Jase took a sip of his drink. “I work strictly for myself.” Code forI do anything that makes me money. Which De Santos clearly understood.
De Santos swirled the the liquor in his glass, making the ice cubes clink together. “And you, Ms. Cordell? You are also from Atlanta?”
Kate smiled. “Actually, I live right here in Dallas. Brock and I only met this evening.”
De Santos picked up on the implication. A woman who looked like Kate didn’t waste her time on blind dates. “Well, then, perhaps you will come and see us again.”
She gave him a sophisticated smile. “Perhaps I will.”
De Santos’s gaze returned to Jase. “How long will you be in Dallas, Mr. Devlin?”
“I plan to be here at least a few more days.”
“If there is anything you need, please let me know. We like to keep our customers happy.”
Jase lifted a dark eyebrow. “Is that so?”
De Santos smiled, his gaze narrowing on Jase like a raptor swooping down on its prey. “Perhaps, if time permits, tomorrow evening you would care to attend a small party upstairs in my personal quarters. Very private, you understand. Ms. Cordell, of course you are invited, as well.”
Jase sipped his drink and slowly nodded. “That sounds good. What time?”
“Any time after ten.”
“We’ll be there.” Jase set his unfinished scotch on the table and stood up from the sofa. “Time to go, babe. You’ve got a long evening ahead.”
She stood up beside him, leaned in close, went up and kissed him full on the mouth. “I’m ready whenever you are, honey,” she breathed.
De Santos rose, too. “It’s been a pleasure, Mr. Devlin. Ms. Cordell.”
Jase nodded. “Thanks for the drink. We’ll see you tomorrow night.”
They left the club and headed back to Reese’s penthouse, Jase making sure they didn’t pick up a tail on the way.
“What do you think he’s involved in?” Kate asked once they were safely inside.
“Aside from drugs and prostitution? Probably the usual array of illegal gaming, extortion and money laundering—anything that makes a buck.”
“What do you think he wants from us?”
“I know what he wants from you and he isn’t going to get it. What he wants from me—probably a connection in Atlanta. Between now and tomorrow night, he’ll be finding out everything he can about Brock Devlin. Fortunately, it’s a cover I’ve used before and it goes deep.”
“Tabby?”
“That’s right. De Santos will discover I’m exactly what he’s hoping I’ll be—a shady character who lives high and hard and is always interested in making more money.”
“Tomorrow night could be dangerous.”
“No question. The good news is there’s an FBI friend of mine working undercover behind the bar. His name is Mark Kingsley. We’ve worked together before.”
Her eyes widened. “FBI! Seriously?”
He chuckled. “Dead serious, honey. I figure Kingsley will try to track me down either tonight or sometime tomorrow. Mindy has the number of my burner. I’ll phone the office in the morning, make sure she gives it to him when he calls.”
“I don’t suppose we could just hand this whole thing over to the FBI and forget it.”
“I wish we could. I’ve got a hunch we may know things they don’t, which means they may need our help. Plus, if we don’t show up tomorrow night, De Santos might get suspicious and pull the plug.”
“You mean go underground and move the women somewhere else.”
