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“No.”
“Then who are you? Why are you here?”
“I’m here to get Lori. To get her away from you.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
Dave shook his head. “This is very confusing.”
Margot was starting to wonder why neither Stone, Mal, nor Radcliff had made an appearance. Sure, she had told two of them to wait in the car, but a crazed man with a hand cannon showing up was precisely the reason she brought Mal along and he hadn’t shown up yet.
“Walk over there and put your hands on the Toyota,” she told Dave.
Dave did as she said.
Margot could tell something was wrong immediately. The passenger door was open and no one was sitting there. It didn’t look like Radcliff was still sitting in the back. As she got closer, she could see him lying in the backseat, unconscious.
She looked back at Dave and said, “You need to tell me what the hell is going on here.”
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Well, I’ve got the gun, so I ask the questions and you answer them.”
“You’re assuming I came here alone.”
“He’s right,” someone said from behind her. “Put that gun down for me. It’d be a shame to shoot someone as pretty as you.”
Margot looked back to the house and saw a guy wearing greasy coveralls like a mechanic standing on the stoop. He was carrying a hunting rifle which he aimed her way.
Chapter 2
Yesterday
“That guy seems to be watching us.”
Margot smiled and looked over the shoulder of the woman sitting across from her to see Mal sitting at the bar. He was supposed to be subtle but subtle was never one of his strengths.
“It’s okay, he’s with me.”
“Boyfriend?”
“No, associate. If he’s bothering you, I can ask him to leave.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve never hired a private detective so I guess I’m just a little jumpy.”
“I know the feeling,” Margot replied. She wasn’t lying. She and Mal had managed to get themselves on the wrong side of some very bad people. That was the reason he was sitting at the Layla’s West bar watching her back.
“So, what brings you to me, Ms. Thomkins?”
“Call me Gale.”
“Okay, what brings you to me, Gale?”
Gale sighed.
Margot stayed silent. It took a lot of clients a while to get into what they wanted. The fact was, if someone needed a private detective, something most likely had gone horribly wrong and it wasn’t always easy to talk about. Margot found the best thing to do was to wait patiently.
