She does not. Shawn sipped his beer and kept his eyes down as Wayne approached. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself. But he sure did want to hear what was said. Unfortunately, Wayne inclined his head toward the far end of the bar. The guy took a deep breath and did as Wayne asked, weaving his way through the people surrounding the bar until he reached the farthest end.
Wayne leaned forward with his elbows on the bar and spoke quietly to the other guy. Despite Shawn pushing his senses to the limit, he could not hear what was being said over the general noise of the bar.
Damn it. He abandoned staring at his beer, and instead of watching Wayne and the guy with his peripheral vision, he looked directly at them. Wayne was indicating a door to the side of the bar. The guy was nodding, his hand over his pocket as if he were reaching for something. Wayne said something sharply to him and his hand dropped to his side.
The guy had planned to pay for something, and Wayne had told him not here. His cougar’s observations were probably correct.
But what? Shawn asked. What is through that door?
His head jerked up and his nostrils flared as his attention was pulled away from the interaction between Wayne and the guy. As he swung his head around to look toward the door leading into the bar, his eyes locked with the female bartender’s. She’d been watching him.
“Hey there.” Joanna breezed into the bar, planted a kiss on his cheek, and sat down on the stool next to him.
“There you are.” He slipped his arm around his mate’s shoulders. “What do you want to drink?”
“I’ll have a gin and tonic, please.” She smiled at the female bartender as she approached and then looked around the room. “Shall we go find a table?”
“Sure.” He glanced at the bartender. “Gin and tonic, please.”
As the bartender went through the motions of fixing the drink, Shawn glanced toward Wayne who was now alone. The guy he’d been talking to must have gone through the door. But why? What was behind there?
“There’s a table.” Joanna grabbed a hold of his arm after he’d paid for the drink and they left the bar, heading for a table at the back.
“What did you find out?” Shawn whispered quietly in her ear as they sat down and snuggled together as if they could not keep their hands off each other. It wasn’t exactly difficult to make everyone around them believe they were kissing and saying sweet nothings. The scent of his mate intoxicated him more than the alcohol in his glass.
“Nothing,” Joanna whispered in his ear, although there was nothing sweet about her tone. Her frustration was obvious. “The pregnant lady is the girlfriend of the chef who runs the kitchen. She’s just here visiting him.”
Shawn jerked his head back. “And you believe her?” Her fingers dug into his arm and she took a deep breath that shuddered through her body. Shawn’s concern grew and he placed his hand over hers, squeezing it lightly. “Do you?”
Joanna glanced toward the bar before she turned back to him. “Yes.” She shook her head. “I was hoping this place would give us the answers we need. That we’d make the connection between Yvette and Gerald Comer here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” She forced a smile onto her face and took a sip of her gin.
He nodded toward the door by the bar. “Something is going on here, though. The guy who came in after me said he was looking for some company.”
“Is this a brothel?” Joanna asked. “Maybe it’s a baby farm.”
“A what?” Shawn’s large feline wanted to leap out and hurt someone. He wanted to tear the place down until there was nothing left.
“That might be it. Shifters come here looking for sex. The women here end up pregnant and the babies get sold.” Joanna’s jaw tightened and she shot a savage look toward Wayne at the bar. “This is what Yvette figured out. She put the pieces together and that’s why she got hurt.”
“Wayne, the guy at the bar, seems to be in charge.” Shawn looked at the bartender who was serving drinks like everything was normal.
“Let’s go ask him some questions.” She arched an eyebrow.
“Okay.” Shawn watched as another guy walked into the bar and was directed toward Wayne. He got up from the table and rolled his shoulders before flexing his hands.
“We’re not looking for a fight here.” Joanna placed her hand on his shoulder. “We need to stay calm. It’s much easier to get information out of someone if you don’t have your fist in their face.”
“Thanks for the tip.” He grinned at her despite the rising anger inside him that threatened to boil over. “Maybe you should do the talking.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” She headed toward the bar looking confident and in control. A sudden surge of pride hit him in the solar plexus. Joanna was quite a woman.
Our woman, his cougar said with equal pride.
Shawn followed Joanna to the bar. As they walked past tables filled with people drinking and talking, he watched for anything unusual. Anyone unusual. Everything seemed normal. If it wasn’t for the single guys entering the bar and being shown through the door to the side, Shawn wouldn’t have guessed there was anything unusual.
“Hi there.” Joanna reached the bar and leaned her elbows on the smooth wood.
“Hi, what can I get you?” the female bartender asked, her eyes fixed on Joanna for a couple of seconds before sliding sideways to look at Shawn.
“I was looking for some company.” Joanna tilted her head on one side.
The bartender gave a short laugh. “Are you?” She nodded toward Shawn. “I thought you had some company.”
“We both know what I mean.” Joanna fixed the bartender with a hard stare. “So?”
“So what?” The bartender shrugged and walked away.
“Hey.” Joanna’s sharp tone brought the woman back to her. “I can show you my badge if you want. Although, I’m not sure you want all of your customers to know there’s a cop here.”
The bartender’s eyes narrowed, and she glanced nervously at Wayne before coming back toward them. “There’s nothing illegal going on here.”
