CHAPTER TWO
Ellie
“Hi there!” sang Rachel out the window as the car pulled up to the curb. We’d gotten an Uber to this undisclosed location and I looked out onto the dark street skeptically. There were a couple street lamps casting pools of isolated light, and it looked like we’d pulled up in front of non-descript warehouses, shuttered and empty, no one else around.
“Are you sure this is it?” I said, biting my lip, a little nervous. I knew the club was supposed to be discreet, but I’d expected at least a few people hanging out front smoking, maybe a small sign tucked away somewhere. Or music. Surely there’d be music, what kind of club didn’t play music?
But it was silent on the darkened street, the Uber grinding to a halt at the curb.
“This is it,” said the cabbie, “This is the address.”
I moved to thank him but was cut off by Rachel again.
“Of course this is the right address,” she said breezily. “There’s Miles over there!” she said, her entire head out the window now, long blonde hair fluttering as she gestured furiously to the men. “Helll-oo!”
And I sighed, getting out of the car. I had a bad feeling about this, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe once the big warehouse door opened, there’d be an amazing party inside filled with gorgeous people milling about, the ladies dressed to the nines, the guys coolly casual.
But ugh, Miles wasn’t my idea of a good-looking dude. His features were okay, but his clothing was beyond bizarre. The man had a blue velvet jacket with blue ribbon trim around the lapels that made him look like a carnival barker. I didn’t even know they made men’s clothes like this, that anyone would buy stuff so gaudy. But thinking back to Rachel’s multi-colored, LSD-inspired dress, maybe these two were perfect together. They could work in a high-end circus together as one of the curiosities, people could pay five dollars to see the zany pair. So yeah, maybe they were a match made in heaven, and Rachel was skipping over to Miles now, throwing herself into his arms, twirling in his arms, a flirtatious female to the max.
“Miles!” she exclaimed, leaning forward to give him a kiss. And kiss they did. Instead of the peck on the cheek appropriate for people who’d just met this afternoon, the two of them smooched full-on, mouth to mouth, liplocking without an inch between them. Stop it, I scolded myself, stop being judgmental and uptight! It’s a new you, remember?
So I made myself smile prettily and greet the small group of men just getting out at the curb. Our Uber zoomed off and I had a sinking feeling that my last means of escape had just disappeared as well. But that couldn’t be, I reminded myself sternly. I had my cell, and could summon Uber or Lyft with a swipe of my keypad, it was that easy. So I made myself buck up and pasted a cheery smile on my face.
“Hi,” I said throatily, hoping I sounded like a femme fatale. Haha, nice try. Immediately my throat locked and I let out a small cough.
“Oh this is Ellie from today, remember?” chattered Rachel, gesturing my way. “From the pool.” Maybe they didn’t remember me that well, my friend was like a ray of light, chatting and fun, whereas I’d been quiet at the cabana, listening while sipping my drink.
“Of course, of course, cara,” rumbled Miles, his arm around Rachel’s waist, pulling the blonde tight. “And you remember my friends Enzo and Yannis.”
I frowned a little. Although the friends weren’t as crazily dressed as Miles, still, they weren’t my cup of tea. Both of them were burly as hell, like bulldogs, the collars of their leather jackets tight around thick necks, Enzo’s bald head gleaming under the lamplight.
“Hey,” Enzo grunted, turning away. Yannis didn’t even say anything, just looking around like he was bored.
But I was supposed to be flirtatious and fun tonight, so I tried again.
“Hi,” I cooed, doing my best to purr. “I’m Ellie, nice to see you again.”
I held out my hand to shake but both men stared at it like they didn’t know what to do. Miles cut in.
“You losers, shake her hand! What the fuck is wrong with you? What do you think she’s waiting for?”
And grudgingly, Enzo took it, his big bear paw almost crushing mine, rough and greasy at once. But at least I only touched him for a second and then it was over. Yannis still wasn’t paying attention, looking off into the darkness, almost like he was scanning the neighborhood. Oh well. You just can’t win some people.
But Rachel was now beyond excited, almost jumping up and down.
“This is soooo cool!” she cooed, linking both arms around Miles’s neck, draping herself on the blue velvet blazer. “Where’s the club? I can’t wait! This is so different from the usual Vegas thing, we’re going to have so many stories to tell when we get back, it’s gonna be frickin’ amazing.”
