Page 11 of Wild Idol

“The basketball player?”

“Yeah. A bunch of other people. To tell you the truth, I got pretty lit up that night. People were buying me shots. It’s all kind of a blur.”

“What about the waitstaff?”

He thought for a second. “Jessica and Korina were on shift, as I recall.”

“Do you have contact information for them?”

“Yeah.”

I gave him a card and told him to send their info. He did, after some hesitation.

We left the Pearl Room and walked down the boulevard to Beat. The dance club was pretty much dead at this hour. Like Pearl and most other clubs, it didn’t get happeninguntil late. There were a few early birds hanging out at the bar or in cozy booths.

JD and I made our way to the main bar. I flashed my badge and made introductions. “We need to have a few words with you about the dead girl found in the dumpster. We talked to Todd earlier. Is he around?”

“No. He’s not here today.”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Kyle.”

I showed him the picture of Haley with Sable. “You remember seeing her in here.”

He studied the image for a moment. “No. That’s the girl they found in the dumpster?”

I nodded.

“She’s cute.Wascute.”

“Do you make it a habit of letting underage girls into the club?”

Kyle‘s face tightened. “That’s not my job. Talk to the bouncer.”

“What time does he come on shift?“

“Normally around seven. But look, I’m going to be honest with you. These girls come in here with high-quality fakes, or they use their sister’s ID, or a friend’s. It’s really hard to stop them from getting in. Plus, with the way they look these days, you can’t tell.”

“You could lose your liquor license,” I said.

“I know. And I take it seriously. But it’s a problem that’s been going on since before I was in the business, and it will be happening long after. If anybody comes to the bar and I’m suspicious, I will ask them for an ID. But it gets busy around here. Sometimes, people slip through the cracks.”

I dug into my pocket and handed him a card. “If you hear anything or anything else comes to mind, get in touch.”

He took the card and said he would.

JD and I left the club, but I didn’t expect to hear much. Haley was just another face in the crowd. Nobody cared.

Sunburned tourists strolled the avenue, hopping from bar to bar, catching happy hour specials. The dinner crowd would arrive soon, and after that, the late-night partiers.

It was time for us to get over to the warehouse district for band practice. Wild Fury had a gig coming up at Sonic Temple. The set was tight, but there were a few new songs they wanted to polish up and debut at the next show.

We found the Porsche and headed across the island to the warehouse district. Jack pulled into the parking lot and found a space near the front. We hopped out and greeted the usual band of miscreants that loitered out front, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. None of them had a job, as far as I could tell, but they always seemed to have money for beer and cigarettes.

There were high fives all around, and they asked about the next show. Of course, we put them on the guest list.

JD and I pushed through the entry doors into the dim hallway that always smelled like weed and stale beer. The sound of the guys jamming spilled into the hallway.