Amarina seemed to think someone here wanted Davies dead. But who? A regular he might have had beef with? Maybe he owed the house itself money? A beefy guy with a buzz cut exited the bathroom, still zipping up his fly. I curled my lip. Classy.
As I watched him head toward a golden curtain in the back that I hadn’t noticed before, something tugged at my memory. The guy looked familiar.
I sucked in a breath as I realized who it was—one of the buzzcuts from the police ball last night. He’d been harassing the rookie with glasses.
The bulldog of a man nodded at the bouncer beside the doorway, then disappeared through the curtain. I bit my lip. Huh. This didn’t seem like the kind of place the police would frequent (as customers, at least—a raid, I could picture).
Maybe something seedy was going on. If buzzcut took part in back room games, maybe Davies had done so too. I needed to figure out what was going on back there.
I looked around and spotted a circular tray at one end of the bar. I grabbed my half empty beer and slunk down the long line of stools, then plunked the bottle on the tray. With the bartender distracted taking an order at the other end, I scooped up a few glasses, dumped some wine into them, spilling some drops in the process, then hefted the tray above my shoulder and put on my most winning smile.
I swung my hips over to the golden curtain in back, hoping I’d pass for a cocktail waitress just casually going about her business. Would whistling be over the top? I beamed at the tall, bald bouncer before pushing the golden curtain aside to step through.
I caught a brief glimpse of a darkened room with a single round table in the center. A woman with a little dog in her lap sat at the head of the table, with half a dozen men, including buzzcut, sitting around her.
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and yanked me back.
“What are you doing?” the bald bouncer growled.
I blinked up at him, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Delivering drinks?”
He folded his beefy arms and shot me a flat look. Clearly he’d seen through my foolproof plan.
“Fine.” I sighed and shoved the tray onto the nearest table. “I want to get in on the game.”
He sniffed and looked me up and down. “It’s a high-stakes game back there.”
Uh! I shot him an indignant look. “I’ve got money.” I shoved a hand in my pants pocket and pulled out a handful of the gold that Peter had given me. I counted out a few coins on my palm. “What’s the buy in? Forty? Fifty?”
The beefy guy snorted. “Try five thousand merkles.”
I choked. Then scrambled to regroup. Raucous laughter sounded from the other side of the curtain—I had to get back there.
I leaned closer to the bouncer. “Maybe we can work out a little deal?” I gave an exaggerated wink and held up a single gold merkle, glanced around, then rose on my tiptoes to slip it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. He watched me, dark eyes unamused.
“We cool?” I started through the curtain again.
“No.” He hooked a finger around the neck of my shirt and dragged me back.
I huffed. Rude. “Fine.” I held out my palm. “Then I want my merkle back.”
He widened his stance and grinned at me. “No.”
Ugh! Who did this guy think he was? I’d bribed him, fair and square. I gritted my teeth and huffed through my nose. Stubbornness prickled up the back of my neck, and my cheeks flushed hot. I was getting through that curtain—one way or another.
“What’s that over there?” I shot my arm to the left, toward the gambling hall floor.
As soon as he turned his head, I dashed through the curtain. “I want to buy in!” I shook a handful of coins.
Beefy guards stationed around the room drew their wands, and the woman at the table looked up, her eyes wide. The little dog in her lap, yapped. Intruder!
“Apologies, Ms. Kang!” a deep voice behind me gushed.
A thick arm wrapped me around the middle and in a blur the bouncer slung me over his shoulder, dragged me through the curtain, and marched me across the casino floor.
“What the shell?!” I did my best to shove and squirm away from him but he carried me like I weighed nothing. “Heidi! Help!”
My friend leapt up from her stool in front of a slot machine, eyes wide, cup in hand. “Jolene!”
All around the gambling hall, eyes swiveled my way.
The bouncer kicked a metal side door open and unceremoniously dropped me to my feet, then pushed me into an alley.
I stumbled a few feet back. “Hey!” I clenched my hands into fists at my side.
The bouncer glared at me one last time before the door slammed shut behind him and locked with a click. I crossed my arms and slumped against the crumbling brick wall, chest heaving.
21
ALLEY
I kicked the toe of my boot against some gravel and let out a heavy sigh. Well, this sucked mackerel. I looked left and right, disoriented. Which way back to where we’d left Peter, Will, and Daisy?
Bang! I jumped when a metal door to my right flew open and slammed against the brick wall. An enormous dude in a black suit and sunglasses—really? At night?—stepped out with a tiny white dog on a leash. I raised my brows and snorted. I guess opposites attracted. Then I frowned as I recognized the dog as the one I’d seen on the woman’s lap.
The fluffy Pomeranian sniffed at a broken crate, then jumped back when a scurrying rat sent a bottle rolling.
The beefy guy grumbled. “Just go pee, already.”
The tiny dog lifted her black nose and wagged her curled tail. “Woof!” I love you, too.
I lifted a brow. If only my relationship with Daisy could be so easy. I shook my head
