Had he seen her? She waited, her heart firing hot pulses into her bloodstream.
But the bartender turned toward the bar, joining the two women behind it. Cassidy hurried into the hallway. Just then a door in the wall opened and a woman dressed in white strappy heels and white lingerie exited and headed straight for the stage, swinging her hips, a pout on her generous lips. In awe, Cassidy pressed her back into the wall and watched her pass. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the hidden door swinging shut and stepped forward to grab it. After one more look up and down the hallway to make sure no one had seen her, she slipped through.
She entered a narrow hallway—black walls and black floor—that led around a corner to an open space with a table and chairs covered with various bottles and what looked like the remains of someone’s takeout dinner. Behind it, a giant mirror lit by bright lights along the top gave the room a garish feel. Cassidy saw her reflection and flinched. Individual rooms split off from this central space, each with a silver star on the door.
“What the hell you doin’ back here?” a female voice called from behind her.
Cassidy spun to see a blonde woman in tight shorts and a red top paused in one of the dressing room doorways.
“Uh, I’m looking for someone,” Cassidy said.
The woman frowned. “Tony?” she called out, looking behind Cassidy, as if Tony would appear. She turned back and eyed Cassidy. “Tony’s supposed to guard this door,” she said, jerking her head back to the entrance Cassidy had come through.
Cassidy sensed she was about to get thrown out. “She’s a waitress,” she said in a rush. “Long, shiny brown ponytail? Freckles?”
“Huh,” the woman grunted, still frozen in her doorway. Behind her, Cassidy noticed a closet-like space with a lighted mirror and hangars of clothing.
“I think she might know something about my friend. She’s missing.”
The woman’s face changed. “I don’t know any waitress that looks like that,” she said.
Another woman came out of her room, dressed in street clothes. “Who’s that?” she asked, frowning at Cassidy.
“Unexpected guest,” the blonde woman snorted.
“Where’s Tony?” the second woman asked.
The blonde shrugged.
“Well, I’m out,” the second woman said, and embraced the blonde woman before moving to the door.
“Bye, baby,” she said to the second woman, “ride safe.”
“I will,” the second woman said, waving as she slipped to a door in the back of the room. When it opened, Cassidy saw a white hallway lit up by bright lights.
“Time you made your way out, too,” the blonde said. “Before Tony gets back.”
“My friend got a ride from Saxon last night. She may have ended up here.” Cassidy flashed the picture of Izzy on her phone. “Please, I think she may be in trouble.”
The woman shook her head. “She ain’t here,” she said. “Now scoot.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.
Cassidy didn’t know if Tony was one of the bouncers who had escorted her upstairs but didn’t want to risk it. She slipped back through the hidden door into the dark and crowded hallway, the music from the stage thumping into her temple. She slunk deeper into the hallway, when one of the V.I.P. room doors opened, and the waitress slipped out. Frozen in place, Cassidy watched her check both directions, then brushed back an invisible hair on her head and pivoted for the bathroom. Like a magnet, Cassidy moved in the same direction, reaching the door just after the waitress. The woman looked back, a casual, self-absorbed expression in her eyes. But this changed when she recognized Cassidy’s face.
The woman turned away and headed for a stall, but Cassidy stepped in front of her.
The woman’s face pinched in anger. “Get outta my way, I gotta pee for chrissakes.”
“You know something about Izzy, don’t you?” Cassidy asked.
“What the hell is this?” the waitress said, trying to dodge around Cassidy, but she dodged with her.
“Earlier, when I was here you reacted when I asked the bartender about Saxon. Like you wanted to tell me something.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the waitress said, but there was a tremor in her voice.
“Saxon told me he dropped Izzy off at an apartment. But I saw her getting driven off in the direction of the club. Is she here? Who is she supposed to meet tonight?”
The waitress shook her head. “I don’t know, now move,” she said.
“Saxon forces girls to have sex with customers, doesn’t he?”
The waitress’s eyes darted away.
“I think my friend Izzy is somehow caught up in it. That she’s being forced to work for him.”
“You’re crazy,” she said, bracing her hands on her hips.
“You aren’t supposed to go into the V.I.P. rooms, are you?” Cassidy said as a guilty look contorted the woman’s face.
Cassidy realized she finally had an angle. “Want me to talk to Tony about it?”
The waitress’s mouth pulled into a tight line.
“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Cassidy said, trying to lose the hard edge from her voice. “But I need to find Izzy. Is she here?” Cassidy tried again.
The waitress shook her head. “Look, I’d like to help your girl, but there’s a lot of us who need this gig.”
“Nobody has to know you told me anything,” Cassidy said, though such a promise felt hollow.
The woman seemed to think about this, drawing in a long breath that puffed out her full chest.
“I think earlier tonight, you reacted because you wanted to help. You knew something was wrong.”
The waitress seemed to make up her mind. “I don’t have proof, just bits and pieces,” she said, looking down at her hands.
“I don’t need proof. Please, I just need to find my friend before it’s too late.
The waitress, eyes pinched in apprehension, and then she sighed, dropping her head. “I overheard one of my regulars
