Page 34 of The Liar

“Asshole,” Hanson muttered as they exited the room. Thankfully, they must have been out of earshot, because I had no doubt Neal would have called him out on the insult if he’d overheard it.

I sat, suddenly wishing I’d made myself a second coffee. I’d hardly slept last night, and more caffeine wouldhelp get my brain firing on all cylinders. Especially since it was warm and stuffy in here, making it difficult to concentrate.

“So…” Hanson let the word drag out. “How are things with the husband?”

I forced myself not to react. “It turns out that I misunderstood what I saw. We’re sorting things out, but I think we’ll be fine.”

He nodded, obviously relieved. “Good, good. I’m happy for you.”

And for himself, probably. My being married gave him a way to connect with me. If I was single again, we’d have nothing in common, and he’d have to return to being completely awkward around me instead of just a little awkward.

I withdrew my notebook from my front pocket, grabbed a pen off the desk and wheeled my chair around to join him. “So, what did you find after I left on Friday?”

He opened a tab on his screen, bringing up what appeared to be a series of text messages. “The tech team discovered a string of deleted messages to Sloane’s second phone, all from the same number. It’s set to private and was never added to her contacts, so unfortunately, we can’t trace it.”

I rolled my chair closer so I could read the messages. “Was there any identifying information within the chat itself?”

“Nothing obvious. No names or addresses. Mostly, the messages were times and places to meet.”

“Hmm.” I scanned the messages. They were all brief and to the point. From what I could tell, Sloane never replied, or if she did, she’d deleted her responses more effectively than the person she was messaging. “Do you think it could be the baby’s father?”

Hanson sighed. “I don’t know. None of these scream romance to me. What do you think?”

I pursed my lips and cocked my head, considering carefully before I answered. “Not blatantly, but if she were seeing someone who didn’t want anyone to know about it, then perhaps. Could be an affair with a married man.”

“Or she could be a drug dealer and the meetups are to exchange drugs and cash,” Hanson mused.

“Could be. It’s too soon to know.” I straightened and turned to him. “What else do we have?”

He looked uncomfortable. “I have a lead on what she did for work.”

“Oh?” Why would he be squirrely about that?

A blush stole across his cheeks. “She was an exotic dancer at a high-end strip club. Ever heard of the Red Letter?”

I shook my head.

“It’s one of the classier strip joints in town. And”—he leaned closer and lowered his voice—“it’s been suspected for quite some time that the Ortez family runs a prostitution ring out of it.”

I blinked, stunned. “Do you think she might have been one of their girls?”

He rested his hands on his paunch. “She was certainly pretty enough.”

I stayed quiet, processing. West was investigating the Ortez family. A woman who may have been a working girl under Ortez’s protection had been murdered. Could the two be related? The Ortez syndicate was heavily involved in drugs and prostitution. It could be a coincidence that one of their dancers had turned up dead.

“We’ll need to ask around,” I said, considering the ramifications. “Is the club owned by a member of the Ortez family?”

Hanson pulled a face. “Nah. It’s owned by a shell corporation. Tech are still trying to find where it traces back to.”

“It could be the Ortez’s or one of their allies. That would make sense if they allegedly run a prostitution ring out of the place.”

“There’s nothing we can do on that front at the moment.” Hanson reached for a take-out cup of coffee and sipped, then licked foam off his lips. “Want to talk to some dancers?”

I glanced at my watch. “Surely it’s too early for them to be there yet.” It was my understanding that strip clubs were open until early in the morning. “Let’s give it another couple of hours.”

“All right.”

I returned to my desk and worked methodically through the most urgent emails in my inbox before checking the file we’d been sent with background information on Sasha Sloane’s family. According to our research, both of her parents were still alive, and she had an older sister who was a dental technician not far from here.

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