“First time,” he said. “I don’t always have a crew. I rarely have a big budget for payroll. It all depends on the project, but I’ve always had someone working with me. Skin happens to be personal, so it’s out of pocket; and I’m flying solo on this one, at least so far.” He paused for a second, then asked, “Will you talk to me on camera again?”
“As long as you don’t push me too far.”
“The second the discomfort gets unbearable, put on the brakes.”
Lilith wondered how long that would take.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, she was sitting in front of the camera, Michael in its shadow once more.
“How do you feel about working at the club now that you’re done with your training wheels?” he asked.
“Since I’m not a dancer, where’s the interest?”
“Waitresses get nearly as much male attention as the dancers. It’s a sexist atmosphere. Usually I ask if this lifestyle was your choice or if you were you forced into it, but I highly doubt you’ve ever stepped foot in a gentlemen’s club before walking into Club Paradise.”
“You’re right.”
“So that makes me even more curious. I still haven’t figured out the attraction for a woman like you.”
So he wanted to know what made her tick. Because he was guilty? Or because he was actually interested in her? She wanted to believe the latter. Maybe if she gave up some information, so would he. Gabe had said his real father was connected, giving her a place to start.
“My stepfather was abusive.”
Michael seemed startled, as if that was the last thing he’d thought to hear, but he picked right up on the revelation. “So you ran away.”
“I got out of that house by going away to college. My younger sister ran because I failed her.”
Michael didn’t respond.
He was waiting for her to open up, something she’d only done with the therapist she’d seen in college. And with Elena. But talking to the camera rather than to a person — once more Michael was enveloped in shadow, almost removing him from the room — freed her.
“Marlon Aldrich hated me from the moment Mama brought him home. First he slapped me if I mouthed off to him when he got drunk and mean. Then he hit me harder if I got between him and Mama. Pretty soon, he used any excuse to beat me. I ended up in the ER numerous times.”
“What about the police?”
“What police? My mother covered for him, backed up his lies about accidents, about my being too clumsy. She used to tell me not to argue with him, that setting him off like that was my fault.” She took a deep breath. Licked her lips. The pain was old and yet fresh. The rest came out in an agonized rush. “I had to leave before it went further. I had some very dark thoughts. I started sleeping with a knife under my pillow. You can understand that, can’t you? I was a terrified seventeen-year-old. When I went away to school, my sister wanted to come with me, but how could I take care of a twelve-year-old? Besides, my sister was so timid, Marlon always just ignored her. I swear to God I didn’t think he would ever put a hand on her.”
“The physical abuse…” Michael’s voice was thick, as if he was angry in her stead. “…how did it affect your life?”
“By making me determined never to let it happen again. I learned to protect myself. Ever since college, I’ve been in a program called Street Survival, something I will be involved with forever. I take the class over and over every year to stay fighting sharp. My version of going to AA, I guess. Not that I was a pain addict. I just always want to be able to protect myself, to make sure a man never has the upper hand with me again.”
Not even long enough to make her dance for him. She was still worrying about that, hoping against hope that he would be caught and Hannah saved before she was forced into the limelight to strip for a roomful of strange men.
Wanting to know if what Gabe told her about Michael was true, she asked, “So what about your father?”
“He’s a sociologist. The kindest, gentlest man you’d ever want to meet.”
“You don’t have to sound so apologetic about it. I mean your birth father. Last time you said you were adopted and your birth mother was a stripper, but you didn’t tell me about him. Your mother did tell you about the man who fathered you, didn’t she?”
“Not at first and not easily. Tony isn’t what you would call an upstanding citizen. No surprise considering where he met my mother. Not a gentlemen’s club where they have fancy areas for bachelor and bachelorette parties. A strip joint. Old school. One that was run by The Outfit.”
So he was connected. Gabe hadn’t exaggerated.
Her pulse tick-ticked when she asked, “Did you meet him?”
“I was curious.”
She wished she could see his face. Not that she would get anything off him if he didn’t want her to. He was fully capable of hiding what he was thinking or feeling.
“What about focusing on your father’s lifestyle in a documentary?” she asked.
“About mobsters?” He laughed. “Sorry, but you have to be kidding. That’s been done before. Nothing new to mine. Besides, I like taking chances, but not with my life.”
“So your real father is dangerous.”
“I’m told he was. I don’t know about now. Most of those old mob guys went legit years ago. They took the money they earned illegally and put it into legal businesses. None of them want to make the state pen their retirement home. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have someone step in to protect their ‘good names.’”
Again, the laugh.
“So what does he do?”
Michael gave her an odd expression, then said, “You did it again, turned the conversation around. We weren’t supposed to be talking about me.”
Which meant he wasn’t going to answer. “To tell the truth,” she said, “I’m all talked out tonight.”
Lilith slid off the stool and walked over to the cart near the fireplace where he kept his liquor. She took a quick look to see what he didn’t have, and when he asked, “Can I make you a drink?” she returned, “I would love a glass of red wine.”
“I’m out, but I can easily get a bottle. It’ll only take me fifteen-twenty minutes. There’s a liquor store with a great stock two blocks from here. What’s your preference?”
Thankfully, he didn’t seem suspicious. All was going according to plan. She needed him out of there to search for the heart-half.
“Malbec if they have it. If not, a Shiraz. Really, anything will do.”
“No problem.” He backed off toward the door. “I’m going to walk. I’ll leave your car up front. Your keys are here,” he said, leaving them on a small table next to the front door. “But you are going to be here when I return, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I won’t disappear,” she said, thinking about how Hannah had.
The minute he was out the door, Lilith went to the window. While Michael’s building was off the main drag, she could see lights from restaurants and storefronts a few blocks away. She checked her watch to keep track of time. The moment she saw Michael on the street, she started her search, opening drawers, looking in boxes he had stacked all over the place. Even the small ones — anything big enough to hold a heart-half. Or anything else suspicious.
Nothing.
She hated doing this, hated suspecting Michael even a little, hated betraying him. But if the task force had him on its radar, there had to be a reason why. Gabe had been correct when he’d claimed Michael’s father was connected. He’d also said the man was dangerous, but Michael had shrugged that off. If she kept at him about his birth father, would he tell her what he was holding back, or would he simply close up?