“Yes, dear.” She laughed, forgetting for a few minutes that she was miserable. And she was miserable. Flynn had peeled away so many layers of her, she scarcely recognized who she was at her core. She wasn’t the same girl who woke up two mornings ago in the bedroom across the hall.
She had fundamentally changed and she wasn’t sure she liked it. Ignorance was bliss. At least, ignorance of the carnal knowledge that was Special Agent Flynn Ryker. What he’d awoken in her would forever be on the prowl for more. No one else would give her what he had. Confidence, orgasms, laughter, and for the first time in her life, something to focus on that was just for her. Something other than her tawdry past or the lows that searching for the sister had brought her to.
Alex. She felt so helpless. Getting the info out of Andre was no longer an option. She had no sex video. Wasn’t going to get one either. Wasn’t going to be put up to another one. She’d stick with Flynn’s story that she did have a video, but her phone was stolen at the gym.
Now how was she going to get the answers she needed? Maybe there was information in Boris’s office at the club? It was Monday and even though the club was closed, from what she’d heard, Sherry, the office manager, was usually there. At the very least Izzy needed her tips. She was broke, with barely enough left on her transit pass to take the bus to BART and BART to the city. So while she was getting her tips from her locker, where Andre would have put them, maybe she could make a little detour to Boris’s office and see what she could see.
Izzy showered quickly and as she walked into the kitchen, Charlie was cooking up a breakfast fit for a king and queen. “Your hunk of burning love sure knows how to shop and where. Love Whole Foods!”
Her stomach growled, and soon she was consuming a delicious brie omelet, toasted croissant, and fresh berries topped with cream. “A girl could get used to this.”
Charlie sighed and said, “A girl can wish.”
Once the dishes were cleaned and put away, Izzy grabbed her purse and said, “Will you be here when I get back?”
“Depends; where are you going and how long will you be?”
“I’m going to the club to get my tips and tell that crazy Cossack you met yesterday that you didn’t appreciate his rudeness!”
“Oh, hell no you aren’t. I don’t want you to get into trouble on my account.”
“Charlie, I’m already in trouble. I’ll probably be in more if I bump into the owner, Boris. He’s scary.” Izzy shivered when she realized she was going to have to face him sooner or later. Might as well make it sooner, right? “Not sure how long I’ll be gone, but don’t wait for me if you have to go.”
“I’ve got some laundry to do, I can do it here instead of at Steven’s.”
Izzy smiled, stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. “Okay, dear, I should be home in time for lunch. Fix us something yummy.”
“You got it, sweets.”
Smiling, Izzy strode out the door and headed for the bus that would take her to BART, which would then take her to the city. As she waited at the bus stop, her nerves started to get the better of her. What if Andre or Boris was there? Boris, not likely. Andre, maybe. He’d want the video. Instinctively, she knew he was not going to care that her phone was stolen. He’d push for another video with another man.
The lovely breakfast churned in her stomach. The thought of making a video with anyone other than Flynn made her sick. Exhaling, Izzy began to question the means to her end. How far would she go to find her sister? And at what cost?
Chapter Sixteen
Izzy looked at her watch. The bus was late. Instead of sitting on the bench inside the bus stop shelter, she paced back and forth along the sidewalk. She was nervous about snooping in Boris’s office. If she got caught, she’d have a hard time explaining why she was in there. But she’d hit a dead end, and she needed to act. Now. Izzy had known the minute she walked into Surf’s Up that the club was a front. For what, she didn’t know exactly, but she could guess. What on earth had gotten into her sister’s head to go to work at such a place? The Alex she grew up with would never have set foot in a place like that. Did her parents know? How could they not?
Izzy wasn’t psychic, but her gut told her there was a lot more to her sister’s disappearance than any of them thought. Her gut also told her Alex was in deep trouble.
With Flynn out of the picture, Izzy’s only recourse was to go to Oakland PD and San Francisco PD. Fill out a missing persons report, and tell them what she knew. In the meantime, she’d do what she had been doing at the club. Dig for answers.
Rolling her neck several times like a prizefighter getting ready for the title bout, Izzy mentally pumped herself up. She could do this. It wasn’t like Boris was a permanent fixture in the place like Andre. Boss man only showed up once a week, usually Saturday nights. She highly doubted he’d be there on a Monday. If he was, she decided she would ask him for a minute of his time. He’d want something from her for the information. Probably to show up to the private party Andre had told her about. Izzy swallowed hard. The thought of going to Boris’s private residence and dancing for his associates terrified her.
She felt like she was free-falling down the rabbit hole. There was no one to catch her if it all went to hell. Shaking off the fear that shook her resolve, Izzy focused on what she needed to survive right now. Her tip money.
Glancing at her watch again, she grumbled. It wasn’t like she had a schedule to keep, but she wanted to get to the club, get out of there while it was still early, then head to the San Francisco police department and, once back here, to the Oakland cops.
When her cell phone rang, she about jumped out of her skin.
It was Andre. Swallowing hard she answered. “Hello?”
“Hello, little girl.” He sounded exactly like Gru from Despicable Me. Just meaner.
“Hi, Andre, what’s up?” she asked in the perkiest voice she could muster.
“I ask you same question.”
“Not much.” Beginning to pace along the curb in front of the shelter, eyes to the ground, Izzy held her breath, waiting for the shoe to drop.
“You bring me video now.”
“I—ah, about that, I don’t have it. My phone was stolen at the gym yesterday.”
“But you answer your phone.”
“Yeah, it’s a loaner. I just got it this morning. I put a reward up at the gym for my phone. It’s locked, so no one can access it.”
“Did you make video?”
“Yes, I did. I think Boris will be happy.” She bit her bottom lip. “When do you expect he’ll be in next?”
“Boris tell me nothing. But now we both pay big price for no-show.”
“Andre,” Izzy implored, “I promise you, I’ll get my phone back.”
“Hope so, would not like to hurt little girl.”
“You would not hurt me!”
“Pain is good motivator.” He hung up.
She was still staring at her phone in disbelief when a white van came barreling around the corner at a high rate of speed. Izzy jumped back from the curb as it careened toward her. The van ran up on the curb and continued straight for her. Screaming, she ran for her life toward the low concrete wall behind the bus stop enclosure. The van sped by, but not before clipping the edge of the shelter.
It all happened so quickly she didn’t get a look at the driver.
In horror, she watched it come back around the other end of the street. Was he coming at her again? Backing up, she heard the air brakes of the bus as it pulled up behind her to the stop.
The door opened and she jumped in. The van sped past, turning left.
Shaken, she asked the driver. “Did you see that?”
Bored, he looked at her. “See what?”
“That white van that just passed tried to run me over!”