Shadow Of Greed (Margot Harris 1)
“I’ll catch you later,” he said to Margot before he turned and walked out.
“You want to go out the back?” Lefty asked.
Margot put a twenty on the bar.
“Sure.”
Chapter 7
“Where you at?” Mal asked as soon as Margot picked up the phone.
“Walking the pier until Ames gets tired of sitting on my car. He showed up at Lefty’s. He might have been on me since I left the station.”
“Good thing I didn’t go with you. You get anything on the guy who was with Katrina last night?”
“Nothing. Did you know Lefty and Dean Stone knew each other?”
“No, but I’m not surprised. They both grew up here and as you know, even though we’ve got big cities to the north and south, this isn’t that big of a town. That all you learned?”
“Yeah, how about you?”
“I hit up the guys I know who would do that kind of thing and struck out, but I think I’ve got a line on a new guy in town who would treat a gunshot wound on the sly. Apparently, he’s making a killing in the underground surgery business. More than one of my doctors hinted they’d love it if I put him out of business.”
“So, he’s good?”
“The best apparently. He used to be a big shot surgeon up North but had a coke and stripper problem and lost his license. Should have done time from what I hear. If I hit our guy—and our guy is a pro—this dude Dr. Barger would be the one.”
“You got a location?”
“No, I’ve got a phone number, but I wouldn’t bother calling him. He won’t talk about clients. He stills likes the strippers and the coke, however. Apparently, he has a favorite and she was with him last night. Only she didn’t spend the night at his place like she usually does. You want to guess the only reason he’s ever sent her home early?”
“He had a client.”
“Exactly. He might be tough to crack, but I’ll bet Trixie would tell all she knew if you asked nicely and maybe slipped her a C-note. I’d do it but between this hole in my side and the cops, I think I ought to lay low.”
“So, I’m going to have to go to a strip club?”
“No, her shift doesn’t start until eight. I figure if you go now you can catch her at her apartment before she leaves.”
“Where does she live?”
“Just down the street from you. I’ll text the address.”
Chapter 8
If Ames was still watching Margot’s Toyota Prius, he was doing a good job of it because Margot didn’t see any sign of him. Mal gave her a hard time for driving a fuel-efficient hybrid instead of some muscle car with a big engine. The fact was she logged a lot of miles in this job but had yet to have to chase anyone.
Margot was a little disappointed to see how much nicer an apartment Trixie had than she did. She checked the little digital recorder she kept in her purse. She stored it a side pocket that wasn’t obvious unless you knew it was there. She didn’t keep it there so much to hide it as to keep it out of the way in case she needed to reach inside for her gun, the mace, or the telescoping baton. The last thing she needed was to go to break someone's knees with the baton and come up with a cheap recording device.
She checked the remaining memory on the digital device and considered erasing her conversation with Lefty. It felt weird recording him since she spent so much time drinking there; he seemed more like a friend. It was a work conversation, though, and she liked having an actual record of what was said.
It seemed there ought to be more than enough memory left—unless Trixie was going to talk for a couple hours—so she didn’t delete the conversation. She walked to the door before turning it on and sticking it back in the hidden pocket.
After Margot knocked, a girl with hair a shade of red that doesn’t exist in nature opened the door. She kept the chain on so all Margot could see was a face with too much makeup poking out.
“Are you the dude? Or should I say, the chick?”
“Probably not. I wanted to ask you some questions about a friend of yours. I can make it worth your while.”