CHAPTER SEVEN
of well-dressed young people came to Apex looking to dance, drink, and hopefully hook up. I aimed to give them everything they were looking for – and then some. A good portion of the club-goers had already been screened and checked and would be allowed into the roped-off portion of the club, where they could discreetly buy drugs from a number of waitresses who silently circulated carrying old-fashioned cigar trays on their voluptuous chests.
I watched the club fill up from my vantage point in the office above the dance floor and tried to figure out how I would manage to keep things running smoothly until Lydia returned. This had happened before, and I knew she wouldn't be gone long. It's just that this was the first time anyone except me knew that she was missing. All the other times, she'd called me from a sleazy motel somewhere outside of town and begged me to come pick her up, and every time I would.
At one point, I'd thought Lydia was the one. A leggy redhead whose personal and professional attitudes were the exact same, I admired her strength and was aroused by the challenge she constantly presented. The problem was that Lydia and I were so completely combustible and once her match lit my gasoline, we had problems. We spent a couple of years going back to each other again and again with disastrous results until we agreed that we could work together and, eventually, be friends, but we couldn't keep trying to make a relationship work – no matter how hot the sex was.
Lydia lived life on the edge. She hated being bored and lived for the thrill of new experiences, which was probably why she loved working with me. Once we'd set the boundaries of our professional relationship – and stuck to them – she went out looking for something to fill the space. I was often tempted to get back together with her just to stop the downward spiral of self-destruction, but she wouldn't allow it. So, I watched from the sidelines and cleaned up the messes.
Meanwhile, Lydia kept my organization out of trouble with the courts. She bailed my corner boys out and prevented the police from raiding the club or my hotel over on Grand Ave. No matter how messed up her personal life was, she kept her professional life in tiptop shape. I knew she’d been working on a new deal that would have put the firm on solid ground in the legitimate legal world. I knew she had worked incredibly hard to establish herself as a lawyer that people could trust. I was worried about this disappearance – it wasn't like her.
I looked back down at the floor and saw Beck walking toward the bar, closely followed by Riza. He seemed oblivious to her presence as he had a small curvy brunette tucked under his arm. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. Riza looked up at the two-way mirror and raised an eyebrow, then looked back at Beck and his date.
I quickly tapped out a message on the screen of my phone and hit send. I looked back down at the floor and saw Riza glance at her phone, then look up and nod. She turned and walked toward the back of the club, leaving Beck and his girl at the bar.
"He picked her up on Flower and then went to dinner before heading over here," Riza said as she walked into the office. "Seems legit, but I don't recognize her."
"I do," I said. "But I don't know why."
"You think she's a plant?"
"I don't know, but I do know that Beck is dumb enough not to recognize her if she is," I said as I looked out over the club and watched him falling for the petite girl. The feeling that I knew her was nagging at me, but we had bigger fish to fry. "Did you find out anything about Lydia?"
"Nah, no one's talking," she replied. "But I get the feeling that someone knows something. I just don't know who that someone is."
"Ri, do you think she's okay?" I asked.
"No idea, boss," she said. Her answer unnerved me because I knew that it meant that she was worried, too. If Riza had been sure that Lydia was just on another bender, she would have already tracked her down.
"Something feels very wrong, but I don't know what it is," I said. "We need to get a handle on this situation and lock it down, Ri. Otherwise, we're going to be hemorrhaging before we know it."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to find Lydia and then figure out who this girl is that Beck's hooked up with," I said as I looked back out over the dance floor and watched Beck slow dancing to fast music with the little brunette. His hands were cupping her ass and the two of them were kissing. "And get them the fuck off the dance floor before they wind up getting arrested for indecent exposure, would you?"
"Sure thing, boss." Riza grinned as she saluted and headed for the door. Before she exited, she turned and said softly, "Dax, it's going to be okay. I'll find Lydia and make sure that Beck doesn't make an ass of himself."
"I hope so," I said as I massaged my temples and watched the floor. "I sure as hell hope you can work your magic to keep us out of trouble."
"I got your back, boss," she said and then she was gone.