Page 75 of Dealing Dirty
He has a point.
“It was too perfect.” My fingers trace the old wooden bar before stilling as a thought strikes. “He waited to make his move until we were away from the bar and the crowd had thinned from Jack’s show.”
“Yeah, but why Jules?” Jack asks.
Micah shifts his weight. “Wasn’t that guy one of the ones who showed up here about a month ago? Another man was with him, and they looked suspicious. I remember one of them having a conversation with Juliana.”
“Yeah, I remember now.” Jack inspects the dark lines on his forearm before sliding a wary glance toward the pool tables. “That was the night someone started fucking with us.”
“He knew Jack’s schedule enough to know he’d be performing. If his intent was to cause a scene with Juliana, then her leaving in a fit of anger would have been the desired outcome,” Micah says.
Realization strikes. I know exactly where I’ve seen the guy before. “You’re not gonna believe this, but I ran into him and another guy at the fair about a week ago. They were talking with Juliana there, too. Once they saw me, they left.”
I breathe through a wave of fresh anger. “They’ve coordinated this.”
“But they took both of the girls.” Jack pauses. “What if Hazel was the intended target, and Juliana was just an accessory?”
Could be…
“Even so, how could they know where the girls would end up?” I ask.
“Someone must have had eyes on them,” Jack says.
The front door swings open forcefully as my sister rushes us. “You guys!”
She’s panting, clutching a black leather jacket and waving it at us wildly. Anxious for answers, the three of us crowd her, and she thrusts the garment into my hands. Based on size alone, this jacket belongs to a man.
“What is this?”
“It’s the jacket Lucas gave Juliana before they left. I caught up with the Wolves this afternoon, and Lucas and Cooper gave me some interesting info. They drove by when Hazel and Juliana pulled into Lucky’s, but before they left The Pound, Lucas gave her this jacket.”
I lift a brow in Jack’s direction and then turn back to Sasha. “Okay, so why are you so excited?”
“Because! According to Cooper, they questioned several witnesses before coming here last night.”
Micah nods. “Trying to avoid Kenneth’s wrath, no doubt.”
“Exactly. Two girls attested that the man they’d seen walking out with Hazel and Jules was tall with black hair and dark eyes. But he lacked the notable scars that match our brawler, Alfonzo.”
We’re quiet, waiting for her to hurry and clue us in.
Sasha waves a hand through the air. “So I took it to the lab, did a little schmoozing, got it tested for prints and… guess whose dirty little prints are all over it?”
Wrapping my hands over her shoulders, I shake her. “You’re killing me, Sash. What did you find?”
“Ethan Moore.” She slides a printed picture out of her pocket and hands it to me.
Just as I thought. The image matches the same guy I saw with Juliana the day I promised I’d make good on our deal.
Micah crosses his arms. “Who the hell is that?”
Her foot taps as she narrows a whole lot of attitude his way, reminding me of Juliana.
“Ethan is part of the group I was following to the illegal casino the night Derrick blew my mission.”
“That mission was over before it even began,” I argue with an eye roll.
She ignores me. “He’s wanted for a number of things, but grand larceny and pimping are his latest offenses. Given that the PD has been heavily influenced, it now makes sense why I’ve had such a hard time pinning him down.”
