Read Online Shallow Grave-J Collins 3 by Lori G. Armstrong - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t need him to hold my hand to prove he and I were an item. Not that anyone besides Kim and Kevin and Martinez’ bodyguards knew we spent nights together.
    Th
    e sense I was his dirty little secret persisted.
    I ground out my smoke and glanced up to see both Martinez and Jackal studying me like a science experi-ment. “What?”
    “You said anything to her yet?” Th
    is from Jackal.
    Martinez shook his head.
    “So she don’t know nothing about it?”
    Again, Martinez shook his head.
    “When did you plan on talking to her?”
    “Hey, Jack ass , I’m right here in the room. You can talk directly to me.”
    His eyes glowed the demented yellow of his namesake.
    “Tell your bitch to watch her mouth or I’ll muzzle her.”
    82

    At times like this I missed Harvey, the former enforcer.
    God. I was seriously screwed up if I looked back on his death threats and sneering stoicism with fondness.
    “I don’t have to put up with his shit, Martinez.” I shouldered my purse. At the door I remembered someone had to unlock this fortress before I could escape.
    When I spun around, Martinez had boxed Jackal in on the couch. He was speaking in the low menacing tone that sent shivers up my spine.
    Without moving his gaze from Martinez’s face, Jackal recited, “Sorry, Miz Collins.”
    Martinez glanced at me over his shoulder. “Stay.”
    With a resigned sigh, I traipsed back to my lonely little corner of the couch. “What’s going on?”
    He paced to the desk and picked up a half-empty bottle of water. “I need a favor.”
    “What kind of favor?”
    He and Jackal exchanged a “How do we play this”
    look.
    Another weird feeling rippled through me.
    “Have you done any bartending?” Jackal asked.
    “No. Why?”
    “Because we need you to—”
    “Let me handle this,” Martinez said.
    I lifted my brows. Did he mean handle this situation? Or handle me? Why hadn’t he asked this favor 83

    when we were alone last night?
    He sighed. “Someone is ripping me off . Cash drawers are coming short. Started out small amounts, but we’re down more than $500 some nights.”
    “Has someone been watching the employees?”
    “Not with any success. If I hang out, the bartenders and the wait staff are on their best behavior.”
    No kidding. No one would be stupid enough to steal right in front of him. “What about surveillance systems?”
    Martinez said, “Security cameras aren’t an option.”
    I hated to think it was because he didn’t want physical proof of the Hombres’ illegal activities. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Work for me.”
    “Come again?”
    “If you went in as a new hire, no one would suspect you were a plant.”
    “But I’ve been in Fat Bob’s plenty of times. Someone is bound to recognize me.”
    “He’s not talking about Fat Bob’s,” Jackal said.

    “He’s talking about Bare Assets.”
    My mouth dropped open. “You want me to go undercover in a strip club? Your strip club?”
    Martinez didn’t even blink.
    Jackal retorted, “At least he didn’t ask you to go undercover as a stripper. Not that you could pull it off .”
    84

    “Shut up, Jack,” Martinez said. “You’re not helping.”
    Evidently they’d discussed this option in depth before I arrived. I sat there and gaped at him. I didn’t know what to say. Well, besides a resounding no .
    My continued silence increased Martinez’ agitation. His expression hadn’t changed, but I’d been around him enough in the last few months to gauge his diff erent moods.
    “Say I agree. When would I start?”
    “Th
    ursday. I’d need to tell Crystal today so she can fi t you in the weekend shifts.”
    “Who’s Crystal?”
    “Th
    e club manager.”
    “Won’t she be suspicious if you tell her you hired me?”
    “She brought the shortages to my attention.”
    “I don’t know if I trust her,” Jackal said.
    Did he mean Crystal? Or me? I faced Jackal.
    “What’s your part in this?”
    He grinned nastily. “What part of