"What favors?" she asked, her voice stuttering a little as Ava turned to her, sliding her hand down her face.
"Whatever Alex wants. Collections, deliveries, who knows what else." Ava straightened, then moved back to the pole, where she spun around.
"Do you know his last name, where he lives?" Max asked.
"Jonas Cray. He lives on the corner of Eighth and Monroe, a gray building, apartment 3C. I was sent there one night to do a private show for him and a friend."
"Who was the friend?" she asked.
"Don't know. But he was younger than Jonas, mid-thirties, dark-skinned. He didn't say anything to me; he just watched."
Ava unhooked her bra with practiced ease, tossing it toward Max with a sultry smile as she continued to dance.
"When did you last see Jonas?" Max asked.
"Yesterday. He was flush with cash. Threw me a hundred, made my night."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"Nothing that wasn't sexual. Why are you looking for him?"
"We think he might have been involved in a bombing yesterday."
Her movements faltered. "At the café?"
"Yes. Do you know anything about that?" Kara asked.
"No." She turned her back to them as she swayed her ass. "I don't know anything." A moment later, she turned around. "Leave me out of this."
"I will," she said, meeting Ava's gaze. "Just like I did before."
"That's why I gave you his name."
Ava danced for several more minutes, giving both her and Max a little lap dance, which made Kara far more uncomfortable than it seemed to make Max, but she tried to show enjoyment, knowing they were being watched. She was more than a little relieved when it was over. Max took out his wallet and slipped a hundred to Ava before they headed out the door.
They left the room, walking back down the hallway and through the club. The music seemed louder now, the crowd even bigger, and Kara was acutely aware of Max beside her, his presence somehow larger than it had been before.
Outside, the January air hit her like a shock, cold and clean after the stale heat of the club.
"Well," Max said. "FBI work is more interesting than I expected. But you really need to loosen up, Kara. I'm not sure you sold that very well."
"I did fine, and we know where to look for Jonas. That's what matters."
As they got into her car, her personal phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her bag and saw her mom's number. She sent the call to voicemail and started the engine, and then the phone buzzed again. She didn't pick up as she navigated into traffic. Jonas's apartment building was only a mile away, so it was a quick trip. As she parked, her phone buzzed once more, and she sighed in exasperation.
"Maybe you should get that," Max suggested. "It feels urgent."
"It's my mother."
Surprise ran through his eyes. "Really? Then you should definitely pick up."
"I know what this is about. She probably heard about the explosion from my Uncle Danny, who promised not to say anything, but I'm sure she heard the news and went straight to him."
"Uncle Danny?"
"He was the battalion chief at the fire yesterday."
"That was your uncle? Is that why he took you into the building last night?"
