by Mimi Barbour
“I already agreed, Lisa. So stop with the begging and don’t call me Rory. You want something from me, that’s not the way to get it.” Sparks shot at Lisa and she felt every little prick as if they were electrified.
“I know I’m asking a lot but I had to think fast in front of the smarmy prick. When I said my girlfriend and I had to work, he jumped on it like I was offering him a lap dance. This Troy is some piece of work let me tell you. It’ll be a pleasure to put him behind bars before the evening is over. We won’t have to dance for long. Just a few wiggles and grinds to some music and it should be enough.”
“Yeah, yeah! Wiggles and grinds. Sure that outta be easy. Keep that smirk to yourself, Kai. Or you’ll be begging Jeff for lodgings once we get him freed.” Aurora turned to point to Ham just as he went to say something, a huge grin plastered over his face. “Don’t!” He shut his mouth lickety split.
Lisa took pity on Ham and threw questions his way to get him off the hot seat. “Tell me again what names those bastards are registered under and bring me up to date on what came in on them.”
Ham scanned the papers in his hand. “We found some credible information in the preliminary investigation. Our suspects call themselves by the names of Troy and Sam Ward. Sam’s picked up multiple DUI’s, has ridden the fence in a few drug busts, pretty minor shit, nothing solid we could pin on him to bring charges that stuck. Troy schmoozes with the bookies. Says here, he’s gotten into trouble a few times and managed to get out before the big shots did any real damage. Looks like the jerk’s pretty lucky. He won a nice chunk of change here at the tables yesterday and today.”
Lisa considered the information and asked, “What about Ben and Carol? Any word on what happened to them?”
“Nothing we can work with. Carol disappeared off the radar years ago. From the time we picked them up as the Ward family, Jane, or Jan her sister, appears and Carol’s a no show. And Ben? He totally slid through the cracks. It’s almost as if the Aunt took on the boys and brought them up.”
Aurora broke in. “Something doesn’t jibe with what you’re saying. I can see one of the parents giving up their boys and taking off… but both? Things don’t normally work that way.”
“Sure, not in our lives but these people were already unstable.” Lisa reminded everyone.
Aurora shook her head. “Not Carol. From what we saw in the earlier files she was all about being a mom. When Jim was bringing me up-to-date, he told me that’s the reason why Gloria missed her so much. They’d done everything with the boys together.”
Kai cut in. “By the way, where is Jim and the little nerd?”
Lisa sent him a mock glare. “Jim had to go and lie down. It was that or I told him I’d ban him from being involved later. And the ‘little nerd’, who I happen to think isn’t so bad after all, has a hotel to run.”
Without an ounce of remorse for his teasing, Kai grinned, removed a package from his pocket and handed one bag over to Aurora and the other to Lisa. “I had one of the rookies bring these babies over from division. Here’s an invisible earpiece for each of you. The mics are tiny, have on/off controls and can be attached inside your bras. Once their activated, we’ll be able to hear every word you say and you can communicate with each other also. At no time are you to remove them. If you do, we’ll know you’re in trouble and we’ll come in to get you out. Got it?”
“Cool it, big boy.” Aurora patted his cheek and bestowed a sweet smile his way. “We can take care of ourselves. If we need you, we’ll find a way to let you know.”
Kai looked over at Lisa, “Hey, brown eyes. What’s so funny?”
“You two! It’s hilarious. Dude, if you get a scratch and bleed, Aurora passes out cold. And if she does her job, like only she knows how, the worry shows through your pride so you don’t know whether to beam or snarl.”
Ham shared in her enjoyment at their discomfort at first but soon he sobered and said, “It ain’t easy watching someone you love in danger.”
All Lisa could do was nod knowingly. The excruciating tension she’d been carting around in in her chest for days had begun to squeeze tighter.
Chapter Twenty-Six
As suspected, Kai took one look at Aurora in the diminutive costume and his eyes widened and glowed. His immediate response of, “No way, the deal’s off,” sounded as if he’d forced the words through a blocked throat. A groan and a wink followed his playful remark and broke the tension in the room where Ham and Jim had waited with him to give the girl’s a send-off.
