Swingin' in the Rain by Eileen Davidson Page B

information.”
      “Alex—“
      “Jakes, I can do things a cop can’t,” I said. “I can go places without needing a warrant—“
      “—and that’s called breaking the law!” he pointed out.
      “Well . . . if you and I went together it wouldn’t be breaking the law.”
      “No, I’d just get in trouble for messing with another detective’s case.”
      “So what do you want to do?” I asked. “Give this information to Rockland? Or just let him try to build a case against me.”
      “Neither,” he said, “that’s not what I want to do.”
      “Look,” I said, “there are men and women on that list. We can take turns. You talk to the women and I’ll talk to the men.”
      “Why not the other way around?”
      “Come on, Jakes,” I said. ”The women who go to those clubs will eat you up. Especially if you wear a uniform. Do you have one by the way?”
      “Of course I do. And you’re saying the men will love you?”
      “Well, I’m not saying they’ll love me, but I bet I could get them to talk to me more than you could.”
      He hesitated, still studying the photos.
      “And if Rockland isn’t going in this direction,” I reasoned, “there’s no chance we’ll run into him.”
      “Unless,” he said, “Randy also had a phone book with these names in it, similarly marked.”
      “I can probably find that out,” I said. “After all, I’m the ex, the mother of his child. I’ll bet I can get into his place.”
      “You’d have to go through Rockland for that,” he said. “I could probably—“
      “No, let me do it,” I said. “It makes sense. If you ask him, you’re just going to tip him off to your involvement.”
      “You’re probably right,” he said.
      “I’ll call him and say I want to get into Randy’s place because he has some of Sarah’s stuff.  Besides, the house isn’t technically a crime scene, right?”
      “Well, the back is still taped off, at the top and bottom of the hill. The house is an extension of that, but it’s not sealed.”
      “Okay, then,” I said. “I’ll get in there and check Randy’s phone book, and his computer.”
      “Do you need a key?” Jakes asked.
      “Don’t worry. I’ll get in. I could go in without asking Rockland--“
      “No,” Jakes said. “Mention it to him. He’ll probably say yes,”
      “Okay,” I said. “I’ll call him.”
      “That’ll be good. Not only could you match up some names from Patti’s book, but you might find something in his computer that firmly connects him to the club. If he’s even a part owner, that makes the other owners suspects.”
      “What if he owns it outright?”
      “He still has to have some business associates,” Jakes said. “It would also make club employees suspect.”
      “And once we collect all this information?”
      “We may have to give it to Rockland,” he said. “It depends on how much we want to risk my job and your freedom.”
      “My freedom?”
      “If Rockland realizes you’re butting your nose into his case, he may want to lock you up.”
      “Couldn’t you keep him from doing that?”
      He stared at me and said, “Not if I’m right in there with you.”
      That shut me up.
      “All right,” he said. “Keep these photos safe.”
      Jakes wanted me to stay the night but I told him I had to get back home to Sarah. And I had to work the next day. Except it was the same day now.
      “What about Tonja?”
      “I think she may have had it going on tonight,” I said.
      I got a blank look so I told him that Tonja had been familiar with the club and had insisted on going with us. She’d claimed she’d been to a club like that once, with an old boyfriend. But when we got there, it seemed she may have been more involved with that scene than she let on.
      “For all I know,” I finished, “she’s still there. When we left she was kind of drunk and her skirt was on backwards.”
      I told