He set his glass in the sink. “It’s against the law.” After a moment of silence, he turned around and rested his hands on the counter behind him. “You might not believe this, but I’d like to run my club without the higher authority sticking its nose into my business. I have no choice but to conform. That’s what smart men do. Those who balk about their circumstance will never adapt.”
“What’s the point of cameras if you don’t record?” I threw up my hand. “Never mind. I think I can guess.”
Houdini snorted. “I’m sure you can. The cameras are all hidden; not even my staff knows about them. There’s no law against running them so long as they aren’t recording. They came with the establishment.”
I put my foot on his desk and then crossed my other one over it. “I’ve got a job to do, so any information you can give me would be great.”
Houdini approached the desk and leaned against it, next to my feet. “I told the Regulators everything I know. Now you’re here. What an auspicious sign.”
“You didn’t specifically ask for us?”
“I asked for them to let me handle it, but the Mageri got involved when they heard about the deaths. You know how difficult they can be, so I agreed to work with the higher authority and hire undercover investigators. Then I heard a Mage with black hair showed up, so I had to come see for myself. Better it was you than one of the others on your team.”
When he touched the heel of my boot, I put my feet on the floor.
“What a pity your Irishman couldn’t join you,” he said. “But I don’t allow Vampires.”
“Hypocrite.”
“No one knows what I am. Not many here even know who I am. It keeps them on their toes if they think I might be in the crowd watching.”
He rested his palms on the desk and fell silent. Random images from the screens behind him lit up the room. Women dancing, men serving, someone getting paddled in a hallway, a woman strapped in a bizarre swing. As I watched a man with a ball gag crawl down a hallway behind his mistress, I realized how completely tame those rituals were in comparison to what was going on in the private rooms. Why in the world did Houdini watch this stuff? I remembered him once telling me how nudity bored him, and yet here he was, running a fantasy club.
“Do you still have my key?” he asked.
“You shouldn’t obsess over something that never belonged to you.”
His fingers gripped the edge of the desk until I heard the wood pop. “I only want what’s mine.”
I stood up and circled behind his chair, briefly glancing up at the screens before staring at the back of Houdini’s head. “I’m here to figure out why girls are dropping like flies. I heard some of your staff fled before questioning. Something’s going on around here, and I don’t see how you couldn’t know about it.”
He swiveled around, and the apathetic look on his face gave little of his thoughts away. “Because I’m rarely here. And what do I care? My only concern is filling the positions and keeping this place profitable. What my employees do in their spare time doesn’t interest me.”
“Even if it kills them?”
“You have a dangerous job, Raven. You could die. Does that mean your boss is a sadistic monster?” Houdini gave a one-sided smile, the kind that crept up your face when you had a wicked idea. “Maybe I should be concerned and save you. Is that what you want? Someone to rescue you from your decisions?”
“You’ve made your point.” The sincerity in his question made me take a step back. “When Christian finds out you’re here, he’ll kill you.”
“That wouldn’t be productive to your investigation. Would you really jeopardize everything? Come on now. The higher authority would arrest your partner and break apart your organization. Poe doesn’t strike me as impetuous, but people have been known to surprise me.” He put his fingers in the pockets of his jeans and smiled. “I do love surprises. Perhaps I’m being too restrictive on club rules. I don’t see any reason we need to keep the Vampire ban in place. Do you?”
I saw where he was going with this, and I wasn’t on board with the plan. “I’m not here to change your rules. If you let in Vamps, people