“Right now? Four.”
“Okay, your name is Becca, right?” I asked. “What are the names of the other girls?”
“She’s Kayla, and the other two are April and Sonia.”
“Was Jordan Lambert ever here?”
Becca looked down at her feet. “She was.”
“Do you know what happened to her?”
She wouldn’t respond or make eye contact with me.
“Becca, please. Do you know what happened to her?”
When she finally looked up at me, her eyes were glossy. “They said she went home, but I don’t know what really happened.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“She kept begging to go home, and they always told her no. Just like Kayla said. They don’t want us to leave. They’re scared we’re gonna talk to the cops about what goes on over here.”
“Which is exactly why I need you to come with me. I hate to break this to you, Becca, but Jordan never made it home. They found her body floating in a bay.”
Becca’s mouth fell open. “Floating in a—you mean like dead?”
“They said it was suicide or an accident, but I don’t believe it,” I said.
She shook her head in disbelief. “Yeah, I don’t think Jordan would kill herself.”
“I think they killed her, Becca. These are dangerous people. They could kill you too. You have to come with me.”
Kayla showed up then, dressed in shorts and a tank top and Converse sneakers and carrying a duffle bag over her shoulder. “I’m ready.”
“Becca. Come with us. Please?” I begged, shooting a backwards glance down the hallway.
“Yeah, come on, Bec. You don’t wanna stay here either.”
“But they said they’d find me if I left before they said I could. I’ve been here long enough, they said pretty soon I’ll get to start doing some modeling.”
I sighed. “There just luring you with that. There isn’t some big modeling contract at the end of all of this.” I looked backwards down the hallway again. “Now, come on. We don’t have time to talk about all this right now. Someone could come up here any second. We have to go.”
“We have to get April and Sonia too,” said Kayla.
“One of them is downstairs in the massage room,” I said. “I saw her on the surveillance video.”
“That’s probably Sonia. She’s new. They usually put the new girls down there.”
“Okay, you go get April. I’ll get Sonia,” I said. “I have a van parked back by the kitchen. Can you all meet me down there?”
Kayla nodded. “I think I can sneak down there without anyone seeing me.”
“Okay. Becca, I really hope you’ll be down there when I get there.” I wished I could throw her over my shoulder and force her to come with me, but I was afraid she might make a scene and ruin the mission for everyone. I turned to leave the girls to hash it out and went straight to the surveillance room. I gave two knocks on the door. “Frankie, it’s me. Lemme in.”
The door cracked open and Frankie peered out.
“Is it done?”
She rushed back to the computer. “In a few seconds. Did you find the girls?”
“Two of them. They’re gonna get the other girl upstairs. I gotta get the one with Artie. They’re gonna meet us out back by the van.”
“Okay, one more sec…” Frankie watched as the download strip went to one hundred percent. “There. Done.” She pulled the USB out of the computer and stuck it in her pocket. Then she went to the security system’s software and erased the last two hours of footage and stopped all the cameras from recording anymore. Smiling, she stood up straight. “We were never here. Now, let’s go.”
We rushed for the hallway. The girls were nowhere to be seen. The coast looked clear, so we raced down the stairs and back down the hallway towards Artie’s room. No sooner had I knocked on the door than I heard someone behind us. Frankie and I turned around to see a couple security guards standing behind us.
“You two can’t be back here,” one of them said.
“Oh, I’m, uh, looking for the bathroom,” I said to the guard.
“The staff bathrooms are off the kitchen.”
“Oh, yeah, I know.” I shot him a wink. “Her and I were looking for something a little more, uh, private if you catch my drift.” With my heart racing wildly, I waggled my eyebrows at him.
The guard was just about to say something when the door behind us opened. Artie stuck his head out into the hallway, took one look at Frankie and me, and furrowed his brows. “Drunk, what are you doing over here?”
I closed my eyes.
Fuck.
“You know this man?” asked the guard.
Artie’s eyes widened when he realized there were two guards behind us. “This guy? Oh, uh, no?”
But it was too late. The guards didn’t buy it for a second. The bigger of the two of them grabbed me the back of the shirt. “You’re coming with us.”
I glanced over at Frankie. This was not going to be good.
33
“I found ’em sneaking into the new recruit room,” said the guard, who’d manhandled me all the way back up the corridors before passing me off to Harvey Markovitz just inside the front door of his mansion’s grand foyer.
Harvey put his drink down on a side table and looked Frankie and me up and down. “Who the hell are you?”
“Look, this is all just a big mistake,” said Frankie. “We’re on the catering team.”
“Yeah. We were just looking for a private room to use, if you catch what I’m throwing,” I said, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Val, who’d just poked her head out into the foyer. And then, just as quickly as she’d appeared, she disappeared, leaving us alone with Markovitz and his goons once again.
The guard behind me shook his head. “I don’t believe him,” he said, his voice incredibly deep. “They were trying to get into the new recruit room. Your guest in there seemed to know him. He called him Drunk.”
Recognition brightened Harvey’s eyes. His head tipped sideways as he moved closer to look me dead in the eye. “So you’re this Drunk character that I’ve been hearing about?”
