Read Big Girls Don't Cry Online
Authors: Taylor Lee
She nudged Bella in the ribs. “Maybe we could put together our own little show for one of those parties you were telling me about.”
Heads across the room turned at Bella’s peals of seductive laughter. Grabbing Lexie’s arm, she nodded to the office and whispered, “Meet me in five minutes.”
Lexie waited until she thought no one was watching her, then slipped inside the office and closed the door behind her. Bella was leaning against the desk, a look of pure mischief on her face. Her eyes with dancing with excitement. She grinned at Lexie.
“C’mon in, you sexy thing, you. Girlfriend, you don’t know the half of what I have planned for us. Watching you last night? Damn, girl, you even turned me on. That body of yours is a billboard that screams, ‘Wanna fuck?’”
Lexie felt her cheeks flush.
Bella shook her head.
“And then you get that little innocent look and there isn’t a guy in the room who won’t be creaming his jeans. I tell you, honey, I haven’t seen anyone dance like that in the most expensive joints in Vegas. How would you like to make more money in the next couple of days than you’ve made in your whole life?”
Lexie saw her excitement and hoped that hers matched. This was her chance to get inside the ring. She couldn’t blow it.
“Bella, I’m up for any damn thing you have in mind. And then some! Lay it on me, sister!” Before Bella could answer, Lexie screwed up her face in distaste. “Tell me, please, that we’re done with James. He is the most pathetic man I’ve been around and that is saying something!”
Bella laughed, then sobered. “He really is, isn’t he? I can’t figure it out. This is the biggest fucking operation that I’ve been involved in and they have some over the hill drunk as gatekeeper. It doesn’t make sense.”
She added with a frown, “I get the weirdest sense that he is a cop or something.”
Lexie startled. “You’re kidding? Undercover?”
“No, no. He isn’t smart enough. No, it’s more likely he’s rogue if he is at all. He just knows crap, details about the drugs that even I don’t know. He talks about titration rates, weight adjustments, weird stuff like that. Maybe he’s a lab tech, or, hell, who knows? One thing that’s certain is that he’s creepy and a drunk.” She shook her head. “Not at all like the rest of the team.”
“What…what are they like?”
Bella gave her a sly wink. “I won’t spoil it for you, honey. You’ll see for yourself. Let’s just say a couple of them might even give that stud of yours a run for his money. Gorgeous doesn’t begin to describe them.”
“Will I meet them all tonight?”
“Yeah. At least most of them. They come in once a month, regular as clockwork. But the word I got is that this is the biggest shipment yet.”
“So I’ll get to meet the guy in charge?”
Bella frowned. “Nope. At least not the top guy. He never shows. They call him ‘Mr. Boss’. But, honey, you won’t believe the other guys. Sexy doesn’t begin to describe them. Accents and all, they are righteous. Do have to warn you, they like it rough. And they like it to get it on together.”
Lexie swallowed hard and forced a nonchalant smile. Not for the first time, she acknowledged how naive she’d been to think she could do this alone. Even with Brady, Clint, and the others hovering around her, she felt naked, vulnerable. Only Jake’s overwhelming presence gave her the courage to proceed.
“Well, like I told you, Bella, I’m off men for a while.” At Bella’s frown she added with a saucy grin, “That is, unless the price is right.”
Bella shrieked with laughter. “Oh, honey, you are a girl after my own heart. Make the bastards pay through their teeth, right? And they think they are exploiting us!”
They exchanged high fives and a big hug.
Lexie pressed for details.
“Do they come here, to the club? Or do we go somewhere else?’
“No, not here. I won’t know until later where the big guys will be. There are at least seven parties scheduled and all are overbooked. Once I get the list, we’ll assign the girls to the various locations. The big guys all hang together. That’s the party you and I will do.”
“Do the other girls know that? That I’ll be with you?”
“Oh, yeah, honey. And they’re mad as hell. Spitting fire! But none of them comes close to you, Sarah. You’ve got something so special, you even make me jealous. But together we’re going to take these guys for all they’re worth.”
