Page 14 of Shadow Angel
“After seeing what happened to you, my bet is on a miner or a group of miners.” Styles shook his head slowly. “I sure hope Wolfe finds evidence to nail this guy.”
Beth pulled her coat around her as an arctic gale almost lifted her from her feet. “Me too.”
SEVENTEEN
Thethump, thump, thumpof loud music trembled the floor and vibrated through Beth’s boots as they stepped inside the entrance to Outlaws Saloon. At the back of the room, the door to the gentlemen’s club was lit with flashing lights depicting a dancer and a flashing red arrow. It was different this time, walking inside as an FBI agent. With each step she gathered her hard-nosed cop persona around her like a protective cloak. Leading the way, she walked past the bar, ignoring the interested looks from the men on stools hunched over glasses of beer. One of them reached out to touch her arm. Surprised as Styles wasn’t far behind her that she’d be bothered by a bar hugger, she stopped walking and glared at him. “Did you want to speak to me?”
“Uh-huh.” The man tipped up the brim of his Stetson and his gaze traveled over her. “You shouldn’t be heading that way. Can’t you read the sign? It saysgentlemen’s club. That ain’t no place for a fine-looking little gal like you, maybe you should stay here with me.” His fingers closed around her wrist and he smiled, displaying discolored front teeth.
Lifting her chin and peering down her nose at him, Beth moved her gaze slowly to the hand and then back to his face. Behind her, Styles swore under his breath and the power of his menace raised goosebumps on her flesh. It was exhilarating having a partner who walked the thin line between right and wrong like her. It was as if all her senses were tuned to him as he readied himself to fight, but she didn’t need him to protect her. She neededhimto protect the man gripping her arm—fromher. “Maybe you should take your hands off me.”
“Oh, a feisty one.” The man dropped his hand with a reluctant sigh, but the grin remained. His attention moved to Styles. “Ah, is she with you?”
“Yeah. Don’t mess with her.” Styles cleared his throat and moved to her side. “Or you mess with me.”
“I sure wouldn’t want to go upsetting the FBI.” He waved them toward the gentlemen’s club door. “Anytime you want a drink, honey, come see me. I’m always here at this time.”
She didn’t look at Styles but as her dark side reared its ugly head, she directed the full force of it toward the man. “Be careful what you wish for. If I hunt you down, it will be your worst nightmare.”
As Beth moved toward the gentlemen’s club, Styles barked a laugh. She looked at him. “What?”
“I sure wouldn’t want to face you in a dark alleyway.” Styles grinned at her.
Laughing, Beth met his gaze. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I like that about you. I can speak my mind and you don’t jump down my throat.” Styles kept in step beside her as they walked through the saloon. “I know you’re fearless and don’t back down but don’t underestimate the people in this town. That guy was carrying. Here, if a person feels threatened, they can use lethal force.”
Amused, Beth smiled. “I know the law, but he’d never live it down, would he? I mean, do I really look like a threat to a big guy like him?”
“No, but neither does a prairie rattlesnake until it bites you.” Styles shrugged.
Out front of the club entrance, a large man wearing a black suit stretched tightly over the bulging muscles in his arms sat at a red velvet-covered table. As she approached him the overpowering smell of cologne burned the inside of her nostrils. She opened her mouth to speak to him when Styles came up beside her.
“Where’s your boss?” Styles pulled the search warrant out of the inside of his jacket and let it unfold as he held it up in one hand. “We have a search warrant.”
The man with a name plate badge sayingwarrenstood and lifted a two-way to speak to his boss, but Styles ignored him and pushed through the door. Beth followed close behind and into the dimly lit club. Nobody noticed their arrival as all eyes were on the stage and the three cavorting half-naked women. As Styles seemed to know his way around, she followed him. Standing in the doorway of a room markedprivate,a tall skinny man eyed them with suspicion.
“Agents Dax Styles and Beth Katz. We have a warrant to seize documents.” Styles flashed his creds, but it was obvious that the man knew him. “Credit card receipts and your employees work schedule for the last two weeks.” He waved the warrant in front of the man’s eyes and then pocketed it.
“I don’t have anything to hide from the feds. My taxes are paid up.” He stared at Styles. “What am I being set up for, Styles?”
“Nothing as long as you cooperate, and you know darn well that I’m not with the IRS.” Styles turned to Beth. “This is Hal Brook, the owner of Outlaws.”
Nodding, Beth took out her notebook and handed it to him. “We need a list of all the customers who visited the gentlemen’s club over the last two weeks. I’m sure you recognize your regular patrons.” She waved him into the office. “Give me a list and then we’ll start on the other things we need.”
“Okay, it’s not that I have a choice, is it?” Brook turned and walked into his office.
Styles followed and then Beth moved into the office, closing the door behind her. She stood leaning against it as Brook sat down at his desk and made a list, adding days of the week beside the names. Once he’d finished writing and handed the notebook back to her, she scanned a list of names. “Do you know how many of these men work for the mines?”
“Yeah.” Brook held out his hand for the notebook. “I’ll mark each name with an asterisk.”
“Now the credit card receipts.” Styles dropped into the office chair in front of the desk and leaned on the table. “I’ll need to know which men on this list received a private dance from Cassie Burnham this week.” He gave him a long hard stare. “Don’t tell me you don’t know, because I know darn well you take a percentage of the cash payments.”
“Okay, okay.” Brook reached for the notebook on the table. “Cassie has only been doing private dances for the last few months, but she is a favorite with a few of the men. I’ll underline their names in the book.” He looked up at them and frowned. “I’m assuming that she’s still missing? Do you think one of these guys could have taken her?”
Not reading anything sinister from Brook, but not willing to give out any information, Beth shrugged. “We’re just following leads, is all. Can you give us a printout of the work schedules?”
“Yeah, sure.” Brook tapped away at his computer and behind him a printer jumped into action. He reached around collected the document and handed it to her. “The credit card receipts are all digital now and there’s a ton of them. Do you have a stick I can put them on?”
