Dead in Her Tracks (Rogue Winter #2)(13)

She grabbed her coat and strode toward the front door. “Who called?” she asked Sheila as she passed by her desk.

“Angie. She says there’s a few guys flinging insults, and Zane’s trying to cool things down. She says it’s going to erupt at any second.”

Stevie flew out the door. Angie knew how to size up drunken men. Ten years of waiting tables at Fletcher’s had given her a lifetime of experience.

Five minutes later Stevie pulled her car into the parking lot next to Zane’s and eyed the rifle clamped by her console. Not yet.

Her bulletproof vest felt heavy as she jogged to the door of the squatty old building. Too many times she’d responded to calls at Fletcher’s Bar. She never knew what to expect inside. One time she’d arrived and found everything had settled down and the men were slapping each other on the back like best friends. Another time she’d arrived and found two men on the floor with stab wounds.

She yanked open the door.

This was more like the second time. Zane had Amber Lynn’s stepfather, Tony Cooper, in a headlock, yelling at him to hold still. Two other men were holding the arms of a guy who seemed intent on beating Tony’s head in. Zane met her gaze. “Get him down!” He nodded toward the other guy.

Stevie stepped forward and opened her mouth to order the second guy to stop fighting, but he yelled at her first. “Out of the way, bitch!” He tried to fling himself at her but was held in place by his friends.

She planted a foot and kicked him in the groin, and he collapsed with a scream, barely stopped from hitting the concrete floor by the guys still holding his arms. They winced and looked away.

She grabbed one of his arms and twisted it behind his back and snapped on the cuffs. His friend politely held his other arm for her as she repeated the motion. She shoved him onto his chest on the floor.

Tony Cooper stopped thrashing in Zane’s headlock. “You gonna behave?” Zane asked.

Tony nodded, and Zane slowly released him.

“What happened?” Stevie asked. Zane was breathing heavily, but she didn’t see any bruises or blood on him. She swallowed hard, tamping down her own adrenaline, which had been pumping hard since Sheila yelled at her. She kept a professional distance from Zane, fighting her instinct to touch him.

“That * accused me of killing Bob Fletcher,” Tony said, pointing at the guy on the ground. “I didn’t kill no one.” Tony’s right eye was starting to swell, and blood dripped from his nose. Zane grabbed a napkin off a bar table and thrust it at him.

“Who is that?” she muttered to Zane.

“Beats me.”

Stevie squatted next to the guy still writhing on the floor. “Got a name?”

“You kicked me in the balls.” His eyes were squeezed shut, his long hair covering most of his face.

She looked up at the two men who’d been holding his arms, seeing the reproach in their eyes. Men were protective of their family jewels. She abruptly realized one was Ryan Phillips, Vanessa’s brother. She narrowed her eyes at him. She hadn’t expected to see the mourning brother in a seedy bar like Fletcher’s.

“Anyone know his name?”

“That’s Jake Powers. Worked with Bob,” answered the second man.

Stevie took a closer look at the man on the floor. Sure enough. “Hey, Jake. Looks like you found a great diet plan.” The man must have lost a hundred pounds since she’d seen him last. “Looking good. Except you could use a haircut.”

“Fuck you, Stevie,” Jake moaned.

She stood up with a grin. If anyone had had a foot to the balls coming, it was Jake Powers. He’d leered at her and Carly since they were teenagers. He was a creep who’d done odd jobs for the bar and motel for years. He had a way of fading into the background, but the women in town always complained that he stared at them. He didn’t ever touch them, but he certainly had his fill of looking.

“Tony killed Bob,” Jake choked out. “Asshole did it because Bob killed Amber Lynn.”

Stevie remembered there’d always been a bit of hero worship on Jake’s part toward Bob Fletcher. It added to his creep factor.

“Well, sounds like Bob may have had it coming then, right? You can’t kill someone’s stepdaughter without paying for it,” Stevie said, trying to make Jake feel she saw his point. “How do you know Tony did it?” she prodded.

“Because he came in here all gloating and shit because Bob was dead.”

Stevie paused. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Zane exchanged a glance with Stevie. It wasn’t the concrete evidence they’d hoped to hear. She bent over and hauled Jake to his feet. He reeked of booze and swayed, struggling to keep his balance. She looked at Ryan Phillips. “What are you doing in here?”

“Just getting a drink,” he said. “I can only be around my parents for so long.” His gaze was bitter, and Stevie understood. His family was in mourning, and he was looking for a temporary escape. “Amber Lynn was the other girl that was killed, right?” Ryan asked. “Are they fighting about the guy who killed her?”

Stevie nodded. “We still don’t know if he’s the one who harmed your sister.” She strongly suspected Bob had killed both women. The timing was too close to be coincidental. They just needed proof.