“What should we do?” he asks me, chewing on his bottom lip.
I reach out and put a fingertip there until he stops the chewing. Now that I’ve been up close and personal with those lips, I’m invested in them. They feel like my property. I can’t be letting him gnaw on them, willy-nilly.
It only takes a few seconds for a plan to come to me. I can’t drop the thread on Ellery right now, especially as they’re potentially getting farther and farther away. But I can’t leave Colm hanging, either. For all his talk about “fuck the Banna”, I know his allegiance to them runs far deeper than mine.
“Let’s split up,” I say.
Colm immediately opens his mouth to object, but conveniently my hand is still next to his face, so I pinch those plush lips shut.
“Hush now, Mammy’s speaking. We have two situations here and abandoning either of them risks losing vital clues. I reckon you can hire that girl for a private dance in one of those terrifying rooms. See if you can get her to speak. Or if she won’t, you’ll know she’s afraid and they’re watching. Either way, you can pick up some information. Take your time, I’m sure she could use the break. I’ll go into the casino and start asking after Ellery. We’ll meet back at the car in an hour. You can call the Banna for reinforcements on the trafficking issue, and then we can follow the trail on my sister. Deal?”
Colm is looking at me like I’m fucking mad, but I think it’s a solid plan.
“You don’t mind me getting a lap dance from a random woman?”
Never in my life have I rolled my eyes this hard. I stand up, ready to get going.
“No, Colm. I don’t mind you getting a lap dance in the name of human rights. I’m sorry if my lack of jealousy breaks your heart.”
He shrugs, acting nonchalant, and stands up as well. There’s a tightness to his face that I don’t like, though.
I lean in close, making sure the bartender still can’t hear, and whisper one more thing to him.
“If she tries to suck your cock, I’ll slit her throat, obviously. But you wouldn’t let that happen anyway. You know who your master is, little rabbit. Don’t you?”
The warmth that floods Colm’s face is endearing. For the first time in public, I want him to kiss me. We almost lean in,but seem to realize we’re doing it at the same time. We can’t completely blow our cover already.
“One hour. Meet at the car. We’ll figure all this out.”
I don’t know when I became the calm one in this partnership, but I do enjoy being in charge, so I’m not complaining.
Colm continues to give me a lingering look, not pulling away, so I throw a wink in his direction and then turn to head to the casino.
This place is massive.Maybe we need more than an hour, although it’s also fucking filthy and the whole thing gives me the creeps. I wander through some corridors between the strip club and the casino for a while, dipping into any rooms I can find.
Nothing interesting comes up. My next stop is the casino floor to see if I can charm the information out of any underpaid flunkies.
Imagine my surprise when the next door I open reveals several tall, handsome men that look like more gangsters, all standing around staring at each other, dripping with tension.
Oh, and with a body on the floor. I may have a mission to get to, but this is intriguing, and I do love a bit of intrigue.
“Shit,” one of them says, as they all look at me and ready themselves for a fight.
I can’t help but smile. This is at least interesting. These people definitely might know something about either Colm’s problem or this place in general, and even if they don’t, I might be able to get them to help me in exchange for assistance withbody disposal. After burying those Aryans in the desert, I feel like quite the expert.
“You trying to hide the body?” I ask.
“Yeah,” one of them says. He’s tall and handsome, but that’s not much to distinguish because they’re all inordinately good-looking. “You have a problem with that?”
“Fuck no. I think it’s a great idea. Better that than leaving him right out in the open.”
Obviously.
They all look at me like I’m the weird one, when they’re the ones standing in a random casino backroom with a dead body.
“Yeah. Gotta find an unlocked door to stuff him in. You happen to know of any?”
“No,” I say, I’m already getting turned around in here. “I just arrived, but let me ask you something. Did he deserve it? Scratch that. I’m sure he did. No one here deserves to live.”
