by Julie Miller
She couldn’t hear Lawrence’s reply, but his face turned pale before the guard escorted him out to the parking lot.
Rocky’s muttered curses faded to a grotesque pantomime after he shoved open the door to Opal’s office and slammed it behind him. The blonde accountant jumped to her feet. But whatever protest or concern she uttered was silenced by Rocky’s angry tirade. Then he grabbed the woman roughly and dragged her against him for a grinding kiss. Riley knew one moment of concern—even for the woman she didn’t like—before the embrace turned into a mutual grope-fest. Riley turned her head away when the couple landed in the chair and Opal raised her skirt over Rocky’s lap.
“Oh, my God.” But it wasn’t the down and dirty sex that turned Riley’s stomach. The wad of cash in her bra was suddenly pressing heavily against her heart. She pulled it out and counted it. A thousand dollars. Lawrence had counted out ten times as many bills to Rocky.
She needed to get Josiah one of those cards to find out exactly what Lawrence and, she suspected, Andrei Wojtalewicz and the man from the first night she was here had paid for.
A loud rap on the door down the hall broke into her thoughts and Riley turned to the monitors again. Oscar the guard had returned and was knocking on the door to Opal’s office. Rocky shoved Opal off his lap and the two quickly straightened their clothes. After a brief interchange with the guard at the door, Rocky buttoned his jacket and smoothed his oily black hair into place. Opal pulled the heavy bag from underneath her desk and slung it over her shoulder. Then the trio exited out the side door.
How many thousands of dollars were in that bag? What was it for? Where were they taking it? And what the hell was happening here on Saturday night?
Riley looked at the hundred dollar bills clutched in her fist. How much money did it take to make a woman disappear? Or to buy her from a man like Slade Russell? There was only one thing the Lawrence Houser she knew had ever been interested in. Only one reason the business executive with a big home in the suburbs had ever come to this part of the city.
The thought of what Lawrence and the other men she’d seen coming and going from that secret room might be shopping for made Riley sick to her stomach. Riley recalled her mother’s words. The agent said he wanted her for her fresh face. “Oh, Megan.”
Riley pushed to her feet, stuffing the money into one pocket of her blue-jean skirt and pulling her phone out of another. She punched in Josiah’s number.
There was barely a ring before his deep voice answered. “What is it?”
“The rooms are all clear back here except for the dancers in the women’s dressing room. Danny’s by himself.” She tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear so she could touch up her lipstick. “I think I can get him to let me into the room upstairs, but I have to do it now.”
“How?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Damn it, Riley—”
“Look, you want to do your Dudley Do-Right thing and protect me? Here’s your chance.” She capped the lipstick tube and stuffed it into her apron. “I just need you to keep an eye on things and let me know when Rocky or Opal or anyone else comes back so they don’t catch me upstairs.”
“Play lookout? I should be the one going in—”
“Josiah.” She combed her fingers through her hair, fluffing it out to its full glory. “Secret weapon? Unless you want to seduce Danny Mertz.”
She scanned the monitors and found Josiah on one of the cameras hidden in the club. She watched and heard the same curse as he strode through the tables toward the back rooms. “I’ll keep an eye on things. Make sure you keep your phone on.”
He walked and talked like a thug, but it was hard to shake those good-guy tendencies that made him so…unique…among the men she knew around here. “Wait up, Tiger. You have to give me a couple of minutes. Don’t let Danny see you or you’ll scare him off.”
Josiah checked his watch and looked directly into the camera behind the stage. Although she knew the mechanics made it impossible, their eyes met through the TV screen, bolstering her resolve, warning her to be careful and reminding her she wasn’t alone in this game. “I’ll give you five minutes,” the low-pitched voice in her ear warned. “Then I’ll be in my office.”
Riley peeked at the upstairs hallway monitor that showed a bored Danny Mertz playing a game on his cell phone. Good. With everyone he answered to gone, he apparently thought it was time to take a break. She’d give him something a little more interesting to do. But she’d have to move fast.