Ham straightened and lost the grin. “Okay, here’s what’s been happening. As we decided, Wimbly offered the person here in 2407 a free upgrade as a bogus prize for being the millionth customer. Trust me; she was happy to move. That left it empty for us. The surveillance equipment is all set up and everything’s ready. Oddly, I had to promise Ray the rest of the weekend off if he’d help us. Seems he had a hot date.”
Lisa grinned and said nothing. Way to go, Ray.
Ham continued. “Also, we put some cameras on the food carts the restaurant is preparing for their party which means we’ll have eyes in the place unless some asshole hangs in front and decides the food is more important than the entertainment.” Ham looked at the girls and shook his head. “Nah! Ain’t gonna happen”
Kai added. “Plus, you ladies will keep us updated. At this point, all you need to do is to find Jeff and make sure he’s uninjured.”
Aurora nodded in unison with Lisa, then spoke. “What if we can’t find him? Let’s face it, they’re not going to have him gagged and bound to a chair in the middle of the room for everyone to see. And according to the layout Jonathon provided, there’s only one closet in each of the suites and two bathrooms.”
Lisa brushed aside the annoying feathers hanging from her costume and stepped forward. “My bid is on a closet. It makes more sense since you can lock it from the outside. Beside, with as many people as Troy seems to have gathered, there’ll be a run on the toilets.”
“I’m with you, Lisa.” Ham squeezed her shoulder, showing he knew her uneasiness and sympathised. “Despite the fact that you could end it all tonight, we wouldn’t have enough to pin on Ben. He hasn’t shown his hand in any of this and we need to catch the man and not just his sister-in-law and the boys. We don’t want him walking.”
For the first time Jim spoke up. “Ladies you do look lovely and I have no doubt after seeing you, the partiers will be in a daze. But I know my boy. He’ll want to see the ringleader get his just desserts also. No reason the person responsible should get away with kidnapping and let his sons wear the blame. So if it’s not a matter of life and death, we’ll wait it out. Kai has promised we have tight control on everyone who goes in and out of the hotel suite from now on. Moreover, I feel confident they’ll end it soon.”
Lisa agreed. “Me, too! On the other hand, we have to face facts. The longer those stupid schmucks make Jeff and Jim suffer playing their silly games, the better chance there is of something going wrong. I believe we’ve kept them feeling pretty safe. That we’ve done a good job in the hotel of impersonating family and close friends but if they ever suspected we’re cops, they’ll panic and who knows what they’d do.”
Jim, whose face had lost most of its healthy glow in the last two days, added, “I have a feeling we’ll be contacted within the next twenty-four hours. I’ll go back to my room periodically to see if another message arrives.”
Lisa nodded, agreeing with his assessment and saw that Ham did also. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Aurora walk over to the bank of windows and step onto the wide balcony, Kai following close behind. As she watched them leave, she knew their love needed an outlet, a physical form of gratification before Aurora tackled any potential danger.
Leaning on the back of a chair, her nerves jumping like frenzied grasshoppers all over her insides, Lisa stared at the floor. Nausea had laid siege to her tummy and she fought it down. It’s fear of what you’ll find. Let it go—concentrate! The yearning to have a m
an care for her as much as Kai cared about Aurora seized and wouldn’t stop. Let Jeff be alive, please God!
Ham, who’d been scrolling through the messages on his phone, checked his watch and had the final word: “Okay, ladies, go break a leg!”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
At the door to twenty-four zero five, Lisa heard Kai’s voice in her ear and played along with testing the equipment one more time. She watched Aurora, who lowered her head and spoke softly and waited until she gave the signal. Then she knocked on the door. Loud music and animated male voices filtered through with some screaming giggles interspersed that sounded like hookers working the room.
