Page 21 of Capture (Primal #3)

M ikky appeared from behind the bookshelf, the secret door that led up to the Red Velvet rooms, as I sat on the leather couch, staring at the floor after my conversation with Danny.

My head was spinning as to what to do with this latest piece of information, and what was the best way to manage Betty.

“Why didn’t he phone me?” Mikky asked as he took his phone from his pocket, then realized that the battery was dead. “I made you the second contact on the list.”

“And? What did Danny dig up on Betty?” he inquired. “Going by the glum expression on your face, our suspicions have been proven correct.”

“I just feel bad, man,” I exhaled in an attempt to relieve the burden weighing down on my chest. “Didn’t Lars do a background check on Betty before hiring her?”

“We poached her from the Larsson club, stealing Sylvie’s most valuable staffer, so we already knew she was loyal,” Mikky answered abruptly. “She’s been working for the family businesses for twenty years or more. There was no need to do a background check on her to hire her to manage this place.”

“What about when Sylvie and Lars hired her in the first place?” I pressed because none of this made sense to me. “Was there a background check done on her then?”

Mikky shrugged his shoulders. “I was only a kid back then. What have you got on her?”

“She was born here in Gothenburg,” he started.

“Seriously? I thought she was a Larsson native, well, I assumed she was a Larsson native because her grandmother was living with her, until she died.” Mikky narrowed his eyes as he spoke, as if hunting for memories in his mind. “I thought she was solid.”

“Did Lars poach her, or did Betty offer to move here?” I asked him because it mattered whether it was his idea or not.

“I wasn’t part of the conversation, but I remembered Lars saying before we purchased this place for a bargain price that we should steal Betty from the Larsson club.

And I remember scoffing, assuming he was joking, as Sylvie would hit the fucking roof, because they were so tight.

I mean…Sylvie and Betty were good friends…

” he trailed off again as he found a spot on the wall and stared at it as if he were a million miles away.

“Close friends. Sylvie practically viewed Betty as part of the family, a sister, even, because she grew up in the club and became an integral part of the business.”

“Danny went through the footage from our security camera at the back entrance, down the alleyway, but the footage had been erased like the CCTV at the front entrance,” I explained to him.

“But he discovered there was CCTV on the bus stop that Annika would use after her shift. He had it checked and discovered that Judith and Betty had met in the shadows on three occasions in the past month. He’ll send us the footage if we want to view it. ”

“No,” he shook his head as fury rose in him, still staring at that spot on the wall. “No need.” He wavered for a few seconds, deliberating, before stating, “Get Betty in my office. ASAP.”

“Right on,” I replied, leaping to my feet. “You’re going to confront her?”

“I’ll ask her some questions and watch her slowly as he tries to answer them,” he answered, stepping out of the lounge, walking like a man on a mission, and everyone should get the fuck out of the way of that train.

I followed behind him until he ran up the stairs to his office, while I continued onwards to the kitchen area. She wasn’t in the kitchen, which was unsurprising, so I poked my head into the office, and it was empty as it was busy in the club, and all hands were on deck.

Perhaps I walked past her when I stormed through the casino, but I did glance about searching for that deadly straight ponytail.

When I turned the corner from the hallway into the grand entrance area, a girl was alone behind the desk, attending to members as they arrived.

I stepped in behind the desk to assist with signing in and out, hanging coats, and storing valuables that guests didn’t want to take into the club in our safe.

When I had a spare moment, I quietly asked her if she’d seen Betty.

“She said she had to head home to pick up something,” she whispered, but that was some time ago, and I haven’t seen her return.

Panic shivered down my spine. Damn it. We wanted to play down our suspicions of her until we knew for sure, so she didn’t flee. Once the line of members was cleared, I stepped away from the front desk and walked quickly, without raising an alarm, into the casino to search for her properly.

When I couldn’t see her, I raced into the bar and dining area and spotted Freddie chatting to a table of members who were in a cloud of cigar smoke. I caught his attention, and he cruised over to me with a wary expression on his face.

“Have you seen Betty?” I asked quietly.

“Not for a couple of hours,” he replied. “Did you speak with Mr. Dalgety?”

