Page 33 of Bringing Chelsea Home

“Do you know her?” Unease shuttled down Griff’s spine as his gaze searched the area. Too many people were still here, anyone of them with a weapon and they were right here in the open.

And accepting Clark’s call to meet here had made Elaine an open, easy target. Damn, damn, damn. Miller was right. What the hell had he been thinking?

“She heard the EMS worker ask me if I knew my name and where I was to see if I was oriented,” he heard Elaine clip off her words, pulling him back to the moment. “I guess she thought I needed coffee. What happened to the shooter?”

“Got away,” Griff fumed. “After that PT session, I should have caught the creep.”

“Why shoot Clark?” Elaine asked, putting the untasted coffee on the table. “And who would know he was going to be here?”

“Big Daddy,” Griff said heavily. “He figured out what Clark was doing and had him followed. What do you want to bet he’s got Clark’s office bugged? Maybe his phone too.”

You could have gotten Elaine killed. Damn, damn, damn.

“If he does, then it’s only a matter of time before he figures out the two of you are more than entrepreneurs in the adult entertainment industry.” Patrick joined them. “Do you think Clark was his target or you?”

“I don’t know,” Griff admitted. “Does Miller want our statements?’

“He said he’d join us at the safehouse later,” Patrick said.

“Then let’s get out of here,” Griff said, guilt beginning to eat up his insides. “Staying here makes us sitting targets.”

And from the set of Elaine Prescott’s mouth, Griff had no doubt he was about to become one.

CHAPTER16

Later that afternoon

“Are you sure?”Big Daddy demanded. “Sure it was Elaine Prescott?”

Tina Paxton nodded, an eager smile crossing her face. “Yeah. She was wearing a black wig, but I recognized that beauty mark by her lips when I took her a cup of coffee. That’s when I heard that EMS woman ask her if she knew her name and the date and she said Elaine Prescott. I know her voice too, from the clinic when she’d come to talk to Sister Bernie. She’s got one of those high-class, snobby voices you don’t forget.”

“Well, hot damn, girl,” Big Daddy praised. “You done good.”

“So will you let me work at one of your clubs?” Tina begged. “You said if I helped you with Clark today, you’d help me and I wanna work at one of your clubs. Get me out of that damn clinic with all those nuns.”

Big Daddy considered. It wasn’t as if Tina hadfoundElaine Prescott for him. Pure luck had sent her downtown to watch Clark after he’d listened to the taped conversation between Clark and the Prescott bitch and her fancy man who’d done most of the talking. “You said there was a guy with her? What did he look like?”

“Military, if you ask me,” Tina scrolled through her phone and handed it to him. “Look at this. That’s her in the wig with the guy she was with.”

In the picture, a tall woman in a shapely black dress, holding one of them fancy hats women liked so much, stood next to a tall, well-built man who looked as if he were from the military or a were cop. He didn’t understand why Clark hadn’t seen it immediately.

Hot damn! He realized it was the couple from the club. He’d seen them before, and they had been there visiting with Clark under his nose. Another man, taller and broader at the shoulder stood behind them. They were talking to Grant Miller, who had been a thorn in Big Daddy’s ass for years and who he would gladly kill if he could get away with it.

But these other two guys. Were they Brotherhood Protectors? When he first heard about them earlier this year, Big Daddy had one of his hackers do some research on them. Yeah, those dudes had the look. The slimmer one was probably screwing Prescott.

He sent himself a copy of the photos and gave Tina her phone. “Okay,” he said. “You can start working at the club in South Knoxville next week, so don’t give up your job at the Wellness Clinic just yet. I may need you to do some more stuff for me before then.”

“Really?” Tina squealed, jumping up and clapping like a little girl. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Big Daddy drawled. “Go get yourself a good haircut and mani-pedi at one my salons between now and then. If you do well in South Knoxville, I’ll see about moving you up. Get going and don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”

“Yes, Big Daddy!” A giggling Tina scurried away, nearly slamming the door. She might not be the brightest bulb in the pack, Big Daddy reflected, but she’d brought him evidence that Elaine Prescott was sticking her nose in his business.

And she’d most likely found Brotherhood Protectors. Something The Cadre hadn’t been able to do. Andtheythought they were going to muscle their way into Big Daddy’s territory? When hell froze over.

So, it was time to flex a little muscle. Show those Chicago assholes who the real bad-ass power in East Tennessee was. He went to the bar, filled a snifter with Courvoisier and took a savoring sip, considering his options.

Then an idea formed. An idea so damn simple he should have thought of it from the beginning. The Prescott woman had messed up his thinking when she took Lulu. Probably kidnapped her. After all he had done for Lulu, there was no way she would leave on her own. If he weren’t planning on killing Elaine Prescott, he’d charge her with kidnapping.

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