Positively Criminal

by Mia Dymond

  “A perfect place for cops,” Mace grumbled under his breath.

  Jake silently agreed with his partner’s sarcasm. The place reeked of criminals, current and retired. No one stepped inside without protection of some sort.

  As soon as they parked and entered the building, Jake took in the surroundings, somewhat amused that the FBI would choose such a seedy place to rendezvous. Somehow he wasn’t convinced the men in blue dirtied their hands in places like this. Eerie silence blanketed the atmosphere, thick with thoughts of criminal activity and Jake knew from experience one false move would land them all in hot water.

  “See anyone familiar?” he mumbled under his breath.

  “No.” Mace’s speech was equally muted.

  Jake drew a silent, deep breath and moved his gaze around the dark interior until he spotted Majors seated at a corner table in the blackest part of the room. He resisted the urge to shake his head in disbelief. Dressed in blue jeans and an obviously-starched white shirt sans jacket, the agent still flashed cop.

  “You’re lucky I’m such a cheap date,” he told Majors as he approached the table and straddled a chair.

  The agent chuckled, out of nervousness, Jake figured. “It’s hard to lay low in this town. Everyone seems to know everyone else and we stick out like a sore thumb. In fact, the recommendation came from a friend. She swears this is the perfect hiding place.”

  Jake paused, stuck on three particular words in Majors’ last sentence – She. Hiding. Place. He knew only one woman who was the queen of hide-and-seek.

  Majors gestured to the three glasses on the table. “The alcohol’s just for looks.” He pushed his aside. “Did you find an informant?”

  Jake gave Mace a keep-your-mouth-shut glare. “Still working on it.”

  “If we have half a chance at finding these women, we need someone now.”

  “What about one of the girls you arrested? Doesn’t someone need a break?”

  “You’d think so but actually, no. Except for minor indecency charges, those girls are squeaky clean.”

  Mace nodded. “Obviously, Lombardy’s thought this through.”

  “Not good business to have Johnny Law knocking at the door,” Jake agreed.

  “The next logical step is to question the staff. Maybe one of them will enlighten us.”

  “You didn’t question them after the raid?”

  “Only as suspects. We let them believe we were only looking for drugs. We need to know what they know about Lombardy and his organization. I’d like to send you and Detective Turner. You’ll attract less attention.”

  “As far as we’re concerned, the club has a pretty good reputation. We make few arrests and when we do, mostly for public intoxication.”

  “Good, then they’ll most likely open up and tell you what you want to know.”

  The hair rose on the back of Jake’s neck, not because of his mission, but because of the one woman he might find tangled in this whole sticky web with a hairy, hungry spider hot on her tail. For once, he actually considered reassignment. He glanced at his partner who wore the same pained expression.

  Jake swallowed hard, careful not to expose his torment. “Anyone in particular you have in mind?”

  “Start with the manager, Jimmy Cooper, and the head of security, Brian Hunt. We want them to believe this is a missing person’s case. If you find a lead, go with it.”

  Jake glared at the amber colored liquid that resembled whiskey in front him, sorely tempted to grab the glass and swallow the contents in one gulp. Unfortunately, whiskey had a tendency to render him very, very stupid. “When should we start?”

  “No time like the present. I have agents inside who report business to be somewhat slow tonight.”

  Jake’s stomach rolled over while he pushed thoughts of the inevitable to the side and attempted to reason. He had just left Bri and Dara not thirty minutes earlier. Surely, hopefully, they planned a girls’ night in to catch up.

  He looked to Mace, attempting to find an expression of silent confirmation. Instead, Mace appeared just as concerned.

  Sonuvabitch. She better not be there.

  Jake stood and shifted his weapon on one hip. “We’ll touch base as soon as we’re finished.”

  Majors nodded at both he and Mace. “Thursday evening. I’ll contact you with the particulars. We’re counting on you, Detectives.”

  Jake swallowed incredible nausea as he stomped out of the bar, silently cursing at the top of his lungs the whole way to the cruiser.

