Page 72 of Devoured
CHAPTER 20
Roland
I needed to get the hell out of Sage City. Just looking out the window into the muggy outdoors made me itch. I had worked in places more humid than this, but there was something about this place that made my skin crawl. Was it the headaches? The twitch of my fingers in my empty pocket? My heart rate pounding to get out. Out of this state. Never see this city again.
It had nothing to do with Sage City, and everything to do with her.
There were a few things left to do, then it was back into my old routines, where it didn’t matter what I did because no one depended on me. And if I was needed back here? I’d send someone else.
I wandered through the empty club, glancing out of the few hard-edged windows. It was midday; the cloudy skies made it seem later in the afternoon. The maintenance crew was polishing the floors, checking the strobe lights, testing the speakers. A bartender, who I had never seen in anything other than a corset, was in sweatpants and a stained shirt as she scrubbed down the bar, elbows deep in sour booze. I couldn’t make myself sit still. I fiddled with the fabric of my pocket, debating whether I should take one anyway. Iris was right; I relied on the pills too much. But as long as we weren’t fucking, what did it matter what I did?
And it was none of her business anyway. She had her own dependencies, like basing her entire self-worth on a sex club. She had problems to deal with, like I did.
Security notified me that the Adlers had arrived, so I met them in my office. It was quiet in there; the soundproof walls made it so that we couldn’t hear the maintenance crew. Wil put his hands in his pockets, whistling as he took in the steel gray and navy metal artwork behind me.
“That’s a big piece of art,” he said under his breath. “Must have cost a pretty penny.”
“It’s an original,” I said. Like that mattered.
Wil whistled and held out a hand. I shook his, then Derek’s.
“Nice to see you again, man,” Wil said.
“You were able to meet with Ethan and Teagan?” Derek asked.
“Yeah, thanks for that.” Putting me in contact with Ethan, and therefore, Teagen had been a favor that was completely separate from our business interactions. The products they were selling in Vanish, as well as the watch they had been keeping on Iris, were not part of it. “Let’s get right to it,” I said. “I need you to call off the watch on Iris.”
“You don’t need surveillance on her?” Wil asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll be out of here soon.” I looked around, wondering if I would miss it—this office, this club, this city. But I never did. No matter how many places I had gone, I always looked forward. In the end, each city was the same. Different weather, maybe. Different buildings. Different people. But each one had the same story.
So why did it feel different to leave this time?
“It’s unnecessary at this point,” I said, cutting off my own thoughts. “To give some feedback, they weren’t subtle. She knew she was being followed.” I shook my head. “Did I get your B-Team?”
“We’ve got a lot of shit we’re dealing with right now, and you said it wasn’t a priority. All you needed was a group to watch her,” Derek said. That was true. But what kind of shit were they dealing with? “Didn’t mention secrecy. I figured you had told her.”
“Why would I have told her?” I asked.
“To keep her in line.”
Maybe. But none of that mattered anymore. I moved along: “I say it only to keep it in mind for future business.”
They nodded. “Where to next?” Wil asked.
There was one place that was calling me. The only place I could go to and get as far away as possible while still being in the same country. I was done with wet skies and woods in every direction.
“Somewhere else,” I said.Not here.
We shook hands and discussed the payment for the sales in my club as well as some networking matters in other states, then the two of them slipped out. One more task checked off of my list.
I dialed David Mills. “Price,” he said, his voice shaky. “What’s taken you so long?”
“Good to hear from you too, Mills,” I said, trying to make my words sound good-natured. I was having a difficult time faking the charm right lately. I hated it, thesefeelings. “You still want to sell your club, right?”
“Sure as the sky is blue, my good man. It’s more of your venture, anyway; I’ll stick to my career,” he chuckled to himself. “Hate to tell you though: I’ve got another offer now. A sweet one at that. And it’s going to check out,” he paused, “unless you make a move soon.”
Shit. “How much are they offering?”
