by Kat Martin
Jase pulled onto Highway 75 and headed back to Dallas. At Kate’s apartment building, he pulled up under the portico in front and stopped at the entrance.
Kate cracked open the passenger door. “Good luck with your informant.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll see you tonight. What time will you be picking me up?”
Jase shook his head. “Sorry, darlin’. Too dangerous. You’ll have to wait this one out.”
She gave him a saccharine smile. “I don’t think so, darlin’. I’m going with you to Mean Jack’s—that was our deal. Either you take me or I’m going by myself.”
His temper inched up. “I don’t think you understand how this works, Kate. You hired me to find the man who killed your sister. That’s what I’m going to do. You need to stay home where you’ll be safe.”
Her features tightened. “I’m tired of playing it safe. I’m in this all the way. Either you’re in it with me, or I’ll find someone who is.”
He wanted to shake some sense into her. Her sister was dead. The kind of people Tina Galen associated with were the scum of the earth. He didn’t want anything to happen to Kate.
“I’m going,” she repeated, and his temper cranked again. Good thing he’d never laid a hand on a woman and never would, or Kate Gallagher’s sweet little ass would be in danger.
She shifted, gently touched his arm. “I can help you, Hawk. Let me do this. Please. I should have been there when Chrissy needed me, but I wasn’t. I need to do this for my sister. And I need to do it for myself.”
He heard the guilt in her voice and his anger deflated. He knew a lot about guilt. He wore a tat on his calf with the names of the three men in his unit who had died while he had lived.
The low rumble of the engine muffled his sigh of defeat. “All right, I’ll take you. But you do what I say, all right? No questions asked, no arguments. Understood?”
She gave him a blinding white smile that hit him like a punch in the gut. “I’ll do whatever you say. I promise.” She made a cross over her heart.
She looked so cute Jase shoved the Yukon into Park, leaned across the seat, cupped her nape and pulled her in for a quick, hard kiss.
“Behave yourself, Kate Gallagher,” he said, his voice a little husky. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Kate opened the door and slid out of the SUV without looking back. In seconds she’d disappeared through the glass doors into the lobby.
I must be out of my mind, Jase thought, somewhere in the rational part of his brain. He didn’t take women into seedy sections of the city, particularly not beautiful, sexy women.
But the lust-filled part of his brain that was keeping him hard after that brief-but-incredibly hot kiss was selfishly glad he’d be seeing her again tonight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kate stepped out of the elevator and made her way down the corridor to her apartment. Her face felt warm and her insides still quivered. One kiss? It was impossible.
She walked into the living room, closed the door firmly and blew out a shaky breath. She didn’t trust herself when it came to Hawk Maddox. She had never been this physically attracted to a man before.
Kate sighed as she headed for her home office. If she could turn back time, she would stay as far away from Maximum Security as she could get. She didn’t need a man in her life. After Andrew, she didn’t want the complication. Particularly not a man who drew her the way Jason Maddox did.
That attraction had been the cause of her first mistake—seducing him at the Sagebrush Saloon. It had seemed so safe at the time. A one-time hookup with a hot-bodied guy who made her stomach flutter with a single kiss. And those amazing blue eyes. She shook her head. Why not? Other women did that kind of thing.
Now she was working with him, exposed to all that hot masculinity on a daily basis till they found Chrissy’s killer.
Another sigh slipped out as she sat down at her computer to do a little more research. She could handle it. She was a grown woman. Besides, she really had no choice.
As the screen lit up, her cell phone rang. Kate dug it out of her purse, checked but didn’t recognize the number. “Kathryn Gallagher.”
“Katie...sweetheart, it’s your father.”
Her stomach instantly knotted. She could see him in her mind, a tall, slender man with silver threads in his dark hair.
“It’s good to hear your voice,” he said.
Her fingers tightened around the phone. She hadn’t seen her father since her parents’ divorce. They’d spoken a few times while the police searched for Chrissy, but her sister had left a note so there was no doubt she had run away. He had called again when her mother got sick. She had heard from him only twice since her mom had died.
“Hello, Dad.”
“I should have called you when I first heard the news, but I... I just couldn’t.”
His words and the regret in his voice surprised her. Maybe he actually did care about his daughter, at least a little.
“What do you want, Dad?”
“I know you and Chrissy weren’t close, but she was still your sister. I want to know if you’re okay.”
Her eyes burned. A lump formed in her throat. “No, Dad, I’m not okay. Chrissy’s dead. She was murdered, and the police have no idea who killed her. So no, I’m not okay.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I truly am. I wasn’t a good father to you or your sister. I regret that. I want to make it up to you. I’m coming to the funeral. I just need to know where and when.”
“They haven’t...they haven’t released Chrissy’s body yet.”
Seconds passed. “I assume you’re making the arrangements. You’re handling the funeral?”
God, she hadn’t even thought about it. She was too consumed with finding Chrissy’s killer.
She took a deep breath. “I’ll be taking care of it, yes.” And now that he’d asked, she realized she wanted Chrissy to be buried next to their mother. The plot had already been paid for, once meant to be for her dad—which was never going to happen now. “I’d like her to have the place next to Mom.”
