“Who is it?” Maxine asked him.
“Hold on. What?”
“Coast?” said a man’s voice. “It's Preston.”
“Who?”
“Preston Harvey.”
“What do you want?”
“It's Kendra, she's disappeared.”
“Disappeared? Where did she go?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn't be calling you.”
“It's two in the morning.”
“Three in the morning,” Maxine corrected.
“Three in the morning,” said Dan.
“Coast, ya gotta help me,” Harvey pleaded. There was much concern in his shaky voice. “I can't find her anywhere. She won't answer her cell phone and she's not responding to my texts.”
“Try checking the last place you saw her. That always works for my car keys. If she doesn't turn up, call the cops.”
“I already phoned the pol—”
Dan ended the call. He rolled back and pressed his body against the warmth of Maxine's back. He put his arm around her and ground his pelvis into her butt cheeks.
“Problem?” Maxine asked.
“Yeah,” Dan replied. “You're wearing underwear.”
“I mean with the phone call.”
“Preston Harvey is missing his porn star.”
“Adult film star,” said Maxine.
Dan pressed hard against her.
“I have to get up in two hours.”
“I'm up now,” Dan whispered. He put his hands on her back and began to massage her shoulders, slowly working down to the small of her back.
Maxine snored.
Dammit! Denied. Dan pulled back the covers, slipped on his boxer shorts that were lying on the floor, and went to take a leak.
On his way back to the bedroom, Dan paused at Mel's door, it was open just a crack. He pushed it open a few inches farther and peeked into the room. It was dark and he waited for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he could see the bed was empty. He reached in, flipped on the ceiling light, and entered the room.
Where the hell is he? Dan wondered. He turned and walked down the hall toward the dining room. “Mel,” he whispered loudly, and waited for an answer. There wasn't one.
Dan turned on the dining room light. Buddy was lying on his flannel bed. He lifted his head and looked at Dan.
“You seen Mel?” Dan asked.
Buddy didn't say a word.
Dan went into the kitchen and turned on the light, he even went to the back door and looked out into the yard. When he returned to the dining room he saw the note on the dining room table.
Dan,
Kendra called my cell phone.
She said she needed my help.
Didn't want to wake you. Call you later.
Your best friend,
Mel
P.S. Don't blame Buddy. I asked him not to say anything.
“Sonofabitch!” Dan grabbed the note and brought it back to the bedroom with him. “Hey,” he whispered. Then a little louder: “Hey!”
Maxine stirred. “We'll do it tomorrow night, I promise. I have to get up early.”
“Maxine,” Dan said. “Mel's gone.”
She shot up in bed. “What! What do you mean, gone?” She threw back the covers and hurried to Mel's room. “He's gone,” she said.
“I know. That's what I'm saying, he's gone. I checked the whole house.”
“Where did he go?”
Dan handed Maxine the note. “Sonofabitch!” she said.
“That's what I said.”
Dan and Maxine's eyes shot to the small table that sat next to Buddy's bed, the table where the picture of Alex sat, the table where Maxine dropped her car keys whenever she got to Dan's. The keys were gone.
“Sonofabitch!” they said in unison.
Chapter Seventeen
Preston Harvey was waiting out front of the Atlantic Inn Hotel when Dan and Red pulled up in Red's car. Dan hopped out and pulled the seat forward. “Get in,” he said.
Harvey climbed into the back seat. “Where are we going?”
“To find Mel,” Red said.
“What about Kendra?” Harvey asked.
“If she's with him, we'll find her too.”
Dan dialed his cell phone for the sixth time since discovering Mel had left the house.
Hello, the voice mail message said. You've reached the Gormin Detective Agency, Mel Gormin PI speaking. I can't take your call right now, probably because I'm out solving crimes at the moment, because I'm a private investigator, just like Magnum, PI. I also have a Ferrari like Magnum, PI. Wait … what was I saying? Oh yeah, I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave a mess—” The message cut off.