Before opening the security office door, Riley checked all the screens again to ensure there was no one around to stop her. “Do you know about the huge amount of cash Opal keeps in her office? It can’t all be from the club.”
“I’ve seen it. Remember, your job is the secret room. Focus on that. Everyone and everything else is on me.”
Ignoring the warning, Riley continued her report. “She packed a bunch of it in a bag and a guard escorted her and Rocky outside to a limousine. They just now drove off.”
“Slade must have been here. They’ve been doing weekly cash pickups like that for a month now.” She watched him glance around the club, probably making sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. “But the deposits aren’t going into the After Dark account. Those are private payoffs or buy-ins or something that comes from the back door customers. I think your friend from the club was supposed to be one, too. But he was too drunk to get the information right. That’s why Rocky was so eager to get him out of the club.”
“Josiah, I think Slade—maybe all of them—are selling those missing women. They’re just high-priced pimps.”
“That’s the theory I’ve been working on.”
“You knew?” Riley paused with her hand on the doorknob. “And you didn’t tell me? What if my sister is one of them?”
“Like I said, it’s a working theory. And you had it halfway figured out when you came into this place.”
“Why didn’t you arrest Slade Russell? Why didn’t you stop him before he took my sister?”
“We don’t know that he did.” With a grumbling curse, Josiah disappeared into the shadows beyond the camera lens. If she wasn’t so attuned to the deep pitch of his voice, she might not have heard his whisper on the phone. “This underground sex club is like Fight Club. Nobody talks about it. Yeah, there’s a lot of money going through this place that isn’t on any database. And I have a pretty good idea who the players are. But I can’t arrest someone on suspicion. I can’t stop them and save your sister or anyone else until I connect point A to point B. If Slade is holding those women somewhere, I haven’t able to find them. As for what those computers mean—”
“You need proof.” She opened the door to the hallway. The coast was still clear. Josiah was undercover, but he needed someone who could get even further inside Slade Russell’s organization. His hands were tied by the badge he wore and the legalities he had to follow. But hers were not. “I’ll find it. I’m going up there now.”
“Riley…” But he couldn’t argue away her determination, and he knew it. “Keep your head on your shoulders and be careful. If Mertz hurts you…”
“Five minutes, Josiah. That’s all I need. And you better damn well have my back.”
* * *
Riley leaned against the wall and spied over Danny Mertz’s shoulder while the eager guard sucked a hickey on her neck and slipped his hands beneath her sweater to fondle her tits. She disengaged her thoughts from the repulsive touches and counted the ten computers set up around a long conference table.
Getting into the secret room hadn’t been hard, at all. A kiss that stained his mouth, a firm tug on his belt and a wistful what-might-have-been if they only had some privacy—and Danny Mertz had typed in the unlock code and pushed her inside, lickety-split.
“So what happens in here?” she’d asked, fishing for information.
“You and me, beautiful,” Danny had answered before pushing her up against the wall.
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The computers were blank except for the After Dark logo floating across each screen. Riley wound her arms around the guard’s neck and spun, throwing him off balance so they could stumble against the table. When her hip hit a keyboard, the screen cleared to solid blue. She let Danny attack the snap on her denim miniskirt while she reached down to click the computer’s mouse. Damn it. A blank white box appeared on the screen. She needed another code or—she zeroed in on the card-reader slots attached to every computer—a swipe of one of those cards to log in.
“Danny…” She made a panting noise against his ear, wishing she could see a clock. Her work here was done. She needed to get back to Josiah and explain the setup. No sign of the missing girls, but they were another step closer to cracking the secrets Slade Russell was keeping here. Surely, KCPD had some kind of computer tech who could break into these machines. Maybe it was proof enough to start making arrests and get suspects talking. She felt for her phone in her hip pocket, willing Josiah to call and interrupt this one-sided make-out session. But since she wasn’t psychic, she gave Danny a gentle shove, instead. “I’m sure my break is over now. I can’t stay here forever.”
