Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
It must be a message, but I have no idea what on earth it could be.
Some of the notes sound like they’re wrong, but I have no idea where to start since I don’t know the actual tune that’s playing.
Maybe the move is to go back to Bianca’s apartment, see if there’s security footage of this valet driver, try to identify him.
That might help. It’s late, but I can hop in my car and go to Bianca’s apartment right now and—
My phone buzzes.
It’s a text.
Two texts, actually. The first one came in a few minutes ago, but I didn’t notice it because I was looking at the teapot.
They’re both from Bianca.
The first just says, Made it home safe. Let me know how you are.
The second?
On my way to you now. Don’t move.
5
BIANCA
I didn’t give my sister any time to waylay me after my last set. I flew into my dressing room, grabbed my things, and went straight to the Aces parking garage.
Part of me wanted to leave right after that awkward conversation with her. If she suspects the worst, then the clock is ticking.
But an early departure would have really tipped her off, so I decided to stay. Keep things routine so as not to arouse any suspicion.
No matter what, our time is limited. It will only be so long before Rouge visits the Caterpillar Hotel. She’ll see that Maddox and Alissa’s rooms have both been broken into, and then she’ll follow our tracks and figure out what we know.
She checks the Caterpillar weekly. She won’t be there for a few more days.
As luck would have it, I’m not due back at Aces until Friday. This is Tuesday, a night that the club is normally closed, but Rouge opened it specially for St. Patrick’s Day. I have the next few days off, and hopefully that will be long enough for Harrison and me to pinpoint our next maneuver.
Just in case Rouge visits the Caterpillar earlier than we anticipate, though, it’s best that I lie low. I don’t think returning to my apartment is a good idea, which is why I’m on my way to Harrison’s now. Rouge has no way of connecting this to him, so he’ll have to let me hunker down with him for a few days.
I have a feeling he will. He’s as big a fan of sleeping with me as I am with him.
Of course, it might be safer if we figure out some third location to stay together. Book a hotel under an assumed name or something.
We’ll figure it out.
I pull into Harrison’s driveway, park my car, and get out. I trudge up to his front door and knock.
He opens it almost immediately—it’s like he was standing right there—and throws his arms around me. “Thank God you’re okay,” he breathes.
I squeeze him. “Same for you. I was so worried after… After…”
The words catch in my throat.
I haven’t told him yet.
All I want to do right now is crush my lips to his, tangle our bodies together, and let his thick cock pound me into oblivion, take me to a place where my sister can never touch us.
But it’s not the time.
He breaks the embrace. “So what the hell did you find in there?”
I swallow. “You’ll want to sit down for this.”
He frowns. “Will I want a drink?”
I exhale sharply. “Possibly. But you might want your wits about you, too.”
He leads me to his couch.
I close my eyes, take a slow breath in. “When I went into the crawlspace… I found a small cooler under a folding table.”
He nods slowly. “Uh-huh.”
“Inside the cooler…were three human hearts.”
He drops his jaw. “What?”
“Hearts. As in the organ. I think Rouge is killing her waitstaff at the end of their five-year terms and then selling their organs on the black market, primarily to her older patrons.”
Harrison blinks for several seconds and then rubs at his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut. “Fuck.”
“You’re probably rethinking that drink right about now.”
“No fucking kidding.” He stands, paces the living room. “It does all connect to the disappearances. But what about the red diamonds Alissa and Maddox found in Rouge’s office?”
“I think they’re payment. A lot more discreet than cash.”
“Diamonds are hardly discreet.”
“But they’re not trackable. You don’t have to launder them like you’d have to with money.”
He swallows. “But your sister is covered in head to toe in those damned diamonds. To have that many, she’d have to have sold…”
“Hundreds of organs, yes. Possibly even thousands.”
He breathes heavily. “Sweet fucking Jesus.” He pinches the bridge of his nose as creases form across his forehead. “And you’re sure what you found was legit? Not some, I don’t know…realistic Halloween decoration or something?”
I shake my head. “These were real, Harrison. We could go back and you can see for yourself.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely not.” He stops pacing, crosses his arms. “There’s no way either of us is setting foot back in Aces until your sister is behind bars…or six feet under.”