“We’re good, thanks,” Aidan said.
The man went on; the band announced the last number. It was one o’clock. It seemed early for a place on what was known as the street in Sin City, U.S.A., to be closing.
But at least a few other places would still be open. The strip clubs often hung on the longest.
He glanced over at the table. Jeremy nodded to him, arched a brow, then stood and started walking toward them.
“This isn’t a ploy to keep me off Vinnie’s tail, is it?” he asked.
Her eyes remained even on his. “Your brother is following Vinnie, right?” she asked sweetly.
“My brother likes Vinnie,” Aidan said. “They’re friends.”
“What’s this about your brother?” Jeremy asked pleasantly.
Aidan kept his eyes on Kendall. “Describe the girl you’re talking about to Jeremy.”
Kendall did so.
“Yeah, she was in here. There were a lot of people in here from the ship,” he said.
“They were all together?” Aidan asked.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “Most of them left about an hour and a half ago. Excuse me. I’m going to go help the band pack it up.”
As Jeremy walked away, Aidan felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned. The black man he’d noticed the night before was standing next to him. “Don’t go lettin’ that gal out on her own, you hear?” he said gravely.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Aidan said. “I’m Aidan Flynn, by the way, and this—” he turned back to Kendall “—is Kendall Montgomery, though you two may know each other already.” He turned back to the other side.
So much for introductions. The man was gone.
“Who are you talking to?” Kendall asked him, frowning.
“No one. He’s gone,” Aidan said, and set money on the bar.
“But—” Kendall began to protest.
“Forget it. Let’s go find your girl,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
They started off on Bourbon at Canal; despite the hour, Kendall was determined to try as hard as she could to keep trying to find Ann, even though she’d struck out in all the places she’d tried on her way to the Hideaway. The streets had grown quieter, though plenty of places were still open, a number of them the strip clubs.
They were thorough. In one place, Aidan saw a number of the men wearing the badges that identified them as the cruise-ship crowd, but there were no women with them, and when he chatted with them, he discovered they were a group of CPAs out of Salem, Oregon, and they had been on their own all night.
As they continued on, he realized Kendall was deeply anxious. He didn’t believe a tarot card meant anything, but she definitely did. Block by block, they made their way from bar to club to bar. At one point Kendall saw a friend, a tall, good-looking black man with a smile that was pure friendship. Kendall gave him a hug, introduced Aidan so quickly that he didn’t catch the man’s name, and then described Ann.
“Yeah, I saw her. Pretty, bouncy little thing. Couldn’t sing worth a damn, but she and her friends had a good time doing karaoke anyway. They wanted to keep going, but we had to close. Someone suggested they check up the street.”
“Thanks.”
“How long ago?” Aidan asked.
“No more than half an hour.”
The man waved. “Hope you find your friend!”
There was no crowd at all anymore as they walked along the street. Aidan felt a strange sensation creeping down his neck. He stopped and spun around.
Someone was just slipping into an alleyway that led to a strip club that was missing several of its blinking neon lights.
“What is it?” Kendall asked nervously.
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
One more block and they would be just about out of clubs. But there was an open one on the next corner. Again Aidan turned to look around. The street was empty. But there had been someone following them; he was certain. He wanted to double back.
“Aidan, come on, please,” Kendall insisted.
They went into the bar. There were several pool tables, and a few people playing at one of them. At the bar, laughing and talking loudly, were the remnants of the cruise group.
“Is she here?” Aidan asked.
“Yes!” Kendall cried triumphantly. “Over there.”
“Now what?” he demanded.
“I try to talk to her.”
“Go right ahead.”
Aidan perched on the edge of an unused pool table, watching as Kendall straightened her shoulders, then walked up to the group at the bar. The girl, Ann, recognized her immediately and started introducing her around.
The girl looked pretty drunk. Aidan had to wonder how much success Kendall was going to have getting her to agree to anything. And what was Kendall going to do, anyway? Try to talk her out of taking the cruise? Or just ask her to not fool around with any unknown men?
Once again, he had that feeling at the back of his neck.
He turned quickly toward the door. Nothing. But he was convinced someone had just been there, looking in.