Chapter 8
—Dick-punching should be a sport.—
Leighton resisted the urge to look at his watch again as he sat at one of the bars. He knew exactly what time it was.
After one in the morning—and he was about to call it a night. He’d gambled and actually broken even tonight. Surprisingly. He hated everything about this place, especially since he wasn’t drinking. At least a buzz might make the casino noise and scents tolerable.
He was acting as if he was drinking, but he was letting his drinks get watered down then switching them out for fresh ones before he was done. He needed to play his role of trust fund jackass who didn’t mind blowing money and having a good time, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to get drunk on a job.
It would be the height of stupidity to dull his senses. But it was getting late, and so far he hadn’t seen anything or anyone that looked out of the ordinary. The whole team was scouring the city, following up on leads. Skye and Colt had already had one run-in with the cops barely half an hour ago so now they were outside the hotel sitting tight. Brooks and Nova were following around a smuggler in case anything interesting developed. And Savage and Axel were standing by on alert in case they were needed while Gage was doing scans of the security at the hotel.
“Got a hit,” Gage abruptly said, his voice clear over the comm line.
“On what?”
“Maria Lopez.”
Everything inside him stilled. “You’re sure?” He barely moved his lips, kept his voice low so that no one around him could hear. The place was so loud anyway, the sound of slot machines dinging incessantly.
“Yep. About thirty feet from you. Behind the second row of slot machines closest to the lobby. Red dress. She looks different than the pictures but facial recognition says it’s her. Eighty-eight percent.”
This was it. Everything around him funneled out as he pushed away his watered-down vodka and tonic on the bar top and stepped away. As he did, he nearly collided with a beefy-looking security guy he’d seen around the hotel.
The guy barely glanced at him as he stepped up to the bar top and started talking to the bartender about an issue.
“Where’s Lucy?” he murmured, making his way across the casino floor.
“Ah…don’t have a hit on her. She fell off the radar about fifteen minutes ago. Stepped through a door marked ‘Employees Only.’ Not on any of the cameras.”
Good. Leighton didn’t want to run into her while this was going down. Because if this truly was Maria Lopez—and he doubted Gage was wrong—he was getting her out of here no matter who got in his way.
As he made it to the slot machines, he nearly stopped in his tracks when he saw her. In profile, she was leaning up against one of the slot machines, dressed to the nines in a skintight red dress with sparkly gold jewelry and big gold hoops. Her hair was curled and her makeup done to make her look older than he knew she was. It was definitely Maria Lopez though.
His heart rate kicked into gear. “I’m getting her out now. I won’t be coming back.”
“Skye’s already on the move,” Gage said. “And the getaway car is ready.”
Good. He’d wiped down his room every time he left it, but Skye would need to grab his stuff. Even if it was all basically disposable, he didn’t want to leave a trace. As he neared Maria, he weighed his options as he covertly eavesdropped as she chatted up a man old enough to be her father. The guy didn’t seem interested, however.
Yeah, he wasn’t even going to be subtle. Not when getting her out quickly was key. Leighton moved in closer and smiled at her as he put money in the slot machine next to hers.
“Buy you a drink?” he asked.
She smiled at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. Nodding, she turned away from the other man and stepped closer to him. “Rum and Coke would be perfect,” she said, her voice slightly cracking.
He shifted their bodies slightly so that they were moving away from the man she’d been talking to. The cacophony of noise in this place never dimmed, so he doubted the guy could overhear them, but he was taking every precaution for her safety.
“Maria Lopez, your mother hired me to find you and get you out of here. Are you being watched?”
Her eyes widened slightly, hope flickering for a moment before the light dimmed. Her mother hadn’t technically hired him but it was close enough to the truth. And he needed to get her out of here now.
“What’s my mother’s name?”
He rattled off her mother and father’s names, and then gave the name of Hazel’s grandmother, letting her know exactly how he’d been hired without revealing Hazel’s name.
That hope was back. “My mother is safe?” she whispered. “You swear?”
“Yes. I promise. She left your father. Your sister is safe too.”
“There are two men watching me that I know of. One works for security here and the other is dressed up as a guest. He’s mean,” she whispered. “And they’re both armed and dangerous.” Her shoulders sagged. “Just walk away now.”
“I’m armed and dangerous too. And I’m not alone. You need to do exactly what I say, when I say, and don’t question me. If you do, you’ll get out of this alive and you’ll be back with your family in no time.”
“Okay.” Her eyes glittered with tears but she quickly blinked them away, her jaw tightening with determination.
