Pixie Dust (Karli Lane #1) (7 page)

“What is that supposed to mean? ‘Go incognito’?”

“It means that as far as anyone else is concerned, you and I are here for entertainment purposes only. You need to trust that I will keep you safe in there. Whatever happens, you just need to go with it.”

“What do you mean, ‘whatever happens’? And what do I do if we run into Chad?”

“Just trust me Karli. You’ll be fine. If we run into Chad, you introduce me as your date. I will activate the crystal and start focusing on reading him. I just need you to ask as many questions as you can to find out how long he was with Leslie last night and where they went after you last saw them. Do you think you can do that?”

“I guess we’re about to find out.” I mumbled as I headed for the back door.

************************************

The back entrance led us into a dark hallway, barely lit by a red bulb. There were several half naked couples scattered about engaging in some sort of foreplay. Thankfully, the office was just ahead to the right.  

Vance pounded on the door and shouted, “Markos, it’s Vance Alexander. Open the door.”

“You may enter.” Someone called from inside. He opened the door and walked inside, towing me behind him.

“Ah, Vance. It has been far too long since I’ve had the displeasure of your company. Please, come in. Natasha was just leaving.” I looked for the source of the velvety voice and found the gorgeous vampire. He was sitting behind a desk with a topless woman on his lap. She kissed him as if her life depended on it and then pulled away reluctantly.

“We really must do this again sometime very soon.” She said.

“Yes, of course.” He replied. He was licking blood from his lips as she stood. This was way too intimate for my taste and neither one of them seemed to mind that they had an audience. The curvy brunette turned toward us and started pulling up the top to her halter dress, with no shame whatsoever. Wow, so much for modesty, huh? Wait a minute, do Vance and Markos know each other?

“Later baby.” Natasha said as she glided out the door.

Markos stood, and started walking towards us. I instinctively retreated from his advance until my ass hit the doorknob. The closer he came, the more suffocated I felt.
Why is it so damn hot in here?

“I see you have brought my lovely bartender with you.” He said, in a voice that was punctuated with a slight accent I couldn’t quite place. It sounded British, but with something much more exotic behind it.

I shivered involuntarily. This man was disturbingly sexual and took up way too much space. I felt tiny next to him which was very strange considering my height. Power was rippling off him in waves, like a very charged, very dangerous electrical current. He exuded barely leashed violence, yet strangely, I felt safe in his presence….. protected almost. The effect was rather unsettling. He kept his eyes on me the entire time, stopping in front of me to grab my hand.

 “
It’s very nice to see you again.”
He kissed the palm of my hand, making me a little dizzy. “
I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to become properly acquainted yesterday; I had rather pressing business to attend to last night. I must say, you look absolutely delectable this evening, Ms. Lane.”  I quickly scanned his ensemble.
He was wearing black vinyl pants with a white silk shirt that was left unbuttoned, revealing a chest every bit as magnificent as I had imagined.

“Um, thanks.” I said, trying really hard not to stare at the impressive package below his belt. Vinyl definitely doesn’t conceal much. “Please, call me Karli.” Wow, I could see the color of his eyes now. They were a pale shade of bluish-gray with a dark blue ring around the pupils. Mmm, pretty.

“It would be my honor, Karli. Please, call me Leo.” He brought my hand to his bare chest and smiled at me, showing a little fang. My earlier vision of him standing naked in the shower returned, instantly making my cheeks flush. He eyed me inquisitively, probably trying to decipher my thoughts. I had a feeling that I was being a little too transparent because Leo’s nostrils flared while his fangs lengthened, and Vance’s face became about five shades of red. 

Vance cleared his throat. “What kind of business?” He asked.

Leo answered, still holding my hand, and my gaze. “Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that. I don’t want to bore you with the details.” He released me and walked back over to his desk. “Please, have a seat.” He said, gesturing towards the two chairs in front of his desk.

I briefly looked around as I sat down and found myself staring into six different flat paneled security monitors. Each one displayed a very graphic live sex act of some kind. Oh God, how many people are in that one on the left?

Leo noticed me looking and asked, “See anything you like, my sweet? I’d be more than happy to give you a personal tour.”

Vance didn’t give me a chance to respond. “You mentioned we could look around?” He growled.

Leo ignored his question and asked one of his own. “Do you have any new information on the case, Detective?”

Vance glared at him. What is the deal with these two? “The saliva on the victim was demon, but Forensics cannot tell which breed yet. It may have been a ritualistic killing because her heart was removed. I’m looking for a guy who is possibly the last known person to see her alive. He also happens to be a demon which makes him a suspect. He’s been known to come here a lot so I’d like to take a look around.”

“I will allow you to look,” Leo warned. “But only in an
unofficial
capacity. Unless you produce a warrant, you will follow my rules. You will not interact with any other patrons or conduct any interrogations. My guests come here expecting discretion.”

