Free Help Me by Clara Bayard

clients.
    Veronica and Peter took turns pointing things out to me as we made our way through the club. The corridors that had so recently seemed impossible to navigate were explained and mapped out by them. Peter in particular made a point of explaining the different levels of security in every area of the building.
    When we were on the second floor, Veronica explained the rules about using the rooms that ran along the length of the floor. Since I didn’t plan to put a single foot inside any of those rooms, considering the hardcore porno I’d glimpsed in one, I somewhat tuned out. But when the conversation moved on to recordings, I perked up.
    “Can you give me an example of what kind of recordings there are?”
    Veronica smiled. “Of course. Every public area within the building is monitored twenty-four hours a day. Video and audio. The digital files are stored on a secure server that backs up to an offsite location. We keep one week of recordings at all times. Files older than that are deleted and cannot be retrieved.”
    “Why one week?”
    “In the nearly unheard of situation where there’s problem in the club, we need to be able to review the footage. But, since the privacy of our members is of paramount importance, we don’t keep anything longer than we need to.”
    “Okay. Also, you said public areas. What qualifies?”
    She nodded. “Good question. Peter, will you explain?”
    The security chief frowned. “Everything on the first floor is considered a public area. The hallways and stairwells on every floor, as well. A few rooms here and in the basement, but those are selected because they are frequent gathering places. We also reassess frequently. Right now we’re considering adding surveillance to the game room we just left.”
    “But not the bedrooms?”
    “No.”
    Veronica put her hand on his arm, her long, elegant fingers seeming to relax the tensed muscles. “Of course, since all corridors are monitored, we know who is in every room at all times. All of the door locks can be overridden by any member of the security team or myself.
    “These measures are just for inside the club. Cameras monitor the perimeter of the property as well, and all entrances and exits logged. No one gets in or out of here unnoticed. That ensures that we know who is in the club at all times. In fact, the only place outside that isn’t covered by a camera is a small corner of one of the hot tubs, and that’s only because we’ve had technical issues with the heat effecting the lenses.”
    “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” I said, honestly impressed.
    In the back of my mind I was counting days and wondering what the chances were that I could get my hand on some of that footage. If I spotted Kat on a camera, I might be able to get an idea of who she was close to in the club, and know who I should be questioning.
    I exchanged a glance with Trey, and he nodded slightly, suggesting he was thinking the same thing.
    “Now,” Veronica said, “There’s more to the building, of course, but you’ve got the most important parts. Feel free to explore on your own time. For now, let’s head to my office so we can get everything squared away and the two of you can set a time for your first official date.”
    I blinked a few times before I realized what she meant. Right. She thought I was there to screw Trey. I guess the club didn’t make money on giving tours.
    We all went back downstairs, but Peter left us to go do something. Probably stare at someone in an intimidating manner, I guessed.
    There was a folder on Veronica’s desk. She gestured for me to open it, and walked me through the few sheets of paper I needed to fill out. It was kind of funny. The first was a normal form for my address and emergency contact information, but I froze in the middle of writing my name. I couldn’t list Kat as my emergency person, and I didn’t know anyone else in the city.
    I looked over at Trey.
    “Use my number,” he said