Travis.
“ You know,
the amount of time you spend here is seriously staring to disturb
me,” I said as I came up beside him.
His eyes crinkled but I could see his concern
as he focused on the bruise on my cheek.
I sighed. “How did you know?” I asked.
Travis shrugged. “People tell me things.”
“And you came here tonight because?”
Travis grinned. “I know you Trudie, and I
know the nutcase you are working for. There is no way that he was
going to let you have the night off and I don’t think he’s quite
annoyed you enough to tell him where to shove his job.”
“ I think
you’d be surprised,” I murmured.
“Getting to the end of that surprising amount
of patience that you seem to have?” asked Travis.
I nodded. “I don’t even know why we are here.
I get that Alistair thinks this is going to be a gritty expose on a
part of life that most people want to ignore, but the longer we are
here the more exploitative it seems to be. He’s playing with
people’s lives here. Sooner or later someone is going to bite
back.”
“ You think
that is what happened to Hammy?” Travis asked
speculatively.
I had to
laugh at the gleam in his eye. Travis was one of, if not the best
private investigator in LA. He was the go to guy for divorce cases
and he was good at his job. That being said he was a cop through to
the bone. If it hadn’t been for some situation between him and
Griffin, most of which hadn’t been fully explained to me, he would
have still been a cop, puzzling over these sort of
cases.
“ I think that
considering the way that Hammy treated the women here, it is a
miracle that someone didn’t kill him a very long time ago. From
what I understand Hammy has owned this place for decades, more than
enough time for there to be a list of people who wanted to see him
dead,” I said.
“ Sure, but
strangulation with a whip kind of sounds a bit personal to me,”
murmured Travis.
I shrugged.
Hammy had dealt badly with people overall. He exploited and
belittled the women who worked here and he ripped off the
clientele. The fact that he had allowed Alistair to film here at
all gave an indication of how little regard he had for anyone who
walked into this club. The only surprising thing about Hammy’s
death was that it hadn’t happened years before now.
“What the hell is he doing here?” I could see
Travis’s eyes widen as he looked over at one of the booths.
I had to stop myself from dropping my head in
frustration. Dominic Caldwell and one of his colleagues had taken a
seat in a booth which gave a wide view of the entire bar.
“ I don’t
believe it,” I muttered. Everywhere I turned these days that man
seemed to be popping into my life.
Travis turned to me speculatively. “Please
tell me that you don’t know Dominic Caldwell.”
I really wish I could tell him that. Knowing
Dominic Caldwell was one of those things that I could have lived my
whole life without accomplishing and been happy with.
“ I’ve had the
pleasure of meeting him,” I muttered.
Actually it was less of a pleasure and more
of a terrifyingly traumatic experience which involved me being
kidnapped and helping him find a priceless heirloom that had been
stolen by an ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately that chance kidnapping
seemed to have spawned, in Dominic’s mind anyway, some kind of
weird relationship.
“ I think I’d
better find out what he’s doing here,” I said as I started to walk
away.
Travis grabbed my arm. “Are you nuts?” he
said forcefully. “Do you have any idea who that man is?”
“Rich, bad guy who doesn’t seem to believe
the laws of this country apply to him. On the radar of most of the
law enforcement agencies in this country. The second he sits down
and speaks to me, Griffin gets a heads up and I get in trouble.
Does that pretty much cover it?”
Travis was
giving me that look of his again. The one where he can’t believe
that one person is able to get themselves into such messed
“ You know,
the amount of time you spend here is seriously staring to disturb
me,” I said as I came up beside him.
His eyes crinkled but I could see his concern
as he focused on the bruise on my cheek.
I sighed. “How did you know?” I asked.
Travis shrugged. “People tell me things.”
“And you came here tonight because?”
Travis grinned. “I know you Trudie, and I
know the nutcase you are working for. There is no way that he was
going to let you have the night off and I don’t think he’s quite
annoyed you enough to tell him where to shove his job.”
“ I think
you’d be surprised,” I murmured.
“Getting to the end of that surprising amount
of patience that you seem to have?” asked Travis.
I nodded. “I don’t even know why we are here.
I get that Alistair thinks this is going to be a gritty expose on a
part of life that most people want to ignore, but the longer we are
here the more exploitative it seems to be. He’s playing with
people’s lives here. Sooner or later someone is going to bite
back.”
“ You think
that is what happened to Hammy?” Travis asked
speculatively.
I had to
laugh at the gleam in his eye. Travis was one of, if not the best
private investigator in LA. He was the go to guy for divorce cases
and he was good at his job. That being said he was a cop through to
the bone. If it hadn’t been for some situation between him and
Griffin, most of which hadn’t been fully explained to me, he would
have still been a cop, puzzling over these sort of
cases.
“ I think that
considering the way that Hammy treated the women here, it is a
miracle that someone didn’t kill him a very long time ago. From
what I understand Hammy has owned this place for decades, more than
enough time for there to be a list of people who wanted to see him
dead,” I said.
“ Sure, but
strangulation with a whip kind of sounds a bit personal to me,”
murmured Travis.
I shrugged.
Hammy had dealt badly with people overall. He exploited and
belittled the women who worked here and he ripped off the
clientele. The fact that he had allowed Alistair to film here at
all gave an indication of how little regard he had for anyone who
walked into this club. The only surprising thing about Hammy’s
death was that it hadn’t happened years before now.
“What the hell is he doing here?” I could see
Travis’s eyes widen as he looked over at one of the booths.
I had to stop myself from dropping my head in
frustration. Dominic Caldwell and one of his colleagues had taken a
seat in a booth which gave a wide view of the entire bar.
“ I don’t
believe it,” I muttered. Everywhere I turned these days that man
seemed to be popping into my life.
Travis turned to me speculatively. “Please
tell me that you don’t know Dominic Caldwell.”
I really wish I could tell him that. Knowing
Dominic Caldwell was one of those things that I could have lived my
whole life without accomplishing and been happy with.
“ I’ve had the
pleasure of meeting him,” I muttered.
Actually it was less of a pleasure and more
of a terrifyingly traumatic experience which involved me being
kidnapped and helping him find a priceless heirloom that had been
stolen by an ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately that chance kidnapping
seemed to have spawned, in Dominic’s mind anyway, some kind of
weird relationship.
“ I think I’d
better find out what he’s doing here,” I said as I started to walk
away.
Travis grabbed my arm. “Are you nuts?” he
said forcefully. “Do you have any idea who that man is?”
“Rich, bad guy who doesn’t seem to believe
the laws of this country apply to him. On the radar of most of the
law enforcement agencies in this country. The second he sits down
and speaks to me, Griffin gets a heads up and I get in trouble.
Does that pretty much cover it?”
Travis was
giving me that look of his again. The one where he can’t believe
that one person is able to get themselves into such messed
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