Chapter 35
I stepped quickly out of the car and looked at the club. I kinda though that maybe Kyle would be waiting for me outside, there to comfort me and escort me in. But no, not with our arrangement, not with all the secrets. What I'd just witnessed in room 640 was just another element to add to the f*cked up nature of my life.
I was still jittery as I walked in past Mace, although the whiskey had helped to settle me slightly. I gingerly walked down the steps and along the corridor away from the beating tones in the club behind me, knocking at the door as I reached the room at the end.
I could hear Kyle's voice inside, saying “come in” with his usual official, managerial tone.
As soon as I walked in he was up and towards me, rushing from round the side of his desk just as the door closed. He came straight in and hugged me tight, his strong arms around me just what I needed.
“You're OK now Alice,” he said as the tears began to flow from my eyes, “it's OK.”
He led me over to a sofa at the side of the room and sat me down, fetching a couple of drinks and perching down beside me.
“Here,” he said, handing me the glass, “it will settle your nerves.”
I took the glass of whiskey - my third - and took a sip.
“Tell me Alice, did anyone there know you? Did anyone at the hotel know your name?”
I thought for a moment as the whiskey warmed my system. “No, no one. I - I think I mentioned my surname to the concierge the first time I went there months ago but I never said my first name.”
Kyle was nodding, his eyes pensive. “OK, that's OK.”
“But who could have done this?” I asked him, “what the hell's going on Kyle?”
“I don't know Alice, I'll have to talk to my father. He may be involved, or it may be completely unrelated. I'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry.”
“The concierge,” I said, thinking back, “he did say something odd.”
I could see Kyle's eyes widen as he looked straight at me. “What? What did he say?”
“It was when I'd just arrived. He said something about Mr White having an appetite today. He hadn't said that to me before. I'm not sure what he meant.”
I could see Kyle's mind ticking over, trying to find an answer.
“Did you see any other girls around. Anyone on the floor as you approached or perhaps coming out of the lift in the lobby?”
“No, I don't think so. Why?”
“It's probably nothing, but his words would suggest that Mr White had already had a visitor, another caller to his room. I'll check to see if he had booked anyone else.”
“But why, why would any other dancer do that?” Nothing was fitting together in my mind. “Why would someone want to kill him?”
Kyle shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Some of these men have lots of enemies Alice. They're very powerful, very wealthy. There are all sorts of reasons why someone might want to kill him.”
“But who is he really? Is - was - he really called Mr White?”
“I don't know. He was beyond my pay grade, I never dealt with him personally.”
I couldn't understand it. Why would a stripper or prostitute want to kill him. How would they have killed him like that, sitting there in his chair. Nothing added up, and now I'd been thrust right into the middle of it.
“Who booked you on the job,” Kyle asked, his furrowed brow deepening. “I had no idea about it. He was meant to book you for next week as far as I knew.”
I shook my head. “I don't know, I just got a message as usual. It was from a number I didn't recognize.”
“Not the same number as usual?”
“No, a different one.”
He stood in silence for a moment. “It's odd. I don't work directly with all clients, but I always know who's booked which dancer and when. This one I wasn't made aware of.”
“Look,” he continued, “I'll have a root around, talk to my father, see if he knows anything. I'll call you on another phone when I know more.”
He leaned in closer and took my chin in his hand. “Please, just trust me right now. Go back to your dorms. I'll call you later.”
I didn't say anything as he walked me to the door, hiding to the side as it opened should the camera down the corridor catch us closer than three feet together. I mean, there was paranoia and there was paranoia, and this was taking things to another level.
After what I'd just seen, though, I guess there might be cause for it.