The VIP Room(34)

He nodded, his eyes wide and kind of glazed as he watched Sam steer me through the chairs and tables and out the door. As soon as we were outside, I hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Sam opened the door to the truck and lifted me inside, his face dark, his eyes foreboding. He shut the door and rounded the front to get in, pulling his phone out as he went. He was already talking when he got in.

“… Yeah. Says he’s been playing in one of Tsepov’s rooms. On Studen. Fuck. I know. Call me when you know more. Thanks.”

“Axel?” I asked, unnerved by how angry Sam seemed to be. He gave a short nod. “Are you going to tell me what has you so upset?”

“Has your friend in there always been a tweaker?” Sam asked. I had no idea what he was asking.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“He was high, honey. Based on the fidgeting, dilated pupils, paranoia and sweating, I’m guessing meth.”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking down at my lap. I didn’t know anything about drugs. My dad was a drinker, and I’d always shied away from alcohol and drugs, afraid that whatever weakness drove my Dad to drink was hiding inside me as well. A horrifying thought occurred to me. “Do you think Nolan was doing drugs?”

“Did he act like Tim was? Paranoid, moving all the time, going without sleep?”

“No. Sometimes he came home really late, but then he’d pass out and I’d have a hard time getting him up for work. I guess he was out playing cards.”

“Sounds like it. I doubt he was on drugs, but if he’s tied up with Tsepov, then you’re out of this, Chloe. All the way out.”

“Why? We finally have something to go on, you can’t tell me I’m out of it.”

“Axel is going to the card room tonight. He’ll talk to Dog. He knows him, he can find out more than you can.”

“Then I’ll go to the pool hall and talk to this Feliks guy.”

“Chloe, just stay home and let Axel handle it,” Sam said, clearly exasperated.

“No. I have to find Nolan. The sooner I find him, the sooner everything can go back to normal.”

“You’re being irrational.”

“I’m not. You’re trying to control my life,” I said. “If you’re just going to get in my way, then take me to a hotel and I’ll do this on my own.”

“No f*cking way,” Sam said. He pulled the truck in front of a pizza place we both knew and turned the engine off.

“Why are we here?” I asked, confused.

“Dinner,” he answered, starting to get out. I put out a hand to stop him.

“Don’t get pizza. Take me to the store and I’ll get something I can cook.”

“You don’t have to cook Chloe.”

“I know I don’t. But I like to cook. It relaxes me. And you have an awesome kitchen.”

Sam sat back and shut the car door. I was annoyed with him, but I still wanted to get my hands on his kitchen. Anyway, Daniel would be there and he wasn’t annoying me. He shouldn’t get stuck with pizza because his son was an ass.

Crossing my arms over my chest as we drove to the grocery store, I said, “I’m going to the pool hall tonight. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” I had my car. At some point that morning, it had appeared in the driveway of Sam’s house. I’d noticed it when we left for work.

“You need to stay out of this, Chloe.”

“He’s my brother.”

“And Tsepov is Russian mob. I do not want you on this guy’s radar. It’s bad enough if your brother is mixed up with him.”

“If he’s so bad, how do you know him?” I asked. Sam didn’t exactly spend a lot of time hanging out with criminals. To my surprise, he looked out the side window, avoiding my eyes.

“He’s got an interest in concrete.”

“YOU'VE WORKED WITH HIM?!” I shouted. There I was, yelling for the second time in one day. But it wasn’t often I found out my boss and best friend was doing business with the mob.

“Not the way you’re thinking. Not once I knew who he was. Axel filled me in and I’ve kept an eye out where my business interests cross with Tsepov’s. He’s a smart man, but he’s dangerous. You need to stay away from him.”

“Fine, then Axel can go to the card room. But I’m still going to find this Feliks guy at the pool hall.”

Sam sighed again. “I’ll ask Axel. If the pool hall is Tsepov’s, we’re not going. If it’s clean, I’ll take you after dinner.”

“Fine,” I said, aware that to disagree would be unreasonable. I wanted to find Nolan. I did not want to get mixed up with the Russian mob.

We pulled into the grocery store closest to Sam’s house and I pushed my problems out of my mind for a while. There was nothing I could do in the next few hours except try to relax by cooking a nice dinner in Sam’s amazing kitchen. So that’s what I was going to do.

Mentally rifling through recipes, I almost didn’t notice when Sam slid his arm around my shoulders as we entered the store. I thought about shrugging him off, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. However wrong my brain said it was to take a risk on Sam, something deep inside me thought it was very, very right.