She turned back to the bartender, a reed-thin man with leathery skin. He set a shot glass in front of her. No lemon or salt, just straight tequila.
He set a shot of Jack Daniel’s in front of Jason. “I remember you,” the bartender said to him. “You’ve been in before. You’re Hawk Maddox.”
“That’s right.”
“So who are you hunting this time?”
“I’m not working tonight. I just needed some company.” He reached over and cupped her breast, gave it a suggestive squeeze. Kate thought she might fall right off the bar stool. “Looks like I found it,” Jase said. The gaze that met hers held a hint of humor tinged with retribution.
“Sure does,” the bartender agreed. He turned to Kate. She hoped her face wasn’t as red as it felt. “You’re new to the neighborhood. What’s your name?”
“I’m... I’m Kitty.” Grasping the first name she could come up with, she smiled a little too brightly. “Like kitty cat, you know? I’m just here to visit a friend.” She shifted on the bar stool and tugged down her skirt. “You might know her. Tina Galen? I heard she worked the area.”
The bartender’s gaze shot to Jase then slid back to her. “You haven’t heard? Your friend, Tina...she got killed.”
Her hand flew up to her mouth. “Oh, my God. I didn’t know. What happened?”
“Don’t know much about it. One of the guys on the cleanup crew found her body in the alley early one morning. Cops came sniffing around, asking questions. Far as I know, they never found out who done it.”
“We were like sisters,” Kate said, catching a look from Jase. “Like family, you know?” He tossed back the shot of whiskey in his glass and let her run with it, which she hadn’t expected.
“Did Tina have friends in the area?” she asked. “I’d really like to talk to them.”
“She hadn’t been ’round here long, only seen her a couple of times. Come in with a girl named Lollie. They call her Lollipop. Works out of the gas station next door. She’s there most nights.”
“Thanks, I’ll look her up.” Kate took a sip of tequila, the burn calming her nerves and bolstering her courage. “You been real nice.” She smiled. “What’s your name?”
Not wanting to poach another man’s territory, the bartender shot a wary glance at Jase. “I’m Dizzy. Good to meet you.”
“You, too, Dizzy.”
“Time to go, babe.” Jase helped her down from the bar stool. “You got work to do.”
Her face heated again at the lewd glance that slid over her body, but she managed to stay in character. She smiled. “Come on, big boy. Kitty’s got just what you need.”
Jase wrapped a possessive hand around her waist and steered her toward the door. They had almost made it when the big bald guy named Cueball stood up from the table and stepped in front of them, blocking their escape.
“Be smart and get out of my way,” Jase warned.
Cueball’s mouth thinned into a hard line. “I need some fresh meat. You’ll have to wait your turn.”
Oh, my God!
Jase’s whole body tightened. “I said get out of my way.” When the man didn’t move, Jase didn’t hesitate, just hauled her behind him and threw a punch that landed square in Cueball’s bulldog face.
The man’s big head snapped back and one of his silver earrings went flying, but he just looked at Jase and grinned. Cueball swung a blow that could have been lethal if Jase hadn’t ducked. He came up swinging, and this time he wasn’t kidding around. He was a big man, almost as big as Cueball, and in amazing physical condition. The punch he threw came straight from the shoulder and sent Cueball flying backward over a table, crashing to the floor.
Paco charged, throwing punches, dodging the blows Jase threw, a lean, hard man, not as easy an opponent as he looked. Two more men stepped into the fray. Kate screamed as a table went flying, glasses shattered on the worn board floor—and all hell broke loose.
Jase hated always being right. It was a bad idea bringing Kate to a dive like this. He knew it, Bran knew it, Kate had probably known it, but the woman had a knack for slipping beneath his defenses and getting her way.
Launching a hard right hook at Paco Camacho, a well-known drug dealer in the area, he glanced in her direction. Kate was safe for the moment, but the distraction cost him. He took a punch from Paco that split his eyebrow, found an opening and drove a fist into the guy’s midsection, doubling him over, took him out with a right that sent him smashing into the wall.
The good news was, he was winning. The bad news was there were half a dozen other guys ready and eager to take him on. Worse yet, a big badass black dude was dragging Kate toward the front door. If he got her outside, she was in trouble.Big trouble.
Jase jammed an elbow into the face of a guy with a ponytail and he went down, but two more men came out of nowhere and began throwing punches. The bartender was on the phone dialing 911, but even if the cops showed up—which in a place like this was iffy—it would be too late.
Kate was kicking and scratching, fighting like a wildcat, but she was losing the battle. The badass slapped her, and fury burned through him. Jase fought his way toward the door, trying to get to her, fear for her coiling in his stomach.
