Selling Out (21 page)

She rolled her eyes, her most lucid expression yet. “Not
here, in the bathroom. Here with a guy like that. In Chicago. You don’t belong
in this life.”

Oh, the irony—she didn’t believe I was a prostitute.
“Listen, I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“Then you need to get out,” she demanded. “Some crazy shit
is going on. It’s not just the girl that was here. There was some kind of
fucking massacre, and two of the rich-bitch escorts were killed.”

Rich bitch? Ouch. “Yeah,” I agreed. “Crazy shit. But I’m
really curious about that girl.”

She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “It’s like a fucking
sinking ship around here. You need to get out while you can. I mean, I can
understand why you stay. I’ve seen your boyfriend. It’s the eyes, right?
Fucking green eyes.”

Yeah. Fucking green eyes. “Pretty much, but here’s the
thing. He’s bent on running this little scheme here in the club, so unless I
can convince him otherwise…”

“Nah, that’ll bring trouble to all of us. He said it
himself.”

“I just want to show that it really happened. I mean, were
you there?”

“I was there that night. I thought I saw her earlier,
because some of the boys were roughing her up, and I thought it was sad. I
mean, kind of funny but also sad. And then I found out later she was dead. You
can check the news. They said she was at large, but that really means they
didn’t know shit. If they haven’t found her after all this time, and if Henri
didn’t find her either, then she’s got to be dead, right?”

My heart started to pound at the mention. “Henri? Who’s
that?”

Her eyes glazed over. She stared at the brown leak stains on
the wall as if hypnotized.

“Hey,” I said. “Don’t do this. Henri, remember? The girl.”

She snapped out of it again. I wasn’t sure if she was high
like I thought or whether she had some sort of condition. I wondered idly if
she needed medical attention. It wouldn’t matter either way.

“Henri’s a scary guy,” she said. “Some advice, woman to
woman? Stay away from him.”

It was good advice. Unfortunately I couldn’t take it. “My
boyfriend really wants to talk to him. From there…” She shrugged. “He’s cool
once he gets an audience.”

She frowned. “You should ditch him.”

Even when we were in disguise, no one wanted us to be
together. “I’m just trying to help him out.” I took a deep breath. “The truth
is, he’s been really focused on breaking into Chicago’s business. It’s like his
life goal, and if I could help him do that, I’d be in, you know?”

She nodded, her expression sad. “Yeah, I know.”

“So you’ll help me?”

She shook her head but not in refusal. “I think you’re going
to regret this.”

I thought so too. “Tell me anyway.”

She told me what she remembered about that night, naming the
guys who had cornered Claire and likely brought her outside to Henri. I
recognized the names but hadn’t met them before. She said she hadn’t heard any
commotion the rest of the night, only that she saw Claire’s picture on the news
the next day. They had considered shutting down the club but decided that would
look more suspicious. Plus, it would be a major interruption to their service
business.

“Did anyone talk to Henri about what happened?”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Why should we? It doesn’t have
nothing to do with him.”

“But you said the hit was put out by him.”

“Correction. It doesn’t have nothing to do with us. Look,
sister, no one gets in Henri’s business. Not my boss, and sure as hell not your
boyfriend.” She looked me up and down. “You don’t want to get on his radar, if
you get my drift. You’re pretty, and you want to stay that way.”

Actually, Henri was very careful to preserve prettiness.
There were many ways to hurt someone without leaving permanent damage. The
worst hurt came on the inside anyway.

“Tell me where to find him. I’ll just tell my boyfriend, and
he’ll be so happy with me. Please.”

She deliberated for a few quiet moments. “He’s been taking
plenty of heat lately, so he’s gone to ground. No one knows where he is. But I
happened to overhear someone saying he had a new location. The Barracks.”

“The what?”

“That’s what they call it, the Barracks. It’s some sort of
big silo west of here. I think it used to be an airport. Anyway, I’ve never
been there. That’s all I know.”

“That helps. Really. Thank you.”

“It’s supposed to be haunted.” She considered. “You don’t
think that stuff is real, ghosts and shit?”

“Probably not. But I figure, even if it were real, there’s a
lot scarier things in this world than white floaty beings.”

“Amen to that.”

