The member went by KW. He tapped her profile, found her credit card, along with her contact info.
Karen Watters had an L1 membership and lived in DC.
Emerson jotted down the woman’s contact info. “This is great.”
Stryker’s phone rang with a call from Mavis. He hit speaker. “What’s up?”
“I’ve got two guys on L2 about to beat the living hell out of each other.”
“On my way.” Stryker hung up. “Come with me,” he said to Emerson.
“I’m okay.”
That elicited a brief smile. “Nice. I’ll set the monitors to ‘live’ so you can see what’s happening real-time.” Once he’d done that, he vanished up the stairs.
A shudder ran through her.I can do this.
After a calming breath, Emerson pulled the pictures of Blondie from the printer and slid them into her oversized handbag. Then, she turned her attention to the monitors on the wall.
She glanced from one to the next, then spotted a blond man talking to a woman with long, dark hair.That’s Blondie. He’s here!
On her way upstairs, she texted Stryker, “Blondie is on L1. Going to talk to him.”
The first floor was wall-to-wall members. When she got to the bar, Blondie wasn’t there. She squeezed around the clubbers on her way to the dance floor.
There he is!Blondie and the brunette were standing near the dance floor talking. He had his hand on her shoulder and was whispering in her ear. As Emerson got closer, Blondie slid his gaze to hers. They locked eyes.
A couple stopped in front of Emerson, blocking her way and cutting her off.C’mon.When she scooted around them, Blondie was gone.
No, no, no.On her tiptoes, she swept the room, back and forth. Then, she caught him heading for the exit.Go!She hurried outside.
Where’d you go?Emerson rushed over to Tank, talking to a member in line. “Tank, did you see a blond man walk by?”
“Nope, sorry.”
She scanned the area and spotted him, hurrying down the sidewalk. He turned the corner and she followed. Once she cleared the corner, she saw him across the street, cutting through the shopping center parking lot toward the grocery store, the lights illuminating the area outside the store. Emerson pursued him.
Rather than head inside, he made his way toward a car waiting at the curb near the closed dry cleaners.
He spoke to the driver, then hopped in the back seat. The car took off. Emerson strained to see the tags, but the car sped away too fast. She stopped in the middle of the parking lot.
I lost him.
Either Blondie had an accomplice, or he’d called an Uber.
* * *
Stryker pushed through the swarms of bodies, but Emerson wasn’t on L1. He strode outside. She wasn’t in the parking lot, either.
“Hey, boss, looking for the detective?” Tank asked.
“Yeah, where is she?”
“She went after some guy.” Tank pointed. “Took off down the street.”
Fire burned through Stryker as he jogged down the sidewalk.What was she thinking going after him alone?
He rounded the corner. No Emerson. When he glanced across the street, he saw her walking back through the mostly empty parking lot. What she didn’t see was the car creeping behind her. He broke into a full-on run, his long stride eating up the pavement.