“The concierge,” I said, thinking back, “he did say something odd.”
I could see Kyle's eyes widen as he looked straight at me. “What? What did he say?”
“It was when I'd just arrived. He said something about Mr White having an appetite today. He hadn't said that to me before. I'm not sure what he meant.”
I could see Kyle's mind ticking over, trying to find an answer.
“Did you see any other girls around. Anyone on the floor as you approached or perhaps coming out of the lift in the lobby?”
“No, I don't think so. Why?”
“It's probably nothing, but his words would suggest that Mr White had already had a visitor, another caller to his room. I'll check to see if he had booked anyone else.”
“But why, why would any other dancer do that?” Nothing was fitting together in my mind. “Why would someone want to kill him?”
Kyle shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Some of these men have lots of enemies Alice. They're very powerful, very wealthy. There are all sorts of reasons why someone might want to kill him.”
“But who is he really? Is - was - he really called Mr White?”
“I don't know. He was beyond my pay grade, I never dealt with him personally.”
I couldn't understand it. Why would a stripper or prostitute want to kill him. How would they have killed him like that, sitting there in his chair. Nothing added up, and now I'd been thrust right into the middle of it.
“Who booked you on the job,” Kyle asked, his furrowed brow deepening. “I had no idea about it. He was meant to book you for next week as far as I knew.”
I shook my head. “I don't know, I just got a message as usual. It was from a number I didn't recognize.”
“Not the same number as usual?”
“No, a different one.”
He stood in silence for a moment. “It's odd. I don't work directly with all clients, but I always know who's booked which dancer and when. This one I wasn't made aware of.”
“Look,” he continued, “I'll have a root around, talk to my father, see if he knows anything. I'll call you on another phone when I know more.”
He leaned in closer and took my chin in his hand. “Please, just trust me right now. Go back to your dorms. I'll call you later.”
I didn't say anything as he walked me to the door, hiding to the side as it opened should the camera down the corridor catch us closer than three feet together. I mean, there was paranoia and there was paranoia, and this was taking things to another level.
After what I'd just seen, though, I guess there might be cause for it.
Chapter 36
I sat back at my dorm willing for the phone to ring, willing to hear something. I had no idea if they had cameras in the hotel, cameras out on the street that could follow me, track me down somehow.
But if they did, surely those cameras would have caught the culprit? Surely they'd put me in the clear.
I'd never seen a dead person before. Sure, my life had slipped a little further into the underworld of late, but not that far. I didn't know the man, had only ever heard his voice creep from the shadows, but it was still an appalling sight. Even in that half light, even with his body shrouded, it was an image that would always be burned into my memory. The empty look in his half-closed eyes, the blood seeping into the carpet, the handle of the blade protruding from his chest - I knew that vision would stay with me forever.
There was nothing I could do right now but wait. I had no control over this, no means of finding out the truth. I had to rely on Kyle to play detective for me. He said his father might be involved, but how, why? Why would his father kill one of his most prominent clients? Nothing made any sense.
The dorm was quiet outside as I sat with my thoughts for company, only the usual chatter of college students going about their evening piercing the silent night.
I sat on my bed, the minutes and hours ticking by, my eyes never closing, never yielding to sleep. I wouldn't be able to sleep, not tonight, not until I heard from Kyle. Would I ever be able to sleep properly again after this?
I heard the phone ring, buzzing violently on my bedside table and disturbing the quiet of the room. I didn't recognize the number. It must be Kyle.
I picked it up quickly and immediately recognized the voice.
“Alice, I can't talk much now. Sorry it's so late. Can you meet me somewhere?”
“Where?”
“Same as before. I'll be there in 20 minutes. Can you make it?”
I checked the time - 1.45 AM. “Sure, I'll leave right now.”
I dashed straight out of the dorm and rushed through the main doors of the building towards my car. I kicked it to life as it groaned and spluttered. Please start. Please start.
After waking up half of the campus the car eventually churned to life and I set off towards Adam's Park. It was dead of night now, the streets quiet and lonely. The lack of traffic sped my journey, getting me to the park sooner than expected.
I parked as I had before, this time without any fear of getting a ticket, and stepped out. I instinctively looked around me as I approached the entrance, this time even darker and creepier than before. The moon was shrouded by heavy clouds, blocking out its light and casting a thick layer of darkness over the open expanse ahead of me.
I approached the large tree in the center. Why the fuck did Kyle suggest we meet here - it was so damn creepy.
This time I saw no shadow of a figure beneath it. I took out my phone and looked at the time - 2.00 AM. He'd said it would take him 20 minutes, so I was a fraction early.
I approached the bench and sat under the tree. It was completely silent save the light sound of wind whistling through the leaves. I strained my eyes out to the side of the park, searching for a figure in the dark. I wasn't sure exactly which direction Kyle would come from, so continually twisted my neck this way and that to seek any sort of movement.
