I caught sight of Maizy playing an arcade game near the main doors, so I walked over and sat in a red bucket seat facing her. Pizza Zone was a grand room with numerous tables in the center. One area had plastic tunnels for small children to climb through, and all the games were in multiple rows along the outer walls. I glanced at a bright window to my left and thought about Skye.
Reno dragged a tiny red chair in my direction and parked it to my right. “What’s the problem?”
I crossed my legs and my anklet jingled. “A friend of mine is missing. Not just missing, someone saw her taken. A van, but I don’t know the details. Reno, you’re one of the best private investigators, so I was hoping you could help. The higher authority won’t touch it and neither will the club owner. I have money, and I’ll pay whatever you charge.”
“Is she a close friend?”
I touched a loose curl of my hair and it spiraled around my finger. “She’s a sweet girl who doesn’t have anyone to look out for her. Let’s just say I don’t like seeing bad things happen to good people.”
“Fair enough, but if no one got the plates or a description, that could be problematic,” he said in a low register. Reno eased back in his chair and gave the situation some consideration. “This was at Club Sin?”
“Yes.”
“Who witnessed it?”
“A girl named Tina. If you need to question them, you’ll have to do it discreetly. Our manager has been a pain in the rear lately.”
An icy gust of air from the vent overhead suddenly enveloped me, and a million goose bumps erupted across my skin. I shivered and folded my arms, tightly hugging my body.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. A kidnapping never ends well—not with dancers. I’ve seen it a dozen times, and most of those girls end up on the black market. They single out the ones without family, and especially girls who don’t have much fight in them. Someone like you? Too much work for a buyer, and you’d be hard to sell. But yeah, the sex-slave trade goes on, and it’s a dark, ugly world. I’ve saved a few girls and put them in a safe home, but way too many slip through the cracks. There’s no way to save them all.”
My heart almost stopped and I clutched my chest. “Please, no.”
“It happens,” he said with a shrug. “Dancers are easy prey. Mostly it’s Shifters, but the black market has room for everyone, regardless of gender or age. There are malicious bastards who have been around for centuries, and not all of them have wised up. Some of the immortals still want to live a barbaric lifestyle where they have Shifters as pets. Makes them feel superior and shit—like a king or a god.”
“You mean slaves. Humans volunteer to be pets for Shifters, but no Shifter in their right mind would do the same of their own free will.”
He sighed and crossed his black boots at the ankles. “I’ll do what I can, Naya, but I can’t get in too deep. You’re a friend to Lexi, so I won’t turn you away. To tell you the truth, Austin might see this as a conflict of interest. In any case, I can’t promise it’s going to be a happy ending. You might never find out what happened to her. You ready for that?”
“I’m not giving up on her. Everyone deserves to have someone fight for them.”
“Okay then. Give me Tina’s number, and I’ll start with her.”
“Thank you.” I scribbled her number along with Daphne’s on a piece of paper, and he tucked it in his wallet.
We quietly watched Maizy play her game. She briefly turned around to fish more tokens out of a purse I’d given her when a young man in a casual dress shirt appeared and took over the machine.
“Hey, I was playing that,” she said.
“Sorry, kid. It’s mine now.”
“You can’t cut in front of me. I was getting coins.” She held one in front of his face, and he gently pushed her arm away.
I leaned toward Reno until our arms touched. “I bet he’s one of those friends of the family who doesn’t have kids of his own. What kind of man would put his needs before a child?”
“A dirtbag, that’s who.”
Humans fascinated me and I wanted to see how Maizy would react to his bullying. A girl needs to stand her ground and not let a man run over her.
Which is exactly what she did. I almost burst out laughing when she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it so hard that a button popped off the front. He regained his balance and glowered at her.
“You can play when I finish my game,” she said matter-of-factly. “It’s not nice to disrespect a woman.”
I laughed heartily that time. “I see the Cole brothers have been teaching her well.”
Reno folded his arms.
“Kid, if you don’t scram, I’m going to tell your mom you ruined my shirt. Then you’ll really get a spanking.”
Maizy retaliated by slamming her hand on one of the buttons, looking up at him defiantly.
“Does this kid belong to someone?” he shouted out to the room.
“That human is two seconds away from getting his ass kicked,” Reno muttered, leaning forward, his chair creaking.
Maizy changed her strategy and offered her coins to him. “You can have all my tokens if you let me play one last time before I have to go.”
“Thanks, kid.”