“Who?” It took me a few seconds to grasp who he was talking about. Not Mr. Dalgety, his real name was Sergeant Tindale, but Freddie wouldn’t know that. “Oh, yes, him. It was fine. Did Betty tell you that she had to go home to pick something up?”

He shook his head. “No, but it’s a full house, and I’ve been busy schmoozing the guests. Why? What’s happened?”

“Ah, we may have lost Betty,” I mumbled under my breath, giving little away.

He hesitated and shuffled nervously on his feet. “Listen, I’ve been wanting to talk to you and Mikeal about-”

“Do me a favor,” I interrupted. “Call Betty to find out where she is. Just make something up that the staff were looking for her.”

“Sure,” he replied, as jazz music played softly in the background and I scanned the bar and diners to ensure that nothing was out of place.

“Betty,” Freddie spoke into the phone. “Are you in the club somewhere, as the kitchen staff are looking for you?” Then he swiped off. “I left a message. And ah about Betty…”

I started walking away from him toward the stairs to inform Mikky that we might have a problem with Betty’s whereabouts. “Yeah, don’t worry about her. We’ll get it sorted.”

“I’ve been concerned about her for a while, Ronan,” he said, walking quickly beside me. “And wasn’t sure how to tell you since you’re so close with her.”

“Really?” I stalled and turned to face him so I could read his expression, just as a waitress moved past us, and I realized we were in a bad place to have a quiet conversation. “Come up to Mikky’s office.”

“Sure,” he hesitated, because he shouldn’t leave the floor.

“We’ll be quick,” I promised him, and we spoke in the viewing lounge so that you could oversee the floor.

“Alright,” he answered, but he seemed nervous.

“Let me ask you something,” I began, eager to ask him a question that’s been bothering me. “Dalgety?”

“Yeah,” he answered, saying little.

“You know we don’t like people visiting Mikael without clearance unless Mikael organized it himself, so why did you arrange for Dalgety to see him?” I rationalized as we dashed up the stairs, but I then stopped halfway to scan the floor searching for Betty, while waiting for Freddie to answer.

“You think she’s gone, don’t you. Done a runner?” he questioned as we turned to climb the rest of the stairs.

“It doesn’t look good,” I stated as I opened the door and turned down the hallway toward Mikky’s office.

“Dalgety,” I prompted him to answer the question that he seemed to be avoiding.

“He came in the front entrance and told the receptionist that he insisted on seeing Mikael Kaiser. As you know, we train the girls to take their details, and we may or may not pass the message on. When he showed his badge stating that he was from the Gothenburg PD, she came and got Betty, but she wasn’t at her desk.

“However, I was at mine, so she asked me what to do. It was pure luck, because if Betty were there instead of me, then I don’t know what would’ve happened, although he was persistent so that he wouldn’t have gone away that easily.”

“Anyway,” he continued as I knocked on Mikky’s door and heard his voice calling me from the viewing lounge.

“He said he wanted to speak to Mr. Kaiser about the whereabouts of Gunner Kaiser and Riley Laws, so I freaked out. I wasn’t sure who Riley Laws was, but I assumed she was a girlfriend, and maybe they had run away together or worse… Is Gunner missing?”

“Yes,” I replied, “but we have it all under control.” We walked into the smoke-filled viewing lounge, where Mikael looked distant and glum, cringing when he saw Freddie there.

“What’s happened?” he knew. He just knew something wasn’t right.

“We can’t get hold of Betty and can’t find her on the floor,” I told him. “And Freddie is here to talk to us about a few things that have been concerning him.”

“About Betty?” Mikky pressed.

“Yeah,” encouraging me to take a seat in the leather armchair, while I stood guard at the door, staring out the window across the casino and bar, still searching for that black ponytail, even though my mind was with Annika as it always was these days.

I left the television half unpacked in her room, which was a great excuse to return and see her.

“Is Gunner okay?” Freddie asked, panicked.

“We think so,” I answered, although I honestly didn’t know what his physical state was like.

“It’ll be over very soon anyway,” Mikael added confidently and flicked me a look as if he had decided on how we’re going to get him back. He’d tell me later.

“Anyway,” I encouraged Freddie, “Dalgety first.”

“I made the appointment for him to see you, but decided to use a fake name, so Betty wouldn’t know he was a cop because I didn’t trust her, and she’s had a slight grudge for you guys for a while,” he explained evenly.

