Into The Night

Chapter Fifteen

The pressure was on.

As Nathan drove his newly acquired, slate-gray Hummer H2 past the massive iron gates protecting Sloane’s estate, he could feel the tension in the car heighten. A quick glance at Nicole sitting in the passenger seat told him she was feeling just as anxious. She’d been quiet on the ride out to Summerlin, and her pensive expression wasn’t how he wanted her to greet Preston.

“Take a deep breath and relax, sweetheart,” he said just as a long, sprawling mansion came into view. “We’re almost there and you need to shake off the nerves.”

Right before his eyes, that serious frown on her face disappeared and the rigid set to her shoulders eased. “What nerves?” she asked, flashing him a bright, believable smile.

“Good girl,” he murmured, satisfied that she once again looked like the young, carefree girl Sloane expected to see when they arrived.

Outwardly, she’d done an excellent job of hiding any trace of apprehension she might have been feeling. But past experience as an undercover cop had taught him that deep in your gut, there was no way to completely escape the stress that was your constant companion. Knowing you were playing a very risky game with equally dangerous criminals, you were constantly on guard, your level of awareness increased tenfold. All it took was one false move and suspicions were raised, and weeks of building a credible pretense were flushed down the toilet.

They both knew how much was at stake, and like actors getting ready to put on a performance, they’d discussed their roles and spent the day preparing for the weekend and all the possible scenarios that could come up in their attempt to find and rescue Angela. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Nathan pulled around the circular drive, and as soon as they stopped, a valet opened Nicole’s door and offered his hand to help her out of the high vehicle. Then he retrieved their overnight bags from the back and promised to deliver them to whatever room they’d been assigned.

Knowing he needed a sturdy vehicle with more space than the Ferrari in order to get Angela out undetected when the time came, Nathan had traded the sports car for the high-dollar Hummer. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Sloane that the wealthy entrepreneur Alex Keller had more than one vehicle, and the SUV, with its spacious backseats and black-tinted windows, was the perfect distraction.

“Make sure you don’t block the Hummer in any way when you park it.” Nathan handed the young man a twenty-dollar bill along with the keys. He wanted to make sure he had easy access to the vehicle at all times, and even had a spare key in his wallet just in case the need arose.

The guy pocketed the cash and grinned. “Sure thing.”

Tucking Nicole’s hand in his, he gave her a reassuring smile and led the way through a courtyard to the front doors of the massive house. They passed a huge, extravagant water fountain with a bronze sculpture of a young girl with two braids, bare from the waist up, pouring water into the first tier of the basin. Throughout the floral gardens surrounding the walkway were smaller statues of naked wood nymphs peeking through the lush foliage.

Nathan exchanged a quick can-you-believe-this-shit look with Nicole before ringing the doorbell. Less than a minute later they were greeted by Sloane himself, dressed casually in a crisp pair of jeans and a polo shirt.

“Alex and Nikki!” he said, sounding pleased to see them. Or at least he was happy to see Nicole, considering that was where the older man’s gaze lingered as he took in her soft, loose blond curls, pink minidress, and slender bare legs.

“You look very pretty, as always,” Sloane complimented her, his voice low and intimate.

“Thank you,” she replied demurely.

Beside Nathan, Nicole remained calm, despite Sloane’s blatant visual inspection and approval. She offered the older man a sweet, captivating smile that seemed to mesmerize him even more, and that’s when Nathan decided he’d had enough of Sloane’s ogling for now.

“Good to see you again, Preston,” Nathan said, forcing Sloane’s gaze back to him.

As if realizing he wasn’t alone with Nicole, the other man came back to his senses, opened the door wider, and waved his hand inside. “You, too, Keller. Come in, come in.”

They entered the huge foyer set with marble flooring. In front of them, a sweeping staircase led to a second-floor landing. A crystal chandelier hung overhead and rare artwork and antiques were displayed throughout the area, adding to the excessive opulence that seemed to be everywhere Nathan looked.

“Amazing place you have here,” Nathan said.

“There’s so much more for you to see.” Sloane stepped up to Nicole, grasped her hand, and tucked it into the crook of his arm. “How about I give the two of you a quick tour of the place?” While his question addressed both of them, Sloane’s gaze didn’t waver from Nicole’s face.

