Nicky nodded, listening. It seemed like that struck a personal chord for Ken.

  "Is that why you became an agent?" Nicky asked. "So you could do things the right way?"

  "More or less," he muttered. "What about you?"

  Nicky almost laughed, shook her head. "I was trying to get to know you, Agent Walker. I'm not as much of a closed book."

  He let out a bit of a laugh but said nothing else. Nicky sighed.

  "It's not a secret that I was abducted when I was younger," Nicky said. "With my sister, Rosie. I got away. She didn't."

  Ken was quiet. Nicky had been open about her past with her colleagues; it was all in her file anyway, and Dr. Graham had suggested that if she wasn’t going to open up to friends, she should at least open up to her coworkers. It was better than keeping everything inside. And Nicky personally felt like part of being a good leader was being open and honest, rather than closed off and mysterious.

  "That's why the senator chose me for the job," Nicky said. "I've got... personal interests in missing girls. You get that, right?"

  "I do get it," Ken said. "Maybe you're not the only one with personal interests."

  Nicky shot him a look, then refocused on the road. "What do you mean?"

  "We're not here to investigate me," Ken said. "You want to find Meghan Salinger, don't you?"

  "Of course I do. I want to see her safe."

  "I feel the same way," Ken said. "So let's focus on our jobs."

  Nicky nodded again. She understood that. Somebody as distant as Ken Walker wasn't going to open up so easily.

  The sun had fully set now, and the blackness of the night was descending fast. The lights of the strip club were coming up, and Nicky was getting nervous. This was a dangerous man they were looking for, and when they found him, she didn't know what they'd have to face.

  They pulled into the parking lot, which was half-full. Nicky parked the car and called Grace. She answered immediately. "You at the strip club?" Grace asked.

  "Just got here," Nicky said. "We're outside. You sure this guy's in there?"

  "Yeah, pretty sure it's him," Grace said. "I pinged the cell phone of his last known alias. He goes by Tucker here, not Darren, so keep that in mind."

  "Thanks, Grace. Talk soon." Nicky hung up and stared at the strip club. It was a two-story, square-shaped building adorned with neon lights. This was definitely not the place a couple of FBI agents could just casually walk into.

  Nicky glanced Ken over. He was wearing a full black casual suit, jacket and all, while she was wearing a black blouse and slacks.

  "Jesus," she said, "we couldn't look more like feds. Ditch the jacket, Walker."

  "What are you thinking?" He lifted an eyebrow.

  "We can't go in there flashing our badges--we'll spook the guy, and he could make a run for it. We should try to blend in, at least to get past security.”

  Outside the door was a wide-chested bouncer with a tattoo on his bald head. Nicky had a feeling that guy wouldn't let two agents in without a fight.

  Nicky flipped down the car's mirror and pulled her long, brown hair out of its ponytail, letting it fall over her shoulders. She undid a few buttons of her blouse and allowed the top of her red, lacy bra to show. Maybe it'd distract the bouncer enough for him to not notice how much of a stiff Ken was.

  Ken eased his jacket off and tossed it in the back seat. "How's this?"

  His hair was too perfect, too in place, so Nicky ruffled it up. Ken leaned away from her, then shot her a scowl.

  "Better," she said.

  With that, they got out of the car, into the warm evening. It was time to get into the club.

  The bouncer eyed them as they approached the door. He was enormous and looked like he was carved out of stone. His dark eyes were focused on them, unmoving.

  "ID, please,” he said, his voice rough and domineering.

  Nicky allowed her top to show a little more and put on a smile. "We're just trying to get in," she said.

  "ID," the bouncer repeated.

  Pouting, Nicky took out her wallet and slid out her ID card, then showed the bouncer.

  "Wouldn't have guessed you're pushing thirty," he said, glancing at her.

  Nicky gave him a pleasant smile to hide the fact that she wanted to claw his eyes out.

  He checked Ken's ID too, then nodded, and allowed them to pass.

  Nicky strolled into the strip club known as 'The Happy Beaver'. It was aptly named: neon, flashing lights, and scantily-clad women in animal costumes greeted her at the door. This was the type of place middle-aged men visited on their nights off to lecherously watch women dance and look at their asses. It was the type of place where the booze flowed and it was not out of the ordinary to see a fight break out.