“So, we changed his name, and I arranged the appointment. I was worried whether I did the right thing or not.” He hesitated, then added, “Did I do the right thing?”

“Yes,” I affirmed hastily. “Now, tell us about Betty having a grudge for us.”

“I might be exaggerating, but I’ll let you decide, but it started when Mikael came back; before then, she was practically running the place along with Ronan.

“I thought at first that she was bitter having to take a backseat in decision-making again, but that didn’t make sense either.

She’d disappear, then reappear, have secret meetings, and change her schedule.

It was out of character for her as she was so reliable without a fault.

I had a suspicion that she was behind the rat problem, as CCTV cameras were removed and replaced with duds or footage wiped from the working cameras.

It was several small things that, when you add them up, were significant and unfortunately led back to her. ”

I nodded, listening intently as I kept watching the club floor to spot that jet black ponytail, but I knew instinctively that she was gone. Long gone.

“Is that it?” Mikky seemed unimpressed, as if it wasn’t much to worry about.

“There was one more issue that occurred a few months ago, before you returned from…” he refused to utter the word prison as if it were shameful. “There was money going missing from the petty cash and the bar till.”

I grunted in surprise. “You didn’t tell me about that?”

“It was resolved quickly once I was informed and the money was replaced,” he assured me.

“Who would be dumb enough to steal from the Kaisers?” I growled, annoyed that the power that I wielded while Mikky was in prison didn’t scare them enough.

They were aware that I had business meetings with Mikky every week, so they knew he was the one who made the call if someone needed to be dealt with.

“Who replaced the money?” Mikky asked, frowning, possibly hoping that it wasn’t money moved from another club account. “And how much was it?”

Fred’s complexion reddened. “A few thousand,” he answered, shrugging, trying not to turn it into a big deal.

“And where did the money come from?” I repeated the first question because it was evident that he was avoiding answering it.

Freddie swallowed and wriggled uncomfortably in his seat.

“Was it your money?” Mikky asked accusingly. “Did you replace it with your own money?”

His complexion reddened even more as tiny beads of sweat coated his top lip. His Adam’s apple bobbled in his throat as he swallowed.

Mikky looked up at me from the armchair, “Organize a transfer to repay Freddie. Today.”

“No problem,” I replied, noting it in my phone to remind me.

“There’s no need,” Freddie stated, holding his hand, looking embarrassed.

“Too late. It’s done,” Mikky ordered. “Now, who stole the money in the first place?”

“He’s gone,” he pointed out. “I pushed him out quietly.”

“Wait,” I halted the conversation. “Was that the senior bartender who left unexpectedly, leaving us short-staffed several months ago?”

“Yes,” he sighed.

“You covering him?” I pressed, slightly annoyed, but I understood where he was coming from.

“I dealt with the problem. No hassle. You didn’t even know, so…” he argued, holding his own.

Fair enough. That’s why we hired Freddie and Betty to make problems go away, until one of them became a problem. “What’s that got to do with Betty?”

“Betty was romantically involved with him,” he told us. “They were very discreet, and it was impossible to tell at work, so I turned a blind eye to it. Besides, she was a manager, like I am, so I didn’t have seniority over her.”

“So, she broke that rule as well,” Mikky stated scathingly. “Why would junior staff behave and follow the rules if senior staff don’t?”

“But she said she was very embarrassed about his thieving and broke off their relationship, but I think she was lying, so I’d drop it. And I did. It was never mentioned again,” he said sternly.

Silence fell as I reflected on this new information and a previously unknown aspect of one of our most valuable staff members. Mikky grew distant as Freddie rose to his feet, eager to get back on the floor.

“Anyway,” he said as he stepped toward me, and I moved out of the way so he could leave.

“Even though she is very good at keeping her private life private and never bringing her grievances to work, I have a hunch that he is still in the picture and…” he paused to gather his thoughts, but I could predict what he was about to say.

“I think he and she conspired in the rat dump, working with an outside group.”

“Yeah, we know who that is,” I mumbled under my breath as I patted him on his shoulder as he moved past. “Thanks for that, Freddie. I’ll sort out the money transfer later.”

“Sure. Thanks,” he said proudly.