Page 3 of Dancing With Doubt

2

Lincoln

He’d left his house as soon as he’d shown June to an unused bedroom. Her showing up on his doorstep was a surprise, but it shouldn’t have been. His family often treated each other’s homes like hotels, his especially. June showing up shouldn’t have been a surprise at all, even if he couldn’t remember if he’d told his mother that he’d bought a place in South Carolina. Not that his mother couldn’t get the information she wanted out of either of his PAs. His mother was adept at that.

His frustration levels had been through the roof when he texted Roxie, telling her he needed her. Now? He could rattle his sister’s head around in a box for interrupting what he’d hoped would be one very hot night of sex with Roxie. Damn it all.

He drove around town for an hour, trying to find something to do, some way of keeping his mind off of his sister, his frustration, and Roxie. Maybe it was fate that had a hand in June showing up? It would keep him away from Roxie for a little while longer. Not that he couldn’t meet her at her hotel, but the interruption was a very good reminder that ending things with her was for the best.

A flash on the center computer panel and a chime that interrupted the music let him know someone was calling him. A quick glance at the dash told him it was Tanya, his stealthy super-secret spy PA. He ended up pulling over at a shopping plaza to take the call from Tanya and ask her how things were going over at Roxie’s apartment.

“It’s quiet, Mr. Young.” Tanya immediately put him on edge by addressing him as Mr. Young and stressing his last name. It was something she insisted on doing, even when she saw it made him cringe. Bitch.

“No signs of any of the assholes we’re tracking?” Lincoln asked, his brown eyes on the window of a lingerie shop, but he didn’t really see the skimpy attire. He was back in boss mode.

“Not a whiff of them, boss. I think it might be safe for her to come back.” Tanya answered, sounding bored and annoyed. But then she would be, she wanted Lincoln for herself. She didn’t want him taking care of some beautiful exotic dancer like Roxie. Tanya would never say it, but she’d make her thoughts clear at every turn.

“I’ll drop by, see what improvements we can make to her security. Are those men Kai arranged to have surveil the place around?” He put the car in gear and headed for a drive-through restaurant at the end of the plaza.

“Yeah, they’re here, want to talk to one of them?” Tanya asked, still sounding annoyed.

“Yes, I would.” He sighed, let his own annoyance come through in the words. “Can you pretend to not be such a bitch, Tanya?”

“What?” She asked innocently, though they both knew it was contrived. “Do I not sound pleased that I’ve spent weeks staring at an empty apartment, taking turns with other people that sit and stare at the same place? I mean, what could be better? What could make use of my skills more than this?”

“Stop complaining, I’m paying you triple to sit there and eat burgers and drink milk shakes. Speaking of, do you want anything while I’m ordering?” Lincoln already knew she’d say yes.

“Yeah, I’ll take one of those weird footlong chili dogs with coleslaw on it. I don’t know why I like them, but I do. And a pineapple milkshake, please, if they have them.” She replied before she told him she was with the man he’d asked to speak to.

“What’s up, Mr. Young?” A man asked in a monotone voice. That must be Petey, then. The man never seemed to have the energy to muster anything more than a monotone voice, but then, he was well over six-feet tall and lanky as hell. He probably had no energy to speak of.

“Just checking in, Petey. How’s it going?” Lincoln drove up to the window and waited for Petey to finish before he placed his order. The other man repeated what Tanya had said, almost word for word, so Lincoln ended the call after he’d acknowledged the man’s report and told him he’d be there soon.

When he drove up to the street Roxie lived on, he noted that everything was quiet except for the dry cleaner’s which seemed to be doing a booming business. “What’s the deal with that place?”

Tanya turned to him as he slid into her car and gave a devilish grin. “Oh, I think there’s a little more than dry cleaning going on, Mr. Young. Got my hot dog?”

Lincoln handed her the bag and she passed him the small version of the giant hot dog she’d asked for. “I ordered some curly fries for you too. I know you like those.”

“Thanks.” She answered and popped a fry into her mouth.

“So, what kind of business are we talking then?” Lincoln unwrapped his hot dog and started to munch on it, loving the concoction despite his usually healthy routine. Tanya had introduced him to the treat and neither had been able to go a week without one. He’d do extra laps later, to burn it off.

“I can’t make up my mind. I’ve seen bums walk in there, and come out with food, and I’ve seen businessmen go in and come out with a donut box. It’s always something different. I don’t know if it’s drugs, money laundering, or what. Maybe it’s a combo. Or maybe clients like their dry cleaning covered in chocolate icing, I don’t know.” Tanya shrugged, her pretty face friendly but not as full of adoration as it usually was.

That was a relief to Lincoln, but he frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Should you be eating that much salt with your kidney problems?”

“No, not at all, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I’ll probably hate myself for it later, but right now, this hot dog wins out against my willpower. I’ll catch hell when I go in for dialysis, so I’ll have to find some soon.”

“I’ll stop buying you junk food then. How’s your daughter?” He asked, watching the door to the dry cleaners open. A woman came out carrying a dazzling ruby-red, sequin-covered box. Must be a special dress, he decided and balled up the food wrapper after he took the last bite.

“She’s fine,” Tanya said after a pause. She’d nearly finished the hot dog that was twice as big as his and took another bite without going into detail.

Well, wasn’t this just a party? He thought as he noticed the security team Kai sent, hiding in a black van with a logo for a communications company that he knew was fake. That logo would come off and be replaced with a furniture store logo tomorrow, or maybe one for a plumber. There must have been quite a few logos stored in a hidden panel of the van. Maybe he should go talk to the guys there.

“They know any more than you do?” Lincoln nudged his chin in the direction of the van.

“I doubt it, those bozos are all about listening, not watching. They’ve heard a lot of stuff that sounds like it might be code to me, but they seem to think it’s normal to ask for a dozen creams at a dry cleaner’s place. They could be right, creams could be cream cleaners or something. Who knows?”