“You do that.”
When the girl wandered back to the computer, Jace growled at her. “What was that all about?”
“Getting our job done.”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
She cocked her hip and lifted her brow. “Trying to get a date.”
“Not likely,” he smirked. “I don’t have to try anything. If I wanted that girl, she’d be mine.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
“You arrogant son of a—”
“Excuse me?”
Both Tala and Jace whipped around to look at April. “What?” they growled in unison.
“She has locker number twenty-three.”
While flashing her OCU credentials, Lyra pushed past both Tala and Jace and smiled at the girl. “Could you open that for me, April?”
The girl nodded and came around the counter to lead Lyra into the locker room. Lyra turned around and glared at Tala and Jace.
“Now, I’m going to go search her locker, you two behave and go find Rock.” With a final shake of her head, Lyra followed April to Sam’s locker.
Feeling admonished, Tala looked at Jace sheepishly. She was all set to apologize when he grunted, turned on his heel and marched into the fitness center. Gritting her teeth, she followed him. Arrogant jerk.
It didn’t take much investigative work to find Rock. He was a rather large young man, tanned, shaved head, with a body that looked like stone. He was coaching a woman in her thirties on the treadmill. But Tala noticed that he was mostly eyeing the woman’s jiggling br**sts.
The guy didn’t even so much as flinch when Tala and Jace approached him.
Tala flipped him her badge. “Darryl Rockland?”
As if coming out of a trance, Darryl slowly raised his head and met Tala’s gaze. The man looked drugged.
“Rock,” he stated. “Everyone calls me Rock.”
Jace took a step forward and showed Darryl the victim’s ID card. “Did you work out with Samantha Kipfer yesterday afternoon?”
Darryl didn’t look at the card but continued to look at Jace. Tala could see a tic in the guy’s jaw. Something was definitely wrong with him. He was on some kind of drug. She’d seen similar reactions in other long-time users.
“I might have,” he answered, as he rubbed the palm of his hand on his leg as if he had an itch. “I’d have to check my logbook.”
“You can’t remember?”
“Hey dude, I have a lot of clients. And one day blurs into the next. To be positive, I’d have to check my logbook.”
Jace stared him down, but Darryl wasn’t flinching. “Okay, go check.”
Without another word, Darryl turned toward his client and told her he’d be right back. Then he wandered through the gym to a door marked Employees Only.
Tala watched him carefully. She didn’t like the feel of the situation. Something was off. It crawled over her skin like gooseflesh.
“He’s going to run.”
Jace frowned at her. “What?”
“I’m telling you, he’s going to run. He’s hiding something and he’s making a run for it right now.”