  They'd have to keep their wits about them, because one wrong move could turn this night around for the worse. Nicky didn't want herself, or Ken, to get into any fights with the crowd here. They had to find this man if they wanted to find Meghan. And they had to take him in as cleanly as possible.

  Nicky spotted the bar off to the left and headed in that direction. Ken followed her, glancing around with his usual, stoic expression.

  Two bartenders and a bouncer stood behind the bar, and the room was crowded. This club was packed. The music was blaring. There were two women dancing on the stage, both revealing more skin as the song went on. The first dancer wore a yellow leotard, and had a big, plastic beaver head on her head. She was writhing around the stage and giving off a sexy pout, while her partner moved erratically behind her. The second dancer wore a blue beaver head and was letting her hips grind all over the pole.

  Nicky kept her head high, gaining a few looks from men by the bar. But she was only here for one reason.

  Grace had forwarded Nicky a photo of Darren McMillan--or Tucker, as he was known here. She knew she was looking for a skinny, bald-headed, overly tattooed thirty-year-old. Not exactly a discreet-looking guy, and Nicky couldn't help but wonder why the hell the previous investigators had given up on him so quickly. Nicky had never seen a father more certain than Terry had been that Darren was responsible for Meghan's disappearance.

  As Nicky scanned the sea of faces, she spotted a woman by the bar--and a guy who looked just like Darren was leaning over her. The woman had long, flowing red hair, just like Meghan's. In fact, she looked so much like her that Nicky nearly had a heart attack.

  The entire case almost fell on top of her head. For a moment, she thought maybe, Meghan was right here, alive, and she'd run off with Darren...

  But then the girl turned her head to the side. She had a much longer nose.

  Damn. This wasn't Meghan Salinger. But that guy was definitely Darren McMillan.

  "There he is," Nicky said to Ken.

  "Oh, I see him," Ken said. "How do you wanna do this?"

  "We don't want to let him know we're FBI, not yet."

  Ken nodded. “Agreed.”

  "You stay here," Nicky said. "I'll go to the bar and get a drink, then say hello and see what happens. If I can get him to come with me, I'll bring him outside somewhere quiet."

  "What if he's not willing?" Ken asked.

  Nicky paused, her eyes skating over Darren. He wasn’t a small guy, but she’d been trained for this. "Then I'll take him down."

  "Let's hope it doesn’t come to that,” Ken said.

  "Just back me up," Nicky said. "If you see me corner him, that's your cue. We need to back him into a wall so he can't run."

  With that, Nicky made her way to the bar. Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know why exactly. There was something about this guy that was just... off. It was something else, something she couldn't place. All she knew was that something about him just wasn't right, and Nicky had a feeling he could turn out to be a genuinely dangerous man.

  The woman next to him was laughing. Nicky opened her mouth to ask for a drink, but before she could, she heard Darren say, "Damn, baby, let's get out of here."

  The girl with Darren giggled. "You're bad, Tucker. I don't know..."

  "Come on, let's do this."

  "Well... okay."

  Nicky had to act fast. She stumbled over to the bar and pretended to be drunk, bumping right into the girl Darren was with. Nicky squealed and spilled a drink all over Darren, who let out a guttural sound.

  "What the hell!" Darren yelled. He looked like he was about to eat Nicky's face off--until he took in her appearance. Blatantly, in front of his date, he scanned Nicky up and down. "Damn, you're new here," he said.

  Nicky got close to him. "Hey," she said alluringly. She glanced over her shoulder. Ken was closing in.

  "We're a little busy here," Darren's date said to Nicky. "Do you mind?"

  Nicky felt bad for the girl, who was probably just a normal person in this situation--but at the same time, Nicky knew Darren had been linked to human trafficking before. She wasn't about to let this girl's life get taken away, not on her watch.

  Nicky needed to get Darren’s attention away from this girl, and she needed to do it fast.

