the crowd, Jake knew he would’ve already gone up on stage and carried Angela away. In between bouts of lust that had him grinding his teeth to control, he had wanted to knock the hell out of the some of the men because of their crude comments.
Day five of the op and nothing had happened. Not once had he detected anyone following Angela to her apartment. And even while she was on stage, the appearance and attitude of the audience was lascivious but not especially threatening.
Shea, Eden and Sabrina were working as waitresses in the other three sections the killer liked to roam and had reported the same negative results. Even though five days was a relatively short period of time, and attracting the killer so soon wasn’t necessarily realistic, Jake had hoped for a quick resolution.
The shouts increased to a fever pitch, drawing Jake’s eyes back to the stage where Angela was suspended upside down on the pole. And then, defying gravity, she spread her legs for mid-air splits. Sweat popped on Jake’s forehead.
Tearing his gaze away, his eyes roamed the audience once more. The crowd was rowdier than usual. Two bachelor parties of a couple dozen men sat close to the stage, and the more acrobatics Angela performed with that dammed pole, the louder they shouted. It was his and Kelly’s job to anticipate trouble. Something in his gut told him that was going to happen tonight.
Without any seeming haste, Jake eased away from the bar and weaved his way toward the stage. He noticed Kelly was doing the same thing. Just as he reached the table where one of the bachelor parties was seated, a drunken young man threw himself onto the stage. At the same time, another man on the other side of the stage did the same thing. They were double-teaming, probably hoping that at least one of them would get away with grabbing Dark Angel.
Even though he wasn’t the bouncer, Jake didn’t hesitate to intervene. Just as a giant hand reached for Angela’s ankle, Jake grabbed the back of the guy’s waistband and hauled him off the stage. He noticed that Kelly was doing the same thing with the other man.
Whirling the guy around, Jake shoved him down into a chair and looked straight into his glazed eyes. “You try that again and I’ll personally make sure you’re drinking food through a straw for the next month.” Jake waited a beat and then said, “Got that?”
Jake read the man’s lips as he mumbled an apology. Releasing the guy’s shoulders, Jake looked up at Angela. Hell, she hadn’t missed a step. She was once again whirling upside down on the pole.
He checked out Kelly and noted he’d seated the other drunk. Making a sweeping glance around the audience, his eyes caught a glimpse of a shadow lurking in the doorway. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Jake made his way toward the door. In seconds, the shadow was gone, leaving Jake wondering if he had imagined it. The light was so damn dim, was he seeing shadows where there weren’t any?
Deciding to make sure, he walked out the door and looked up and down the street. There were plenty of people milling around on the sidewalk...none looked suspicious. Shrugging, Jake went back inside. Dark Angel had finished her set and left the stage. He blew out a relieved sigh, glad that the small drama was over at least for a while.
He returned to his post at the bar but found himself looking back frequently at the door. Something about the shadow bothered him. Had Dark Angel finally attracted the killer or was he being extra paranoid because of the adrenaline rush? Trusting his gut, he made a mental note to be hyper-vigilant while following Angela tonight.
Mired in disappointment and discontent, he roamed the streets of London. His newest acquisition hadn’t brought him the peace he sought. He had hoped her differences would ease the roaring beast within him. Something about her had called to him and he had taken her against his own advice. Now he was filled with regret.
She was at his home, locked securely away. In his earlier days, he had made their home his own, believing that keeping them in their own environment added a bit more vitality to his activities. Their homes were places associated with security and safety. To be held hostage in your home gave a little extra emotional pain, which always improved a performance. Sometimes he’d watch