No Escape

by Heather Lowell

  “You put Kelly in a room with a stripper?” Tessa blurted out.

  “It was the only apartment available, and we had to push Kelly to the top of the waiting list to get it,” Eunice said. “Besides, it’s better than being a heroin junkie who works for her pimp boyfriend at a Mafia-run club—which is what Jasmine was doing before she came here. As long as she stays clean and keeps it legal, we aren’t going to pass judgment on what she does to earn money.”

  Tessa stared at Kelly’s rumpled bed while her mind tried to take in the new information. She distantly heard Luke asking the manager when Jasmine would be back, then thanking her for her assistance. She jolted as he used the arm around her shoulders to steer her out of the room and back to the car.

  “I’ll drop you at work while I check this out,” Luke told her.

  Tessa ignored his comment. “I don’t like it. Kelly wouldn’t ditch her new stuff. And I’ve never seen her bed unmade since she arrived. She wouldn’t willingly leave in the middle of the night, would she?”

  “You know her, I don’t. Would she?”

  Tessa was silent for several moments. “No. And I’m sorry I ever believed that she had. She was scared to death of meeting up with Sledge Aiken again, so I don’t believe that she’d go back to Jerry’s house. And she doesn’t know anyone else in the city, so…I’ve got a bad feeling.” She reminded Luke about their encounter with Aiken the other night, and how he’d tried to intimidate Kelly into leaving with him.

  “Okay, so we know there’s possibly something wrong, that Kelly was maybe pressured to leave or forced to do so against her will,” Luke said.

  “Thank you. For believing in Kelly.”

  “You’re the one I believe in.” He took his eyes off the road to look at her.

  She didn’t know how to respond to that, so instead stared out the window. At least five minutes passed in silence before she spoke again.

  “Wouldn’t the roommate have awakened if she heard someone moving around? Eunice said Jasmine had a baby to feed, so I would assume she’s a pretty light sleeper, right?”

  Luke nodded. “It’s logical to think she would have heard something. And there’s another thing that’s bothering me. I want to check it out.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t put my finger on it yet, but hear me out. Jasmine is a former junkie who now works as an exotic dancer. Before that, she was apparently stripping and turning tricks for her pimp boyfriend.”

  “The one who worked with her in a club linked to the Mafia,” Tessa added.

  “That’s the part I don’t like,” Luke said. “In a club like that, she would potentially come into contact with some of the figures who run other scams and prostitution operations throughout the state.”

  “Such as?” Tessa asked. “I don’t see the connection yet.”

  Luke pulled over on a side street, then turned to face her. “Remember when I told you MacBeth tried to interview Sledge Aiken?”

  “Yes.”

  “He was hanging out in a new Sushi restaurant in Hollywood—Arigato. The owners of that club also run a popular nightclub that Sledge likes to frequent, a place called Ultimo. The club also has Mafia connections if you believe the locals. In fact, many of the LA hot spots do, because they are predominantly cash operations that are attractive targets for organized crime.”

  Tessa sat up straight. “You think Kelly somehow got mixed up with the mob at one of these clubs? I know she worked as a restaurant hostess, but—”

  “Where did she work?” Luke interrupted, though his tone said he already had the answer.

  Tessa bit her lip. “At a popular restaurant. A place where she met Sledge Aiken, presumably.”

  “Exactly. Think back to the credit cards you found in her purse. She said she brought them from work and was returning them to her cousin, who, we now know, is actually an older man named Jerry Kravitz, and not related to her. When I pulled the charge records for those cards, the only entertainment establishment that came up for recent activity was a place called Club Red.”

  “I remember the name. Is that a nightclub?” Tessa asked.

  Luke hesitated. “Sort of. I had to look into it, since I’d only heard the place mentioned once in the past. Club Red is billed as a ‘gentleman’s club’ but is zoned for food, liquor, and adult entertainment. According to people I’ve talked to, it’s part sports bar, part dinner club, part strip joint. The place is ultraexclusive. People are invited to become members, and the club itself sits on a private property spread over several acres. Imagine Hugh Heffner’s Playboy Mansion with an on-site nightclub and strip joint.”

