Chapter 29
Dylan had the money. It was in his hands.
He wondered if he should head home or stay here.
The women were beautiful, but he doubted they wanted someone like him.
He wasn't young and sexy. He might have been able to make it in a place like Miami or maybe another country, but here, he wasn't desirable enough.
He headed to a club that night. He could spend a few hundred dollars of the cash and not be down too much.
At first, the women ignored him. Then he flashed some money around, and he saw the difference in how they acted toward him.
Their eyes filled with a light that turned his stomach.
It reminded him of how the women from the club he owned looked at the men who came for pleasure.
It was different from how they looked at the men they dated or were married to. Those men got love.
He didn't blame the dancers and waitresses for playing the game they played with the customers.
The women wanted money, and the men were there to give it to them.
The women here looked at him in that same way, and this wasn't even a strip joint.
He was just at a regular bar. These women didn't want him. They wanted his money.
The night lost its pleasure. He stood to leave when a young woman came up to him. “Hey, darling. You aren't leaving, are you? That would be a real shame.”
He tried for a smile, but it might have been a smirk. “I don’t think staying would be wise.”
“We could have some fun.”
“I don’t think so. But thank you.”
“Aww, come on. You’d like it.”
This time, he didn't even try for a smile. “I said no.”
His ego had been hit. Knowing the women didn’t like him for himself had him wondering if he had ever had a relationship that wasn’t transactional.
All the women in his past had been in it for their own gain.
When he was younger, he’d thought he’d found a good woman who would love him forever, but she’d ended up leaving him for someone else.
Said the other guy wasn’t a jerk like him.
Now he was too old for these games. If he was going to be in a game, he wanted to be the leader.
Once back at his motel, he sent a note to an old contact, someone who was good at looking for people. He got a call almost immediately.
“Who do you need to find?”
“Just a girl. She used to work for me. Owes me some money.”
“It will cost you.”
“I’m sure it will.”
“Send me a grand, and I'll get started.”
“Sure. What rate?”
“Two hundred a day after I go through the thousand. There’ll be fees that will eat up your money, but some should be leftover for the daily fee. Shouldn’t be much more.”
“Thanks, man.”
“No thanks needed. It’s a job.”
The call ended, and he sent an email to the guy along with some money. When he woke the next day, the guy had sent a note that he was already on the job. Maybe by the time he got back to Albuquerque, he would know where to head.