“Yes, of course. I should have thought of that myself. Are you...are you going to be all right?”
“I’ve always been able to take care of myself, Dad. I’ll be fine.”
“All right, then. Just call and let me know what day the service is going to be held, and I’ll be there.”
“You don’t need to do that. Rockdale is a long way from New York.”
“I want to see you, sweetheart. It’s been far too long.”
“You’re married, Dad. You have a family. I’m all that’s left of your old life.” The lump returned to her throat. “I understand, I really do.”
“Katie, listen to me—”
“I’ve got to go, Dad. I’ll email the date and time.” She hung up before he could say anything more. Fresh tears threatened. She told herself to compartmentalize. She had learned to do that over the years, separate the parts of life that needed to be dealt with now from the painful parts that could be dealt with later. At the moment, she needed to compartmentalize the loss of her sister, separate the Chrissy of the past from Tina Galen, the woman who had lived on the streets and been brutally murdered.
She could do it, she told herself. Just like with Maddox. She didn’t really have any choice.
* * *
Jase shoved open the door to the Mustang Bar and stepped into the darkened interior. He took a moment for his eyes to adjust before walking farther into the room. You never knew who might be waiting, and you never gave your enemy the advantage.
He spotted Tommy sitting at the bar, his carrot-red hair glowing in the neon beer sign in the mirror above a row of liquor bottles. Jase walked up to the bar beside him and ordered a Lone Star.
“Over there.” Jase pointed to an empty table at the back of the room. When the beer
arrived, he left money on the counter for Tommy’s tab and his own, and they carried their beers over and sat down.
“What have you got?” Jase asked, tipping up his bottle and taking a long refreshing drink.
“Got wind Harding’s in Waco. Got Rosa with him. Word is he’s jacking cars and dealing drugs.” Tommy had his own information chain. In this case, someone connected to Ray’s Auto Body in Houston likely knew someone in Waco involved in a carjacking ring.
Ratting people out for a living was a dangerous racket, but so far, Tommy had managed to survive.
“I need a name,” Jase said. “Someone to talk to when I get down there.” Which might not be for at least a few more days, depending on what he came up with tonight. He’d meant what he’d said. Chrissy’s murder came first.
“There’s a guy named Pete Rodriquez. Hangs out at a joint called El Sombrero. That’s the best I can do.”
Jase slid a wad of greenbacks across the table. He liked to keep Tommy happy. An informant who trusted you with information was worth every dime.
Jase took another long swallow of beer and got up from the table. “Thanks, Tommy.” He headed for the door.
Unless the police caught up with Randy Harding in Waco, there was a good chance Jase would be able to bust him and collect the 15 percent fee from Harding’s million-and-a-half-dollar bond. Just depended on how good a carjacker Harding was—how long he managed to get away with it without getting caught. Either way, sooner or later, Randy Harding was going down.
From the Mustang, Jase headed for his office, hitting the McDonald’s drive-thru for a burger, fries and a Coke to quiet his growling stomach. It was late afternoon, but he still had plenty of time before his trip to Mean Jack’s tonight.
The Max was humming when he walked through the door, guys working on their laptops or checking their cells. Bran Garrett waved from behind his desk, his phone pressed up against his ear. The door to Chase’s office stood open. Harper, Chase’s pretty blond wife, perched on the edge of her husband’s desk, their heads together, the two of them laughing.
Jase had never expected to see his best friend happily married. For years, the Garrett brothers had been the most eligible bachelors in Dallas. In a way, Jase envied his friend. But the settled-down life wasn’t for him. He had never been in a serious relationship, never been in love. Until Chase and Harper, he’d been fairly sure there was no such thing.
He’d only been ten years old when his mother had run off with a pharmaceutical salesman, leaving him in the care of his drunken father. His dad had gone from a sloppy drunk to a mean one, until Jase got old enough to stand up to the big bastard. Fortunately, he’d never had to actually kick his old man’s drunken ass.
He’d toughed it out at home until he was sixteen, then moved into an apartment with a friend and got a job, finished high school, then put himself through junior college. He’d graduated early and joined the marines.
Aside from his brothers in the military, love wasn’t a word in his vocabulary.
He paused for a moment to speak to Chase as he walked out of his office. Chase liked to be kept in the loop so Jase brought him up to speed on his current cases, then walked down the hall to the employee lounge and sat at the round oak table to eat his lunch. He inhaled the burger and fries, and was stuffing the wrappers back into the bag when Bran Garrett walked into the room.
The youngest Garrett brother was thirty-three, same as Jase, same dark hair and blue eyes. Bran was about six-three, with a lean, hard-muscled build. He was former army spec ops, which gave them a bond. And they just flat-out liked each other.
Bran poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table opposite Jase. “I hear you stole one of Chase’s clients.” Bran grinned. “I also hear she’s a sexy blonde with a dynamite body. Nice work.”
“We’d met before.”
One of Bran’s dark eyebrows went up. “That’s it? ‘We’d met before.’ End of story?”
