“What’s the plan?” Kai asks as we hide behind the dumpster and gape over it to the entrance of the grimy-looking club.
I grab my bag and fish out some knives along with a mini gun and stuff it all into my sky-high boots.
“You do have a plan, right?” Nathan asks.
“Nope.”
“Wait, what?” Kai frowns.
They both look at me like I’ve lost my marbles.
“We can’t just barge in there,” Nathan says. “They know my fucking face. They’ll be expecting me.”
“You can’t, but I can,” I say.
Kai grabs my coat and pulls me close. “If they find out you’re in there, they’ll kill you. I won’t allow it.”
“Well, fancy meeting y’all here.”
The sudden unfamiliar voice makes us all look up. A tall as fuck guy stands right in front of our hideout behind the dumpster, clutching an umbrella to stop the snowflakes from falling onto his long black hair, some strands covering the gentle smile on his face.
He sticks out his hand. “Blaine Navarro.”
I shake his hand, but Kai and Nathan don’t want to.
“Blaine …” Kai says, looking him up and down like he recognizes him from somewhere. “You’re one of Milo’s friends. But wait, you’re from the Tartarus House, aren’t you?”
“Yup. Your girlfriend here called me to come and help you guys out.” He stretches out. “So here I am.”
Nathan snarls, “You told him about—”
“That girl?” Blaine interjects, throwing a glance at Nathan. “Yes, I know your Rory is missing.”
“I had to tell him, or he wouldn’t come,” I say when Nathan’s nostrils flare.
“This guy’s dangerous,” he says.
Blaine goes to his knees behind the dumpster, barely able to crouch far enough to hide because of his height. I dare say he’s even taller than Milo. “More dangerous than what you three are trying to attempt?”
Nathan makes a tsk sound.
“So you want my help or not?” Blaine asks.
“Fine,” Nathan barks. “But don’t get in our way.”
“Jesus, what’s his problem?” I whisper to Kai.
“Milo’s got a history with a bunch of guys. He’s one of them.” Kai winks.
My jaw dropped. “Milo hooked up with this dude?”
“Not anymore,” Blaine says, lurching over our shoulders.
I shove him away. “Don’t get up in my face like that.”
“Sorry, I was just curious what you guys were talking about, but I see I’ve already made quite the impression,” Blaine says, smiling. “So is there a reason you’re trying to infiltrate an actual trafficking ring by yourself instead of going to the police like normal people do?”
“You think the police can be trusted?” Nathan grits. “My parents are in jail because of them. You think they’ll help us?”
“Fine, fine, you’ve got a point there,” Blaine says, rolling his eyes.
“Here.” Nathan slaps a mask into his chest. “Put this on.”
Blaine scowls. “What is this plastic thing? It’ll ruin my face.”
“Good,” Nathan quips, and I snort in response.
“Put it on,” Kai tells Blaine. “Or you’ll be recognized.”
Blaine sighs out loud. “Fine, but you owe me a new bottle of cream if I break out.” And he puts it on, almost looking like a Phantom too now.
The guards at the back entrance walk off for a smoke break, and I hiss, “Now’s our shot.”
“Lana, wait!” Nathan hisses. “You can’t just bust in there.”
I just throw them a look and march on, right at the back entrance, and I knock a few times while the boys hide again. “Hello?”
The door opens up just a sliver, and some grumpy guy peers through. “What do you want?”
“I’m here for work.”
He narrows his eyes at me and looks me up and down, then shuts the door. My heart throbs in my throat. Within a few seconds, the door opens up fully, and I barge right past him, pretending I’ve been there a million times before.
The music blasts into my ear the second I step one foot inside. It’s dark and hot here as I go to the changing room and throw my coat onto a hanger. I steal a sticker from one of the girls’ tables and paste it over my heart-shaped top, pushing up my breasts to make them look even perkier before I step out into the strip club.
There’s a stage in the middle of the room with girls dancing and twerking, showing off their skills, while men watch with hunger in their eyes. Champagne and expensive liquor is poured left and right, while some of the more important guests get private treatment in the back.
If there’s ever a place nasty deals would take place, this would be it.
I make my way around the room in my high heels and grab a tray filled with shots off the bar, seamlessly blending in with the servers as I look around. Several curtains all over the place lead to more private rooms, but one curtain draws my attention because a guard is stationed in front of a door behind it.