* * *
Lucy watched on the security feed as the man she’d kissed this afternoon walked off arm in arm with a woman who Lucy was fairly certain was an escort. She’d been watching the woman on the security feed for the last half hour as she approached various single men with what appeared to be clear purpose.
Lucy had been trying to figure out if the woman was with someone—or more accurately, if someone was forcing her to do this. Or if she’d just been working alone. But she hadn’t been able to tell. No men had actually approached her, and no one who worked at the casino seemed to be paying attention to her.
Then, suddenly, Spencer had approached the woman as if on a mission. Lucy wasn’t sure if she was feeling gutted because he’d kissed her only today—well, yesterday technically—and asked her on a date and was now clearly leaving with another woman, or if it was because he was leaving with a potentially exploited woman.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked as she headed out of the security room.
She’d just stopped by to check in with the team before she headed out for the night and had decided to check out the cameras. It was a freak accident she’d even seen Spencer because she hadn’t been looking for him. While she trusted her uncle to investigate things—she knew Michael Atkins had been fired, so that was good—she still wasn’t going to let this whole thing drop.
“Nothing,” she said, smiling as she headed for the glass panel of doors. She wasn’t even sure what she was going to do at this point. Confront Spencer? Maybe she was wrong and the woman wasn’t an escort. Lucy wasn’t sure if she was overreacting because she was attracted to Spencer. She’d never been jealous before. Not in a romantic capacity anyway. But her internal radar was pinging, and she wasn’t going to ignore it.
It didn’t take her long to make it to the first floor using the executive elevator. Weaving through people, she headed across the crowded lobby, but frowned when she saw Marco approaching Spencer and the woman.
Ugh. What was Marco doing here? Wait…did he know Spencer Johnson? Or the woman, maybe?
Ignoring one of the dealers who was motioning to her, she made a beeline for the two men and the woman.
Marco straightened when he noticed her. Spencer did the same, looking at her with an unreadable expression. Almost…blank. The girl was simply looking down at her stilettos, her olive complexion seeming overly pale under the lights.
Ignoring both men, Lucy focused on the girl. “Ma’am, are you okay?” The girl looked up at her and though her makeup was professionally done, she looked young and afraid. It was the fear in her eyes that knifed through Lucy. It was so raw and real. Something was definitely wrong.
“I’m fine,” the girl whispered.
Lucy looked between Marco and Spencer, not sure what was going on. Spencer’s hands were balled into fists, his jaw clenched tightly. Marco looked pissed too.
“Would you like to come with me?” Lucy asked the girl, once again ignoring the two men. She’d taken a few classes in college and knew to speak to potential victims directly. To let them know that you were there to help them.
“No, I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” the woman snapped before linking arms with Spencer. Marco made a step toward them as if to stop them, though Lucy wasn’t sure why.
Without a word, Spencer started for the exit, the woman’s heels clicking as they hurried away.
Marco started to go after them, but Lucy stepped in front of him. “What are you doing? How do you know that girl? How do you know Spencer?”
“You know that man?” he asked, ignoring her other questions.
“He’s a high roller at the casino. We’ve given him some comps.”
“I want his room number.” Marco wasn’t even looking at her, but over her shoulder at the retreating couple.
She snorted. “That would be a no. We value our guests’ privacy. What is going on? Do you know that girl?” More importantly, was she okay?
Ignoring her, he muttered something under his breath as he glanced toward the exit again. Spencer and the woman were gone.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he ground out, completely dismissing her as he strode across the lobby.
Feeling at a loss for what to do, Lucy headed across the lobby as well. When she made it outside, she smiled at Reggie, one of the valet drivers.
He’d let his dark hair grow out. Tonight it was in a faux hawk. “Hey Lucy, how’s it going?”
“Good,” she said, scanning the line of cars for Spencer and the woman. “Did you see a man—white, about six feet tall with dark hair—come outside with a pretty Hispanic woman in a bright red dress?”
Reggie nodded, smiling. “Kinda hard to miss her. She was smokin’…ah, attractive.” His cheeks flushed slightly. “They got into a waiting car.”
“The car was already waiting for them?”
“Yep. A blue Altima.”
She focused on Reggie now, since he’d really noticed the woman and remembered the car—which wasn’t unusual for him. “Do you remember seeing her before?”
“Nope…and I would have.”
“Okay, thanks.” Feeling deflated, she headed back inside. She hadn’t seen Marco again and she really didn’t give a crap about him right now.
But she did want to find out more about that girl. If this Spencer Johnson was involved in trafficking or prostitution, she was going to bring him down. Inside, she radioed security and told Nick to meet her in the Presidential Suite. She didn’t care about privacy at this point.