“Okay, I met her and I liked her. A lot. Her sister was murdered. She needs help and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Bran sobered at his serious expression. “Maybe I can help. What have you got so far?” Bran’s specialty was personal protection. He was one of the most sought-after bodyguards in Dallas. Since the Garretts were rich as Croesus, he could pick and choose his clients.
He was also a licensed PI who kept his ear to the ground, same as Jase.
“Haven’t got much so far.” He filled his friend in on Chrissy Gallagher aka Tina Galen and what he’d been able to come up with, which was mostly a big fat zero.
“Tonight I’m going down to Mean Jack’s, see if I can find someone who knew Tina, maybe figure out why the killer would dump her body in the alley behind the bar.”
“You want company?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve already got company. Kate insists on being involved in this. She managed to con me into taking her with me.”
Bran laughed. “Dude, you got it bad.”
He grunted. “Yeah. Hopefully, once this is over and I take her to bed, I’ll get my head on straight again. Both of them.”
Bran laughed. “Mean Jack’s can be rough. Not a great place to go courting.”
“That’s what I told her, but Kate’s got a stubborn streak a mile wide.”
“Just like you. No wonder you like her.” Still smiling, Bran took his coffee and rose from the chair. “Let me know if you need some help.”
Jase rose, too. “I will.” Heading for his desk, he sat down and made some phone calls, then set up his laptop, caught up on his email and started digging on the internet again, clicking around on erotic websites to see if Tina Galen popped up anywhere interesting.
When nothing came up, he thought about calling Tabby, but she’d get back to him as soon as she could, and there were other things he needed to do.
The office officially closed at five thirty, but the men and women who worked there, being independent contractors, were in and out at all hours. Jase finally packed up and headed out to the Yukon. As dumb as it was, he was looking forward to his evening with Kate.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kate turned in front of the mirror, inspecting the fourth outfit she had tried on for her trip to Mean Jack’s. Satisfied with the ultrashort silver miniskirt, silver midriff-baring top she’d pulled on over a pushup bra, and sky-high silver heels, she put away the black leggings and black leather vest she had considered, along with her high-heeled black boots.
Returning to the bathroom, she made a final check of her makeup and hair. She had teased her heavy curls into a big-hair look. Too much glittery eye shadow, too much mascara and too much rouge turned her into the hooker she was pretending to be. She figured Maddox could get up close and personal with a lady of the night, but that didn’t mean the woman would tell him her secrets. But perhaps another streetwalker could get one of them to talk.
Imagining what Maddox would say when he saw her, she bit back a grin. She was sure he was going to go ballistic, but she wasn’t backing down. Maddox could just get over himself.
The intercom buzzed. Jase was waiting in the lobby. She grabbed her small silver purse and slung the chain over her shoulder. Adjusting her top, she pulled it down far enough for her cleavage to bulge to near overflowing.
She grabbed a lightweight trench coat from the hall closet and put it on. She still had a business to run and an image to protect. Besides, Maddox would be easier to deal with if she revealed her outfit after they were already at the bar. Hopefully.
She walked out of the elevator, the coat flapping around her legs as she strode toward him. He was definitely in the game, wearing black jeans and scuffed black cowboy boots, a black T-shirt under a black leather vest with an American flag on the back.
Her stomach fluttered. The man had some serious macho working for him.
“You sure you want to do this?” h
e asked, clearly hoping she would say no.
“Absolutely.” She turned and walked ahead of him out of the lobby to the Yukon parked out in front. She didn’t think he’d noticed her heavy makeup or the way she had teased her hair, or if he had, he was too polite to mention it.
“I don’t think it’s going to rain,” he said, eyeing the trench coat.
“I’ll leave it in the car.”
He didn’t ask why she was wearing it. He would certainly figure it out when she took it off. Kate grinned.
They got into the Yukon and started the fifteen-minute ride to Old East Dallas.
“I dug around a little more on the internet,” Jase said. “Didn’t find anything useful.”
“I didn’t come up with anything, either.”
As they closed in on their target, the area began to degenerate further and further. Run-down strip malls, seedy motels, mini-marts whose windows hadn’t been washed in years. Every third building was a liquor store: Johnny’s, Rueben’s, an Express drive-thru beer mart. The Puff and Stuff Smoke Shop sat next to J.B.’s Pawn Shop.
Her stomach tightened as she began to notice the girls standing beneath the lights at intersections, quietly displaying themselves for sale. Every age, shape and skin tone, all dressed scantily to catch the buyer’s eye.
Her heart beat faster. Her sister had been one of these girls.
“We’re almost there,” Maddox said.
Mean Jack’s was a stand-alone, flat-roofed building with a dirt parking lot out front and a sign above the door. A gas station and convenience store with a motel behind it were the closest nearby structures. Beneath the overhead gas station lights, a couple of women strutted up and down the pavement.
The lot was full of cars when they pulled in, not all of them beaters as she had expected. A couple of motorcycles sat off to one side, older models, the paint faded and the bodies dented. There were a couple of women out in front, both dressed in short tight skirts and low-cut tops. One wore a see-through blouse that showed bare breasts under the gauzy fabric. Another wore a pair of cutoff jeans too short to cover the pale globes of her behind.
