The Red Lounge

Chapter 51

I walked up to him and looked up to his cloudy blue eyes. "I saw what I saw, Elijah. If you want to keep lying to me, fine. I'm not going to stand around and watch you do so," I said calmly. "It was great, but sometimes it doesnt work out."

I tried walking around him, but he was adamant about having me stay in the room. "Elijah, please let me go."

Elijah cupped my arms and brought me into his arms. "Baby, please believe me when I say I didnt cheat. Please," he beseeched. Everything about his composition showed signs of a desperate and heart broken man. I wanted to believe him but I saw him flirting with Karina with my very own eyes.

"I can't," I whispered.

"I'll explain, just sit. Okay?" He placed me on the edge of the bed. He didnt speak for a minute which worried me. It looked like his mind was racing with thoughts.

"Morena, I was working on a case with Karina."

I scoffed in disbelief. "At a strip club? Yeah, okay. I'm going now."

He pulled me back down onto the bed. "Listen to what I have to tell you, okay? I'm risking my credibility here and everything I worked for just to prove that I'm not lying to you."

He seemed serious, so I obliged. "Fine, explain."

"I met you at a strip club, but it wasn't out of coincidence. It wasn't me and Felix looking for a fun night. We were working. We are private investigators and working on a case with the DEA. There is someone using the lounge to move drugs in and out."

"Who? Ronny?" I started to panick. Was my father figure a drug dealer? Was I magnetic for corrupt men?

"No, its Natalia. That's why Karina and I were at the lounge yesterday. Natalia is very picky with her customers, but she never declines a Russian. Karina is Russian so the plan was that she would speak to her in Russian to initiate a bond. It did work which is why we went to the private room with her. We wanted to see if she could offer drugs. That's why I said you got in the way because I heard your introduction. I thought it was a mix up and tried focusing on the case but once I heard that song. I knew it was you. You danced to it in the kitchen a while back."

I was speechless. I parted my lips to let anything out, but I couldn't. My face was warming up with embarrassment. Elijah was telling the truth and I had accused him of cheating. "I'm so sorry... I'm so stupid."

"You're not. I went about it the wrong way. I shouldnt have ignored you. I just wanted to finish the case so I could focus on you and only you." He grabbed my hand and slowly caressed it. "This is why I didnt want you working there. I didnt want you to get in trouble if something were to ever happen in there."

I pulled my hand away and ran out of his bedroom. "I need to go," I said all frazzled.

"No, Morena. I've been away from you for too long."

I stared at Elijah deep into his eyes and started tearing up. "I'm not good for you. Im damaged goods, okay? Men fucked up my whole life and the one time a good man comes into my life and I cant believe him? That's not fair for you."

"I understand, but we can work together. I want to grow together. Dont go," he pleaded. I couldnt bear looking at his face. It was filled with pain and betrayal. He wanted nothing more than just to have me stay, but I couldnt. I had to get  myself away from him. I wasnt good for him and I had to warn Ronny about Natalia.

"I need to go," I said, before taking off. I ran into the elevator and frantically pressed the close button as I watched Elijah run back into his apartment presumably to get his car keys.

Elijah was a fast driver so he would get to me quicker than I could get to Ronny. I had to run through dirty alleyways in order to lose track of Elijah and cut through the busy streets to get to Ronny.

I knew Ronny was going to be at the lounge since he always did inventory on Saturday mornings. The lounge was his baby and the only place he preferred to be in. He had no wife and kids so everything he had, he would put into the lounge.

I could hear cars zooming faster than the usual DC flow so I ran faster than I could ever run. I found it difficult to breath as I jumped over obstacles. My heart pounded against my chest and my blood started pumping more than normal. This wasnt a runner's high. I was close to having a stroke.

"Ronny!" I yelled as I approached closer to the lounge. "Ronny!"

I could see him standing still against the bar, but then started walking away from the entrance. I made it to the lounge and locked the front doors.

I looked around the lounge only to find his clipboard on the floor and unopened boxes around the bar.

"Ronny!" I called out as I walked around. It was dead silent, but I knew he was here. I had seen him.

He wasn't in any of the public spaces. I checked the dressing room and he wasnt there. I ran back to the private rooms and there was no sign of Ronny, but someone was in one of the back rooms. The couch was flipped over and an empty duffle bag was tossed.

"Ronny," I called out, a little quieter as I walked into the kitchen.

He was by the sink, washing some cups.

"Ronny!" I called out and ran towards him.

"Morena," he replied, nervously. "What are you doing here?" I had been so focused on running away from Elijah and exposing Natalia that I didn't realize he called me by my real name.

"I needed to talk to you!"

Ronny grabbed my arms and tried pushing me the other exit of the kitchen that lead to the dumpster. "We can talk later. Please, go," he whispered.

"No, stop... Ronny. Natalia is a drug dealer. She's using the lounge to sell and transport drugs to Russians."

Ronny pulled me into his arms as a gun shot fired towards our direction. I held onto my ears as it was pierced with a high pitch noise.

"Looks like I need to kill two people," I heard a female voice yell. Natalia appeared in sight with a gun pointed at us.

"Natalia, leave her alone," Ronny yelled at her. "She's just a kid."

"A meddling little kid," Natalia seethed as she fired again, missing us.

Ronny pushed me onto the floor, and I crawled back towards the metal carts. Ronny stood in front of me, holding his up in submission. In the background, I heard several police sirens surrounding the building. With a closer inspection, a helicopter was flying above us as well. A part of me was relieved that this was going to be over, but something told me Natalia wasn't going to go out without a fight.

"Fuck! Fuck!" She yelled as she cradled a pink duffle bag by her side. She frantically paced back and forth, scratching her head with the gun. She didnt know what to do.

"You're not a killer, Natalia. We will figure out a way to let this slide with the police, just let us go," I negotiated.

An exaggerated laugh escaped her lips and she held the gun towards our direction again. "You dont know me. If I'm going down, so will you."

One shot fired and I screamed as I watched Ronny fall down onto his knees. Another shot was fired towards my direction and as my life flashed before my eyes, I could see Ronny attempting to stand up to catch the bullet but he couldnt. The bullet penetrated through my shoulder and the impact made me jolt back even more.

I looked at the wound and shock was all I felt initially, until the burning sensation extracted blood curdling screams from me. A tight pressure filled my arms and I used my free hand to stop the blood flow, but there was too much spewing out.

My vision was blurry from the crying I had done, but one of the last things I saw was Natalia placing the gun on her temple. Then with one pull of the trigger, her lifeless body collapsed onto the floor.

It all went dark from there.

The red lounge was where my life started to pick up, but never did I think it was going to be where my life ended.

A/N:
One more chapter till the end of the book!