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“I’ve seen her,” he admitted, “and yeah, recently. A few weeks ago, at The Venetian.”
Finally, someone had information. I was beginning to give up hope.
“You saw her at the party?” I asked, shocked that he remembered Bells. Since the night she disappeared, I had shown her picture in various bars and hotels all over Las Vegas.
“Yeah, I remember her. Pretty blonde. Lots of expensive jewelry. She was with that cocky bastard, Mateo Ruiz.”
Almost everyone knew Mateo or his reputation. Either people loved or hated him. There didn’t seem to be any middle ground.
“What were they doing?”
“Drinking at the hotel bar.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I remember because I saw the ad for her family’s new perfume earlier that day on social media. All the Louvage family were included in the photo.”
I forgot the ad appeared the same day as the party. Was it a coincidence that Bells disappeared hours later?
Bellisara Louvage was heiress to several retail corporations, one of which created luxury fragrances. She shared that wealth with her four brothers. It irked me none of them tried to get ahold of me after the first forty-eight hours after her disappearance. The family had shut out the media, but I was her best friend. It hurt that they shut me out, too.
“She was a fucking knockout in the black dress she wore. Every guy in the bar was envious of Mateo.”
Yeah, I guess that would be easy to remember.
“Did you see her leave with him?”
He took a sip of his drink. “I think so. They left the bar together, but I don’t know if he took her to a private room or outside.”
“Thanks for your help.”
“Are you famous too?”
What? I shook my head. “No. I knew her a long time ago when we were kids. That’s all.”
His gaze swept over me. “You sure? You look familiar.”
Shit. I backed away from the guy and picked up my drink, turning to the room when I saw Mateo enter the bar—double shit.
“Have a good night. Thanks for the drink,” I called over my shoulder as I hustled through the crowd and entered the dance floor, gyrating my body to the music that thumped my chest as it flowed through a nearby speaker. I finished my drink and set down the glass, keeping an eye on Mateo the entire time. He didn’t seem to notice me. After a few minutes, my ears began to ring with the noise, so I headed toward the bathroom, finding a long line outside the ladies’ room.
“If this takes any longer, I’m gonna pee my pants,” the girl in front of me giggled.
“Right? I’m tempted to enter the men’s restroom.”
“Only if you can take the stink and mess.”
Truth.
I almost considered it when I heard someone getting sick in the women’s restroom. The sounds of their retching nearly made me gag. I tried to tune it out, but it wasn’t working. Even the music didn’t drown the awful groans and spitting. Yuck.
I left the line and returned to the dance floor, pushing through the crowd to reach the bar. Nick must have left. I didn’t see him.
The bartender ticked his head in my direction. “I heard about your friend.”
We came in here often enough that most of the staff knew us. “Yeah. It sucks, Tony. Even the news isn’t covering it as much anymore.”
He shook his head. “Sadly, it’s probably because something else equally terrible is happening. Vegas never shuts down even when the lights go off.”
He was right.
“I know. I’m not going to stop trying to find her.”
