by Clara Bayard
“Okay.”
We walked silently, next to each other but not touching. Now that he’d agreed, I wasn’t sure where to start. Half a block down I stopped him and just dove in.
“Trey, listen. I hope I don’t sound ungrateful, but before we go to the club there are some things I need to know.”
“Ask me anything.”
“You told me you’d explain why you wanted to help me later. I think it’s time.”
He crossed his arms. “It’s complicated.”
“I’m a smart girl.”
“I’m aware of that. Why are you asking me this now? Is it because of what happened – almost happened in the store?”
“Partially. It’s more that I just realized you’re a stranger. All I’ve learned about you is that you’re nice, really rich, and apparently spend a lot of time and money at a brothel. How do I know I can trust you?”
“We can really trust anyone, Amanda.”
“Come on. Don’t mess with me. You know what I’m talking about. You almost kissed me but you spend all your time with prostitutes. Is that what you like? Is that why you brought me shopping? Are the clothes payment for something?”
“What?” he shouted, glaring at me. He paused for a second and then continued more quietly. “I can’t believe you’d think that.”
“How can I not? You’re practically a stranger.”
“Why would I offer to help you if all I wanted was, what, a tumble in the dressing room?”
“You tell me. Because I don’t understand.”
He groaned and rubbed his jaw. “Okay, fine. First, you should know, I’ve never slept with any of the girls at the club. Not once.”
A tiny part of me was more relieved than I was willing to admit. Not because it made it easier to trust him, but because it made me feel a tiny bit less guilty for being so attracted to him.
“If that’s true, why do you go there? What do you do with them?”
“Because it’s safe. That’s a weird thing to say about an illegal business, but it’s true. Most women I meet know exactly who I am. And almost all of them have an agenda. You wouldn’t believe some of the things they say or offer to do to get what they want. My money, access to my father, the list is endless.”
I hadn’t considered that downside of being William Tyler Heller, III.
We started walking again as he went on.
“So even though dating is pretty hard to do, I need dates for things. Family events, business things, fundraisers, that kind of shit. If I go alone it’s news and people talk. ‘Is he brokenhearted?’ or ‘Is he gay?’ or whatever random theory. So I take a girl from the club. ‘Date’ them for a few months at public events and then move on to the next one. I look like a normal guy and I don’t have to worry about it.”
“But surely you could find a real girlfriend. It might be difficult, but there must be women who don’t want to use you.”
He grinned as we reached the coffee shop and held the door open for me. “Are you applying for the gig?”
I blushed and shook my head. “You know what I mean.”
We went up to the counter and ordered. Before he could stop me, I handed over money to cover our drinks. I had no idea how much money he’d just spent on me, but at least I could cover two coffees.
Trey picked a table and we sat down to wait.
“So, I get the dates thing, sort of. But why do you hang out at the club so much?”
He shrugged. “I like it. Aside from a few assholes it’s a nice place. Fun, and open. Everyone there has something to lose by talking about the place, so I don’t have to watch my back as much. Hell, the police commissioner is a frequent visitor.”
My eyes bugged out. “He is?”
“Yup. Though, I don’t imagine he has to pay for company. Nice guy, actually. Into some kinky shit but…”
I leaned over. “What kind of kinky…?” but a guy brought our drinks over, interrupting.
After taking a few sips, I relaxed. “All right. I’m going to trust you, Trey. Please don’t make me regret it.”
“You won’t. I promise. Now, let’s talk about this plan of yours to find your sister. To start with, do you have a picture of her?”
“I don’t know. Wait, yeah, I do. In my phone.” I dug it out and scrolled through to find it. The last time I’d seen Kat, over my winter break from school. She’d surprised me with a visit because I had been working too hard on my final project to take time off. The picture was of the two of us in silly winter hats she’d bought at some cheesy store at a rest stop. We were smiling like idiots. So happy. But I hadn’t known anything about her secret life.
“Here she is,” I said quietly, handing my phone to Trey.
“Yeah, this is definitely the girl I thought she was. But at the club she goes by a different name. Katrina, I think.”
“How long has she been working there?”
“I’m not sure. At least a year.”
“And you said you haven’t seen her recently?”
“No, but I’m not there every night. And a lot of the girls go out on dates, so it isn’t weird. What about you, when was the last time you talked to her?”
“Two days ago. The day before I came to town. She called to congratulate me on graduation. She was supposed to come out and we’d drive back to the East Coast together, but she said something came up. A work emergency. I guess that was a lie.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Well, whatever it was, she bought my plane ticket and everything. She even arranged for all my stuff to get shipped here.”
Trey finished his coffee and leaned back in his chair. I noticed a few women in the room eyeing him. Probably wondering what he was doing with me.
“So two days ago she was fine and able to contact you. Then the next morning she was gone?”
