Page 18 of Convincing Alex (Stanislaskis #4)

Before she could take her seat, his phone rang. “Stanislaski. Yeah.” He listened a moment, then pulled out his notepad to

scribble. “I hear you. You know how it works, Boomer. It depends on what it’s worth.” Nodding to himself, he replaced the

pad. “Yeah, we’ll talk. I’ll be there. In ten.”

When Alex hung up the phone and grabbed for his jacket, Bess was right behind him. “What is it?”

“I’ve got someplace to go. Judd, let’s hit it.”

“I’m going with you.”

Alex didn’t even glance back as he started out. He was already working on tucking her in some far corner of his mind. “Forget

it.”

“I’m going with you,” she repeated, and snagged his arm. “That’s the deal.”

It surprised him when he tried to shake her off and she wouldn’t shake. The lady had a good grip, he noted. “I didn’t make

any deal.”

She could be just as tough and cold-blooded as he, she thought. She planted her feet, angled her chin. “Your captain did.

I ride with you, Detective, wherever you may be going. A day in the life, remember?”

“Fine.” Frustration vibrated through him as he stared her down. “You ride—and you stay in the car. No way you’re scaring off

my snitch.”

“Want me to drive?” Judd offered as they headed down the steps to the garage.

“No.” Alex’s answer was flat and left no room for argument. Judd sent Bess a good-natured shrug. Then, because Alex made no

move to do so, he opened the back door of their nondescript unmarked car for her.

“Where are we going?” Bess asked, determined to be pleasant.

“To talk to the scum of the earth,” Alex shot back as he pulled out of the garage.

“Sounds fascinating,” Bess said, and meant it.

She didn’t think she’d ever been in this part of town before. Many of the shop windows were boarded up. Those still in business

were grubbier than usual. People still walked as though they were in a hurry, but it didn’t look as if they had anyplace to

go.

Funny, she thought, how Alex seemed to blend with the surroundings. It wasn’t simply the jeans and battered jacket he wore,

or the hair he’d deliberately mussed. It was a look in the eyes, a set of the body, a twist of the mouth. No one would look

twice at him, she thought. Or if they bothered, they wouldn’t see a cop, they’d see another street tough obviously on the

edge of his luck.

Taking her cue from him, she pulled out her bag of cosmetics, darkening her mouth, adding just a little too much eyeliner

and shadow. She tried a couple of bored looks in the mirror of her compact and decided to tease up her hair.

Alex glanced back at her and scowled. “What the hell are you doing to your face?”

“Getting into character,” she said blithely. “Just like you. Are we going to bust somebody?”

He only turned away and muttered.

Just his luck, he thought. He wanted to slip into Boomer’s joint unobtrusively, and he was stuck with a redhead who thought

they were playing cops and robbers.

Unoffended, Bess put away her mirror and scanned the area. Parking wasn’t a problem here. Bess decided that if anyone left

his car unattended in this neighborhood for above ten minutes, he’d come back and be lucky to find a hubcap.

Alex swung over the curb and swore. He couldn’t leave her in the car here, damn it. Any of the hustlers or junkies on the

streets would take one look, then eat her alive.

“You listen to me.” He turned, leaning over the seat to make his point. “Stay close to me, and keep your mouth shut. No questions,

no comments.”

“All right, but where—”

“No questions.” He slammed out of his door, then waited for her. With his hand firm on her arm, he hauled her to the sidewalk.

“If you step out of line, I swear, I’ll slap the cuffs on you.”

“Romantic, isn’t he?” she said to Judd. “Just sends shivers down my spine.”

“Keep a lid on it, McNee,” Alex told her, refusing to be amused. He pulled her through a grimy door into an airless shop.

It took her a minute to get her bearings in the dim light. There were shelves and shelves crowded with dusty merchandise.

Radios, picture frames, kitchenware. A tuba. A huge glass display counter with a diagonal crack across it dominated one wall.

Security glass ran to the ceiling. Cutting through it was a window, like a bank teller’s, studded with bars.

“A pawnshop,” Bess said, with such obvious delight that Alex snarled at her.

“One word about atmosphere, I’ll clobber you.”

But she was already dragging out her notebook. “Go ahead, do what you have to do. You won’t even know I’m here.”

Sure, he thought. How would anyone know she was there, simply because that sunshine scent of hers cut right through the grime

and must? He stepped up to the counter just as a scrawny man in a loose white shirt came through the rear door.

“Stanislaski.”

“Boomer. What have you got for me?”

Grinning, Boomer passed a hand over his heavily greased black hair. “Come on, I got some good stuff, and you know I make a

point of cooperating with the law. But a man’s got to make a living.”

“You make one ripping off every poor slob who walks through the door.”

“Aw, now you hurt my feelings.” Boomer’s pale blue eyes glittered. “Rookie?” he asked, nodding at Judd.

