Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel (10 page)

Amour had awakened to the sound of Jason shouting in the living room area. By the time she’d risen out of the bed and stepped out of her room, he’d made his way to the kitchen.

“You can’t do that mom! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you crazy?” Jason shouted into his cell phone.

What was going on there? She didn’t want to make her presence known to him, so she slid inside the small hallway. He was clearly very pissed off at his mother for something. “What the hell?” she said quietly to herself.

“Really, mom?
After everything you’ve gone through with him? I don’t understand this!”

That time he’d spoken even louder causing an echo to bounce off the walls in the kitchen. This was deep, whatever it was. She felt a little guilty about eavesdropping on his conversation with his mother, but with all the shouting he was doing, it was impossible not to. She could tell he’d walked back into the living room area when he spoke again.

“No I’m not going to calm down mom! I’m pissed and I don’t want to hear anymore of this bullshit! I’m hanging up now!”

Was he really talking to his mother that way, and in
that
tone? She must have
really
pissed him off. When she’d heard what sounded like his phone hitting the coffee table, she slowly stepped inside the living room area to see if he was alright. By the time she’d gotten in there, he had gone to the kitchen again, picked up a glass and before she knew it, he’d hurled it across the kitchen shattering it against the wall above the sink.

What the hell was…that? She was almost afraid to approach him; not because she feared him, but because she wasn’t sure if he would accept her concern. She wanted to comfort him, but when he’d looked up saw her standing there, the look in his eyes told her that comfort was the last thing he wanted. “Jason…is everything okay?” She knew that was a stupid question, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Yeah,” he said softly.

He was obviously lying to her, but she didn’t want to press the issue. “Do you want to take time off from all this case stuff and have the day to yourself? I’ll understand if you do.”

“No.”

“Are you sure? Because if you do…”

“I’m fine!” he interrupted. “Let’s just get ready to go.”

“I’ll drive if you want me to.”  Clearly he wasn’t in the right mind set to do so. “I haven’t driven my replacement rental since I’ve gotten it anyway.”

“Whatever. Do what you want, let’s just get out of here.”

Jason was awkwardly quiet during the drive to Eleganti Lounge. She wasn’t sure what to say to him. It was so much tension in the air between them that she could cut it with a knife and she couldn’t let that continue. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine really. Don’t worry about it. I won’t drag you into all of my drama.”

“We all have drama Jason. I’m sure whatever it is, it won’t be foreign to me.”

“It’s not for you to worry about Amour so just forget it.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just saying that if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“I know, and I’m sorry too. I know I scared the shit out of you earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” It was definitely something that she’d seen before. It was also something that she herself didn’t like to talk about, so she certainly understood his reluctance to.

He looked up at her and asked, “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Tapping your fist on the middle console.
You’ve got something in there?”

She hadn’t realized she’d been doing that. Her mind had been all over the place lately. Maybe
she
was the one that needed a day to herself. She laughed. “Oh, sorry. It’s probably because I’m so used to driving cars with manual transmissions. This one isn’t, so I’ guess it’s force of habit.”

“You don’t like automatic transmissions?” he asked.

“Not in sports cars, it’s kind of a waste. The red Mustang they gave me before at least had a manual. I didn’t want this one, but it was the only one they had left and they didn’t have any other sports cars available.”

“I see,” he said with a nod.

“So where’s this lounge anyway?”

“It’s in Beverly Hills. Just stay on the 405 north and exit on Santa Monica Boulevard and I’ll direct you from there.”

The 405 freeway wasn’t nearly as congested as it was when she’d taken it earlier this week. She’d guessed that maybe it had something to do with it being Friday. “You’ve been there before?”

“Yeah, I’ve had a few male clients in the past that were members.”

“Members? It’s an exclusive place?”

“Yep, it’s a men’s cigar lounge and only rich and powerful ones are allowed in. They’re very strict with their policies. If you don’t make at least ten million a year, you can forget being accepted.”

Her mother worked in
that
kind of place? At
that
age? She must’ve known someone really important to land a job like that. “They don’t allow women inside?”

“Inside yes, but not as members.
The women or more or less there to provide the men entertainment.”

“They’re whores?” she said in surprise.

“Basically.”

Was her mother a whore? No…she couldn’t have been. She didn’t want to even think about it. She
couldn’t
think about it.  “Oh…”

He reached over and placed his hand on her thigh. “I know what you’re thinking. They actually do have legitimate jobs there. If your mother was a server, that’s all she did.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know a couple of girls that worked there. The whores were professional girls.”

She let out the breath that she’d been holding. Coupled with all of what’s been going on with this, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to take knowing her mother was a prostitute. “You know some of everybody don’t you?”

“You have to in my line of work. It’s beneficial, especially during times like this. It helps a lot when I’m doing P.I. work as well.”

“That’s why I sit back and let you be the boss.” He gave her a quick wink which made her smile. She liked when he winked at her, she found it very sexy.

“Here’s the place. Just pull up to the front and they’ll valet your car for you.

“Alright, let’s see what we can possibly come up with here.