I pass by it and serve a customer a drink on the house while I sneak a glance.
Someone important must be in there. It’s worth investigating, but there’s no way I’m getting in there with that guard blocking the way.
“Hey, bring me something else,” a customer suddenly says, pushing a shot glass onto the tray. “This didn’t even come close to a good drink.”
“Of course,” I say, smiling as I hurry off toward the bar. On my way there, I pass the curtain again and sneak another peek. There’s not just one door, but two, and one of them has an exit sign.
An entry for the boys.
I fish my phone from my pocket and send a text.
Me: Wait @ southern exit entrance.
Nathan: Wth are you planning???
Me: Just do it.
I shove my phone down the small pocket in these tiny leather pants and put my tray on the bar. “I need a spicier version of whatever you gave table 5 just now.”
The bartender squints at me. “Always the demanding ones those.” He makes a new drink and places it on my tray. “Tell him to come to the bar if that’s not good enough.”
“Thanks, will do.” I wink at him and pick up my drinks, but I don’t intend to bring them anywhere close to table five.
Right as I pass the curtains, I pretend my heel is broken and fall, the glass shattering into a million pieces. The guard exits the curtains and asks, “Are you okay? I saw you fall.”
“Ow, I hurt my leg,” I mumble, rolling around through the glass.
He inspects me and pushes the tray aside. “Can you stand?”
“I don’t know,” I say in my best cutesy voice. I lift it and hiss when I see the blood drops. “I’m bleeding.”
“Oh crap. Let me get you a towel,” he says, walking off.
Away from the door.
A dirty smile forms on my lips as I crawl to my feet and slip behind the curtain when no one is looking. I close it and run to the emergency exit, pushing it open. Kai, Nathan, and Blaine wait for me there with their masks on, but the looks in their eyes are anything but amused when they see my outfit.
“What the—” Kai pushes me inside and corners me. “This was your plan?”
“Do I blend in well?” I wink at Nathan, who’s getting all flustered.
“Spicy outfit,” Blaine says, licking his lips.
“Tell me no one touched you,” Kai growls.
“I was only pretending to be a server,” I reply. “No need to get jealous.”
“Jealous?” Kai frowns. “I’m not jealous—”
“Yeah, you are,” Blaine retorts as he moves around the room to check if there’s anyone here.
“No time to argue. If they find us here, we’re screwed,” I say.
“Let’s move,” Kai says.
I push myself off the wall. “There was a guard at this door—”
“Hey! What are you doing in here?”
Oh shit. He’s back.
We all stare at him, and the air is thick with tension.
When he pulls out his gun, I whip out my knife from my panties and chuck it at his eyeball.
He drops dead right into the curtain.
“Quick!” I say, beckoning them.
Kai and Nathan drag the body inside and shut the curtain again. “This was your grand plan?” Nathan asks.
“I don’t have a plan. We improvise,” I reply, stepping over the corpse.
“They’re gonna look for him,” Kai says.
“We’ll be gone before they find us.”
“How do you even know she’s in there?” Nathan asks.
“Penelope said her dad hunts these fuckers, so he knows all of their locations,” I reply, and I jerk open the door.
Behind it is a staircase and a corridor beyond with several doors.
“Let’s go,” I say as I make my way down.
“Fuck, we’re going down into the belly of the beast,” Nathan growls.
“Catch,” Blaine says, and he throws Nathan a gun with a silencer. “Always come prepared.”
Nathan throws out another tsk sound. “I have my knives.”
“Knives are cool, but guns are faster,” Blaine says with a wink.
In the back, I hear the cries of a girl, and my eyes widen. “Rory.”
Nathan immediately loses his cool and shoves past me, running straight toward the door.
“Wait, Nathan!” Kai yells.
Too late. He barges into the door and throws it open with his weight alone, but behind it are several guards, two of them playing a game, while two others watch the cameras in the club above. None of them seem too happy with our arrival.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“Who the fuck are you?” one of them roars at Nathan.
Beyond the door, I spot a cage in the back, and in it is a figure hidden in the dark, whimpering quietly. Rory.
“I’m coming for you, Ro!” Nathan yells at her.
Suddenly, one of the guards whisks out a gun.
“Nathan, duck!” I yell.
BANG!
