“It’s a hint. We think it’s a means of taking down Rouge. We figured out what the river of tears meant. Maddox’s car, his Rolls Royce—it was a gift from his father when he died. We found out that, when it’s raining, the raindrops create a trail down the window that lead to a hidden pocket in the car door. In it was a key that opened the safe in Rouge’s office.”
“What?” I ask. “How did you get into Rouge’s office?”
Before Alissa answers, Harrison’s mouth drops open.
“Oh my God. The fight with Pia. You started it as a distraction.”
“I did. Though the little bitch had it coming.”
“So Maddox got into the office and opened the safe?” I ask.
“Yes. Inside was a brooch that one of the waitstaff had been given as a gift before she left Aces. And there were countless red diamonds. Billions of dollars’ worth of them. And…beneath the diamonds was a manifest.”
“A manifest?” Harrison asks.
“Yes. A list of all the former waitstaff at Aces. We think Rouge has been doing something terrible with them. What, we’re not sure. But she had May—the Seven of Spades—killed and beheaded. We found her head buried in that nature preserve out by O’Hare.”
My chest caves and expands at the same time. Air won’t fit. A cold slick crawls down my spine. My mouth goes dry. Nausea claws up my throat, and I swallow hard because I can’t do anything else.
Did I really just hear what I think I heard?
Color drains from Harrison's face, and Dinah looks like she's about to lose her last meal.
“We think she did the same thing to Svetlana, the Nine of Diamonds,” Alissa continues.
“Oh, my God.” I swallow again. “I can’t wrap my head around this. My sister can be evil, but…”
“Maybe that’s what happened to the waitstaff at Rouge’s other clubs,” Harrison finally says.
Alissa squints. “Her other clubs?”
“Rouge doesn’t just own Aces Underground,” Harrison explains. “She has a bunch of other clubs throughout the city. Clubs that aren’t as exclusive but are still as lavishly decorated and attended by the city elites. I must have dropped a couple grand in cover fees for the two of us to tour them all last night.”
“But people have been mysteriously disappearing all over the city,” I add. “And they’re all connected to one of Rouge’s clubs.”
“My God.” Alissa swallows. “Perhaps this rabbit hole goes deeper than I ever could have imagined.”
“It seems to be swallowing people up,” I say. “But I swear to you, Alissa. Harrison and I will finish the work you started. We will get to the bottom of this if it’s the last thing we do.” I pause a moment. “That riddle you mentioned. You said you figured out half of it?”
“The river of tears, yes. But we’re not sure what the writing raven is supposed to be.”
“We’ll take it from here, Alissa.” I pat her hand, my own hand shaking from what I now know my sister is capable of. “You focus on getting your strength back.”
“One more thing,” Alissa says. “Chet. Don’t trust him. We thought he was on our side, but he’s loyal only to Rouge.”
“He’s a creep anyway,” Harrison says. “He wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of allies.”
“Even so, be careful.”
“We will be,” I say. “Dinah, you’ll keep an eye on them, won’t you?”
“Absolutely. I’ll get them admitted, too.”
“Great.” I turn to Harrison. “Because you and I have to go back to the club that started all of this.”
35
HARRISON
