Chapter 28
Noah returned his attention to Angel. Puzzled, he shook his head. Another round of clothing went flying.
The crowd went wild.
There wasn’t much costume left, and there was nothing obvious about the dancer that a guy might miss, Harper thought. But this twist might be a game changer.
“Can you be more specific?” he said.
An untrained eyed might miss what Harper saw. She leaned toward him to be heard over the music. “Noah. She’s pregnant.”
The news sunk in. His eyes narrowed as he peered at the dancer. “Are you sure?”
Angel’s stomach pooch might be considered the by-product of a big lunch, had Harper not spent a lot of her teen years around Marty and his wife. The pair procreated like rabbits and Harper knew the signs. She wasn’t wrong.
“I’m positive.” She watched the show for a minute longer. “She has fullness on her face not common to someone so thin. She also hasn’t done any acrobatic moves that might harm her baby, like hanging upside down. For a popular dancer, I’d assume she’d do more pole work.”
Angel sent her bikini top flying. All that remained were a garter belt and stockings.
As she’d worked with many women with breasts both real and enhanced, Harper was confident Angel’s breasts were real. The beautiful woman, though clearly lacking good taste in men, would be right up Gerald’s alley.
“Do you think it might be Gerald’s baby?” Noah said, climbing on board with her theory.
“That’s the question.” The dance wound down. Cash flew onto the stage. A guy with a wedding ring and a paunch tried to claw his way onstage, sobbing his love for her, and was dragged off by two large bouncers.
“I can’t guess. It’s been months since she was at the arena.” Harper stood and Noah put some bills on the table for the waitress in their section. “I guess we should ask her.”
The bartender nodded to the bouncer waiting by the stage and the large man let them go backstage. Angel tottered down the steps off the stage, groaned, and pulled off her heels.
Her feet appeared swollen.
Clutching her costume and shoes over her naked top half, her hand slapped the next dancer up as they passed each other in the narrow passageway. The second dancer was dressed as a librarian, wearing glasses and carrying a book.
Harper stepped into their target’s path. “Angel?”
Suspicion immediately set up a wall and her face closed up. In her profession, Angel had to be street smart. Not all the people she’d come in contact with had her best interests at heart. In fact, some might be outright dangerous.
Wary hazel eyes went from Harper to Noah. “Who wants to know?”
Harper took the lead. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I’m Harper Evans. I was a cheerleader for the Lansing Mighty Muskrats.”
Suspicion turned to outright hostility. “Right. You’re the one who killed Gerald.”
This was getting old. “I’m innocent.”
“Sure. That’s what they all say.” Angel stepped around her. She headed toward the back of the club.
Not to be put off, Harper and Noah hurried after her. Angel entered a changing room. A pair of women put on makeup at a long mirrored table. They didn’t seem all upset with Noah’s arrival and their levels of undress.
Angel was the unhappy one. She dropped her shoes and costume on the table. In the bright light, fatigue edged her face and eyes. “What do you want, Harper?”
Harper noticed for the first time that Angel wasn’t as young as she’d first thought, though still under thirty. Angel was road weary, as if carrying a heavy burden. For a woman who made her living with her body, being pregnant had to toss a wrench into her career.
“We’d like to talk to you privately,” Noah said and introduced himself. “It’s about your former lover.”
A protective hand went to her belly, both confirming that she was expecting, and also the possibility Gerald was the father. Harper’s connection to the team left Angel little reason to ask who they were discussing.
“Give me a minute.” She left through a side door.
“Do you think she’ll run?” Harper asked.
“We’ll find out.” Noah glanced at the other two women. They appeared fascinated by him. He grinned. They swooned.
At least that was Harper’s take. His eyes assured her he wasn’t interested in the dancers.
Point in his favor.
Angel returned in a thick white robe. “Follow me.”
They went to an office near the back of the club. Pictures hung on the walls of what appeared to be the club owner with some B-list celebrities and local athletes. Clutter covered the desk and on one corner sat a computer. The rest of the modest room looked like a storage closet with a couple of chairs.
Angel closed the door behind them, took a chair, and rubbed her feet. “Get to it. I’m exhausted and want to go home.”
Harper leveled her with the knockout verbal punch. “That’s expected in your condition.”
The woman startled. Her gaze darted toward the door like a trapped bunny. Noah blocked her escape.
