She was persistent, he’d give her that. “I’ll think about it, darlin’,” he said as he handed her the money. He returned her wink and headed for the entrance; he could feel her eye-fucking him as he walked away. He passed through more heavies in suits who patted him down before letting him in. The security here was tight, he had noticed a few CCTV cameras in the reception area and there was one as he entered the club. He was impressed with the layout and decor; this place was unbelievable.
It had a viewing balcony which looked onto a huge dance floor which was packed with people enjoying the music.
Girls danced in caged podiums – some topless, others with bikinis on. There were red and black couches like in the reception placed around the edge of the dancefloor with tables full of customers enjoying the collective experience. The whole place was lit up with red lighting. There was another big door with more security leading to the VIP area in which he assumed they had Dominic’s more exclusive ‘pure’ women dancing. From what Sarah had said she had worked in that area before she escaped, he would have to check that out later.
He needed a drink but the bar on the ground floor was ridiculously busy and he wasn’t in the mood for assholes bumping into him. He made his way up the stairs to the viewing area; he was relieved to find a smaller bar up there. He was quite impressed with how big it was up here, it was as big as the bottom floor and had another small set of steps leading down to where there was more seating but it wasn’t as busy as downstairs and seemed a lot more relaxed. Softer music played and there were a few groups of men sitting on the couches either talking or enjoying lap dances from some of the girls.
He ordered a shot of whisky and a beer and perched himself at a secluded part of the bar, on one of the high red barstools.
He threw the whisky back; the amber liquid burnt his throat on the way down, making his eyes water. A few more of them and he’d be well on his way to numbing the ache he had in his chest.
What the fuck was wrong with him? So she didn’t love him back. He was a catch, he could fuck any one of these women if he wanted, but unfortunately for him there was only one woman he wanted naked and on display before him and she was locked away in her bedroom letting guilt eat her up.
She wasn’t going to reject him. He didn’t give a fuck how much she fought against it, she wasn’t ending things between them, he wouldn’t let her. She belonged to him, heart and soul. They would fight this battle together, he just had to make her see. He nearly lost her once because of his own stupid pride – he wouldn’t go through that again.
He sat for over an hour watching people come and go, and trying to come up with a good enough solution to beat the bastard who owned this place. One thing was certain, it didn’t look like much would happen tonight.
He downed his third beer and decided he’d had enough, he was heading back to Clara and she would fucking listen to what he had to say.
He stood and was heading towards the stairs when something caught his eye in the seating area. Sarah. He stopped in his tracks and watched her; she was sitting with some suit, laughing and joking. She looked really happy, a genuine smile on her pretty face.
What the fuck? She had looked like her world was caving in less than six hours ago, now she was dressed to kill wearing a ‘fuck me’ red dress and clinking champagne glasses with some rich fucker, who looked old enough to be her dad.
The more he watched the more he felt his insides boil; he fought the urge to storm over there and cause a scene.
She was either playing the part to gain her way back in or she had fucked them all over and was now in bed with the enemy.
Fuck. His jaw ticked as he watched the suit tuck a piece of hair behind her ear as she laughed at something he had said. The move told him there was something more between them and this guy wasn’t a stranger.
He was glad at this moment in time Jake wasn’t here, he would have torn him a new arsehole. He had seen enough, he needed to get out of here. He wasn’t in the best of moods anyway and he wasn’t sure he would be able to control his temper if Sarah saw him and tried to explain anything.
He made his way down the stairs and headed towards the exit – he needed out of this place. Two big meatheads in black suits approached him before he could make his way through the double doors that led to the reception area.
“We need you to come with us,” the bigger, angrier one of the two said. These guys were both familiars. He wasn’t sure if he could take them both, but if shit was going to happen he wouldn’t back down. He willed them to attack – he needed to punch something.
“What for? I was just leaving,” Colt said, not breaking eye contact. “We believe you might be able to help us with something,” the smaller one said, not biting on Colt’s challenging tone.