“Mel, it's Dan again. Call me back if you get this message.” Dan hung up his cell and turned to Harvey. “Where did you see Kendra last?”
“She danced and signed autographs at a place called Secret Treasures, on Duvall Street tonight,” Harvey said. “You know of it?”
“No,” said Dan.
“Yes,” said Red.
Red took a left off of Caroline Street onto Duvall and parked across the street from the Secret Treasures Gentlemen's Club.
“Come here often?” Dan asked as he climbed from the car.
“Once,” Red responded. “For a stag party.”
The three men crossed the street. A towering bear of a man in faded jeans, and a red flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off was closing the front door of Secret Treasures. The black bouncer pulled a set of keys from his front pocket and inserted one into the lock.
“Excuse me,” Dan said.
The man turned. “Sorry, guys, we're closed.”
“We're looking for a girl,” Harvey said.
The big guy chuckled, flashing an amiable grin that spotlighted a single diamond on his left incisor. “That's why they come here.”
Harvey said, “We're looking for Kendra Hunt.”
“She took off about two hours—hey wait, aren't you the guy that was with her?”
“Yes,” Harvey replied. “I'm her manager. I haven't heard from her since she left here and I'm trying to get in touch with her.”
The big lug laughed again. Everything seemed to be funny to him. When he wasn't laughing, he was smiling. “I'm sure she's being taken care of quite well.”
“What do ya mean?” Red asked.
The big man turned toward Red. “Oh, hey, Red, didn't notice you.”
“Hey, Carl,” Red responded. “You know where Kendra went?”
Dan looked from Red to Carl. “Yeah, Carl, do ya?”
“She left with Hammer Jones. That's where I'm headed now. He's having a party over to his place on Cindy Avenue. Y'all can follow me over if ya like.”
“Who the Christ is Hammer Jones?” Dan asked.
Carl snickered. “Good one. Like you don't know who Hammer Jones is.”
Carl's car was parked right in front of the club. “Right this way, gentlemen,” he said, and climbed into his black 2012 Audi.
Dan and his group ran across the street and jumped back into Red's car. Red made a U-turn and then followed Carl onto Eaton Street.
“Two things,” Dan said. “First, who the hell is Hammer Jones?”
“Running back for the Gators from '02 to '05. How could you not know that?”
“Okay. Second, how come I've never met your friend Carl before?”
“He's not my friend, he just works at the club,” Red said defensively.
“He knew you by your first name.”
“He probably knows a lot of guys by their first names.” Red veered right onto Palm Avenue.
“Yeah,” Dan agreed. “Guys who hang out at the strip club.”
“It's a gentlemen's club,” Red corrected him.
“Then how did you get in?”
Harvey leaned forward and stuck his head between the two men. “Anyone ever tell you two guys you bicker at each other like an old married couple?”
Dan stared straight ahead. “Anyone
ever push you out of a moving vehicle?”
“Ha!” Red snorted as he took a left onto North Roosevelt Boulevard.
Harvey quietly slumped back into his seat.
When Red rounded the corner onto Cindy Avenue, Dan immediately noticed Maxine's blue Focus parked at the curb, on the left side of the street, facing the wrong direction. Several other cars were parked on the street as well.
Dan pointed at the Focus and Red nodded. Red pulled to the curb directly across from Maxine's car. Carl pulled into the driveway.
Dan climbed from the car and looked over the roof of the Firebird toward Hammer Jones's house. Mel was in the front yard climbing to his feet and brushing grass clippings from his knees. Two large men were walking away from Mel on their way back to the house. Dan and Red ran to Mel's side.
“You okay, Mel?” Dan asked.
“Where's Kendra?” Harvey asked when he reached the three men.
Mel pointed toward the house. “She's inside. I'm sorry, I tried to get her out of there but two guys dragged me out here.”
“It's not your fault, pal,” Red reassured him.