  “And Kelly worked in that particular club? She’s only eighteen,” Tessa said.

  “It would easily explain how she met Aiken,” Luke said.

  “Because he hangs out there a lot?”

  “It’s his favorite place to go clubbing, according to Hollywood gossip. In fact, lots of star athletes and celebrities are members of Club Red. They can get together and not be worried about the being stalked by the press or having their stories sold to the tabloids, since each member has a stake in keeping things exclusive and private,” Luke said, hating to watch the expressions of fear and disappointment cross Tessa’s face.

  “Listen to me, Swiss. All I’m saying is Kelly was known to associate with Aiken, starting up to a month before she was assaulted. He hangs out at various LA nightclubs every night of the week, according to a variety of sources that MacBeth talked to. Many popular nightclubs are owned by the Mafia, or at the very least pay them protection money—I know that from my days with the sheriff’s department, and I doubt things have changed.”

  “And Jasmine, the last person to see Kelly, works in a nightclub and has dated someone with mob ties. I’m not sure about the connection, but it doesn’t sound good,” Tessa said, suddenly chilled.

  “Hey, I’m just thinking out loud here. It could be nothing. We’ll know more once we get a background check done on Jasmine and talk to her.”

  “Where does Jerry Kravitz fit into all this?” Tessa asked.

  “I don’t know. But I’m damn sure going to find out. Give me some time—I need to make a few calls and set up a meeting with an old informant of mine.”

  “Hurry. I’m don’t even want to imagine what Kelly’s doing right now.”

  But as Tessa wrapped her arms around herself and stared out the window, she could think of nothing else.

  Chapter 16

  Los Angeles, California

  Wednesday, March 3

  “Do you want me to drop you at work? Or do you want to go home?” Luke asked Tessa a few minutes later as he drove onto the freeway.

  “Neither,” she said suddenly. “I want to go see Jerry Kravitz at home. Maybe Kelly is back at his place.”

  “I’d already thought of that possibility. We can start there.”

  “Even if he’s not home, we can talk to his neighbors and check whether anyone has seen Kelly recently,” Tessa said.

  Luke drove to the only address he had been able to connect to Kravitz so far. The house was in a neighborhood of modest ranch homes from the sixties, though Luke knew they went for a premium price—at least half a million each. Real estate prices in Southern California were so inflated that as long as the home was physically sound and in a decent neighborhood, owners could demand and receive astronomical prices.

  “I wonder where Jerry gets the money to afford the monthly payment on a five-hundred-thousand-dollar mortgage,” Tessa said.

  “I was just thinking the same thing. Partner,” Luke added with a slight smile.

  “Limited partnership. You do credit cards, I do felony rape convictions.”

  Luke brought the car to an abrupt halt at the curb. “This is more to me than a case of credit card fraud, okay? I have a real bad feeling about what’s going on—I think what we’re seeing is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Given that, my priority is helping an eighteen-year-old kid out of a dangerous situation.”
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br />   Tessa bit her lip. “Mine, too.”

  “Then we’re agreed. I’ll help you find Kelly, Swiss.” He took her chin and forced her eyes up to his. “I give you my word. It means as much to me as yours does to you.”

  Tessa looked into the hazel swirl of his eyes and found herself believing him. As the moment stretched on, she started to wonder what else she was feeling from him. Determination, focus, strength—those she could handle.

  It was the feeling that he was looking deeply into her and liking very much what he saw that made her want to open the car door and escape.

  She pulled her chin free of his gentle grasp. “Then let’s get started. No one takes a victim out of protective custody on my watch.”

  Luke had seen the pulse accelerate in the base of Tessa’s throat, along with the slight dilation of her blue-gray eyes. He figured his point had been made and started the car again. Without a word, he checked house numbers. Several minutes later he guided the car to the curb in front of Jerry Kravitz’s home.