Banging a few more times brought no results so Lisa inched open the door and stepped into the room followed by Aurora. A wall of strong marijuana struck right from the get-go and almost had her reaching for the badge and gun she’d left behind. Tortured every minute by the vision of Jeff being held against his will kept her feet grounded and her intentions rigid. She had to help him, free him, and if he would have her, love him every way she knew how.
Initially, the first few gasps from those close to the door caught the attention of others. Heads turned their way and the noise slackened. Soon they were the focus of everyone’s attention, which had Troy strutting forward.
He’d teamed a dark suit jacket over navy jeans with an opened white shirt underneath, and for a slight-built man, his chest proved to have a surprising six-pack. He also sported a huge smile meant to be inviting. Problem was it only invited her to want to pound the living shit out of the jerk. Since she couldn’t, she took a second to look around and gather her scattered thoughts.
“Welcome, ladies.”
A poke from behind, brought her back to the scene and the moment. “Hi, Tray.”
His ingratiating smile faltered. “It’s Troy.” He lowered his eyes briefly to hide his discomfort but continued in his role of poser. “I’m glad you could make it, sweetheart. You look wonderful.”
A harder poke forced her into character and soon she simpered like a horny maiden with a choice of yummy stable boys at her beck and call. “Why thank you, honey. This here is my friend ahh… Rory. We’ve come all decked up like you asked and we brought a tape for the music.” This time the poke hurt.
“You’ll perform for us? That’s fantastic.” He beamed at them both and then took the tape from her and passed it off to a stocky fellow who was a walking advertisement for the necessity of cosmetic surgery. “Come this way, girls, and we’ll clear this area.”
His flunky cleared his throat and Troy nonchalantly waved his hand toward him saying, “This is my little brother, Sam.”
Lisa smiled Sam’s way while she did a quick assessment. The prick smelled of booze, cigarettes and despair. They cut a path through the mess of mostly men in the room, and hearing a noise behind them, turned to see trays of food being wheeled in also. Sam turned and motioned them over to the corner but the waiters, Kai and Ham, set up the tables in the best spot allowing them an overall view of the room. Then they set a basket of flowers in the middle of the table with camera lenses installed and another one directly in front of the table to stop everyone from blocking that area. Their idea was that most of the guests would move to either side when coming for the grub. Good luck with that! This crowd seemed too far gone to give a shit if they knocked over a wall or two.
Lisa zeroed in on a table behind a screen where they’d displayed a surprisingly generous arrangement of party drugs including a variety of pills, pipes and powder.
By now, everyone had picked up on the excitement that gorgeous women in skimpy dancing costumes intending to entertain produced and they were willingly opening a space for them to perform. Of course, Troy’s smart-ass comments as he worked the room about his good friends agreeing to appear as a personal favor earned him even more dislike as Lisa and Aurora wiggled their way to the front of the crowd.
Just before the music started, Lisa watched a pushy Sam escort Ham and Kai from the area and hold the door for them to leave. Ham nodded her way as the signal. They now had eyes in the place and Kai’s audacious wink earned him a grunt from his annoyed wife.
At first, the working girls didn’t look too enthused about this diversion. Lisa had no doubt that their hopes were to make good money before the men got too smashed. On the other hand, knowing how males were affected by sexy dancing, it could work to their benefit so they cheered along with the guys then grabbed willing laps to sit on. Men of all sizes and varying ages crowded as close as they could get. A few who were having trouble standing took up space on the floor. Lisa heard muttering through her earphones and knew that Aurora was feeling exactly as she did. This would not be fun.
Troy, doing his own performing, hushed the crowd by waving his arms in the air and pleading for quiet. “These ladies have come at my express invitation to perform for us tonight. They normally appear at the MGM Grand so we’re very fortunate. It’s my honor to introduce Lisa and Rory!”
