The Private Club 3 (3 page)

“No
…”

“Sometimes they’re never found.” Her eyes pierced into mine and she opened the door. “I think you’ll find
that your test is about to start.”

I walked into the room without answering her. Was she threatening me? Was there no one I could trust? I wished that Katie had stayed behind with me. Though I wasn’t sure how I could have asked her. If I’d told her everything I knew and suspected
, she never would have let me stay.

The door closed behind me with a slam
, and I sighed before looking around to see what my first task was going to be. I frowned as I observed the scene in front of me. This was a different kind of room. There was a long wooden table directly across from the door. On the table, there were about twenty different bottles of liquor with chasers. To the right of the table, I noticed some small packets. I swallowed hard as I walked closer to inspect the bags. My eyes widened as I realized that I was staring at bags of drugs. From what I could tell, I could see a bag of weed and a bag of cocaine, and there were pills in the other bags. I heard a thud and took a step back to look around. I could feel the warmth in my cheeks as I stood there. This wasn’t what I had expected at all. Was Greyson a drug dealer? I stared at the table again, trying to figure out what my test was, as I couldn’t see any pieces of paper. I stared at the table again to see if there was some sort of clue on the table, but if there was, I couldn’t figure it out.

“Enjoy yourself
,” a smooth voice suddenly spoke into the room, and the lights dimmed.

I froze as I waited for Greyson to come into the room. I turned around and stared at the door, anticipating his entrance.

“Relax,” the voice said again, and it was then that I noticed the glittering lights in the corner.

I walked over to see what was flashing and realized that it was a sound system. I pressed play and pulsing trance music blasted out of the speakers. I
quickly turned it off and walked back to the table to see if there was anything I had missed.

I must have stood in the room doing nothing for about
twenty minutes before the lights came back on and the voice said, “Testing done.” I opened the door, feeling slightly disappointed that Greyson hadn’t come to visit me. I’d been hoping that he would come and see me, that he would show me that he was thinking of me, despite what he had said.

I exited the room, but there was no Greyson and no Patsy waiting for me. I ran to the bathroom then so that I could read some more of Nancy’s journal before my next testing. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked in and saw that the bathroom was empty. I
entered the stall and pulled back the top of the toilet. Then I took the plastic bag out eagerly and quickly removed the diary, flicking through it until I reached the last entry I had read.

“
I heard Maria crying last night. She was sobbing and I didn’t know what to say to her. I’ve never seen her like that before. Not even when she broke up with Ryan. She was banging the walls hard with her fist. I was scared she was going to punch a hole in the walls. I went to her room to say something, but I saw her boyfriend in there with her. He was just staring at her, not doing anything. I know he saw me because he frowned as he made eye contact with me. I was scared when he looked at me. But then he turned away and walked over to Maria. All he kept saying was “I’m sorry, but this was a mistake, I don’t love you.” That only made it worse. Maria grabbed a lamp and tried to hit him. I saw him get angry. I should have done something. I wish I’d done something now. If I had done something, maybe she wouldn’t have died. But today she was all smiles to the parents. And so was he
.”

I stilled as I read the passage. Something was off, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I reread it again and tried to figure it out and then I realized it was the tense. I reread the sentence “If I had done something, maybe she wouldn’t have died” again. From all accounts, Maria was still alive the day after Nancy had seen her crying. So if this had been a true entry or recounting from the past, that would never have been written. She wouldn’t have known that Maria was going to die.

The passage confirmed my earlier thoughts. These entries had been written recently
, and I was almost positive that they’d been written by Nancy. That meant she had written and left this for me deliberately. It also made me think that there was a possibility that she hadn’t disappeared when I thought she had disappeared. What if she had left this in the room when I was in Greyson’s office with Brandon and Katie? But why would she have just disappeared and not told me or David? I sighed and opened the diary again.

“
Brandon Hastings is Maria’s boyfriend’s name. He’s not a good man. He is evil. Yes, I said it. He broke Maria until there was nothing left. But she always chose bad men. Really bad men. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I’m scared he’s going to kill someone for revenge. He doesn’t know everything. He doesn’t understand. He hates the big boss. The real club owner. There was really only ever one. He wants to hurt him. He knows his weakness. I’m scared that this time. It’s going to be bloody. He’s not right in the head. He’s not the man you think he is. He’ll murder. Maria loved Brandon, but Greyson held her heart. That’s why he’s really mad.
”

I dropped the diary on the ground and sat back. My head was pounding. I grabbed the diary up again and read the last sentence again. Had Maria dated Greyson as well? Was that why Brandon and Greyson’s friendship had disintegrated? Was that why Greyson accepted responsibility for everything that had gone down? Was Greyson the one who’d caused Maria’s death?

I reread the entry again and my brain started throbbing. I wasn’t really sure what Nancy was trying to tell me. The more I read it
, the more it seemed that Brandon was the bad one. It was oddly written, and I couldn’t tell if she was trying to tell me if Brandon or Greyson was the angry one. The more I read it, the more I was convinced that it was actually Brandon who was the evil one.

As I sat there
, I remembered how Brandon had treated Katie back in college when he’d found out she was eighteen. He’d been a horrible person and done a really horrible thing. He’d treated her like shit, and even though I knew he’d had a reason to be upset, I felt that what he’d done had been unacceptable.

I flipped the page to continue reading. I had about five more minutes before I had to rush to my next test. As I turned the page, I realized that this was the last entry in the journal.

