Chapter 31
“That’s her! The sister! Quick! It’s the dead guy’s sister! Get the blond!”
As she climbed out of her Camaro, a stampede of fanatical news people swarmed her, determined to get their quote, no matter who they ran down in the process. A pack of rabid braying hyenas smelling carrion at the side of the road, they shoved microphones and cameras in her face. Within seconds, Brady, Clint, and six other members of the team barreled through the crowd forming a phalanx of burley men around her. Their fierce glares stopped even the most zealous of the newsmen.
They knew entering the club would be a challenge. They’d already agreed this was her last night at the club. They’d hoped she could keep her identity secret one more night. No such luck. Some enterprising newsperson had discovered who she was and the word that they had a new “victim” to exploit created a frenzy.
Inside the club, the bouncers joined the protective squad and summarily ejected any customers with the rabid stench of a news person.
Once inside, Lexie focused on her mission for the night. Her goal was to learn what Sergio knew. Jake was convinced the club owner wasn’t a principle in the drug operation, but needed to know his role and what he knew about the mastermind of the operation. Sergio’s message on Lexie’s cell phone gave her an excuse to talk with him. But they’d agreed she was not to see him alone.
Manual, one of the bouncer’s, who had an obvious crush on her, caught up with her after she’d served a table and was heading back to the bar.
“Boss wants to see you, sweet cheeks.”
She frowned.
“I can’t, Manuel. I have four full tables. If I leave now, there’ll be a riot.”
The heavy set Hispanic man sneered. “Let ‘em try. I’ve been wantin’ to kick some serious ass after that scene in the parking lot. You better get in there, sweet stuff. The boss ain’t the nicest guy under the best of circumstances. And, honey, these last couple of days he’s been anything but.”
Lexie hesitated, then decided to take him in her confidence. She’d promised Jake that she wouldn’t go anywhere by herself, but neither Brady nor Clint were in sight.
“I can’t, Manuel. I… I have to have someone with me.”
“Will I do?”
Lexie breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Clint’s firm voice.
Manuel looked him up and down. He must have seen something in the mild mannered man in the sports coat that made him pull back and settle for throwing him a hostile glare.
“What are you? Protection for sweet cheeks?” When Clint merely nodded, Manuel grunted, “How many of you are there? “
Clint’s quiet voice was laced with steel. “Enough.”
Manuel mumbled under breath. “You better hope so, dude. There’s a pack of trouble coming little sunshine’s way tonight, if what I hear is true. And it starts right here with the boss.”
He flung open the door.
“Here she is, Boss. But she ain’t alone…”
Sergio glanced up, his swarthy face twisting with anger. He looked past her, glowering at Clint.
“Who the hell are you, her guard dog?”
Clint smiled slightly, his calm demeanor a striking contrast to the furious man glaring at him.
“Yes, I am here to protect Sarah Jane from the mad dogs surrounding your establishment. In the event you have not looked outside, your waitresses are passing through a veritable gauntlet to enter the club.”
Sergio eyed him, a deep red flush marking his dark skin.
“Cut the bullshit, asshole.”
He whirled on Lexie.
“Do you think I don’t know who you are? That I haven’t known since you flaunted that sexy ass of yours up on the bar? To get my attention? To make me hire you?”
His voice rose to shrill heights. “You think I don’t know who Jake Gardner is?” His voice dropped to a sneer.
“You ain’t fooling nobody, sweetheart. That little charade you’re playin’? Pretending to be on the outs with that big shot hero guy? Hell, if you two are fighting, I’d hate to see you when you’re making up! I know whose woman you are. Everyone in this whole goddamn town knows whose woman you are.”
Lexie saw the spit forming angry bubbles in the corner of his mouth. His eyes were red rimmed, the pouches under them swollen. He looked like he’d been crying. The half empty bottle of tequila on the desk spoke to the empties piled in the waste paper basket next to the desk. Six shot glasses were lined up like soldiers on parade waiting for their next order.
Bolstered by Clint’s strong presence, Lexie tried to reduce the tension, to reach the angry man.
“If you knew who I was, Sergio, why did you play along?”
“Because, pretty lady, I was doing the same damn thing you are and what that fuckin’ brother of yours was doing. Trying to find out how much you knew about what’s goin’ on.”
She kept her voice calm when her chest tightened painfully at his reference to Anthony.
“What is going on, Sergio. Where do you fit in this illegal drug running operation?”
When he didn’t answer, she took a chance. “Bella told me you’re not involved, just taking a payoff to stay out of the way.”
Her question hit the bull’s eye. At the mention of Bella’s name, Sergio’s face crumpled, as though the bones that should have held it together went on hiatus.
He ran his hands through his tangled black hair, further adding to his drunken, disheveled appearance.
With shaking hands, he filled a shot glass full of tequila, sloshing at least as much over the papers on his desk. Tossing it back, the look he threw her was ripe with pain. His voice was an agonized whisper.
“He killed her. Tortured her. Cut her up. My Bella. My beautiful Bella.”
His voice broke, caught in a harsh sob.
Lexie swallowed hard. At Clint’s imperceptible nod, she pressed. Vaulted
“I know that, Sergio. Bella was my friend. I know you loved her and that she loved you.”
She leaned forward in her chair and appealed to him.
“You’re right, Sergio. We’re working to find my brother’s killer and now Bella’s. Help us, Sergio. Don’t let them get away with it. We both know Walter Cochran wasn’t smart enough to mastermind this operation. You know that, Sergio. If Walt killed Anthony and Bella, he did it because someone ordered him to.”
She waited until he looked up at her, sure that she had his attention.
“Who are they, Sergio? Who attacked me last night in the alley? And who ordered Walt to kill Bella?”
Sergio shook his head as if he hadn’t heard her. He quaffed another glass of tequila and peered at her through bleary eyes.
He mumbled, “I warned her. I tried to tell her who those guys are. What they’re capable of. Fuck! Why do you think I wouldn’t work with them? I told her not to get uppity. Those guys don’t like uppity broads. She wouldn’t listen. I told we could make more on the sidelines then we ever could in the center. And it would be safe.” He groaned. “She would have been safe. But she wouldn’t listen. She was too smart, too greedy for her own good.”
Lexie went for the juggler.
“She didn’t deserve it, Sergio. No one deserves to be cut up like an animal at slaughter. This is as much about you, Sergio, as it was about Bella. They’re warning you, Sergio. Telling you what will happen if you get out of line.”
He buried his head in his hands and sobbed audibly.
Lexie walked over and put her hands on the desk and leaned over close to him.
“Help me, Sergio, please? Tell me who they are.”
Sergio shook his head. “I don’t know. The suppliers who come once a month are all foreigners. Come from Afghanistan, some from Chechnya. Bringing in the finest dust I’ve ever seen. Our local gangs are amazed, willing to