Recovering quickly, she slumped back and looked down at her fingernails. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do.” Harper wasn’t playing games. Time wasn’t in her favor. “You’re pregnant with Gerald’s baby.”
The last was a guess. Angel could have dozens of lovers for all she knew.
For a woman living a hard life where she had to think quickly and adjust accordingly to each challenge, it took Angel a few extra beats to pull herself together.
Clearly, news of the baby wasn’t common knowledge. And now two strangers had ripped her secret wide open.
Desperate, she begged, “Please don’t tell anyone about this. I can’t lose this job. Yet.”
What a strange reaction. If she was carrying an heir to the Covington fortune, then her stripping days were over.
Her hands shook and her eyes showed distress.
Harper feared for the baby. She said what she hoped would calm her. “If that’s Gerald’s kid, a good lawyer could get a big settlement. You won’t need to work here anymore.”
The comment had the opposite effect.
Angel put her hands over her belly. “You don’t get it, do you? The reason I didn’t tell Gerald about the baby was because of his family and wealth. They would have taken her from me. I don’t have the money and connections to fight them.”
This all made sense now. Still. “Gerald is dead,” Harper said. “He isn’t a threat.”
“But his uncle is.” Angel rubbed her bump. “There is no way he’ll let a Covington heir be raised by a stripper.”
Noah and Harper exchanged glances. Angel was correct. Even if the family wasn’t interested in the baby, and farmed her out to nannies for raising, her own mother would be shut out. That was the kind of people they were.
What a mess.
“There has to be a way around this,” Harper said. “With conclusive DNA, your baby will be entitled to a share of Gerald’s inheritance money. If nothing else, it will give her a college education and a chance at a good life.”
Tears welled in Angel’s eyes. “I’d love her to have a better shot than I had.”
Without giving out false hope, Harper said, “I know some people who can take a look at Gerald’s finances. And they’ll probably know a family law lawyer to recommend. If nothing else, you’ll know where you stand before you confront the family.”
The wall around Angel cracked. The woman reached out and took Harper’s hand. “Thank you so much. For both of us.”
Angel had lost her open hostility. She seemed at peace. Hopefully that would last.
Noah brought them back to the reason they’d come to the Prancing Pony in the first place. “We need to ask you some questions about Gerald and your relationship.”
Angel straightened. “Go.”
“Did you kill Gerald?” he said and stared into her face.
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
“No again.”
“Who do you think had the most to gain by his murder?”
The dancer struggled with the question. “The obvious suspect is Betty Anne. He was a cheating psycho. If he were my husband, I’d take him out. However, I don’t think she had it in her. She’s a victim, not a perpetrator.”
Harper jumped in. “Do you think he was abusive?”
“Not in a physical way.” Angel nibbled a long, painted nail. “But mental abuse, definitely. He never hid what he was doing from her. The guy was an ass.”
“And yet you dated him,” Noah said. His tone lacked judgement. He needed her talking.
Athletic shoulders shrugged. Working the pole was an excellent way to keep fit, Harper mused.
“I consider myself pretty smart, but when it came to Gerald, I jumped in without thinking,” Angel admitted. “I grew up with an absent mother and my dad didn’t know jack about raising a teenage girl. I left home at eighteen thinking I’d be a model. When that didn’t work, I used what nature gave me, came here, and I’ve been too lazy to try anything else.”
“And Gerald?”
Angel sighed. “He wined and dined me and showed me a lot of attention. I was hooked before I knew he was still living with his wife.” Sadness touched her expression. “I was on the pill and the condom broke. Somehow, Gerald’s swimmer hit fertile ground anyway. So here I am.”
“There’s no possibility of another father?” Noah pressed.
“Nope. He was the only man around that time. When I found out I was pregnant, I cut Gerald out of my life.”
This meant that she hadn’t been around for months. Anything she could contribute was old. Still, Harper had to try. “Do you remember if Gerald connected with any shady business associates, or did you hear any threats against him?”
Her eyes lit up. “There was this one guy. I think he was a sports agent. Yes. He represented one of the guys on the team.” She scrunched her nose. “I think it was one of the tight ends, Dyshawn something. I believe that he and Gerald were locked in a contract dispute. The agent thought Dyshawn got shafted. He’d signed with the team without representation.”
“That’s kind of thin,” Noah said.
“Maybe,” Angel admitted. “But Dyshawn is worth ten times what he’s getting from the Muskrats. The agent will make a killing if he can break the contract. Or if Gerald is dead.”