Coming, I texted back then moved out the backdoor the bouncers used to take the dancers to their cars.
Darius was right there with a brick in his hand. He grabbed my hand, pulled me out, bent and put the brick on the ground by the jamb so the door didn’t close.
“It locks and I don’t want you goin’ back inside through the front,” he murmured as he again grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the door.
“What’s up?” I asked when we stopped.
“The motherfucker Roam clocked?” Darius asked back.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Name’s Cyrus Gibbons. Got his own strip club in Lincoln closed down ‘cause he forced his girls to do lap dances that went the extra mile. Did six months.”
Shit.
Not.
Good.
“Don’t know his connection with Steiner,” Darius went on. “Do know he moved from Nebraska to Colorado about four months ago, which was when he got out. Not sure, though, if his PO received his change of address form.”
“PO” was “Probation Officer” and they tended to frown on ex-cons going over state lines.
I didn’t mention that to Darius since he already knew.
I noted, “Which is about a month before Steiner got the job here.”
“Which gave him plenty of time to assess the talent and decide on his mark,” Darius added. “Had a sit down with Brody. Lee already tore him off the book thing to do other jobs. Told him shit here was bad and he needed to find time to get on Steiner and Gibbons. He’ll have something tomorrow.”
“We need to know who else is involved,” I said. “But, just saying, the guy’s in the bar, lording over it like his name’s on the deed.”
“Copy that, also saw him go in,” Darius replied then told me, “Dude’s packin’.”
I stared at him a beat before asking, “He’s carrying concealed at a strip joint?”
Darius nodded.
“Fuck,” I whispered, then stated, “His waitress is scared shitless of him. And he got a lap dance from JoJo and she came out looking freaked.”
“Steiner makes the pickups, Gibbons provides the threat,” he deduced.
“But what’s the threat?” I asked. “Any of those girls knows they say one word to Smithie, he’ll sort this whole thing.”
Darius shook his head. “No clue. We need to be all over those guys. Told Shirleen I want Roam and Sniff off this shit. Bobby and I are gonna look into it.”
“Good,” I murmured. “Tell him to keep track of his hours and we’ll sort something through Daisy with Smithie.”
“Got it,” Darius replied and his eyes grew intent. I was doing my all not to react to what I’d learned about him that day and keep my mouth shut about it until I could figure out what I was going to do when he said, “Guy’s got a weapon, you be smart in there.”
I nodded. “Always.”
“I’m eyes out here. Don’t like you in there without backup, but if one of the boys shows, they’ll wonder why they’re there when their boss’s sister is strippin’.”
“Ren’s coming later,” I told him and grinned. “And then there’s me.”
Darius looked relieved, but I would find it was not about the me taking care of me part. “This guy’s even a little clued into the players in Denver, he’ll have heard of Zano. If he knows you’re his woman, he’ll be smart.”
Shit.
“That might mean he knows about me,” I remarked.
“He’s gotta be pretty clued in to the game here to know you, Ally. You do good, and one of the ways you do good is you keep your head down. Your jobs have got around, but to players like Lee, not guys like him.”
“My apartment just exploded, Darius,” I reminded him. “That kind of thing gets a lot of attention. And my brother is a cop, the other one a PI.”
“Hold your cover and ride it, Ally. Bobby’s on board, Brody doin’ his gig, it’ll be done soon.”
That I could believe.
I nodded. “Gotta get back in there. Tell Bobby thanks from me.”
“Will do,” he murmured, moving to the door.
After he grabbed the brick and was holding it open for me, I looked him in the eyes. “Thank you too, honey.”
“Jeez, got yourself a man, you’re gettin’ soft.”
My back went straight. “Am not.”