  She hated doing this, but she turned to the date and gave her a sour look. “Sorry, sweetheart, but I think you’re in over your head. Why don’t you go find another date? This one’s mine.”

  The girl’s jaw dropped while Darren looked at Nicky with a sickening smile. The girl looked at Nicky, then back at Darren, a scowl on her face. Darren just shrugged and said, “You heard the lady. Beat it.”

  The girl stormed off in the opposite direction, pissed and hurt. But she had no idea that her life had probably just been saved.

  Nicky looked at Darren with her best flirty expression, and he scanned her up and down in a sickening way. She was backing him into the bar, and they were near a corner--which meant it wouldn't be too easy for Darren to get away. She could feel Ken looming near her.

  "You're feisty," Darren said. He flashed her his teeth, which had gold grills on them. A giant tattoo of a rose with thorns covered his pale-skinned neck. "I like that."

  Nicky wanted to hurl. "Gee, thanks, baby," she said.

  She couldn't play this up for long. She went in to grab Darren's arm. At first, he thought she was flirting. He wore a big, gross smile.

  But then Nicky yanked him in close. She stole a glance in her periphery to see Ken was there and ready.

  She looked Darren dead in the eye and said: "FBI, dirtbag. You're coming with us."

  Then it all happened at once. Darren started to move--but then Ken grabbed him from behind and held him tight. It was too late for Darren to make a run for it.

  People at the bar were starting to look at them. Nicky feared for a second that Darren was going to produce a gun--but then the other patrons turned back to their drinks, not wanting to get involved.

  "Let's go," Nicky said. "Walk."

  Darren twisted his arm until he broke free from Ken's grip. He went to run off, but Ken grabbed him by the arm again—only for Darren to elbow him in the face.

  "Hey!" Nicky yelled.

  But Darren had escaped. He dove through the strip club, dodging past people.

  Game on.

  Nicky dove after him. He was a lot faster than she had anticipated. She was just about to grab him by the collar when Darren turned around and kicked her right in the face.

  Nicky stumbled backwards. She got her balance back and started to run. Darren was darting through the crowd. His head was literally bobbing up and down. He bumped into three people, who yelped and spilled their drinks.

  But Darren didn't seem to care. He continued his mad dash across the club, darting for the staircase that led up to the second floor.

  Ken was right behind him. He was yelling, "Federal agent! Stop, McMillan!"

  Darren darted up the stairs. Nicky and Ken chased after, weaving between people the best they could. The music kept pounding Nicky's ears.

  On the upper level, Nicky saw Darren run into a room. "There!" she shouted to Ken.

  Both of them ran right in after him. But Darren was pulling open a window. He looked over his shoulder at them. There was no way he was going to jump, Nicky reasoned—but on his face was the look of a man who would do anything to escape.

  "Don't even think about it," Nicky warned.

  "No," Darren said. "No way. I'm not going to jail."

  “Darren—”

  He jumped out of the window.

  For a second, Nicky was worried he’d killed himself just to escape. But she and Ken rushed over and looked down. Darren was inside of a dumpster, and hauling himself out of it, and Nicky’s resolve burned back to life.

  "He's gonna get away!" Nicky shouted.

  She couldn't let that happen. And Ken must have sensed her plan, because he said, "Lyons, don't you--"

  Too late.

  Nicky jumped out of the window. A rush of adrenaline surged through her chest, and she landed with a hard thud in the dumpster, surrounded by stinking filth. It hurt a bit, but she was fine.

  She tore out of the dumpster and got herself back on the ground. Ken wasn't behind her, but she didn't care.

  She darted after Darren.

  He was sprinting along the alleyway, looking over his shoulder every so often to see if Nicky was following. She wouldn't let him go, her feet pounding the pavement below.

  “Stop and put your hands up!” Nicky shouted.

  Darren was at the end of the alley. There was a street up ahead. He wasn't getting away, and Nicky was closing in fast.

  But then a car screeched down the street. Nicky reached out to grab Darren, but the car honked and blocked her way. The driver was a well-dressed asshole in a suit. He flipped her off.

  "Damn it," Nicky said. She looked over at Darren, who was running down the street as fast as he could. She chased after him.

