by Diane Bator
“Traitor.” Brady snarled. “I should fire you.”
“Make my week, sunshine.” Shelley closed her briefcase. “I wasn’t hired to be your friend, just get your sorry behind out of jail. Leo’s here for the same reason I am. We both want to prove you innocent. The only difference is I’m doing it for your sake, he’s here for your wife.”
Brady sat back, his gaze flitting from Shelley to Leo and back several times. Finally, he leaned forward to glare at Leo. “Her I understand, but what’s in it for you?”
“The satisfaction of helping out a friend.” Leo clenched his fists below the table.
“And what will you do for me if I cooperate?” Brady no longer resembled a pastry, sweet and doughy. Now he seemed more like a cactus, prickles and all.
“I’ll get you out of here and reunite you with your wife. If that’s what you really want.” He watched Brady carefully for a reaction.
Brady’s mouth twitched. “I might as well. It’s not like I have anything else left.”
Shelley grimaced. “I’m sure your wife will be happy to hear that.”
Leo pushed back his chair and rose to bang on the door again. If he had to listen to any more of Brady’s drivel, he’d fly over the table at the man’s throat. Once he and Shelley were in the corridor, he slammed a hand on the wall then puffed out his cheeks, releasing all the toxic emotions a visit to Brady stirred up. “I’m going to Rascalz.”
“Well, you enjoy that. I have to sit here and see if I can drag anything else out of Cinderfella.” She grimaced. “I’m going back in to see if I can unearth anything else about Gage. I expect a written report with everything you find out.”
“I’ll hand it in along with my bill.”
Her eyes widened. “Your bill?”
“You don’t expect me to work for free, do you?”
“You came to me and volunteered, sweetheart.” She met his gaze then hesitated. “Okay, I’ll pay for some of your expenses while you’re here, which doesn’t include lap dances or rounds for the whole bar.”
Leo smirked. “Since I don’t drink while I’m on duty, I guess you get off easy.”
After spending the afternoon wandering around the campus then taking a two-hour nap after dinner, Leo strolled into Rascalz shortly after eleven. The entire bar seemed to glitter and the music blared so loud the building shook. Leo longed to leave before he’d taken ten steps inside. While the bar hadn’t changed, Leo had. The sight of skinny women with too-large implants no longer excited him as when he was a skinny teenager cleaning vomit from the toilets and dodging drug busts.
“Hey, hon.” A tall, raven-haired woman leaned her scantily-clad body against him. “Can I get you anything sinful? Me, perhaps?”
He glanced at her jeweled bra and tight black skirt then up to her heavily made up eyes with sequined, feathery eyelashes. “I assume you work here.”
She pressed her finger to his lips. “You’re not a vice cop, are you?”
“No.” Leo shuddered and kept one hand on his wallet. He’d been here before. Known girls like her before intimately.
“Then I work wherever you want me to.” She leaned over and licked his earlobe. “If you handcuff me, we could pretend you’re a cop, then I’d tell you whatever you want to know.”
He cringed at the thought of Christina leaning into strange men with similar requests then revealing the most intimate parts of her body. “Let’s start with your name.”
She breathed into his ear in a feeble attempt to turn him on. “Jakova.”
Luck was with him. Jakova was one of the women Brady mentioned. So far. “Glad to hear that. I think we have a friend in common. Do you know Rose Ryan?”
“Rose? She’s not here.” Her eyebrows arched as her face hardened. “What do you want with a skinny little mouse like her?”
“She’s a friend of a friend.” Leo eased away from her, finally able to put some space between their bodies. “I was told she worked here.”
Jakova squirmed. “I heard a rumor her mom died. Rose left for the funeral, but never came back. We all figured she’d finally ditched her loser husband and got a better offer, which worked well for the rest of us. She was pretty popular with the regulars, so now we get our pick of men.” She leaned in close. “You know, she would’ve been far better off if she hadn’t married the owner’s ex-boyfriend.”
Another puzzle piece fit into place. Brady had sent his new wife to work for his former boyfriend. Unthinkable for anyone else, probably a logical move for Brady Ryan. “Yeah, who is the owner of this dive now?”
