so he could have Julia after she dumped Connor. If she dumped Connor.

Arriving at his place, he went into his office and pulled out his research to start going through it. Hopefully, he could find something in this mess and not have to go through this alternative that had been handed to him but as he started flipping through the articles, the latter option was looking more likely by the minute.