“My reputation proceeds me?” I grinned at him.
“You’re the one that’s been going around the island harassing my friends.”
“Huh,” I said, pretending to think. “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you if I’ve harassed them.”
“Danny,” whispered Francesca. “Now’s not the time.”
“I’d have to agree with your girlfriend here.” He walked over to Frankie and rubbed his hand down the length of her cheek. “And what’s your name, dollface?”
Heat from somewhere deep inside me boiled the blood in my veins. “Her name is take your fucking filthy hand off of her or I’ll break it,” I snarled, taking a step towards the disgusting excuse for a human being. But before I could get close enough to make a move, one of his guards grabbed me in a double chicken wing and they wrenched my wrist in up between my shoulder blades, forcing a wince out of me.
Harvey laughed. “Oh, is that right? You really think you can tell me what to do in my house at my party?”
“I’m shutting your party down. I know what you’re doing.”
He chuckled. “Oh, really now. And just what exactly am I doing?”
“You know damn good and well. You’re running a sex trafficking ring, and it ends tonight. You’re disgusting.”
“Sex trafficking? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. And I’m bringing you down, Markovitz.”
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
He shrugged. “I’m sorry to burst your delusional bubble, Mr. Drunk, but it’s going to be kind of hard bringing me down when you’re dead.” He chuckled and then gave a little nod to his crew. “Take them outside, fellas. Make ’em disappear. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have guests waiting for me.”
“You heard him, let’s go,” grunted the guard who still had ahold of my arms. He kneed me in the back, forcing me out the front door behind Frankie and her guard.
My mind raced as we were shoved towards the door. But with both my arms in an armlock, I couldn’t get a hand on my weapon, and the guard holding Frankie had her in the same hold. It was beginning to look hopeless.
We’d no sooner walked out onto the sidewalk in front of Markovitz’s house than from out of nowhere, the sound of tires screeching tore apart the air. Turning towards the sound, I saw a white van barreling towards us. I was relieved that it was none other than my better half, Al Becker, behind the wheel!
Hallelujah!
The van flew right at us. The guards simultaneously released us and shoved off as they tried to get out of the way. Al jerked the wheel, just narrowly missing Frankie and me, but slamming directly into them and catapulting them through the air. They landed with a thud just in front of the shrubbery and rolled lifelessly to the pavement just as Al brought the van to a screeching halt.
“Woohoo! That’ll leave a mark!” Al hollered through the open window. “Get in the van!”
“Come on, Frankie!” I screamed, jumping into the van. Breathless, I turned to Al. “What happened to ‘don’t be a hero,’ eh, Al?”
“Did I say that?” He shook his head. “My memory ain’t what it used to be.”
Just as Frankie got in, Al started to pull away. But shouts coming from the front door made him slow down. I glanced out my window to see Artie and Val waving us down.
“It’s Artie!”
Al slammed on the brakes, causing my head to lurch forward and nearly hit the glass. He threw the vehicle into reverse and snaked backwards out of control, almost hitting Artie and Val. He slammed on the brakes again.
“Fuck, Al. Watch the brakes!”
“Sorry.”
I stuck my head out the window. “Get in the back!”
Artie waddled as fast as he could towards the back of the vehicle. Frankie jumped over the seat to open the door for them from the inside. That was when I noticed the two girls huddled in the back of the van together. It was Kayla and April.
“Where’s Becca?” I hollered as Frankie helped Artie and Val in.
“She wouldn’t come with us,” cried Kayla, cradling a sobbing April in her arms.
I didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that we’d left two girls behind as a second later, Frankie was hollering.
“All in! Go, go, go!”
“Step on the gas, Al!” I hollered, my adrenaline racing. The two guards Al had hit had just begun to stagger to their feet when the van moved again. We’d just rounded the top of the circle driveway when shots rang out, peppering the side of the van. As we came back around the driveway to head in the other direction, I leaned over Al’s lap and returned fire, making one of the guards double over.
“I got one!” I hollered. “Go, go, go!”
Al tore down the driveway. The guard at the guard shack tried to stop us from exiting, but Al gunned the engine, forcing the guard to either become roadkill or jump out of the way. He chose the latter, landing in a thorny bush on the side of the road.
“Go, Al, go!” cheered Val from the back of the van.
My heart raced as I watched the rearview mirror, waiting to see if anyone was going to give chase. But after several long seconds of watching, it looked like we were in the clear. I sat back in my seat and let out the breath I’d been holding. “Thanks, Al, that was a close one!”
“You can thank the girls. They saw you get hauled out to the front door.”
I looked over my shoulder at the girls. “Thanks, girls.”
Val frowned. “Drunk, that man that you pay me to sing for the other day?”
“Dalton?”
She nodded. “He recognize me tonight,” she said, her eyes wide. “I theenk he figure it out that his friend did not send me. I hear them talking about it while Artie was gone.”
I smiled. “Well, then it was a good thing Al came when he did.” I looked back at the girls. “Are you two alright?”
They both nodded. April was still crying on Kayla’s shoulder.
