Page 6 of Shadow Angel
Trying to think fast a way to phrase questions without giving away the investigation, she opened her eyes wide as if horrified. “Oh wow! Do you figure he took her right off the street?”
“Maybe.” Rosie shook her head. “It’s possible. If so, he knew she finished at ten. Our hours are plain to see. As men have favorites, we all dance at the same time and on the same days of each week. It’s written outside the main door alongside our photographs, so everyone knows our hours. It would be really easy to work out when we leave.”
Beth thought for a beat. “It’s too bad you didn’t get to see the creep.”
“Cassie thinks he was one of the miners because he came Friday through Sunday. He was average, she said, wore a ball cap. Most of them do and average for the miners is around five-ten I guess, so that leaves us with nothing to tell the sheriff. He is doing his best. One man can’t work miracles. I guess we’ll all need to be careful now. I’m not leaving home without my Glock.”
Nodding, Beth looked from one to the other. “Maybe she told one of the other girls and they saw him?”
“Cassie didn’t talk to many of us.” Rosie smiled. “She did her sets and then left.” She looked at her. “I hope we haven’t changed your mind about working here. It’s not so bad. Although the club in Rainbow is classier. I’ve heard tell the security there is better and they have someone on the stage door to walk you to your vehicle.”
Standing, Beth smiled. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Where’s the bathroom?”
“Through that door.” Rosie pointed across the room. “It was nice to meet you.”
Inside the bathroom, Beth called Styles but couldn’t hear him over the noise of the music. She told him she was leaving and backed it up with a message before making her way through the dressing room and along the corridor to the stage door. She pushed open the heavy metal door and peered into the stinking alleyway. The darkness outside was oppressive. Shadows spilled from the dumpsters, closing in the walls around her, and cold wind from the mountains rolled garbage along the alleyway. Pieces of takeout wrappers had piled up around the wheels on the bottom of the dumpsters and flapped in the wind like pinned moths. Nothing moved, and Styles would be heading her way soon. Confident in her own ability to deal with just about anything, she stepped into the alleyway and headed toward Quartz. The heels of her boots made a distinctive sound on the asphalt, which made her more convinced that Cassie had been attacked on the sidewalk. Using the light on her phone to illuminate the way ahead, she walked quickly through the alleyway and out onto Quartz.
Styles had parked the truck about fifty yards from the alleyway. A cold wind blasted through the clothes, chilling her to the bone with each step along the sidewalk. A roar of an engine came from nowhere and the headlights of a truck flooded the dark road as it passed by. In a squeal of brakes, the air was filled with the smell of burning rubber as the vehicle reversed at high speed, the back end swaying from side to side before coming to rest opposite her. A grinning young man hung out the driver’s window staring at her, but he wasn’t alone. Grinning faces peered at her through the windows and laughter spilled out of the back of the cab. She stopped walking, pulled out her phone, and called Styles. “Nine one one.”
Not waiting for his reply, she pushed the phone into her jeans pocket and shoved her purse into the pocket of her jacket. She was unarmed apart from the sharpened hatpin she’d thrust into the wig. Unsure if the security at the gentlemen’s club would look kindly at her taking a weapon inside, she had left her sidearm at home. She kept walking, ignoring the men’s catcalls, but the truck stuck with her.
“Hey, little lady, you finished early. Do you want to party with us?” The driver maneuvered the truck closer to her side of the road, barely missing the parked vehicles.
Planning a way to get away without causing a ruckus, Beth glanced ahead to the road running into Quartz. She had gone over the plan with Styles a number of times. After dropping her at the stage door, he would walk around the block and enter the club from the front door. The same would be in reverse and she expected him to come around the corner at any second. Her truck was in sight when the vehicle carrying the men slipped into a space alongside her. Her heart rate quickened as they tumbled out of the doors in a cloud of beer stench. Four strong men in their mid-twenties intent on mischief all grinned at her, elbowed each other, and acted like kids. Would these be the same men who took Cassie? If so, she wouldn’t have stood a chance against the four of them. Concerned her old coat would restrict her movements, she slowly drew down the zipper, shrugged out of it, and dropped it onto the hood of a GMC pickup.
Her actions received wolf whistles and jeers from the men. She ignored them and stood on the sidewalk facing them down. Only a fool would believe she could take down four young men alone, and she was no fool, but she could do a ton of damage in a short time. Taking short steps backward to avoid them circling her, Beth tried to choreograph an attack in her mind. They wouldn’t be expecting someone with her hand-to-hand combat skills. The men looked at each other and nodded and then two of them ran at her. It was like a set football move as one feigned to the left and the other scooped her up and slammed her down on the hood of the GMC pickup. Air rushed from her lungs as his heavy weight pressed against her. A grinning mouth poured alcohol-flavored breath over her face. He grabbed for her arms but wasn’t quick enough. Beth slapped at him with both hands. “FBI, stand down.”
