Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (shoe dog free ebook .txt) 📗

right? Because they know the regular guy, Blevins, likes to drink his beer alone. And he’s a bully. Nobody gets in his way. And every Monday night at ten-thirty, someone comes in to sit across from Blevins. Like a meeting.”

“The same person every time? Or someone different?”

“I haven’t confirmed anything yet, except I was told that Neva Bolz had been in to meet with Blevins. Since a new guy took Blevins’s place and the bar employees think that’s unusual, I’ve put a deputy on finding Blevins. We still don’t know where he is, and it looks like he might have skipped town.”

“You mean he disappeared?”

“I mean . . . we’re looking for him.”

“You don’t think he’s the killer, do you?”

“I hope he’s not our next victim. I hope there won’t be one. Now, if we can question this new guy who took Blevins’s place, whether he’s the pilot or not, we could find out more.”

Terra sighed.

“What’s the matter?”

“Everything. Investigations just take too long.”

“I’m getting impatient too, Terra.” The evening had started to cool down, so Jack turned his vehicle back on and cranked the heat. “Were you able to talk to the museum curator?”

“They were closed.”

“When I left the bar today, I went out the back into the alley and I saw the back of the museum.”

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s just something to note. The Bar Wars owners are collectors.”

“Of Star Wars memorabilia. But you think there could be more going on behind the scenes?”

“Something else to look into.”

“Again, it seems too obvious. Too easy. No one would be so bold to operate like that.”

“In plain sight? Sure they would.”

“I’d like to talk to the Bar Wars owner, then—about their collections. But we’re staking out the bar tonight, sitting in your vehicle. You haven’t explained how we’ll know this guy when we see him.”

“The bartender said ten-thirty. It’s ten twenty-five. Let’s see if our guy walks in soon.”

“Then what will we do?”

“We’ll see who goes in after him.”

“But we won’t know which persons coming and going are there to meet with him. I think we should go in.”

Jack rubbed his jaw. “Earlier today the bartender said he had me pegged as a cop from a long way off. I don’t want to disrupt the flow of things. Let’s wait.” He didn’t add that he was counting on that gut feeling that was an important part of any investigation.

“That’s it. I’m going in. I don’t look like a cop.” She flipped the mirror in the car open and let her hair down from the clip, then mussed it.

“What. Are. You. Doing?”

“I’m going in to see who he meets with.”

“You’re not going in alone,” he said.

“Name one reason why not? I can handle this. I’m law enforcement. This is my investigation too.”

“When I brought you into this, I hadn’t meant for you to step in the middle—” A guy moseyed toward the bar wearing a baseball cap. He glanced over his shoulder, wary. “I think that’s him. It’s hard to see in this lighting.”

Terra opened the door and stepped out. She leaned in and smiled. “I’ll text you a blow-by-blow account.”

He started to open his door.

“Don’t you dare,” she said. “You’ll ruin this for us. We need to find out who is behind the trafficking and the murders. I’ll text you when the guy he met with leaves, and you can snag him for questioning.”

“Uh . . . Terra . . . the booth to watch is the one at the very back far right.”

She ducked her chin, acknowledging that she appreciated the tip.

“And I want a blow-by-blow,” he said. “If I don’t get one, I’ll think you’re in trouble and then I’m coming in.”

He watched her walk away and head across the street. She opened the door and entered the bar just as a couple spilled out, leaning on each other and laughing. They strolled down the sidewalk weaving back and forth. He hoped they had called a cab.

Then a familiar face walked into the bar.

Not good.

FORTY-NINE

At least Bar Wars wasn’t the seedy kind of bar she’d imagined. With all the Star Wars memorabilia, it could even rank as family friendly. Unfortunately, too many heads had turned her way when she walked in. She would not walk through to check out all the decorations and draw more attention. Instead, she found a corner from which she could watch the entire place and quickly took in the far back booth in the shadows, a man already sitting there. The pilot?

A waitress approached. “What’ll it be?”

“I’ll have a club soda with lime.”

The woman arched a brow. “Suit yourself.”

Terra dropped her cell and picked it up from under the table. Then she sat up and started a text to Jack like she told him she would. A man pulled out a chair and sat at her table.

“Excuse me, but I’m waiting on a friend,” she said.

The guy winked. “I can be your friend.”

Oh brother.

“I have a boyfriend.”

“I can work around that.”

Really. “Look, I’m not interested.”

The waitress approached with Terra’s club soda. “This guy bothering you?”

Terra did not want to make a scene. She wanted to blend in. Maybe this had been a bad idea, after all. “I can handle him.”

The waitress laughed. “Bobby, go find another lady to hit on. This one’s too classy for you.”

“Look, I—”

Another man approached the table wearing a leather bomber jacket and a cap. She did a double take and realized it was Jack. He pressed his index finger on the table in front of Bobby. “This one’s taken, buddy.”

Bobby glanced up as if he would argue, then thought better of it. He lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, dude. You can’t blame me for trying. You’re a lucky guy.”

He exited the seat.

And Jack slid into it, his back to the booth where their person of interest was sitting in the shadows.

“What are you doing here?”

“Saving you.” He leaned forward. He looked too good. With the jacket, the cap, and the more arrogant demeanor, she had to admit