“Yeah. I mean, I thought it was weird she didn’t call to make sure I didn’t miss my flight, but I took it as a sign that she trusted me.”
I swallowed past a huge lump in my throat.
Trey put his hand on mine. “It’s okay.”
I shook my head. “No, it isn’t. But anyway, okay. My plane landed just over twelve hours after I spoke with her. That’s not much time for something bad to happen, right?”
“Nope. And if she thought there was trouble, from what you’ve told me, her first instinct would be to keep you safe, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“So she wouldn’t have let you come to Philly if she was worried. That’s a good sign, I think.”
“Makes sense.” Man, it was really nice to have someone to talk all of this through with. Someone I didn’t have to lie to, and wasn’t judging Kat for doing what she did. I wondered why Trey was so open-minded, but didn’t want to push him to tell me anything else. I’d agreed to trust him and I intended to do just that.
“Once you’re done with your coffee we should go. I’ll take you home and then pick you up later for the club.”
“Okay. I won’t need much time, though. I don’t take too long to get changed.”
He grinned and winked at me. “You’ve got a lot of new clothes to unpack.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help smiling.
+
Hours later when Trey picked me up and we headed over to the club, I was still smiling. After spending the afternoon putting Kat’s apartment back in order and pawing through the tons of beautiful new things from the boutique, I was feeling like my old self again, mostly.
Besides, the talk we’d had about the situation made me optimistic. Whatever had happened to Kat, I was certain someone knew something. And once I found that person I’d be that much closer to getting my sister back.
Walking into the Eden Club on Trey’s arm was quite an experience, too. Instead of the scared girl who’d snuck in last night, I was confident. The red dress made me feel like a real, grown-up sexy, woman. I paired it with high heeled pumps that I found in Kat’s closet and left my hair down. It fell in soft waves
around my shoulders and framed the dramatic makeup on my face perfectly.
“It’s just like a play,” I told myself. “You’re acting out a part.” I’d been really interested in drama before my parents died. I used to audition for every school play and even got a few parts in local community theater shows. It had been a while, but I remembered how to get into character and leave my own feelings and fears behind. It would serve me well, or so I hoped.
As soon as we walked inside, the butler, Dominic, greeted us. He and Trey exchanged pleasantries and I remembered that Trey said he wasn’t really a butler. Just a well-mannered security guard. He was also half the size of the rest of them, but I assumed his skills were still top-notch.
“Veronica is waiting for you in the game room.”
Trey took my arm and squeezed it reassuringly at the look of panic on my face. “It’s not that kind of game room,” he murmured as he led me down the hall. “I think it was once the library. The walls are covered in shelves, but there’s a pool table and a chess set in there too.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
He smiled, but then stopped once there was no one else in earshot. “You have to calm down, Amanda. You’re shaking.”
“Sorry.”
He leaned in close. “Remember, I’m here with you. No one is going to hurt you as long as you stay cool and do what I say.”
“All right.” I smiled brightly. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late for my first day of work.”
That made him laugh all the way to the game room. Inside we found Veronica deep in conversation with Peter, the security chief. She was wearing a creamy white sleeveless sweater that clung tightly to her slim torso, and a pair of black skinny pants that I could never wear.
“Oh, good. Trey, I thought you and your little friend had decided not to show up tonight,” she said pointedly.
Trey shook his head. “And miss a chance to spend time in your charming company, Veronica? Never.”
I bit my tongue to keep from laughing.
She arched an elegant eyebrow and looked over at me. “I see you take direction well, at least.”
I looked down. “I hope this dress meets your standards.”
“It’s fine. Appealing, but not too showy. Smart choice.”
“Thank you.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s get on with this. As you can imagine, we’re not big on paperwork here. But there are a few documents I’ll need you to fill out. They’re in my office. We’ll head there after I give you a brief tour of the building.
“Typically new ladies get a few days of orientation, but since you’ve been brought in just to spend time with Trey, we can skip most of that. But please pay attention to everything I say. Every rule and security measure is designed to protect Eden itself, and you, as an employee.”
It was a nice speech. And I suppose if I’d been in the market for a real job as a prostitute, I’d have been glad to hear it. Even so, I did appreciate that she treated the girls like people who worked for her, instead of products to be used by the clients.
Veronica and Peter took turns pointing things out to me as we made our way through the club. The corridors that had so recently seemed impossible to navigate were explained and mapped out by them. Peter in particular made a point of explaining the different levels of security in every area of the building.
When we were on the second floor, Veronica explained the rules about using the rooms that ran along the length of the floor. Since I didn’t plan to put a single foot inside any of those rooms, considering the hardcore porno I’d glimpsed in one, I somewhat tuned out. But when the conversation moved on to recordings, I perked up.
“Can you give me an example of what kind of recordings there are?”
Veronica smiled. “Of course. Every public area within the building is monitored twenty-four hours a day. Video and audio. The digital files are stored on a secure server that backs up to an offsite location. We keep one week of recordings at all times. Files older than that are deleted and cannot be retrieved.”