“Isn’t there?” Joanna asked as the door opened and another single male walked in. He approached the bar, heading straight for Wayne. “So he isn’t going to get shown through that door?”
The bartender sighed. “What do you want?”
“I want you to tell me exactly what is going on. I want you to tell me how many women there are behind that door.”
“None,” the bartender said quickly. “It’s males only.”
That’s why she doesn’t approve, his cougar’s confusion was evident.
Shawn was equally confused. “The women are upstairs?”
“What women?” the bartender snorted. “Males only. It’s Wayne’s rule.” She looked at her fellow bartender who was opening the door for his next client.
“I don’t understand?” Shawn asked and received a look from Joanna that told him to be cautious.
“What do you think is going on here?” The bartender took a step back. “And maybe I’d better see that badge after all.”
“The men, they come here and pay to have sex…” Joanna’s words were cut off by a shocked look from the bartender.
“No.” Her forehead creased. “That’s not what happens here.”
“So what does?” Joanna pressed.
“There’s a fight ring. Shifters come here to fight each other in the confines of a ring.” Her jaw tightened and she shot an angry look toward Wayne. “It’s boys only because none of them have the guts to fight a woman in case they get beaten.”
“Oh.” Shawn’s eyes widened.
“What did you think this was…” It was the bartender’s turn to look surprised. “You heard the rumors about this place.”
“We did.” Joanna nodded. “And you are telling me they are unfounded?”
“I have no idea. I’ve only worked here for a couple of months. But I have heard that the place used to be more of a hot
el. The bar area was closed. Wayne renovated it when he took the place on.” She looked up as Wayne came toward them. “You should go.”
“What was this place before?” Joanna asked quickly. “Anything you can tell me would help.”
“I heard the rooms above the bar were used as a hostel for pregnant women.” She held her hands up. “That is all I know.”
“What happened? Did the place get shut down or did they move somewhere else?” Joanna asked. At last, they were getting somewhere.
“They moved to a hotel or something. That’s what Wayne was told.” She glanced sideways. “You should go. Wayne wouldn’t like me talking to you if he knew you were a cop.”
“Thanks for your help.” Joanna smiled and nodded before she pushed herself away from the bar and headed for the door.
“A dead end.” Shawn’s disappointment sat heavily on his shoulders. He’d hoped they would find some answers here.
“Looks like.” She sighed. “I can check when the bar was reopened. That will give us a time window. Then we can look for any hotels that might have had a change of ownership about that time. I can check through Ostabell’s files. Something might jump out at us.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Shawn promised as they hurried across the parking lot to Joanna’s car.
“I know.” She looked back at the building. The sign with the word Jester’s on it swung in the breeze. “She must have been here. Or at least knew what went on here.”
“Yvette?” Shawn asked.
“Yes. Jane might have been born here. Or her mom might have lived here while she was pregnant.” Joanna unlocked the car and got into the driver’s seat.
“If only Yvette could tell us.” Shawn got into the car. “My second option is to set a certain dragon shifter on Gerald Comer. She could make him talk.”
“I bet she could,” Joanna mused. “Unfortunately, anything he said could not be used in court and I do not want the bastard to get away with this.”
“You have a point. Although, there would be some satisfaction in watching him cower beneath a dragon.” Shawn sighed heavily. “Let’s go back to the hotel. We’ll just have to keep searching for information until we find something.”
There was no way they could leave this alone. They had to find out exactly what happened that night. If not, it would haunt them forever. Shawn could not allow that.
Chapter Eighteen – Joanna
They drove back to the hotel in silence. There was little to say. Each of them lost in their own thoughts.
“You just drove past the hotel.” Shawn’s voice broke through Joanna’s thoughts and she jerked her head up and looked in the rearview mirror.
“Damn it.” Joanna drove further along the road, took a side street, and circled back around.
“We are both tired. We should get something to eat and a good night’s sleep before we do anything else.” He glanced at her with concern and her heart ached for him. Her body had its own kind of reaction and her cheeks flushed pink as she quelled her longing for him.
“I’m too wired to sleep.” Her eyelids dropped in disagreement as she parked the car and they exited the vehicle.
“I can think of a few ways to get you to relax.” Shawn flashed her his come-to-bed eyes.
“I might take you up on that offer.” She reached for her phone as it rang and answered it in a heartbeat. “Hello.”
Joanna tilted her head to one side and walked around in a small circle as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. “Hi, this is Samantha. We spoke earlier today.”
“Hey, Samantha.” She arched an eyebrow at Shawn as he leaned forward, listening in to the call.
“Hi, Detective.” Samantha’s voice was breathy. She sounded scared.
“What can I do for you?” Joanna asked.
“With everything that happened today, I left my purse at the hospital after my shift,” Samantha began. “I was going out to dinner with a friend, so I needed to come and get it since my wallet was in it.”
“Is everything all right at the hospital?” Joanna’s heart galloped along at breakneck speed as she waited for Samantha to answer. “Did Penelope say anything else?”
“No,” Samantha replied hurriedly. “Sorry.”