“He used to be.”

After an appraising look, Boomer glanced over at Bess. She was busy poking through his merchandise. “Looks like I got me a

customer. Hang on.”

“She’s with me.” Alex shot him a knife-edged look that forestalled any questions. “Just forget she’s here.”

Boomer had already appraised the trio of rings on Bess’s right hand, and the blue topaz drops at her ears. He sighed his disappointment.

“You’re the boss, Stanislaski. But listen, I like to be discreet.”

Alex leaned on the counter, like a man ready to shoot the bull for hours. His voice was soft, and deadly. “Jerk my chain,

Boomer, and I’m going to have to come down here and take a hard look at what you keep in that back room.”

“Stock. Just stock.” But he grinned. He didn’t have any illusions about Alex. Boomer knew when he was detested, but he also

knew they had an agreement of sorts. And, thus far, it had been advantageous to both of them. “I got something on those hookers

that got sliced up.”

Though his expression didn’t change, though he didn’t move a muscle, Alex went on alert. “What kind of something?”

Boomer merely smiled and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. When Alex drew out a twenty, it disappeared quickly through

the bars. “Twenty more, if you like what I have to say.”

“If it’s worth it, you’ll get it.”

“You know I trust you.” Smelling of hair grease and sweat, Boomer leaned closer. “Word on the street is you’re looking for

some high roller. Guy’s name’s Jack.”

“So far I’m not impressed.”

“Just building up to it, pal. The first one that was wasted? She was one of Big Ed’s wives. I recognized her from the newspaper

picture. Now, she was fine-looking. Not that I ever used her services.”

“Turn the page, Boomer.”

“Okay, okay.” He shot a grin at Judd. “He don’t like conversation. I heard both those unfortunate ladies were in possession

of a certain piece of jewelry.”

“You’ve got good ears.”

“Man in my position hears things. It so happens I had a young lady come in just yesterday. She had a certain piece of jewelry

she wanted to exchange.” Opening a drawer, Boomer pulled out a thin gold chain. Dangling from it was a heart, cracked down

the center. When Alex held out a hand, Boomer shook his head. “I gave her twenty for it.”

Saying nothing, Alex pulled another bill out of his wallet.

“Seems to me I’m entitled to a certain amount of profit.”

Eyes steady, Alex pulled the twenty back an inch. “You’re entitled to go in and answer a bunch of nasty questions down at

the cop shop.”

With a shrug, Boomer exchanged the bill for the heart. He’d only given ten for it, in any case. “She wasn’t much more than

a kid,” Boomer added. “Eighteen, maybe twenty at a stretch. Still pretty. Bottle blonde, blue eyes. Little mole right here.”

He tapped beside his left eyebrow.

“Got an address?”

“Well, now...”

“Twenty for the address, Boomer.” Alex’s tone told the man to take it. “That’s it.”

Satisfied, Boomer named a hotel a few blocks away. “Signed her name Crystal,” he added, wanting to keep the partnership intact.

“Crystal LaRue. Figure she made it up.”

“Let’s check it out,” he said to Judd, then tapped Bess on the shoulder. She was apparently absorbed in an ugly brass lamp

in the shape of a rearing horse. “Let’s go.”

“In a minute.” She turned a smile on Boomer. “How much?”

“Oh, for you—”

“Forget it.” Alex was dragging her to the door.

“I want to buy—”

“It’s ugly.”

Annoyed at the loss, but pleased to have recorded the entire conversation, she sighed. “That’s the point.” But she climbed

meekly into the car and began to scribble her impressions in her book.

Cramped shop. Very dirty. Mostly junk. Excellent place for props. Proprietor a complete sleaze. Alexi in complete control

of exchange—a kind of game-playing. Quietly disgusted but willing to use the tools at hand.

By the time she’d finished scribbling, Alex was pulling to the curb again.

“Same rules,” he said to Bess as they climbed out of the car.

“Absolutely.” Lips pursed, she studied the crumbling hotel. She recognized it as a rent-by-the-hour special. “Is this where

she lives?”

“Who?”

“The girl you were talking about.” She lifted a brow. “I have ears, too, Alexi.”

He should have known. “As long as you keep your mouth shut.”

“There’s no need to be rude,” she told him as they started in. “Tell you what, just to show there’s no hard feelings, I’ll

buy you both lunch.”

“Great.” Judd gallantly opened the door for her.

“You’re so easy,” Alex muttered to his partner as they entered the filthy lobby.

“Hey, we gotta eat sometime.”

He hated to bring her in here, Alex realized. Into this dirty place that smelled of garbage and moldy dreams. How could she

be so unaffected by it? he wondered, then struggled to put thoughts of her aside as he approached the desk clerk.

“You got a Crystal LaRue?”