Whistles and cheers continued until the music began. Lisa faced Aurora and they took their opening stance. Bending low, cheeky grins lit their faces, while derision filled their eyes. On cue, they backed away from each other, let out a squeal and swivelled toward the front as their bodies gyrated, their breasts enticed and their grinding hips drove the audience wild.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ham and Kai rushed back to their suite where Jeff’s father had waited. “Is your video equipment all set?” Jim asked. To Ham, the poor man looked as if his full head of white hair had suffered by numerous passes from hands that never rested. He plucked at the crease in his pants and then played a random rhythm with his fingers on the table in front of where he’d collapsed once they’d returned. Ham took a bottle of water from the tray on the side table and offered it in Jim’s direction. “You want one?”
Jim nodded and then held out his hand.
Ham passed it over, gave one to Kai, then opened his own and took a long slug. “Have to wash the taste from me mouth after seeing that crowd. Those poor girls will have their hands full tonight.”
Kai had gone directly to one of the various monitors they’d had Ray set up earlier and he tuned in the picture and the sound. A clear image of the girls dancing in front of the hyper crowd of drunks and potheads appeared.
Ham moved to stand next to Kai and he began to laugh. “Do ya hear what name they’re callin’ Aurora?”
Kai chuckled, his enjoyment apparent. “She’s not gonna like that. I know my woman and she is pissed.”
“Oh yeah! Rory isn’t enjoying this one little bit. Ohhh… now that was a nice move.” In unison, both girls had performed a rotating action where their hips did a swaying grind in imitation of the sexual act that had the room howling in glee.
One drunken fool, so caught up in his fantasy had reached out his hand to stroke Aurora’s leg. As if by accident, she did a fancy kicking move and landed one right in the guy’s family jewels. Still sporting an asinine leer, the idiot collapsed backward, screeching with pain… or was it joy. The room loved it and shouted her name even louder. Appreciative, she reacted to their love by adding suggestive moves that had them going even crazier.
“Kai chuckled. Obviously proud. Ain’t she something?” He stood with his arms crossed and big grins plastered over his face.
“You are one lucky man. She’s a precious jewel, she is.”
Ham, who treasured both the girls as if they were his own little sisters, delighted at Kai’s adoration for his wife. Now if only they could free Jeff and talk Lisa into letting romance run its true path, he could scratch her off his worry list. He’d have two down one to go. A precious new daughter who’d come to find him because her mother hadn’t deemed it important enough to share the knowledge of his paternity. How could any man face that without some degree of resentment and one hell of a lot of sorrow?
“Son of a bitch!” Kai’s anger brought him back to the present.
Ham focused on the screen in time to see a fa
t slob of a drunk decide that his love for Aurora had bypassed his intelligence. He’d picked her up in his arms and was parading his prize around the room, his hands in places only reserved for a husband.
Lisa’s quick thinking made Kai hesitate and then laugh, loud and hard. Swift as a garden snake, she’d grabbed the joker’s baggy sweat pants and with one hard yank had them down around his ankles. It was either Aurora or his naked ass that needed his hands and the cellulited fat cheeks won out. He let her down, dragged his bottoms back in place and grinned foolishly when Lisa sent him a smiling kiss. The crowded room loved the shenanigans and when the music stopped, they clamored for more.
Begging for a short respite and a beer, Lisa followed by Aurora made her way over to the table.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jeff heard the music start up, then the noise level rise and wondered what had happened to excite everyone. They’d taped his mouth once again, his hands behind his back and his ankles. Bless his heart, Sam had done the chore but it seemed to matter to him that Jeff wouldn’t be too uncomfortable and so he’d put down one of the comforters and even a couple of pillows for him to lay on. Considering the air conditioning never really reached the large closet, he didn’t feel the need for warmth but it did lesson the hardness of the floor.
Thanks to his hours in the fitness club and his trainer focusing on a lot of yoga, Jeff’s muscles allowed him to roll into different positions quite easily to stop his back and leg muscles from cramping. However, that didn’t help the increasing discomfort for his arms. If only he could kick out the door, maybe attract attention from others in the outer rooms. Being that he was the same picky prick who’d made sure all the rooms were solidly built, including the closet doors and the locks, he could kick away all night with no results.