Poor Little Bitch Girl (40 page)

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Ralph will be even more major pissed.”

“You can’t tell him,” Bobby warned. “This is between us.”

“Scout’s honor,” I answered, without even thinking about where my loyalty should lie.

“You don’t look like a Scout to me,” he said, grinning.

“I don’t?” I said, being all flirty and girlish.

“No, you don’t,” he said, flirting back.

Oh God! I was enjoying this far too much.

“By the way,” Bobby said, “I’m now stuck with a couple of extra seats for Zeena’s show tonight. You want to come? You can bring someone if you like.”

“Uh, it’s just me,” I said, adding a quick, “There is no special someone right now.”

He gave me a long, lingering look. “Join the club,” he said.

And as our eyes locked there was a major commotion and the very famous superstar, Zeena, and her five-man entourage, made a splashy entrance into the bar.

Bobby jerked to an upright position, while I inspected the woman with curious eyes. I’d seen Madonna once in person, and she’d seemed so much smaller than she appeared on stage and TV. Zeena was quite the opposite – a tall, swan-like creature with coal-black hair hanging below her waist, heavily shadowed cat-eyes, and deep ruby-red lips. As she swept by us, the scent of her perfume was overpowering.

Bobby glanced at his watch and immediately called for the check. “I’ll take you back to your hotel,” he said. “And remember, you know nothing about Annabelle and Frankie taking off.”

“I know nothing,” I repeated, formulating a story to tell Felix that would keep me in Vegas overnight.

The check came, Bobby threw down cash, and we got up to leave. As we moved toward the entrance, a deep throaty voice called out his name.

Bobby stopped short and turned around.

“Zeena,” he said, as if he hadn’t noticed her before. Like how could he miss her? “This is a surprise.”

“A surprise, Bobby?” she drawled, her tapered fingers playing with the stem of her wine-glass in a most suggestive way. “How can it be a surprise when you’re coming to my show tonight?”

“Yeah,” he said curtly. “We’re looking forward to that.”

And without another word he gripped my arm and steered me out of there.

* * *

Felix was angry, steely-eyed and quite irate, exactly as I’d expected.

“Where have you been?” he hissed in my ear, so close I could smell his peppermint breath.

“Funny thing,” I replied, made-up story at the ready, “I ran into my mom’s sister and family. They live in Detroit and I haven’t seen them in five years.”

“We are here on business,” Felix reminded me sternly. “This is not family reunion time.”

“I understand,” I replied, refusing to be intimidated. “Which is why as soon as I could get away, I did. But here’s the thing – I had to promise to stay over. Not to worry,” I added quickly, giving him no time to object. “I’ll catch an early flight to L.A. in the morning. I’ll be back in time for the Maestro funeral.”

Felix was lost for a snappy reply – not something that happened to him very often.

“Ralph cannot reach his daughter,” he said at last. “Since there is no answer from their suite, Ralph wants you to locate her and bring her here without the boyfriend. He’ll deal with Frankie Romano later.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked, nonplussed. “She could be anywhere. Besides, she never goes anywhere without Frankie.”

“Annabelle trusts you,” Felix said.

“I know she does,” I replied, thinking,
What does that have to do with anything?
“This place is huge,” I added. “How will I find her?”

“Figure it out,” Felix said shortly. “You have one hour. After that we’re flying back to L.A. And you, young lady, are making a mistake not coming with us.” He waved his index finger at me, and threw me an extra-stern look. “A very
big
mistake.”

N
obody knew who she was, the Latina girl in the cheap bloodstained top and the tight little mini-skirt. She’d been lying in the street in the pouring rain for a while before a passerby had finally called 911 and the paramedics had come to get her.

The attending doctor in the ER figured she was very young, although after a thorough examination to see if she’d been raped before being beaten, the female doctor ascertained that she’d given birth not that long ago.

The girl was unconscious with serious head injuries, and damage to her face, especially her right eye. The doctor wasn’t sure they could save the eye, it was not her field of expertise. They were waiting for the eye specialist to come and examine her.

In the meantime the girl remained unconscious, and until she woke up, nobody knew who she was.

* * *

“Not another damn charity event,” Gregory Stoneman said, his face darkening with annoyance. “Night after night, Evelyn, you drag me to these things and yet you know how much I hate them.”

“The people who attend events such as this one tonight are the people who keep you in office,” Evelyn said, giving him one of her disapproving frowns. “They are the ones who vote for you, Gregory, and you would do well to remember that.”

Christ! Evelyn was so sanctimonious.

He could do with a blow-job right now. His cock itched for the feel of Carolyn’s tight mouth, the way she held the shaft of his cock with her hands when he came, the way she never said no,
and
allowed him to come in her mouth.

