Page 114 of Diamonds

Chet wrinkles his nose.“Those breadcrumbs must be pretty stale after a decade of being strewn about.”

“Save your quips, Chet.”

He stands with a start, his bald head nearly hitting the ceiling of the room.“Let us just assume that there is even a modicum of truth to your story, Mr.Hathaway.That key in your hand clearly opens something.”

“Yeah, and you know what it is, don’t you?”

“Am I meant to keep a record of every door and key in the world?”

“For God’s sake.”Alissa approaches Chet’s desk.“You knew what my bloody drink order was the other night.”

“Mr.Hathaway orders a gin and tonic every night he’s here.Has for several years now.And you clearly favor your dirty martinis, Miss Wonder.It was not illogical to assume?—”

I grab him by his blazer, once again revealing his purple nipples.“We’re done here, Chet.Tell me what this key opens, or I swear to God I’ll choke you to death.”

“I’ve never been to Rouge’s private quarters.”Chet’s grin widens.“Butyouhave.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with?—”

But then I put Chet down.

That night, with Rouge.

The chalice of blood.

She pulled it out of a refrigerator.

And next to that refrigerator—I can still see it as clear as day—was a safe.

Inside that safe?Who knows?But if Rouge keeps blood in the refrigerator next to it, I can only imagine what kind of horrors she keeps locked away.

“The safe in Rouge’s private area behind her office.”I hold the key in my hand, catch the fluorescent lights of the foyer off it.“That’s what this unlocks.”

Chet sits back down, dusting off his pinstriped jacket.“A key can unlock all sorts of things, Mr.Hathaway.”He leans forward, pierces me with his dark eyes.“But some mysteries, once unlocked, can never berelocked.One should tread carefully.”He pulls out his big book of member names.“ID’s, please.”

This is all we’re going to get out of him.But I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I need to do tonight.

I guess it makes sense.He needs plausible deniability in case something goes south.

Alissa and I hand Chet our licenses.He, as always, asks Alissa if she is here as my guest, and then he unlocks the door leading to the mirrored staircase.

Like always, he locks the door behind us as we go down.

And my chest tightens as the deadbolt slides into place.

I know that if we need to get out, all we need to do is knock three times.

But I can’t shake the feeling that it might not be so easy to leave Aces Underground tonight.

I lean toward Alissa’s ear, my voice lowered.“We need to find a way to distract Rouge.Long enough for me to get into her office and see what the hell she has locked up inside that safe.”

She nods.“Could we spill something in the Spades section?Order a big flight of drinks and then throw them all on the floor?That would create a bit of a commotion.”

I scratch my chin.“The idea has merit, but Rouge would never busy herself with something as demeaning as cleaning.She’d have the servers attend to it and continue flitting about the club like she normally does.”

“Then what can we do?”

I close my eyes, take a deep breath in.“We have to hit her where it hurts.Her pocketbook.”