  Darren made it onto the sidewalk, but his foot caught on something and he tripped, falling to the ground. Nicky stormed up to him, shouting, "Darren McMillan, stop! You're under arrest!”

  Fumbling to his feet, he reached into his pants--and pulled out a knife. "Oh, hell no! I'll kill you, bitch!"

  Nicky stopped where she was. On instinct, her hand went for her gun—but something stopped her. Flashbacks from Frank, the man who’d took Masie, flashed through her mind. Nicky didn’t want another repeat, but Darren was facing off against her, knife gleaming in the street lights.

  “Stay back!” he yelled, his arm shaking. “Come any closer and I’ll—”

  Suddenly, Darren froze.

  There were footsteps behind them. Startled, Nicky looked over her shoulder to see Ken hurrying over with his gun out, pointed right at Darren. Darren’s hands flew up, and he dropped the knife.

  Relief flowed through her. They could apprehend him without gunshots being involved—thank God for that. Nicky pulled her cuffs out and walked over to a now trembling Darren. As Ken kept the gun on him, Nicky grabbed Darren's wrists and slapped cuffs on him.

  He was caught, and no one had to die for it.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Nicky stared Darren McMillan dead in the eyes in the interrogation room at the local police station. It was a cramped, windowless purgatory with a metal table and a dirty mirror on the wall, and it was cold and dingier than what Nicky was used to, but it would have to do.

  Across from her and Ken, Darren McMillan was cuffed and sitting on a chair, but he looked like a rabid dog.

  He wanted out. He wanted revenge against Nicky. He was going to kill her.

  "I want a law—”

  He was definitely about to say “lawyer,” but Nicky cut him off before he could finish. "I want to know about Meghan Salinger," Nicky said. Ken shot Nicky a look.

  "Who do you think you are, huh?” Darren rambled. “You're nothing! You can’t keep me here; you’ve got nothing on me.”

  Ken rested his hands on the table. "McMillan, you need to calm down and answer our questions. You drew a knife on a federal agent. That itself is a serious offense.”

  Darren was seething. He wanted to rip their heads off, Nicky could tell.

  "Fuck that bitch Meghan," he said. "I'm over her."

  "Is that what you said when you kidnapped her?" Nicky quipped.

  Darren scowled. "I had nothin' to do with that!"

  Nicky scoffed. "You expect us to believe that?" She slammed her fist on the table. "You were stalking her, Darren. And then you ran away from the cops."

  "I didn't run away!" he shouted. "I already talked to the cops, damn it. Don't you people have access to all that stuff?”

  Nicky and Ken exchanged an uneasy look. Nowhere in Darren's file had it said that the cops had found him, at all. If he was telling the truth--that meant the FBI somehow did not receive the report from the police.

  Or the police never filed it.

  "Look, I told that other cop," Darren rambled, "I had nothing to do with Meghan disappearing. She probably took off on her own, okay? Besides, it's like I told him--I have an alibi for the other chick, so I'm innocent."

  Nicky paused. "What 'other chick?’" This case was getting more confusing by the second.

  "The other chick who went missing! That cop I talked to--I forget his name. Rawlings? Rawley? Ryley? I dunno, but there was another chick he said went missing under the exact same situation as Meghan and I could prove I didn't do that one, so I was cleared, okay?"

  Nicky's head reeled. There was a chance Darren was making all of this up.

  "Did that cop give you a name on that other victim?" Nicky pressed.

  "I don't remember," Darren spat.

  "Think harder," Ken demanded.

  "No, I'm not going to think any harder," he snapped. "I already told you what I know--"

  "And we already know you lied." Ken pulled out a file and slapped it on the table. "You were stalking Meghan. You were obsessed with her."

  "Oh, I was obsessed, was I?" Darren laughed. "Meghan was an emotional basket case. She was crazy. She was trying to leave me and I wouldn't let her, big fuckin' deal."

  "You mean when she tried to leave you and break up with you," Nicky said, "you got violent."

  "I'm violent to everybody," Darren said. "Get away from me. I don't want to be near you."

  "Tell me the name of the other victim," Nicky said.