We returned to the men, who seemed to have moved on from
talk of criminal activity to sports. Some languages were universal as a way of
bonding, which meant Luke had said the right things when I’d been gone. Our
eyes met as I returned to his side, but I couldn’t get a read on him. His
sleazy persona felt like a physical barrier between us. He blended in so well
here, almost seamlessly, and an uneasy curiosity rose within me. He seemed more
comfortable here than me. I had given him a hard time for knocking my knowledge
of this underworld, and yet he’d been casual and cool while I’d had a nervous
breakdown in the bathroom. What if he had real experience with this, beyond the
occasional undercover sting with the CPD? What if he had been a part of this
world once?

As soon as I thought it, I knew it was true. It made too
much sense. It explained why I had never been able to see though his stalwart
cop facade. It exposed the root cause of his noble quest. He was trying to
atone for whatever he had done in his past. Had he slept with prostitutes like
me? Apparently, if he had a girl he was looking for. Had he even pimped them
out, for real instead of pretend? Guilt was a powerful motivator. Maybe our
little game of the boyfriend as pimp was more fatalistic than I’d thought.
Except that picture didn’t work for Luke, despite the lock-and-click way he fit
in here. His sort of unerring integrity wasn’t born of a single mistake. I
couldn’t imagine him being so far gone as to really cause harm to someone he
loved.

Far more likely he had been unable to save the girl he
loved, instilling in himself a deep and abiding need to save every other
one—including me. In the span of seconds, I sketched the fairy tale in my head.
He had been lonely and, in a moment of whiskey-induced weakness, called an
escort service. The girl had been so beautiful she took his breath away with a
knowing touch but an innocent look of hope in her eyes. He was smitten at first
sight and swore to rescue her from the life. Except something had gone wrong.
Her pimp wouldn’t let her go. These things happened—I should know. And then he
lost her…though he never gave up wanting her. He would never give up. I could
see it all so clearly, as if it had happened, as if I had been there. I
wondered if she thought of Luke still. If she appreciated him and longed for
him in return. She must, I thought.

Luke’s body tensed beside me in the booth, snapping my
attention back to the present.

“Maybe some other time,” he said.

Todd frowned. “I’ll pay you, of course. I’m not looking for
a handout.”

I realized they were talking about me. Specifically, Todd
wanted something from me. Sex, of course. Revulsion rolled through me. He
looked decent enough if a little scary. But I thought I was done with that. I
wanted to be done with it so badly that I wasn’t sure I could do it. Would Luke
ask me to?

“I don’t share her,” he said flatly. “Or sell her.”

This seemed to intrigue Todd. “That seems like a hard line
to take, especially in this business.”

“I don’t shit where I eat. She’s mine.” He nodded toward the
mass of dancers beyond the moldy velvet curtain. “I’ll have plenty of girls
available to you once I establish myself here.”

Todd seemed provoked by Luke’s refusal. “Maybe that makes it
the perfect test. After all, you’re the new guy here. You got something to
prove. How do I know I can trust you? So maybe I’ll have a taste of what you
like so much. She must be good if you’re keeping her to yourself.”

Luke snorted. “Bullshit. This is a test, all right, but if I
broke line now, you wouldn’t respect me or trust me, and I wouldn’t blame you.”

“I like that you’re a straight talker,” Todd mused. “I don’t
like that you’re telling me no. Over some chick, of all things. What, afraid to
make her do something she doesn’t want to? If you hurt her feelings, will she
run home to Daddy?”

“She’s not going anywhere,” he said. “Not home to Daddy, not
with you.”

Todd leaned forward.
Clink
—his
chain bracelets on the rough tabletop.

“What if I give you the information you wanted?”

The information about Ella? Luke’s hands tightened on my
hips. “No.”

“I don’t just mean hooking you up with Henri,” Todd said.
“As I said, I’ll do that anyway. It’s good business sense. I like the
bigger-pie analogy. That’s sweet. But I meant information about the other
thing.” He smiled at me. “The other girl.”

My heart did a little flip. The other girl. Was that what
Luke had been asking about? Was that why he’d sent me to the bathroom, so I
wouldn’t know?

Luke’s hand felt like warm iron around my thigh, his grip
tightening with every word from Todd’s lips. He crowded me, his body blatantly
interested in the offer, despite his denials. The smug look on Todd’s face said
he knew exactly what effect his words were having.