  “There’s no vehicle in the carport—or either neighbor’s driveway,” Tessa pointed out.

  Luke nodded and cut the engine. “So we wait and get to know each other. Got a man in your life?”

  Tessa gave an uncomfortable laugh. “This is how you pass time on a stakeout?”

  “It’s not a stakeout, we’re waiting for the suspect to get back from the grocery store or something equally mundane. Besides, it beats the heck out of singing along to golden oldies on the radio.”

  Her laugh was genuine this time. “I do eighties music myself.” She ignored his earlier question.

  “I see I’ve got a shy one, so I’ll start. I’m not seeing anyone seriously right now. Building a business takes most of my time.”

  “Hmmm.” Tessa looked out the window.

  “I suppose you know I worked with the sheriff’s department for about twelve years.”

  Curiosity got the better of her. “I’d heard. Why did you leave? Was it too structured for your renegade soul?” she teased.

  “It was, but that’s not what drove me out. I was injured on duty and wasn’t allowed to resume my investigative role for an extended period of time. It wasn’t clear if they would ever let me go back, to be honest, so I took a leave of absence and drew up a business plan for Novak International.”

  “Must have been a bad injury,” Tessa mused.

  “A shotgun will do that do you.”

  “You were shot?” Her head whipped around in surprise.

  “Gutshot. But the range wasn’t great, so the surgeons were able to put the pieces back together again. The rehab took over a year, though. I don’t recommend it as a weight loss regimen.”

  “How can you joke about it?” Tessa asked.

  “Beats whining. Besides, it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me the kick in the ass I needed to go out on my own. I’d been unhappy with my job for a long time because I felt I wasn’t helping people like I’d been trained to. I was pushing papers around to a chorus of ‘Yes, sirs,’ and I hated it. Just didn’t have a reason to do anything about it until I got shot.”

  Tessa shook her head. “We’re very different. I mean, in a similar situation to you, I just throw myself more deeply into my work and try to find some satisfying aspect of it. That’s why I’m going after big cases like Kelly’s, to tell you the truth.”

  “While I decided there was no point in sitting around watching the system grind up innocents like Kelly,” Luke said. And you, he thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

  “We can help Kelly,” Tessa said.

  “I know. But I doubt it will be with the methods you’re planning to use.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off.

  “I don’t want to fight about it, Swiss. I just want your word that you’ll be open to alternatives if going after Kelly by the book doesn’t work out. I want to hear you say that she’s a bigger priority than the system and its rules.”

  “Done,” she said without hesitation. “Just as I want your word that we’ll try playing by the rules first.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal. And we have ourselves a neighbor,” he added, looking at the car stopping at the driveway of the house next to Jerry Kravitz’s.

  They both stepped out of Luke’s vehicle and approached the woman pulling shopping bags out of her backseat. Luke showed her his identification briefly, then asked if the neighbor had seen Jerry Kravitz recently.

  She shaded her eyes with her hand. “He was out this morning washing and vacuuming his car. Then he left. I haven’t seen him since then. He’s usually gone most days and well into the night.”

  “Did he have anyone with him? Maybe someone in the house?”

  The woman shook her head. “He was alone. I guess the girl who was staying with him is gone,” she said, referring to Kelly. “I believe I talked to someone else about him recently. Some blond guy. One of your colleagues?”

  Luke smiled at the woman and gave her his card. “Lots of people are interested in your neighbor. Please call the cellular number if you see the girl or Mr. Kravitz. And don’t mention this to anyone else, okay?”

  “I won’t,” the woman promised. “This is like an episode of Law and Order or something.”

  Luke waited until the woman had gone into her house before turning to Tessa. “I’m going to take a look around Jerry’s pad,” he said. “Why don’t you go back to the car. This will only take a minute.”

  “Why can’t I go with you?” Tessa countered.