“I’d like that,” she said with a nod.

Keeping Nicole’s hand secured on his arm, Sloane escorted her into an adjoining room, with Nathan following behind. Under normal circumstances, he would have been more than a little annoyed at feeling like a third wheel, but having Sloane’s attention engaged solely on Nicole worked to Nathan’s advantage. It gave him the chance to take in the layout of the house and commit as much as he could to memory.

Strolling from room to room, Nathan saw no one but hired staff dressed in black-and-white uniforms, busy preparing for the guests arriving for the weekend. None of the young girls he’d seen at the nightclub were present, but Nathan knew that they were most likely living in one of the three guesthouses that were also on the property.

Sloane pointed out the huge living room where they would meet later for drinks and a dinner buffet, then the three of them took an elevator down to the lower level of the house to what Sloane fondly referred to as his “playroom.” The lighting was dim, but there was no mistaking the provocative vibe of the room, which reminded Nathan of the decor and setting at Sloane’s nightclub.

Another flight of stairs led to an indoor/outdoor pool, reminiscent of the Playboy Mansion grotto with caves, waterfalls, hot tubs, and passageways. As they continued to tour more of the house and its amenities, Nathan watched as Sloane poured on the charm with Nicole. The man was suave and debonair, and knew exactly what to say and do to flatter a girl. His touches were light but intimate, leaving no doubt that he was asserting his interest in Nicole and attempting to make her comfortable with his subtle caresses.

Nicole played along, executing a believable wide-eyed innocence and awe that seemed to captivate Sloane.

A good forty minutes later, and none too soon for Nathan, Sloane steered them toward another wing of the house where the guest suites were located and presented them with their room for the weekend.

“The only place I didn’t show you was my art gallery,” Sloane said to Nicole. “We’ll save that surprise for later this evening.” He finally released Nicole’s hand, but it was obvious to Nathan that the other man was reluctant to part company with her.

Sloane glanced at Nathan. “I’m expecting a few more guests to arrive, but the two of you can relax and freshen up before tonight’s get-together. Drinks are at six, followed by dinner, then a night of entertainment. I’ll see you then.”

There was no question in Nathan’s mind what Sloane meant by “entertainment.” He’d seen the playroom and the grotto, and most likely that was where the festivities would transition to after dinner. Hopefully, Angela would be there, and Nathan and Nicole could execute the next step in their plan.

Sloane left them alone, and as soon as Nathan closed the door to the suite, he watched Nicole’s teenage facade drop away and disgust fill her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, and Nathan immediately pressed his fingers against her lips and gave his head a hard shake, reminding her what they’d discussed earlier back at his place.

Within the walls of Sloane’s estate, they wouldn’t talk about anything regarding the case. There was too much of a chance for someone to overhear, and he honestly didn’t trust Sloane not to use surveillance devices to keep an eye, and ear, out for what they said or did.

Nicole chose a dark blue lace slip dress with thin spaghetti straps to wear for the evening. She curled her hair, put on a light application of makeup, and swiped shimmering gloss across her lips. Satisfied with her youthful appearance, she headed back into the adjoining bedroom where Nathan was waiting for her.

Wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt, he looked masculine and sexy. For a brief moment she wished they were someplace else entirely, instead of playing dress-up for her to entice Sloane, and for Nathan to express interest in Angela.

They gave each other a quiet look of understanding, then made their way downstairs to the cocktail party. Hand in hand, they walked into the spacious living room where the male guests were already gathered, along with a few young girls who were mingling with the men in the intimate setting.

Curious glances were cast their way, and a few of the girls eyed Nathan with brazen interest, but he didn’t so much as give them a second glance-much to their disappointment.

As Nathan led her to a bar set up in the corner of the room, Nicole noticed a couple of the girls from the nightclub, and others she didn’t recognize. With the provocative way most of them were dressed, they appeared of legal age, but she knew just how deceiving an outward appearance could be and suspected that most of the girls were minors.

She scanned the room for Holly and anyone resembling the photograph Nathan had of Angela, but didn’t see either. The night was still young, though, and Nicole hoped before the evening was over they’d see both girls.

