All the Way by Kimberley White Page B

how it went and schedule a meeting to present my ideas.”
    â€œGo on,” he said when she became quiet.
    â€œI knew Sherman would be at the club. He’s always at the club. When I got there, one of the security people directed me to the private suites. I should have been suspicious right then. No one enters the private suites without an invitation.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œIt’s our little Las Vegas: what goes on in the private suites stays in the private suites. People pay thousands of dollars and wait weeks for access. Once the room is booked, the patron is given a key and a cell phone and no one goes in without an invitation.”
    â€œNot even you?”
    â€œNot even me, and I’m the manager. Sherman runs the operation of the suites. Everything is top secret—who comes, who visits, who pays what, when they’ll be there—only Sherman knows.”
    â€œYou never found this suspicious?”
    â€œHonestly, no. The rich and famous can be paranoid. The strict privacy is one reason the club is so popular. More than being suspicious, I was annoyed. I’m the manager, and parts of the club are off-limits to me. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to manage the Miami club—Sherman wouldn’t be there to limit me.”
    â€œBut this night the security guard told you to go up to the suite. It had to raise flags.”
    â€œLooking back now, yes. Then, no. I was so excited about telling him my ideas. Besides, Skye was closed, so the suites were empty. I figured it was another attempt to impress me.”
    â€œBy the security guard?”
    â€œSherman,” she answered. “He comes on to me.”
    Adriano could imagine it, and he didn’t like the idea of someone with Grazicky’s history trying to blemish Payton. “You went to the suite and what happened?”
    â€œI followed voices to Sherman. When I walked in . . .”
    He sandwiched her hands between his, silently encouraging her to go on.
    â€œAdriano.” She looked at him, her eyes big and wide with fear. “I heard him tell his bodyguard to kill a man, and then I saw the bodyguard do it.”
    Holy crap!
    Payton had witnessed Sherman Grazicky ordering a murder.
    And Grazicky knew she had reported it to the police.
    They were dead.
    He went stone-still, fighting to keep his face neutral as Payton watched for his reaction. His mind twisted through a labyrinth of scenarios.
    â€œUnderstand now why I didn’t want to get you involved? Why I didn’t tell you?” Payton’s voice trembled on the verge of hysteria.
    He’d been investigating Grazicky for a year, but never was there any direct evidence of his involvement in any crimes. He had a million questions, but started with the most important one. “Who did he have killed?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI can see the man’s face as clear as glass, but I’d never met him before, so I don’t know who he is.”
    â€œThe police didn’t tell you the victim’s name?”
    â€œThe body was gone when they arrived at Skye. With so much traffic coming and going, the forensic team didn’t find anything to arrest him on. He was picked up for questioning, but with no body, insufficient evidence, and an alibi, he was released.”
    He’d heard rumblings of Grazicky being arrested on trumped-up charges and having to be released, but he didn’t have a source inside the police station who could give him any information. The first he’d learned of a murder was through Jake’s informant.
    â€œGrazicky wants you alive—why?” Adriano asked, working out the mystery aloud. “Why come after you if there’s no body, no evidence, and no charges pending? The police would rack it up as a crazy female seeing things if he never put a hit out on you.” He ran a hand across the angles of his face. “You’re running from