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“I’ll grab a drink then. Do you want anything?” I ask, and when he shakes his head, pointing at his nearly full glass, I slide back out and head to the bar.

Once I’ve got a Diet Coke, I sit back in the booth with Jacob. We discussed the meeting I had today, and other work we have going on, all while keeping an eye on the room to make sure there’s no sign of any trouble.

By the time I’ve drunk half of my drink, a heavy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach, and I’m getting antsy. My leg is jiggling up and down under the table, and I can’t even keep still when Jake places his hand over it.

“I’m going to see if Indie needs a hand,” I mumble, and Jake rolls his eyes at me.

“And they call me the possessive one. She’ll chew you a new arsehole for interrupting her work,” he says with a laugh, but I ignore him, flipping him off as I stand up.

I make my way towards the storage room, and as soon as I open the door and see it’s in darkness, my stomach sinks. I flip the light on and check the room anyway, even though it makes no sense for her to be in there with no lights on.

Once I’m sure she’s not in there, I open every door I pass, checking to see where she is. I ask every staff member, but none of them have seen her.

When I finally get to the staff changing room, I see that all of her things are still in her locker, but that does nothing to ease the growing fear and anxiety that’s swirling inside me.

I quickly pull out my phone and open my messages, groaning when I see there’s nothing new. I scroll to Indie and press call. It doesn’t take long for her ringtone to fill the room around me, echoing from inside her locker.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I shout to myself as ice slides through my veins.

I scroll down to Jacob’s name and quickly send him a text.

MILES

Meet me in the security room, now. I think we have a problem.

I then scroll to Marcus’ name and send him a message too.

MILES

Marcus, I really need you at the club now. I think Indie is missing.

As soon as the texts have been sent, I rush out of the staff changing room and head straight to the main security room. I slam the door open, startling Peri, who is in charge of themonitors this evening. She lets out a startled yelp, her hand going to the gun on her belt holster as she turns towards me.

“It’s just me,” I tell her, holding my hands in the air so she doesn’t accidentally shoot me.

“Sorry, boss. You scared the shit out of me. Couldn’t you have opened the door like a normal person?” she chastises, but I don’t have time to argue with her.

“I need you to pull up footage from the start of Indie’s shift.” Her eyes widen when she realises what I’m implying.

“Has something happened?” Her fingers are already clicking away on the keyboard as she speaks to me.

“I can’t find her. I’m hoping it’s something innocent, but I have a bad feeling,” I admit as nausea ripples through me.

The door slams open again, but this time Peri doesn’t even look back, continuing with the job I’ve given her. Jacob bursts through the door like an avenging angel. His face is pale and there’s fear in his eyes, but also a harsh determination on his face.

“What the fuck is going on?” he snaps, striding over to me.

“I can’t find Indie. I’ve checked all the back rooms and nobody has seen her. Peri is going back through the security cameras to trace her movements,” I explain, the colour draining further from his face as fear glistens in his eyes.

“What time did she arrive?” Peri asks, distracting us both.

“Eight,” Jake replies, shuffling closer to the screen as Peri pulls up the footage of them arriving for Indie’s shift.

Although Peri is whizzing through the footage, it’s easy to follow Indie as she shows Jacob to his usual table and brings him a drink from the bar. She kisses him before taking off toward the staff changing room—where there’s no fucking cameras, for privacy reasons.

Indie talks to a couple of people on the way, but she goes into the changing room on her own. Peri slows down the footage aswe wait for Indie to exit. I note the time on the camera shows she’s been in there for longer than normal, and my heart pounds out of my chest as I struggle to catch my breath.

I can feel Jake beside me practically vibrating with pent-up emotions, both of us waiting with bated breath to find out what the hell happens next. When the door on the screen finally opens, I hold my breath, letting out a huff when I see it’s not her.