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Slice glanced away. “I’ve got my buddies at the club around. Makes it easier to deal.”
“I imagine it does,” Liam said, then added casually, “How’s everything with the Booze Dogs?”
Slice’s expression soured. “Is this another interrogation, or are you just asking to kill time?”
“A little of both, I suppose,” Liam admitted. “Just because I’m not here in an official capacity doesn’t mean I’ve stopped trying to find out what happened to Lindsey. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. If you’ve heard anything that could be useful in the case, it would help to tell me.”
Slice was quiet for a long time. Then he gave a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s something, but I don’t think it has anything to do with her.”
Liam waited.
“There was a big dustup at The Doghouse this past week,” Slice finally said. “A lot of money went missing from the club. Like, a ton of money. Prez went ballistic when they discovered it was gone, and there was a bunch of infighting. Nobody knows what happened yet, but they’re determined to find out who did it. Things could get ugly.”
“When was it stolen?” Liam asked.
“They don’t know for sure. Could’ve been days, maybe even weeks. Only Prez and a couple of other guys even know where they keep the club’s cash.”
Liam wondered if Lindsey’s death had anything to do with the stolen money, but he didn’t want to upset Slice by mentioning it. “If anything else comes up and you think it might be useful, let me know.”
Slice studied him for a moment, then shook his head. “I want to help you guys, but I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize my brothers at the club. We’re a family, you understand?”
“I do,” Liam said. “And I don’t envy your position. But if you really want to get justice for Lindsey, I hope you remember that we’re on the same side.”
After paying what seemed to be an exorbitant amount of money for his auto tune-up, Liam got back on the road and called Cora, filling her in on what he’d learned.
“The Booze Dogs haven’t reported any stolen money,” Cora said over the phone.
“Aye, but they wouldn’t. From the way Slice talked, they’re keeping it in the family and doing their own investigation.”
“That’s disturbing. Those guys don’t play by the book, and I don’t even want to think about their interrogation methods, or the depths they’d sink to in order to get information. I need to talk to the club president. I’ll see if I can arrange it.”
“How?” Liam asked, remembering the last time they’d gone to The Doghouse. “That place is locked down, and that giant bear of a man wouldn’t even let us step one foot inside. It’s going to be nigh impossible to get an audience with their leader if he’s not in the mood to talk.”
“I have an idea, but it’s a total crapshoot,” Cora said. “I’ll fill you in later when you get back.”
Cora got off the phone with Liam and headed out of the building. She’d spent the better part of the morning responding to calls and dealing with paperwork, and after one look at Captain Thompson yelling on the phone in his office, she’d decided it was a good time to talk to the Booze Dog president. Anything to get out of the station. If her hunch was correct—and it was a bigif—maybe she’d even find the man and gather something useful from the meeting.
She pulled her phone from her pocket, leaned against her car and selected a number she’d never dialed before.
Finley Walsh answered on the third ring. “Walsh.”
“Hey, it’s me,” she said, then quickly added, “Cora. I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
“Cora.” She could hear the surprise in Finn’s voice. “It’s no problem at all. How are you?”
“I have a favor to ask.” She bit her lip. “But I don’t want to make you nervous or uncomfortable.”
“When you start with something like that, I’m already halfway there,” he said with a chuckle.
“It’s nothing bad. It’s just kind of personal. But first I want you to know that if you don’t want to talk about it, or you can’t, it’s totally okay. I’ll find another way that doesn’t involve you. I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”
“Cora,” Finn said kindly. “Talk to me.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, you know how you came in to represent Slice Biddlesworth as his attorney last week?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I heard you tell him you had a mutual acquaintance, so I figured someone contacted you to help get him out of hot water. And all I need to know is if that person was in any way connected with the Booze Dogs.”