“What can I get the two of you to drink?” the bartender asked.

“I’ll take a Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks, and she’ll have a piña colada,” Nathan said.

The bartender smirked at her frothy choice of beverage, but Nicole was grateful that Nathan had ordered her something light and fruity-definitely a young girl’s type of drink with minimal alcohol involved. While hard liquor seemed to be flowing freely, she wasn’t about to dull her senses when she needed all her wits about her tonight.

Unfortunately, when she took a sip of her piña colada, she nearly choked on the amount of rum the bartender had added, to the point that she couldn’t taste much else. She winced as the liquid burned its way down her throat, and she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he’d been specifically instructed to kick up the volume of alcohol in the drinks to loosen everyone’s inhibitions.

Especially the girls’.

As Nathan led Nicole away from the bar, he glanced at her in concern. “Are you okay?”

She managed a nod and blinked back tears. “This drink started a fire in my belly,” she said beneath her breath. “I’ll just pretend to sip it until I can discreetly get rid of it somewhere.”

“Good idea,” he agreed. “By the way, Gwen is in the room, so try to keep your contact with her to a minimum.”

Crap. She hadn’t expected Gwen to be there.

After their encounter at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Nicole couldn’t risk Sloane’s assistant recognizing her, even if Nicole did look completely different from her reporter persona. So, while the other woman made sure everything was running smoothly and the girls kept the male guests happy, Nicole kept her distance and her gaze averted.

Fifteen minutes later, Sloane entered the room, fashionably late, with Holly trailing by his side like an obedient puppy following its master. She was wearing a black halter-style dress that was cut much too low in the front, her expression teeming with desperate adoration as she looked up at Sloane, who appeared completely indifferent to her painfully obvious infatuation.

Sloane greeted a few of the other men nearby, then took Holly by the hand and pulled her forward-not to establish her as his girlfriend, but to introduce her to one of the gentlemen in the group who was staring at her with lust in his eyes. Holly tried to take a reluctant step back, but Sloane’s grip on her arm didn’t waver.

He bent and said something in her ear that instantly turned her submissive. With one last look of longing at Sloane, Holly allowed the other gentleman to tuck her arm in his and followed him to a couch in a secluded corner of the room so the two of them could be alone.

Without thinking and acting purely on instinct, Nicole started after Holly, and it was Nathan who brought her to an abrupt halt.

“Let it go,” he murmured, his tone low but firm. “I know it’s difficult to watch, but that’s not what we’re here for and you don’t want to draw Gwen’s attention.”

Oh, God, she knew he was right and was grateful that he’d snapped some sense back into her. She understood that she couldn’t save every girl in this house, but there was something about Holly that made her feel like a protective older sister. It was difficult to watch her self-destruct while Sloane couldn’t care less and had no qualms about passing her off to another man.

“Come on, let’s mingle,” Nathan said, and led her in the opposite direction of where Holly had gone.

They spent the next half hour getting acquainted with the depraved men who’d been invited to Sloane’s weekend soiree. From a distance, between playing the part of Nathan’s young girlfriend, Nicole continued to watch Holly as she consumed a few martinis, popped some pills, and half smiled at the man who’d pulled her onto his lap and was slipping his hand beneath the short hem of her dress. Holly appeared too wasted to care that she was about to be sexually assaulted.

Unable to stomach the disturbing sight, she turned away and set her still-full drink on a passing tray holding dozens of other glasses just as dinner was announced. Everyone headed into the dining room and chose their meal from an elaborate buffet spread that Nicole normally would have enjoyed. Tonight, she had no appetite, but forced herself to take some of the fruit and chicken to keep up her energy.

She and Nathan sat down at the far end of the long table, and before the chairs around them could fill up, Sloane came up to them with a petite blonde on his arm. With her hair falling halfway down her back in soft spiral curls, and wearing a pink baby-doll dress, she looked very sweet and much too naive. Her brown eyes were glassy, her body language lethargic, indicating she was either drugged or inebriated, or both.

