The day slogged past. As lunchtime neared, he printed out a photo of Bernard Atwood he found on the internet and one of Betsy Dickerson, and drove down to the Copper Kettle. The place wasn’t fancy, just booths and a counter, your average coffee shop with your average coffee shop food. Which made Atwood’s trip there for lunch even more suspicious.
Chase talked to the owner, a heavyset Italian named Mario who spoke with an accent and wore a white apron tied around his impressive girth. Mario didn’t know Atwood but he knew Betsy Dickerson, and he’d seen her eating more than once with the man in the photo Chase showed him.
One of the waitresses also confirmed that the bank manager had lunch several times with the attractive man in the photo.
By itself it wasn’t enough, but Tabby had only started digging and she was good. The best. If there was something there, Tabby would find it.
In the meantime, Chase had an office to run. He headed back to Blackburn Street and had no more than walked through the door when Jax Ryker, one of his PIs, walked up with a problem. He worked with Jax to find a solution. Ryker left the office and a few minutes later, Maddox phoned.
“Chase, I’m outside the Boom Boom Club. There’s a skip inside by the name of Harley Gibbons. He won’t go down easy. Jax offered to back me up, but I just located the dude, and Mindy says Ryker got called away on a case. You think you could—”
“On my way.” Chase opened the bottom drawer of his desk and took out his Glock. “I know where the club is. Just hang tight till I get there.” Coming to his feet, he clipped the Glock to his belt, grabbed his jacket off the coatrack in the corner and headed for the door, grateful to Maddox for something to do besides worry about Harper.
It didn’t take long to reach the Boom Boom Club out on Harry Hines Boulevard. As he pulled into the lot next to the club, Chase spotted Maddox’s big black Yukon. Since half the drug dealers in Dallas drove similar cars, the vehicle blended right in. With the restraints welded into the back, the SUV provided a good means of transport for the bail skips Maddox arrested.
Chase got out of the pickup and caught up with him outside the back door of the club.
“Gibbons is inside,” Maddox said. “He’s a big bastard. He goes off in there, someone’s going to get hurt. Let me see if I can get him outside.”
“I’ll be right here.”
Maddox disappeared inside the club, and Chase took up a position beside the back door. It was noisy and dark inside, except for the colored spotlights flashing over the near-naked women onstage. From his vantage point, Chase could see Maddox moving through the crowd, heading for the table where his quarry sat next to a blowsy blonde.
Chase couldn’t imagine what Maddox said to the man, but the next thing he knew, Gibbons was out of his chair and charging after Maddox, who was running toward the door with just enough speed to keep from getting caught, but not enough for Gibbons to get discouraged.
The two men burst through the back door, out into the parking lot, Gibbons snagging Maddox’s leather jacket and spinning him around, throwing a punch that Jason ducked. Maddox threw a roundhouse punch to Gibbons’s jaw that had him staggering—Maddox was no little guy himself.
The two big men scuffled in the dirt parking lot. Maddox took a couple of punches and threw a few more. When Gibbons reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled a small caliber pistol, Chase stepped in, back-kneeing Gibbons, who buckled and whirled toward the new threat. Chase grabbed Gibbons’s wrist and wrenched the pistol out of his hand, and Hawk took him down.
It was over in a couple of minutes, Gibbons handcuffed, swearing and lying in the dirt.
“Nice work,” Chase said. He waited till Maddox had his prey secured in the back of his SUV, then waved and headed back to his truck. Maddox would pick up a fat bounty, and a wanted fugitive would be taken off the streets. Not a bad night’s work. Satisfied, Chase headed for home, worry about Harper not far from his thoughts.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Harper awoke the next morning, feeling listless, dull and depressed. Work didn’t help, with a series of problems, one after another. First one of their suppliers filed bankruptcy without filling the Elemental Chic order. EC’s deposit was gone, and the supplier was broke. Which meant they would have to find a new company and come up with more cash to pay for the product.
Two of her employees were out with the stomach flu. Harper didn’t want the rest of the staff infected, so she asked them to stay home an extra day, just to be safe.
Shana had a flat tire in the parking lot, which put her in a bad mood. Add to that, Harper kept thinking of Chase’s betrayal, going over everything that had happened and calling herself ten kinds of a fool.
Eventually, closing time arrived. At least by then Shana’s mood had improved. She grinned as she headed for the door.
“Got me a hot date with a sexy new man and he is sooo delicious.”
“What? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it? What’s his name?”
“Alejandro Orlando. He’s gorgeous and seriously ripped. Which I know from the magazine ads he does. I’ll give you the gory details in the morning.”
Harper grinned. “If he’s that amazing, I don’t mind if you come in late.”
Shana laughed. “Depends if he’s got anything upstairs to go with that sexy body. I’ll give you the scoop tomorrow.”
Harper stayed an extra hour before locking up and heading for her Beemer. It was dark, but the parking lot was fairly well lit and she was always careful, checking to be sure no one followed her out of the building or managed to break into her car and hide in the backseat.
With everything that had happened, she was ridiculously paranoid. She told herself, for the time being, at least, it was good she was watchful of her surroundings, constantly on the lookout for trouble.
Drug dealers. DEA agents. Colombian rebels. Her brother had been kidnapped. Her dad was under investigation for God only knew what. Anything could happen.