“Sure, you are. They have strippers in the FBI now, cool.” The man turned and a wide smile split his face at his friends’ catcalls. “Wait your turn.”
Anger raged through her and she lifted both fists and smashed them into the man’s ears, his smile vanished but he hadn’t moved. Without hesitation, she thrust both thumbs into his eyes. His scream of terror roared in her ears as he staggered back. Breathless, she slid from the hood and landed on her feet just as another man came forward screaming abuse with his two friends flanking him. She ducked a punch, spinning away to land an elbow to his kidney, but off balance, she’d allowed the other two men to grab her. Raking the heel of her boot down the shins of one of them, she twisted and dropped to unbalance them. As they stumbled forward, Beth headbutted one on the nose. Blood rushed down his face coloring his lips ruby red. The other man gaped in surprise as the first man dropped his grip on her arm and cradled his bloody face.
“I’m gonna mess you up real bad.” The remaining man grabbed her hair, dragging off her wig, and then landed a short brutal punch to her stomach. “How do you like that, FBI agent?”
Gasping, Beth went to her knees. Winded and in pain, she ducked another blow from the man standing over her, wild eyed. She glared back at him. “I’ll make you regret you ever laid hands on me.”
The other men recovered fast and ran at her as mad as hell. Grabbed by the hair, dragged along the sidewalk, and unable to get away, Beth reacted on survival instinct when the one holding her telegraphed a knee strike to her head. As he took a step back, she balled up her fist and punched him in the groin. When he howled and went down, rolling into the fetal position, Beth staggered to her feet. The next second, Styles appeared and everything changed real fast. The remaining men shaped up to fight, and adrenaline spiking, Beth flicked Styles a glance. “Oh, look it’s the late Dax Styles.”
“I’ve got this.” Styles gave her a nonchalant shrug. Without warning, one of the men rushed him, and as if in slow motion, he landed a roundhouse kick to his head. His attacker crumbled to the ground and didn’t move. Styles stared at the other two men and shook his head as they raised their fists and advanced. “Enough, okay? Can you really be that stupid? You know I’m FBI.” He slid out and aimed his .357 Magnum at them. “Trust me, boys. I don’t need this to mess you up real bad, but it must be your lucky day. I don’t feel like getting my hands dirty.” Styles smiled at them. “Move a muscle. I dare you.” He slid Beth a sideways glance. “You, okay?”
Hurting, but not wanting to give her attackers the satisfaction of knowing, she gave a shake of her head. “What? Do you honestly believe these SOBs could hurt me? They’re pussycats.”
“Good to know.” Styles moved toward the men. “FBI. On the ground, hands on your heads.” He looked at Beth. “Do you have zip ties in your vehicle?” He fished the keys from his pocket and handed them to her.
When Beth collected the zip ties from the truck and cuffed the men, Styles patted them down, relieving them of knives and handguns. She pulled out her phone and called Ryder. “Four men attacked me on Quartz. They could be involved in the disappearance of Cassie Burnham. We have them in custody. I want them arrested for attacking a federal officer.”
“You got it. I’ll be there in five.”Ryder disconnected.
EIGHT
Beth shivered as freezing mountain air chilled her cheeks. It blasted through her sweater, raising goosebumps on her flesh. She cast her attention over the men sitting at the curb with their backs against their truck and then turned to Styles. “I’m going to wait in the truck. When we’re done here, I need you to drive me to see Nate.”
“Nate?” Styles rolled his eyes to the sky. “Ah, I see.” He looked away.
Annoyed by his assumption that she had something going with the local doctor, Beth moved into his line of sight and dropped her voice to just above a whisper so the perps couldn’t overhear her. “I don’t think you do see, Styles. The guy in the red ball cap punched me in the stomach. If we intend to prosecute these men for attacking me, I’ll need medical proof and the sooner the better.”
“He punched you?” Styles turned slowly toward her eyebrows raised. “Darn it, I’m sorry, Beth. Are you hurt bad? I should have been here. It was just so noisy in the club. I heard you saying you were planning to leave soon and when you called again I was just leaving.”
Shaking her head, Beth collected her things from the hood of the GMC pickup and stared at him. “I’m bruised is all, but did it slip your mind Cassie Burnham vanished from this area and I’m dressed like a stripper?”
