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“We’d still like to look around,” Ally said, marching towards the doors, not taking no for an answer. Pete rushed to catch up with her and held the door open.
“Of course.”
****
The basement light to The Desperado buzzed and blinked. Chad waited for the bulbs to blow and for them to be plunged into darkness.
“I use it as a storage room,” Pete said.
Josh opened the closest box and pulled out a line of tinsel. He wrapped it around his neck like a scarf. Ally muttered something under her breath and pulled it off him.
“No way of getting out from here?” Chad asked.
Pete shook his head. “You’d have to go back up the stairs. The only killers lurking down here are of the Halloween variety.” He pulled a scream mask from a box and held it to his face. “See?”
Chad took the lead, and the others followed him out of the basement
Pete hovered around them. “I’d like to know if my club can open tonight?”
Ally frowned. “You’re not going to close it one night out of respect.”
“I have bills to pay. Justin wasn’t murdered here … he loved the place, he’d have wanted it to be open as usual. As much as he was a good customer, I have no idea what else was going on in his life, who he was involved with.”
“What’s your point?”
“His death has nothing to do with The Desperado, and me, my staff, and my customers shouldn’t be punished for it.”
“Open your club.” Ally shrugged. “I just thought you might keep it closed a day as a mark of respect.”
The instant Chad stepped out of The Desperado, he felt eyes tugging on him. His gaze snapped to Romeo across the street, wearing an oversized hoodie. Apart from the hood, he didn’t obscure his face, but he looked different to the man once splashed all over the news. Longer stubble, and longer hair he could just about manage to tuck behind his ears. A scar pulled at his eye and the tatty leather jacket he wore barely fit over the hoodie. The sight of him punched Chad in the stomach, and he froze, winded in the doorway.
Ally crashed into him. “What the hell, Chad?”
Romeo lingered, watching him. Chad held onto the doorframe, spreading his body, blocking the sight of Romeo from view. The public didn’t spare him any attention, but he was with Ally and Josh. Detectives. They were bound to notice the serial killer standing across the street.
“Chad? Are you broken?”
Romeo shoved his hands in his pockets and slunk away along the adjacent street.
Ally pushed him onto the path. “I don’t want to spend another second in there.”
Chad moved aside. “Sorry—”
“What were you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
Ally tutted at the photographers in the distance, and steered Chad around the corner. “Vultures.”
They leaned against the wall as they waited for Josh to emerge from the darkness.
Ally kicked the cigarette butts on the ground. “Where is the appeal in dark rooms, loud music, and shots?” Ally asked. “I don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s what comes with them.”
“Huh?”
“Company. Justin was a regular here. He picked up women for sex. Maybe he was lonely.”
