But Isabella had had enough. “No, he won’t. Look at me, Angel.” The girl hesitated before lifting her gaze to Isabella’s, and holy hell, no one’s eyes should look so haunted. “If you come talk to me, I’ll keep you safe. We can get you clean, and you won’t ever have to go to a party like this again. I swear it.”
A minute ticked by, then another before she finally gave up a broken nod that sent relief careening through Isabella’s veins. “Rampage and Franco keep us locked up most of the time when we’re not here for parties, but they don’t watch us as close as they do the girls they’re still breaking in. My room has a window. It’s not too big, but I think I can get out.” She paused, her voice growing small. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to get out.”
Something twisted, hard and deep in Isabella’s chest, but she buckled down over the sensation. “Good. This is really good,” she said, although it was the world’s most gigantic understatement.
She’d just smashed this case wide open. She was going to help these girls and make it so no one could ever hurt them again. Ever.
Isabella lowered her hands from Angel’s shoulders but kept the connection of their eyes firmly in place. “I want you to meet me at the diner across from the Thirty-Third precinct, tomorrow morning at nine. Can you do that?”
Angel fiddled with the silver chain at her throat. “So soon?”
God, as far as Isabella was concerned, right now wasn’t even soon enough. But giving Angel time to get scared or reconsider wasn’t on her agenda. “This will be your last party, Angel. I promise.”
“I’d…really like that,” she whispered. “Okay. Tomorrow morning.”
Not wanting to leave anything up to chance or circumstance, Isabella said, “In a few seconds, I’m going to go into the bathroom down that hallway.” She paused for a brief second to flick a glance at the just-visible doorway off the living room where they stood. “I’ll leave my card hidden behind the toilet tank for you. If you run into problems—anything at all—I want you to call me, day or night. Okay?”
Angel’s nod was answer enough, and they were running out of time. Turning toward the hallway, Isabella took a forward step so she could get into that bathroom then get the hell out of Dodge, when Kellan’s hand slid around her body to pull her in close.
“Keep walking,” he said in a quiet demand, and really? He’d trusted her this whole time, for God’s sake, even though he’d surprised the hell out of her while he was at it. Was he really going to get bossy about chaperoning her now?
“You can’t go to the bathroom with me,” Isabella argued under her breath, but his proprietary grip around her shoulders grew even tighter as he dipped his mouth to her ear.
“Yeah, well, the blond guy in the million dollar suit who’s been watching us talk to Angel for the last couple minutes is moving in on our six, so I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going into the bathroom without me.”
Ten more seconds had them to the threshold of the bathroom, two more and Kellan had shut and locked the door, and dammit, she needed to breathe, to form an exit plan, to think. She moved to say just that, but Walker’s fingers pressed hard and quick to the center of her mouth, stopping her words before they could form.
“Wait.” He surveyed the bathroom, his eyes ice-blue and meticulous as they moved over the cream-colored hand-embossed wallpaper, the marble and mahogany vanity topped with copper fixtures and a mirror large enough to span half the wall behind it, and the four corners where the crown molding met the ceiling on perfectly drawn seams. After one quick slide of his fingers around the mirror’s frame, he lifted his chin in a nod.
But just because this tiny, windowless bathroom didn’t seem to be under video surveillance didn’t mean there weren’t listening devices they’d missed. Or that the man who had been following them wasn’t listening in at the door the old fashioned way. She couldn’t be careless now. Not when she was so close.
Isabella pulled the burner cell from her purse, flicking the screen to life. DuPree? she typed into an empty text message field, showing the screen to Walker before deleting the single word.
He took the phone from her with a nod. Best guess. Don’t think he knows what we came for. But he knows we’re here, and that we’re not regulars. We’re probably going to have to talk our way out the door.
Her gut squeezed, but still, she typed, copy that. Making sure to delete their back and forth, she placed her phone back inside her purse, lifting the edge of the satin lining to pull out the business card she’d tucked beneath it. Reaching around to the back of the toilet tank, she slipped the top corner of the card noiselessly under the spot where the smooth porcelain tower met the tank lid, trapping it into place.
“Okay,” Isabella mouthed, squaring her shoulders and standing tall. She took a step toward the door, her intentions set on beating the fastest path to the elevator without being noticed.