Three Hours (Seven Series Book 5) (7 page)

Melody tugged on a balloon string. “Can I have some cake?”

“Is your tummy better? Maybe you should just sit here for a while and then we’ll see.”

She nodded and Izzy scooted back to let her sit on her lap.

William flipped a chair around next to Trevor and took a seat with his arms draped over the back. “Mustn’t worry about her having a little cake now. She started feeling better an hour ago and already ate a jelly sandwich.”

“Thanks for watching her.” Izzy pulled Melody’s hair back and kissed her head. “That was a big help. I would have stayed, but I already volunteered to set up the table and decorate.”

“Say, can I get some of that cake before it’s all gone?” he asked, brushing a large curl of his brown hair away from his eyes.

From what I knew about packs, everyone bonded with the children and helped look after them, so it wasn’t uncommon for parents to go out and leave their children in the care of the pack.

Trevor slid his plate in front of William. “You can have mine. It’s too sweet.”

When William turned to look at Trevor, I couldn’t see his face anymore. But I saw Trevor’s, and his cheeks bloomed with color before he sat back and started retying the laces on his oxfords.

Just as I felt Ben’s finger swipe down my arm, Lexi appeared and handed me my purse. “Your phone keeps ringing.”

I opened my white handbag and pulled out my slim phone. “Hello?”

“It’s Daphne.”

“Tell me this isn’t a work emergency. I’ve already talked to Dean about it and he promised me the day off without any interruptions. Darling, please have someone else fill in.”

“Skye is missing.”

My breath caught. I turned my back on the group and covered my right ear. “What do you mean?”

Ben got up and wandered off.

“One of the girls was going outside and heard a scream. She said a van sped out of the parking lot, and we haven’t seen Skye since.”

“What makes you think something’s wrong? That could have been anything. Maybe it wasn’t her.”

“I thought so too, but Tina found Skye’s purse, a bottle of pepper spray, and her red shoe in the empty parking spot next to her car. She caught a glimpse of a struggle before they took off. Do you know if Skye was having problems with a boyfriend?”

I swallowed thickly and nausea crept over me. When my heart began to race, I stood up and distanced myself from the group. “She mentioned something about being followed. I gave her my pepper spray before I left last night because I thought it was just another fan.
Oh, no
. Daphne, she has a little girl. Did you know that?”

“No. I didn’t really bond with her the way you have with all the girls. Dean is super pissed, and he contacted the Council, but they don’t give a hoot about a missing dancer. Then he called the higher authority to send a Regulator out to investigate, but they won’t bother.”

Regulators of the Security Force worked for the higher authority—leaders of different Breeds that were in charge of the courts. They weren’t technically government since each big city had one. The only cases they focused on were high-profile crimes. Regulators were dangerous men with katanas. They served warrants, performed investigations, and got the job done.

“See if Dean called her family, or if he has their number on record. I doubt it, but maybe they know something.” I tapped my fingernail on my tooth, pacing in a small circle. I could feel a few eyes on me from the table, mostly from the men. Their ears had perked up when I raised my voice, so I made an effort to remain calm. “Daphne, tell Dean he needs to hire a PI.”

My eyes skated over to Reno and an idea sprang to mind.

“I’ll try,” she said. “But if he has to pay out of his own pocket, I don’t know if he will. Dean said the owner doesn’t want any part of it and suggested Skye was probably mixed up in something illegal.”

“Bullshit!” I yelled. I toned it down when Hope made a stinky face at me. Not that the Weston pack cared about cursing around the kids, but maybe I kind of did.

“Daph, I might have someone who can help. I’ll see what I can do. Skye is a sweet girl and this just makes me sick to my stomach. Call me if you hear anything.”

“You take care of yourself. First Lacy and now Skye. I just can’t believe this is happening in our club. All the girls are on edge, so do me a favor and buy yourself something better than a can of mace.”

“Will do, chickypoo.”