“Marty Upshaw.” Jakova nuzzled his ear once more. “You might know him. He does a bunch of charity stuff at Christmas time to keep the cops off his back. Toys for needy kids, that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, I know him.” Leo nodded. Could Marty Upshaw be jealous enough of Brady’s marriage to kill Gage and send Brady away for life?
“You should talk to Angel.” Jakova ran her hand over the front of his jeans. “She and Rose were actually friends. They did each other’s hair every night and hung out from time to time and I think Angel had a crush on her, but don’t quote me. When Rose left to help her mom, Angel moped for days.” She flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “Personally, I’m glad to see Rose gone. She was always Marty’s favorite. Now the rest of us get a little attention.”
Leo narrowed his eyes, sure she knew Rose had left for her mom’s funeral, not to help her while she was sick. He let it go, but it seemed like a minor sticking point that glared in Leo’s face like neon. He made a mental note to ask her again later.
“Angel.” Jakova grabbed a slender, blonde with white feathered wings by the arm and pushed her at Leo. “This guy wants you. Have fun.” She gave a finger wave and disappeared.
True to her stage name, Angel had blonde hair, wide blue eyes, and a heavenly body, but lacked any semblance of a halo. Startled, her gaze followed Jakova into the crowd before she turned to Leo, her pupils dilated from either darkness or drugs. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing physical. You can relax. I just need to ask you a few questions.” He motioned her toward a quiet corner, as far from the stage as he could. “I hear you’re good friends with Rose Ryan.”
“You’re here about Rose?” Her eyes grew even larger. “Wow, I thought you were another one of those perverts trying to do an angel for Christmas.” She sighed and leaned closer. “Did Jakova tell you Rose and I were friends? I honestly have no idea where she is. She went home to help her family and no one’s heard from her since.”
“It’s okay.” Leo held up a hand. “I know where she is. I need to learn more about her.”
“Why? Are you a cop? Is she okay?” Despite her blue eye shadow and pink blush, Angel’s face paled. “Are you here because of what Brady did? He didn’t kill Rose too, did he?”
“No, she’s very much alive and making my life miserable.” He chuckled then ordered a cola from a passing waitress and studied Angel through narrowed eyes. “Is that what people here are saying? That Brady killed her?”
“Just Jakova. Poor Rosie. I miss her so much.” She toyed with a ring on her index finger. A Celtic knot. “She got the job here because of Brady. He and Marty, the owner, were lovers and when Brady married Rose, Marty was livid. Despite everything, Marty promised to look after Rose. She’s not the best dancer, but she’s pretty and way more innocent than some of the other girls. The customers loved her sweet school girl act. Some nights, Brady made her wear a plaid skirt, knee socks, and the whole school uniform.”
Brady made her? Leo pictured Christina in the short plaid skirt and knee socks he’d found in Brady’s apartment. “What did she tell you when she left?”
“That her mom was sick.” Angel blinked her white feathery eyelashes furiously then wiped at the corner of one eye. When she glanced around them, one of her wings hit his shoulder. “She left after work on a Friday and never came back. I didn’t see her at school after that either. Brady said she’d be gone for a
couple weeks. He didn’t seem upset when she didn’t come back. Actually, that’s when he and Gage started to hang around in public.”
Leo studied Angel in the bursts of light from the stage show. “So you went to school with Rose as well?”
“Yeah. We both took art history. I’m pre-law and just took it for the easy marks. Rose was a really talented painter, but Brady and Gage kept her too busy to do her own work.” Angel’s face softened when she smiled. “We’d do homework together once a week. She always had to explain brush strokes and techniques, but she was horrible with math.”
Leo found two things odd. Angel talked about her friend in the past tense and Christina seemed to do well enough with math at the bakery. Something about her mention of Rose studying art nagged at him. He brushed the thought aside. “Does Brady come in here a lot?”
