Page 79 of Scarred King

“Elena?” he looks at me, surprised. “You want to give me a heart attack?” He puts his hand on his chest and exhales noisily. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for Ralph,” I reply, and feel the anxiety taking over me again.

“Yeah, I can’t get him on the phone,” he says, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the huge man look so upset.

“I couldn’t either.” I pick up a barstool and sit down. “Wait a minute, didn’t they arrest you?”

“Yeah, they did.” He starts washing the glasses in the sink, as if that’s the most important thing to do right now. “But they let me go after a couple of hours. I’m just a bartender.” He winks at me, but I can still see the tension on his face.

“They’ll probably release Liam soon also, right?” I ask hopefully.

“They’re not going to let your boyfriend out so quickly.” He washes another glass and sets it down to dry.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say in confusion as I suddenly realize that we’ve never actually defined our relationship.

Charlie laughs and then grows serious as he waves a threatening finger at me. “And that’s exactly what you need to tell them if they question you too.”

“What a mess.” I prop my elbows on the counter and hold my head in despair.

“Bigger than you think.” He puts a bottle of water in front of me. “We need to pray that the crazy German turns up before midnight.”

“Why midnight?” I look at my cellphone and see that it’s already eight in the evening.

“Because the predators will move in at midnight and the bar will have new owners.”

“What?” I sit up, shocked. “What does that mean? Why midnight? Who are the predators? What exactly will happen?” I remember what Liam said to me over the phone, and now I realize how bad the situation is.

“Hey, stay cool.” He opens the bottle and offers it to me. I take a slow sip, but my anxiety won't go. “There are clear rules in our world,” he starts to explain as he continues to wash the glasses. “As soon as the owners disappear from the business, anyone can walk in and take over.”

I feel a lump in my throat. “But the owners haven’t disappeared. The owners will get out soon and come back here.”

“There’s a code of honor that allows the owners to return within 24 hours. That ends at midnight and that’s when the party begins.”

“And that’s why we need Ralph here?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Charlie sighs. “Only the German can save us now.”

The door opens again, and I whip my head around hysterically. The twins walk in, shake their heads and sit down at one of the tables with gloomy faces. The tall brunette comes in as well, looks around, groans and sits down with the twins.

“They let them out, too?” I ask Charlie.

“The police know they’re just hookers. Nobody’s interested in them. They’re not the ones they’re looking for.”

“What a mess,” I repeat and put my head back in my hands. The door opens again and again, and more girls come inside. Even the connecting door to the club is wide open now, and girls I recognize from my evening at the club with Ralph walk through it and sit with our girls.

“What should we do?” I ask when two hours go by and there is no sign of Ralph.

“Keep praying’,” Charlie answers and starts sweeping behind the counter.

“What exactly will happen at midnight?”

“Groups will start coming in. Whoever takes over gets the bar.”

“What groups?”

“The Russians, the French, the Italians.”

“The Italians?” my eyes widen in fear. “But there’s a ceasefire.” I hope I’ll get a different answer from him than the one I got from Liam.

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