I hung up the phone and pulled in a sharp breath to calm myself. When I returned to my seat, Reno and Wheeler’s eyes were locked on me. Hard.

Lexi had migrated onto Austin’s lap where she was preoccupied with nibbling on his earlobe. His eyes hooded and she smiled mischievously.

“Better cut that out, Ladybug,” I heard him say.

Melody pulled Jericho’s hand so hard that one of his fat rings popped off. He finally capitulated and stood up, towering over her. Izzy followed behind them and Melody led the way toward a glass machine filled with colorful stuffed animals. Meanwhile, Denver and Maizy were behind me, throwing balls at a machine.

“Something wrong?” Reno asked in a low voice. The sounds of ringing bells and squealing children overlapped, making it difficult to hear him.

“I’d like to talk to you later, if that’s okay.”

He pinched his chin and nodded. “No sweat.”

A balloon string unraveled from the back of April’s chair, sending the shiny object into the rafters overhead.

“Holy smokes, I didn’t mean to do that,” she said. “I’m sorry, Naya.”

I laughed softly. “There are ten more. She won’t miss it.”

“That’s some gift you got her.” April pointed toward the box full of purses, scarves, and beads. They were items I would normally have given to charity, but I’d been saving them over the past year for just this occasion.

“Girls love to play dress-up, and she can always use a few accessories. It was no trouble.” What I didn’t mention to April was that some of the purses were designer.

Wheeler couldn’t take his pale brown eyes off me. “What was the call about?”

“My hairdresser couldn’t fit me in at three, so it’s a crisis.”

He gripped the edge of the table and leaned back, looking his usual snarly self.

I shoved all my anxiety into a mental drawer and closed it tight. There would be plenty of time to think about it later, and worrying would only ruin the party. I squeezed my hands into tight fists beneath the table, then stretched out all the muscles so they’d quit shaking. I’d always had a sweet spot for Skye because of the nice things she’d say about people. She wasn’t catty; that came with years of practice in a job like ours.

An hour later, everyone had eaten enough cake and pizza to sedate an elephant. Maizy was the belle of the ball, her face beaming each time she reappeared to look at her gifts and give her mom a hug. She loved physical affection, and maybe that wasn’t so common among some children her age—especially humans. Shifters adored family, so it was good to see that rubbing off on her.

While Lynn cleaned off the table, William packed up the gifts and hauled them to the car.

I caught sight of Maizy playing an arcade game near the main doors, so I walked over and sat in a red bucket seat facing her. Pizza Zone was a grand room with numerous tables in the center. One area had plastic tunnels for small children to climb through, and all the games were in multiple rows along the outer walls. I glanced at a bright window to my left and thought about Skye.

Reno dragged a tiny red chair in my direction and parked it to my right. “What’s the problem?”

I crossed my legs and my anklet jingled. “A friend of mine is missing. Not just missing, someone saw her taken. A van, but I don’t know the details. Reno, you’re one of the best private investigators, so I was hoping you could help. The higher authority won’t touch it and neither will the club owner. I have money, and I’ll pay whatever you charge.”

“Is she a close friend?”

I touched a loose curl of my hair and it spiraled around my finger. “She’s a sweet girl who doesn’t have anyone to look out for her. Let’s just say I don’t like seeing bad things happen to good people.”

“Fair enough, but if no one got the plates or a description, that could be problematic,” he said in a low register. Reno eased back in his chair and gave the situation some consideration. “This was at Club Sin?”

“Yes.”

“Who witnessed it?”

“A girl named Tina. If you need to question them, you’ll have to do it discreetly. Our manager has been a pain in the rear lately.”

An icy gust of air from the vent overhead suddenly enveloped me, and a million goose bumps erupted across my skin. I shivered and folded my arms, tightly hugging my body.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. A kidnapping never ends well—not with dancers. I’ve seen it a dozen times, and most of those girls end up on the black market. They single out the ones without family, and especially girls who don’t have much fight in them. Someone like you? Too much work for a buyer, and you’d be hard to sell. But yeah, the sex-slave trade goes on, and it’s a dark, ugly world. I’ve saved a few girls and put them in a safe home, but way too many slip through the cracks. There’s no way to save them all.”

