Page 6 of Save Me

Blackmon hides his company’s ownership of fast-food chain restaurants through a series of subsidiary companies.

I’ve called business associates multiple times, but no one replied.

“Hey,” Kelsey, my friend and employee at The Regal, calls as she stands over my desk. Kelsey works in the sports department and is vying for a position to become an on-air talent. “Is that concentration face about the Blackmon case?”

“Am I that easy to read?”

She shrugs. “When you’re focused on a case, yeah.” She pops a grape into her mouth and then holds out the small plastic bag in her hand, offering me one.

I take a grape and toss it into my mouth. “I can’t get anything solid on this case. I know there’s something there. I can feel it. But all of the employees I’ve contacted refuse to talk.”

“Maybe they have nothing to say.”

I shake my head. “My gut tells me that’s not the reason.”

We’re quiet for a few minutes, my mind working.

“There is one avenue I could pursue,” I say, doubt in my voice.

“What is it?”

“Blackmon was once partial owner of the Black Opal.”

Kelsey’s eyes bulge. “Ron and I have been trying to get a membership to that place for months. It’s extremely exclusive.”

I nod but don’t tell her I’m a member. Almost everyone in my family is, though I rarely use my membership. There’s an annual five-figure membership fee just to get in. That doesn’t include the cost to rent private rooms and other benefits the club offers.

“I’m going to reach out to the current owner,” I say, thinking out loud.

Kelsey snorts. “Good luck with that.”

I don’t tell her about the last time I was at the club, months ago, when I came face-to-face with the owner. We never exchanged words, but his dark, almost coal-black eyes radiated something I couldn’t look away from.

“Dae Kim,” I whisper. I pull up the phone number of the Black Opal on my cell and dial.

“See you later,” Kelsey says.

I wave to her as I make my call. It's a long shot, but maybe Dae Kim will be open to sharing something about his former business partner with me.

CHAPTER 3

Kennedy

“Are you sure he’s coming?” I ask the stern-faced security guard standing in front of the door to the private room that I was escorted into ten minutes ago.

“Yes,” the guard answers, his eyes flicking away from me quickly.

It’s as if he’s afraid to stare at me for too long.

After a week of phone calls with no response from Dae Kim’s office, I decided to use my membership and come to the Black Opal to speak with him directly.

I lift my gaze to the crystal chandelier hanging overhead and the velvet red walls that outline the black and gold furniture. This place has exclusivity written all over it.

The gold dress, which stops at my five-inch heels but has a split on the left side, fits in with the club’s atmosphere.

“Do you know how long it will be?” I ask after another five minutes.

Before the guard can answer, the door behind him opens. He turns quickly to face whoever enters.

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