What if Jewel is somewhere back there right now?
I push off the bar, drink forgotten, and force my way through the center of the dance floor.Reaching the curtain, I glance over my shoulder, but no one is stopping me.I disappear into a long corridor, red LED lights illuminating the path.
A door opens and slams shut.Two figures move toward me.Fuck.I keep moving, my head cast down.I need to find out what’s happening here—if Jewel is back here somewhere in one of the rooms.
“You lost?”the voice belonging to the guy says, and it sounds so familiar.
I look up and almost run straight into Callan and a young woman behind him.Shit.I keep my eyes down.
“Just looking for someone,” I say.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?”he asks, and all the blood drains from my face.Run.
Turning around, I bolt straight through the curtain, onto the dance floor, and back out the front entrance and around the corner of the building, not stopping until I’m halfway down the alley.
I lean back against the brick wall opposite the back door, hands braced on my knees as I catch my breath.That was close.Too close.Callan is one of the Brothers, one of Gage’s men.If Callan recognizes me, he’ll call Gage.But I don’t have much time left, and I’m not leaving here until I have answers.I need to get back inside and find out what’s happening behind those curtains.
I check the handle on the door.It has to lead to the club, but it doesn’t budge.Locked.
Maybe someone will come out this way.
Maybe you should go back home before you get caught, Amirah.
I ignore the voice of reason.Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
A few minutes later, the door opens, and a lady dressed in a black corset moves past me, her name badge pinned to her chest.
I reach out, grabbing her arm.She screams, but I place my hand over her mouth.Her eyes widen, and I bring my finger to my lips.She nods and I release her.
“What the hell?”she snaps.
“I need to get inside there and into the private rooms, and you’re going to help me.”
She looks me up and down.“And why would I do that?”
I pull out a hundred-dollar bill from my jacket pocket, and the corner of her mouth lifts.
“That’d do it.”She looks up and down the alley.“Follow and do everything I tell you.Got it?”
I nod, and she takes my hand and leads me inside.
Red LEDs along the floor light the pathway.We move down the hallway I was in before, turning left, then right, and come to a stop in front of a black door.
“Go inside, and do whatever they tell you,” she says, and I turn around to ask her what’s happening, but she’s already disappeared down the hallway.
I have no idea what waits on the other side of this door, but I’m here to get answers, and I pray to God that Jewel is there.
I open the door and step inside, shutting it softly behind me.I stare at my reflection in the mirror that fills the back wall.I count five girls sitting in booths, doing their hair and makeup, getting ready.They look strung out, broken.A lost look in their eyes.When the girl next to me places her arm down on the counter, I notice track marks lining her pale skin, and I suck in a deep breath.I don’t recognize any of them.No Jewel.
One girl walks past me wearing a red silky robe.I reach out and grab her arm.She frowns, coming to a stop.
“Yeah?”she asks, her gaze roaming up and down my body.
“I’m here to work.”
“Talk to Aubrey,” she says, pointing at the girl sitting in front of the mirror who is curling her long blonde hair.She looks young, younger than me.
I move toward her, and she watches me closely through the mirror, her eyes moving up and down my body.