“Like what? I’ve got somewhere I need to be,” Colt said impatiently. “One of our girls was assaulted and we have the guy in the office. We know you stopped someone earlier from grabbing Princess at the front desk,” the bigger one of the two said.
“We need you to come an d tell us if you recognise the asshole we’ve got in our possession, before we hand him over. Boss doesn’t take to kindly to customers touching the girls here, but he also likes to make sure we have the right culprit,” the smaller one finished, looking a little worried.
“The guy was just being a drunken dick trying to push his luck, but if he’s gone on to hurt one of the women here, he deserves everything he gets. Lead the way, gentlemen,” Colt said.
“This way,” the bigger one grunted. Colt followed the men through the VIP area. It was as he suspected, there was a massive podium with a few poles where topless girls showcased their talents and shook their assets for the hungry businessmen. It was a lot more formal in here; the suits all sat around tables watching the show, some of them sat playing poker, looking angry at the world and throwing their money around while drinking champagne by the bottle. The whole scene reminded Colt of an old gangster movie.
The girls were a lot younger than the ones outside
– they didn’t look any older than eighteen and from what Sarah had said they were all part of the Master’s ‘pure’ dancers, although you wouldn’t think it the way they rubbed and touched themselves while swinging around the poles, earning wolf whistles and whoops from guys at different tables.
Colt followed the guys to the back of the room where they unlocked a secret door that was designed to look like part of the wall.
A bad feeling washed over Colt; he started regretting ever coming to this fucking place and cursed his bad decision.
The door led to a wide corridor which had an exclusive-looking lift at the end of it. “Jeez, this place is something else,” Colt said, taking in his surroundings. It was a complete contrast to what was outside in the club, everything was white. He remembered Clara mentioning a white room in her vision, this Dominic definitely had an issue with the colour white.
“Yeah, the boss likes white,” the smaller guy said. Colt fought the urge to snigger at the dumb-ass comment.
No shit, Sherlock.
“So, are we going up, boys?” Colt asked when the two guys stopped. “No, the boss doesn’t allow anyone up there,” the big guy said, sharing a look with his colleague. He unlocked another hidden door in the wall on the lefthand side. “The restraint office is just in here.”
Colt followed them in, relieved that he was behind them. By their body language he didn’t think they would give him trouble but his whole body was tense and ready for a battle.
What he saw nearly made him retch. The guy that he had chased off earlier at reception was tied to a hook in the ceiling by his arms. His shirt was off and he had fresh whip and knife marks all over his back. He was unconscious. Judging by the smell this guy had shat and pissed himself in fear.
There were two other men in the room, both familiars. There was a massive, shirtless, muscular man with a shaved head – he was standing with his back to them at a table that had different sized blades and torture
devises laid out in size order. The other guy looked all business and was wearing an expensive grey suit. He was sitting at a desk on a mobile phone, deep in conversation with someone. He looked straight at Colt as they walked in – Colt’s stomach sank.
It was the guy he had just seen Sarah with, he looked much younger close up.
Fuck. “Please take a seat, Mr McEwan,” the business douche says, waving to a black leather couch in the corner of the room. Colt walks over and sits, the two guys who brought him in leave the room without saying another word.
“Yes, Dominic, I’ll see to it personally, enjoy your trip.” The business douche hangs up and wastes no time in starting his interrogation.
“So, Mr McEwan, I believe you met our Mr Kent here earlier on this evening.” He has one of those annoying posh accents you know is fake. Colt gets the urge to knock this dick’s teeth out.
“He was pestering the girl on the front desk when I came in. Princess, I think her name was,” Colt said. “Fucking asshole made a grab for her but I stopped him before he got a chance.”
“Yes, we know, we just wanted to make sure you recognised him before we proceeded to deal with the issue. The boss man doesn’t like customers manhandling his girls under any circumstances. Mr Kent assaulted another girl about ten minutes after your altercation with him. As you can see, he has already been dealt a small punishment, for his first offence. What do you suggest we do with him now, Mr McEwan?”