Dan looked back at the house. The thumping bass from the music could be heard throughout the neighborhood. Every light in the place was on and the blinds and curtains were open.
“How many people are in there?” Dan asked as he stared through the windows.
“Maybe thirty,” Mel answered.
“His parties are usually pretty rowdy,” Carl added.
“Good thing we brought our own bouncer with us,” said Red.
Carl looked around, and then grinned. “Oh, you mean me.”
“Yeah, you,” Red replied. “I'm hoping we can count on you.”
“I'm here for ya, Red,” Carl said.
“Aw, that's beautiful,” said Dan. “Now, let's go get 'er.”
“I'll wait out here,” Harvey said.
Red reached out and grabbed Harvey by the back of the shirt. “No ya won't.”
Dan entered the front door first, followed by Mel. Red brought up the rear, pulling Harvey along with him. Carl almost had to turn sideways to fit his shoulders through the thirty-six inch wide opening. Hip-hop was blasting from an unseen stereo; the jacked up bass was turning Dan's bones to jelly. He looked around the living room, which contained mostly men, and then he heard cheering coming from another room. He made his way toward the excitement.
A few of the guys, mostly in their late twenties and early thirties, glanced over at the group as they moved through the house, but didn't seem too concerned and went back to high-fiving, calling each other bro, and telling whatever lies it was they were telling.
In the middle of what most people would use as their dining room, Dan spotted Kendra standing on top of a pool table. She was dressed only in a white lace G-string. A crowd of men, three and four deep, stood around the pool table hollering and clapping. Some were shouting for her to dance, others kept yelling, “Take it off!”
Kendra's small hands were covering her breasts and tears were streaming down her cheeks as she halfheartedly gyrated to the music.
“Dance, ya whore!” one guy with a shaved head shouted, then he threw an empty beer can at her, she ducked and the can flew past her head.
When she came back up she spotted Dan, and a look of relief spread across her face.
Dan pushed his way through the crowd until two men shaped like semi-trucks separated him from Kendra. He reached up and grabbed one by the shoulder and tried to move him out of the way. The guy didn't budge.
Red pushed Dan aside and grabbed the behemoth by the arm and spun him around.
“What do ya think yer doin', Pop?” the guy asked.
Red hit him in the ribs with a right and landed a left jab on his nose
Dan tried to squeeze through.
Another bruiser grabbed Dan by the shoulder. “Hold on,” he said, and yanked Dan backwards. Dan slid backwards on his ass across the floor. The bruiser's attention went back to the table-top show.
Dan jumped to his feet and kicked him in the crotch as hard as he could from behind. The bruiser grabbed his balls, dropped to his knees, and slammed his chin on the edge of the pool table.
“Hold on's ass,” said Dan.
The guy Red hit stumbled backwards a few steps and then came back at Red. Carl stepped in and connected with a haymaker to the puss that sent the man sailing like a paper airplane across the pool table, where he landed unconscious at Kendra's feet.
Carl turned toward the crowd. “Anybody else?” he shouted. The crowd backed away.
Dan grabbed Kendra by the wrist and pulled her over his left shoulder.
Someone tried to grab Kendra's ankle. Mel hit the man in the throat with the back of his hand and then gave him an elbow to the jaw. The man stumbled back against the wall holding his throat and gasping for air.
“Anybody else?” Mel hollered.
Carl exploded in throaty laughter. “Nice, Mel!” he shouted above the music.
Dan headed for the exit with Kendra over his shoulder. Just before he reached the open door a hulk of a man stepped in front of him. A white tank top was tucked into his shorts. The talons of the bald eagle on his shirt gripped a banner that read American As Fuck.
“Where ya going with the entertainment?” Hammer Jones asked politely. He skimmed a dinner plate-sized hand over his spiked hair that made him look vaguely like the GoDaddy dude.
“Out of here,” Dan answered.
“I don't think so,” said Jones. “I paid a lot of money for that little bitch.” He grinned, and when he cracked his knuckles every vein in his body bulged.
