Girl Undercover 8 & 9: Traitor & The Smiley Killer by Julia Derek Read Free Book Online

have to agree with that.” I sighed heavily. “Too bad it was our best bet to find him. I suppose we can ask Nadja if she has any idea where he might be. Unfortunately, I don’t think that it’ll lead to much. But it’s worth a shot.”
    “Who’s Nadja?”
    “One of the membership advisors at Nikkei. Striking woman. I think she’s part Chinese and part Hispanic or something. Black, pin-straight hair all the way down to her waist. Anyway, she and Burt are quite friendly. I saw them together a couple of times, looking kinda cozy. Yesterday he was at the club waiting for her so she could give him a new client. Or so he claimed when Janine showed up all of a sudden. Janine said that Nadja had already left.”
    Ian narrowed his eyes at me. “Did you speak to Nadja today?”
    “No, I was told it’s her day off when I went down to see her in membership.”
    He laughed and shook his head at me. “It may be her day off, but I’ll bet you she’s spending it in a place where she doesn’t want to be. Together with Burt.”
    “Really? I’m sure they have taken Burt, but what makes you think they’ve also taken Nadja? No, she’s probably just at home.”
    Ian looked at me intently. “Think about it, Gabi. Why would Janine know that Nadja had already left? Are you telling me the senator is friends with Nadja?”
    I shrugged. “Maybe, but probably not. My guess is that Janine just saw Nadja leave the club at some point. That would be nothing unusual. Like I already mentioned, Nadja’s a striking woman and she also has a big personality. She’s someone people notice. When you see her, you’ll know what I mean.”
    Ian didn’t look convinced. “That may be, but it’s still too much of a coincidence that Janine happened to see Nadja leave before the time Burt was expecting her, and that today is her day off. I don’t believe in coincidences. Furthermore, if Nadja couldn’t make her date with Burt, she would have notified him, wouldn’t she? I’m telling you, they’ve taken her and she’s with Burt somewhere. Let’s find her number and call her so you can see this for yourself. She won’t be picking up.”
    I thought about how uneasy Burt had looked yesterday when Janine had appeared and ordered him to come with her. How determined Janine had sounded when she’d stated that Nadja had already left, like that was something she knew for a fact. Sadly, what Ian was saying made a lot of sense. I didn’t really believe in coincidences either. The more I considered all of this now, the surer I felt that he was right.
    “Well, in that case,” I said, “maybe we can find them by tracking Nadja’s cell. Surely she has one. Hopefully she has it on her,” I added grimly.
    “That’s a good idea. Do you have her number?”
    “No. I barely know her.”
    “Can you call the club and get it?”
    I bit my lips as I considered this. “I can try, but I don’t think they’ll give me her cell number over the phone. They only give out email addresses.”
    Ian looked surprised. “But you work there. Don’t they trust you?”
    “It’s not about that. They’re very particular about handing out personal information over the phone to anyone.”
    “Then let’s go back there and ask for her number in person.”
    “Fine. Though it’ll be hard for me to explain to Jonah why I’m back at the club when I’m supposed to be home studying so hard for my test.” Just the thought of running in to him gave me chills.
    “Do you think he’ll be there this late?” Ian checked the time on his phone. “It’s eight thirty.”
    I grimaced. “Yeah, probably. He’s one of the club’s busiest trainers, so he’s there a lot.”
    “We’ll figure out how to get around him in the cab back downtown. Let’s go.”
    Ian grabbed hold of me and started toward the front door.
    “Wait,” I said, resisting him. “What about that locked door?” I tilted my head toward the end of the hallway. “Shouldn’t we check what’s behind