Deep in the backs of all of our minds, we had the formulation of a plan. What seemed crude and basic, was taking on the form of something a little more structured. A plan that would leave the councilors in a state of calamity within their operation.

As with the things that had been happening around the club regarding The Kingmaker’s daughter, they had been strange. It seemed there was no real structure or logic to the things that had happened. The note about me not being a triplet, and that I had another sister. Am I part of four? Or was the one who died in the fire a real sibling, or just an innocent party? A lot of what I had been led to believe was no longer making any sense.

The builders had done some extra work on the roof, and rather than sleeping in a glorified gazebo, Janey and I had a room. A real room… or as close as one could expect for a rooftop garden structure.

There was also the addition of a shower, not a power-shower like in a hotel. This was one of those showers that you get on the beach. One you can use to wash the ocean off yourself. It was a welcome addition though, and luckily for us, the builders had constructed it. Our own element of privacy.

The last addition that came as a bit of a blessing was a makeshift bed… or a futon. It all depended on how you looked at it. It wasn’t in the futon category, so to me, it was a fold-out bed.

* * *

I lift my arms up and stretch my muscles. Swinging my legs from the bed, I turn to Janey. “I thought you were still sleeping.”

Janey shakes her head on her pillow. “I was watching you stretching.”

“In a perverted way, or an adoration way?” I ask with a smile.

“In a I’m-glad-you’re-my-guy-kind-of-guy, way,” she says, running her fingers down my spine.

“Ooh, that tickles.”

I stand and tense my chest. I feel a few muscles creaking. It must be time to visit a gym and have a decent workout.

“What do you have planned for today?” I ask as Janey sits up.

“Today, we 're going for a full dry run of the routines.”

“I'll see if I can catch some of it, it would be good to see what Brent and Bell have in store for the customers,” I reply.

“It should be really cool; the lighting effects really make a difference. They have lasers instead of spotlights which are something really different.”

“It seems as if I have a dull start to the day compared to yours,” I say.

“Why? I mean, what have you got going on?” Janey asks. “Apart from your sister taken in Philly.”

“I have to go with Tina to have a look at the precinct again, or the area surrounding that. We need a diversion, and we have to devise an actual plan of how we’ll approach the place,” I explain.

“Dusty day for you, then.”

“Very fucking dusty and very dry,” I reply.

We walk from the roof and make our way down past the girls’ sleeping quarters. Susan exits from the shower and smiles.

“Hey there,” she says.

“Morning, you're up early?” Janey says.

“I couldn’t sleep. I have been having problems. Lately, it must be the excitement.”

“Susan, a quick question for you,” Janey says.

“Yeah?”

“What is your background?” Janey asks. “I know it's a funny question for this time of morning.”

Susan looks at Janey a little apprehensively. “I don’t have much of one. If you want to go back to childhood, I came from an orphanage. And since then, on and off. I have looked for my parents and any other family I might have.”

“Okay, just wondering,” Janey says plainly. We leave Susan as she walks back to the girls’ room.

“That was a strange question,” I say.

“I know, I just thought of it as I saw her. Even though she was at the bike club with me. I’ve never actually asked her where she came from.”

“Now you can see, she’s a drifter like most of the ones who end up there.”

“There was one thing I noticed though,” Janey says.

“What’s that?”

“She has a birthmark in nearly the same place you do,” Janey says smiling.

“I have a birthmark?” I reply, feeling shocked.

“Yeah, didn’t you know?”

“Where is it?” I ask.

“On your shoulder, but yours is quite faint.”

“No one has ever mentioned it before. And, I'm not really going to be able to see it on my shoulder, am I?” She gives me that look women give when they are unimpressed by a man’s sarcastic tone.

We move from the bottom of the stairs and walk into Bob's office. Britney is on the couch in some of the smallest shorts I have ever seen. It seems they’re just about to be swallowed up by the lips of her pussy.

“Can you cover yourself up?” I say plainly. “Bob will have a fit looking at you like that. He won’t be able to concentrate.”

Britney looks at her shorts. “Oops! Sorry Owen, I never noticed.” She grins at me and then she laughs.

Bob sighs. “Sorry Bob, you have to keep your mind on the job,” I say. “Any updates from yesterday?”

“We had a result on the whiskey. There was nothing in it.”

“Well, a dead end there.”

“Fuck. I bet there was something on the glass. Maybe not intentional, perhaps someone uses drugs and had a drink before Janey. You never know with some of these workmen.”

Bob frowns. “Not Mike’s men. There has to be another explanation.”

“It's a shame I washed the glass, maybe we could’ve had that checked,” Janey says.

“Just another piece in the puzzle,” I say.

There is a knock at the window. Tina has her face pushed against the glass and is making faces at us. I wave for her to come into the office.

“Are you nearly ready?” she asks.

“I just have to get changed into something a bit more casual, and then I'm all yours,” I say.

Janey grins at Tina. “You can do what you want with him. What happens in the desert, stays in the desert,” she says giggling.

I begin to walk up the stairs to change. Karen stands and looks down at me as I approach the top step. “How is Brent now that he has enough dealers?” I ask.

Karen giggles. “He was really stressed yesterday. We sorted it. A few were poached from Alex’s old club and there were a few friends I had scattered around in different casinos.”

I pull Karen away from the girls’ room. “Have you noticed anything strange with any of the girls? Like snooping or vanishing?” I ask.

“Most of the girls from the bike club seem okay, except Susan. She seems a little off and in a dream sometimes,” Karen says. “The other night she went out. When I woke up to go to the bathroom, she was walking toward the stairs.”

“Hmm, I think we saw her. We heard the gate open and close.” I look at her with a serious expression. “Just don’t mention it to anyone.”

Karen puts her finger to her lips. “No problem at all.”

“How is the gaming side of the club? You have all the staff now, right?”

“It's a bit different for me. I’ve been promoted around four times in as many days. I’ve gone from dealer to stand-in pit boss all the way to gaming manager. I must report directly to Brent.”

“That’s a good thing though, right?”

“Yes, I do enjoy dealing though, that was why I got into it.”

“Keep your hand in every now and again, nothing is stopping you from dealing when you want.”

Tina shouts from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you ready yet?”

“Almost,” I yell. “I better get going, things to do.”

I change quickly and make my way downstairs to where Tina is waiting impatiently.

“Sorry, I got tied up with Karen.”

“Tied up with Karen, huh?” Janey asks. She gives me a wink.

“I was just asking her a couple of questions, and one had quite an intriguing answer,” I say.

“What was that?” Janey asks curiously.

“Later. Not here.” Janey nods as I pull open the door and walk into the courtyard with Tina.

“I suppose you want me to drive?” she says.

“You do know where you're going, so it makes sense.”

Tina smiles. “At least we’ll be in a vehicle and not on Ty’s bike. That was fun but the dust is unbearable.”

I look at her and feel like I’m getting impatient. “Where is Mike? Shit, we need a vehicle.”

“The work truck is the best. I saw they have hazard signs, so we can make out we’re a regular work crew.”

I look at Tina. Her slim legs in skintight jeans and her t-shirt (with a decent pair of breasts underneath) are way too unlikely.

“Tina, the last thing you look like is a regular worker.”

“Why thanks, Owen!”

“Only ones who risk going too far will find out how far one can go.”