Free Killing Time by SE Chardou Page B

frightened body. I knew he wasn’t capable of hurting me like his brother who would have rather enjoyed it so why was I still so nervous around him?
    I grabbed my empty champagne flute and followed him albeit reluctantly. We walked together down a long hallway and he turned on a light before he opened a doorway. It led down and I realized with dread it was another basement. It must have been some kind of requirement when he was shopping for various residences around the world.
    “What the hell? Does every one of the residences you own have a bondage basement?” I inquired off-handedly.
    “Most do but not all. My Lake Las Vegas home has a room similar to this but it is on the third floor where I can assure what ever guest I have and myself privacy. Basements are extremely rare in Southern Nevada for instance—”
    “I think that has something to do with all the nuclear testing they did just fifty miles north of the city. They probably aren’t sure how far into the ground it affected so it isn’t something you see out there,” I explained as I looked around in a curious state of anxiety.
    “How do you know so much about Nevada?”
    I turned suddenly and realized he was standing right behind me. “I lived there for a while in Las Vegas when I first moved back here to the States.”
    Rory held up my hand with the champagne flute and refilled it for me. I smiled in reply and took a slight step back.
    “That isn’t what you said upstairs.”
    I sipped from my Cristal champagne. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to tell you everywhere I have lived here in the States.”
    “What did you do in Las Vegas?”
    “I worked in the Public Relations Department at Vogue Casino, Hotel and Spa.”
    “You’re fucking with me, aren’t you? I find it hard to believe you actually lived and worked in Las Vegas.”
    I glared at him. “No, I’m not. I was in the PR Department. Then the recession hit and I was laid off. It was an unneeded position at the time or at least that is what I was told by the manager in Human Resources. I had made good money and I didn’t have any ties because I only rented. I hadn’t bought any property yet so I purchased a one-way ticket to New York.”
    “The person in HR, do you remember her name?”
    “Yeah, her name was Astrid Schmidt.”
    “Don’t you think that’s odd? She laid you off all those years ago and now she’s buying my apartment in New York. Yet…you acted as if you had never heard of her before when she was mentioned last night. Why?”
    I laughed out loud. “You should have been a cop if you weren’t so filthy rich. I honestly didn’t put two and two together at the time. I’d just found out my sister was dead. Remember? I wasn’t exactly thinking like a reporter last night and if truth were to be told, I’m not thinking much like one now either. It is considered extremely bad taste to go home with someone you are potentially investigating. You lose credibility big time especially if and when it comes out. It colors the investigation and makes it seem like your story is more a witch hunt than a search for the truth.”
    “Then what are you doing here?”
    I swallowed the rest of my champagne for liquid courage. “To be honest, I don’t know.”

Chapter Five
     

     
     
    RORY STRODE OVER AND TOOK the champagne flute from my hand before he set it on the floor and stood in front of me. I had to look up to him to meet his eyes but I only met them for a short time before he led me to an ottoman and sat me down.
    I don’t know if it was the effect from the champagne or if the basement was heated but it felt overly warm and soothing. I was in over my head and we both knew it but I couldn’t begin to fathom what I could possibly do to escape. I was a bit disconcerted Grayson hadn’t bothered to call yet. Wasn’t he worried about me? I was overly vague with my message and I thought he might get the hint something was wrong but I wasn’t saved by the bell or a cell