“I can make it fast,” he muttered against her breast.
I’ll bet. Riley groaned her frustration aloud, a sound he no doubt interpreted as some sort of arousal on her part. “I really shouldn’t—”
He closed his fingers around her throat. In an instant panic as he shut off her words and most of her breath, Riley clawed at his hand and wrist. She should have been paying closer attention to the seduction role she’d been playing instead of her amateur sleuthing.
“Let… go,” she gasped.
But the blood she’d drawn across the back of his hand only seemed to excite him. “I knew you’d like it rough. This is fun, isn’t it, beautiful?” He picked her up by the neck and braced her against the wall with one hand. He pulled one of her scratching hands down to his crotch to cup him. “Touch me. You know you want to.”
Riley screamed a breathless protest beneath the stranglehold on her throat. Her fear blossomed into anger as Danny’s strong grip and foul breath took her back to that night in her bedroom with Sal. But there was no lamp in sight. He wanted her touch? Fine. She was nobody’s victim anymore.
Doreen Riley fought back.
She considered squeezing his balls tight enough to force him to let go. Then he’d be the one screaming. She lowered her gaze to the euphoric lack of focus in his eyes and braced her hand against his waist. He’d never see it coming. But her fingers butted against the holster on his leather belt. He was wearing a gun!
Much more effective.
While he focused on her hand on his pants, she unsnapped his holster with the other. Her fingers tangled with the keys hanging from his belt. As white dots floated before her eyes, memories of Megan’s sweet face and Josiah’s stern countenance surfaced, reminding her why she was here in the first place.
Riley snatched the card from the ring of keys and then groped beneath the holster flap to find a grip on his gun before he choked the last breath from her body.
“You’re gettin’ off on this, right?” He rubbed himself against her hand. “Come on, beautiful. Do it. I’ll stop just before you pass out. The rush is amazing. Just a couple more—”
The phone on Riley’s hip rang, startling Danny into easing his grip. As the breath rushed into her lungs, she blindly shoved him off her.
“I’m sorry.” She faked the apology, if not her breathless tone, and took several steps away to pull out her phone.
“What the hell?” Danny grabbed her by the wrist and the phone tumbled from her grasp. “You ain’t taking no call now. We’re finishing this.”
“Get off me!” For one blinding moment when he shoved her back against the wall, Riley panicked. Tempting a man was one thing—she was in control then. Letting him abuse her was another. Nobody got to tell her where or when or how or who again. She rammed the butt of her hand against his nose and he cursed. Her phone rang again.
The radio on Danny’s belt beeped and crackled to life. “Danny, you there? This is Oscar. I’ve got Mr. Russell with me. We’re turning into the parking lot now.”
Danny swore and backed away, wiping the stinging tears from his eyes. “You and I aren’t finished, beautiful.”
Like hell they weren’t. Riley darted away from him, scooped up her phone and answered.
“Get out.”
Josiah’s warning didn’t need any explanation. She ran to the door and twisted the knob. But nothing happened. “I can’t. It’s locked.”
“I’m on my way.” Josiah hung up.
“Straighten that crap on the table,” Danny ordered before pulling the radio off his belt. “Danny here. The hallway’s clear. I mean, I’ll clear it.” Riley kept him in her sights and slid the plastic card up her sleeve as he zipped his pants and fastened his holster. Then he was back on the radio, probably too worried about his job to notice the theft. “Give me a few seconds, Oscar. Danny out.”
Riley followed at a safe distance as Danny went to the door and punched in the security code. But after a quick twist of the knob, they were still locked inside the room.
“Damn it.” Danny retyped the security code, muttering the numbers out loud with every angry punch of a button. “Four. One. Five. Seven. Nine.” A light came on and the lock clicked open. “Finally.” He pulled open the door and shoved Riley out ahead of him. She stumbled across the landing, catching herself on the railing at the top of the circular stairs. “You look me up later,” he promised, securing the door behind him, “and I’ll let you finish what you started.”
