well, she just tried not to show it.”
“Sounds like you really knew her.”
The dancer shrugged. “As well as anyone around here knows anyone, I guess. Gotta go. I’m on next.”
After Caresse left, Lilith took a big breath and regrouped. She was going to have to play nice with the customers just like Hannah had, or she wouldn’t tempt the kidnapper-killer to come for her. Straightening her hair and putting on another coat of lipstick, she readied herself for another try at the big room. On the way out, she passed Mariko, who had just come off stage. The other dancer didn’t say anything, merely gave her a look that told Lilith that Mariko didn’t think she would last.
But Mariko didn’t know her.
No matter that she’d had a setback; Lilith wasn’t the teenager who’d had to escape her home to survive.
Nothing would drive her from the club, not until she found her sister.
Chapter 11
THE END OF HER SHIFT couldn’t come quickly enough for Lilith. There were no further incidents, and tonight she easily agreed to meet Paul Ensdorf for that high tea at The Plaza he was so hot on. If he’d had anything to do with Hannah’s disappearance, she would find out, Lilith vowed. She wouldn’t allow herself another weak moment.
Until a dark figure stepped out of the shadows on her way to the bus stop. Her knees went wonky and her stomach jumped, but she settled down when she realized Michael had been waiting for her.
“Is that like one of your favorite things to do?” she asked. “Scare a girl?”
“I told you I’d check in with you tonight.”
“You already did that earlier.” He’d come to her rescue, or who knew what that creep of a customer would have done. “I never got to thank you properly.”
“Not necessary. Unless you want to rethink my offer, of course.” He added, “To talk to me.”
Part of Lilith really wanted to go home and crash. But could she let this opportunity slip by? Michael had to have known something about her sister and she didn’t think he would be open about it inside the club.
“Come on, change your mind about coming to my place,” he said. “I’m only after your mind. At least tonight. Scout’s honor.”
“I never did trust Boy Scouts.” But his smile disarmed her.
“Then don’t trust me. C’mon, my ride is over there.” He pointed across the street.
To Lilith’s surprise, Michael didn’t drive some fast, flashy sports car. “An SUV? I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“Makes it easier to haul video equipment.”
As she slid into the passenger seat, Lilith eyed the cases in the back. “Aren’t you afraid someone will break into your vehicle to get at all that?”
“Maybe I have a relaxed worldview of my fellow man. Or maybe it’s because the rear windows are tinted, and you can’t see what’s in back from the outside.
“This video thing,” she said as he pulled away from the curb. “Is it a hobby?”
“It pays the bills. I shoot documentaries usually. I’ve been doing some freelance production while working on Skin.”
“Skin?”
“The name of the documentary. You thought I was kidding about wanting you to talk on camera?”
“So this is a personal project?” When he didn’t answer right away, Lilith studied him as best she could with only passing street light revealing his tight expression. “We all have things we don’t want to talk about, I guess.” She certainly didn’t want to tell him about Hannah.
Not knowing what to expect from his place, she was only a little surprised when they pulled up in front of an old warehouse at the edge of a semi-gentrified neighborhood. The building across from the raised Metro tracks was a conversion from factory to timber loft. They took an elevator up to the penthouse that served Michael both as living quarters and workplace.
As big as her whole apartment, the main room had exposed brick walls, heating ducts near the thirteen-foot ceiling and refurbished plank floors. The kitchen at one end had high end counters and appliances and a long island. Black leather couches and chairs in the middle were sandwiched between a fireplace with a large LCD television and doors to an outside deck. And on the far side of the main room, Michael had set up an open mini-studio with professional lights overhead on some kind of grid. A rack to one side held what looked like recording equipment. A camera mounted on a tripod sat near two stools — one in front of the camera, the other next to it.
Lilith took it all in as she set her shoulder bag on the kitchen island and wandered around, her movement feeding her nerves. “Wow, you live with your work.”
“You think Sal would let me do this at the club?”
“Probably not.”
“No
Lilith was aware of everything Michael did. He sauntered over to the camera. Uncapped the lens. Looked through the viewfinder and made adjustments. She glanced around, saw a statuette on his fireplace mantel. A plaque, too. She moved close enough to read the inscriptions. Awards for his documentaries. He really was legit.
“So what is it you want me to talk about?” she asked, stopping at the stool in front of the camera.
“Whatever makes you comfortable.”
“Nothing about this makes me comfortable.” Especially since she had her own purpose. How could she get information about Hannah and who he’d seen sniffing around her out of him? She told herself that was the only reason she’d agreed to come home with him. “I think you need to be more specific.”
“All right. Do you like working at the cub?”
She noticed that a red light on the camera was lit. Michael slid onto his stool, ignoring the equipment, focusing on her. His face in shadow, he was there but anonymous.
“I hate that club.”
“Then, why?”
Unable to focus, Lilith circled her stool, trying to figure out how to get
“Sometimes a kid gets in a bad situation and can’t find any way out.”
“What about her family?” he asked.
“They’re the problem. First she’s abused. Then ignored.” She could picture Hannah, the
As much as she’d denied doing so, guilt choked her.
“So she has no choice?” Michael asked.
Lilith tried not to feel that familiar agitation that was making her heart beat faster, but the past always did that to her. “If she doesn’t have anyone to help and no education or training, what can she do but use what God gave her to make a living?”
Lilith continued prowling. Thinking. Trying to figure things out. Trying to understand why Hannah did what she did.
“How do you feel about that?” Michael asked.
“It sucks. It makes a woman feel powerless.”
“You mean it makes
She suddenly stopped. “We weren’t talking about me.” Though Hannah had maintained that her life gave her power.