“Understood.” Vance replied.

Leo waited a moment before turning his attention back to me. “My club is divided into two areas, my dear. The larger section is for people who wish to simply observe, or get loosened up. There are three stages to offer them variety with a bar located off to the side. There are three rooms behind the main arena for people who wish to join in the fun.” He looked at Vance. “Once you two leave this office, you will act like you are here for the entertainment. If I notice any odd behavior,
you
will be asked to leave. Ms. Lane is welcome to stay as long as she’d like. Do we have an understanding Mr. Alexander?”

Great, now Vance’s face was turning purple. “Karli has a history with the suspect so she will be the one asking any questions.” He snapped. “She could easily strike up conversation with him without raising suspicion. After we’re done looking around, she’ll be leaving with me.” Okay, I so didn’t appreciate him speaking for me like that!

Leo looked at me thoughtfully and said, “A history you say? Interesting.”

I was too pissed at Vance to acknowledge Leo.  “Hello? I’m right here.” I reminded him. “Will you please stop talking about me like I’m a piece of property? I think I’m perfectly capable of deciding when I do and do not want to leave! Keep it up and I’m calling a cab right now.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Karli, that’s not what I meant. Just stay out of it, okay? This is between me and Leo.”

“Excuse me?” I shrieked.

Leo interrupted. “Now really Vance, is that any way to speak to a lady?”

“Fuck you, vampire.”

The next few seconds were a blur, but in the end Leo was somehow holding Vance by the throat against the door. “You are in
my
club
, Detective. If you knew what was good for you, you’d remember that.” What the hell is going on here????

Vance shoved him away and ran his hand over his neck. “Trust me asshole, I know
exactly
where I am. And if you knew what was good for you, you’d remember how powerful I can be too.”

Leo tried charging him again but I saw it coming and jumped in between them. “Stop it you two!” I yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you?” 

Leo stepped back and smoothed out his shirt. “Please forgive me for losing my temper, love.” He walked back over to his desk and sat down. “If you want to play detective out there, don’t let me stop you. I’m granting you special immunity to the house rules.” He chuckled and gave me another sexy grin before adding, “I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this.”
Seriously, was the air conditioner broken in here or something?!?

Chapter 7

********************

A very tense ten seconds later, Vance and I walked out of the office back into the red hallway. We had to dodge a woman who was down on her knees in the middle of the floor. She was too busy giving some guy a very enthusiastic blow job to notice us trying to pass. Jesus, if this was going on in the hall, what the hell was out in the main room?

I looked away, shocked at the display in front of me. Vance put his arm around me and whispered in my ear, “It’s okay Karli. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Look, I know I was a dick in there and I’m sorry. Leo just really has a way of getting to me.”

“Why?” I asked.

He nodded towards the couple we just passed. “This really isn’t the place to talk about it. Can we please just look around real quick so we can get out of here?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But I need to hit the bar first.”

He nodded and led me to a large open room with a long, black polished bar off to the left. The bartender who was wearing pasties, a black lace thong with matching garter belt, and fishnets came to greet us. Geez, and I thought my uniform was slutty! “Hi there.” She purred. “My name is Sonia. What can I get for you fine specimens?” Sonia was openly appreciating Vance’s bare chest. Stupid bitch.

“I’ll have a Guinness.” Vance replied. “Karli?”

I considered the series of loud grunts and slapping noises behind me. “I’ll have a shot of Gray Goose. Make that a double.”

“Coming right up.” The bartender said with a wink.

Vance raised his eyebrows at me.  “Two shots, huh? You’re obviously not looking to pace yourself, are you?”  I wasn’t going to dignify that with a response so I just glared at him instead.

When Sonia brought my drink, I downed it in one gulp and motioned for another. She refilled it right away and I guzzled that one down too. I turned around to survey the area. Okay, maybe just one more drink will do the job. I asked for a third and knocked it back faster than the first two.  I slammed the empty glass down on the bar and took a deep breath. I really needed to get myself together here or I was going to blow our cover. Think Karli! What would Sydney Bristow do?

I looked over at Vance and he was doing that annoying raised eyebrow thing again. “You ready to do this?” He asked. I nodded as he led me towards the main floor. We found an open table and sat down.

Holy hell there was no way I could have prepared myself for this. Well, maybe, if I had watched a shit load of hard core porn beforehand. Directly in front of us were three raised platforms with a strobe light flashing overhead as Rihanna’s song, S & M was appropriately blaring through the speakers. The stage to the right had a woman bent over at the waist with her wrists bound to her ankles and a red ball gag in her mouth. A man was fucking her from behind while he was pulling on her long auburn hair like he was holding a set of reins. He grabbed a paddle from a table and started smacking her on the ass
really hard
. That did not look comfortable or pleasant by any means, but she was definitely enjoying herself.