Page 76 of Lucky In Love

“Of course,” Jackson agreed with an exaggerated smile. “Neither of us will even notice any of the half-naked women running around that place.”

Angel laughed as she wrapped her arms around him. “You’re lucky that I love you and trust you as much as I do.”

“And you know I have no interest at all in any other woman.”

“Yes, I know.” Angel was confident in her husband’s love, and she trusted him completely. They’d been through a lot since they’d met, which had been under dire circumstances. And he’d proven himself to her a hundred times over.

Doc poked his head into the conference room. “Hey, are we still planning to leave around sixteen hundred?” he asked Jackson.

“Yeah, as long as nothing goes to shit around here,” Jackson answered. “And Shepherd approved us taking this case.”

“Yeah, I figured he would,” Doc said.

Chapter 3

Charlie

Jackson brought the black SUV to a stop across the street from Gentleman Jerry’s front doors. The two men gazed at the single-story white brick building. It had gold trim, a relatively plain gold sign with the name of the establishment on it, and no windows, as one would expect. It was in a declining part of town, surrounded by liquor stores, gambling parlors, marijuana dispensaries, and various buildings with metal bars or gates across their windows. The parking lot beside the building was half-full of cars.

“Looks like they’re doing a good business for a Tuesday afternoon,” Doc said. “Let me see the picture of Quinn Daily again. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see her working. I’d like to wrap this one up fast so her sister will schedule her surgery.”

Jackson handed the two pictures he had of her to Doc. The first was her driver’s license photo, which was nearly eight years old. The other was one Maeve had on her phone. Her sister Quinn was dressed for clubbing in a low-cut dress, heavy makeup, and her long strawberry-blonde hair sleekly straightened. She was a pretty girl, but in the second picture, she wore way too much makeup.

“I gave our approach some thought, and I think we should play it honest. We’re looking for her because of a family emergency,” Jackson said. He had the flyer with the drink specials and the eye peering through the four-leaf clover that Maeve insisted was her sister’s eye, in his hand.

“Works for me,” Doc said in his normal no-nonsense tone of voice. He didn’t voice his lack of enthusiasm to enter the club. He’d had more than enough of such establishments in his younger single days. He was now very happily married to an incredible woman, and they had a daughter who was the light of his life, something he never would have predicted.

The two men got out of the car and crossed the street. Jackson pushed through the first set of doors and then the second, stepping into an environment like every other strip club he’d ever been in. The lighting was low, lit by glowing red neon, the music high with a heavy bass, the women scantily clad, and the clientele male. Two dancers were on the stage.

“Pole dancers. How imaginative,” Doc said in Jackson’s ear, bringing a grin to his lips.

The two men took seats to the right of the stage, where they could view the entire main room. As Jackson scrutinized both of the young women on the stage, Doc’s gaze swept the room. Neither man saw anyone who they believed was Quinn.

A server approached in the Gentleman Jerry’s uniform, a gold string bikini top with a matching G-string bottom. Her makeup was heavily caked on, her hair big and curly. She would have been an attractive woman without all the makeup. Combined with most of her parts hanging out, the overall effect was what the club was going for.

“Hi, gents,” she greeted, moving in way closer to both men than required. “What can I get you? I offer a full menu.”

Jackson and Doc didn’t doubt that for a moment. Jackson pulled a twenty from his pocket and held it up. She leaned in closer, rubbing her breast against his arm as she reached for the bill. He held the flyer up in his other hand. “We’re looking for this girl. Her real name is Quinn, not sure what she may be going by.”

“Oh, sugar, I guarantee you I’ll show you a better time than her or any other girl in this place. What are you interested in? Or maybe you both want to share.”

“No, that wouldn’t be on our wish list,” Jackson said. She tried to take the twenty. Jackson kept a tight hold of it. “Quinn. This girl,” he repeated. “We’re here on behalf of her sister. There’s a family emergency. Please take a look at this other picture of her.”

Doc held up the picture of her all made up for a night out partying. “Her sister is sure that eye on the flyer is hers.”

The waitress’ gaze bounced between the two pictures. “Sorry, don’t know her.”

“Was it one of the girls who regularly work here that they used for this flyer?” Jackson asked.

She shrugged. “Look, do you want a drink or something?”

“Yeah, give us two beers. And we’re offering a larger finder’s fee to anyone who may know where Quinn is. Tell the other girls,” Jackson said. He released the twenty. “And send a couple more girls over.”

Doc raised an eyebrow, giving Jackson a pointed look.

“Really? You think I’m looking for company?”

Doc chuckled. “You wouldn’t be stupid enough to fuck up your life with Angel. What I meant was, do you really think any of the women who work here are going to be straight with us?”