I saw a light, a faint light in the distance. It came from the same direction I'd come from, a dot amid the blackness. The dot grew larger as it got nearer, eventually casting a dim light over the figure of a man. The light was coming from his phone, guiding his path, his pace quickening as he came towards me. He hugged me when he arrived, my heart beat slowing beneath the comfort of his arms.
“Alice, I'm sorry to drag you out here. I know it's not particularly welcoming.”
I looked around the place. “No, not really! Did you find anything out.”
He shook his head and crunched up his face. “Not a great deal to enlighten things. I looked at the logs and there was no one else booked in to pay a visit to Mr White. At least, not from us. There was nothing of your booking either Alice. Its baffling.”
“And your father?”
“Nothing. He had already heard about what was going on and said it was nothing to do with him. To be fair, he'd probably say that anyway regardless, so it's hard to know.”
“Did you really need to drag me out here to tell me that?! I mean, you could have told me over the phone. Do you know how late it is!” I wasn't sure a man who ran a strip club had much concept of a 'late' night.
He nodded, bobbing his head lightly. “I know, I just wanted to see you, make sure you were OK. I've got a hotel room for tonight, just over there.” He nodded his head up to a large building above the tree line. “No one knows about it, I paid with cash already, used a fake name.”
He took me by the hand and started walking off towards the exit, the night air chilling me to my bones. I knew I could trust him but there was this lingering feeling that something wasn't being said, that I wasn't being let in on everything.
“So what's going to happen now,” I asked as we walked.
“I guess the cops will already have st
arted their investigation, assuming he's been found. As long as no one knows who you are or saw you go in, you'll be fine Alice.”
“But the concierge. He knows exactly what I look like. He knows that I was going to that exact room. Surely they'll find me.”
Kyle was so casual as he shook his head. “I don't see why. You've got no record do you?”
“No.”
“Well then all they have is a girl matching a basic description and a name. Not only that, but the name you used, they won't believe it's your real name. The nature of why you were there - to strip, or more - they'll think it was a fake name. Basically, they've got nothing.”
“And cameras? In the hotel, on the street? Can't they track me?”
“Possibly in the hotel but they knew you were going to room 640 anyway, so seeing you do it won't be anything new. In fact, if anything the cameras will catch the real culprit, and the autopsy will put anyone else going in there in the clear. The things they can do these days Alice, they'll be able to pinpoint exactly when he died, and it was probably way before you even arrived. I wouldn't worry. Just don't ever go back to that hotel again. In fact, steer clear of the entire street if you can.”
I had no idea how he could be so relaxed about it all. He seemed like a seasoned pro, like this wasn't his first rodeo.
“Mr White then,” I continued to question, “what about him? They'll look at him, find out that he had been using the business to hire strippers. It'll all come back to your father, to you, to me.”
Kyle stopped in his tracks and turned to me, putting his hands to the sides of my arms. He looked at me with his deep blue eyes, shining even in the dim light, a consoling look to his face. “Alice, it's OK. There's nothing that can trace things to us from any client. My father is extremely careful about such things in case anything like this ever happens. Please, don't worry so much. You're in the clear.”
Somehow I didn't quite believe that was the case.
Chapter 37
My eyes slowly opened to the sight of a large and spacious room in the Grange Hotel, just across the road from Adam's Park. I was lying on a king sized bed alone, Kyle's whereabouts given away by the sound of water splashing to the floor in the next room.
I checked my phone to see that the day was still young, the sunshine bursting in through the half closed curtains. When we'd gotten back we'd crashed out immediately. Or, at least, I had. Whether Kyle had followed I didn't know.
His presence, though, had comforted me. He made me feel safe, reassured me that things would be OK, that life would continue for me as normal. They were the words I needed to hear, words that finally set my mind to ease and allowed me to fall away to sleep. It wasn't quite the lustful or romantic night that a new young couple might usually have enjoyed, but it was just what I needed.
I reached for the remote control for the television and clicked it on, flicking through the channels as I lay there on the bed. I stopped suddenly, the image of the Globe Hotel filling the screen. In front of it stood a reporter, talking to the camera with a microphone steadied under her mouth.
Little is known about the details as of yet, and the police are remaining tight-lipped about what has actually happened here. The deceased has, however, been identified as Michael Cooper, a banking magnate from New York, who was visiting on business. Why he was at the hotel, and the details of his death, have yet to surface.
Michael Cooper. The name rang a bell for me, a man who was highly prized in the banking industry. He had once been CEO of one of the largest banks in the world before retiring and setting up his own Hedge Fund. As far as I knew he was a billionaire. Christ, to think I'd been dancing for someone like that. I wonder who the others had been?
Kyle came out of the shower and dragged my attention from the screen. On this rare occasion his ripped torso wasn't front and center of my mind.
“The man was Michael Cooper,” I said as soon as he stepped through the door, water dripping off his tanned body and soaking into the towel around his waste.
He stopped short, as if he knew the name. “Do you know him?” I asked, seeing his face change.