“
Hunter is older than me. Has more secrets. Doesn’t believe in love. I’m a fool like my sister. But what wouldn’t one do for love? Swimming is good for the body. The truth lies in the water. Trust in what you feel. That’s what I say. Don’t venture into the deep end. It’s easy to drown
.”

And that was it. I was even more confused than before. What was she talking about? Why was she mentioning Hunter again? Was Hunter the code name for someone at the club? My heart stopped for a second as the thought hit me.
Is Hunter really Greyson?
Was Nancy dating Greyson? His description sounded just like Greyson to me.

I stilled as I heard two girls walk into the bathroom.

“God, if I get another stupid test, I’m going to scream.”

“Mine was pretty cool,” her friend said. “I got to smoke some pretty dope weed.”

“What?” The other girl sounded jealous.

“Yeah, there was some coke as well. But I didn’t see it until the end.”

“Did you take it?”

“Nah.” The girl paused. “Well, just a little bit.”

“Let me have some.”

“Not now. We can do some tonight.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” The other girl sounded excited. “Let’s get fucking high.”

“Fuck yeah. I was starting to think this place was a dump, but now I know they got the goods for free.”

“Better than selling your body, eh?”

“Shit. I was with a guy who used to give me molly for a blowjob.” The girl sounded nonchalant. “It was worth it.”

“I’d love to give Greyson a blowjob
Or even fucking David. He’s hot.”

“I heard Elizabeth was fucking Frank. I’d do him.”

“He’s not hot.”

“He’s al
l right.” The girl laughed. “Okay, don’t hate me. But I fucked David last night.”

“You bitch
! You did not!”

“Well, he came to my room and
—”

I sat there still as a stone waiting to hear more, but someone else walked into the room.

“You okay, girls?” Patsy’s voice vibrated in the room.

“Yes
,” one of the girls said. This time her voice was not as loud or excited.

“Then I suggest you go back to the test rooms.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Also, please give me the package in your pocket.”

“What?”

“I know you took something from the room. Please hand it to me.” Patsy’s voice was firm.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The package.”

“Here you go.” The girl huffed. “I didn’t even know what it was.”

“Get to your next test rooms
, please.”

I sat in the stall and waited until I was pretty confident that they had all left. I exited slowly after storing the diary back in the top of the toilet. I walked to my next test room quickly
. My mind was spinning again. I felt like every time I thought I had a new lead, something else cropped up to make me doubt what I thought I knew.

I walked into my next room with my thoughts in a whirl. I didn’t even look to see what the new room contained
since I was so caught up in the hurricane that was twirling around in me.

“Hi, Meg.” His voice was soft and unexpected.

“Greyson.” I looked up at him in surprise, not able to stop the acceleration of my heart. “What are you doing here?”

“I figured you missed me or something.”

“I saw you this morning.” I knew my words sounded shaky.

“Maybe I missed you.” He shrugged as he eyes sought out mine.

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you really want?”

“A kiss.” He walked toward me with the confidence of a man who knew he could have any woman he wanted.

I stared at his face clinically, trying to understand why this man made me lose my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen handsome men before. Granted, I’d never dated or made love to a man whose blue eyes had sent shivers down my spine like his did. I’d never seen a man whose jaw had quite that angle and whose golden locks felt soft and silky to the touch. I’d never been touched by a man whose fingers were rough and gentle at the same time. I’d never tasted a man whose very essence reminded me of manna from heaven.

“That’s it?” I swallowed as he stopped in front of me.

“Unless you want more?” His eyes sparkled at me, and I could see a question in them that had nothing to do with him kissing me.

“What if I want less?”

“It’d be hard to want less than I have to give.” The smile left his face, but he continued his impenetrable gaze into my eyes.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Why didn’t you leave with Katie and Brandon?”

“Why did you let me stay?”

“You shouldn’t be here, you know.”

“Why?”

“You’ll be the undoing of me.” He grimaced.

“Scared you’ll go to jail
?”

“No.”

“Really? I would be if I were you.”

“I’m not scared of jail.” He shrugged. “There are worse demons in my mind.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “What made you the man you are, Greyson?”

“My dad kept a woman in the basement.”

“What?” I whispered and looked up at him in shock. “Are you joking?”

He continued talking as if he hadn’t heard me. “She was like his sex slave. He would go down every night and do things with her. I didn’t know at first. I thought he was grieving, like I was. But one night, I heard noises
, so I went to investigate and I saw him fucking her.”

“Oh my.”

“She lived in the basement.” His eyes looked at me and he cocked his head. “But she wasn’t locked there. She was free to leave. But she stayed there. Living for the night, when my dad would go down and fuck her.”

“Why didn’t he let her come up into the house and live?”

“He didn’t care about her,” he spat out. “He loved my mom. He would never sully her name. But he had needs. All men have needs, Meg. Needs have nothing to do with love.”

“So what happened?” I asked softly, feeling my heart breaking at his words.

“You’re so beautiful.” His finger caressed my cheek. “When I look into your eyes, I find myself getting lost in your beauty.”

“Thank you
,” I whispered, not knowing how to respond.

“Don’t thank me. It’s not a compliment.” His finger slid down to my lips and he pushed his finger into my mouth. I lightly sucked it
, and we just stared at each other. “I could get you to do whatever I want, couldn’t I?”