Page 25 of Marked

He’s right. The back of the club where the body was discovered is dark without all the bright lights on. The only real light coming from the empty bar. We cautiously approach and see the two of them huddled together by the doors, whispering in low voices. Everything seems fine until Josh slowly begins reaching for something in his back pocket.

“Stop!” Jack hollers.

Josh whirls towards us, bloodshot eyes wide with fear. He looks at me then at Jack, and his eyes damn near bug out of his head. He shoves the entertainer at Jack, forcing him to catch her as she stumbles in her tall stilettos, and bolts out the exit. Cursing, I kick off my heels, pick them up, and chase after him.

“Val, wait!”

I hear Jack’s voice before the door slams shut behind me. It takes me a split second to see Josh running across the secluded parking lot at the back of the club before I chase after him. “Police, stop!” I’m not sure why I bother shouting it. They never stop. Not ever.

Josh turns towards me, and for a split second I think he might actually stop, but no. Instead, he chucks his beer bottle at my bare feet, and I curse as shards nick my shins. The real pain comes when I step onto most of the broken glass; it all happened too quickly for me to dodge it.

“Bastard, two can play at that game.” I sneer and chuck one of my heels at him. It hits a car when he suddenly veers to the right, the car blaring its offense as the alarm goes off. I follow him down the alley alongside the club, chasing him into the main parking lot in front of the club. He leaps over one of the planters and I follow, cursing as I feel glass sink further into the tender flesh in the arches of my feet. When I see him head towards the sidewalk, I aim my remaining heel and throw it as hard as I can at him.

Fuck yes! I mentally cheer as it hits him square in the back of the head, making him tumble forward. I’m on him a few seconds later, trying to pin his lithe body to the concrete. He’s stronger than he looks, but that could be a combination of the adrenaline and whatever drug he’s on. And looking at those crazed, dilated red eyes, there’s zero doubt that he is definitely on one of the many drugs that roam Vegas’ streets.

With a thrashing wiggle and pivot of his hips, Josh knocks me off him enough to reach for his pocket. As I reach to restrain his arm once again, he slashes blindly at me with a pocketknife and gouges my forearm.

“You dick,” I hiss before grabbing his wrist and slamming it into the ground, forcing him to release the blade. “It’s not nice to stab people!”

“It’s not nice to throw fucking shoes at people, bitch!” Josh shouts.

“You threw a bottle at me first!” I snarl, digging my knee harder into his back. Sweet relief fills me when I hear Jack’s voice calling my name from behind me. I’m not sure how long I would have been able to hold him here without cuffs.

Jack rushes towards us with his gun in his hands. When he sees I’ve restrained him, he tucks it away and quickly cuffs Josh’s hands behind his back. Once he’s secured, I sit down next to him on the asphalt, the pain in my feet and arm throbbing. Jack is at my side in an instant, taking off his jacket and wrapping my arm in it.

“What were you thinking? And going out there without your gun drawn?” He growls, but his brow is furrowed as he puts pressure to the cut on my arm. “You should have waited for me.”

“I didn’t want him to get away.” I wince a little at the tightness of his hold. “And I had my shoes in my hands.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, loosening his hold. “I just—” He takes a deep breath and meets my gaze with a serious expression. “I saw the glass and the blood, and I panicked. I thought maybe he had taken you instead.”

Had he been worried for me? A small flutter warms my stomach. “I’m sorry,” I relent with a small sigh. “I didn’t want our one lead to the murders to get away. I should have known better.”

“Murders?!” Josh squawked. “No, no, no! I don’t know anything about no murders!”

Jack releases my arm, leaving me to keep pressure on it. “Then why flee?” he asks, staring down at the worm of a man.

“Because I thought you were going to bust me!” he cries, eyes wide.

“Bust you for what, exactly?” I press. When he presses his lips together, I shrug. “Alright then, have it your way. You’ll be brought down to the station for questioning regarding the body that was dumped here earlier this week.”

Josh frantically shakes his head. “No way! I don’t know anything about that! Look, I just come here to do my business! These girls are some of my best clients!”

“Clients?” Jack asks, now writing down everything on a small notepad he pulled from his pocket. “What kind of clients?”

Josh bangs his head on the ground in defeat. “Drugs, man. Mostly weed and pills, but sometimes a bit of cocaine.”

“You were here Monday night at 6:12pm.” I phrase it as a statement rather than a question since we have him on camera. “When you were dealing in your little back corner, or at the door, did you see anyone suspicious? Anyone carrying large items? A car parked along the curb?”

He shook his head. “Nah, man. I was focused entirely on my deal.”

“Think really hard.” Jack squats down in front of him, his face a mask of cool indifference. “It would be a shame to have to take you down to the station after all.”

Josh grunts, his face scrunching up in fear. “Well, I mean, there was one guy, I guess. He wasn’t carrying anything, but he was just leaning outside the door. I thought maybe he was waiting for a girl or something, I don’t know.”

“Description?” Granted, as Josh said, it could have been just a person outside, but maybe they had seen something this guy didn’t.

“Man, I don’t know. It was dark!” he wails.

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