Page 45 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

The girl spins on her heels and stares at the three of us as we get closer to them. Relief, fear or something else is plastered on her face.

I keep running as one man sprints for the car. It doesn’t take me long to catch up with him, and I slam my shoulder into his body at full force. He takes a nosedive onto the grass. Jove lunges on top of him, cuffs his wrists as I turn back to the girl. I’m about to whisk her away, but Beau has the situation under control.

At least we thought we had, but the girl drops to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably as she looks at the man’s arms in the air. She turns to me and hisses, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“What!”

Beau leaves to collect Erin as Jove and I drag the two men back to the club. The girl is crying hysterically, and we can’t get much out of her.

Beau and Erin arrive when we reach the manager’s office. Erin rushes to the girl, taking her to the office next door, getting her away from her kidnappers and to console her as we question the men.

The door to the office opens, and the manager walks in.

“Where were you taking the girl?” I ask the men.

“None of your fucking business.” The red-haired guy wriggles his body on the chair he is sitting on, but he’s handcuffed, and there’s no way he’ll escape.

“This is my business,” the manager hisses in his ear. “Now start talking before I have you disappearing like the girls.”

The kidnappers turn and stare at each other, but my eyes travel over the top of their heads and I watch Erin through the window that separates the two offices.

She’s talking to the girl who is much calmer now, just gentle shakes of her shoulders as she sobs. Erin places a soft hand on her back and turns to me and mouths, “Can I speak to you outside?”

I nod.

Outside the offices, Erin says, “You need to speak to Desiree. She’s involved.”

“She’s one of Club Sin’s staff,” I say, confused.

Erin nods as I open the door and ask the manager to come outside.

He rises from his chair. I wait for him to close the door before I say, “What is Desiree’s job in Club Sin?”

“She’s our administrator on the auction floor.”

“Administrator?” I repeat.

“Yeah. She checks the bidders beforehand, making sure they have the funds to bid at the auction. During the auction, she logs all bids and then makes sure the payment goes through before the girl goes to the chosen room.”

“We need to speak to her, but away from the men inside,” I say.

Erin goes back to the girl.

Inside the office, Jove and Beau are now watching the security footage of tonight’s attempted kidnapping. They’ve already placed the kidnappers in the back room where both are handcuffed to their chairs and also to the pipework running along the wall.

“We need to watch all the auctions,” Jove says, clicking the next link. The manager and the three of us watch the second kidnapped girl’s auction for clues.

To see any similarities.

Erin comes into the office and sits on the chair in the corner. Her leg crosses over the other as she sits in silence. Her head lifts when she notices me staring. She gives me a bewildered look before she stands and stares at the girl still crying in the room next door. Erin sighs before she turns and walks to the table and watches Bambi’s auction.

She tilts her head at the screen and says, “She never went to room twenty-three.” Everyone stares at where Erin is pointing. “... And the woman in black with the girl was there the first night I came to Club Sin. Both of them caused a scene while watching the auction that night… and also during Bambi’s auction.”

“That’s Madam Sylvia,” the manager says.

Jove nods. “And we’ve already checked her out. She isn’t involved.”

“It’s not my case,” Erin says, turning away. “But if it was, I would ask why she and her partner put on a show when there was an auction.” She turns back to the screen, watching the action on the floor, and points at another woman. “And then ask her who she is.”

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