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“Is there anything else I can get you, sir?”
“As a matter of fact, there is. Do you know if the owner is on site this evening?”
Her forehead creased in puzzlement. “Well, yeah. I mean, at least one of them is here every night. Usually both.”
“Fantastic,” I said, laying on the charm. “Do you think it would be possible for me to have a word with one or both of them?”
“Is—is there a problem?”
I waved her off before the panic could set in. “No. Not at all. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had such amazing service.” Her shoulders sank with a relieved breath. “I just wanted to let them know how wonderful this place they built is.”
The worry vanished, quickly replaced by a beaming smile. “Yeah, it is pretty great, isn’t it? You’d never in a million years believe this place used to be a dumpy strip club, would you?”
My eyes bugged out at that information. Apparently, I hadn’t done nearly as deep a dive on this place as I thought. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. It was even named the Pink Palace.” She pinched her face up and stuck her tongue out on ablech. “Talk about gross, right? Anyway, Mac—McKenna, I mean. We all call her Mac—she was a dancer here back in the day when it was the Pink—well, you know. She was a dancer, and her husband Bruce was a bouncer. Only they weren’t married back then. I don’t even know if they were dating. But like I was saying, they both worked here, and this big-time criminal guy owned it and was running it into the ground. Using it to launder money and sell drugs, that kind of stuff. It wasreallybad.”
I blinked, trying to push my brain into a quicker jog to keep up with everything she was saying. “You’re kidding?”
She shook her head, her expression growing serious. “Wish I was. I didn’t work here—or there—at the time, but I’ve heard stories. Apparently, the cops were closing in on the guy and he freaked. Kidnapped Mac and another girl who was working here—there—at the time. Her name’s Gypsy. Anyway, he kidnapped them and went on the run. The whole town was totally freaked. Fortunately, Gypsy’s guy, Marco, worked with a bunch of badass dudes at this place called Alpha Omega. Them and the cops managed to find where the bad guy was holding the girls and rode in to save the day. After they were rescued, Bruce pulled his head out of his ass and made Mac his. The strip club closed up because it was totally gross and the owner was in jail. But Mac had this kickass idea to buy it and turn it into this. Bruce was totally down with the idea, and, well”—she waved her hands wide—“that was the beginning of Whiskey Dolls.”
It took a full minute for me to comprehend everything this girl had dumped on me at a rapid-fire pace.
“Wow. That’s—that’s some story.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” she said with a big smile. “Anyway, I’ll go see if Bruce or Mac are here. Be back in a jiff.”
With that, she took off and left me to wrap my mind around that story. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and shot off a text to Lincoln.
Me:Apparently you left out quite a bit when you told me how Whiskey Dolls got its start.
He didn’t take long in replying.
Linc:Ah, I see you’ve heard the urban legend. Figured it would be more fun that way.
Me:Seems this little town has some pretty interesting history to it.
Linc:You manage to convince your woman your ugly mug’s worth a second shot, Edie and I’ll have you over for dinner. Fill you in on the other stories.
I liked the sound of that. So much so that I decided right then and there it would most definitely happen. No matter how hard I had to work in order to achieve it.
I’d just tucked my phone back into my pocket when a man and woman came up to my table.
“Mr. Blackwell,” the man greeted, holding out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you. The wife and I are big fans. I’m Bruce, and this here’s my woman, McKenna.”
I stood and took his offered hand, trying my hardest to hide the intimidation the beast of a man made me feel. Christ, no wonder he’d been a bouncer back in the day. The man was a fucking mountain.
“Pleasure’s all mine. And please, call me Roan. You’ve got yourselves quite the establishment here. Never seen anything like it.”
“Thanks,” McKenna returned. “We’re proud of it.”
“As you should be.” I lifted my brows. “Heard what you created this from and I can’t even imagine. I know you’ve probably got your hands full, but if you have a minute, I’d love it if you’d join me for a drink.”
I let out a sigh of relief when they both sat, taking the seats across from me. But there was no missing the shrewd look in McKenna’s eye, and I couldn’t shake the fact she was studying me closely, seeing something I would have preferred to keep closer to my vest.
My chatty waitress popped back up, carrying a refill for me, plus a bottle of beer and a fancy looking cocktail that she placed with perfect efficiency in front of the couple.
“We appreciate the invitation, but we can’t stay long,” McKenna began, lifting the cocktail to her lips and taking a sip. “So how about we get down to business? I’ve spent my entire adult life learning to read people, and I’ve gotten damn good at it.”
