One Day (The Private Club #3)(6)
Author: J.S. Cooper

I wanted to feel like Nancy had left this for me to see, but I didn’t understand why she would have written so much about her high school crush Hunter if she’d wanted to give me clues about Maria. Who cared how she’f felt about Hunter? That wasn’t going to help me now. I closed my eyes and tried to think carefully. Maybe there were clues in what she had written about Hunter? Maybe the whole diary was a clue.

My eyes popped open as I heard a noise outside the door. I stood up slowly and walked to the spot behind the door. I held my breath as the door slowly opened with me behind it. I clutched the diary to me in fear. Who was about to walk through the door?

I felt and heard two footsteps, but whoever was there didn’t bother coming all the way into the room and the door closed again within seconds. I stayed where I was for about another minute, trying to control my breathing.

I looked at the time and realized that I needed to get back outside if I wanted to continue on at the club. Part of me didn’t really understand why Greyson was letting me stay. He had to know that I was going to continue to investigate while I was here. His secret was nearly out. He had to know that I would expose his sex trafficking to the world.

I didn’t understand why he hadn’t made me leave with Brandon and Katie. He probably wanted a few more nights with me before he got rid of me. I was angry at myself for how excited I felt about spending more nights with Greyson. It wasn’t even about the sex, though that was mind-numbingly brilliant. It was about just being with him and getting to know him, snippet by snippet.

I walked out of the room and to the bathroom quickly. As I entered, I grabbed a plastic bag I saw on the ground and walked into one of the restrooms. I placed the diary into the plastic bag and tied it carefully and tightly, making sure that there were no small holes at the top of the bag. I opened the top of the toilet and peered inside; the water made me pause, but I knew there was nowhere else I could hide the diary. I dropped it in and moved the top back in place before slowly opening the door and walking out of the bathroom again.

“There you are, Meg.” Patsy nodded at me as I walked back into the courtyard. “Decided to rejoin us?”

“Sorry, I, uh, wanted to check on Nancy.”

“She’s gone.” Her eyes expressed concern as she spoke.

“I guess so.”

“Is everyone ready for their tests today?” she continued, and I stood to the side.

I could see both David and Elizabeth trying to make eye contact with me. I looked around the group of girls and I realized that at least five of the girls were gone.

“Yes, Meg?” Patsy looked at me.

“Did some of the girls drop out? I see some are missing.”

“No, they’ve been moved.” Her eyes flashed at me.

“Can I ask where they’ve been moved to?”

“No.” Her voice was harsh. “I wouldn’t push it if I were you, Meg.”

David gave me a look then. I could tell from his eyes that he was worried. I bit my lip as I stood there. David didn’t know what had happened to Nancy. That meant that Nancy hadn’t told him she was leaving or she hadn’t left because she’d wanted to. I shivered even though it wasn’t very cold.

I needed to go back and read more of the diary. I needed to know what else Nancy was trying to tell me. Or at least what someone else wanted me to think she was trying to tell me.

Patsy silently escorted me to my first room. I wanted to ask her if she knew what was really going on at the club, but I knew she wouldn’t answer me. She was loyal to a fault.

“Are you coming in with me?” I turned towards Patsy as we arrived at the door.

“No.” She stood there and pursed her lips. “I just wanted to make sure you made it here and didn’t get lost.”

“Excuse me?”

“I wouldn’t make a habit of wandering around the club. You may find that you get lost, and you know what happens to people when they get lost once too often.”

“No…”

“Sometimes they’re never found.” Her eyes pierced into mine and she opened the door. “I think you’ll find that your test is about to start.”

I walked into the room without answering her. Was she threatening me? Was there no one I could trust? I wished that Katie had stayed behind with me. Though I wasn’t sure how I could have asked her. If I’d told her everything I knew and suspected, she never would have let me stay.

The door closed behind me with a slam, and I sighed before looking around to see what my first task was going to be. I frowned as I observed the scene in front of me. This was a different kind of room. There was a long wooden table directly across from the door. On the table, there were about twenty different bottles of liquor with chasers. To the right of the table, I noticed some small packets. I swallowed hard as I walked closer to inspect the bags. My eyes widened as I realized that I was staring at bags of drugs. From what I could tell, I could see a bag of weed and a bag of cocaine, and there were pills in the other bags. I heard a thud and took a step back to look around. I could feel the warmth in my cheeks as I stood there. This wasn’t what I had expected at all. Was Greyson a drug dealer? I stared at the table again, trying to figure out what my test was, as I couldn’t see any pieces of paper. I stared at the table again to see if there was some sort of clue on the table, but if there was, I couldn’t figure it out.

“Enjoy yourself,” a smooth voice suddenly spoke into the room, and the lights dimmed.

I froze as I waited for Greyson to come into the room. I turned around and stared at the door, anticipating his entrance.

“Relax,” the voice said again, and it was then that I noticed the glittering lights in the corner.

I walked over to see what was flashing and realized that it was a sound system. I pressed play and pulsing trance music blasted out of the speakers. I quickly turned it off and walked back to the table to see if there was anything I had missed.

I must have stood in the room doing nothing for about twenty minutes before the lights came back on and the voice said, “Testing done.” I opened the door, feeling slightly disappointed that Greyson hadn’t come to visit me. I’d been hoping that he would come and see me, that he would show me that he was thinking of me, despite what he had said.

I exited the room, but there was no Greyson and no Patsy waiting for me. I ran to the bathroom then so that I could read some more of Nancy’s journal before my next testing. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked in and saw that the bathroom was empty. I entered the stall and pulled back the top of the toilet. Then I took the plastic bag out eagerly and quickly removed the diary, flicking through it until I reached the last entry I had read.