Her smile turned evil. “My goal is to get to the top, the very top. And once I get there? It’s where I’m gonna stay. I have so much on these guys, they won’t be able to toss me aside. I’ve been working my whole life for an in like this. And, honey, no one is gonna stop me now!”
Lexie silently prayed that Bella was wrong, that not only would she and Jake and the rest of the team stop her, but that they would save her life in the process.
Chapter 23
Lexie worked her way across the crowded club floor. Brushing off eager hands tugging at her abbreviated skirt, she softened her rejection with a wink or a shy smile. Sidling up to Clint’s table, she made a show of plunking down a couple bottles of beer. She tucked the fifty dollar bill he slid across the table in her corset, and sunk down in the chair next to him. To show her appreciation for the generous tip, she giggled and touched him suggestively on his shoulder and face, using the subterfuge to convey the information she’d received from Bella. Clint blushed at the attention, confirming for anyone watching that he was bowled over by the stunning young woman.
Sashaying back toward the bar, Lexie rounded the corner when she heard a harsh whisper.
“It’s you! It’s really you!”
She turned and saw a young blond haired man sitting alone at a back table. He was staring at her as if he had seen a ghost. Lexie frowned and started to walk by when he jumped to his feet and waved her toward him.
“Please…please, miss. Please, come here.”
Lexie would have walked by but his intensity drew her in.
“What can I bring you, honey?’ she asked in her practiced come hither tone.
He held up his hands and shook his head violently. His voice was low. “No…no. I don’t need anything to drink. I…I need to talk to you.”
Knowing that Clint was only two tables away and Brady was lounging against the bar, Lexie shrugged and sauntered over to the man’s table.
Flashing him her brightest smile, she asked, “What can I do for you? Can I get you something to eat?”
When he shook his head no, she swept her hand over her body in a suggestive gesture.
“I’ll tell you up front, honey, this isn’t for sale. At least not at a price you can afford.”
He held up his hands and shook his head no. Motioning to the chair, he urged her to sit.
Reminding herself that help was close by, she gave him a pleasant nod and sat down in the chair across from him.
Expecting the usual indecent offer in some form or another, she mentally prepared her refusal. To her surprise, the young man pulled his chair next to hers. Looking from side to side as if to make certain no one was watching them, he leaned in closer. His words shocked her.
“I…I…have been looking for you. I know you are his sister.”
Lexie staggered back, a wave of anxiety sweeping over her. Who was this? She didn’t dare look to Brady or Clint. She couldn’t give away her cover, but her heart was hammering so loudly in her chest, she was sure the young man could hear it.
“Whose sister? Who are you?”
He leaned in closer. “I knew him. Anthony. He was my friend. He saved my life.”
Lexie swallowed hard. Forcing herself to be calm, still trying to maintain her cover, she asked, “Why do you think you know me?”
“You are just like him. I know you are Alexis. He showed me your picture many times.”
Fear gripped her chest, making it hard to breathe. She shook her head, wanting to leave, to get help, but she was mesmerized by the intensity in his dark eyes. She pulled herself together and glared at him.
“Tell me your name and what you want from me. Now. Or I will call the bouncer and have you thrown out.”
The young man flushed and shook his head fiercely. “No…no. Don’t do that. I am here to help you. I…I know who killed Anthony.”
If he’d intended to shock her, he achieved his purpose. A hard shuddering tremor shook her. Struggling to breathe, she gripped the arms of the chair. Her whisper was as low and harsh as his.
“Who are you?” She glared at him. “Speak or I will call for help. Now. Who are you?”
He shook his head and held up his hands, as though to reassure her.
“No… no. Please don’t be afraid. Your brother was my squad leader in Iraq. I would have died there, but he saved my life. He is…he was my friend.”
Lexie knew it was irrational, but his words and apparent sincerity struck the longing in her heart. The part of her that ached to know what happened to Anthony, that cried out for answers. Please, God, she prayed. Don’t let this be some hideous joke you are playing on me. Lexie forced herself to think, to speak calmly.
