Houdini stood up and approached a long counter to my right. When he opened up a lower cabinet, a light popped on like in a refrigerator. After pulling out a bottle of milk, he looked over his shoulder at me. “Would you like some?”
“No.”
He poured it into a glass, his back to me. “Then perhaps you’d like a cup of coffee to sober up.”
“I’m not drunk.”
He wandered back to his seat. “I’ve watched you pilfer my alcohol when you think nobody’s looking. Has this job been that difficult? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” He took a long drink and turned his chair halfway to look at the screen. “You’d think after centuries, people would grow weary of tits and ass. I have a wealthy customer who’s over five thousand years old. He could be spending his time anywhere in the world, but there he is in the dungeon, getting whipped by a woman he dresses in a red wig and royal garb. He supplies the clothes himself, and it makes me wonder where they came from. Sometimes I think this place isn’t about sexual fulfillment but a house of lost souls. Many come for fun and exploration, but the older ones just want to role-play some long-lost memory from their past.”
“If you hate it so much, why did you open up a sex club?”
“Fantasy club,” he said before facing me again. “I have particular standards and won’t put up with raunchy behavior. Full nudity isn’t allowed on the open floors. Waist up is fine, but I have furniture to consider. Private rooms are the only places you can engage in the next level of play. I have some customers who just stop by for the Sensor-spiked drinks and the atmosphere.”
“You should have just opened up a bar.”
“But then I wouldn’t be able to charge a membership fee. When I tire of this place, I’ll sell it for a small fortune. Always go where the money is, Raven. If there’s anything I can teach you, it’s to acquire assets. But… we’ve been over this before. Someday you’ll either thank me or kick yourself, because in the end, wealth is the only thing that’ll bring you comfort. People come and go. Societies come and go. Inventions, fashion—all the modern conveniences that have spoiled you will be gone in a hundred years, and you may not be equipped to survive in an unknown future. Don’t belong to anyone, because when they’re gone, you won’t know how to fend for yourself. You’ll wind up working in places like this and living in the Bricks.” He took another sip of his milk and licked his lips. “Districts like those have a bad reputation, but you misunderstand their purpose. It’s not just a place for criminals; it’s a refuge for those who are ill-equipped to survive in today’s world. They don’t understand the technology. They don’t agree with the rules of the establishment, and I’m fairly certain that you don’t entirely agree with them either. But living in the Bricks will isolate you from living free.”
“Don’t you live in the Bricks?”
He gave me an enigmatic smile and sat back. “I live lots of places, Butterfly.”
“Are you behind the missing girls? It wouldn’t be the first time that girls go missing when you’re around.”
His face went rigid, and he reached for his milk. “Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to recruit my own staff in nefarious activities?”
I barked out a laugh. “Since when are you above cage fighting? I bet it’s a lucrative investment, and it’s probably easier to vet potential candidates in a place where you see them every day.”
“You think you have me all figured out, don’t you?” He wiped his upper lip. “It’s illegal.”
“You and I both know that you don’t obey the law.”
“Neither do you.”
I uncrossed my legs and leaned in. “Simone said one of the girls came in here to see you and was never seen again.”
Houdini’s dark eyebrows slanted over his hazel eyes before he tipped his head back. “Ah. You mean Willow. I caught her sneaking into one of the rooms upstairs and performing sex acts for money. That’s against my rules. She was escorted out the back door and banned for life. I don’t give second chances.”
I glanced up at the moving images. “So if you’re not behind it, show me the footage of the night the girls disappeared. Maybe I’ll recognize someone they were talking to.”