“What’s up?” he asks while pouring a drink. He hasn’t been asking me if I want a drink lately, so I’m pretty sure he’s picked up on the fact that I’m not getting hammered every night.
“I’m taking off. We should have a talk. Do you have time tomorrow?” The words come from me without much forethought.
“Sure, anything you need,” he agrees.
“I’ll come in a little early.”
“I’ll be here.” Saddle pushes the short glass toward a waiting server. “Look who’s back,” he mutters under his breath, drawing my attention to the entrance hall. Maxine strolls in and takes a quick look around, letting her eyes skip right over me as if she didn’t notice me at all, before continuing over to an empty table on the opposite side of the room.
Instead of leaving like I planned, I lower myself onto one of the stools. I could take this time to go to her house while I know she’s away, but I don’t want to leave now that she’s here. My eyes skim her body. She’s covered modestly, especially for a place like this, but her clothes are fitted enough to allow me to see the fullness of her tits. I curse Iron for putting thoughts about her in my head for anything other than finding out who she is and what she wants.
Saddle places a chilled bottle of water in front of me without any prompting. It gives me something to do besides stare at Maxine. Saying her name feels odd, considering I really shouldn’t know it, nor does it seem fitting for her.
As soon as she sits, a waitress approaches with an easy smile. The woman tips her head back, acknowledging her, and they exchange a few words. The woman’s eyes go right back to the stage when the waitress heads to the bar.
“Vernors and bourbon,” she tells Saddle, who already had a glass out in anticipation of the order. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I curse inwardly, thinking it might finally be Rex, but to my surprise, it’s Iron’s number on the screen.
“Hey.” He sounds much more subdued than our previous call.
“What’s up?” I wasn’t expecting to hear from him so soon.
“Got a minute?” he questions. I’m sure he can hear the loud music in the background, so it’s probably his way of saying he needs my full attention.
“Give me two minutes. I’ll call you right back.” I hang up without confirmation, knowing he heard me. I lean over the bar, encouraging Saddle to come closer. “Let me know before she leaves.”
“You’ve got it.” He’s quick enough that someone would have to be watching us to see we actually spoke to each other. I head to the back of the club without glancing in her direction, even though it’s hard not to try to get a better look at her.
Instead of unlocking my office, I head out into the alley, kicking the small wedge of wood into place to hold the door open a few inches so I don’t need to walk around the building. I do a quick walk around to make sure no one is behind the dumpster, then return Iron’s call.
“What do you have?” is my greeting when he picks up the phone.
“I did some digging,” he tells me, but he makes it sound like it’s a bad thing, which I don’t understand.
“Yeah?”
“It looks like she was removed from her home when she was twelve and put into foster care, but her records aren’t straightforward after that. I think she was moved around a bit until she eventually aged out of the system.”
“Okay,” I reply. That’s not all that unusual.
“Her mom was arrested for child endangerment and abuse charges.” His voice grows lower and lower with his words. “The allegations are pretty fucking serious. Sexual stuff.”
I look at the grimy brick in front of me, and my gaze becomes unfocused. I never had a shit ton to be grateful for, but not being a defenseless young female was one. Even as a kid, I realized it would have been so much worse. I heard stories about what men did to kids like us. We were disposable. It sounds like Maxine’s own mother might have been the one who hurt her.
“What happened? Did she go to jail?” I question.
“She was murdered before the case went to trial. About two years after Maxine was removed from the home.”
“Did someone kill her while she was locked up?”
“Nope, the bitch only served about three days before she was released while the case was investigated.” Iron sounds as disgusted as I feel. The fucking judicial system is a joke.
“So she never testified or anything. Are there accounts of what happened?”
“There were some news stories. They kept her name out of it because she was underage at the time, but it’s easy to connect the dots. It looks like something they would call trafficking nowadays. I think her mom pimped her out.”
“Jesus Christ,” I spit out, disgusted with the human race as a whole.
“It seems like she turned out okay though. She’s got a townhouse and a car,” Iron reasons.