I was a little embarrassed because what happened to playing “hard to get”? Rach was letting everything hang out, but I scolded myself again. Stop Ellie, I frowned. Just go with the flow and relax. So I pasted another smile on my face and tried to look excited.
“Can’t wait!” I chirped. “So fun!”
Miles threw his head back and laughed then.
“Cara,” he said gently, unwinding Rach’s arms from around his neck. “This is a super-discreet, top secret place that only the best people know. Trust me, you’re gonna love it. Enzo! Yannis!” he said. “Let’s show these ladies a good time.”
And sure enough, Yannis stepped up to a door that I hadn’t seen before. It almost blended in with the wall, there was nothing but a crack indicating it was there, the concrete façade smooth otherwise. And with a practiced knock, he rapped on the hard surface.
Nothing happened for a moment, although I could swear someone was looking at us. I’m not sure what made the hairs on my neck prickle, but I swear I could feel eyes on us, on me and Rachel in particular, taking everything in before the door swung silently open.
“Come on,” chuckled Miles, leading the way. “Come on, this place is fuckin’ awesome, you’re going to love it.”
And my hopes rose as we stepped through the door. Because instead of raucous party music, soft strains of something classical greeted us. And the foyer we’d entered was luxurious and dripping with elegance, set with marble floors, a beautiful colonnade leading to another hallway, sprays of flowers on either side. A woman nodded at us with a tray of drinks.
“Welcome to the Club,” she murmured, bowing slightly. Wow, the brunette was breathtakingly beautiful with her hair swept into an elegant topknot, a bodyhugging black dress on. This was their coat check girl? Suddenly I felt hot and embarrassed, face flaming, like I was crass and rude next to this woman’s understated elegance. But I made myself smile and murmur, “No thanks, I’m good.”
She merely offered the cocktails to the rest of my party, and sure enough Rachel downed one immediately, the pink liquid disappearing down her throat like water.
“Mmmm!” she said, lapping her lips a little, shooting Miles a lascivious look. “Have a sip, loverboy.”
And the swarthy man chuckled.
“I am, I am,” he remarked, although I noticed he didn’t actually drink the drink, merely holding it with one hand as Rachel balanced in the crook of his other. That seemed bad, but maybe he didn’t like girly tropical drinks, the kind filled with fruit flavors. Because that’s what this one looked like, just a step away from a pina colada with a little umbrella sticking out.
But even with the odd location and the weird drinks, I was still excited to see what lay beyond the hallway. Because the air of luxury entranced me, I admit. I was curious, excited, and wanted to let loose on this one night, I could sleep in as much as I wanted tomorrow, heck, even for the rest of the week. I could be a walking zombie for the rest of our vacation so long as I had a good time tonight, let my hair down to party.
So I turned towards the men, ready to move on, when suddenly a rough set of hands grabbed me around the neck.
“Hey!” I shrieked. “What the?”
But immediately a gag was bound around my mouth, changing my words into a muffled “mwmwmwm.” I swung my head around, desperately looking for Rachel, but saw that she was in the same predicament. My childhood friend’s eyes were rolling crazily as she struggled against her gag, Yannis swinging her up onto his shoulder like a bag of coal.
“Mwmwmwm!” she shrieked. “Mmwwwm!” she screamed again, kicking and beating at his back ineffectively.
Meanwhile, Enzo swung me up onto his shoulder, tying my hands together with a length of rope and my struggles to get free were futile.
“Mmph,” I grunted, getting a good knee to his chest, banging against his back with my bound fists.
The loser just increased his grip around my waist.
“Got a fighter here,” he growled out. “Shit, she’s no sack of flour.”
Yannis just grunted in reply.
“That’s cause she didn’t drink the drink like this princess,” he said gesturing to Rachel slung over his shoulder. Because to my horror, my friend was passed out, her body slumped like a rag doll on Yannis’s back, mouth open, a long string of spittle dangling from her lips, oozing to the floor. What the hell? That drink had been spiked? What the hell, what the hell? And where was Miles, her loverboy savior?
But Miles was right there, looking on with an evil grin, laughing to himself.
“Oh yeah, these two will fetch us a pretty penny,” he chortled, his voice ringing loud in the marble foyer. “Come on,” he grunted, and strode down the hallway, not looking back.
I gasped and struggled more, but it was no use. I was securely slung over Enzo’s shoulder, bound hand and foot, with a cloth in my mouth, unable to speak or move. Holy shit. I was in deep trouble and there could only be bad things coming my way.