Page 76 of Nails
Riley plopped into an empty chair and reached for the coffee mug that Bear had set in front of her.Her fingers wrapped around it like it was her last lifeline.She took a sip, then looked across the table at Duke.
“Well,” she said, setting the cup down, “Physically, I feel like I got hit by a truck.Twice.Mentally?I can’t remember jack shit, but apparently, I heard that I put on quite a show.”She glanced at Nails and grinned.
A few of the guys smirked, though Bear choked slightly on his coffee.
“Oh, it was a show,” Nails muttered, earning a sharp elbow from her under the table.
The banter drew a few laughs, but Nails caught the other side of it too, the way the team’s eyes kept looking her way, checking for any sign she wasn’t okay.They weren’t just being polite.They truly cared.
“But jokes aside, my head still feels a little foggy, and I’m pissed off.But at least I’m alive.”
“We’re just glad that Nails was there,” Joker said, his voice carrying a serious tone to it.
“Me too,” she said and threw a wink at Nails.
Nails sat back, enjoying the laughter that lingered around the table, as the guys tossed good-natured jabs at Riley about the show that she couldn’t remember.She had taken it all in stride, rolling her eyes but smirking right back, her sarcasm holding its own against every one of them.
Once the ribbing ran its course, the mood shifted to the operation, and Riley and Nails went through everything they could remember about last night.They discussed the layout and the staff they had both met and worked with.Riley shared the story about Anya, and during that, one of the guys brought up the idea that maybe it was Anya who tampered with her water.She is the only one so far with a motive.After a careful discussion, they all decided, for now, to keep Riley’s drugging quiet as they didn’t want to draw any more unwanted attention to her.Nails made a mental note to look deeper into Anya.Nails then told them about Adam and his possessiveness over Riley, questioning their relationship, and how they stuck to the story of being friendly neighbors.By the time the discussion wrapped up, she and Nails had gone over every interaction that might matter.
The team was impressed with Riley.She was sharp, even running on half a tank, and between the two of them, they painted as full a picture as they could.
There wasn’t anything in it that would bring them closer to Anna, not yet, but no one looked discouraged.This was the job.Sometimes the breaks came in one night, and sometimes you chipped away until something gave.
As the team broke off to do their own thing, Riley gave Nails a look that said she was ready to get back in the fight.
Yeah.Last night had been a close call.But his girl was a fighter, and he knew that nothing would stop her until she found Anna and brought her home.But if anyone tried to mess with her, Nails would have her back, now and always.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I’m sorry, can you say that name again?”Riley asked, leaning slightly closer so she could hear him over the low thrum of bass rolling through the club.
The man in his mid-forties, well-dressed, and a regular she had been assigned to hostess for the evening, smiled faintly and repeated, “Anna.”
Anna.The name struck Riley like a sudden plunge into icy water, stealing her breath.Her fingers tightened around the neck of the champagne bottle she’d been refilling his glass from.
She had been waiting for days to hear that name spoken inside these walls, and now it had slipped from a patron’s lips as casually as if he were ordering another drink.
It had been three days since that night someone had slipped something into her drink.She still had no memory of what she did, though the guys reminded her often in the form of jokes.She hadn’t told anyone at the club, but it had sharpened every instinct she had.Every glance, every move, every tone of voice from a patron or staff member, it all got filed away in the back of her mind.
She forced a polite smile.“I’m still pretty new here, so that name’s not familiar to me,” she said, carefully modulating her voice so the sudden surge of adrenaline didn’t show.“Could you describe her?”
He shrugged, swirling the bubbly liquid in his glass.“A few inches shorter than you, and pink hair.You couldn’t miss her with that hair.She always had a big smile on her face, and she was just easy to be around.You know, real friendly.She always took care of me when I came in.”
Pink hair?Riley’s mind reeled over that one.Anna Sandri didn’t have pink hair.Even the photo taken of her the night she disappeared showed her having brown hair with sun-kissed highlights, not some cotton-candy-haired club girl.But wigs were an easy disguise.It wouldn’t be impossible for Anna to hide her real hair color that way, especially if she were trying to hide her real identity, since they already knew that she was using a fake last name.
“When did you last see her?”Riley asked, keeping her tone casual.
He shrugged.“Maybe two weeks ago.”
Two weeks ago, Riley repeated it in her head.Anna was last seen two weeks ago.God, she wished she had her phone on her so she could show the man Anna’s picture.But cell phones were forbidden on the club’s floor at all times.
“She probably moved on.Girls like her don’t stay in places like this forever,” the guy said, letting out a small laugh.“They’re young and don’t know what they want to do.One day they’re here, and the next they’re just gone.”He gave a little shrug, as if it were no big deal.“Believe me, I’ve seen it for years in these places.Women, they just come and go.”
Riley’s gut twisted so hard it nearly made her nauseous.She wondered how many of those women didn’t walk out of here by their own choice.How many were victims swallowed by the same sick trafficking network she was trying to expose, that was hidden in plain sight behind VIP tables and overpriced liquor?
“I’ll ask around,” she said, forcing a warm smile, though inside her mind was already racing through possibilities and questions.“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
“I appreciate that.”He slipped a folded bill into her hand without a second thought.She tucked it into the little side pocket of her skirt, gave him a quick nod, and moved toward the bar as Anna’s name echoed in her head.
