13. The Dive Bar and the Mark
CHAPTER 13
The Dive Bar and the Mark
Nikki
I sped down I-10, trying not to think the worst of Tessa. Henry’s mom had been in Phoenix, enjoying some fine dining with none other than her brother-in-law, the jerk who’d kept her away from her son all this time. I slanted another glance at the picture Dom texted me, glad Henry wasn’t here to see it. This would completely crush him. What was Tessa playing at? How could she do this to her own son?
Please let this Scott guy be one of those bartenders who’s always glad to help.
Another text came in from Dom.
Dom: Judging by his text and lack of concise information, I’d say this guy wants money. Let’s tread lightly. Something doesn’t smell right here. You win. We’ll go with your plan. I’m sending the address.
Scott had gone out of his way to get us this far out from the city limits. If he’d wanted money, he would’ve set an amount already. This was going to be another bust. I gripped the steering wheel and let out a breath. For Henry’s sake, I had to stay positive. I fumbled with my phone and tapped on my music playlist, looking for something upbeat. I needed sexy and upbeat right now.
I got off I-10 with the sun sitting low on the horizon. I followed Dom’s directions to the dive bar where we were supposed to meet Scott and pulled into the parking lot. My heart sank when I spotted Henry leaning against Dom’s SUV, arms across his chest. How did he find me? Did he know about his mom? The pursed lips and creases on his forehead answered my question. He didn’t even bother to hide his contempt while I parked next to him. I checked my red lipstick in the rearview mirror while I tried not to react to how hot he looked in those ripped jeans, arms stretching the sleeves of his faded T-shirt, and that scolding stare of his that threatened to set the entire place on fire.
When Dom called to tell me he might have something on Tessa, I’d been glad for an excuse to get out of the hotel and away from Henry. Apparently, Henry had the same idea, and Dom didn’t think to send him home.
I had to focus. Henry wasn’t here. Only the mark.
I climbed out of the car and leaned on the hood, ignoring Henry and the daggers coming out of his eyes. For one, it was a good idea for the patrons of this fine establishment to think I was alone. And two, I didn’t know what to say to him. I wasn’t mad at him. Was I? Until I figured out how I felt about him and all this crap with his family and Lisa, I had to stay away. For his own good, I had to stay away.
Dom strolled out of the bar. While Henry hadn’t talked to me because he was pissed, Dom understood the situation and ignored me. Going straight to Henry instead. My phone vibrated with a new text.
Dom: Hey, doll. Want to try your luck at the bar?
I bit my lip to suppress a smile. Next to me, Henry stood still like a statue. Good. He was finally on board. This was a different kind of poker game. Checking my lipstick one last time to calm my nerves, I smoothed out my tight dress and headed for the door. If the men inside could see me through the windows, they’d think I was just another chick looking for a free drink…or to hook up. This dive looked like that kind of place.
At the door, I took my time to set my watch to twenty minutes. Guys, especially drunk ones, pegged girls quickly. I was alone, but my impatience with my watch suggested I was waiting for someone. Slowly, I made my way to the opposite end of the room, careful not to catch anyone’s eye. Scott was the only guy I wanted to talk to tonight. When I reached the bar, I leaned forward, letting my breasts brush the counter. The bartender gave me a wide smile that showed all his teeth.
Out in the parking lot, Dom and Henry appeared to be deep in conversation, though Henry kept his piercing gaze on me. This was why I always worked alone.
“Can I get you something, beautiful?” the bartender asked.
“A white wine, please.”
The bartender raised an eyebrow and poured a cheap wine in a water-spotted wineglass. God, I hoped I didn’t have to drink it. I checked my watch again.
“Waiting for someone?” a guy asked.
He smelled of decent cologne and had long, semi clean hair. He didn’t stick out like a sore thumb in this dive, but he didn’t quite fit in either. This had to be Scott.
I met his gaze. “I was. Seems I’ve been stood up.” I pouted a little. Hurt, but not too hurt now that he was here. His chest puffed up.
