after this night (camren)

17. Lauren

This is a promise. I'm going to find a way to help you out of this, then I'm going to find your ex.

......

Dinah sat on her wife's lap, with the girl's arms wrapped around her waist. Camila held a glass of champagne and laughed at something Normani said. Marcello reached across to punch Normani on the shoulder, and she rubbed the spot where he swatted her, clearly pretending it hurt. Then they all laughed, and I made up the words they were saying in my head.

I stood outside, watching the reception unfold through the windows. My phone was pressed to my ear.

"So what did you learn?"

"That Austin Mahone loves greenbacks more than anything in the world" Luis said.

"How so?" I turned away from the scene and walked down the hill.

"He's got his fingers in all sorts of pies. He runs this limo company, right? Austin's Limos. Totally legit, but it's his Bada Bing" Luis said.

"The strip club in The Sopranos"

"Yep. It's a clean business, and everything flows under that. He's got the market locked up in Miami on sports betting. That's his big cash cow. He does concert tickets too - steals them and resells them at scalper prices. His growth market, though, is in poker. He runs a lot of big executive games in Downtown. He just started running some games in California too" Luis said, and I stopped at a tree, setting my palm against the trunk.

"He's working out of the Golden State now?"

"Seems he is. And he's a big-ass loan shark too"

"Oh well, of course" I said sarcastically, because Austin was growing more conniving with every new detail, "Did you get the story behind Mr. Young's Pizzeria?"

"You bet your ass I did. Used to belong to good old Mr. Young himself. But Mr. Young needed money to pay off an investment that went belly up, so Austin loaned him the dough, putting up his restaurant as collateral"

"Let me guess. He never came up with the money"

"Bingo" he said, enunciating every syllable "Austin took over, and word on the street is Mr. Young is living on the street"

"He's homeless?" I asked, my voice thick with shock.

"That's what I hear. His restaurant was all he had, and it's all Mahone's now. Tons of VCs in the city eat there. Austin runs his games above the restaurant, and he has lunch there every day at twelve thirty. Those fuckers love their routines, don't they?"

I steeled myself for the next question, "What about drugs?"

"Nope. He's as squeaky clean as they come in that regard. But. . ." Luis said, his voice trailing off into a territory that I wasn't so sure I wanted to go. But I had to.

"But what?" I asked wearily, as a cold gust of wind snapped. The night cooled off quickly by the bay.

"My sources say he might be making a move into the world's oldest profession, so there's that"

I clenched my fist, my fingers digging hard into my palm. I could slam it against the tree, bang it hard and unleash this coiled ball of anger eating up my chest, but that wouldn't do me a lick of good. I gritted my teeth and turned away from temptation.

"Course, if it were up to me, I'd advise him to stay out of that racket" Luis continued.

"Thanks for looking into all that, man" I said. Then I stopped in my tracks, "Wait. There's someone else I need you to look into"

"Who's that?"

But I didn't know Shawn's last name, "I need to get some more info. Let me get back to you on that"

"You know where to find me. And I'll see you next Saturday for our game?"

I nodded, "I'll be there" I said, and as soon as the words were spoken, something started to click.

I ended the call but didn't head back inside. Instead, I watched from a distance, threading a hand through my hair as I began to hatch a plan.