Page 31 of Nothing But the Night (Basic Instincts 2)

“Never heard of him.”

“I was told he works here.”

The bartender turned down his mouth. “Maybe one of the other nights.” He yelled something to the bear that Marc could not hear.

The bear finished the order he was serving and came over. Jason repeated the question.

The man’s face was unimpressed. “Does he owe you money?”

“No. I just need to speak to him.”

“He rip you off?”

Marc leaned nearer to hear what was said.

“It’s nothing like that. I’m an investigator. I need to ask him about someone else. Tyrone’s not in any trouble. I just need his help.”

The man took in Jason’s bare chest and smiled wickedly. “An investigator? Never seen one like you before.”

“Well,” Jason asked. “Does he work here?”

The man scratched his chin, giving it some thought. “Ah, fuck it,” he said at last. He gestured to the hatch at the end of the bar. He stepped out where he could speak to them without shouting so much. “He mightnot be in trouble with you, but the boy is trouble himself.”

“So, he does work here?”

“Not anymore. I fired him last month. I suspected he was thieving. A lot of the staff did. A bottle of beer here and there, I can turn a blind eye to that. And I’m sure that little bastard had his hand in the till. But one of the customers complained that he was hustling them for money. A couple more told me he was dealing on the premises. I can’t have that. The council are looking for the slightest excuse to close us down. If we get done for dealing, then that’s it. Licence cancelled. A scrawny little bastard like him doesn’t give a fuck about the bigger picture. He just cares about himself.”

As he spoke, Marc caught the way the man’s eyes skimmed over Jason’s body, checking him out. It was obvious that he fancied him. Jason seemed to notice too and leaned into him. “I don’t suppose you could help me out and tell me where I could find him?”

“Give you his address, you mean? That would be another breach I could be shut down for. Sorry, handsome. You’re hot, but not enough for me to break the law.” He hesitated a moment, before reaching behind the counter and bringing out a mobile phone. He reached again for a note pad and pencil. “But fuck it, I owe that little shit nothing. I’ll give you his phone number. You can call him and track him down from there. But don’t tell him you’re a detective, he’ll block you. Let him think that there’s something in it for him first. Then he’ll speak to you. Money is the fastest way to that fucker’s stony heart.”

“What do you think?” Marc asked when they had moved away from the bar.

Jason folded the note with Tyrone’s number on it and tucked it inside his shoe. “I think I want to speak to Tyrone even more now. The big guy’s story tallies with what Roaul told me about Theo and Tyrone arguing over his fee.”

“And the phone number?”

“Worth a call. He’s already told me to get fucked on Messenger, but I might be able to appeal to his nicer instincts over the phone.”

Marc rolled his eyes. The more he heard about this guy, the worse he became. A hustler, a thief and a drug dealer. Could he add killer to that list crimes? Was Tyrone the kind of person to steal a car and turn his brother down over their earnings? And to stab Dan Blumel at the gym in cold blood?

“You need to be more careful, whatever you do,” he said to Jason. “This is getting shadier than I imagined.”

Jason gave him a reassuring pat and swigged his beer. “I’m always careful. Except when I allow you to talk me into letting you tag along with me. When I finally track down Tyrone,thatwon’t be happening.”

As Jason tipped his head back to drink, Marc couldn’t resist an illicit scan of his hairy chest and tight belly. That body was insane. In room full of naked men, Jason was hotter than any of them.

Marc took a swallow of his own drink. People continued to pour in the front door, though the bar didn’t seem any busier than it was before. He was pleased to see a handful of other guys had kept their underpants on, so he didn’t feel completely on his own about that. A few more wore jockstraps or backless briefs, but the majority of the customers were fully nude apart from their shoes.

“That’s as much as we’re going to learn from this place,” Jason said. “Why don’t we get dressed and call it a night?”

Marc hesitated and Jason picked up on it immediately.

“You want to stay?” Jason’s lips twitched in amusement.

Marc was glad that the redness in his face would not show under the blue lights. “We’ve already paid the door charge and stripped off. It can’t hurt to stay a while and find out what this place is really about.”

“Okay.”

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