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After Seth climbed into his truck, she threw the SUV into drive and followed her target. Luck had been on her side this morning when she’d found Seth at the gym. From there, tailing him all day had been simple, even if it had turned up absolutely nothing so far. Nonetheless, she’d keep at it, tracking him, photographing whatever she could.
When the time was right, she’d come clean to Brian and admit to him that sitting on the sidelines wasn’t her style. There had to be different terms they could agree on where he’d still help look into this.
Sighing, Charlie turned down Raven.
Good grief, again?
Part of her considered not even bothering to follow him to the strip club, but she’d devised the plan to see what eventually turned up. That required her to stick to it, no matter how dull or repetitive the task.
After she parked in the same spot she’d found yesterday, she took a few pictures of him entering the club. Then she settled into the back seat of the SUV with no idea how long the wait could be.
This was dull work, but her fingers were crossed that it would pay off in the end.
An hour later and one power bar eaten, the front door of the club swung open. A redhead with voluminous, curly hair strutted out, wearing a robe that was tied closed and sky-high heels. Charlie slumped down in the back seat, ready to dismiss her until she realized the woman was making a beeline straight over to the SUV.
What in the world?
Setting the camera to the side, Charlie considered hopping in the front behind the wheel and taking off, but she’d already been made. Better to find out what the woman wanted.
The redhead marched up to the vehicle and knocked on the driver’s side rear window. “Get out of the car.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Get out. Right now.”
Questions tumbled through Charlie’s mind. The woman posed no physical threat, yet Charlie had a bad feeling about this. It wasn’t often that she followed people and staked out a place, but this was the first time something like this had ever happened.
Bang, bang, bang.
The jarring sound came from the roof of the vehicle, snatching Charlie’s attention to the passenger’s side.
A tall, beefy man stood at the other window. Wearing a black T-shirt that exposed sculpted biceps and black pants, he was clearly a bouncer. He must have left the club out a different door and crept around.
They’d gotten the drop on her.
“You heard the woman,” he said in a deep baritone voice. “Out of the car.”
Her options seemed limited but doing as they ordered wasn’t at the top of her list of preferences. “I’ll leave, okay,” Charlie said, climbing into the front seat.
As she fumbled for the keys, the redhead drew something from one of the robe’s pockets that glinted in the fading light of day. It was a switchblade. “I bet I can flatten two tires before you pull off,” the woman said, holding up the knife. “What’s it going to be? You get out and we chat, or you get flat tires?”
That narrowed her choices down to two. Both undesirable. What did they want from her?
Had Seth spotted her and sent them to check her out?
Charlie glanced over at her purse where her gun was stashed. Drawing it might dial up the tension unnecessarily. If need be, she could disarm the woman and take on the bouncer. Violence was always a last resort for her. She unlocked the door and did as they demanded. “Is there a problem?” she asked, raising her palms in a conciliatory gesture.
“That’s what I’m here to find out.” The redhead pointed the tip of the blade at Charlie and propped her other hand on her hip. “This is the second day I’ve seen you scoping the place out. The last time someone cased the club, me and two other girls were robbed after our shifts.”
The aggressive approach now made sense and was even warranted.
“This is a misunderstanding.” One that could hopefully be cleared up easily and quickly. “I’m not casing the club or planning to rob anyone.”
“Then why are you out here?”
“I’m following a husband.” Charlie gestured over her shoulder to the back seat of the car, where the camera was visible.
The redhead looked inside. “All right. I believe you. Now, that’ll be fifty bucks for each of us.”
