Midnight Alias: A Killer Instincts Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

when he appeared out of nowhere like a damn ghost, Trevor almost jumped.
    “What happened?” he demanded.
    Luke shook his head, frazzled. “I got a lap dance.”
    “Oh.” He arched a brow. “Okay.”
    Without elaborating, Luke bent down and unzipped the backpack next to Trevor’s gear, rummaging in it until he found what he was looking for. Popping the earpiece in, he clicked it on and said, “Holden, you read me?”
    Since they were all wired in, Trevor heard Holden McCall’s response. “Yeah. What’s up?”
    “Call D to take your place. I want you to head back to the apartment and use your computer magic. Find out everything you can about one of the dancers. Livy Lovelace.”
    “Is that the order, Trev?” Holden said briskly.
    Trevor appreciated the other man’s deference to his authority on this job. “Yeah. Do it.”
    There was a crackling sound, then radio silence. “What’s going on?” Trevor asked, shooting Luke a puzzled look.
    “I don’t think Dane’s in that club, man. If he is, then he’s hiding away upstairs or somewhere in the employee area.”
    Luke reached into his jacket pocket for his Marlboros. He lit one up, the orange tip glowing as he sucked hard, then exhaled a cloud of smoke into the night air.
    Huh. The guy was definitely on edge.
    “I can go back in,” he added. “Try to get past those mammoth bouncers and snoop around, but I’m thinking we go about this another way.”
    “The dancer.”
    “Yeah.” A crease dug into Luke’s forehead. He took another drag. “Something about her triggered an alarm. I asked her how she liked her job, and she just shut down. I swear, she even looked scared.”
    “That’s rather flimsy.”
    “Look, I can’t explain it, but my gut is telling me Morgan’s informant was right. This dancer knows something.”
    “About the missing agent?”
    Luke made a frustrated noise. “I don’t know. Maybe. But she warrants a closer look.”
    Trevor snorted. “Another lap dance perhaps?”
    “No. Fuck, not that kind of look. But I think we need to find out more about her.”
    Trevor wasn’t entirely convinced, but he’d learned to trust the instincts of the other men on the team. A soldier’s gut feeling was often the most valuable weapon in your arsenal. “Fine. We’ll find out more.” He cocked his head. “You’ll go back in tomorrow night, then?”
    Luke sighed. “That might be a problem.”
    * * *
    Olivia had just buttoned up her jeans and was reaching for her red wool peacoat when Tony, one of Vince’s personal guards, appeared in the doorway. “Boss wants to see you upstairs,” he informed her.
    With a submissive nod, she followed the tall man out of the dressing room. Truth be told, Vince’s bodyguards terrified her. Tony, Mikey, and Sal. All three were Italian, tight-lipped and scowl-faced. And they were always armed, no matter what. Before the attack, she hadn’t understood why the owner of a strip club needed his own protection squad, but Vince had insisted it was simply a precaution. He was a wealthy man and wealthy men needed to watch their backs, he’d told her.
    She knew better now. Vince Angelo was much more than the owner of a strip joint. In the last six months, she’d seen several men being carried out of the upstairs offices, bruised, beaten, usually bleeding. And the men who came by to meet with Vince a few times a week, with their olive coloring and slick business suits . . . they weren’t door-to-door salesmen, that was for sure.
    Mafia .
    She quickly forced the thought away. The less she knew about what Vince was really up to, the safer she’d be. She’d realized months ago that she couldn’t count on anyone else to get her out of this mess. The cops couldn’t be trusted—they were frequent visitors to the VIP lounge, not to mention Vince’s office, which led her to deduce that he had more than one officer in his pocket. She had no friends she could turn to. Her mother—well, Olivia refused to