Chapter 21
Micah stepped into The Laughing Llama, owned by Louis Cain. A piece of shit Micah wanted nothing to do with, but he had to go where the leads took him. At least the name of his bar was funny.
With Berkley safe at Nick Storm’s house, he could breathe easier. He’d been combing over James Reed’s records and the man had not only owed Myron Booker money, but Louis Cain as well.
And Cain wasn’t someone you wanted to owe money to. He took any bet, but he was also suspected of running a drug hub right out of his bar. Micah didn’t think the pills were distributed here, but from what he’d heard, they sure took in the cash here.
If someone was looking for a payday—and didn’t mind going up against armed men—this would be the type of place to knock off.
To his surprise, he spotted two familiar faces inside the smoky bar—yep, this shithole still allowed smoking indoors. At least they seemed to have decent ventilation, but he hated the insistent smell. Instead of getting his own table, he headed straight for the booth Krystal was sitting at.
She raised her eyebrows at him. “Come here often?”
“You couldn’t pay me enough. I think we might be here for the same reasons.”
She gave him a ghost of a smile. “Somehow I doubt that.”
He hated lying to Krystal more than anyone, so he was going to give some half-truths. Leaning forward, he said. “I’m following a lead about James Reed’s murder.”
His sister went very still.
Yep, he shouldn’t know shit about Reed since Krystal had no idea of Berkley’s connection to the dead man.
But he needed to know what the detectives knew.
“Word is that Henry and Reed were killed in a similar manner. I already have a lot of info on the cheating bastard,” their loving nickname for Henry, “but I started digging into Reed to see if I could find a connection.”
“What, why?”
He just stared at her. “Come on.” Like he wasn’t going to try to figure out who was after Berkley.
She huffed out a sigh but paused as a server with a surly expression approached their booth. The woman was in her twenties, had an “eat shit and die” expression to go with her black and white T-shirt that said fuck you in binary code.
He laughed at her shirt, which earned a small smile. Or at least less rage as she set her hand on her hip. Her manicure showcased glossy black nails. “What do you want?”
Leaning back, he turned on the charm his sisters swore he had. “Surprise me.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Surprise you?”
“Sure. I love it when a woman orders me around.”
The woman glanced at Krystal, frowned, then looked back at him with more rage. “You’re flirting with me in front of your—”
“I’m his older sister,” Krystal murmured, her tone dry.
“Oh.” He got an almost smile now. “You might regret letting me choose.”
“I doubt it. If your tastes are as good as your shirt, I trust you.”
“You’re the only person in this dump who’s ever gotten what it means.”
He grinned at her, and even with the eye roll, her cheeks flushed pink as she stalked away. She wasn’t his type, but he wanted information and would work the flirting angle if it got him intel.
“She might put eyedrops in your drink.”
“Nah. She likes me, I can tell.”
Laughing lightly, Krystal shook her head. “It’s your damn face.”
“My face?”
“You’ve got that boyish charm and you know it.”
He grinned even wider. “I do know it. I just wanted to hear you say it.” Unfortunately for him it did nothing for the woman he was slowly becoming obsessed with. She was immune to his charm.
His sister’s expression dimmed a moment later. “Why are you looking into Reed?”
“If there’s a connection to Reed and Henry, I want to know.”
“Peter and I have this covered.”
“Yeah, I saw him when I walked in. He looks too much like a cop, so hopefully you came in separately.”
She nodded. “About half an hour apart. Hey, I know how to do my job. And don’t try to distract me.”
“Fine. Worth a shot…” He cleared his throat. “Look, Reed had a gambling problem.”
“I know.”
“I figured you’d already talked to Myron, but Reed owed a lot more to Cain.” He murmured the last part low enough she might not have even been able to hear him. But she read his lips clearly enough because she nodded.
“There’s no way he’ll talk to me. I was hoping to find something here to give me cause for a warrant. See if I can get him in interrogation.”
“I can help you with that.”
She was already shaking her head before he’d finished. “No. No gray area stuff.”
“Fine, be that way.” He paused as their server approached with a bright orange drink.
In a hurricane glass with a lime and strawberry garnish to go with the little blue umbrella, the drink got a few sidelong glances. People mostly ordered beers or whiskey in this place.
But he took it with a smile. “Hurricane?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks.”
She looked faintly surprised as he sipped on it, but then grinned and shook her head. “That one’s on me, you weirdo. You guys hungry?”
It looked as if Krystal was going to say no but he beat her to it and ordered a couple deep-fried appetizers.
When they were alone again, he said, “I’m setting something up for a job. Nothing to do with Berkley. It will help my cover if I become a semi-regular here.”
Krystal watched him carefully. “Do I want to know the details?”
“Probably not, but I’m killing two birds with one stone right now.
Because to be clear, I am trying to find out who the hell targeted our sister.
” And if he got a name before Krystal did, that person was dead.
He’d already talked with Cormac and Apollo.
Whoever wanted to hurt their sister wouldn’t see the inside of a jail cell if they got to them first. Their body would never be found.
“Fine. Can you share what you’ve discovered about Reed so far?” she asked.
Because his sister might be a rule follower, but she wasn’t going to turn down good information even if she knew he’d likely gotten it illegally.
Or creatively, as he liked to say. “Of course.” And while they were talking, he covertly took pictures of multiple known felons with connections to illegal drugs, among other things.
Each one headed down the hallway that led to Cain’s office at one point during the evening.
Oh yeah, he was definitely running his money out of here. Or at least collecting payments.
That was his first mistake. This place was too open, too public. Cain should have been more careful.