“Nathan, this is Lisa,” Sloane said as he pulled out the vacant chair next to Nathan for the girl to take a seat. “She saw you in the other room and is quite taken with you. I thought the two of you might like to get to know each other better.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lisa,” Nathan said, and did as Sloane expected and turned his gaze to the young girl.

Clearly, Sloane was anxious to find a girl to Nathan’s liking in exchange for Nicole.

Sloane slid into the chair next to Nicole; one of the hired staff set a plate of food in front of him, and delivered one for Lisa, too. He instructed the waiter to pour them each a glass of wine, then he picked his up by the crystal stem and tilted it toward Nicole in a toast. She touched her glass to his and forced a smile.

He looked into her eyes, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when he splayed a hand on her thigh beneath the table and gave it a squeeze. “To an unforgettable weekend.”

Her belly lurched at the insinuation in his tone, and unable to find anything witty to say in response, she gave him a nod and sipped her wine. She also very subtly shifted closer to Nathan, and Sloane took the hint and removed his hand from her leg. For now. Unfortunately, her show of modesty seemed to fascinate him, and she had a feeling the man liked a challenge when it came to seducing a girl.

“So, are you having a nice evening so far?” Sloane asked as he cut into his prime rib.

“Yes, I am.” With Lisa doing her best to flirt with Nathan and keep his attention on her, Nicole had no choice but to converse with Sloane. She and Nathan had yet to see anyone who resembled Angela, and until they learned where she was, they had no choice but to play Sloane’s game his way.

“Good. It’s important to me that all my guests are happy, so if there’s anything at all you want or need, you only have to ask,” he said, his gaze warm and indulgent. “Also, I don’t believe I told you and Nathan, but tomorrow night is a masquerade theme, which makes the parties more interesting and fun. I’ll have outfits and masks delivered to your room tomorrow afternoon.”

She infused a believable amount of excitement into her expression. “I’ve never been to a real masquerade party before. Will it be like that Mardi Gras parade they have at the Rio?” she said, referring to the Vegas hotel that was well known for its carnival production.

He chuckled at her guileless enthusiasm. “Yes, it’s just like that, but so much better here at my place since all of us are a part of the Mardi Gras experience.” He winked at her.

Dinner couldn’t end quickly enough for Nicole, and as soon as everyone finished eating, Sloane announced that the entertainment would commence in the playroom downstairs. The guests filtered out of the dining room, and Nicole trailed behind with Nathan, not in any big hurry to be in the midst of such vile debauchery.

They were among the last to arrive, and already guests were pairing up with one or two of the girls and heading off to private rooms, the grotto, or hanging out in the main bar area. Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole saw Holly disappear by herself into the restroom she’d seen during the tour Sloane had given them earlier. Since this was most likely her only chance to talk to Holly privately, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I need to use the restroom,” Nicole told Nathan, and deliberately left out the part about her plan to have a little one-on-one time with Holly. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She headed across the room and slipped into the women’s lounge, where a few of the young girls were fussing with their hair and makeup. Because she was a new face in the crowd, they eyed her curiously, but didn’t say anything as she walked over to the closed door marked WOMEN and knocked.

There was no answer, but Nicole knew the girl was inside. “Holly?” she said through the door as she knocked again, more insistently this time. “It’s Nikki.”

“Go away,” Holly said, and sniffled.

Nicole closed her eyes for a moment. The despondent note to the young girl’s voice nearly broke her heart. The need to talk to her, to make sure she was okay, made her more persistent. “Let me in, Holly. Please?”

“No.”

Nicole sighed but refused to give up. “I’m not going away until you do. If I have to, I’ll wait right here until you open the door to leave.” The girl had to come out sometime.

Much to Nicole’s relief, less than a minute later the locked unlatched and the door opened a few inches. Nicole took it as an invitation to enter and quickly stepped inside, then rebolted the lock behind her so they weren’t interrupted.

Her first thought was that Holly looked a wreck, physically and emotionally. Her puffy, red eyes revealed she’d been crying, and her makeup was smudged from wiping away her tears. Her eyes were filled with such hopelessness that Nicole had to resist the urge to reach out and take the young girl into her arms for a comforting hug.