“No. Last I heard he was in jail. Before Rose left, Marty told Brady to stay away while she was at work. She’d get uptight and clumsy when he was around like she was afraid of him.” Angel paused and glanced around, more comfortable talking about Rose than about Brady.
“Do you think he’s guilty?”
She shrugged. “Once Rose left town, Brady and Marty hooked up for a couple weeks, then Brady started to show up with Gage and acting weird. I know he had a drug problem, but Rose said he’d been clean for a while.” When she glanced around again, she flinched.
Across the room, Jakova talked to a short balding man Leo assumed was Marty Upshaw. Her arms flailed around as she yelled over the volume of the speakers and pointed toward their table. He and Angel had precious little time to chat. “Did you know Gage before he came in with Brady?”
She winced and grasped Leo’s hand to stress the urgency. “I modeled for him once or twice and he’d have a nasty temper tantrum every session. Once someone mixed up his brushes. He freaked out and trashed the studio.”
“Did Rose model for him?”
Angel grimaced. “She modeled for him, slept with him, partied with him, the girl was crazy about him. The problem was Gage treated her like a princess and... I shouldn’t tell you this, but Jakova was jealous.”
His eyebrow twitched. “Jakova? Why was that?”
“Jakova and Gage have been on-again off-again forever. If you think she was peeved when Gage took up with Rose, you should’ve seen the fireworks the first time he and Brady came in groping each other.” Angel glanced across the room again and winced. “I have to go. Marty’s coming over to tell you to flash some cash or get out.”
Leo slipped her a fifty dollar bill, the cost of one more puzzle piece. “Did you ever see Jakova and Gage fight?”
Angel slid the bill into her bra. “The night he died, Gage came in to the bar with Brady ready to party and they got down and dirty over in the corner where Jakova could see them. She went nuts and dumped a whole pitcher of drinks on them. Marty sent her home, told Gage to leave, and Brady to never come back.” She bit her lower lip. “Sorry, I really have to go. If you see Rose again, tell her to be happy and call me. She has my number.”
“I’ll tell her.” Leo promised. “Is there anyone else I should talk to?”
“Talk to about who?” The short, balding man with a bodybuilder’s physique and a tanning bed tan stood next to the table, arms folded across his barrel chest. “Get back to work, Angel. I don’t pay you to sit on your moneymaker and talk.”
“Leo Blue. You bought this place off my uncle years ago.” Leo extended a hand and stood. “I needed to talk to her about Rose Ryan. Jakova told me Angel knew Rose best.”
“Marty Upshaw.” Marty didn’t seem intimidated by his size in the least. His face paled, but he didn’t bother to extend a hand. “I remember you. The skinny kid who enlisted. Your uncle was an interesting man. At least he taught you how to work hard and thought the world of you. What do you want with Rose?”
“I want to help her.” He paused then added, “And Brady.”
Marty’s thick eyebrows rose. He nodded to a large man nearby and slipped into the seat Angel had vacated as the bouncer backed off. “What do you know about Brady and Rose?”
Leo looked him in the eye. “I’m working with Brady’s lawyer, Shelley Black. I’m not convinced Brady killed Gage, but I need some information to get him to tell the truth.”
He seemed to hold his breath for a couple heartbeats, then motioned for Leo to follow. “Let’s go to my office.”
Marty’s office was up a set of spiral stairs at the back of the club and featured a floor to ceiling window that overlooked the entire bar and stage. Instead of a desk, he had a glass-topped table and several bookshelves filled with leather-bound classic novels. One whole wall was hung with photos of Marty posed with celebrities. One photo showed Marty with several dancers, Christina as Rose Ryan included. Christina could easily have passed for Marty’s teenage daughter.
He poured a glass of scotch then looked out the window at the bar below. “Why are you helping Brady?”
Leo sat in a black leather chair. “His wife is my friend’s sister.”
“Then you know who and where she is.” Marty nodded. “Is Christina alive and safe?”
“Yes to both.” He kept his gaze on Marty, but remained aware of the room around him. Beneath the door, a shadow wavered then moved.
Marty turned to face Leo, his nostrils flared. “I’d hoped she’d at least call and tell me she was okay. She knows I worry about her.”