“Why one week?”
“In the nearly unheard of situation where there’s problem in the club, we need to be able to review the footage. But, since the privacy of our members is of paramount importance, we don’t keep anything longer than we need to.”
“Okay. Also, you said public areas. What qualifies?”
She nodded. “Good question. Peter, will you explain?”
The security chief frowned. “Everything on the first floor is considered a public area. The hallways and stairwells on every floor, as well. A few rooms here and in the basement, but those are selected because they are frequent gathering places. We also reassess frequently. Right now we’re considering adding surveillance to the game room we just left.”
“But not the bedrooms?”
“No.”
Veronica put her hand on his arm, her long, elegant fingers seeming to relax the tensed muscles. “Of course, since all corridors are monitored, we know who is in every room at all times. All of the door locks can be overridden by any member of the security team or myself.
“These measures are just for inside the club. Cameras monitor the perimeter of the property as well, and all entrances and exits logged. No one gets in or out of here unnoticed. That ensures that we know who is in the club at all times. In fact, the only place outside that isn’t covered by a camera is a small corner of one of the hot tubs, and that’s only because we’ve had technical issues with the heat effecting the lenses.”
“It sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” I said, honestly impressed.
In the back of my mind I was counting days and wondering what the chances were that I could get my hand on some of that footage. If I spotted Kat on a camera, I might be able to get an idea of who she was close to in the club, and know who I should be questioning.
I exchanged a glance with Trey, and he nodded slightly, suggesting he was thinking the same thing.
“Now,” Veronica said, “There’s more to the building, of course, but you’ve got the most important parts. Feel free to explore on your own time. For now, let’s head to my office so we can get everything squared away and the two of you can set a time for your first official date.”
I blinked a few times before I realized what she meant. Right. She thought I was there to screw Trey. I guess the club didn’t make money on giving tours.
We all went back downstairs, but Peter left us to go do something. Probably stare at someone in an intimidating manner, I guessed.
There was a folder on Veronica’s desk. She gestured for me to open it, and walked me through the few sheets of paper I needed to fill out. It was kind of funny. The first was a normal form for my address and emergency contact information, but I froze in the middle of writing my name. I couldn’t list Kat as my emergency person, and I didn’t know anyone else in the city.
I looked over at Trey.
“Use my number,” he said before reciting it.
I sighed with relief and then wondered if I should have filled out fake information for myself. Probably, but it was too late now. I couldn’t exactly tell Veronica I’d written down the wrong name.
The next document was longer and as I scanned it, I realized it was a confidentiality agreement. “I’m not sure I understand some of these terms,” I said.
Veronica smiled. “Don’t worry about that. It’s all standard stuff.”
I had no idea what the standard was, but figured arguing would look strange. So I signed it and said a silent prayer that I hadn’t agreed to hand over any internal organs or first-born children.
“Is that it?”
“One more. I’ll need routing information for your bank.”
“Oh. Um, I don’t have one here yet.”
“That’s all right. Just put down that you’d like a paper check for now and we can update it later.”
“Okay.” I did as she asked and almost giggled when I saw the listing for job position read “actress.”
They had no idea.
After that was finished, Veronica sent us away. Something about signing my name freaked me out. I wondered how Kat had felt when she signed her paperwork. Was she excited? Scared? Did she think about our parents and what they would have thought of her decision? But hidden, underneath those thoughts was my real fear. That she’d hated doing this. Felt sickened. But done it anyway. For me. To make sure I could finish school and buy books and not need a full-time job.
I swayed on my feet in the hallway, and Trey caught me, wrapping his strong arms around my shaking body.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just not steady on these heels. They’re a little too big for me.”
He looked at me intently. “You’re a terrible liar, Amanda.”
“I know.”
We walked into a sitting room and Trey shut the door behind us. “Do you want to leave? We can come back tomorrow night.”
“No.” I blinked away the tears in the corners of my eyes. “Let’s do this thing.”
Chapter Seven
Once it became clear to Trey that I wasn’t going to explain what had happened, he gave up. “I’m supposed to have dinner tonight with a business associate. I’d forgotten all about it but I just got a text message reminder. I’ll cancel and we can start talking to people right away.”
I thought for a moment. “Is it an important dinner?”
He shrugged. “Hell if I know. I just show up and look handsome. Then a few days later I sit in a board room for a meeting where someone sells or buys something that costs millions.”
I laughed honestly, even if it sounded a little hollow. “That sounds like a really hard job you’ve got there.”
“Yup.”
“Well, I don’t mind if you go to your dinner. I can start without you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone here.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Not going to happen. End of discussion.”
I frowned.
“But,” he continued, “If you’re hungry, you could go to the dinner with me. We come back here after. There will be more girls around and it’s how I usually do things.”