My heart almost stopped and I clutched my chest. “Please, no.”

“It happens,” he said with a shrug. “Dancers are easy prey. Mostly it’s Shifters, but the black market has room for everyone, regardless of gender or age. There are malicious bastards who have been around for centuries, and not all of them have wised up. Some of the immortals still want to live a barbaric lifestyle where they have Shifters as pets. Makes them feel superior and shit—like a king or a god.”

“You mean
slaves
. Humans volunteer to be pets for Shifters, but no Shifter in their right mind would do the same of their own free will.”

He sighed and crossed his black boots at the ankles. “I’ll do what I can, Naya, but I can’t get in too deep. You’re a friend to Lexi, so I won’t turn you away. To tell you the truth, Austin might see this as a conflict of interest. In any case, I can’t promise it’s going to be a happy ending. You might never find out what happened to her. You ready for that?”

“I’m not giving up on her. Everyone deserves to have someone fight for them.”

“Okay then. Give me Tina’s number, and I’ll start with her.”

“Thank you.” I scribbled her number along with Daphne’s on a piece of paper, and he tucked it in his wallet.

We quietly watched Maizy play her game. She briefly turned around to fish more tokens out of a purse I’d given her when a young man in a casual dress shirt appeared and took over the machine.

“
Hey
, I was playing that,” she said.

“Sorry, kid. It’s mine now.”

“You can’t cut in front of me. I was getting coins.” She held one in front of his face, and he gently pushed her arm away.

I leaned toward Reno until our arms touched. “I bet he’s one of those
friends of the family
who doesn’t have kids of his own. What kind of man would put his needs before a child?”

“A dirtbag, that’s who.”

Humans fascinated me and I wanted to see how Maizy would react to his bullying. A girl needs to stand her ground and not let a man run over her.

Which is exactly what she did. I almost burst out laughing when she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it so hard that a button popped off the front. He regained his balance and glowered at her.

“You can play when I finish my game,” she said matter-of-factly. “It’s not nice to disrespect a woman.”

I laughed heartily that time. “I see the Cole brothers have been teaching her well.”

Reno folded his arms.

“Kid, if you don’t scram, I’m going to tell your mom you ruined my shirt. Then you’ll really get a spanking.”

Maizy retaliated by slamming her hand on one of the buttons, looking up at him defiantly.

“Does this kid belong to someone?” he shouted out to the room.

“That human is two seconds away from getting his ass kicked,” Reno muttered, leaning forward, his chair creaking.

Maizy changed her strategy and offered her coins to him. “You can have all my tokens if you let me play one last time before I have to go.”

“Thanks, kid.”

He took the coins, stuffed them in his pocket, and kept playing. Maizy gripped the stick on the machine and when he seized her wrist, Denver materialized.

“Shit’s about to get real,” Reno muttered, leaning back in his chair and extending his left arm behind me.

Denver snatched the man by the wrist and severed his grip on Maizy. He put his straw hat on Maizy’s head and, without removing his eyes from the man, said, “Go help your mom. We’ll play a game as soon as you’re done.”

Maizy walked away, and Denver’s expression became explosive.

“I think you need to cool off,” the young man said, snapping his arm back. “If that’s your kid, maybe you should send her to obedience school.”

Wrong. Choice. Of. Words.

Denver gripped the man’s trachea so firmly that his eyes bulged. “Don’t you
ever
put your hands on a child,” Denver bit out. “That makes you nothing more than pond scum not fit enough to dirty the bottom of my shoe. Normally I’d knock your face in, but today is a special day, so you lucked out. But if you want to continue arguing, we can take it outside and I’ll show you how serious I am. Doubt me for
one
second, and I’ll make the beating twice as bad. Your call. Now why don’t you get the fuck out of here?”