Chapter 6 Nick
Nick
The bass of the music vibrates through my chest, and the flicker of multiple colored lights pulse through Sapphire, Gulf View’s most exclusive VIP club at the Diamond Aces Resort and Casino. Only Platinum Diamond-level high rollers and a few of their guests are allowed in here.
I don’t gamble often, but as a silent partner of the casino, I get in for free. Tonight, I have a meeting with the owner, Christopher Vade. Vade and I grew up going to the racetracks with our families.
We used to sell pot in tea bags to the jockeys.
It was the start of a beautiful, crime-ridden friendship.
He went to business school; I went to law school.
Since both of us came from long lines of old money, we didn’t necessarily have to work our way to the top, we were always destined to be a shoo-in for the Ivy League of our choice.
“Double Eagle Very Rare 20-Year on the rocks and keep them coming.” I slip the waitress a bill. Her plump ass threatens to bust out of her skin-tight leather miniskirt like a can of biscuits when she walks away.
I may have to take her in the backroom and plant my face in it later. I love biscuits.
“Help yourself to whatever catches your eye.” Vade knows what I’m thinking without me having to say it. “That one could suck a watermelon through a straw. I dumped a load down her throat earlier.”
“As much as I’d like for my army of egg seekers to swim with yours down the saliva slide, you should just tell me what this urgent meeting is all about.” I take my glass from the blonde bombshell that’s returned with my drink.
“Is that all I can get for you?” She runs her long black nails over the top of her barely covered breast.
“That’s all for now, keep the whiskey coming.” She gives me a quick “yes sir” with a wink and walks away. Goddamn, I should just let her suck my brains through my dick while I let Vade fill me in on whatever it is, but I’m just not interested.
“Last night, one of the boats carrying a shipment of guns intercepted a passenger boat a few miles off the coast, heading in this direction.” Vade eyes me like I’m supposed to know what the fuck he’s talking about.
“And? Refugees trying to reach the border, what’s wrong with that?” We’ve helped a few of them to the shores before. They’re some of our best workers; we always make sure they and their families are well taken care of in return. “I seem to be missing the problem here.”
“It wasn’t a refugee boat. It was a boat with three grown men and two drugged, underaged females.” Human traffickers. I don’t have the best reputation among women but even I’m not that big of a piece of shit.
“Do you know where they came from or where they were headed?” I sip my whiskey, savoring the smooth, complex flavor.
“Marcus immediately put a bullet between two of the traffickers’ eyes, spattering the already tormented girls with blood and brains. He and Lucas tried torturing information from the other male, only to find out he’s a mute.” Vade crosses his leg and lights a cigar, trying to hide his anxiety.
“Were you able to get an identity on either one?”
“We ran fingerprints and dental scans but haven’t come up with a match. Neither was carrying identity.” Vade rolls his eyes like he’s annoyed but then throws a book of matches my way.
“Thanks, but I’m trying to quit smoking.” Hardest thing I’ve ever done and probably why I’m so damn horny all the time. Traded one addiction for the other.
“Look at the matchbook you fucking idiot. It was found in the pocket of one of the captors. By the way, I’ve assigned a female doctor and team of nurses to look after the girls until they are stable enough to be reunited with their families.
We weren’t able to get any information, they don’t know who their captors are or where they were being taken.
” Vade sips his drink, the look on his face sullen.
Vade is a good guy, he’s always had a heart. We’ve intercepted a few missing women and children over the years. He and Alex always make sure they get the proper help for as long as they need it.
I mostly stay out of it, but I do help with funding. Our team, while criminals themselves, are always instructed to intervene on cases like that.
Vade’s sister, Charlie, was a victim of human trafficking, so it’s a cause neither one of us take lightly.
It was fun letting her feed her captors to the group of wild hogs we trapped on my farm in Louisiana.
Their screams drove the pigs into a huge feeding frenzy.
It took them a long time to die. I’d say it was a fitting punishment.
Charlie now lives in New York City with Alex, her rescuer and now husband, where she spends her spare time running a safe house for trafficking victims.
I peer at the book of matches. The Lucky Rabbit Casino. “The shithole casino down the street? Anyone could be carrying these.”
“Open it.” Vade takes a sip of his drink.
I open the book and on the inside there’s a name written in curvy handwriting on the inside. Madam LaBell.
“Name sound familiar to you?” He’s watching me intently.
Honestly, no, not in the slightest. “Never heard of her. Why?”
