Free Gunning For Angels (Fallen Angels Book 1) by C. Mack Lewis

deposit.”  
    “Certainly, sir. Is that over…?”
    “Nine-thousand, nine-hundred and eighty,” Jack said, aware that depositing ten thousand or more in cash required paperwork.
    Kelly smiled and ran the cash through a money counter. Jack enjoyed watching the cash fly and the sound it made. “Hey, isn’t this the bank that used to be owned by that guy who got murdered?”
    Kelly glanced around, uncomfortable.
    “Daniel Hargrove – that was his name, right?” Jack said. 
    Kelly smiled uneasily.
    “Did you know him?” He asked.
    Kelly frowned, shook her head.
    “If I remember right, the daughter – Eve Hargrove, she sold the bank for a boatload of money. I heard everybody loved her – especially the employees.” 
    Kelly shot him an incredulous look. She leaned closer, hissed. “Everybody hated that bitch! Talk about take the money and run. Forget about the people who worked here since the beginning – one of them thirty-three years. To hell with us , our benefits , our pensions – she knew if she sold the bank that a bunch of us would get laid off, but did she care? All she cares about is getting her daddy’s money and the rest of us can eat dirt and die.”
    A sallow-faced manager walked toward them.
    Kelly straightened, smiling brightly, “Here’s your receipt, sir. Would you like to talk to a personal banker today – about investment planning?”
    Jack answered in the negative, thanked her, took his receipt and left. On the way to the car, he dialed the office to find out if Rachel had dug up any info on the Hargrove family. Rachel had an uncanny ability to dig up dirt on even the most elusive persons of interest.
    After a brief conversation with Rachel, Jack found himself driving across town to a strip club called The Candy Store, which was a seedy dive specializing in cheap beer and neon-bathed flesh.
    Rachel had also told him that it was also Jeni Hargrove’s current place of employment.
    Jack hadn’t been surprised that Jeni had lied about being in nursing school. Her appearance had pretty much pegged her for a stripper – and not a very bright one. Jack knew that the smart strippers dressed like college girls while the dumb college girls dressed like strippers. The dumb strippers – they just dressed like dumb strippers.
    What surprised him was that Jeni was working in such a dive. Her legs were her calling card to any skin club of her choice and yet, she had chosen to work in the dregs.
    As a rule, Jack avoided strip clubs. He had figured out long ago that he had an irrational and extremely inconvenient urge to “save” the girls, which only got him into trouble – and broke.
    Heart broke and bank broke. 
    Jack entered the dimly lit club. Rhythmic music pounded and a stripper hung upside-down in a gymnast move. Her breasts had the telltale volleyball firmness of an augmentation. A smattering of men and one lone lesbian gazed up at her as they sipped cheap beer. 
    On a second stage, Jeni was gyrating on a pole in white bikini bottoms and a Candy Striper’s hat. As good as Jeni looked in her clothes, she looked even better without.
    Jack took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer.
    The song finally stopped and another instantly started pounding.
    Jack turned around in time to see Jeni’s eyes home in on a five-dollar bill suspended in the air. She sauntered toward the construction worker holding the bill.  
    Jack stepped forward, hoping that she would see him before she landed on the guy’s lap.
    She did see him. Compressing her lips, she leaned over and whispered in the construction worker’s ear. He scowled, watching her walk toward Jack. She grabbed a flimsy wrap from a chair and pulled it around her protectively.
    A surly Russian in a cowboy hat leaned on the end of the bar. He scowled as he watched Jeni pass more cash.
    Jeni slid onto a barstool next to Jack. “I did apply to nursing school. I’m waiting to hear if I get in. It’s not like I was lying or