“What about Sonia and Becca?” asked Kayla.
“We’ve got the evidence we need now. We’ll get the cops and go back there and get them. I promise.”
Their heads bounced. I looked at Artie. “You alright, Artie?”
Sitting on the floor in the back of the van, he lifted a shoulder. “I’ll be honest, this was not how I expected this evening to go, Drunk.”
“Yeah, I know, Artie. I’m really sorry about that.”
“And you got another vehicle shot up.”
I sighed. Frankie’s brothers weren’t going to like that one little bit, but I’d worry about that another day. “Yeah, it is what it is. Nothing I can do about it now.”
He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Ugh. All I want right now is to get back to my place and get out of this penguin suit and relax.”
Frankie’s eyes met mine. She shook her head.
Wincing, I sucked air through my gritted teeth. “Yeah. About that—look, I hate to tell you this, Artie, but there’s no way we can take you back to the resort now. Not yet, anyway. Not until we get these guys behind bars, because now they know where you live and work. They might realize what you were up to and come try and kill you.”
Val’s eyes grew large. “Omigosh,” she whispered. “They are going to kill me too?”
“You’re not safe, either, Val. We’ll have to find a place to store the four of you until we can get this whole thing resolved.”
“You mean we can’t go home?” asked Kayla, her eyes wide.
“Sorry, girls,” said Frankie. “Not yet. You’re witnesses. You can’t go home until we get Harvey and his guys behind bars. But don’t worry. We have enough on him and his operation to put him away for a very long time.”
“So then where are we supposed to go?”
“We’ll go to another resort,” said Artie. “I have a lot of friends in the industry. They’ll put us up.” He pulled his cell phone out of his suit’s breast pocket. “I just need to make a few calls.”
“Me too?” purred Val, snuggling close to Artie.
Artie nodded, his cheeks flushed. “Absolutely. I got you, Val. No worries.”
She latched onto his arm. “Oooh, Artie, you make me feel so safe.”
Letting out a little guttural sound, I turned back around and slumped back against my seat. I looked over at Al. “I suddenly feel less special now.”
Al leaned over and said out of the side of his mouth, “Be thankful, kid. I have a feeling that was the most expensive buck twenty-five you ever lost.”
34
After getting Kayla and April tucked into their room with strict instructions not to leave, call, or talk to anyone until further notice, the five of us piled into the penthouse suite that Artie had procured from a fellow resort owner friend of his.
The penthouse suite at the Marimont Resort blew the cottages at the Seacoast Majestic out of the water. Everything was brand-new and luxury, from the generously sized kitchen’s marble waterfall island and stainless-steel appliances to the six-person jetted hot tub on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The living room had an L-shaped grey leather sofa in front of a large flat-screen TV mounted to the wall above a built-in fireplace. There was a full-sized dining room table with eight lavishly upholstered chairs, and the suite had two bedrooms, each with its own king-sized bed and attached private bathroom.
“Oooh, this place is sooo niiiice,” purred Val, cozying up to Artie’s side after running from room to room to check the place out.
Artie tossed the room key down on the side table by the door. “Val, I’m afraid you’re stuck here with me until Drunk, Al, and Officer Cruz can get everything sorted out. So make yourself at home. Take your pick of the bedrooms.”
Val clung to his arm. “I don’t care. Which one do you want?”
“Okay, then I’ll take that one too.” Running a hand around Artie’s wide waistline, she let out a husky laugh, causing Artie’s cheeks to flame a brighter red than usual. The smile on his face told me everything I needed to know.
The second we left, Artie was getting lucky.
Frankie rolled her eyes. “Before we get out of here and leave you two alone, Artie, can we do a little debriefing? Go over what went down at the party?”
I walked over to the dining table and took a seat. “Yeah, Artie. Let’s get the scoop.”
Val pointed at the bathroom. “Do you mind if I take a bath?”
“No, not at all,” said Artie.
“Thank you,” said Val, heading for the bedroom. A second later, she was back in the main room. She plucked a bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket it was chilling in and walked over to Artie. Caressing the side of his face with her hand, she leaned over to whisper in his ear loud enough that we could all hear. “Oh, Artie, feel free to join me when you are done with your meeting,” she sang.
Glancing back and forth between Al and me, Artie cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Oh, uh, thank you for the offer.”
When Val disappeared back in the bedroom, I reached over and slugged Artie in the shoulder. “She wants you, man.”
Frankie rolled her eyes. “She wants something alright.” She let out a little disgusted puff of air.
Wagging a finger at his buddy, Al nodded in agreement. “Francesca’s right. You better be careful, Artie. A woman like that is out for only one thing. And it’s in your wallet.”
I nodded. “Al’s got a point. You got a condom in there, right?”
Exhaling a deep breath of air, Artie shook his head and then looked up at us. “Listen, gentlemen, how about we talk about business here and leave my sex life to my imagination, not yours?” His voice was more confident once again, as if with Val out of the room, he could resume his usual commanding presence.
I chuckled. “Okay, Artie. Let’s get down to business. What did Harvey have to say?”
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