  Mace broke the silent rage. “What are you going to do if you find her there?”

  “Pull her out by her curly, blonde hair,” he spat.

  “Blonde? Bri’s not blonde.”

  “She dances blonde.”

  “I don’t remember that about her,” Mace mumbled.

  “With green eyes.”

  “Green? Her eyes are—”

  “Blue, I know,” Jake spat.

  Mace opened his mouth and then closed it.

  As soon as he and Mace stepped inside the Glove, all five of Jake’s senses went on full alert. His body knew Bri – no way could she escape detection.

  While Mace talked to the bouncer at the door, he scanned the main room with precise movements from left to right, trained on any color close to blonde or green. Hell, she’d probably be better hidden without her wig. Then again, her long red mane caused him a raging hard-on every time it swayed against her heart-shaped ass. No, that camouflage wouldn’t work for either of them.

  Mace cleared his throat. “C’mon, Jimmy and Brian are waiting in the security office.”

  Jake followed Mace across the room and back stage until finally reaching a flight of stairs. Directly to the left, a brightly lit hallway led a path to four rooms, two on the left and two on the right.

  His heart skipped a beat. If Bri wasn’t dancing on stage, she might very possibly be behind one of those doors, providing one lucky son-of-a-bitch some pretty dirty thoughts.

  “You want a room, Rawlings?”

  Jake balled his fists at his partner’s jab, ready to issue a forceful denial. Yet, in some insane part of his brain, he actually considered booking a room; suspension would keep him from dealing with Bri, but the thought of anyone other than himself finding her stopped him.

  “Screw you.” He snarled at Mace and then climbed the stairs.

  The door at the top opened just as he raised his hand to knock. Jake glanced up at the camera atop the door and snickered.

  Jimmy Cooper extended a hand to each of them and then waved them inside. “Detectives, come in.”

  Jake moved his gaze over the room, taking in the monitors stacked four high and four long against one wall. Half-dressed women graced every screen, clad in sparkling, sexy costumes, working their bodies to earn the night’s take. His heart pounded a jungle rhythm while he scrutinized each body. Too tall, too thick, too brunette. He breathed a sigh of relief when Bri failed to make an appearance.

  “Quite an operation,” he told Jimmy.

  “Our girls are watched closely. The only place we don’t monitor is the dressing area.”

  “How do you keep trouble out?”

  “Security is stationed right outside the front and right outside the back entrance. No one in or out without permission.”

  “Your guys are legitimate?”

  Jimmy nodded. “Brian has an excellent team in place.”

  Brian waved a hand behind his head. “Sorry, I can’t leave the cameras but I’ll do my best to participate.”

  Mace grinned. “Sucks for you, Hunt.”

  Jake couldn’t stop a snicker.

  “What can we do for you?” Jimmy motioned for him to sit and then took a chair opposite him.

  “We’re working on a missing person’s case.” He slid a photo from his pocket and handed it to Jimmy. “Have you seen her?”

  “Certainly. That’s Melissa Winston.”

  “I remember her,” Brian added as he flipped a switch. The camera zoome
d in on the catwalk near the bar.

  “She worked here?”

  Jimmy nodded. “Great talent. She told us she needed money for school.”

  “How long was she here?”

  “She worked about a month or so then we didn’t see her again.”

  “She quit?”

  “Not officially. She just didn’t report for a shift.”

  “Wasn’t that unusual?”

  “Not in our business. Girls come and go all the time. They earn cash and lots of it. Once they have what they need, they move on.”

  “Did you try to contact her?”

  “Yeah. We require them to provide an emergency contact. We called hers who turned out to be her brother. He assured us she had just taken early retirement.”

  “Who hires replacements?”

  “Mr. Lombardy provides all the dancers. He interviews them personally.”

  “Are they local?”

  “Not here. In fact, we only have one local girl.”

  “Which one?”

  “Sapphire.”

  Jake’s dick pulsed and his gaze jumped to the monitors, torn between wanting to catch a glimpse of her and hoping to hell he didn’t.