“This shit’s been sitting in the fridge for a week. Get the lady a whiskey. Hey. The good stuff,” Scott said to the bartender.
The bartender pulled a bottle off the shelf, set two actually clean glasses in front of us, and poured.
I took a small sip. “Oh wow, that’s strong.” I patted his rather average arm, not small but not muscular either. Henry could beat this guy to a pulp if he wanted to.
Stop thinking about him.
“Never seen you here before.” He got closer and his stale beer breath blew in my face.
“It’s my first time. I met some friends on Mill Avenue. They said this place was fun.” I shrugged and wrinkled my nose. “Looks dead, though.”
He laughed, a real laugh, as he relaxed against the counter and glanced over his shoulder toward Dom and Henry. “Looks like my friend got cold feet too. Wanna get out of here? No reason why this should be a bust for both of us.”
I licked my lips, followed by a slow blink. “I don’t know. I should wait for my friend a little longer.” My watch buzzed signaling the end of the time I’d set.
If I didn’t get Scott out of here, Dom would make a move. The bartender fidgeted with a rag while his gaze shifted from the door to Dom on the other side of the window. Something wasn’t right.
“If you’re looking for fun, I can show you fun.” He turned his back to the bartender.
I tilted the glass of whiskey and downed the rest of it. I shook my head and blew out a breath. “Okay. Let’s do it. But we’re taking my car. I don’t want to leave it here.”
“Whatever you want, beautiful.” His gaze dropped to my cleavage.
“Thank you, handsome.” I smiled at the ground. Scott snaked his arm around my waist. I leaned in closer to him, tripping over my feet on purpose. “Oops.” I placed my hand over his chest. He squared his shoulders while his heartbeat quickened. No doubt he thought we were getting it on in the parking lot. Gag .
When we walked out of the bar, he was so full of anticipation he didn’t notice Henry’s glare and fisted hands. I glanced at Dom and pursed my lips. He moved to the side and blocked Henry from our view.
“Give me the keys, sweetheart.” The asshole was ready to have sex with me and hadn’t even bothered to ask my name.
“This is brand new. I’m driving.” I slid past him, and he gripped my arm, taking a whiff of me like he wanted to eat me.
“Fuck. You’re hot. Get in the car.”
I flashed him a smile, jiggling the keys before I climbed in on the driver’s side. I turned on the ignition, put the car in reverse, and pulled out of the parking lot. The minute we were outside the bright lights of the parking lot, his hands were on my leg.
“Where to, handsome?” I slammed on the brakes.
He looked around. Shit. He was familiar with the area. He sat back to adjust his pants. “Take a right up ahead.”
I giggled, hitting the accelerator hard, checking all my mirrors. “I’ve never done this before.”
Gravel crunched under the Tesla tires when I turned onto the empty street. God, I hoped Dom was right behind us. This guy was about to combust.
“Here’s good.” He pointed to an empty lot.
“Where’s the bar?” I ducked to see where we were.
Shit. It was so dark out here. An adrenaline rush killed the small buzz I had from the whiskey. We were all alone. He’d made sure of that. His friends weren’t coming, and just in case mine weren’t either, I had to act quick.
He threw his body weight across the console and swiped the cord along my neck with his tongue. Gross. “You taste like fucking strawberries,” he mumbled .
Letting out a giggle, I reached in the door compartment where I kept my Taser. He reached for his pants again. It was now or never. I squeezed the Taser handle and shocked him right in the crotch. His eyes went wide as he clenched his jaw. He turned to me, looking at me as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just done to him. Why did they always look so surprised?
I pushed him off me and reached in the glove compartment for a disinfecting wipe to clean the slobber off my neck. One second he sat in my passenger seat frozen, his eyeballs shifting from side to side, and the next he was being dragged behind Henry across the gravel. Making quick work of the wipe, I got out of the Tesla with a death-grip on my Taser. Dom strolled to the trunk of his SUV and popped it open, cool and calm, like he’d done this a million times.
