came back from being ill.’
‘Did you ever meet any of her friends? Or boyfriends?’
‘Yeah, once or twice. There was one bloke with a funny name. Only it seems to have slipped my memory.’ She smiled up at him sweetly and he felt that damned lick of lust again. ‘Can you help jog it?’
‘Her flatmate mentioned a couple of blokes.’ He ignored the unsubtle invitation. ‘Lucie Duffy.’
‘That stuck-up bitch?’ Paige banged her empty glass down emphatically. ‘The ballet dancer? She can go fuck herself.’
‘I see.’ Silver suppressed a smile. They’d be a match for each other, Duffy and Paige. ‘You didn’t see eye to eye?’
‘We didn’t see each other full-stop. I only met her once, at some poncey Members’ bar a few weeks ago, and she didn’t even bother to speak to me at all.’ Paige gave a sniff of derision. ‘Anyway, this geezer was there. He was called – oh God, I really can’t remember. I’m good with names usually.’
‘Describe him.’
‘Tall. Dressed a bit stupid, like, young for his age. Kind of cowboy hat and boots. Really intense. Amazing eyes though. Like they could see right through you. It felt like I recognised him actually. From telly or somewhere.’ She stood and refilled her glass now. ‘He got a bit flirty with me, which well fucked that Lucie bird off.’
‘You mean Misty?’
‘No. I mean that ballet dancer one.’
Silver considered this information. ‘But why would Lucie be annoyed if he was Misty’s boyfriend?’
Paige shrugged again. She licked her top lip with a little pink tongue. ‘I got the feeling they shared stuff, them two girls.’
‘Shared?’
‘Yeah, shared. You know – clothes, make-up, men.’ Paige moved towards him and pressed herself against him now; she was so close he could smell her hairspray. ‘Us club girls, we get used to sharing.’ She fluttered a strategic hand near his groin. ‘Know what I’m saying?’
Silver took a deep breath. ‘That’s very nice of you, Paige—’
‘Nice wasn’t necessarily on my mind, babe.’ She moved her hand infinitesimally nearer.
Despite her small size and her voluptuous body, Silver found her persistence off-putting. He felt the last vestige of desire trickle away. He stepped back, relieved at his own feelings. ‘Another time, another place, Paige, love.’
‘There won’t be another time,’ she scowled at him. She turned to pick up her glittery purse. ‘You had your chance. This is dangerous for me. Perhaps you don’t realise what those monkeys running the club can do.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He genuinely was. ‘What can they do?’
‘They’re nasty, those Russians. You must know that.’
‘Which Russians?’
‘All of them. They don’t stand for no shit. Specially—’
‘Specially?’
Paige paused, checking her hair in the mirror, hesitating. Eventually she spoke quietly.
‘Look, something was going on with Misty. Let’s just say – well, she might have got too close to someone.’
‘Who?’
‘Someone at the top. And you don’t mess with the boss, know what I’m saying? Cos if he gets bored of you – well.’
‘Are you saying he’s done something to her? The “boss”? Who is he?’
Paige gazed at him with something akin to contempt.
‘You can find that out yourself, surely? All I’m saying – there was some weird shit going on. He might have – like, passed her on.’
‘To who? You’ve lost me, Paige.’
‘Really? I am surprised.’ She grabbed a cigarette out of her purse and then thought better of it. ‘You know, you’re starting to piss me off.’
‘Sorry.’
‘I’m fed up of being bullied. Know what I mean?’
‘No,’ Silver said frankly. ‘Explain, please.’
‘Look, if Misty got all la-di-da or if she started talking out of turn – well, they like the girls smacked-up or submissive. But,’ she hesitated again, ‘I don’t know. It was more than that.’
Silver felt his frustration building.
‘Paige, I really need your help, love.’
There was a knock at the door. Paige jumped visibly.
‘Room service?’ a voice said.
‘No thanks,’ Silver returned smartly. They waited a moment in silence, Paige glaring at the door as if it might suddenly burst open. Silver stood and moved nearer to her.
‘Paige, you need to tell me what you know.’
‘I don’t know what I know. That’s the point. Like I said.’ She was hissing between neat little teeth now. ‘There was some weird shit going on, and I didn’t want to know. I did my job; I kept my head down and my tits out. But Misty—’ She shoved the cigarette box back in her purse. ‘There was some woman involved. Something to do with the boss. And that’s all I can tell you.’
‘What woman?’
‘I don’t know.’ She was almost tearful with frustration herself