The machine clicked on and my recorded message told the caller to call back or leave a message. The machine beeped, and a young girl’s voice came on.
“Seychelle? Are you there? Please pick up if you are.” I recognized the voice, and she sounded nervous.
I snatched up the phone. “Sunny, it’s me. I’m here.”
“Like, you told me I could call you if I needed something, right? Well, I’m at the Top Ten Club, and ... I’m kinda scared. Could you come over here?”
“Sure, but what’s going on? What are you afraid of?”
“I just really want to leave. I need a ride. Please?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t tell you right now. Uh, shit, he’s coming back....”
“Hey, listen up.” There was no question about whose deep voice was speaking. “I like this girl. Mmm . . .” He laughed with that deep, throaty chuckle that made me want to reach through the phone lines and strangle him. “You want to see her? Hey, maybe you the kind likes to watch.” He laughed again. He seemed to be enjoying himself. “You don’t want me to hurt Blondie here, now, do you? Then come to the club. Alone. No friends. No cops.” The phone clicked and went dead.
Cesar sounded like he had been watching too many movies. In my mind, I went over all the reasons why it would be really stupid for me to dash off and go over there alone. The phone rang again, startling me, and I grabbed it without thinking this time.
“Hello, this is your local mid-Gulf Stream substation of the retired Fort Lauderdale Police Department. What can I do for you, ma’am?”
“Can you talk?”
“These ladies have had enough Outta the Blue special Pusser’s Rum punch. They won’t remember much of anything tomorrow. I’m countin’ on it. What’s up, Seychelle?”
“It’s not looking real good about now. The cops are looking for me. They’ve got a warrant out for my arrest.”
“Shit, Seychelle. How can I help?”
“What do you know about Benjamin Crystal?”
“His name does seem to keep popping up today.”
“You heard the news, huh?”
“Yep, on the radio at lunchtime. How’re you mixed up with that scumbag?”
I thought about my mother and Neal and Elysia, and how in the end I hadn’t been able to save a one. And now there was Sunny.
“I can’t tell you all about it right now, Mike. I’m not really in trouble yet, but I could be later. Listen, keep your VHF and your phone open for me all night. If you haven’t heard from me by daybreak, break out the cavalry and come looking, okay?”
“Sey, you can’t be messing around with these guys—” I slowly lowered the receiver into its cradle.
Maybe this would be my one chance to get it right, I thought as I gathered up my Jeep keys and shoulder bag and headed out the door.
XX
My knuckles were white where I clutched Lightnin’s steering wheel at ten and two o’clock, charging down Federal Highway to Seventeenth. The rain started just about the time I pulled into the Top Ten Club parking lot. My stomach felt twisted and gurgling, like I might vomit at any minute. I’d considered telling B.J. where I was going, but I knew he would try to talk me out of it.
The early-bird dinner hour on a Monday night was obviously a slow time at the Top Ten Club. The valet parking attendant was sitting on his stool under the front door awning with his Walkman headset on, eyes closed, head jerking in rhythm to the music. He didn’t even notice me as I slipped into my spot back by the dumpsters. I tucked my shoulder bag under the front seat and slipped my wallet and keys into my pocket. I wanted to be ready to run.
The same short, muscled Hispanic guy was on the door, and even before he turned to greet me, I wondered why I hadn’t realized who he was, why I hadn’t put that part together yet. I saw the instant recognition in his eyes. He smiled, and I felt some small satisfaction at the gap in his teeth caused undoubtedly by my skates, but the sickness in those eyes made me look away. I didn’t want Cesar to see my fear.
I heard his deep laughter as I headed straight for the back, where Teenie stood behind the bar. I shook the rainwater off my arms and slicked my hair back as I slid onto a stool.
“Hi, Teenie.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cesar disappear down a hall into the back of the restaurant.
“Hey, girl, what’re you doing here? I don’t think that’s such a smart move on your part, honey. Our doorman really doesn’t like you. He had a fit after you left last time.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
She laughed. “He’s not exactly Mr. Charming, is he?”
“No,” I said, and smiled when she placed an iced Corona in front of me. “Do you know a young girl named either Sunny or Sonya? She’s been staying at Harbor House.” My voice sounded higher-pitched than normal, and I was having trouble breathing. This whole thing was beginning to feel like a terrible mistake.
“Nope, never heard of her.”
“Maybe you’ve seen her around here—a gorgeous blonde?”
“Now isn’t that special,” she said with a grin. “Sure don’t see many of those in here.” She looked up at the music video on the TV set suspended over the bar.
“Look, she left a message on my machine less than an hour ago. Said she was here.”
Teenie looked straight at me, all traces of her smile now gone. “I don’t know nothing about nothing. Got it?”
It was pretty clear she’d been warned not to talk to me. “Right, and thanks for all that nothing,” I said. I’d started to turn away from the bar when Cesar appeared at my side.
“Follow me,” he said in that sickening voice.
“Where’s Sunny?” I asked his back as he headed across the club to a hallway. I shrugged, raised my hand in a goodbye to Teenie, and took off after him. I saw fear in Teenie’s face.
Cesar led me down a long hallway past several open doors where girls were entertaining men in private rooms. To me the only difference between lap dancing and prostitution was whether a zipper was up or down.
“Where’s Sunny?” I said again to Cesar’s back.
Cesar stopped at the end of the hall and grinned at me. His wide-set Indian eyes didn’t look quite right. It was no wonder he nearly always wore sunglasses. He then grasped my forearm and opened the door at the end of the hall. The warm, moist night air blew in from the parking lot beyond. A light rain had started to fall. Behind the club, a small white limousine was parked with the engine running.
“Whoa. Hold it. I’m looking for Sunny, and she said she was here.”
Cesar looked around as though to see whether or not anyone was watching.
“Hey, shut up. You’re going to see Sunny. You’re gonna see a lot of her,” he said, and laughed that guttural laugh of his.
I struggled against his grip. “Let go of me!”
He opened the door to the backseat and, squeezing my arm in his ironlike fist, forced me into the car and slammed the door.
XXI
There were no door or window handles on the inside of the backseat doors, and a Plexiglas partition separated the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Cesar climbed up front and flashed me that smile that made me want to bust his teeth.