Henry on the other hand was breathing fire. I’d never seen him like that, jaw clenched, deep furrows on either side of his mouth and across his forehead. He leaned Scott against the trunk and punched him. The bone-on-bone cracking sound made me step back. Scott fell in a heap, kissing the gravel next to Henry’s feet.
“You okay?” Dom put his arm around me.
I nodded, and he returned the gesture before walking over to Scott, towering over him. “A beautiful woman like that.” He pointed at me. “And you actually thought she was into you? I guess things get fuzzy when your cock is doing all the thinking.” He barked out a laugh and turned to Henry. “Your show.”
Henry helped Scott up to a sitting position and sat on his heels next to him. “Why all the charade? Why bring us here and then tell us you’re not Scott?”
“I wasn’t expecting two big dudes to show up.” He slumped his shoulders.
“Well. Now that you’ve seen that our intentions are honest, why don’t you tell us what you know?” Henry said .
“I like this guy.” Dom chuckled.
Henry glanced up at Dom before he turned his attention back to Scott. “Right now all I want is to punch your face in for what you tried to do to my girlfriend. Start talking.”
I stepped back. After everything I told him this morning, he considered me his girlfriend? I placed my hands on my hips, only to keep from running to Henry and telling him I didn’t want to leave.
Scott tugged at his pocket and pulled out his phone. He entered the code and showed him the screen. It was a picture of Henry. “I was supposed to bring you out here and give you a scare, get you to stop asking questions. But when I saw him”—he pointed at Dom— “I freaked out. Me and my buddy couldn’t take you both. Then she came in. I thought she could get me out of the bar without you two getting suspicious. Anything else would’ve been a bonus. Ahh.” He yelped.
Henry had Scott’s arm twisted behind his back. He shoved it up higher. “Who sent you?”
“A man. Very fancy dude. He was with the lady.”
Henry closed his eyes and stood. “The woman from your text?”
“Yeah, that one.”
He picked up Scott by the collar. “You ever come near me or her again, I swear I will kill you.” He shoved him into the trunk of the SUV and shut the door. Scott didn’t make a sound. He knew he was better off playing along. Henry rounded on Dom. “And you. The next time you decide to use Nikki as bait, I swear?—”
“Yeah, you’ll kill me. I got that.” He scoffed. “You obviously don’t know Nikki. This was her idea. If I had said no, she would’ve done it anyway. Except without our help. So instead of pitching a fit, why don’t you thank her? Because now you owe Nikki a favor. See how that works?” He turned to me. “I’ll stay in touch, doll. I’m gonna go take out the trash.” He climbed in the back seat of his SUV, and the car drove off.
Henry took two strides toward me and cradled my face with trembling fingers. His eyes inspected every inch of me. “Are you okay? Goddammit, Nikki. How could you do that? If I would’ve known this was your plan when you went into the bar, I never would’ve let you go.”
I slapped his hands off me. “Let me go? I never asked for your permission. You know why?” Heat flushed my cheeks. “Because I don’t fucking need it. So how about that thank-you you still owe me?” I stomped to my car.
Two beats later, he climbed in the passenger seat, leaned back, and closed his eyes. “Thank you for coming to help. And I’m sorry. I…I was so scared for you.”
“I can take care of myself. I’ve been just fine without your protection all these years.” I put the car in drive and careened out of the lot.
My hands shook as I gripped the steering wheel. I wanted to punch Henry for being so shortsighted, but at the same time, I wanted to hug him. I got on I-10 and hit the gas pedal. “And by the way, I’m not your girlfriend, and I would really appreciate it if you didn’t go around killing people on my behalf. Especially not Dom. He’s a friend. A real friend.”
“I know you’re not my girlfriend.” He shook his head, brows furrowed. “I said that in the heat of the moment. Your message was loud and clear this morning, Nikki Swift. When this gig is up, you’re on to the next.”