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“Yeah. So, no surprise that Mel’s being extra cautious.”
Crew’s grim expression disappeared and his lips twitched. “Mel, huh?”
Finn purposely ignored his smart-ass tone. Instead, he pointed out, “I noted any info I found on her, including her full name, in my daily report. If you’d read yesterday’s, you would’ve seen she normally goes by Mel, except for at the club where she uses MJ to protect her privacy.”
“I’ll check it out.” His amusement quickly disappeared. “What do you think? Do you want to approach her with the opportunity? More importantly, do you think she’d be open to helping us?”
“I think if I can talk her into it, she’d be a huge asset. It also sounds like she could also use the CI pay. That might help convince her.”
“Do you think she’s trustworthy?”
He didn’t know her that well—yet, anyway—but… “I actually do. She might not like talking about them but she made it clear she hates them. She hates how they’re driving the club into the ground and also how they treated Laura, the former owner she was close with. Mel seems to have plenty of motivation to help get rid of them.”
“Like?”
Finn shrugged. “In addition to what I just stated, loyalty to the club and her employees. She’s been there ten damn years.”
“Ten years? As the manager?”
No surprise that Crew had the same reaction as him. Neither figured that working at a strip club was a long-term career choice. “First five as a stripper before the former owner moved her into management. Once she became manager, she retired from the stage.”
“She knows the club well, then,” Crew concluded.
“She has a close relationship with and is protective of the dancers, too. That could also be to our benefit.”
Crew ground his hand against the back of his neck as he considered Finn’s proposition. “When would you ask her?”
“If you give it the green light, tomorrow night after the show.”
He pursed his lips and tilted his head. Finn waited for smoke to start billowing from Crew’s ears. But he got it. As the task force leader Crew had to carefully consider every move the group made before making it. One wrong move or decision could blow the entire investigation.
If that happened, his neck would be on the line. Especially when it came to an investigation involving three large criminal organizations: a Mexican drug cartel, an outlaw MC and the Sicilian Mafia.
Crew finally said, “You’ll have to out yourself.”
And that could be a risk. “Right. But will it matter? I’ll be done with the Peckers after tomorrow night either way.” At least he sure hoped tomorrow night would be his last night dancing.
“It won’t matter as long as she doesn’t run her mouth after you reveal who you are. But it’s not definite about your dancing days being over. It’ll hinge on her cooperation.”
For fuck’s sake. “They don’t have any more shows scheduled at The Peach Pit.”
“But if she says no to helping us and doesn’t blow your cover, you might have to convince her to book the Peckers for more shows.”
Great. That was reason enough to work extra hard on convincing her. “I’ll do that, if needed.” But not willingly. “However, if she agrees, make sure her CI pay is decent. She’s saving up to buy her own club.”
“Damn. The woman’s got ambitions. If she can wait it out, she might be able to buy The Peach Pit in a fire sale once we’re done with shutting down the Demons.”
“If she can wait it out. I’ll mention that possibility to her since that might be more motivation to assist us. If it was me, I’d prefer that option rather than starting from scratch. I’ll play that up since she knows that strip club inside and out. She loves her work. She might even be able to rehire the employees that the Demons are firing and replacing with their own prospects.”
“Sounds like they’re doubling down by getting rid of outsiders.”
“No shit. I expect that more prospects means more dealing for them and more money in their pockets.”
Crew let out a loud hoot. “They’re not going to start having their ol’ ladies and sweet butts dancing on stage, are they? Because I’ve seen some pics of their women. That will draw a crowd but not the right kind.”
Finn smirked. “Let’s just say that the dancers I saw working there are hot as fuck. If they replace them with their own women, it’ll turn the club into what could be any typical one-percenter biker bar.”
“Like the Hawg Wild Saloon.” Crew chuckled. “You saw some of the footage that Fletch got from there, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Saw the photos and video. Not my scene.”
“It’s not Fletch and Wilder’s scene, either.” He lifted his eyebrows. “But we’re part of a team and we all have to pull our weight. No matter what the assignment.”
