“But what?”
She had to be careful. She had to be sure she could trust this woman to keep her mouth shut. It was a gamble, for sure, and Olly would probably be pissed as hell at her for even considering it.
But Her sister’s life was on the line, and since time was running out…
“If I tell you something, can you promise me you’ll keep it between us, too?”
Roxie frowned. “So, like what? You keep my secret if I keep yours?”
“I won’t tell anyone your secret regardless, Roxie. But I do need your word that you’ll keep mine. It’s…important. Like life and death important.”
“Damn, girl.” The other woman slid closer. “I mean, yeah. Of course. I’m like a fucking vault.” She pretended to zip her mouth closed and throw away the key.
Praying this decision wasn’t one that would come back to bite her in the ass, Scarlett took a deep breath, double-checked the doorway once more, and then told Roxie the truth about who she was and why she was here.
“I’ve asked you a few times about Cinnamon.”
“Boy, you really have a thing for her, huh?”
“Not like you think.” She pulled her backpack from the locker and pulled out her cell phone. Pulling up the picture she’d saved from the DNA ancestry site, Scarlett flipped the image around for the other woman to see. “Is this her? Is this the Cinnamon who worked here?”
Roxie studied the picture and nodded. “Yeah, that’s her. But wait. I thought you said you didn’t?—”
“Her name isn’t Cinnamon,” she revealed. “It’s Rose. She’s my sister, and she’s been missing for three months. I’m trying to find her, Rox. So if there’s anything you know. Anything at all that might help me do that, I’m all ears.”
Roxie’s blue eyes shone bright with fear, and she gave the doorway another glance. Scarlett wanted to go over and pull the door shut, but she couldn’t. Club policy that was in place to supposedly protect the girls.
Bad things happen behind closed doors.
That was what she’d been told during her official tour of the place. Scarlett wasn’t so sure that was the case, but regardless, shutting the door now would only draw suspicion.
“Please, Roxie. Everything we know so far points to Rose being in danger. This place…” She licked her lips. “We think it’s a front for a trafficking ring that was based out of Denver.”
“Denver?”
Scarlett nodded. “It was run by a guy named Dante Valdez. Does that sound familiar to you at all?”
“No. But Vic and those guys don’t really talk to us much. Not unless it’s about our dances, the schedule, or our tips.”
“Okay, but what about the other girls? Have you noticed a lot of them coming in and out of the club since you’ve worked her? Especially the ones who are single and have no kids or any sort of actual ties to anyone who might miss them.”
Roxie thought for a moment, those big eyes of hers periodically looking back toward the door. “I mean, there’s a bigturnover here, sure. But it’s like that in most clubs, right? Girls come and go at the drop of a hat, it seems.”
Which made a place like this the perfect front for a business like the one Valdez had started.
“Okay, then back to Cinnamon. Did she ever talk to you about any of this? Mention anything about where she was from or give her real name. Anything like that?”
“I only ever knew her as Cinnamon.” Regret filled the other woman’s tone. “But now that you mention it, she did always seem a little standoffish.”
“How do you mean?”
“You know…kept to herself. Never shared anything about her life outside the club. Not that it’s that uncommon in this business. Like I said, people come and go all the time. But…yeah. I always felt like she looked a little…”
“What?”
Another glance at the door and then a whispered, “Scared.”
“Scared?”