Bile rose in the back of her aching throat. If she wasn’t so busy repeating the entry code in her head so she could recall it later, she’d probably retch.
“Go.” Danny was on his radio again. “I’m shooing a waitress out of here. Otherwise, we’re secure.”
She turned at the sound of big boots on the metal stairs.
She met Josiah halfway up the steps, blocking her path. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she lied.
“What are you doing here, Kemp?” Danny asked.
Ignoring the other man’s challenge, Josiah’s whiskey-colored eyes focused squarely on hers. For a split second, she allowed herself to breathe in his normal, clean, slightly musky scent. The loop repeating 4-1-5-7-9 inside her head paused so she could take in a world of black T-shirt and broad shoulders—a world of real security. But they had an audience, and roles they had to play. And the urge to lean into the haven of Josiah’s strength was as foreign as it was overpowering. She couldn’t surrender to that kind of weakness. Not when she’d barely been able to keep her wits about her in the secret room. She needed to get out of there. Now.
“Move it, beautiful,” Danny ordered.
“Riley?” When she tried to move past Josiah, he shifted on the stairs. His callused fingers gently brushed across the red marks that must be at her throat. In a single blink, concern changed to fury. A vein throbbed at his temple and his scar deepened with the tightening of his jaw. He took a step toward Danny at top of stairs. “You son of a bitch.”
“I said I’m fine.” Riley nudged past him, pulling on his arm to turn him to her. Back in secret-weapon mode again, she used his body to hide the movement of her hands as she slipped the card from her sleeve and tucked it inside the pocket of Josiah’s jeans. “Priorities. Let’s go.”
Although she could feel the heat of his protective anger radiating off him, Josiah chose to follow her down around the stairs. The noise of Danny muttering threats above them stopped when the side door opened. Riley halted at the foot of the stairs as Oscar the guard led Opal and Slade Russell into the brick-lined hallway. Josiah caught her by the elbows, pulling her back against his chest to keep his momentum from shoving her into their path.
While Oscar closed the door behind the new arrivals, Riley couldn’t help but notice the bag with all the money and Rocky, both, were missing. And though she
longed to shake some answers about her sister out of these greedy, selfish, secretive people, with their coded locks and private security, she wasn’t about to blow Josiah’s investigation and any of the progress she’d just made. She wouldn’t do anything that might jeopardize her chances of finding Megan.
So she shrugged off Josiah’s hands, acknowledged the others with a nod of greeting and excused herself to return to the club.
But the two armed guards might be the least of her worries. Riley hadn’t taken a step when Opal Cunningham stopped her.
The older woman lifted her gaze from the spot where Josiah had held Riley’s arm and made an accusation. “You two foolin’ around back here?”
“Yes,” Josiah answered.
“No,” Riley answered at the same time.
Slade laughed, moving in beside Opal to join the conversation. “You guys want to get your story straight?”
Danny snorted a derisive sound from the landing above them. “I was just telling them to get back to work.”
Opal nodded, giving credence to the lying sack protecting his own lapse in employee protocol at the top of the stairs. “Why aren’t you out on the floor, Doreen?”
Riley offered the first explanation that popped into her head. “I came back to ask what drinks they wanted for their break. Oscar?” She smiled at the dark-haired guard returning to his post at the elevator. As soon as he ordered a cup of coffee, Riley pushed past Opal, making her escape. “I’ll go get them.”
“Without a tray?” Paranoia must be Opal’s middle name. “Stop her.”
Oscar stepped in front of Riley, forcing her to stop.
Josiah walked up beside her, but directed his words to Slade Russell. “I’m in charge of the girls out front, aren’t I?” He folded his hand around her upper arm and started to leave. “I was just back here finding out if she was okay. She took a little longer than I expected on her break. I’ll get her back to work.”
