Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
It reminded her so much of the club in LA. The one where she met Jensen. Where their two cases brought them together and then tore them apart. Case? His wasn’t a case. His was all about revenge.
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was Decadence was an awful lot like Club Paradise. The waitstaff there were being slowly transitioned into drug mules and sex workers. Though workers got paid, and Cliff Hamilton didn’t pay his girls. He took them for everything they were worth and tossed them aside when he was through with them.
Could they be connected? When they were working in LA, both she and Jensen had theories that there were more clubs. They thought Hamilton was trying to take his business to other cities. At the time there had been rumors Hamilton had some kind of tech work happening. There had been a group of young men who hadn’t fit in with the crowd. Hackers, she’d thought at the time, but what if they had been building the app this group was using to distribute their drugs?
Miranda shrugged. “I know I’m supposed to convince you to hang out here, but I think it would be better if you don’t. Phil isn’t as nice as he seems, and he’s always looking for more girls. You would fit the bill. You need to be careful because if he gives you a job offer, he doesn’t like it when you say no.”
Nope. She wasn’t going to be able to go slow at all. “Miranda, are you okay?”
The younger woman seemed to rally, forcing a smile to her face. “Of course. I’m sorry. I’m in a bad head space. Forget what I said.”
“I don’t think I can. I’m worried about you.”
Miranda waved her off. “Nothing to worry about. The money is great. It’s helping me pay off my loans, and I’m getting to move up soon and I won’t have to deal with the club again. Everyone who moves up seems happy. If you’re having second thoughts, you might want to trust your instincts.”
“My instincts tell me you’re in trouble,” Harlow said quietly.
“Well, I’m going to be if I don’t get back out to the floor soon,” Miranda said with a shaky laugh. “Phil was mad enough that Jack took an unscheduled break.”
“Niall will let him know you’re with me. We’ve got time. I would like to talk more.”
“I can show you around the dungeon, I guess,” Miranda offered.
She was going to lose her. It was a gamble, but she had to take it. “Miranda, your mother is worried about you. She’s worried this job is more than a regular job.”
Miranda stopped, her eyes widening and hand going to her chest. “My mom sent you? Who are you?”
At least she wasn’t running for the door. “I’m a private investigator, and she hired me to find you. I tracked you down to here. I know you had a fight with her and she told you if you left you shouldn’t come back, but sweetie, she did not mean it. She’s so sorry.”
Tears pooled in Miranda’s eyes. “She is?”
Harlow nodded. “She would do anything to take it back. You need to understand that this is not normal. I believe this place is a front for drug dealers, and they’re going to ask you to do something that they will use against you.”
Miranda went still. “I already owe them money. I didn’t mean to. Phil offered to buy my uniform and pay my rent when I was behind. I was going to pay him back, but he didn’t mention he was charging interest. I owe more than I borrowed.”
“That’s not legal,” Harlow said. “I’ve got some friends who are lawyers, and they can go over it. I think you’ll find your mother will likely pay him off if it means you’re out of here. She just wants you safe.”
There were other problems. If this was an organization even slightly like Hamilton’s, they would care more about the potential for Miranda to go to the authorities than they would the money, but she would deal with that problem another time.
It probably wasn’t what she thought it was. After all, Daisy’s father had taken care of the situation.
So why was the organization still running?
There was something going on here. Something she didn’t understand. But she was going to.
“I think they might come after my mom if I leave.” Miranda sniffled. “I don’t think I can. You don’t understand what they’re like.”
“I do. Miranda, I don’t think this is my first encounter with this group. If I’m right, they used to work in LA, and they were recently caught here, though I think the big guys flew under the radar.”
“Are you talking about what happened to the cartel?” Miranda’s voice went low. “There was talk of a cartel supplying some of the clubs with party favors, as they called them. I had to serve them when they came in for meetings. That was when I knew we were in trouble, but then this private investigator was looking to track down a wayward boyfriend. He was one of the guys who worked upstairs. The PI caught him in the middle of a deal, and all hell broke loose for a couple of months.”