“I’m okay.”
“You’re not. But you will be,” I assured her, my hand sliding up and down her back as the hotel loomed up ahead.
It really was far away from the Boardwalk and everything else in the heart of Atlantic City. It was close to the bridge and acted like its own all-in-one resort.
We climbed out of the car and I wrapped an arm around Roe, tucking her face against my chest so no one looked too hard at her.
She and I kept moving forward toward the elevator bank while Remo paused to actually check in.
Within five minutes, we were at the top floor in a waterfront suite with a living room, kitchenette, and sweeping views.
It was nice, done in creamy shades and blues, looking modern and clean.
I could practically hear Remo’s thoughts as he looked around, how he wanted to renovate the rooms at Frank’s place to make it fresher.
“My brother is bringing up ice packs, a first aid kit, change of clothes, and medicine. Over-the-counter and the good shit,” Remo said as I brought Roe with me over to the couch.
“I thought you weren’t hurt anywhere else,” I said, noticing her bloodied knees.
“Oh. Yeah. I forgot. I kind of got… trampled. A little.”
“The fire alarm.”
“Yeah.”
“We can wait to talk until after we get meds in you, if you want,” I assured her as Remo sat across from us in one of the barrel chairs.
“No. No, I think I need to tell you now.”
I shared a look with Remo.
I was getting to know him well enough to see the tension around his eyes, but I doubted Roe clocked it.
“Okay. We’re listening.”
“I got off stage and was grabbed from behind in the hallway. Someone carried me to some room I’d never seen before. And when we got inside, the pit boss was already there…”
“She’s working with them?” Remo asked.
“No. No, they’d beaten her. Badly. She was trying to take the blame for me,” Roe said, eyes watering up, but she blinked the tears away. “I, um, I tried to stall by kind of… picking at Frank. And it worked for a while until the guy who attacked me got angry.”
“So Frank wasn’t running shit,” Remo said.
“No. I have no proof, but I think he’s in debt to their bosses. For a shopping addiction.”
“Makes sense,” I said, thinking of the paperwork she’d snapped a picture of.
There hadn’t been anything outwardly criminal there, but the receipts were for a shit ton of crap he likely didn’t need. And there was a second mortgage on the hotel.
“Then, um, the guy got fed up and started to hit me.” Her voice was detached, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not as she recalled the events. “But Frank got called away. And, well, our odds were better.”
“You fought them off.”
“I think she did more of the work. She had that heavy door lock you gave me. And she… she didn’t hold back when she was slamming them over the heads with it.”
“How hard? We looking at bodies?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t check, but I don’t think so. Then we just… ran. She set off the fire alarm. And she took the lock with her. But the crowd of people separated us. Is there a way to make sure she is okay? I don’t want them to find her.”
