Page 8 of Trapped In Wonderland

Her intrigue makes me laugh, lightening up our tense discussion. Shit, this woman is so unpredictable. And I like that about her despite the fact it also drives me crazy.

I quickly sober up and continue, “Anyway, you said it yourself. The security is tight. How can someone infiltrate them so easily? My theory is, it’s an inside job, and Oracle may just be on it. She knows who Princessa really is and how much she’s worth. At this moment, we can’t trust anyone.”

Her lips purse in doubt, but she replies, “Maybe. But for now, I’m more concerned about blocking Fox. We’ll figure out who’s behind this once I gain control again.”

She’s right. We can speculate all we want, but we won’t have answers unless we can stop Fox first. And I feel helpless in that capacity. I have neither the skill nor the weapons to do that and it’s frustrating.

The trill of a sinister laugh suddenly comes through the computer, sharply cutting the tension in the air. We simultaneously turn to the screen. The laughter accompanies a new image of a fox holding a magnifying glass and a message that reads: “We want our money in one hour or say hello to the world.” Close-up stills of the Club members flash across the screen.

I squeeze my fist so hard when Núria’s naked form blinks in front of me. Despite the crown mask, I easily recognize her. It means someone else who knows her well can, too. I want to smash that screen.

A warm hand covers mine.

“We’ll lose our only advantage if you break my laptop,” Kitty warns.

With a hard exhale, I shake out my fist. “Lo siento. Sorry.”

She brushes off my apology and checks something on her computer.

“Why is Fox sending this to you?” I ask.

“No, not to me. Fox’s messages go to the club’s security network that I’m piggybacking. Oracle and her people are seeing this, too. I’m trying to triangulate where the messages are coming from.”

“Any progress?” I ask.

Kitty shakes her head. “It’s rerouting to a different location every few seconds. They’re not dummies.”

New footage appears on the screen. It’s an image of their backs, hunched over the computer. Another message types out: “Hello, Kitty and Toro. Welcome to Club Wonderland, where masks stay on, so we all can play naughty games.”

Kitty gasps. “Fuck. They know I’m in the network. But how do they know our code names?”

This confirms it’s an inside job. We exchange glances.

“We have a mole in Club Wonderland,” I conclude.

5

Kitty

Raul jerks back, grittinghis teeth. “That’s it. I’m getting us out of here!”

He backs out from the side of the bench, straight into a cage sitting on his other side, then lets out a string of curses in Spanish.

I cringe at the sound of the metal cage scraping the stone floor. I quickly slip out from between the bench and the dildo display box to hold him off.

“What will you do? You might bench press a tank, but even you can’t break that door down.”

He gives me a death glare. “I may look thick, but I’m not stupid.” He walks to the door and studies it. “Why does the club even need a vault like this?”

Kitty shrugs. “The previous owner might’ve installed it. People who own an estate this size probably have many valuables to protect. The items in here may be worth quite a bit of money in certain communities. There’s a collector for anything.”

Raul doesn’t seem to listen and mutters, “There’s gotta be something we can do. We can’t sit on our asses and let this Fox get away with things.”

“We’re not,” I say, while scanning the wall and the items across from me. I then check the video of us the Fox shared. “It’s not surprising there’s a camera in here. They want to make sure their wiretap is secure. The camera must be somewhere around that suspension frame.”

Raul jerks his chin up. “Explain to me again, why can’t we just rip that thing off the wall?”

I step closer to him and lower my voice. “Because destroying it means cutting off our connection to them. And we don’t know what they already have.”

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