Jaded Read Online Free Page B

geishas.”
    Jase grinned. “What do you know about the place?”
    “I have an uncle who belongs, or used to. You need a pedigree and scratch to even apply.”
    “Townsend strikes me as a mutt.”
    “He is, but he’s got grit, and friends.”
    Jase nodded. “What’s life without friends?”
    Jase was going to find out just how good Townsend’s friends were.
    After Vangie collected the bloodstain and a few fibers he’d isolated, Jase tried the back door to the building. As he expected, it was locked. There had been no traffic into or out of the lot in the hour he’d been there. Walking around to the front of the building, he tried the door. Locked. He pressed the discreet doorbell several times, the distant chime of the bell clear. It didn’t seem to go deep into the building. Probably didn’t want the dudes disturbed. When there was no response from the other side of the door, Jase headed back to his car.
    His stomach growled. He had plenty to occupy his time while he grabbed a bite, and waited.

C HAPTER
3
     
    “M ay I help you, sir?”
    Jase flashed his badge under the nose of the Ichabod Crane lookalike who spoke with a British accent and had opened the innocuous front door to Callahan’s, and who also barred Jase from crossing the threshold.
    The Brit eyed Jase’s badge with an uninterested glance. “Am I supposed to be impressed…” The Brit looked at Jase and cocked a plucked brow. “Sergeant Vaughn?”
    Jase flipped the wallet closed and slipped it into the breast pocket of his Armani jacket. “You’re supposed to be a good doorman, and let me in.”
    “I’m sorry, Sergeant, this is a private club and only members are permitted beyond this point.”
    “I’m here on official business, I’d like to speak with—what does a private club have? A manager? Specifically, the one with the initials JD.”
    “I’m afraid without an appointment that isn’t possible.”
    “I’m afraid, then, Ichabod old man, I’ll call a black-and-white to park out front of your private club until the manager calls the cops, at which time I will arrive.”
    The man stood rigid, his long narrow nose twitching in distaste. “One moment, sir. ”
    Jase smirked as the door closed and he heard the lock turn from the inside. “Prick.”
    Several minutes later, the stuffed shirt ushered Jase into a large, round, wood-paneled vestibule. Black-and-gold granite floors with heavy polished-brass pots overflowing with exotic greenery filled the room. Two matching brass-studded black leather settees sat flush against two of the walls. The scent of fine tobacco wafted in the air. Heavy crystal ashtrays sat on engraved rosewood end tables. Fine artwork adorned the walls. The smell of old money permeated the thick wooden walls.
    Jase was impressed. He wasn’t a stranger to the finer things in life. With no family to provide for, he could retire tomorrow and live a very comfortable life. His few extravagances weren’t limited to fine clothing, wine, and a good cigar. He liked fine women. He’d dated more than his share of debutantes over the years, and while he had a penchant for what money could buy, he had no desire to settle down with any of them, even if it meant digging into Daddy’s millions.
    Jase grinned. Nope, he wasn’t known as “Hit and Run” for nothing. He liked the ladies and he liked his freedom, and more than that, he liked the control he had over his life and emotions, with no desire to propagate. Scratch that, he lived for the act of propagation, just not the end result. He made sure years ago there would be no heat-of-the-moment mistakes running around with his DNA. He was clean and he was snipped, and if he ever had a daddy pang, he’d get a puppy.
    The minutes ticked by. If Ichabod was jacking him around he wasn’t going to like the consequences. The first twenty-four hours were crucial to a case and his time was running out. Jase was just about to try the brass handle to the door Ichabod went