“I have an inkling she’s connected to a trafficking ring and possibly connected to The Lucky Rabbit. Have you ever seen the strippers at Cottontails? Most of them look like they’ve been drugged beyond all comprehension.” Vade’s face is heavy with concern.
Cottontails is the strip club inside The Lucky Rabbit.
“Never been in there, but I suppose it’s possible. Have you asked Charlie and Alex if they know the name?” I turn the matchbook over in my hands a few times like a clue to who Madam LaBell is will just jump out at me. “It’s worth looking into. What do you suggest?”
Alex not only took down the ring that trafficked Charlie, he’s also the reason our black-market gun business is so successful. He’s a big city business tycoon with connections all over the world.
“I asked, they haven’t but said they would keep an ear out,” Vade says sullenly.
I understand how close to home stuff like this hits him. I’ll always have his back. He’s my brother, even if it’s not by blood.
“We could plant a spy in there. Can you think of someone who would be good for the job?” He pulls out a fat cigar, clips off the end, and uses the book of matches to light it.
I wrack my brain, there’s no shortage of beautiful women in this town who would do any favor I ask, but it also has to be someone trustworthy. “Sasha might be up for going undercover.”
Vade scratches his five-o’clock shadow, pondering for a moment. He’s familiar with her and her services too. “I don’t know, Nick. It would be too easy to trace her back to you.”
He’s right. Besides, I need my secretary and not just for her sexual favors. She also does a great job of keeping everything in the office running smoothly.
There are also the occasional formal gatherings where I just need the arm candy without expectations, and I can count on her to be no strings attached. She can always go home with someone else if she wants and sometimes does.
“I don’t think we need to ask anyone from around here, it’s too small of a town. Is there anyone else you can think of, possibly even from another state?” He leans forward, his elbows on his knees.
Wariness hits me, I know I shouldn’t but… “Actually, yes.” I take another sip of my whiskey and tell him about the girl I pulled from the river.
“Holy fuck, Nick, have you lost your fucking mind?” Vade laughs. “You jumped in the river to save a girl from Whiskey fucking Rivers? That place is like a third-world country.” He gives me an incredulous look.
“Yeah, well, it gets worse. Turns out she’s the one they’re looking for in connection to the house that blew up that night.”
“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.” He’s still looking at me with humor and disbelief.
“I don’t see any other options unless you have a better suggestion. I saved her life. She owes me.” I grab the book of matches and examine it. I hear a lot of things that go on in the streets, but a Madam LaBell is not one of them.
“How long until she would be ready to go undercover?” Skepticism lines his face but he obviously doesn’t have a better option. “We should check it out first.”
“Possibly a few weeks, but realistically a couple months. We could go or send in undercover men. Either way, she can’t go in blind. We do need to know what we’re working with.” I tip my glass back, letting the whiskey slide down my throat.
“She’s unknown around here. How are you going to ensure she won’t be abducted and sent somewhere else? We should just stick to planting a man in there.” His looks away from me as swirls the melting ice in his glass. No doubt concerned for her safety.
“It’s possible we’ll take them down before we have to send her in there, but I think we need to prep her for it anyway.
” I glance at my watch, it’s getting late.
“A man can’t always get information out of someone like a woman can.
She won’t be unprotected, we’ll plant a guard and have Ethan hack their system and keep a monitor on her at all times. ”
“Very well.”
I stand and shake his hand before heading home.
By the time I get there, everybody is asleep. It’s too quiet and I spent too much time couped up in the hospital. I slip into some shorts and take off towards the shore.
It’s a beautiful night to go for a run. I clear my head and let my feet pound into the sand. I focus on the steady rhythm of my breathing and my steady heart rate.
Running is one exercise that doesn’t come natural to me, but I push myself to do it anyway. Control and self-discipline are essential in handling the dangerous kinds of situations I find myself in and I strive to conquer both.
I run three miles along the shore before turning around. I’m hot and drenched with sweat by the time I get home but I’m still not satisfied so I sit in the sauna located on the back deck and relax.
Reflecting on my earlier meeting, I’m once again in a state of unease. I don’t like the idea of sending the girl in undercover, even with protection. I shouldn’t have even suggested it, but it might come down to our only option.
Instead of heading to my room when I come back inside, I take a left and head towards her room. Slowly, I ease the door open, careful not to wake her. The moonlight illuminates her pale face. She looks so frail and vulnerable, causing that foreign feeling to stir inside of me.
She will be ok. I’ll make damn sure of it.