you?"
She raised an eyebrow, amusement glimmering in her eyes. "It's not listed on the business registration?"
"Apparently not." I plopped down on the chaise longue and tried to ignore the stale scents rising from it. "I'll give you another thirty for the information, because that's all I've got."
She considered me for a moment, then said, "How much trouble is T.J. in? Because as much as the clients suck, this is a reasonably secure and clean place to work."
I hesitated. "It depends on whether he's merely renting the room or actively involved in what is going on."
"Well, I know he raised a hell of a fuss about the shit they put on the roof, so I suspect his only involvement is a pocket-level one." She held out a hand. "Payment first. You look the trustworthy type, but I've been fooled before."
I dug out my wallet and handed over the last of my cash.
She tucked the cash into her tin, then gave me a smile. "T.J. lives down the road in Elwood. He likes to be near his investments."
She grabbed a scrap of paper and wrote down the address before handing it to me.
I shoved the scrap into my pocket. "So he has more than one brothel?"
"Yeah. The other one is in Caulfield. It's a little more upmarket. I used to work there when I was younger." She shrugged, like age and demotion weren't really a problem.
"Can I ask why you're still in the business? I mean, you seem pretty savvy, and I suspect you could get a job doing something else easily."
"I trained as a personal assistant and I'm a damned good one, so there's no doubt that I could. But the money here is good, I can set my own hours, and medical is included." She shrugged again. "Another year or so, and I'll probably open my own - "
She paused and cocked her head sideways. "T.J.'s just walked into the building."
"He's a shifter?"
She nodded, amusement playing around her lips. "Unfortunately for him, his alternate form is less than exciting. He's a hare."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "A hare?"
"Yeah. It does explain his penchant for the sex business, though." She paused again, then frowned. "Those men are back. The bird-shifter - "
The rest of her sentence was cut off by two short, sharp gunshots.
Chapter 6
As screams erupted from the floors below, I glanced at Cass and whispered urgently, "Get under the bed and don't come out until I say so."
As she scrambled to obey, I headed for the door. There was a blue silk dressing gown hanging from a hook near the door, so I grabbed that and put it on - more to blend in than to cover my partial nakedness. Then I pressed my back to the door frame and switched on the com-link.
"Jack, we have shots fired at the brothel. Something's gone wrong."
"Did they spot you coming in or out?"
"I'd say no except for the fact that they're back here and shooting. Maybe there were some security systems that weren't taken out by the power outage."
"And maybe they got wind of us tracking down Surrey and are now erasing all possible leads back to them. And that would mean the phone number Surrey knew, and possibly anyone who knows its location."
"That's pretty cold-blooded."
"And so are your targets."
He probably had that right. I took a quick glance around the corner. Shadows and sunshine vied for prominence in the hallway. The door down the end of the hall was still closed, but as I looked, a bolt slammed home. The occupants had obviously heard the shots - not that a bolt would stop a determined shifter. I glanced over my shoulder to ensure Cass couldn't be seen, then edged out into the hallway.
There were people running up the stairs and others running for the rear of the building. The air was thick with the smell of fear and blood, but at least the screaming had stopped. But although there were no more gunshots, those men were still down there. I could smell the wolf, as he could no doubt smell me. Hopefully, he'd just think I was working here. It might be unusual for a wolf to work in a brothel, but it wasn't unheard of.
They were obviously going after their main target first, and that had to be the owner, the man who'd rented them the room. Anyone else they'd take care of when and if they had the time.
I reached the banister and took a quick glance