First Girl Gone(54)
“Shut up.”
Will whipped his head toward Charlie.
“You say something?”
“Hm? No. Did I?”
“I don’t know. It sounded like you were sort of whispering something.”
“Thinking out loud, maybe,” Charlie said, managing to talk through Allie’s giggling. “I guess I’m kind of nervous.”
Will parked the car as he answered.
“Nervous? About going into this stinkhole?”
He killed the engine and rotated in his seat to face Charlie directly. Will waited until her eyes met his.
“We’ll have no trouble whatsoever. Trust me.”
“He seems pretty confident, Charlie,” Allie said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m reassured by a man who knows his way around a seedy strip club.”
Shut up. Charlie thought it with the sharpness of a knife’s edge.
When she glanced over at Will again, he was studying her intently.
“How are you handling all of this, anyway?” he asked. “The case in general, I mean. It must feel a little personal for you, considering…”
He trailed off, but the implication was clear. It must be personal to be working a case about two missing girls after what happened to Allie.
Charlie looked away, staring out her window at the neon glow of the club’s sign.
“I know what’s at stake. That’s for sure.”
“It feels kind of like a nightmare, doesn’t it? Like history repeating itself in the worst way possible,” Will said. “I know the girl’s dad, you know? Ted Spadafore.”
That got her attention. Charlie swiveled to face him.
“You do?”
“He’s my financial advisor.”
“What’s he like?”
“Like the kind of guy you’d trust with your 401K. Solid, but boring. Anyway, we’re not exactly buddies or anything, but it’s a reminder of what a small damn world it is. We’re all attached by these invisible strings, it seems like.”
Charlie nodded, thinking he was exactly right. Her whole job was to find those invisible strings and pluck them one by one to see where they led. With any luck, she’d find a few fresh strands tonight.
“Well,” Will said. “You ready?”
Charlie took another deep breath and reached for her door handle.
They climbed out of the car and started making their way across the wet asphalt. And there was the bouncer, the same one from her last visit here, as bulky as ever. Perched on his stool like a bear performing in a circus. His phone was jammed to his ear again. Maybe that was good. Another potential distraction.
She clutched at Will’s arm as she laid eyes on the bouncer, an instinctive move, done without thought. If he minded a grown woman pawing at his arm like a frightened child, however, he showed it not at all. He looped his elbow inside hers as though they were square-dancing partners.
As they stepped up onto the sidewalk and took the final paces to the velvet ropes, Charlie’s anxiety intensified by an order of magnitude. Weird things lurched in her belly with great violence—sea creatures, she thought. Like two large frogs were fighting to the death in the pit of her stomach.
She tried to plan what she would do if the bouncer showed any sign of recognition. How she might try to seem nonchalant about it. Confused. Tilting her head to one side like a dog out of its depth.
Instead the bouncer seemed to recognize Will. He gave the faintest nod and waved them through without much thought. Once again, he was loud-talking on the phone, this time about different small dog breeds. They got an earful as they passed through the gap where the velvet rope had swung out of the way.
“Thing about pugs is their respiratory problems, bro. Real serious probs on account of their flat snouts. Me, I’m more of a Min Pin guy. Real regal breed. Prancing around everywhere like they own the whole world, you know?”
She kept expecting his words to cut off all at once. Surely he’d notice her. Surely they’d get turned away, just like before. Instead he went on about dogs.
“Oh, no way. You gotta clip the ears and dock the tail, bud. Now I know the AKC no longer requires it, but let’s be real. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it’ll always be. Nuh-uh. Don’t want ’em. Just snip ’em off.”
Will pushed open the door, held it for her, and Charlie pressed forward into the forbidden realm beyond.
Chapter Forty-One
The sleazy club was pretty much exactly what Charlie expected—right down to the stench. Bad cologne intermingled with the greasy food in the buffet, all of it tinged with just a hint of body odor.
Topless girls gyrating? Check.
Liquor? Check.
Sweaty losers ham-fisting dollar bills into G-strings? Check.
A couple of men in sweatpants camped in the corner near the buffet, their plates piled high with bright orange chicken wings? Check.
Charlie reminded herself of the plan as she crossed the room toward the seating. Settle in. Observe. Then look for openings to ask some of the girls about Amber and Kara.
Gaudy lights swung around the room before refocusing on the breasts center stage. Soloing guitars blared over the speakers, music from the dreaded 1987 to ’89 era when the only thing bigger than the guitars was the hair. At least Charlie’s disguise wouldn’t seem out of place.