Damn.This wasn't Meghan Salinger. But that guy was definitely Darren McMillan.
"There he is," Nicky said to Ken.
"Oh, I see him," Ken said. "How do you wanna do this?"
"We don't want to let him know we're FBI, not yet."
Ken nodded. “Agreed.”
"You stay here," Nicky said. "I'll go to the bar and get a drink, then say hello and see what happens. If I can get him to come with me, I'll bring him outside somewhere quiet."
"What if he's not willing?" Ken asked.
Nicky paused, her eyes skating over Darren. He wasn’t a small guy, but she’d been trained for this. "Then I'll take him down."
"Let's hope it doesn’t come to that,” Ken said.
"Just back me up," Nicky said. "If you see me corner him, that's your cue. We need to back him into a wall so he can't run."
With that, Nicky made her way to the bar. Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know why exactly. There was something about this guy that was just... off. It was something else, something she couldn't place. All she knew was that something about him just wasn't right, and Nicky had a feeling he could turn out to be a genuinely dangerous man.
The woman next to him was laughing. Nicky opened her mouth to ask for a drink, but before she could, she heard Darren say, "Damn, baby, let's get out of here."
The girl with Darren giggled. "You're bad, Tucker. I don't know..."
"Come on, let's do this."
"Well... okay."
Nicky had to act fast. She stumbled over to the bar and pretended to be drunk, bumping right into the girl Darren was with. Nicky squealed and spilled a drink all over Darren, who let out a guttural sound.
"What the hell!" Darren yelled. He looked like he was about to eat Nicky's face off--until he took in her appearance. Blatantly, in front of his date, he scanned Nicky up and down. "Damn, you're new here," he said.
Nicky got close to him. "Hey," she said alluringly. She glanced over her shoulder. Ken was closing in.
"We're a little busy here," Darren's date said to Nicky. "Do you mind?"
Nicky felt bad for the girl, who was probably just a normal person in this situation--but at the same time, Nicky knew Darren had been linked to human trafficking before. She wasn't about to let this girl's life get taken away, not on her watch.
Nicky needed to get Darren’s attention away from this girl, and she needed to do it fast.
She hated doing this, but she turned to the date and gave her a sour look. “Sorry, sweetheart, but I think you’re in over your head. Why don’t you go find another date? This one’s mine.”
The girl’s jaw dropped while Darren looked at Nicky with a sickening smile. The girl looked at Nicky, then back at Darren, a scowl on her face. Darren just shrugged and said, “You heard the lady. Beat it.”
The girl stormed off in the opposite direction, pissed and hurt. But she had no idea that her life had probably just been saved.
Nicky looked at Darren with her best flirty expression, and he scanned her up and down in a sickening way. She was backing him into the bar, and they were near a corner--which meant it wouldn't be too easy for Darren to get away. She could feel Ken looming near her.
"You're feisty," Darren said. He flashed her his teeth, which had gold grills on them. A giant tattoo of a rose with thorns covered his pale-skinned neck. "I like that."
Nicky wanted to hurl. "Gee, thanks, baby," she said.
She couldn't play this up for long. She went in to grab Darren's arm. At first, he thought she was flirting. He wore a big, gross smile.
But then Nicky yanked him in close. She stole a glance in her periphery to see Ken was there and ready.
She looked Darren dead in the eye and said: "FBI, dirtbag. You're coming with us."