“Aargh!” Dan heard behind him, and stepped aside just as Carl charged past him hitting Jones just below the rib cage with his shoulder. Jones's feet left the floor and the two men were halfway across the front yard before they hit the ground with a thud.
The two men wrestled for a second, then they separated, both getting to their feet.
Jones swung a right at Carl's head. Carl dodged the meaty fist and brought up his own hands.
Jones swung again.
Carl ducked and came back up with a hard right under Jones's chin, stunning the big man.
Jones took two steps back and came at Carl again.
Carl swung with a right. Jones blocked it.
Carl threw a left. Jones blocked it.
Jones slammed his forehead into Carl's nose. Carl stepped back, wiped the blood from his upper lip, and looked at it.
“That's gonna cost ya,” Carl said. He ran at Jones tackling him again.
Jones was on his back with Carl on top of him. Before Jones could even get his hands up, Carl had hit him in the face five or six times—first a right, then a left, over and over again.
When Jones's arms dropped to the grass Carl stopped. He wiped his nose again and got to his feet.
Dan was already putting Kendra into Maxine's car.
Red hurried to his own car with Harvey close behind.
As Mel walked by Jones he gave him a swift kick to the ribs. Jones made an Umph sound as some air escaped his lungs.
“Later, bro,” Mel said, and ran to join Red and Harvey.
As Carl was climbing back into his Audi he shouted over the roof: “Catch ya later at the club, Red!”
With Dan glowering at him, Red gave Carl a sheepish wave.
Chapter Eighteen
Red led the way down Flagler Avenue back toward the Atlantic Inn; Dan was close behind.
Dan looked down at the clock in the dashboard. 4:45. Maxine is probably up now and getting ready for work, he thought. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, and then, for the first time since getting into the car, he looked over at Kendra.
Kendra sat with her legs pulled up under her as though she was trying to make herself as small as possible. She was still wearing nothing but her underwear. Her right forearm did its best to cover her breasts. She had stopped crying but dark mascara trails were dried upon her cheeks. She stared out the window
at the early morning sky.
Dan glanced behind him. A white sweater of Maxine's lay in the backseat. He reached back, grabbed it, and tossed it to Kendra. She pulled it over her shoulders.
“Doesn't seem worth the money,” Dan said.
Kendra ignored him.
“How much do you make for something like that?” Dan pressed.
Kendra continued to stare out the window. “Something like what?”
“Dancing naked on a pool table in front of a bunch of drunken assholes while they throw empty beer cans at you and call you names.”
Kendra didn't answer.
“Where are your parents?” Dan asked.
She gave Dan a snotty look. “I'm an adult,” she snapped back.
“I'm adult, too,” Dan said. “and I still have parents.”
“Well, so do I. Big deal.”
“And I asked where they are.”
“None of your business.”
“I think what happened tonight kinda makes it my business.”
“Oh, why, because you think you rescued me? You're a real hero.”
“Think I rescued you?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“It didn't look like it.”
“You think you're so smart.”
“Smart enough not to dance on a pool table naked for a has been college football player who still wears denim shorts and tucks in his tank top like it's 1992.”
Kendra smiled. “You left out his spiked hair.”
“He could poke an eye out with that head.”
Kendra laughed. She was silent for a moment and then said, “Nothing.”
“What?” Dan asked.
“You asked how much I made. I didn't make anything.”
“Then why did you go?”
“Jones seemed nice at the club. He said he was having an afterhours party at his place and wanted to know if I wanted to go with him. I thought it might be fun.”
“You didn't know you were the entertainment.”
“No.”
“Jones said he paid good money for you.”
“I don't know what he meant by that.”
Dan rounded the corner onto Duvall Street.
“Where are you taking me?” Kendra asked.
“Back to the Atlantic Inn.”
Kendra sighed. “Isn't there somewhere else we could go? I'm really hungry. Can we get something to eat?”
Deadly Moves Page 8
