Midnight Sex Shop (9 page)

Carlos didn't say a word
when she entered, just lifted a VHS tape, and waved it at her.

"You got everything I
needed?" He nodded and she barely restrained from rolling her eyes.
"Well unless you want me watching this in here with you, you better tell
me a place I can go."

He flexed his jaw as if
making him talk was pissing him off. "There's a security office in the
back."

She rolled her eyes. "And
where might that be, Carlos?"

He shrugged and her great
patience was finally at its end.

"Listen, I fucking get
it. I do. You don't like cops. You think you're the first asshole I've met who
doesn't? Well you're not. I'm used to this shit dammit, but a girl or boy may
be in trouble. We get missing kids all the time in the city most whom are never
discovered, and there might be a client here using some for pornography. So why
don't you take the stick out of your ass and open your damn mouth."

Carlos stared at her with
wide eyes. Then finally, he sighed in defeat. "Yeah, you're right. Down
the hall, door on the left. It should say 'security.' But I still don't like
cops."

"And I still don't like
you," she said and closed the door. She found the room exactly where he
said. She popped the movie in and took out her notebook, ready to do some
traditional investigating.

What she saw had a nasty
feeling sitting in her gut.
She rewound the tape
then played the scene. Again. Again.

The bouncer's story was
right. He had escorted a client on that night to his car. But what he probably
didn't know was that Sara came out right after him and had a few words with the
client. The client was also the same nervous man she'd met before, Mr. Darrel
Krentsky. Shit. She should have seen it coming.

She ran down the hall until
she found Sara who didn't look happy to see her.

"Listen, whatever it is
between us has to stop. I need to know everything about your client. Mr. Krentsky."

Sara's eyes widened. "What
for?"

"Can't say that, but I
need your file and all the information you have on him now."

Sara nodded quickly.
"Come on, it's in my office." Lina followed her and already was
feeling guilty for her earlier comment. She started to apologize, but Sara went
to a filing cabinet and pulled open a drawer. "Have a seat, I'll dig it
out. Darrel Krentsky, you said?"

Lina pulled open her notepad
to check the name. “Yeah, Mr. Krentsky.” She never saw the blow coming. But she
sure felt it. Pain exploded in her head, her eyes rolled into the back of her
head, and she slumped to the floor.

"Fucking bitch,"
was the last thing she heard before her eyes closed.

Chapter
12

Lina opened her eyes on a heartfelt groan. Her head felt like
someone had hit her with a bat. Which, she thought grudgingly, was a very real
possibility.

The light was too bright as
if someone had a floodlight pointed at her face. She squinted, her eyes watering
and head throbbing in the back where she'd been hit.

She took stock of her
situation and her body. She was tied to a chair with her arms around the back.
She moved her arms, testing the ropes. Not bad, but if she could just tuck her
thumbs into her hand then she might be able to wiggle...

"Oh, good, you're
awake."

Lina knew that voice and
hated it with a fierce passion. "Your powers of observation are
astounding, Sara." She almost smirked at her joke. Not the time or the
place though. Get out alive, then laugh.

"Oh, fuck you. I can't
wait to off you. You've been nothing but trouble from the start."

"Aw, so this isn't just
about Cade?" The light was searing her eyeballs, but she was able to
squint enough to see she wasn't at the club. Judging by the carpet, photos on
the walls, and sofa to the side it looked like someone’s home. "I didn't
know you had such bad taste in decorating. Someone like you I pictured hiring a
decorator."

Sara scoffed and flounced
into view. "This isn't my place." Lina had to keep her gaze down, her
face turned away from the light blaring in her face. Sara's shadow moved, a
blur, and then Lina's cheek was burning with the sting from a slap.

"I never really saw you
for the pussy fighting kind. I could have pictured bare fists though, or maybe
brass knuckles." Another hit, this time on the other cheek, and this time
she felt knuckles and scratches. The bitch wore rings. Lina shrugged like she
didn't feel it when in fact her cheek was burning hot like a sunburn.

"If he didn't need to
talk to you you'd already be dead, whore. You might want to think on
that." Sara moved and the light was back in full force. She kept her eyes
closed and hung her head, using her ears instead.

"No offense, but why
are you incohoots with him? He doesn't exactly look like your type, but then
again I've been wrong about a few things with you."

A vicious hand grabbed her
hair and yanked it back. She couldn't stop the pained gasp that escaped between
her clenched teeth.

"I help to get him the
girls, and I get paid. That simple."

Cold dread entered her
stomach. She kept her voice light and calm. "Man, I've really mis-pegged
you. Little girls? Do you like to watch, too?"

A disgusted sigh and the
hand in hair finally let go. "Watch him take the pictures, uh, no thanks.
I have better shit to do."

"Like spend your
hard-earned money?" She bit her lip, probably shouldn't have said that.
Calm and cool, she chanted.

Sara was saved from
answering though when a door opened and closed. Lina used her ears to pinpoint the
direction to behind the light shining in her face.    

"You had to go and ruin
everything." She knew that voice. Darrel Krentsky.

Lina spent the next minute being
intimately acquainted with his meaty fist. She did the only thing she could do and
breathed through her nose, letting her head roll with the hits to try to glance
the blows off. It didn't work too well though when she could barely see him.
She was wheezing hard when he stopped and she tasted blood in her mouth—a lot
of it.

"Is everything already
taken care of with the girl?" Sara asked.

"Everything's fine. Harry
has her now. But I'm afraid everything's not so good for you."

Two gunshots exploded
through the air. The pops sounded like dynamite blasting close to her face.

Lina winced, turning her
head in time to see the shadow of Sara collapsing to the floor. She wasn't sure
what surprised her more in that moment, that she wasn't surprised he turned on
her or that Sara didn't think he would.

