He entered the bar.
Dean didn't ask anyone for Anna's whereabouts. Doing so would have left traces of his presence.
With a drink in hand, he sat in a corner of the bar, quietly watching the performance on stage.
Under the crimson lights, an ambiguous intoxication filled the air.
A group of gentlemen and white-collar workers, prim and proper during the day, were now unbridledly venting their suppressed emotions in the dim and chaotic environment.
He waited for about half an hour.
It was around ten o'clock in the evening.
The bar DJ announced passionately, "Gentlemen, the next performer to take the stage is our beautiful Anna Baby, get your money ready!"
Under the flickering multicolored lights, a tall beauty wearing a mask, dressed in a revealing flight attendant uniform, began to sway seductively and slowly walked onto the stage, causing a group of men seated at the front to cheer wildly, waving small bills in the air.
In the blink of an eye, banknotes rained down on the stage.
Dean whistled along.
This was a spicy girl!
She can really dance.
As the spicy girl's dance became more and more provocative, her clothes, under the barrage of thrown money, grew increasingly scant...
When only a few scraps of fabric barely covered her body, she picked up all the banknotes, stuffed them into her stockings, and then removed her mask, approaching the crowd nearly naked.
"Anna~"
"Hey, baby, you're really hot tonight, come have a drink with me."
An old patron from the audience reached out with money in his lecherous hand.
Anna, with a charming smile, greeted them adeptly and blew a kiss to the patron who tipped the most. Then, swinging her voluptuous rear, she headed backstage.
Stage time was limited. She had to make way for her colleagues to earn money.
Dean watched Anna's figure disappear from the stage. He then casually took out a small bottle of nail polish from his pocket, punctured it open, and evenly smeared the polish on his palms. After letting it dry a bit, he splashed the remaining drink on his clothes before staggering towards the bar's back door...
In such an environment, it wasn't difficult to kill someone without drawing attention. But Dean wasn't sure if Anna had told anyone else about the information on the bank's armored car. This matter involved a powerful councilman. Dean didn't want to gamble. He truly didn't want to continue living like a sewer rat. So, dealing with this matter required a more suitable environment. Like Anna's place!
「The bar's changing room.」
"Hey, Anna, you're not staying tonight? Your Nathan hasn't shown up for days."
A Black spicy girl slapped Anna on her pert butt.
"Not today, I have things to attend to these days. Bye, Susan."
"Alright, bye."
Anna changed her clothes, smiled and said goodbye to her colleagues, then hurried towards the back door of the bar.
The back door opened into a small alley.
A few drug addicts huddled in a corner, half-asleep.
Turning a corner, Anna also heard several heavy panting sounds.
These were men and women who, when the bar bathrooms were full, could only come here to release their primal urges.
Anna wasn't surprised by this.
She gripped the stun gun in her hand and quickened her pace.
As a dancer at the bar, Anna was under its protection. Under normal circumstances, few people dared to attack them. However, sometimes, drug addicts couldn't be considered rational, especially when their cravings hit and they weren't in their right minds.
As she exited the alley, Anna's tensed nerves slightly relaxed.
She didn't like this feeling. But for her daughter to have a better future, she had to endure this life day after day.
Anna navigated the streets with practiced ease, sticking to areas with surveillance and steering clear of addicts and vagrants sprawled on the sidewalks.
「Seven or eight minutes later.」
A patrol car, its red and blue lights flashing, slowly drove past on the street.
Anna let out a sigh of relief.
She had made it out of the chaotic zone. Areas patrolled by officers were much safer.
Anna stopped under a streetlight, pulled a cigarette from her bag, and lit it. "Damn Nathan," she cursed, taking a drag. "Borrowed my car and I haven't heard from him for two days. He couldn't have actually robbed an armored car, could he…?"
Not far away, a few scantily-clad streetwalkers with hip pouches were boredly waiting for clients.
They were spicy girls from Eastern Europe, controlled by the Bear Gang—a group of women even less free than she was. They offered outcall services, but only the younger and hotter ones qualified. After all, few people were willing to pay more for women past their prime. The customers of these streetwalkers were mostly men from the strip clubs, stimulated and impulsive. Taxi drivers also brought people over daily, seeking the unique services offered by those from Northern Europe.
Anna was waiting for these taxis as well.
From not far away, Dean frowned as he watched Anna under the streetlight.
His predecessor had been a complete loser. Although he had hooked up with Anna a few times, he didn't know her well, nor did he know where she lived. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths to follow her. He had originally thought Anna lived in the slums. It seemed that wasn't the case.
Dean thought for a moment, then put on a hat and mask and emerged from the shadows, heading toward Anna.
After Anna finished her cigarette, there was still no taxi in sight.
She tossed the butt away in annoyance, took out her phone, and prepared to call her beloved daughter to tell her not to wait up and to go to bed early.
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the streetwalkers curiously looking her way.
Anna had a bad feeling. She was just about to look back when a sharp edge appeared at her throat from behind.
Anna froze, motionless, still holding her phone.
Dean, as if an acquaintance, wrapped an arm around Anna, pinning her neck, and snatched the stun gun from her hand. Then, in a low voice close to her ear, he said, "Babe, hold on to me and walk. This is just a robbery; nobody gets hurt."
Fuck! Feeling the ice-cold sharpness of the blade on her neck, Anna could only press herself against Dean obediently, like a couple, as he escorted her forward.
Seeing this, the streetwalkers withdrew their gaze and resumed their bored smoking and chatting.
After they had walked about a hundred meters or so, Dean led Anna into an alleyway of a residential complex.
Smelling the stench of urine in the air, Anna lowered her head and said uneasily, "Hey, buddy, all my money's in my bag. You can take it all, just don't hurt me, okay?"
Dean didn't speak, only stared at her with a grim expression.
Getting no response, Anna's anxiety grew. Her breathing became rapid.
Behind her, it was still deathly quiet.
If it weren't for the arm around her neck showing no sign of relaxing, Anna might have thought her assailant had left.
She became increasingly unsettled and spoke more urgently, upping her offer, "This is Bear Gang territory; they don't like outsiders causing trouble here that attracts police attention. Plus, I'm a dancer at Jenny's strip club, and I'm the Big Dog Gang leader's woman. Buddy, calm down. If you want, you can have your way with me—I won't resist, I promise. I'll make sure you feel incredible..."
As she spoke, she even wiggled her hips enticingly.
This seemed to stir the person behind her.
Finally, there was movement from behind.