Page 105 of Filthy Elites

In the dim room, a light penetrates the darkness along with an incessant buzzing noise. The man growls and looks to the source of it. I sway back and forth, the only sense of gravity coming from the wall at my back. My face is wet. I feel like a broken doll and I’m so tired. So very tired…

“Fuck…” The man’s curse rouses me just a bit, enough to realize that I’ve closed my eyes. I fight to open them once more. He’s holding up my phone, staring at the screen with an angry expression. His eyes jerk up to meet mine. “Not a little mouse after all, I see,” he says, dropping my phone into my lap.

He stands and straightens his coat, pulling his glasses back down to cover his eyes. “Maybe next time, then,” he says and I watch—with a mixture of confusion and relief—as he opens the door and then disappears into the hallway, taking my phone with him as he leaves me laying there, shirt off and darkness encroaching on my hazy mind.

EIGHT

Viks

My gut is screamingat me as I enter Club Outsider. I just know Haley didn’t listen to me.When has she ever?

I cut through the crowds and lines at the front, waving a hand to the bouncer as I make my way towards Haley’s usual section. When all I see is the blonde at the bar, flitting back and forth as she makes drinks, and no sign of Haley, something in me sinks with dread.

“Hey,” I stop at the bar, “where’s your waitress?” I demand.

The girl—Valerie or Victoria or something—freezes at the sight of me and as if she can conjure her friend up with sheer willpower, she scans to the side and then looks back at me. “She was right here,” she says. “She’ll be back soon. Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Vikson?”

I shake my head. “Don’t cover for her,” I snap. “When was the last time you saw her. I need to know—it’s important.”

The woman’s face falls. “Twenty minutes ago,” she says. “She doesn’t normally stay away this long.”

My dread only grows. My instincts are rarely ever fucking wrong and right now, they’re telling me that Haley fucked up. She’s in trouble. I lift a hand, calling over the same bouncer that I bypassed. For a big man, he makes it to me in no time at all.

“Yes, Mr. Vikson?”

“Find Haley Montgomery,” I snap. “And get this girl another waitress to cover this section.”

The man glances at the bartender and then nods. “Yes, sir.”

I turn and pull open my phone, pressing the button to call her. It rings for several long seconds before it finally cuts through. “Haley?”

“Is that what her name was?” Ice freezes my veins as an unfamiliar, but very male voice answers. “Pretty name for a pretty girl, Mr. Vikson. Or shall I call you what she has you labeled as in her phone? Asshole Boss?” The man clicks his tongue. “You must not be very good to your employees.”

Before I can stop it, a growl erupts from my throat. “Where is she?”

“Who? Your waitress?” The man laughs. “She’s fine. Wish I could’ve taken her with me. In fact, had you not called, I would’ve been having a grand time with her right now. I’m quite peeved that you ruined it. I suppose you calling, though, means you’re in the club.”

“Where the fuck is the girl?” I demand again even as my eyes start to scan the room. Twenty minutes. If it’s only been that long since her partner has seen her, there’s no way she could’ve been dragged off site in that time … right? But even as I think that, experience tells me the truth. She absolutely could have. The man’s words, thankfully, tell me the truth. He’s left her and taken her phone with him which means she must still be in the club.

“Why talk about the girl when we could talk about why you’re really here, Viks?” he asks. “Tracking down your drug dealer? In other words … me.”

Tension flows through my veins, tightening up every muscle in my body at the man’s words. How careless had I been for this man to not only know who I am, but he knows that I’m onto him? I force myself to move, scanning the crowd as I hunt through the club, searching—in spite of myself—for a hint of Haley’s whereabouts. Were it anyone else, I would be focused solely on the conversation happening in my ear. I’d be listening for a hint of whereheis. Not her.

“My employer doesn’t take too kindly to lowlifes such as yourself intruding on his territory,” I comment, keeping my voice even, though my anxiety is mounting with each passing second.

The man on the phone chuckles and I hear a door open and close, the sound of noise on the other end I hadn’t even noticed cut off. He’s outside, I realize. He’s gone. In the wind. But that, too, is a clue.

Now, I’ve got a choice—I can choose an exit and go after him or I can take this information and search for Haley.

It’s not even a competition. If he’s leaving, then Haley is still in the building and I’ll look for her. There’s no telling what he did to her before taking her cell.

“Nicholas Carter is still a pup behind his ears,” the dealer says. “I’ve been in this business for a long time—maybe not on his level, but still.” There’s a brief pause and in that time, I cut through a group of drunken girls heading to the dancefloor and make my way into a back hallway, eyes roving down the empty space. I spot a door to a storage room hanging slightly open and head towards it, heart jack hammering inside my chest.

Adrenaline races through my system. What the fuck am I doing? I need to track the dealer. I need to find him, but the all of my focus lands on that door and I know. I just fucking know she’s behind it. What state she’s in, though … I’m fucking terrified to find out.

I’ve never been this scared in my life. Not since I was a child, learning that adults don’t always want to take care of you. That sometimes, all they want is for you to die so they can go back to how things were before you were ever born.

“Well, enjoy my little gift, Mr. Vikson,” the man on the other end of the phone says. “It’s too bad I couldn’t enjoy my time with her more.”

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