Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Five fifty-three in the morning I bust through the surveillance room door in Perdition. Slater sits with his back to me at one monitor wall with Jeremy hovering over his shoulder. Both turn when I walk in.
“There he is. Morning, Karson,” Jeremy greets, entirely too chipper for this hour, pulling me in for a handshake.
“You must be the only one of us that actually gets any sleep.” I pat him on the shoulder, then push by him to take a seat next to Slater.
“Nope. I survive solely on energy drinks,” Jeremy responds, shaking his almost empty Monster can. My eyes fall to the trash can by his seat. Judging by the contents, this is his fourth so far.
“That shit will kill you,” I say with a chuckle, then turn to face Slater. “Morning, cupcake. What am I doing here this early?”
“There’s something I need you all to see. We have a bit of a problem,” Slater says, his voice laced with concern.
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, the door bursts open.
Maverick stalks into the room carrying a cup of coffee, followed by Elias and Cole.
I still don’t particularly care for him.
He’s still a limp dick tool bag–but he, Ashlynn and Parker have become close.
Maverick also trusts him, so it’s enough for me… for now.
Mav pulls up a chair next to me as Elias and Cole exchange pleasantries with Jeremy.
“Have you got anything more on our jumper?” Mav asks. The room goes silent, all attention focused on Slater. Jeremy stuffs his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“We’re working on retracing his steps through the property,” Slater begins. “It’s going to take some time. But that’s not why I called you guys in this morning.”
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Cole chimes in. Elias nods in agreement.
“Take a look at this,” Jeremy steps forward, pointing to one of the monitors.
The image is paused on a view of the second floor of Rapture. My skin begins to prickle when Slater presses play. We all watch in silence for a few minutes, before our spines all collectively straighten.
“What the fuck?” Elias grits between his teeth, pulling out his glasses and leans forward to get a better look.
“When was this?” I question. I was there all night last night and nothing out of the ordinary stood out. Granted, I didn't leave the first floor. None of our team said anything happened.
“Two days ago,” Slater answers. “Keep watching.” He fast forwards, skipping through the unimportant bits, stopping right around the time the club starts to close down.
We watch as the group of bartenders and dancers make their way down to the first floor out of the club.
Slater changes the camera footage to follow the group each step of their way out of the building.
One of them starts to stumble a little, and the others help her out into the parking garage.
They all stop allowing her to sit for a moment.
One of them offers her a bottle of water, which she accepts.
After some time, she seems to have pulled herself together and stands.
The girls part ways–reluctantly–but Slater keeps the footage focused on the one girl, who starts to use the trunks of other vehicles for support as she begins to stumble some more.
She stops behind an older Ford pickup, hanging onto the tailgate for support as she doubles over and starts throwing up. Slater points to the screen to the right, showing a black cargo van speeding down to the first level where the girl is from the third.
I know where this is going.
My eyes flash between screens until the van reaches her, and without even stopping, the back door opens. A pair of arms reach out, grab the girl to pull her inside, then the van disappears.
“Tell me you got a plate,” I say.
“A vin, a face, something,” Maverick adds.
I turn to see Jeremy looking at his shoes.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I slam my fist on the desk.
“We’ve tracked this van all the way off of the property.
I even got into the traffic cameras nearby, but we lost it.
Whoever was driving must know where there are gaps in coverage and used it to swap vehicles.
There were no plates on the van, and the vin plate had something covering it,” Slater informs us and the room falls silent.
Two nights ago Ashlynn was off, and if she isn't working I don't go in that cesspool. Looks like that’s about to change.
“How did none of our team on the second floor realize what was happening?” Cole asks.
“You can tell by the footage it was a fairly busy night. Some kind of party,” Slater answers, and goes back to the images from the second floor.
“The bar was fairly busy, and if you look over in the corner, they were all breaking up a fight.” He points to the back corner.
Sure enough the three guards that were stationed up there that night are pulling people apart, trying to separate them. Taking all eyes off the bar.
“Cole, Hades doesn't have any big events planned for at least a couple of months. I want you over at Rapture,” Maverick orders.
Cole nods and his eyes flash over to me. I glare at him for a moment, letting him know that if he fucks this up, his balls are on the line. He seems to understand, giving me a small nod as well.
“Elias, when do you leave?” I ask. He looks at his watch.
“My flight leaves in three hours. I need to get going.”
“Flight? Where the fuck are you going?” My brow furrows, watching him with curiosity.
“None of your business, Karson. I have shit I need to take care of.” He levels me with a glare and a grin pulls at my lips. He turns to Mav. “If you boys got this, I really do need to leave.”
“Yeah, we got this,” Maverick answers. Elias nods, then makes his way around the room, saving me for last. When he gets to me, his expression is hard.
“You need to keep her out of there, Karson.” He lowers his voice so that only I can hear him.
“I know. It’s not going to be easy.”
“She’s going to raise hell…but you need to keep her away.
” His tone is urgent. Everyone knows that I’ve been chasing Ashlynn for the last year.
Elias and Maverick are the only two that understand how much longer I’ve been trying to find her.
I nod and he pulls me in for a one-armed hug, patting me on the back.
“You guys call me if you need me. I should only be a couple of days,” Elias tells everyone, and we all say our goodbyes.
After our morning shift meeting in the Pit, Maverick and I make our way to one of the many restaurants inside Perdition for breakfast and some coffee.
We sent Cole home to get a few hours of sleep since he will start in Rapture tonight.
He isn’t too excited about being in a bar environment again, but he understands the need.
We grab our food and drinks, then sit at one of the tables that’s next to the front window. After a minute of silence passes, Maverick speaks.
“I think we need to consider pulling in some more people for the parking garages. Build a booth for them with camera access. This is the fifth so far this year.” His green eyes search mine, and I nod in agreement.
“It’s not a bad idea. We definitely can't afford to pull anyone from the floor here.” I can tell he’s a little shaken. “Are you alright?”
He thinks for a minute before an affirmative grunt rumbles in his chest.
“Just glad Parker agreed not to not work there.” He looks back at me.
He doesn't need to elaborate further. When she was taken from Doc’s last year, it went unspoken that she was done bartending.
I honestly expected her to fight him a little bit on it, but she understood it was for her safety.
She fought too long to have it and wasn’t about to risk losing it anymore.
“Think she can help me convince Ash to quit?” I ask, letting out an exhausted chuckle.
“She’ll never do it on her own. She gives Parker’s independence a run for its money.
” He takes a sip of coffee and shifts in his seat.
“You’re going to have to do something.” He raises a brow at me.
He’s right. Ashlynn isn’t going to just quit because I said she needs to.
If anything, she’ll pick up more shifts as a big ‘fuck you’ if I even suggest it.
If I force it, she’ll hate me even more.
But the alternative is something happening to her, and I can’t let that happen.
“Just so you know,” Maverick clears his throat. “If something happens to her best friend, Parker will fuck you up.” He lifts his coffee cup for another sip, his eyes boring into mine.
“I won’t let it.” I pull out my phone and text her.
Me
You’re not going into work tonight.
She fires back with a typical “eat shit” response, and I shove my phone back into my pocket.
“It’s gonna be a long night for you, huh?” Mav snorts and I feel anger roll over me in waves.
“Seems that way.”