  “Much as I would enjoy the view, were you planning on hopping his fence in your skirt and heels?” Luke pointed to her short business skirt and pumps.

  Tessa thought for a moment. “Why don’t we ask the Law and Order fan if we can look over the fence from her backyard. That way we are obeying the letter of the law.”

  “If not the spirit,” Luke muttered, and shook his head. “Fine, let’s go.”

  Round one. Tessa tried not to let her smugness at victory show in her smile.

  A search of the Kravitz property from the neighbor’s yard didn’t provide any additional information. The curtains were open, and there was no activity inside. Luke and Tessa returned to his car and headed back downtown.

  “So Jerry was up bright and early washing his car,” Tessa said musingly as she chewed on the cap of a pen. She sat up straight as she remembered something.

  “When you did a background check on him, did you pull a vehicle registration?”

  Luke took one hand off the steering wheel and flipped open his notebook. “He drives a Mercedes C230 coupe, registered with the DMV last year.”

  “I’m not familiar with that model. But Sledge Aiken’s busybody neighbor saw a girl matching Kelly’s description arriving at Aiken’s place multiple times in a Mercedes.” She looked through her own notes. “Here it is. A two-door, one of the cheap models.”

  “That’s the C230. It’s an entry-level Mercedes.”

  “Then I think we can safely assume Kelly was introduced to Sledge Aiken by our buddy Jerry,” Tessa said. She made additional notes in her book. “I wasn’t sure about that before. Now I want to talk to him even more.”

  “We will. But while we’re waiting to pin him down, I want to talk to Jasmine and see what information she can add to the mix.”

  “Why don’t we talk to her at work?” Tessa asked.

  “Because I need to see an old contact first. He has a lot of firsthand information on the clubs, strip joints, and bars in town. I want to speak to him so we don’t walk into an interview with Jasmine unprepared.”

  Tessa nodded her approval of the methodical approach. “When can you set up a meeting with your contact?”

  “We’ll go tomorrow. I need to give him a heads-up today so he can ask around for us first.”

  “And then we talk to Jasmine,” Tessa said.

  Tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day.

  Chapter 17

  Los Ang
eles, California

  Thursday morning, March 4

  Luke sat in the booth where he’d met Tessa for breakfast a couple of days earlier. She was running late and had sounded distracted when he’d called her on the cell phone an hour earlier.

  It was a contrast to what he’d been afraid of finding. Actually, he was pleased at how well Tessa was handling the sudden disappearance of Kelly Martin. Given her emotional involvement with the case, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been upset and demanding faster action from him. But instead she’d maintained control and was working the case slowly and methodically.

  It beat the hell out of him why he was going along with that, but so far it seemed to be going okay.

  The café’s front door flew open, and the normally delicate jingle of the attached bells ended in a clatter as they came into contact with the wall. Tessa stalked over to the booth and threw her bag onto the bench seat before sliding in after it.

  Luke didn’t say a word, just poured a mug of coffee and pushed the cup toward her.

  “Lazy bastards,” Tessa said in between gulps. “They won’t file a missing persons report.”

  “The police?”

  “Protect and Serve, my ass. More like protect their next serving of doughnuts.”

  “You know there’s a waiting period before Missing Persons can file the report.”

  “Not in a kidnapping.” Tessa began, opening packet after packet of sugar to put in her coffee.

  “We don’t have any proof of kidnapping,” Luke pointed out, then shut up when she pointed her spoon at him like a weapon.

  “Don’t start with me. I’ve heard enough crap for one morning already.”

  Luke smothered a grin at her tone. She was in a foul mood.

  “Anyway, I talked to Ed today. He’s not willing to hit the panic button yet, but will treat Kelly’s disappearance as a possible case of foul play. It doesn’t change a lot how he and Ronnie will proceed, except to make them more concerned about her welfare,” Tessa said. “Also, he pulled the records for Jasmine Jones this morning. I can’t believe Three Sisters Shelter let her stay there with such a blatant alias.”