Page 25 of East (The Moral Compass 3)

East walks around the room looking for clues while I sit with the security team. We see Drake take his sleeping tablet and then go to bed. Just after midnight, we see Margarite enter the room and go straight for Drake’s bedroom.

Both of them leave fifteen minutes later. There is no struggle, and Drake looks fine. Tired, but fine. Where has he gone with her and why?

We try Margarite’s number for the hundredth time. It’s off and going straight to voicemail. I have left plenty of messages. I just don’t understand any of it.

East has been trying to track her phone, but it’s coming up dead. There is no signal coming from the device at all.

We go back to looking at the footage. East taps into the strip’s cameras and we see a very lethargic Drake get into the back of a limo. A few more minutes, and East has a registration plate. Another two minutes more, and she has the limo company’s details. Jesus, this girl is so good. My dick starts to get hard when I look at the beautiful girl tapping away. She’s got those damn glasses on. I thought they were just for show but, apparently, she actually needs them. Fuck, that’s hot!

“If we call up the limo company, they won’t give us any information. We need to go down there and speak to them directly,” I say.

“Hmm, who won’t? Just watch and learn.” She winks at me and gives me a cocky smile.

Seconds later, she’s on the phone.

“I’m terribly sorry for calling at this late time, but I’ve got a bit of an emergency. Oh, no. I don’t need to hire a limo. I need to know where one is. You see, my grandmother hired a limo from you earlier, and she’s missing.” She sobs.

“Yes, I understand. The problem is I have power of attorney over her health and wellbeing. There is already so much shit going on in our family over that.” She sobs again. Shit, there are real tears.

“Yes, thank you. My brother is on his way from England, and he’s a real thug. If I’ve lost Gran, he is going to kill me. She told me she was feeling sleepy and went to bed, but she’s gone. I’ve just checked her medication, and she’s not taken it.” She wails and sobs.

“Oh my god. He is going to kill me. Please, can you help me? I just need to know where the limo dropped her off. I will go and fetch her and give her some meds. Any damage to the vehicle will be covered. I know she is a little incontinent.”

She grabs a pen and scribbles an address on the pad.

“Thank you so much for everything. You might just have saved a life.” She ends the call, wipes her eyes, and smiles with victory.

“See, that’s how it’s done. I’ve just saved us a good hour and a lot of pain.”

I’m seeing her in a totally different light. She is amazing. I should have given her far more credit. She is a McGarry, after all.Or she was!

I “borrowed” one of the security team’s cars. I say borrowed. I didn’t give them an option.

We arrive at the address a short time later. It’s another hotel. Great!

East winks as we walk to the reception desk.

“Oh, Lord, please, you need to help us. My grandmother is here with my husband’s brother, and we need to find her. She’s not taken her medication, and she is at serious risk of having heart failure. If I don’t get this to her like an hour ago, she’s going to die.” And there she goes again with the tears and snivelling.

“What’s her name?”

“Margarite O’Brien? But she could have said any name. She’s trying to hide from us. She’s you know… not thinking right!” East spins her finger at her temple.

The man on reception nods as he looks at his screen. “Okay, can I see some identification?”

“Honey, can you show the nice man your driver’s licence?”

I pull out my wallet, look for the one with my O’Brien name on it, and show the guy. He nods again. “She’s in Room 307. Can you please get her out of here? We’ve already had several complaints about the loud noises coming from the room. We were just about to call the police to have her removed.”

“Yes, we certainly will, but if she is kicking and screaming at us, please don’t call the cops. It will take a while for her meds to kick in.” East smiles again and wipes her eyes.

Outside Room 307, we stand in shock. The noise coming from the room is well… not good. It sounds like someone is having sex. Like,really loudsex.

We both look at each other in disgust. I really don’t want to disturb whatever is going on, but if it is Margarite doing it with my brother, I really need to stop it. My stomach churns as East swipes the card she managed to get from her new friend on the reception desk.

We open the door tentatively. I feel sick to my stomach. I close my eyes and silently pray.

My brother is definitely having sex but, to my relief it’s not with Margarite.

---