Four Seconds to Lose

did they appear on my doorstep to so much as question me. If they had, I would have come clean. I would have told them how those two followed me through an abandoned warehouse one night after a fight.

How they threatened me. How they aimed a gun at my head. At Nate’s head.

John was right. They came looking for the money that my dad rightfully accused me of stealing while trying in vain to save himself. Apparently they had been waiting in the shadows, knowing they could demand an exorbitant interest rate if they let me live to win a few fights first.

I wasn’t going to give those assholes a dime, so I truly had only two choices in that moment: fight or die.

Nate knew . . . as soon as he saw my hands flex by my sides, he knew to dive for cover.

They might have had a chance of surviving, had I not seen the bloody crime scene photos, read the graphic reports.

Had I not known what they did to Lizzy.

I called John right away. He instructed me to go home, shut my mouth, and he’d take care of it. I guess he did, because he never uttered a word to me about it again.

“I guess someone finally fought back,” I answer, the hoarseness in my voice impossible to smooth.

“Yes . . . someone did.” He scratches his chin as if pondering his next words, though I know damn well he already had this conversation planned out. “I heard they closed that case. Maybe, with the right anonymous tip, they’d reopen it?”

Dan said Sam was a smart guy. I see the evidence of that now. He may not know definitively what happened, but it’s not hard to paint a picture with my face at the center of it.

“It’d be a shame to lose everything you’ve worked so hard to build here.”

I want to reach out and choke the life out of this manipulative asshole. “What do you want?” I snap.

“I want my daughter back and I think you know where she is.” All fluffiness in his voice has vanished.

“Well, I don’t, so I’m of no use to you.” Dumping the last of my drink in my mouth, I stand. “If you’ll excuse me.”

He jumps to his feet, and I can tell he’s struggling to keep his composure. I know this kind of guy. He’s not used to having people walk away without his dismissal. “You have a good club here. A lot of nice-looking girls,” he muses, his eyes roaming the floor. To Cherry . . . to Hannah . . . to Mercy . . . to half a dozen other dancers. “I hear you like to keep them safe.” Holding out a card with a phone number on it, he asks, “If you hear from Charlie, I’d suggest you call this number. And very soon.”

I glare at it, silently willing it to burst into flames, but don’t take it.

Finally, he places it on the table and I watch him stroll out.

I’m not stupid. I know what that offhand comment was.

It was a threat.

The rage fires through my body like nerve synapses, making my decision for me.

* * *

“You sure you want to do this?” Nate asks from beside me as we head toward the flashing neon lights, a beacon for the city’s perverts.

I heave a sigh. “No, but I don’t see any other choice.”

“He’s not going to like us showing up here,” Nate mutters, but then his face splits into a grin. I have a feeling Nate wouldn’t mind getting into a fight tonight. All this mess with Charlie has made me miserable, which in turn has made him irritable.

Sin City is almost double the size of Penny’s. It’s full of naked women, flat screens, and more private rooms than some motels. Each table comes equipped with a small monitor, where you can watch intro videos of each dancer. All in all, Rick does well for himself.

We skip the line and walk straight to the door. A big bouncer with a goatee removes the black rope and lets us pass with a wary expression. He knows exactly who we are. He came to Penny’s, looking for a job, four years ago. I almost hired him, until John found out that he has ties to a known drug dealer, who in turn has ties to the cartel. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’d be inviting the cartel into Penny’s by hiring him. It’s also not surprising that he’s now the head bouncer at Sin City and that members of the cartel are known to frequent here on occasion.

Thanks to a few tips from my connections, I know that the man I want to talk to is here tonight.

While the bouncer may have let us in, he also made sure to flag us to Rick immediately. The hairy fuck is waiting for us as we step into the club, his arms folded over his chest. Even when the guy makes an effort to look presentable, he doesn’t. His dress shirt is wrinkled and hanging out over a pair of ill-fitting pants, which have a prominent yellow stain on the lap.

“Coming for some real ass?” He smirks. “Or to steal more of my talent?” He’s obviously still bitter about losing China to me. If he knew that I let her go, I don’t doubt he’d try to pull her in again.

“Rick,” is all I can manage in greeting.

He sneers at me but keeps his distance. After the last time we met—in my club, when he called me a pimp and I broke his nose and knocked four of his teeth out—he knows better than to get too close.

Nate leans over to murmur, “I don’t see him out here.”

Dammit . . . that means I have to ask for help from Rick the Prick. “I need to see Mendez.”

A scowl hits Rick’s face and I can’t help but think it’s an improvement. “He’s not here.”

I don’t have time for this. “Yeah, he is. So is it the champagne room or one of the private rooms?” Rick’s mouth tightens but he remains silent. “Or do I make sure the cops crawl so far up your ass that you can’t walk straight for a month?” The club was raided once before, but Rick has enough money and sense to hire good lawyers. Somehow, they couldn’t find any really damning evidence to shut him down permanently, which makes me think he’s not as stupid as he looks.

Swallowing hard, he mutters, “What do you need with him?”

“He’s cute. I thought we could date,” I throw back. Rick is the last person I’d ever trust with the truth.

After a long pause, Rick turns and, with a reluctant wave, leads us into Sin City’s champagne room—a large suite decorated in floor-to-ceiling black. Black walls, black leather couches, black carpet. The only hint of color is the silver molding along the walls and trim on the couch cushions, and a few metal statues lining a bookshelf.

Three men sit around the oversized sectional couch, paired with girls in various states of undress, all of whom could stand to gain ten pounds. Off to one corner, a blond is on her knees, “earning her money” with a fourth guy.

I’m seconds away from knocking Rick’s false teeth out for allowing that. But doing so won’t help my cause so I remain still, fists glued to my sides, as he lumbers over to a Hispanic man with short, dark hair and pockmarks over his cheeks. The voluptuous and naked Asian girl on his lap—who can’t possibly be legal and whose eyes are glazed over in that doped-up way—doesn’t even slow her grind as Rick leans in to whisper what I’d assume are introductions. My stomach instinctively tightens.

I can’t believe I’ve stooped to this level, but . . . fuck it. This is what they do. I’m merely helping to speed things up.

Cold black eyes narrow as they settle first on me, and then on Nate. He’s obviously not impressed, but his curiosity has been piqued. “Out,” he instructs, giving his girl a light slap across the ass as she shifts off of his lap. The other girls quickly pull their scant clothing back on and scurry out. “You too,” he orders, jerking his chin at Rick, and I can’t help but smile.

No one trusts Rick.

When the room is empty, two guys come over to search both Nate and me, stripping us of our guns.

“What do I owe this surprise visit to?” Mendez asks, leaning back into the couch as if completely at ease. The repetitive twitching of his foot tells me otherwise.

I tilt my head toward the camera.

“Rick knows better.” But after a moment’s pause, he nods in assent and waves a hand to the guy on my left. Within seconds, the camera lens has been smashed. “I don’t know why he even keeps those in here.” He gestures to the chair positioned across the coffee table, facing him.

I take the proffered seat, while Nate stands back. He never sits. It makes him feel vulnerable and, in this situation, where all of these guys certainly have guns and are eyeing his looming figure suspiciously, we