“You said you didn’t know anything,” Luke said with a hint
of question.

“I lied. There wasn’t any incentive for me to tell you. Now
there is.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“What was her name? Ah, that’s right. Daisy. Very pretty,
like the flower.” Todd lifted one bare tattooed shoulder. “I may have fucked
her.”

A shudder ran through Luke’s body, visible to anyone at the
table. But even if they hadn’t seen it, they could feel it. His rage rolled off
him in almost-palpable waves. I had felt his intensity before, his lust, but
never this. Never unadulterated hatred, and sure as hell never a love so strong
as to generate such a thing. How he must have loved her. How he loved her
still. But he wouldn’t do it, would he? He wouldn’t give me to them, even if it
meant finding his long-lost love.

His voice was hoarse. “How do I know you’re telling the
truth?”

Todd considered that, looking off to the right. Everything,
from the stillness of his hands to the steady, unflared slope of his nostrils,
indicated he was remembering something, not making it up.

The din of the club seemed to quiet, as if someone had
turned the volume down. I heard my blood pumping in my ears, fast against the
backdrop of Luke’s harsh breathing. I realized that his rigid discipline hadn’t
been him all along but a container for years upon years of unfulfilled fury.
Through force of will, he had carefully tunneled his energy into the places he
could effect change. His almost inhuman efforts to help me and the other girls
were merely steam from the release valve. All the while pressure had built,
waiting for someone to set it free.

“She was a natural blonde,” Todd finally said. Then he
glanced at me. “Not as hot as this one, though.”

It happened so quickly. Luke pushed me out of the booth and
lunged across the table. Half of the people spilled out from the seats while
the others stared, slack-jawed. That was when I knew we weren’t getting out of
this alive. This was an insult of the highest order to the woman who meant the
most to him. Luke couldn’t find her, but he wouldn’t let her go unavenged.

He had his hands around Todd’s neck, while the larger man
grappled futilely, unable to shake him. He landed blows on Luke’s side, on his
head, but nothing would shake him. Would Luke kill in his rage? I saw no other
way out. Unless Todd killed him first. I fumbled for my gun before remembering
I had given it to Luke for safekeeping. Where had he put it? He had reached
back and tucked it behind him.

I yelled out a warning, but it was lost to the melee,
evaporated like sound underwater. Helpless, I watched in horror as Todd’s wild
blows found the gun, as he whipped it out and pointed it at Luke’s cheek. The
two men froze, one on top of the other, panting. Slowly, Luke levered himself
up and stepped back. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been half expecting him
to continue fighting, blind to his rage. At least he had this much self-preservation.
Though it was unclear whether it would be enough, whether we would get out of
this after all, considering the look of vengeance on Todd’s face.

He let out a stream of incoherent curses, promising all
manner of retribution upon Luke, his mother, any pets he might or might not
have. But when Todd turned to me and our eyes met, I knew exactly how he meant
to exact revenge.

Still holding the gun, he spread his arms wide. “I know what
will make me feel better after this. We’ll have a party. And your girl will be
our main attraction.”

“Try it,” Luke snarled. “And count how many breaths you have
left.”

Despite his clear disadvantage, his words seemed to give
Todd pause and me too. There was something unbreakable about him then, as if a
bullet couldn’t stop him. It was only his will, his decision to stand there
instead of beating Todd to a bloody pulp, that kept him safe. Todd seemed to
think this over while wiping a dribbling line of blood from his brow. He looked
around, as if aware that everyone in the room was watching us—far too many
witnesses to keep quiet, far too much bother to rape and murder us for what
amounted to a barroom brawl.

“Get your bitch and get out,” he said. “I never want to see
you back here.”

I seemed to have been rooted to the spot, but Luke grabbed
my arm and pulled me from the club. Cold night air slashed at my sweated skin
and seeped into my bones. The streetlamps blurred before my eyes, as if I
watched them through a car window on the freeway instead of stumbling down the
street away from the club. My limbs felt like lead. I remembered this feeling
from once before. My brain was filled with white dewy mist. Ah, shock. That was
it. Knowing its name didn’t lift the fog. If anything, I sank deeper. Nothing
could touch me here. No one could.