What the fuck? “Shouldn’t that be up to the boss to decide, or yourself?” Colt asked. The bad feeling was back in his gut.
“Usually Mr McEwan, but you see Terrance here? He’s took a liking to you and when Terrance decides he likes someone, he likes them to decide what punishment he inflicts.”
Colt didn’t like that idea at all and whoever this fucking Terrance was hadn’t even turned around from his torture table. “Maybe the guy just needs to be roughed up a bit?” Colt says. “He’s obviously just a gobshite and was pushing his luck. He’s shat himself for fuck’s sake, he’s obviously not a threat.”
“No, we can do much better tha n rough him up, can’t we Terrance?” Business Douche says, a cocky smile on his face.
Terrance grunts.
“Show Mr McEwan what Boss Man does to people who mess with his girls.” Terrance turns with a long blade in his hand and with no emotion on his face takes a swipe, slashing the poor bastard’s throat.
The guy splutters and chokes before gurgling his last breath. Terrance just wipes the wet blood from the blade on the right thigh of his black slacks as if it’s nothing, and places back on the table with his back to them again.
Colt watches as the blood pools on the plastic sheet on the floor, he feels bile starting to rise in his gut but he knows if he reacts he’ll be next, so he keeps a poker face.
He needs to be as cocksure as this fucker is if he wants to get out of here alive. He shrugs. “Not the way I would have handled things but, the boss is the boss,” he says, raising his eyebrows at Business Douche, who looks a little shocked at the response.
“You surprise me, Mr McEwan. You don’t scare easily. Normally seeing something like that would make a man shit his pants. What’s your story?” Business Douche asks, looking intrigued.
“Just a drifter, originally from around here. My companion was killed a few years back, I’ve been on the road since. I got back yesterday and decided I fancied a drink. I was driving around when I spotted this place and decided to check it out.” Colt shrugged again, trying to sound as blasé as he could.
“Hmm. Are you a good fighter, Mr McEwan?” Business Douche asks.
Here we go.
“I can handle myself,” Colt says, meeting his stare with his own defiant glare.
Business Douche looks away and clears his throat. “We’ll see, Mr McEwan; the boss likes fresh talent.” “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Where is this boss?” Colt says, starting to get irritated with this dickhead.
“Temper, temper, Mr McEwan. Remember your manners. We need to make sure you’re tough enough to make you an offer.”
“An offer of what?” Colt spits. “You’re a strong familiar, I could sense that as soon as you walked in here. Plus, you have proven yourself to be of use to our company. Dominic just likes to make sure the people he has working with him can, er, handle themselves... Terrance, I have business to attend to, take Mr McEwan’s details if you will,” Business Douche says before standing from his chair, fixing his suit and heading for the door. “Terrance will take care of you, Mr McEwan. I’ll be seeing you soon,” he says and smirks, showing his perfect white teeth, before exiting. Colt hears a lock click, the bastard had locked him here with this psycho.
Now what? Colt watches cautiously as Terrance stands menacingly playing with the equipment on the torture table.
Colt waits for the inevitable attack. “If I was you, kid, I’d get out of here now and not look back. Nothing good comes from working for these fuckers,” Terrance said, turning to look at him, taking Colt by surprise.
“You seem to enjoy your job,” Colt says, nodding towards the corpse still tied to the ceiling. “A means to an end,” Terrance says. There’s a sadness in the meanlooking bastard’s eyes. Terrance walks over and cuts the ropes holding the body up and lets it fall to the floor.
“A means to an end?” Colt queries, frowning. “Can you pass me that sheet over there next to my knife table?” Terrance asks, not answering Colt. Colt walks over and grabs the sheet, passing it to him.
Disposing of a body was not on the to-do list today. Terrance opens the sheet and covers the body.
