Standing in the Shadows (McClouds & Friends #2)(97)

She took his arm. He stared down at her small, soft hand, resting on his forearm. The skin of her inner arm was baby smooth and soft. Like he used to dream that clouds could be, if he could touch them. She cuddled closer. His heart thudded and his body sprang to attention.

"Your mom is in there, Erin," he muttered. "Don't do this to me."

"What did I do?" she asked. "Oh. Sorry, I forgot. I thanked you. Oops. Works like a charm, hmm?"

"Don't jerk me around," he said wearily. "It's no fun."

"I didn't do a single thing. I sat down next to you and took your arm. It's not my fault if you can't think about anything except for sex."

He was saved from replying by the cell phone's ring. Erin stiffened. Barbara Riggs burst onto the porch. It rang again.

"What are you waiting for?" Barbara snapped. "Answer it!"

Connor flipped it open and pushed talk.

"Hey." Sean's voice was rough with excitement. "Just got a call from a fabulous, beautiful girl named Sable whom I will love forever. She told me Fuckhead just walked into a place called the Alley Cat Club, out toward Carlisle. He has two girls with him, one of whom fits Cindy's description. The Alley Cat was on LuAnn's list. I'm sending LuAnn a dozen long-stemmed roses."

"Not out of the slush fund, you're not," he growled.

"Cheap bastard," Sean said. "We're a little over a half hour away, if we speed. Davy just finished up the kickboxing class, but he's on his way, too. What do you say? Shall we go have some fun?"

"I'll meet you guys in the parking lot," he said.

Sean gave him directions. He stuck the phone in his pocket and stood up. "We got a lead," he told the two women.

Erin leaped to her feet. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Let me get my purse." Barbara disappeared inside.

He stared at Erin, feeling trapped and dismayed. "Erin… uh, it's not—"

"Connor." Erin crossed her arms over her chest and gave him her most mysterious, mind-melting smile. "Don't tell me you're leaving us two defenseless women all alone while Novak and his goons circle around us like hungry sharks. Oh, no. Surely not."

"You don't fight fair," he told her.

Barbara burst out the door, her white purse swinging over her arm. "If you don't take me, I'll just get into my car and follow you," she said, voice ringing. "That's my little girl out there."

He grumbled and cursed as he shoved junk out of his backseat to make room. One of his canes was back there, the big one with the armrest and grip that he had used right after he got out of rehab. It had been buried and forgotten under a heap of newspapers and junk mail. "Throw that thing into the back window," he told Erin.

The Alley Cat Club was a long, squat dark building with a flashy animated LIVE GIRLS/COCKTAILS sign. Sean and Miles were standing in the parking lot, chomping at the bit. Davy was nowhere to be seen.

"About time you got here." Sean's jaw dropped as Barbara and Erin got out of the car. "Wow. I see you brought, ah, reinforcements."

"Sean, this is Mrs. Riggs, Erin's mom," he said, with stony politeness. "Mrs. Riggs, this is my younger brother Sean, and this is Miles, one of Cindy's friends who's been helping us look for her."

Barbara nodded stiffly. "Thank you for your help."

Sean's grin activated the automatic charm-o-rama function that was part of his basic wiring. "It's been a pleasure, ma'am. OK, you guys, listen up. I don't want to attract a lot of attention, so I'll just slip in there alone and look around for Sable. If she can lead us to Cindy, we'll whisk her off quietly, and that way we can be more relaxed and focused when we go back to have our talk with the Fuh—that is to say, with Billy. So—Mrs. Riggs? Mrs. Riggs! Wait!"

Barbara was marching toward the building. "My baby's in there."

Sean sprinted after her. He took her arm and started talking earnestly, but Barbara Riggs in full battle mode was a challenge, even for him. Connor left him to it and groped in the back window for the aluminum cane. It wasn't ideal as a weapon, since it was weighted all wrong, but it would do in a pinch. Bare hands were more fun, but whatever. The bum leg earned him a couple of pity points.

Sean had actually managed to collar Barbara right outside the entrance, the slick bastard. He smiled and kissed her hand, gave them a thumbs-up, and disappeared inside. Barbara waited by the door for them, clutching her purse to her chest with white-knuckled hands.

A couple minutes later Sean opened the door and gestured them in. The place was dark and loud. It smelled of spilled beer, smoke, and male sweat. Several nearly naked girls writhed around poles on a long stage that ran the entire length of the bar, lit with pulsing red lights.

Heads swiveled as Barbara Riggs walked through the room, wildly out of place in her pale pink pantsuit and her white purse, wide-eyed and tight-lipped. Sean shoved open an unmarked door. They crowded into a dingy corridor with an open door at the end of it. Light and noise spilled out. Two women dressed in skintight jeans came out, talking loudly. They shut up, painted eyes widening as they shimmied by the motley band that lurked in the corridor.

Connor turned to Erin and Barbara. He jerked his chin toward the door. "That is a dressing room. Go get her. Be quick. I want to get out of here." So far, this was going smoothly. Too smoothly. Not that he was complaining, but he had a nasty, prickling feeling behind his neck. No way could this play out so easily. Not the way his life was going.