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“Are you talking about drugs? Money? Evidence?” Seth demanded.
“Money! And one of those—what do you call ‘em? A go-bag! For when you have to skip town and change your name or whatever!” he exclaimed.
“At Miami Blues,” Linc growled as he watched the Camaro roll into the parking lot of the club just a half mile ahead.
“Yeah, yeah! It’s that girl, the one I yelled at that night. Oh god, I’m sorry about that,” Brian rambled sorrowfully.
Seth pointed to the parking lot. Linc zeroed in on Ricky leaping out of his parked car and booking it on foot to the double doors of the club. The patrol car skidded on its brakes as it neared the turn for the club.
“Gentry, right, we understand. Focus, Brian! What about her?” Seth said.
“Gentry’s the front!” he yelled. “She’s the front!”
“What do you mean? Figuratively?” Seth growled in frustration.
But Linc understood. It all clicked into place. The patrol car skirted into a parking spot and Linc turned to his partner with fierce eyes.
“Figurativelyandliterally,” Linc said. “Her dressing room behind the stage.”
Seth’s mouth set in a hard line and his hands balled into fists. He nodded.
At the same time, they pushed open the car doors and burst out into the parking lot. They broke into a sprint, beelining for the entrance. As they ran, they noticed the wake of confused, frightened passersby left by Ricky. Everyone looked even more startled when they caught sight of Linc and Seth, dressed down but still clearly police officers, chasing after him. People moved out of their way, gasping and squealing with surprise.
A man by the doors saw them coming and flung the doors wide open just in time for them to barrel through into the grand foyer. It was much more crowded inside, and they could easily track the path of minor destruction Ricky left behind. But Seth and Linc exchanged knowing glances; it was dangerous to incite panic in a building jam-packed with partially intoxicated crowds of people. They were already attracting too much attention, so they slowed to a brisk walk and tried to drop into the crowd. Linc kept his eyes on Ricky’s bright red hair, the only way to follow him through the throngs of swaying music fans. He was making his way toward the blues lounge.
As the doors to the lounge opened wide for a party of three to pass through, Linc and Seth stiffened up. The most angelic voice in the world was echoing through the room.
Gentry was performing. Right now.
“If things get out of hand…” Seth began.
“We have to protect Gentry,” Linc hissed back.
They nodded to each other and began weaving deftly through the crowd to the blues lounge. Ricky slipped through the doors, and again Gentry’s soprano filled the space. Linc’s heart was racing at a speed he had never felt before. The juxtaposition of his lover’s song with a gritty foot chase was jarring. His every nerve was on edge. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and he found a deeper source of strength within himself as he darted to keep up with Seth. The blond cop was famously quick on his feet, but Linc was only ever a step behind as they stayed near the wall of the blues lounge.
It was a full house to the extreme. Linc had never seen it so packed. Not only were all the tables occupied with added chairs at every angle, but there were people sardined into standing room. Everyone looked joyous to be there basking in Gentry’s magnificent voice. She was wearing a long white eyelet dress, with blue flowers in her long brown hair. Linc was stunned almost to stillness by her radiance, but he forced himself to keep on the trail.
Up ahead, Ricky was running for the door off the side of the stage. Seth was gently shoving through the crowd with Linc a second behind, but then they both heard a strange sound.
Gentry missed a note. And not because it was off-key. The note was simply replaced with a soft gasp. Linc looked at the stage to see Gentry’s big brown eyes locked on him. She looked confused to see Ricky, Seth, and Linc weaving through the crowd. It was only a moment, but it felt like forever before Gentry regained her composure and picked up the song right where she’d left off, a true professional.
Meanwhile, Seth was nudging Linc as they ran. Linc looked up.
Ricky glanced back over his shoulder and made fleeting, ferocious eye contact with Linc before he dove through the doorway. Linc saw him turn and jam his hand at something on the inside wall, and suddenly, the world went black all around them.
Screams and gasps erupted throughout the packed lounge. Gentry’s voice cut off abruptly and everyone could hear her panicked breathing in the microphone.
“Help,” she murmured under her breath, like she was almost ashamed to ask for it. Linc’s heart split hearing that.
People were pouring out of the lounge in hordes as Linc and Seth pushed through the side door in hot pursuit. It was so dark backstage that they were blind for a few moments. Once their eyes adjusted, they could barely make out a way along the back of the building to the only door with light peeking out underneath it in the darkness. They flung the door open and blinked in the fluorescent lights.
Squinting, Linc and Seth saw the confused, shocked faces of at least twenty men and women seated at several long plastic tables in what seemed to be a large storeroom. There was actual storage happening here, to be certain, with props, backdrops, and endless boxes stacked around the perimeter. But most of the space had been cleared out for the tables and chairs. There were cards in their hands, chips on the table. Some of them looked rough around the edges, some of them looked desperately tired, and others appeared to have been having the time of their lives before Seth and Linc burst in on them.
Gamblers, there to play right under management’s noses. Behind the stage.
With Gentry as the front.
Seth was on the same page. “Where’s Ricky?” he hissed.