Holly’s chin lifted in a show of belligerence. The small, diamond heart pendant glittered from the hollow of her throat, a stark reminder of who she belonged to. “What do you want?”

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked, and leaned back against the closed door.

The other girl crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze. “Why do you care how I am?”

Holly was back to being the hostile girl Nicole had initially met back at the nightclub. Remembering how she’d been able to reach past those defensive barriers, she attempted to do so again now. “Because I think you could use a friend.”

She scoffed at that. “And you think you can be that friend? You’re the one that Preston wants,” she added bitterly. “If anything, you’re the enemy!”

“I swear I’m not,” Nicole said, trying to convince her, and at the same time striving to establish some kind of trust between them. “I don’t want Preston.”

“Whatever Preston wants, he gets.” Holly turned back to the vanity mirror and tried to repair her smeared makeup with her compact.

Not this time, Nicole wanted to say, but couldn’t.

Holly dropped the compact back into her purse and met Nicole’s gaze in the reflection. “Sloane told me I’m his favorite, and that’s why he likes to share me,” she said, her unsteady voice not holding as much conviction as it should have, as if Holly had her own doubts but was too terrified to speak them out loud.

God, how Nicole understood how the other girl felt. Hadn’t Mark used the same tactics on her to persuade Nicole to engage in a threesome with a virtual stranger? The similarities made her feel nauseous.

“Right now, I’m entertaining one of his friends, and when Preston sees how good I’m being, he’ll take me back and not want to share me anymore.”

Nicole had to forcibly swallow back her anger at the situation. “Are you sure about that, Holly?”

The young girl’s eyes flashed with irritation before she looked away and began digging through her purse. “I know he will. I just need a few of my pills to get me through the rest of the night.”

Nicole’s stomach roiled as she watched Holly shake two white tablets from a small container. “Getting wasted isn’t the answer,” she said, speaking from her own experience.

Holly clutched the pills in her fist. “I need them.”

“What are you taking?” Nicole was not only curious, but concerned about what the girl was ingesting.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Despair etched Holly’s features, and her bottom lip quivered. “Gwen gave them to me to take and they make me feel relaxed and calm. Taking the pills is the only way I can bring myself to let anyone other than Sloane touch me. They make me forget things I don’t want to remember.”

“It’s only a temporary fix, Holly.” Nicole took a small step toward the girl, then another. “In the morning, nothing will have changed.”

“You don’t understand!” Her voice rose in anger, and she popped the pills before Nicole could stop her, then scooped up water with her hands from the sink faucet to wash them down.

Nicole felt so damn helpless, and hated the fact that she couldn’t get through to Holly. She watched as the girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to recompose herself.

When Holly looked at her again, it was with reluctant determination. “I need to be good,” she said, calmer now. “I need to make Preston’s friend happy. If I do whatever Preston asks me to do, then he’ll know how much I love him.”

The anguish Nicole witnessed in Holly’s gaze twisted her insides into knots, and she gently touched the girl’s arm. “Honey, you’re not old enough to know what real love with a man is.”

Holly jerked away from her, a renewed fire igniting in her eyes. “So what if I’m only fifteen? I’ve had more experience than most girls my age.”

Nicole didn’t hesitate to call Holly on her slip. “Fifteen?”

Panic chased across Holly’s face as she realized her mistake, though she did nothing to correct it. Instead, she grabbed her purse and started past Nicole. “I need to get back to Richard before Gwen comes looking for me.”

Nicole stepped in front of the girl and blocked her path to the door. “You don’t have to do this, Holly. Let me help you. Let me get you out of this place.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Holly said, her voice choked with emotion. “I just want Preston .”

“What happens when he no longer wants you?” Nicole asked softly, but her words were direct and painfully honest.

Holly shook her head, as if she wouldn’t even consider that as an option. “I have to go .”

Knowing there was nothing else she could do right now, Nicole stepped aside and watched as Holly walked out. Tonight, she didn’t have any choice but to let the young girl entertain one of Sloane’s guests, but somewhere along the way Holly had become Nicole’s personal mission.

She wasn’t sure how Nathan was going to react to her decision, but Nicole wasn’t leaving this hellhole without Holly.