Chapter Twenty-Four
Ishmael
“Daniel wants a word, sir,”
Ishmael tilted his head in a deceptively lazy gesture and gave a slow smile to the cocktail waitress who’d just whispered in his ear.
“You’ll have to excuse me, ladies,” he said to the women sitting next to him at the VIP bar. “But I’m being dragged away to work.”
“Aww,” pouted the brunette. “But we only just got to talking.” She reached a hand out as he pushed himself off of his stool. Dragging a long, purple artificial nail down his sleeve, she simpered, “I’d hoped for us to get much better acquainted.” She glanced down at his crotch as she spoke, then raised her eyes to his, fluttering her lashes.
He cupped her jaw in his hand and leaned in, brushing a kiss across her cheek. “Sadly, it looks as if that is not to be this evening,” he said before turning away. He strode to the stairs whee he saw Daniel waiting. If Jamal’s younger brother had ventured into the club to find him, he knew it had to be necessary. Jamal kept his bother in the bank of offices he occupied, rarely allowing the young man to encounter any of Ishmael’s staff beyond its walls. Ishmael himself had only met Daniel three times before now.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mr Lux,” the young man said, his eyes darting nervously.
“Not at all, you rescued me from a potentially sticky situation later, when I’d have to rebuff her more arduous advances.”
“Oh!” Daniel’s cheeks coloured. He cleared his throat. “Jamal wanted me to tell you in person, but your, ah, special guests? They, ah, left.”
This was the news? It had been four hours, so their leaving now wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Ishmael knit his brows together. There had to be something else.“Okay...?” He drew the word out, hoping to prompt Daniel into revealing more.
Daniel licked his lips. “Oh! Yeah, they left, out the back entrance, without letting anyone know, and without collecting their, ah, belongings.”
Now that was interesting, especially seeing as one of them had left a handgun behind.
“Oh, yeah, he also said to tell you they left without partaking of all the delights on offer.” Daniel blushed again.
“I see. So, before their entertainment arrived.”
“Yes.” Daniel nodded in relief.
This doesn’t add up quite right.
Ishmael swept his eyes about the VIP lounge, then downstairs. He tightened his lips. Reaching into his inner breast pocket, he pulled out a business card. “Take this to the bar and present this to the bartender,” he said, also pulling out a pen and scribbling one word on the back of it. “Then the two women I was with a moment ago, order them each a drink and yourself one, as well as a meal, then take it to a booth.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “Okay.” His voice held more than a whiff of fear to it.
“It’ll be all right,” Ishmael reassured him. “It’s just a precaution.” Ishmael smiled broadly at him, pulled out his mobile and said, “Okay, now smile for the picture.” Both men gave a dazzling smile as Ishmael clapped an arm around Daniel’s shoulder, snapping a photo. “Hashtag ‘celebrating’ at hashtag ’Lux’,” he said, thumbing at his screen. Ishmael grinned wider. “Congrats, man! I know that exam was a tough one!” he roared over the music at Daniel, in case anyone was trying to listen in.
He walked on down the stairs, leaving Daniel to go do as he had been told. Moments later, he spotted Ezra picking his way through the crowd.
“I was just about to come find you when I got the call,” Ezra said. “Jamal, huh?”
“Yes, and he sent Daniel. I don’t know who they are, but I suspect we have other company. I saw one on the dance floor who was a little too fixated on Daniel and me, another sitting at the tables by the bar, and I’m pretty certain I saw a certain new hire duck into the men’s room.”
“I’ve sent one of my men to deal with the lost property,” Ezra said.
“Excellent. I have a feeling it was meant to be traced back here.”
Ezra gave a curt nod.
Ishmael pinched the bridge of his nose. “See that Daniel and Jamal get home safely. I’m done for the evening.”
Ezra gave him a tight, knowing smile. “Enjoy the rest of your night, sir.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
Ezra walked Ishmael to his private lift, remaining behind to wrap up the night’s operations. Ishmael took a deep breath as the doors closed. Whatever the meeting had been about, Ishmael was confident that its occurring at his club had served another purpose. Something else was going on, and he had a suspicion that he knew who at least some of the other players were and what their end game might be. That was for tomorrow, though. The rest of tonight was all about Kris.
