“Ruthless, conscienceless, five-foot-eight piece of shit Dooley Tate? That the guy?”
A smile tugged at her lips. Jase wasn’t known for his tact. “That would be him. Any idea where he is?”
“Works out of a strip club called Barbie’s out on Northwest Highway. Got an office upstairs. Best time to find him is early evening, not too crowded then. But he’s bad news, darlin’. You don’t want to go there by yourself. I’m in Albuquerque following a trail, but maybe you can get one of the other guys in the office to go with you.”
She glanced over at Beau, six-foot-three-inches of lean, solid muscle, a man trained in mixed martial arts. From what she had read, he had even done some cage fighting when he was in college. She wondered if that was how he got the scar along his jaw.
“I’ve got someone with me. I’ll be okay.”
“Think about taking that little gun of yours just in case. I know you don’t like to carry, but—”
“I’ll give it some thought.”
“All right,” Jase said. “Just be careful.”
“I will.” Cassidy hung up the phone.
“Who was that?” Beau asked, the lines of his face intense.
“Jason Maddox. He’s a bounty hunter who works out of my office. I do tracing for him sometimes. We’re friends.”
The scar tightened along his jaw. She noticed it happened when he was irritated or upset. “Friends?You mean like friends with benefits?”
She smiled, enjoying the edge of jealousy in his voice. “I’ll admit Jase is a good-looking guy, but no, not that kind of friends. I was living with someone when we met, and even after I moved out, we just never clicked in that way.”
“You moved out. So you aren’t involved with anyone at the moment?”
She shook her head, unable to bring herself to lie, though it might make things a lot easier. “No, not for quite some time.”
The tension eased in those wide shoulders. “Good,” was all he said.
“I need to work up a profile on Tate. I’m not sure what I’ll find, but I’ll do my best.” As she sat down in front of the computer, Beau’s cell phone rang.
He checked the caller ID. “It’s Charlotte. She’s making the funeral arrangements.” He walked a few feet away. “Yeah, I can do that. No problem. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Beau hung up and walked back. “She’s got things lined up at the funeral home. She wants to get my input and approval.”
His face looked so strained, Cassidy rose from the chair. “You want me to go with you?”
He shook his head. “You have things to do. You don’t need to do that.”
“I can work on Tate’s profile when we get back.” She let the offer hang in the air. It was Beau’s decision.
Those beautiful blue eyes searched her face. “You really wouldn’t mind going?”
Her heart pinched at his hopeful expression. “I wouldn’t mind at all. It’ll give me a chance to check out Charlotte. She’s on our list, remember?”
He relaxed. “Yeah, good idea. Let’s go.”
Cassidy grabbed her purse and they headed out the door. Ten minutes later, the Lamborghini pulled up in front of the Fremont Funeral Home. For several seconds Beau just sat there, and Cassidy’s heart went out to him. Whatever the senator had done, he was still Beau’s dad.
With a quiet glide upward, the car doors opened and they got out. Cassidy hadn’t expected to feel a quick flash of pain, a memory of the last time she had been to a place like this, the arrangements she and her two brothers had helped her dad make for her mother. Cancer was a brutal killer, a heartbreaker for everyone.
“Are you okay?” Beau asked when she stopped at the front door.
Cassidy shook off the memories. “My mom died of cancer. It was rough. For an instant, I remembered.”
He glanced off into the distance. “I lost someone that way. You never forget the pain.”
