Page 22 of Be My Vengeance

“Yeah.”

I shrugged. “I’ve seen them, like on the news and stuff.”

“They have like shows with body cam footage, and I’m obsessed with them.”

I laughed. “Seriously?”

“Fuck, yes! I’m amazed at how crazy people are. Like you get pulled over for doing twenty above the speed limit. Many times a cop will let it go with a warning if you’re respectful and shit, right?”

“Maybe. I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d disagree with you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But statistically speaking, they would. These people in the videos—holy fuck, they all woke up and decided gen pop was where they wanted to spend the rest of their days.”

I snorted. “Give me an example.” I had to bite back my laugh as Danny excitedly told me a story about a woman who’d just refused to show the cop her license and had gone on about being a sovereign citizen. He was so animated, his hands were flying everywhere.

“I mean, like, bitch, you’re not a sovereign citizen, and your photocopied whatever the hell you’re showing to the cop isn’t going to fly.”

That time I did laugh. “Shit. Yeah, well, people are insane more often than not. Pretty sure the sane ones are outnumbered.”

“Truth.”

I stared at him for a moment. His cheeks were flushed with excitement, and his blue eyes were shining. “You’ll have to show me them sometime.”

He smiled at me. “For sure.” His attention was drawn to something over my shoulder. “Check it out, he’s leaving.”

“Thank fuck. I thought he’d be in for the night.”

Danny started the car as the valet pulled up next to Maksim and handed him the keys to the SUV. “Let’s see where he’s heading.”

We drove a few miles to downtown and when we turned right at one point, Danny began giggling.

“What’s so funny?”

“I know where he’s going, and it’s gonna be sweet!”

“Where is he…” My words cut off as we slowed down in front of Pricilla’s. Everyone either knew this place or visited. It was a very high-class gay club. “Oh.”

“We’re going to need to go in,” he said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

“Go in?”

He nodded and parallel parked perfectly. “Lose the jacket, open up your collar, and roll up your sleeves. We can’t look like we’re here for a board meeting.”

“You want me to go into Pricilla’s?”

“If you’d rather stay in the car, fine. I’m going in. He could be meeting with someone there, and I want to see their face. Maybe even overhear something.”

I knew Danny was gay; he’d told me years ago, so this likely wasn’t a huge deal for him. But surprisingly, I’d never been inside a gay club before.

“Everyone is going to know I’m straight the second they see me.”

Danny cackled. “They won’t arrest you. How about this? Hold my hand.”

“Sorry, what?” My brows shot to my hairline.

“We can pretend we’re together. That way no one will hit on you, and we can scope it out and maybe see who Maksim mingles with.”

Of course Danny was right. Sitting in the car would get us no answers, and I wasn’t about to let him go in there alone. “Okay, fine, let’s go.”