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“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them. Rumor has it they like to keep their names pretty private.”

“Give me a shot anyway.”

“Knox,” I said. “Gerald Knox, but I hear he goes by Gerry.”

“Thought you said it was a family.”

“His mother, Nicole, is involved to some degree, but I don’t know how much. I doubt she gets her hands dirty at the street level. Then again, I doubt Gerry does either.”

She pursed her lips. “Nope. Never heard of ’em.”

“That’s okay,” I said, pulling another slip of paper out of my pocket along with some cash. I set both on the counter. “Can you text or call if you hear anything, okay? I’ve got a new number.”

Cassandra took both, pocketed the paper, then counted out my change.

“Will do, Harper,” she said, handing me the bills and coins.

“These people are dangerous, Cassandra,” I said. “Don’t go searching out information about them.”

She laughed. “You know me better than that, Harper, girl. I don’t search out nothin’. Everything I know comes to me.”

I grinned. “In this case, let’s keep it that way.”

I grabbed the bag and headed outside. My two best sources had given me absolutely nothing. I had one more to check, but it looked like we were going to have to do some old-fashioned stakeouts.

Chapter 9

I climbed back into the car and shut the door.

“Any luck?” James asked.

I shook my head. “No one’s seen her. It was a false lead.”

Alex grimaced. “That’s rough.”

“Where to now?” James asked.

“Another bar.” I gave the cab driver the intersection where it was located.

We rode in silence for the next ten minutes until we reached our next stop.

“This isn’t a bar,” Alex said in a wary tone. “This is a strip joint. You really think your niece might be here?”

“It’s on the list of places she might have been seen,” I said, then added with a touch of desperation, “I have to check it out.”

“I’m goin’ in with you,” James said, in a tone that told me he wouldn’t change his mind.

“I agree,” our driver said as he backed into a spot in the back row. “Jeff, you can’t let your wife go in there alone. The Velvet Room has a rough crowd.”

James gave me a dark look, and I rolled my eyes. I’d been here several times on my own, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. My source wouldn’t care if I brought James in with me.

We got out and started across the parking lot, James snagging my hand. This time, I suspected he wasn’t doing it for show. He was making sure I didn’t ditch him.

“Who are you meeting in there? Another bartender?”

“A dancer, but there’s no guarantee she’s working tonight.”

“Is me bein’ with you gonna be an issue?”