  Jimmy laughed. “Obviously you’ve seen her dance.”

  “Yeah,” he mumbled.

  Brian chuckled and flipped another switch. Jake’s heart stopped and he fought to breathe.

  “Damn,” Mace mumbled under his breath.

  Bri. Damnittohell, did the woman ever follow orders?

  He forced himself to inhale then exhale slowly. Although she sat in a plush, easy chair just outside the dressing area instead of prancing around the stage, incredible anger engulfed him.

  Her yellow tank top hugged tight, full breasts and firm muscled curves. False blonde curls fell over her bare shoulders; his fingers itched to rip it from her head and tangle the natural red tresses with the force of his grip.

  A short, much too short, denim skirt touched the tops of her tanned thighs, teasing him with the sight of her long, slender legs. Legs that would most definitely squeeze his hips in a tight grip as his hard cock slipped inside her body.

  Then, almost as if she knew he watched, she peered directly into the camera and winked.

  “Damn,” Mace repeated.

  Brian gave a full, hearty laugh. “That’s code for everything’s okay here.”

  Jake released the breath he didn’t realize he held. Code, for fuck’s sake. Still, she sat in that chair. Half naked and blonde. Lucky chair.

  “Who’s that next to her?”

  Mace’s question caught him by surprise. He hadn’t even noticed the other woman, yet she sat next to Bri, just as half naked and blonde. Except he was willing to bet the other woman’s hair was truly blonde and her pale blue eyes were too unique to be fake.

  “That’s Sunny,” Jimmy answered. “She’s new.”

  Jake took a moment to analyze Bri’s body language and his mood immediately softened. Her gentle smile and the watery cast to her eyes told him she was in therapist mode, desperate to embrace yet another lost soul. He almost shook his head in disbelief. Leave it to Bri to use a gentlemen’s club as her psychiatry couch.

  Under severe protest, he dragged his gaze off Bri and back to Jimmy.

  “Did you know Melissa is the niece of Joe King, Sheriff of Dexter County?”

  “I had no idea.”

  “She doesn’t have a brother and she’s still missing.”

  “Sonuvabitch!” Brian turned to face them.

  “I called the number, I swear.”

  “We know Jimmy, relax. Cell phone records back up your story. Obviously someone else had the phone.”

  “We’ve always followed up with our girls.” Brian ran a hand across the top of his head.

  “You’ve accounted for all of them?”

  Jimmy nodded. “Always. Unless we’ve been duped before.”

  “Lombardy trusts your research?”

  “Yeah, and then he provides a replacement.”

  “Where does he find these women?”

  Jimmy shrugged. “He doesn’t share that with me. We usually let the girls tell us what they want us to know. Sapphire seems to know the most.”

  Jake winced. Sapphire had a lot of explaining to do. He stood, convinced he had enough information to process for one night. “Thank you gentlemen, we’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.” He gave the monitors one more glance, partly to catch sight of Bri, but mostly to assure she still occupied the chair and not the catwalk.

  “She’s still there, Detective.” Brian snickered. “Except, she’s not dressed to dance.”

  Jake moved his gaze onto the other man. “How often does she perform?”

  “Never can tell.” Brian folded his hands behind his head. “She does her own thing.”

  “Of course she does,” Mace mumbled as he opened the door.

  Jake simply shook his head in silent agreement as he followed his partner down the stairs and finally out of the club, now even more suspicious of Bri’s role in this whole screwed-up situation.

  “Bri knows something,” he told Mace as they climbed back into the cruiser. “A whole lot of something.”

  “So ask Dara.”

  “Oh, she’ll tell me everything,” he drawled.

  Mace grinned in response.

  “You think you can make Bri talk? Be my guest.”

  Mace ran a finger under his collar to loosen his tie. “Bri and I are pretty tight, but I don’t think she’ll tell me either.”

  “I wasn’t talking about her. Show me how it’s done. Use your charms on Dara and see what you can find out.”

  His partner narrowed his eyes. “Is that a challenge?”

