“Is he there?” Harrison’s voice rings into my ears.
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“How’d you get in if he isn’t there?”
“There’s more than one entrance to Aces Underground. Since I got here early, I took the other entrance, the one the cards usually take. They only use that entrance outside of business hours, so it’s not a big deal.”
“Okay…” A pause. “I hate to bother you about this, but can you take that entrance and go back up to street level and check the foyer? If Chet really isn’t there, his ledger might be unprotected.”
“All right. Stand by.”
I walk back down the mirrored staircase, back into the club, and into the ladies’ restroom. The overwhelming pinks of the room nearly blind me, from the fuchsia chaise at the entrance to the hearts monogrammed on the tiles of the floor. The walls are papered with a bright-pink pattern of the four card suits repeating. Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts. One of the clubs in the wallpaper on the far side of the restroom juts out from the wall, just enough to be undetectable to anyone who doesn’t know it’s there. I depress the club and it sinks into the wall, lighting up slightly. The wall splits, revealing the Red Door. I open it and reveal a staircase lined in shattered pieces of mirror that leads to the street level. I quickly ascend and exit through two separate doors which open discreetly to an alleyway around the corner from the one where members normally enter. I walk around the building and go inside the black door to the foyer.
“Are you there yet?” Harrison asks.
“Just walked inside.” I look around the foyer, from the couch lined in white rabbit fur to Chet’s pink desk in the corner. “Not a soul inside.”
“Good.”
“Is it?” I look over my shoulder. “Chet’s supposed to be here at his desk anytime the club doors are open. Most of the staff—the ones who don’t serve—come in through here starting about a half hour before opening. They won’t be able to get down without his keys.”
“Then he must have gone to the bathroom or something. You don’t have much time.”
“You’re probably right.” My heart races.
“Is his book there?”
“Looking now.” I cross the room and look under Chet’s desk and raise my eyebrows. “Holy crap. It’s actually here.”
“Excellent! Can you open it back to mid-February? See the last time Alissa and Maddox came to the club?”
“Sure. One sec.” I squat and pick up the book, using my leg muscles to lug it onto Chet’s tiny desk. It’s heavy, but I manage to get it on there without making a lot of sound. I open the book and flip to the weekend of Valentine’s Day, skimming the list for names. “Looks like Maddox and Alissa came on both the fourteenth and the fifteenth. The fifteenth was the last day they were here.”
“Right.” A pause. “The email from Alissa saying she was going out of town came through the sixteenth, so I guess that adds up.”
Another pause.
“You still there?” I look around as my heart starts to pound in my ears. “I don’t know how much more time I have.”
“Yeah. Can you take a picture of the list of names that were there that evening? I’ll see if I can contact any of them, find out if they witnessed anything.”
“Sure thing.” I switch my phone from the call to the camera app and take a few pictures of the list. I quickly text them to Harrison. “Did those come through?”
“Yeah, just got them. Thanks a lot, babe.”
“Of course. Happy to help. And Harrison?”
“Yeah?”
My breath catches. “Are you okay? Is everything okay? Are you… Are you safe? You sound a little tense.”
He pauses again. Then, “Bianca, the only safety you should worry about tonight is your own. Get the hell out of the foyer before Chet comes back.”
23
HARRISON
I end the call.