The light was flicked off
and she blinked to steady her gaze as he came into view. He didn't look nervous
now, just resolute. Lina tucked her thumbs into her palm and started pulling
and twisting her wrists through. The ropes gave just a little around her
wrists. She just needed a little more time.

"So you're not married
I take it?"

He barked out a laugh and squatted
down next to Sara checking her pulse. Lina worked her wrists, pulling, tugging
slowly. One hand came half way through the rope. Just had to get it past her
knuckles.

"Nah, no woman. Too old
for me. I prefer them...younger." He turned to her and smiled; it was sick
and twisted. He left the room and Lina worked harder at her hands. There! One
hand was free, more wiggling and she had plenty of room to remove her other.

Quietly she lost the ropes
and bent to remove the ones at her feet. Her heart was a bass drum slamming
inside her. She pulled the ropes from her feet, and on light steps, went down
the opposite hall. Checking in the next room and finding it empty, she swiftly
moved through the darkness. She heard the sound of silverware rattling and knew
he was in the kitchen, the next room over.

Fear and adrenaline were
tight knots in her belly making every sound louder and more sinister. Another
drawer slid open then banged closed. Footsteps close by. Lina held her breath
with her ear to the wall. He was going back to the living room where she should
be. Quickly she moved into the kitchen's side door and found a drawer with
knives in it already opened.

There wasn't much of a
choice in terms of weapons. She grabbed two steak knives and flattened herself
against the wall by the doorway. There was no door to the kitchen, just an open
archway. She heard a muttered curse, and then the
snick
of a gun being cocked.
The kitchen light was on which wouldn't give her much of a surprise attack.

Lina wished like hell she
had her gun. Hell that might be her gun he's using. Shit. He was probably
working on a frame job. Concentrate. She breathed through her nose, her
nostrils flaring. Her armpits were sweating, the warm liquid dripping down her
sides.

Movement, heavy steps. A
floorboard squeaked. Lina's lips parted, pupils dilated. Her heart slowed,
quieted in her ears. Everything happened as if in slow motion. A shadow
appeared in the archway. Almost quiet enough to miss, the floor depressed with
the weight of a person. Lina launched her attack.

Dropping to her knees silently,
she took a steadying breath and then swung her right arm out in a wide arch,
knife pointed out. She caught meat, pushed her shoulder further back until it
was digging into the wall. A scream and a curse, and then a flash of light and
an explosion of sound.

Lina fell awkwardly into the
archway and stabbed with the other knife with everything she had. She met with
his stomach. The heavy clanking of metal to the floor was like music to her
ears as his gun fell from his loose grasp. He stumbled back and she collapsed
onto her stomach trying to reach for him. His white suit shirt had two big
splotches of red growing bigger by the second.

His hand touched it. He
looked at his fingers with shock, then looked side to side before stumbling
down the hall. Lina heard a door open.

She tried to lift up on her
arms, to get her legs working. She needed to get to that gun and go after him.
Needed to call 911 and get someone after the car with a little girl in it.

What's wrong with me? Why
can’t I move?

She pushed herself into a
sitting position, her arms shook like leaves in the wind, and then she fell back
to the ground. She struggled to drag air into her lungs, her throat made a
horrible wheezing sound with each breath. She turned her cheek to the side and
sent a prayer of thanks up above because the cool tile underneath her felt like
a godsend to her heated, sweaty flesh.

Her head felt like it was
lolling around. Everything spun around her as if she were on a carousel going
eighty miles per hour.

She heard a shout—a man's
voice, familiar. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out but thin, reedy air.

She blinked, but her eyes
didn't open again.

Her last thought was—he shot
me.

Chapter
13

Cade was certain he'd never panicked as hard as he did when he saw
Lina lying on the floor in a pool of blood. It was a sight he'd never be able
to vanquish from his mind. It and the fear he'd felt would forever be etched in
his nightmares.

When he'd gone to find Lina
for a late night breakfast and couldn’t find her, he'd thought maybe she left.
After seeing her explosive passion yesterday, he wouldn't have been that
surprised if she took off…again. Though he did figure she wasn't one to run
from something like that. At least not twice. But that's what he'd assumed when
he couldn't find her. He hated to say it, but he'd been disappointed. Very
disappointed.

When he asked Carlos if he'd
seen his sexy little detective, he'd said yes and told him where to find her.
His dick actually throbbed at the thought of seeing her again. Or maybe it was
the thought of fucking her. Yeah, it was definitely both.

But when he found the room
empty with a tape in the deck on pause, he watched the scene she'd been
watching. He had no idea if this was important. It was just the VIP bodyguard showing
a client out. But then he frowned when the guard left and his manager Sara came
out. She seemed to be talking quickly and looking back at the door to make sure
they were alone. The other man looked angry and was talking fast. Finally the
man got into the car and left.

Hmm, interesting. Cade
wasn't aware that Sara had such an interesting relationship with the client.

Cade went to find his
detective, but was stopped in the hallway. Carlos came running out of the
control room looking scared.

"They took her. She's
gone."

Those words had cemented his
fear forever in his mind. He'd watched the footage with Carlos. Everything
seemed to slow down on his way to the control room, people were walking slowly
in the hallways, and everyone seemed to be blocking him. Even the tape wasn’t
playing fast enough. Everything was wrong.

He watched as Sara,
his manager
Sara
, hit Lina over the head with a metal trophy. His fingers curled into
white-knuckled fists, and he felt a snarl curling his lips. But that wasn’t the
worst of it. Carlos changed channels, showing him footage from the outside
camera as Sara stuffed Lina into a car in the parking garage reserved for
employees only. A client he recognized, and had some minor complications with
before, helped her to lift the body. That son of a bitch was a dead man.