“I’ve only been working for Dominic for the last few months. Before I did this, I worked in a abattoir, so slitting throats came second nature. I thought it would be hard killing another person you know, and it was at first, but I’ve never hurt anyone who wasn’t guilty. That fucker right there was a woman abuser and a potential rapist,” he says, nodding toward the corpse, “but like I said, it’s all a means to an end.”
Colt didn’t get what he was trying to tell him, did this guy have an ulterior motive for working for Dominic? And why was he unloading this shit onto him?
“What are you trying to tell me?” Colt said. He was getting fed up of trying to guess what this guy’s story was.
“I have a sister, she turned twenty -one last week... She’s been missing for six months.” Terrance’s eyes filled with emotion.
What the fuck? “Sorry to hear abou t your sister but what does that have to do with working here?” Colt asked, feeling a little confused. Was this a trick?
“She was a dancer here, she came to work one night and never came home. There were no leads... nothing... I decided to get the boss’s attention to see if I could find out what goes on in here... I need to find out what happened to my Kate.”
Fuck! Colt felt the colour drain from his face. This was just his fucking luck. He thought he’d be in the middle of a beat down, but no, fuckers always want to put all their problems on him. Kate. Shit. He wondered if it was the same Kate Sarah saw get her throat slit by Dominic. Fuck. This was either a massive coincidence or he was completely screwed.
“What do you know about my Kate, fucker?” Terrance suddenly growled, grabbing Colt by his jacket. “Take your fucking hands off me!” Colt roared back, and shoved him, sending him backwards. “Touch me again and you’ll feel what it’s like to have your fucking throat torn out... You don’t ever put your hands on me,” Colt snarled, Terrance looked rattled for a second but quickly composed himself.
“You fucking know something, I saw a look when I mentioned my sister’s name,” Terrance spat out, his whole body in battle mode.
Colt really wasn’t in the mood for a sparring match with this meat head.
“Is there cameras in this room?” Colt asked, calming his tone slightly. Terrance shook his head. “Look at the shit that goes down in here. He doesn’t want that leaked, he won’t put cameras in here.”
“Ok, well I ca
n tell you a bit of what I know and it might not be relevant, but I would feel better discussing it elsewhere. You’re not going to like what I have to say,” Colt says, hoping Terrance would agree to meeting outside the club.
“You know something about my Kate?” Terrance asks, looking hopeful.
Colt nods at him. “Maybe.”
“Ok, when and where do you want to meet?” Terrance asks, desperation in his voice.
“Tomorrow, midday, near the entrance to Hunters Woods. Do you know it?” Colt asks.
“I know the place, why there?” Terrance asked. “Because if your Kate’s still alive then it’s a possibility she’s being kept as a slave in an underground cave around that area somewhere.”
“Fucking bastards, I’ll fucking kill them if she’s been hurt,” He growls. “Ok, I’ll be there. You better be right... I’m supposed to rough you up now and tell that dickhead Miles that you’re a tough one. Come on, fucker. Time to show me how hard you really are,” Terrance snarls, and launches himself at Colt.
“With fucking pleasure,” Colt growls back.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Clara Clara rolled over and looked at the clock; it was four in the morning. Deciding she needed a warm drink she padded down the stairs quietly so she didn’t wake anyone up. She wasn’t sure if Colt had come back yet and was feeling pretty awful about the way she had treated him earlier.
She thought she had done the right thing, making him believe she didn’t care, but the more she sat and analysed everything in her head she came to the realisation that she had made a huge mistake. She loved him too, more than anything, and the ache in her heart knowing he was hurting because of her made her so angry with herself. He had begged her not to shut him out and she had just done the opposite, brushing his confession of love off like it was nothing.
They needed to do this together and she needed to stop being a stubborn bitch. She had let that sadistic asshole control her feelings for too long, allowing herself to carry around the guilt of what he had done to her family and friends. Well no more, she was getting stronger and soon she would be strong enough to face him.
Unfamiliar (The Vandran Legacy Book 1) Page 22
