Rialto (Unbreakable Bonds 8)

She looked him up and down before her gaze flitted to Hollis, who stood silently behind Ian like an avenging angel. He looked exactly like what he used to be. A cop. Her lips tightened and she shook her head.

Ian turned to the other woman standing beside her, but she did the same thing.

The one with the cigarette turned to him and gave him an ugly smirk. “Oh, honey, what do you want with a Max? It looks like you’ve already got all the cock you can handle. How bout I give you a taste of something sweeter?” She reached out with her long, curved fingernails toward his hair like she meant to run her fingers through it, but Ian jerked backward out of her reach, his shoulders slamming into Hollis’s broad chest.

The cigarette woman cackled loudly, and her companions joined in, sending them rocking awkwardly in their heels in their amusement. Ian could feel heat filling his cheeks, but he didn’t care what they thought of him. Not when Hollis’s strong hand was gripping his shoulder, squeezing and reassuring him without saying a word.

“Nobody here knows a Max,” a man said as he came out of the shadows. “You might as well move along.”

Ian’s heart sped up as he got a good look at him, taking in the large build and the shock of bright blond hair. He wondered if this guy worked security for the women. Then he realized it was probably their pimp. He nodded at him and pulled Hollis along down the street. The trio of women continued to shout catcalls and taunting comments after them as they walked away. They only grew quiet when a car slowed down and pulled over to the curb near them. A potential customer. He and Hollis were forgotten.

With Hollis at his side, Ian braved several more blocks and more alleys than he’d ever thought he’d venture down. They approached three more groups of people, a mix of both men and women, but there was no one willing to talk about Max. This wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d hoped. Nobody admitted to knowing a Max. Either they were lying or he did, in fact, go by something else here. And they all clammed up as soon as they got a good look at Hollis.

“Shit,” Ian said as they stood on yet another corner, looking up and down the street as he tried to decide which direction they were going to turn down next. They were getting too close to residential areas, and for better or worse, there were fewer people out. “Looks like this is another dead end.”

Hollis squeezed his arm. “Give it time, we’ve only been at this an hour or so. Finding someone is never easy and especially when we’re doing it like this. We need a photograph of the guy.”

“All I have is the mug shot.”

Hollis winced. “Yeah, flashing that around will get us nowhere.”

Ian turned toward Hollis and folded his arms over his chest. “They can all tell you’re a cop. Can you…I don’t know…hunch or something? Look less imposing and official?”

Hollis laughed. “Hunching isn’t going to change my carriage. They don’t know I used to be a cop.”

“Rowe and Snow both say you still stand and walk like you’re a cop.”

“That’s ’cause Rowe and Snow are fucking deviants who spent too much time looking over their shoulders for cops when they were up to trouble.”

“Yeah, but you’ve done undercover work. And now you’re a PI. Don’t you have to like…pretend to be unassuming and normal?”

Hollis made a face like he was fighting very hard not to laugh right in Ian’s face, which he appreciated. Ian really couldn’t blame him, because he wasn’t sure there was much Hollis could do to look less intimidating than he did. And Ian had to admit that he loved how his man looked striding down the street as if he owned it. It was a fucking turn-on, not that they needed that right then.

“People just aren’t going to trust you enough to talk. You’re a stranger here.” Hollis jerked his head down to the left. “There are a few more people gathered down there. We can try this block, and then we’ll head to the car. Shoot over to the West End and cover that area for a couple of hours before calling it a night.” He smirked. “I’ll try to hunch.”

Ian nodded and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Hollis was right, but he didn’t want to head home until they found Max. He was afraid that these people would talk. If Max got word that someone matching Ian’s description was looking for him, he might disappear completely. They didn’t have a backup plan if this fell through, and Ian didn’t want to wait around for this guy to strike again, hurting someone else he cared about, so they’d have a new lead to follow.