Page 44 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

“And nobody will find me?” she asks.

I spin on my heels and stride to the opposite wall when I realize the sound was coming from the other side of the room. Behind the walls at the rear and not from the main corridor.

My palms slide across the paneled walls as I try to listen for more. But I freeze when I feel a metal object. Slowly, I drag the lever down until it clicks and part of the wall moves. It’s like an old serving hatch and my hand is shaking as I contemplate what this means.

I don’t want anyone to see me, so I slowly open the small panel in the wall until it is ajar enough for me to peek out of.

I don’t see a girl but see two men, one short with red hair and the other is a beast. Taller, broader and his hair is platinum blond. His foot hovers in the air for a moment and he slowly turns his head toward where I am. My heart is thumping against my ribs. I press my hand against the wall and close the secret panel just enough for him not to see me.

Only when he starts to walk again do I close the hatch completely.

Is another girl about to be kidnapped?

I rush to my cell and call the first number on my contact list.

He answers in one ring.

“Atty.” My voice is quiet but rushed as blood thrashes in my ears. “I think another girl is about to be kidnapped. There’s a secret passageway behind all the rooms. Some rooms must have secret doorways, and that’s how they’ve gotten the girls out of Club Sin. Maybe an old servant’s entrance with a staircase, you know, like some of the old London houses.” I can’t get my words out quick enough, not wanting to waste a second.

They have to save this girl.

“Perhaps there’s a secret elevator or staircase. I don’t know, but two men have taken a girl. They told her they’ve parked their car behind the treeline at the rear of Club Sin.”

“Don’t leave the room,” Atty says. His voice is full of desperation.

“I won’t leave, but be safe.”

“I’m more concerned about you than myself,” he replies.

I smile. “I’m not a client anymore. My father has eliminated the threat. He just messaged me to let me know.”

He knows what I’m saying now.

I want them for more than one night.

I want them to want me too.

Atty’s breath is heavy as he sighs. It’s a sound that I don’t like one bit. “I need to go.”

Chapter 16

Atty

Ourfeetpoundonthe concrete as we race to the trees at the rear of Club Sin. Desperate to save the girl who’s in danger. We can’t let them get away with kidnapping another girl. Not only for her sake, but also because Club Sin won’t survive another kidnapping at their venue. It’s only a matter of time before the authorities find out.

Bambi’s parents want her disappearance kept under wraps, speculating that their daughter will be more at risk because of who they are—if she is still alive.

That’s Mafia families for you.

Nobody is safe, family, acquaintances or foes.

The girl our surveillance found in New York has disappeared, probably scared her kidnappers have found her again, but we know she left New York for Chicago. Our sources tell us she is still alive.

What we need to find out is who the kidnappers are and if Club Sin has a deeper problem.

We weave through the bushes at the other side of the rear parking lot, around flower beds. Soon everything around us fades as a black car and three people come into view.

Beau pulls out his pistol. He doesn’t stop running as he aims toward the two men, and shouts, “Stop and raise your arms!”

---