* * *
Lucy tapped her foot impatiently by the private elevators as she waited for Nick to join her. She should have just gone up to the Presidential Suite by herself but after she’d radioed him, he’d wanted to go with her. Which she understood. Maybe nothing wrong was going on, but her alarm bells were going off right now and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.
It was the fear she’d seen in the woman’s eyes. So potent.
Marco refused to answer her phone calls, and everything about what had happened with Spencer was bothering her. The way he’d looked right through her, the way he’d left with that woman, who looked absolutely terrified, and there’d been a car already waiting for them. Not to mention the woman had clearly been targeting men at the casino before he’d approached her. Lucy couldn’t help but think he was involved in prostitution.
At least they should have his information on file, because she was definitely going to the police. Well…if she had anything solid she would, because as of right now, there was nothing they could do. She knew that much. Her suspicions alone wouldn’t let the cops do anything.
“Sorry,” Nick said as he stepped up to join her by the elevator. “Your uncle told me a little bit about what you found last night. I wish you’d told me about it.”
“Have you been able to get ahold of Marco?” she asked, ignoring what he’d said.
Nick shook his head. “I don’t work for him and he has no reason to answer my calls.”
She half-smiled at that. “I know. But something weird was going on with him and Mr. Johnson,” she said. That was one thing she couldn’t figure out.
The elevator doors opened in front of them so they both stepped in. She used her master passcode to take them to the correct floor. There were only a couple suites on this floor. As the doors opened, there was a woman carrying a small bag and staring at her cell phone, clearly engrossed in a loud game of Candy Crush. She barely glanced at Lucy and Nick as she stepped into the elevator.
Lucy murmured, “Excuse me” as she stepped past the woman.
She heard the door shut behind her as she and Nick moved toward the Presidential Suite doors.
“What are you hoping to find?” he asked.
“I honestly don’t know. Everything about the situation was wrong, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s involved with whatever Atkins was involved in.”
“We’ll find out,” Nick said.
Lucy lifted a shoulder. “The investigation will hopefully reveal that he wasn’t working with anyone else who works here,” she said as they reached the door.
Stepping inside the suite, she was surprised to find the lights on. The room looked perfectly neat as she strode inside, heading straight for the bedroom, because that was likely where any personal stuff would be. But she didn’t find anything there. No bags, clothing, or personal items. No electronics or anything in the safe either. Nothing. All the toiletries provided by the hotel were neatly stacked in the bathroom, as if the room had never been used at all. The entire place was spotless. The only thing she could see missing was a couple apples from the complimentary fruit basket.
As she met Nick in the living room area, he frowned. “Are we sure this guy was even staying here? It looks as if the place hasn’t been used. At least where I looked.”
“The bedroom is the same.”
“I can have someone sweep the room but I don’t even know what you’re looking for,” he said.
She bit her bottom lip, feeling a little foolish. God, what if this was about nothing at all? What if Marco and Spencer had simply both been hitting on the woman…
No. Lucy wasn’t going to second-guess her instinct. Not when the fear in the woman’s eyes had been real. That’s who she should be focusing on anyway. Maybe she could figure out who the woman was by doing a search on her image. She’d at least be able to find out if she was a guest, or had been in the past.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” she said. “I’m just hoping once we talk to Marco, maybe he’ll be able to shed some light on whatever was going on.”
“The guest probably isn’t coming back.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said even as she received a radio call from the concierge informing her that Mr. Johnson had checked out via an online app. Of course he had.
Tonight just got weirder and weirder. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll head back with you to the security floor.” Because she was going to at least try to see if she could figure out who the woman was.
“Okay…” Nick pulled out his own phone as he received a call.
She half listened to the conversation as they headed back to the elevators. “Is everything okay?” she asked as he ended the call.
“No. Some of our security feeds were corrupted.”
That got her attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the security feeds from the hotel and some from the casino floor for the last hour were basically erased. There are other patches of time that seem to be missing too. It’s like a virus was injected into them. The feeds are sent off-site but I don’t like this at all.”
She didn’t like it either. Not one bit.
Now she wondered if this had something to do with Spencer. As long as she’d worked here, they’d never had an issue with security feeds or footage. And tonight of all nights, the last hour had suddenly been erased?
She was going to get to the bottom of why Spencer Johnson was here. It angered her that she’d actually gone out with him, let him kiss her. Worse, she’d liked it. A lot.
Maybe it wasn’t prostitution at all, but someone was trying to rob them instead. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last.