Page 16 of Bitter Spirits

Kelly’s eyes rounded, the whites showing as she jerked back in her seat, and her gaze darted to Isa. “They’ll never believe it was an accident. They’ll throw me in jail. I’ll lose my job offer.”

Isa covered Kelly’s fisted hand with hers and squeezed. “No, they won’t, and you won’t.”

Kelly searched Isa’s face and must have found what she was looking for, because she managed a tiny nod.

Isa looked beyond Kelly to Des, who raised his gaze from his phone and gave her a chin lift. She told Kelly, “Let River handle it, okay?”

“River?” Locke asked.

“Kelly’s lawyer,” Des smoothly answered.

Locke’s lips thinned, but he didn’t say anything else.

Kelly shot Locke a worried look. “Are we done?” When he nodded, she scooted out of the booth.

Des got to his feet and pocketed his phone. “I’ll get her home and catch River up.” He shot a dark look at Isa. “You going to be here when I get back?”

It wasn’t really a question. She knew he wanted to talk about Angel’s potential involvement and the fact that they’d added Locke to the mix. Isa’s body ached, and all she wanted to do was to go home and hide under the covers, but that wouldn’t be happening.

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

“Good.” Des gave Locke a head tilt, nudged Kelly ahead of him, and followed the traumatized young woman out and up the stairs.

When the heavy door thumped shut, silence filled the space. Locke watched Isa steadily.

Uncomfortable under that unnerving stare, she snapped, “What?”

“You going to share?”

Damn the too-perceptive man. “Share what?”

Locke laid his arm along the back of the padded seat. “Whatever it is you and Des are hiding.” She opened her mouth to deny his accusation, but before any words could escape, he dropped his arm, set his palm on the cushioned seat between them, and leaned in. “Don’t, Isa,” he growled. He gave it a moment then eased back. “There’s something you’re not sharing. At Leo’s, you mentioned you saw something but wanted to run it by Des. I’m assuming you had a chance to do that on the ride over.”

The urge to play with semantics was almost too much, but in the end, she caved, knowing it was useless to try to evade his questions. “I mentioned it, yes, but we haven’t had a chance to talk.”

“About…?”

She studied his face, taking in the steely glint that added an eerie shimmer to his light-blue eyes. She could try leading him on a merry chase, dodging questions and keeping things vague, but that would leave her with more than one predator on her ass and put a target on Locke as well. Better for her game to keep this particular predator on her side.

“I think Leo spent time at the Den.”

He frowned. “What’s that? Another club?”

If only. “Kind of. It’s more like a vipers’ pit.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw as he caught a whiff of a scent. “Give me an address. I can check it out.”

She was already shaking her head before he finished speaking. “That won’t work. The Den is like Baba Yaga’s house. It shifts locations on the regular. You have to know the right people to pin it down.”

A hot flash of temper was quickly squashed as he drawled, “Let me guess—you know the right people.”

Understatement of the year. She tried to ignore the ripple of discomfort whispering over her nerves. “I can reach out. If we’re lucky, I might have something by tomorrow night and we can check it out after closing.”

When his gaze sharpened, she knew she’d failed to keep her misgivings out of her voice. “And if we’re unlucky?”

Isa would gain some seriously unwanted attention, but that would be her problem, not his. “We’re back to figuring out who Mr. Flex is.”

“There’s no ‘we’ here.”