Page 118 of Havoc

“I’m sorry, Min.”

“So am I, for you.”

“See,” I laughed, and it came out like a snort, “this is why turning lesbian looks so damn appealing as we get older.”

“Amen.”

* * *

The lobby wasin full swing with a bus load of tourists all chattering about their day at the Hoover Dam.

I checked the time and saw Yen had written to say his friend was still in the casino and he’d be a little late for our meeting.

“Great. Spend your money.” I chuckled to myself. Suddenly, someone clipped my shoulder hard and sent me into a tailspin. I put my hand on a pillar to steady myself. Once I caught my breath, I looked around and saw her. I couldn’t miss that face full of freckles, and my stomach dropped.

I saw Grim across the lobby; he watched and began to walk my way. He must have caught my encounter.

The woman pushed her stringy hair out of her face, and I was instantly thrust back to that night in the parking garage.

“I see the bruises have healed.” She looked me up and down, and images of my attack flashed before me.

“Don’t think he’s not still watching you.” She laughed like she was high on something.

“What?” I felt the air get sucked from my lungs.

“He saw you at the bar with your new boyfriend. He better watch himself or he’ll be next.”

“Holy shit!” He really was still watching me.

“Trust me, bitch, there’s nothing holy about this guy.”

Grim appeared then and waved at someone. Seconds later, security made their move. One grabbed her arms, and the others blocked the view so the tourists wouldn’t see.

“Get her in the back,” Grim ordered and looked back at me. “What the hell was that all about? Are you okay?”

“Not even close.”

“Come with me,” Grim ordered, and I stopped short and looked at him. “I’ll need you there when we question her.” His voice was a lot more civil.

“All right,” I agreed.

A short while later, we gathered in Grim’s office. The woman managed to keep up her cocky attitude.

“You know I recognize you from Dirty Demons.” She snapped her pink gum like she was twelve and thought she was cool.

I cut her off. “Tell me about the man you’re working with.” The last thing I needed was Grim finding out I danced at Minnie’s club.

“Don’t know.” She kicked her hooker heels up on the table, but Grim knocked them down, nearly making her fall out of her chair.

“Talk or choke on my fist,” he threatened, and she rolled her eyes. Clearly, she’d dealt with aggressive men before. Men like Grim wouldn’t necessarily scare her much. I needed another tactic.

“I’ll give you a hundred if you tell me who he is.” I pulled a bill out, and Grim scowled at me, but the chick grabbed it and held it up to the light to check if it was fake then pushed it into her skimpy cleavage.

“Like I said, I don’t know. I only danced at Minnie’s for a few months when I started to see this guy hanging around the place.” I texted Minnie and filled her in and asked her to come to the hotel. She might be able to help.

“What did he look like?” I cut my eyes at Grim to let me continue without any interruptions.

“Tall, slim, kinda has a Brad Pitt thing going on, but looks like Liam Neeson in some lights.” I closed my eyes and envisioned all the ways I could make her talk. Christ, now I was getting dark. “He always wanted a lap dance but not much more. He seemed to just want to talk more than anything.”

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