He shrugged. “You’ll see tomorrow night.”
Chapter 19
The day after the article hit, I met with Lacey in the burlesque club’s private office. She hadn’t dressed for the evening yet, so she was still in her smart black dress and ridiculously high heels. She was one of those women that didn’t care that she was tall—she loved heels and wore them anyway.
“Have you come to hand in your official resignation?” Lacey asked with a smile, taking a seat behind the desk.
I nodded and sat in my own chair.
“Kind of unnecessary. Flynn already did it for you.”
“Shocking.”
“Right? I told him if you still wanted to dance you had my blessing.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah. You’re welcome to perform any time.”
“Thanks, but I think my performing days are over.”
“Hmmm. We’ll see. Did you and Flynn work out what you’re going to say to your former co-workers?” Lacey asked. “Even though you don’t really owe them an explanation.”
“They’ve become my friends,” I stated. “I already feel crappy enough that I lied to them about why I started working here—”
“Which you still can’t tell them.”
“I’m aware.” I peered at the manager of the club. “What did you tell them about Chelsea?”
“She took a leave of absence because of family problems.”
“She went underground again, didn’t she? How?” I demanded. “How can there be no trace of her?”
“He’ll find her,” Lacey said.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because Flynn always gets what he wants.”
I trembled at the resolution in her voice. What did that mean for Chelsea when Flynn found her? Though Flynn took care of me and those he felt belonged to him, he wasn’t the kind of man to take disloyalty lightly. And Chelsea had committed the ultimate betrayal—trying to take down part of his empire.
“Chelsea was a good actor,” I stated.
“Too good,” Lacey said flatly. “And there was nothing in her background check.”
“Holy shit,” I said in sudden realization. “You think she’s FBI, don’t you?”
“Not a lot of other explanations, Barrett. But don’t go getting ahead of yourself trying to figure it out. We won’t know for certain until we find her.”
For some reason, her words comforted me. Flynn wasn’t alone. He had people who had his back.
Was I one of them?
Lacey glanced at her watch and said, “The girls will be trickling in. Might as well go on out there.”
“Thanks, Lacey.”
“Sure. Can I ask you a question? Before you go?”