“Tell me what you know. Now. There are many people in this room. If I say the word, you will be taken away. I will press charges against you and you will rot in jail for all I care!”
He gazed at her as if making a difficult judgment. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a photograph. Without saying a word, he handed it to her.
Lexie gasped. A crazy kaleidoscope of color flashed in her eyes. The room spun as dizziness swamped her. The roaring din in her ears muffled his voice. It sounded as though her ears were stuffed with thick layers of cotton.
“No, no. Don’t faint. Be strong.” His voice dropped to a bare whisper. “People are looking at us. You mustn’t let them think something is wrong. Please, for Anthony’s sake.”
Taking the glass of water he placed in her shaking hands, Lexie managed to take a sip. Clutching the edge of the table she willed herself to be strong. Forcing one deep breath in and then out of her lungs, she took another. Slowly, carefully, she pulled air into her lungs and then pushed it out. When the routine task of breathing once more became somewhat automatic, she turned to the young man who crouched next to her.
“I’m sorry. So sorry, Alexis. I didn’t want to show you that photo. Please believe me.”
Looking down at the picture of Anthony’s mutilated body, Lexie asked in a voice that came from another part of her soul. “Where…where did you get this?”
He stared at her as if testing her ability to hear what he said.
“From the man who killed him.”
The roar in her ears drowned out all the sounds in the room except his quiet voice.
“How…how…?”
She couldn’t finish her question.
“Alexis, I must talk to you. I think they’re following me. If they see me with you, they’ll know that I saw them. We’ll both be killed. Do you understand? You are in great danger. As I am. I must talk to you. Alone, away from here. Somewhere we cannot be seen.”
Lexie shook her head. The warning dancing through her brain reminded her to trust her intuition. It had saved her life on more than one occasion. She shook her head and held up her hands.
“No, I cannot go with you. You must come with me. I can protect you. My team can protect you.”
His expression turned to stone. Then his eyes filled with tears.
“No one can protect me. If they find out I am with you, they will kill us both. I am a marked man.”
His voice shook. “I’m leaving now. Don’t follow me. Please.”
When he stood up, Lexie grabbed his arm. Rage took her breath. She would kill him herself before she would let him go without telling her what he knew.
“No! Don’t go. Please tell me how you got this picture. NOW!”
Something in her face must have convinced him because he slunk back down in his chair and faced her. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. A nervous twitch tugged at the corner of his eye. He stammered when he spoke.
“I was at a party. We were promised girls and quality drugs. I…I got stoned and fell asleep in a corner of a back room. When I woke, I overheard these men talking. A large man was bragging that he had done what they told him to. That the ‘cop’ was dead. That Beloi would never bother them again. He showed them a photograph—I guess to prove he’d done what they said. I pretended that I was still passed out, unconscious. I lay on the floor until they left. When I tried to sneak out, I saw the big man with dark hair and a mustache sitting at the table--either asleep or passed out drunk. I saw the photo on the table. I…I…had to see if it was my friend.” He put his head in his hands, then looked up at her agony written on his face. “I’m so sorry.”
Lexie stared at him, struggling to make sense of what he was saying. Just for a second, she thought that she caught the slightest trace of an accent. She had a fleeting thought that he might be one of the men they would meet tonight. One of the dealers Bella told her about. But, no, he didn’t fit their description at all. Good God, he was blond. He was an American, she was sure. Dear God, how to get hold of Jake, Brady, anyone--without blowing their cover or hers.
As though he could read her mind, the young man whispered. “Please meet me. You must come with me. Alone. I will tell you everything I know. Everything I can about the man. But you must come alone. I can’t trust anyone and neither can you. If you do not, I promise you, I will plunge this knife in my heart, rather than face the wrath of these evil men who killed Anthony.”
Lexie glanced down at the flash of the blade resting on his knee. His expression was fierce, agonized. She hesitated, trying to assess his intent. But even as she hesitated, she knew she couldn’t take the chance. She had to know everything he knew. She nodded her agreement.