Leo narrowed his eyes. This was a test and he was sure to be thrown down the stairs by the bouncer who waited outside the door. “Are you asking as her pimp or her friend?”
Marty met Leo’s gaze and nodded slowly. “You’re wary. I don’t blame you. I’m sure you’ve heard all about me and Brady from Christina and the girls. For the record, I adore Christina and I’ve thought about calling her every day since she left.”
Leo sighed. He already trusted Marty far more than he’d ever trust Brady. “She’s going through a bad patch, but she’s fine. After her mom died, she stayed to help run the family business. A bakery.”
“Good. Tell her to stay there, I don’t want her back.” Marty smiled then turned back to watch the action in the club. “Not every woman’s cut out for gyrating her hips at a roomful of drunks. Hell, the poor girl needed a drink or two every night before she’d even go near the stage. She hated working here.”
“So why did she do it?”
Marty shrugged. “The money’s good and if the girls make the customers happy, they can take home a lot more in tips than pay. Nobody pools tips here, it’s every girl for herself. Christina had a school girl look the guys all love. On a good night, she’d go home with over five hundred bucks stuffed in that little black bra of hers. When Brady picked her up, I’d walk her out and she’d fork over the cash to him.”
Leo narrowed his eyes. “Nice guy. He never came inside?”
“Not while she worked here.” He hesitated. “I’m sure you heard Brady was my ex-boyfriend. I can’t say I was happy when he married Christina, especially since I was the guy he dumped in Vegas to marry her. We got back on speaking terms right about the same time he came to beg for a job for his new wife.”
“Wait a sec. He dumped you?” Leo’s back stiffened. “Christina said you dumped Brady the same night her boyfriend left her.”
“So that’s the story that lying piece of monkey crap gave her.” Marty ran a hand over his bald head. “He saw something in her, you know. He was never in love with her, but he knew she was something special. Personally, I think he married her as protection more than anything.”
“Protection from what?” Leo sat back, but couldn’t relax.
Marty waved to someone in the club then refilled his glass. “All this talk about Brady and Christina drives me to the bottle. You sure you don’t want a drink? Brady needed someone to make sure he didn’t self-destruct. Ironically, when Christina left to take care of her mom, he got involved with Gage and dove headlong into the drugs.”
A self-fulfilling prophecy.
“But you’re his friend, didn’t you step in to help?”
Marty shrugged. “I had it out with him, even told him how disappointed Christina would be, how sad I was, but he didn’t care. He wanted Gage. He wanted the life. Since she wasn’t here, he sounded like...” He trailed off and sighed.
Leo finished. “Like he didn’t expect her to come back.”
Marty seemed amused. “So you have met him.”
“We’ve had a couple chats.”
“He’s a stubborn cuss, isn’t he? God knows why I still love him after all the crap he’s pulled.” He tossed back a mouthful of scotch. “I do miss Christina, though. I think of her like a sister. As much as she loved Brady, there was never anything romantic between them. Call it more like a moral duty.”
“Or maybe he was acting as her pimp and had some kind of hold on her.” Leo stood up and looked out the window at the slithering bodies below.
Jakova gyrated on stage in front of a gray-haired man. Angel stood near the bar taking to a man in a light-colored suit. She glanced in his direction then turned away and bowed her head.
“Maybe.” Marty cleared his throat and sat behind his desk. “After Christina started here, he told her to do what she had to for the big bucks. The more she flaunted her curves and did the little extras for her customers, the more money she brought home at the end of each night.” He frowned. “On slow nights, I’d slip her a few extra dollars just to keep him off her back.”
“So he was psychologically abusive.” Leo clenched his hand. “Did he ever beat her?”
“Nah. It was purely mental.” Marty sat back. “Guilt mostly. Some nights she’d come in bawling and I’d sit with her until she pulled herself together. Poor girl’s hands would shake so hard I’d have to do her makeup and give her a shot of whiskey to steady her. She was a very lonely girl.”
“Lonely?” Leo frowned. “I thought she and Angel were good friends.”