case. I can text you with any questions we might run into.”
Greer began to sweat with embarrassment. “Uh, I don’t have a cell phone. I can give you my home phone number, though. I’ll be sure to be at home and available today.”
“You don’t have a cell phone?” he repeated, looking at her in confusion as though she’d told him she didn’t have a toilet in her house.
“No. I never have.”
“Religious reasons?”
She chuckled nervously. “More like financial,” she admitted, figuring why lie?
“Okay,” he replied evenly, looking back to his phone. “Give me the house number.”
She rattled it off and watched his long fingers deftly type it into his phone. He named her contact as simply ‘Greer’, her name falling in line directly beneath Grant. And just like that, she was in Jace Ryker’s contact list. It blew her fucking mind.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“You ran the background checks?” Ryker asked Grant, pouring himself another whiskey.
“Yep, on all of them. They all came back clean. Couple of them have some serious credit card debt, but that’s pretty standard for just about anyone these days. Two of them don’t have any credit history at all, which was weird.”
“Greer?”
“Yeah, her and Cameron Dillard.” Grant frowned at him. “How’d you know she was one of them?”
“She doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“How is that possible? My cat has a cell phone.”
He shrugged. “Sounded like she couldn’t afford one.”
“Not surprising. She doesn’t have any addresses listed before the one she’s at now and she’s only been there ten months.”
Ryker fell into the chair across from Grant. “Then where was she before that?”
“No idea.”
“Somewhere outside the city? Maybe living with family?”
“If she was, she wasn’t getting mail. She’s never reported another address. Not since she was thirteen and a New York address was registered at her school. A school that she dropped out of.”
“At thirteen?”
“Yup. You know what that means, right?”
“Young kid leaving home and school behind at an inappropriate age?” Ryker surmised with a smirk. “She’s a child star too?”
“No, she’s a runaway.”
He lowered his glass. “What?”
“There are a lot of them in New York. It’s not that surprising.”
“Shit. How the hell did she learn to dance like that?”
“Probably on the streets. There’s a lot of talent in the gutters. It sounds horrible but it’s true. It’s true in L.A. too. Lot of dance crews, lot of singers, lot of musicians – all of them scraping by performing on the streets and dodging the cops. If I’m right, Greer is one of the lucky ones to use her talent to get off the streets.”
“Dillard too?”
“I think so. His record has a couple odd jobs on it now and then after he turned eighteen, he was in the foster system for a while as a kid, but other than that he’s a ghost too. Came into the show at the same time she did. Got a roof over his head the same month.”
“They were together.”
“I think so.”
“Are they involved? I mean romantically.”
Grant grinned. “Not in the file, man. Sorry.”
Ryker bristled at his own question, taking a long sip of his whiskey to hide his frown. He stood up and paced the room briefly, unable to shake the image of Greer on the streets. Cold. Hungry. It made him angry.
“You sure about this?” Grant asked him, gesturing to the table between them.
Ryker sipped his whiskey as he stared down at the headshots spread out over the coffee table. The girls were hot, the two guys in the mix were good looking but with a totally different look from himself. They wouldn’t pull focus during the concert. All of them would blur together in the background as they danced and sang his backup and they’d do it with professionalism. With a fucking modicum of class, which was more than he could say for his previous dancers.
The phone call he’d taken during Greer’s audition was from
Greer began to sweat with embarrassment. “Uh, I don’t have a cell phone. I can give you my home phone number, though. I’ll be sure to be at home and available today.”
“You don’t have a cell phone?” he repeated, looking at her in confusion as though she’d told him she didn’t have a toilet in her house.
“No. I never have.”
“Religious reasons?”
She chuckled nervously. “More like financial,” she admitted, figuring why lie?
“Okay,” he replied evenly, looking back to his phone. “Give me the house number.”
She rattled it off and watched his long fingers deftly type it into his phone. He named her contact as simply ‘Greer’, her name falling in line directly beneath Grant. And just like that, she was in Jace Ryker’s contact list. It blew her fucking mind.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“You ran the background checks?” Ryker asked Grant, pouring himself another whiskey.
“Yep, on all of them. They all came back clean. Couple of them have some serious credit card debt, but that’s pretty standard for just about anyone these days. Two of them don’t have any credit history at all, which was weird.”
“Greer?”
“Yeah, her and Cameron Dillard.” Grant frowned at him. “How’d you know she was one of them?”
“She doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“How is that possible? My cat has a cell phone.”
He shrugged. “Sounded like she couldn’t afford one.”
“Not surprising. She doesn’t have any addresses listed before the one she’s at now and she’s only been there ten months.”
Ryker fell into the chair across from Grant. “Then where was she before that?”
“No idea.”
“Somewhere outside the city? Maybe living with family?”
“If she was, she wasn’t getting mail. She’s never reported another address. Not since she was thirteen and a New York address was registered at her school. A school that she dropped out of.”
“At thirteen?”
“Yup. You know what that means, right?”
“Young kid leaving home and school behind at an inappropriate age?” Ryker surmised with a smirk. “She’s a child star too?”
“No, she’s a runaway.”
He lowered his glass. “What?”
“There are a lot of them in New York. It’s not that surprising.”
“Shit. How the hell did she learn to dance like that?”
“Probably on the streets. There’s a lot of talent in the gutters. It sounds horrible but it’s true. It’s true in L.A. too. Lot of dance crews, lot of singers, lot of musicians – all of them scraping by performing on the streets and dodging the cops. If I’m right, Greer is one of the lucky ones to use her talent to get off the streets.”
“Dillard too?”
“I think so. His record has a couple odd jobs on it now and then after he turned eighteen, he was in the foster system for a while as a kid, but other than that he’s a ghost too. Came into the show at the same time she did. Got a roof over his head the same month.”
“They were together.”
“I think so.”
“Are they involved? I mean romantically.”
Grant grinned. “Not in the file, man. Sorry.”
Ryker bristled at his own question, taking a long sip of his whiskey to hide his frown. He stood up and paced the room briefly, unable to shake the image of Greer on the streets. Cold. Hungry. It made him angry.
“You sure about this?” Grant asked him, gesturing to the table between them.
Ryker sipped his whiskey as he stared down at the headshots spread out over the coffee table. The girls were hot, the two guys in the mix were good looking but with a totally different look from himself. They wouldn’t pull focus during the concert. All of them would blur together in the background as they danced and sang his backup and they’d do it with professionalism. With a fucking modicum of class, which was more than he could say for his previous dancers.
The phone call he’d taken during Greer’s audition was from
Similar Books