The Eleganti Lounge was very incognito on the outside. The plain white building had no identifying marks besides the black and gold sign that said its name. The two of them were greeted by a hostess with shoulder length blonde hair and a pair of huge breasts that were obviously implants. And judging by the way she’d greeted the two men that came before them, was clearly hired because of her looks.

“Hello, welcome to the Eleganti Lounge!
I’m Cassidy. How can I help you?” the woman said in a vacuous tone.

“Hello Cassidy. We were wondering if somebody here could answer a question for us,” Jason said.

When the hostess fully focused on him, her upbeat tone quickly turned seductive. “What’s your name love?”

He stared at her giving her a provocative smile. “Jason.”

Amour could tell that the hostess was more interested in impressing Jason then she was in helping out their cause. “And I’m Amour.”

Clearly not appreciating Amour interrupting her shameless flirtation, she stared back at her, now speaking in a flat tone. “Hello. What did you say you needed?”

This woman was really starting to get on her nerves. “Information.”

“What kind of information?” the woman asked.

Jason stepped closer to the hostess’s podium. Amour sensed that he was well aware of her frustration. “We’re trying to find out if anyone here knew either of these two women.” He pulled the photo of Carly and the brunette woman out of his back pocket and showed it to the hostess.

The woman studied the picture. “Well, I don’t know who this blonde woman is but the brunette’s Angela.”

“Angela?”

“Yeah, this looks like a really old picture but it’s definitely her. Boy has she
really
let herself go!” she said handing the photo back to Jason.

Amour wondered how this woman managed to maintain a job here because she was clearly an idiot. “So you know her?” she asked.

The woman smiled. “Sure do. She’s my boss.”

“Is there any way we can talk to her?”

“Well you have to be a member to come inside, which obviously
you’re
not.”

“I’m aware.” Amour said sarcastically.

“I have a membership,” Jason said, taking over the conversation. “Can you make an exception for her this one time please? We just want to ask Angela a couple of questions, it won’t take that long.”

The hostess cocked an arched eyebrow and smiled. “Well maybe just this one time for
you sweetie. Come in and just show your ID to the guard and he’ll let you in. I’ll call for Angela to come down.”

“Can you tell her that we’re here to talk to her about Carly Graciette?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks Cassidy!”

“You’re very welcomed handsome.” She gave him a quick wink and then turned to pick up the phone.

A guard had led them inside and directed them to have a seat in two of the various large brown leather club chairs in the lounge area. The place was just as Amour envisioned it to be, ultra plush with masculine décor. She could definitely tell a lot of money was put into this place and just as much, if not more money was spent here on a daily basis. The cigar smell was heavy, but it wasn’t like the smell of Daniel Riley’s house. The particular cigars smoked in this place smelled almost like an expensive cognac. Observing the area around her, she noticed the finely crafted dark wood furniture and earth toned paint on the walls. Tall buildings and palm trees were the view outside of the large picture glass windows that surrounded the circular room. To the left of her sat a small wood bar with five leather stools and a female bartender who looked like a red headed version of the hostess. The men here were very clean cut and dressed impeccably in expensive suits. She could definitely tell they were very powerful and very rich.

A beautiful blonde cocktail server wearing a similar dress to the one her mother was wearing in the photo approached them. “Would you guys like a drink?”

Before either of them could reply, a female voice spoke from behind them. “Give them anything they want, it’s on the house.” Moving to the front of them, the older brunette woman sat in one of the chairs in facing them and crossed her legs. “Please, order whatever you like. Sheila will take good care of you.”

The server turned Jason and asked, “What would you like?”

“Nothing for me.”

She then turned to Amour.
“And You?”

“A glass of red wine please.” For whatever reason, she’d felt the need for a drink.

“Is Cabernet Sauvignon good for you?”

“That’s fine.”

“Great!”

When the server walked away, the woman turned to face them. “Hello, I’m Angela. I hear you’re interested in Carly?”

Amour leaned forward. “I found a photo of the two of you in front of this place together. We were wondering if you could give us any information about her.”

Angela had to be in her late forties to early fifties now. It was evident by the small wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, but compared to the old picture, she still looked pretty good. She clearly took good care of herself and didn’t in any way “let herself go” like the hostess accused her of doing.

Jason handed Angela the photo and she studied it for a few seconds. “Wow! I haven’t seen this picture in years. Yes that’s definitely Carly. We were so young then.” She looked up at Amour. “You kind of look like her.”

“So I’ve been told by many.” She smiled. “Is there anything you can tell us about her?”

The server arrived with Amour’s wine and placed it on the small round table in front of them. When she walked away, Angela replied. “Well, I met her after she’d answered an ad for a roommate I had posted in the classifieds. She lived with me for a little while and I’d gotten her a job here working as a cocktail server. She was a very nice girl and great at her job. She was one of the best we had here.”

Amour sipped her wine, and then sat it back down on the table. “How long did you guys live together?”

“About a year, then she’d bought a house and moved out. Shortly after that, she’d quit her job here.”

“Did you ever see here again after that?”

“Yes, we still kept in touch; we were friends. We would hang out every now and then but that all changed once she met her boyfriend.”

“Why is that?” Jason asked.

“Because she was so hooked on him she barely did anything anymore.” She faced Amour. “Then she got pregnant and that was all she wrote.”