He nodded pensively. “I'm sure he used to have dealings with my father. He's a finance guy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you find out.”
I tilted my head at the TV. “They're not saying anything about the murder, about what actually happened.”
“No surprise there,” Kyle scoffed, “I doubt they have a clue what went on. This wasn't a crime of passion, it was premeditated. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.”
He sat down and gazed at the TV. I could see his head working things over. Perhaps his father was involved after all.
I didn't want to ask him that though. If that was the case, it was nothing to do with me. I wanted to stay well out of this. Perhaps a business deal gone wrong or an old vendetta that he had against Mr Cooper. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed as though Mr Logan must have been involved. He'd know that Mr White - or Cooper - would be there, in the Globe Hotel and he was probably the only one. It was a set up of some kind, one I wish I hadn't become embroiled in. It unsettled me to think that my involvement could only have been intended.
But what could I do? Get on with my life. There was nothing else for it, no other route available to me. I could quit, do what Kyle had wanted. I wish I had done so before now, then I'd never have stumbled upon that scene in room 640. Maybe now it was time for me to throw in the towel, return to my normal world. This one clearly didn't agree with me.
“I have to get going Alice.” With everything running through my mind, I'd barely realized that Kyle was getting dressed and preparing to leave.
“Where?”
“I've more questions for my father. I need to know if he was involved.”
“But you said it yourself - he won't tell you even if he is.”
“I know that, but I have to try again. It's too coincidental that it's an old associate of his. I'm going to ask him straight. I want to know that you're out of it, that there won't be any splashback onto you.”
“I need to quit don't I?” I asked out of the blue. “All of this, I need to get away from it all.”
Kyle turned from the mirror where he'd been crafting his hair into place and looked at me. His eyes held hope, as if he'd wanted to hear those words fall from my mouth for years.
“I'd love for nothing more. I'll tell him that as well. Don't worry, I'll say nothing of us. I'll just tell him that seeing the man in the chair, murdered, that it shook you up. Who wouldn't be screwed up by that.”
He came forward and sat beside me, his hand on mine. “Look, the sooner you get out of this shit, the better. I'm stuck in it Alice, I was born into it, but not you. You're better than this, you shouldn't be sullied by it.”
I watched as his eyes dropped, his voice matching them. “I should never have brought you into this. I'm so sorry.”
I could see the regret etched onto his face. He was so much more sensitive than you'd think, so much more pained by what he did for a living, the life he led. He'd been masking it for a while, turning his head away from it all, not connecting with anyone. Now, though, he'd connected with me, and the reality of his world had begun to sink in.
“You're not to blame,” I said. “Only I can be held accountable for how my life has turned out. You never forced anything on me Kyle, it was all my own free will.”
He shook his head, speaking quietly as he looked to the floor. “I prey on people Alice, people who have no other option. I take advantage and use them. I want to get out, just as you do.”
My eyes lit at his words. “So do it. Quit. We can leave here together, I can move to another college, you can get a job. We can be free to live, away from a
ll this secrecy.”
“I can't do that. There's nowhere I could go where my father wouldn't find me and bring me back. We all live within his shadow, me and all my brothers. There's nowhere for us to turn.”
God he sounded like he was living under subjugation, like his father was this evil overlord who controlled him and his entire life. It sounded a little far fetched.
“But he can't tell you what to do. You're a grown man, you can make your own life decisions. I mean, sure, I understand why you can't date someone who works for you, but not letting you do what you want to do with your life, that's taking things to another level.”
He shuffled slightly, his expression changing, hardening. “No, I'm speaking out of turn. It's really not that bad Alice. In any case, what the hell would I do if I didn't work for my father. I don't exactly have a laundry list of transferable skills.”
He stood up, suddenly the boss again. “Look I'd better rush. I'm gonna try to get to the bottom of this Alice, give you peace of mind, OK. I'll call you on the same number as before later on. Listen for my call.”
He leaned in and gave me a kiss, the sort of kiss that lingers and makes you want more, before turning towards the door. He stopped as he grasped the handle and spoke before turning it. “If ever you meet my father, never repeat what I just said Alice.” His words carried a heavy weight.
Then, he opened the door, and was gone.
Chapter 38
The morning sunshine began to turn as per my mood: gloomy and blustery as a storm began to gather in the heavens. I felt restless, the previous day a burden on my mind, dominating my thoughts. I kept my eyes to the television for any further news about Michael Cooper, but nothing was being given away. It wasn't that surprising really: the press wouldn't be privy to any intimate details of a police investigation as sensitive as this.
I wondered what the concierge had said, what he'd seen. His words still ran through my mind - he has quite an appetite today. At first I'd thought nothing of it, not even realizing how inappropriate the comment was. I had other thoughts rushing through my head at that point to take any heed of it.
The Logan Brothers - Books 1-4: (EXPOSURE, CRASH, TWIN PASSIONS, and ADDICTED TO YOU) Page 14