“Did something else happen?”
“Yes…” She paused. “I thought you might want to know that the guy is here.”
“The guy?” Joanna asked.
“Yeah, the one I told you about. The flowers. He’s here right now.” Samantha spoke in a hushed voice. “I saw the back of his head when I walked past the room. He’s sitting next to the bed holding her hand. I didn’t get a look at his face.”
“Okay. We’ll be right over.” Joanna jerked her head toward the car and Shawn nodded and got back in the passenger seat. “Listen, Samantha. I would appreciate it if you could keep him there. I’d really like to speak to him.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” she agreed.
“But you have to promise me that you won’t put yourself in danger. Okay? Any trouble, anything that makes you uncomfortable, I want you to get yourself out of there.” Joanna waited as Samantha fell silent, her breath heavy down the phone.
“Okay. I’ll do what I can.” With that, the call ended, and Joanna dashed around the front of the car. Yanking the door open, she got inside and started the engine. In seconds they were heading back toward the hospital.
“Do we have any idea who he might be?” Shawn asked.
“No, there was nothing in her file. No boyfriends. No brothers or sisters.” Joanna sighed as she drove within the speed limits but pushed the car as fast as she dared.
“Do you think someone else at the hospital might have alerted him to us being there today?” Shawn’s thoughts mirrored Joanna’s. She was scared their visit had triggered a response from whoever had put Yvette in the hospital. That the same person who had put Yvette in a coma had known where she was all along and had been keeping tabs on her.
“I don’t know.” She took a sharp left and nudged the car to go faster. “But if they are involved, I’m going to squeeze every drop of information from him.”
“I just hope he doesn’t leave before we get there.”
“If he does, I’ll get an image off the security cameras and send it to facial recognition. We can also trace his car. If he drove there.” She nodded. “It’s a start. More than we had five minutes ago.”
“But is it enough?” Shawn asked. “Are we just chasing our tails on this?”
“Most of my job consists of chasing my tail,” Joanna informed him. “You chase your tail, shake things up, tear down the lies until the truth is exposed. None of it is pretty. Some of it is gut instinct, but mainly it’s hard work, asking the same questions until you can piece together the answers.”
“You make it sound like fun.” Shawn’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “You love your job.”
“Yes, despite everything, I love my job. I love helping people.” She fell silent for a moment. “It’s like… It’s like I know that if I’m doing the job then it’s going to be done properly.” She gave a short laugh. “That’s not to sound conceited.”
“Of course not.” He grinned. “I feel the same way about being a doctor. I like to know my patients are in the right hands and that means my hands.” He held them up to prove his point.
“You do have special hands.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “There’s a little bit of magic in those fingertips.”
He wriggled his fingers. “Only for you.”
“Okay, here we are.” Joanna’s mood sobered as she steered the car into the parking lot and switched off the engine. As she got out of the car, she scanned the area for people then took a mental note of the six or seven parked cars. One of them might belong to the person visiting Yvette. If that person made a run for it, a car registration gave them a good chance of locating them.
“Ready?” Shawn asked as he got out of the car and joined her.
“Ye
s, let’s move.” She took his hand and they jogged across the parking lot, slowing just before they got to the entrance. “I’m surprised the receptionist on duty let anyone in at this time of night.”
“Maybe the guy bribed her?” Shawn suggested.
“Maybe.” Joanna placed her hand on the door. It was locked. She tapped the glass to gain the attention of the receptionist who frowned as she got out of her chair and came across to the door.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked. “We’re closed up for the night. Visiting hours are between 10:00 am and 4:00 p.m.”
“We realize that.” Joanna reached in her pocket and took out her badge. “I’d like you to let us in. We have reason to believe there is a person on the premises who can assist us with information on a crime committed some years ago.”
The receptionist looked at Joanna’s badge closely before saying, “I’ll let you in but there is no one here other than the security team and nurses.”
“Thanks. We’d like to take a proper look around.” Joanna put her badge away, her expression grim as she glanced sideways at Shawn. “Unless she’s a very good liar, the guy with Yvette did not come in through this door.”
“So where?” Shawn asked as the receptionist walked back to her desk and pressed a button. The door clicked and Joanna pushed the door open for them both to enter.
“When I spoke to Samantha, I went out through a door with a security keypad. What if our guy has the code?” She took a couple of paces toward the receptionist. “Thank you. Please stay here.”
The receptionist nodded, her face pale, confirming Joanna’s theory that the woman had no idea there was anyone in the hospital who shouldn’t be there. Hoping there was nothing sinister in the guy’s clandestine visit to Yvette, she led Shawn along the corridor toward Yvette’s room.
“Do we have a plan?” Shawn asked as they reached the door.
“Samantha.” Joanna veered to the left of the corridor and hurried to the end. “Stay here,” she told Shawn as she passed Yvette’s door.
Shawn nodded and positioned himself to the right side of the corridor so that he would not be seen if anyone exited Yvette’s room. At least not until they were out of the hospital room and heading down the corridor. At that point, Shawn would jump on them and beat them to the floor.
Shawn Spring Shifter Seasons Page 13