“Are you listening to me, Gregory?” Evelyn said in her imperious queen voice. “You have one hour to be dressed and ready. It’s not black tie, a suit will do. Wear your new blue shirt and the gold cufflinks my father gave you last Christmas.”

Was she actually telling him how to dress now? God! The woman was insufferable.

Idly he wondered what she’d do if he bent her over his desk and took her from behind, jammed his itching cock right into her uptight backside and let her have it.

She’d scream, that’s what she’d do.

Oh, Carolyn, Carolyn. What have I done? Where are you?

A detective had come to his office earlier in the day. The police had found Carolyn’s car abandoned, with the driver’s door wide open. The detective wanted to know if he had any idea where she might be.

He’d shaken his head and managed a worried expression. Then Muriel had volunteered that Carolyn had left to go to the dentist the previous day, and nobody had seen or heard from her since.

“It’s nothing serious, is it?” Gregory had asked, faking major concern.

The detective had maintained a non-committal demeanor. “Please contact us if you hear anything, Senator.”

“Certainly,” Gregory had said.

Of course it was serious. A missing woman. An abandoned car in the middle of nowhere. It was dead serious.

Why hadn’t Benito hidden the car?

But then again, why would he? He was a gang-banger, not a person with any brains.

Gregory experienced a sudden flash of extreme guilt.

“By the way,” Evelyn said, toying with one of her cabochon ruby earrings, “I heard from Ramirez earlier today. He requested that you call him or drop by the center. There is something he wishes to discuss with you.”

Gregory experienced a leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach. What the hell did Ramirez want?

* * *

Benito could not believe that Rosa was disrespecting him by not coming back to the house after he’d allowed her out to go to the market to buy food. He knew exactly where she was, she’d run home to her baby – a baby fathered by another man, an enemy – member of a rival gang.

Swearing under his breath, he vowed to punish Rosa for doing such a thing. No female disrespected him and got away with it. How dare she put her baby before him! It was an insult. She was lucky he kept her around, the ungrateful
puta
.

Now he was faced with the problem of getting the Senator’s pregnant bitch out of his house without Rosa’s help. Who had time for this shit? He had things to do, people to see. His lucrative corner drug business did not run itself.

* * *

Rigid with fear, Carolyn feverishly began working on the electrical cord securing her right wrist. Something her captors hadn’t reckoned on was that she was left-handed, so although the knots were tough to undo, she reckoned she was making progress.

If only she had a knife or something to cut the damn cord with, it would be so much easier. The noise of the TV coming from the other room was relentless. Whoever was in there certainly enjoyed watching TV – it had been playing most of the day.

She wondered if and when the young girl would reappear. Several hours must have passed and no one had come anywhere near her. Was their plan to keep her shackled to the bed like a dog until she starved to death? She’d already soiled herself; there was no alternative since she couldn’t escape from the bed.

Her fear was mixed with a mounting anger. Carolyn was no fool – she was beginning to understand that perhaps love had blinded her to the man Gregory Stoneman really was.

Questions kept running through her head. Why had he asked her to meet him in such a deserted spot?

What was his obsession with the fact that she should tell no one of her pregnancy?

And the worst thought of all – had Gregory arranged to have her taken because she was pregnant with his child?

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that Gregory could be involved. It sickened her. What a disgusting human being he must be, to have come up with this plan. And what exactly did he expect the result to be?

Were these people supposed to kill her and the baby she was carrying? Was that it?

Systematically she continued to work on freeing herself.

S
eeing Zeena at the Cavendish hotel bar had done nothing for Bobby. In fact, he was pleased to note that observing Zeena in the harsh light of day was quite a shocker. She came across as hard-looking, with her heavy dramatic make-up and long sweep of coal-black hair. Truth was, she might be athletic in bed, but out of bed her famous toned body was downright masculine. She had muscles like a man, and long sinewy arms. There was nothing feminine about her.

And here he was, sitting with a normal, extremely attractive girl, with soft curves, full natural lips, and the most inviting hazel eyes. Denver. Pretty, smart and he was rapidly falling in like.

After he left her, he returned to his suite feeling quite elated. Maybe this could be the start of something. She’d mentioned she was unattached, and since he was too – who knew what could happen?

Zeena. An adventure. An experience. Been there, done that.

With a sudden flash of insight he realized he was over his infatuation.

A shower seemed like a plan. Stripping off his clothes, he padded into the bathroom and switched the ceiling TV to a sports channel. Then he stood under the six powerful shower-heads, giving himself up to the cascades of water beating down on him.

He wondered how his wild and wonderful mom would get along with Denver. Lucky would like her because Denver was smart and independent – Lucky’s kind of woman. Max would hate her, because Little Sis was insanely jealous of any female he dated. In Max’s eyes he was her big brother, and woe betide any woman who came before her in his affections.