  “More than a challenge. How about a bet?”

  “What kind of bet?”

  “Twenty bucks says Dara won’t give you anything useful.”

  Mace leaned to the left, extracted his wallet from his back pants pocket and slapped a twenty dollar bill onto the dashboard. “You’re on.”

  Jake steered around a corner. “I’ll give you three days to get something.”

  “Three days? I won’t need that long.” Mace smirked. “You just get ready to lose your twenty bucks.”

  “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  “Hey, pull in there.” Mace pointed at a nearby shopping center.

  “What? It’s late and I’m tired. What do you need to buy that can’t wait until tomorrow?”

  “Just something.”

  “I’ve got a box of condoms you can have.”

  “Just park, would ya?”

  Jake heaved a long sigh and pulled into a parking spot right in front of the complex, glancing out the window at the store’s signage. “A bookstore? Since when do you read?”

  A slamming car door answered him.

  He drummed his thumbs against the steering wheel while he waited for Mace to make his purchase. What the hell was his partner up to? The only thing Mace ever read was the newspaper or case reports. He glanced into the store’s window, surprised to see quite a few customers still shopping, finally zeroing in on Mace heading for the back of the building and out of his view. With his curiosity now in control, Jake left the car and went inside.

  He entered the store and traced Mace’s path, noting banners along the way. Cookbooks. Children’s books. Mysteries. Romance. He blinked twice to clear his vision. Romance? Yet, there was his partner, standing in front of a row of books, reaching to pull one off the shelf.

  Jake braced himself against the end of the bookcase on one hip and folded his arms across his chest. “You have lost your mind.”

  “Dammit!” Mace jerked his head to meet Jake’s face. The book fell from his grip while his face reddened. “Rawlings, I told you I’d be right back.”

  Jake stooped to retrieve the novel and perused the cover. “You looking for pointers?”

  “No,” Mace hissed. “Research.”

  “Research, huh? Well then, the leggy blo
nde walking this way might be able to help.”

  “I know what I’m —”

  “Can I find something for you, gentlemen?” The clerk stopped next to Mace and batted her eyelashes.

  “Not me.” Jake gestured with his head at Mace. “Him.”

  Mace gave her a pained smile. “Well, I, uh, I’m looking for a book. For my sister.”

  “Oh, how sweet! Which one?”

  Jake bit the inside of his cheek while Mace shifted from one foot to another. This oughta be good – no way on God’s green earth could Mace bullshit his way out of this.

  “She said the author is Dara Hamilton. It’s her newest release.”

  Jake lifted one eyebrow, impressed by his partner’s quick recovery.

  “Sinful Rapture!” The clerk bobbed her head. “It is so good! I read it and couldn’t put it down. Stayed up all night.”

  “That’s it,” Mace agreed. “That’s the one she wants.”

  “Oh bummer.” The saleswoman stuck out a pouty lip. “We sold out this morning but we’ve got some more coming in a couple of days.”

  “Damn. She really had her heart set on having one of her books now. She’s her new favorite author.”

  “Well, in that case how about her last release, Arresting Hearts? She’ll love it.”

  “Great, I’ll take it.” Jake pictured his partner’s silent self-pat-on-the-back while they followed the clerk to the register. He reluctantly gave the guy credit – he’d come out smelling like a rose.

  “I never would’ve believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself,” he said as they climbed back into the car.

  “You tell anybody and I’ll have to shoot you,” Mace growled. “Like I said, it’s research.”

  “Research. Right. And I know for a fact you don’t have a sister. You’re an only child.”

  Mace buckled his seatbelt. “Just start the damn car.”

  Jake shifted the car in gear and drove back to the station. “I’m sure Dara would summarize the plot if you asked.”

  “At least I’m attempting to understand the female brain.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Women are like jigsaw puzzles; the pieces only fit one way.”

  “And reading Dara’s novel will help you put her together?”

  “Yep. Think about it. She said she uses psychology when she writes, so I should be able to find something useful.”