by Hadley Knox
“He was murdered,” Kirk said sadly.
“That’s not good enough for me. I need to know why and by whom.”
“I don’t understand why you are so obsessed with this.”
“I explained to you why I’m obsessed,” I said. Then a thought occurred to me. It might be a way to make him understand. “You know how Adam treats all of you? He acts like a father figure and always watches over all the dancers at the Hammer?”
I waited for Kirk to answer the question. Something in his eyes shifted, like a wave of emotions ran through them, and I knew that I had reached him. He understood. But the look in his eyes spoke so much more than that. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I had done more than just illustrate my example.
“I get it,” he muttered. “Adam is the greatest guy I’ve ever met. He really cares about all of us and would do anything for us.”
“See? That’s exactly how I feel about my guys. Do you think Adam would rest if someone did something bad to one of you?”
Kirk shook his head. “He wouldn’t stop until justice had been served.”
“That’s where I’m coming from,” I said. “I need to know everything about Hugh and his murder that I can. It’s not even about investigating like the police might. I just need to know for my own peace of mind.”
“So what do you want to know?” Kirk asked.
“What was the nature of your relationship with Hugh?”
“He and I were best friends,” he said.
“Is that it?”
Kirk glanced at Erica nervously. He waited until she nodded before he spoke again. “The three of us have done a lot of drugs. We’ve only been clean now for two weeks, and Adam has been helping us with that. It’s been hard, but we’re doing it.”
Wow, I thought to myself. I had no idea that my boyfriend had done that. Suddenly I felt like I was prying into a realm of his life that I had no business poking my nose into.
Kirk continued. “During that period of heavy drug use, I urged Hugh to experience the same sexual experience that I had with Erica. She protested at first, but then gave in when she realized that was what I wanted. This went on for a while, and then it started to carry over to times when we were sober.”
“So basically you and Hugh shared Erica?” I asked.
Kirk laughed, but not in an amused way. “Yeah, it sounds really deranged, but Hugh and I were so close that it just seemed to work. Erica started to develop strong feelings for Hugh as well.”
Erica interrupted him. “But I never fell in love with him like I had with Kirk. I love my boyfriend very much, but I felt that sex with Hugh brought us all closer.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. When Ryan had come out to me all those years ago, I had made the decision never to judge consenting adults for the sexual partners that they chose. I considered myself an open-minded person, obviously, since the only three sexual partners I had had since Frank left were two gigolos and a stripper. But this was beyond my comprehension. I didn’t want to judge, but it was difficult not to.
“Did you ever get jealous of that relationship?” I asked Kirk.
“It never bothered me,” he said.
“I’m not judging but I find it difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that you could be okay with your girlfriend going behind your back and having sex with your best friend.”
“I never did it behind his back,” Erica said. “He was there every time except one.”
I felt Ryan tense next to me. This situation was getting more stranger by the minute. Either we were on to something, or we had just stepped into some alternate sexual reality.
“And you were okay with that?” I asked Kirk.
“Yes.”
Ryan spoke up. “Can I ask a question?”
Kirk nodded.
“In some of the pictures, I noticed an intimacy between you and Hugh. Granted you are friends, but there was something more there. Did you … ”
His voice trailed off, not knowing how to phrase the rest of the question without sounding crazy.
“Yes,” Kirk said. “At some point during all of this, Hugh and I did it as well. I don’t like to bring it up or talk about it, but we did. I’m not gay though. I’ve never been attracted to men. It just seemed like the perfect way to bring the three of us together.”
Okay, I said to myself, this was getting ridiculous. Did they realize what they were saying? Again, I tried not to judge, but this was really strange. I thought I was strange for dating a stripper, but this little trio took it to a whole new level of bizarre.
“I can see that you don’t understand,” Kirk said.
“I’ve got to be honest,” I said. “I don’t understand, but then again, I don’t have to. You are all three consenting adults, so what you do in your bedroom is your business.”
“I appreciate you not judging us,” Kirk said. “I know it sounds jacked up. I’m not so stupid as not to see that.”
I shifted my gaze to Erica. “I know it’s none of my business, but I feel obligated to ask. Have you done any drugs while you have been pregnant?”
“I think I did some in the beginning,” she said. “Before I knew that I was pregnant. I talked to the doctor, and he said that he thinks the baby will be fine. I’ve been clean ever since I found out about the baby.”
“Good,” I nodded.
Ryan spoke up again. “So do either of you know who might be behind his murder? I mean, in your opinion, who do you think would have murdered Hugh?”
“I don’t know,” Kirk said. “I do know that Lucas was very upset with him when he started working for you, Lana. I don’t know if he was upset enough to murder Hugh, but he wasn’t very happy about having to try and find a replacement.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I overheard Lucas yelling at Hugh.”
“Okay,” I said. “I guess that is really all. Ryan and I will be going now, as I’m sure the two of you are tired of all our questions. But thank you for talking to us.”
“No problem,” Kirk muttered.
Ryan and I stood up, but neither Kirk nor Erica moved in our direction. We saw ourselves out the door without another word.
Chapter Twenty-Six
We waited until we were in the car before we said anything. As soon as the doors closed, we both screamed out at the same time.
“What the hell?” Ryan asked.
“I know, right?”
“I’ve got some friends that have some really jacked up relationships, but that takes the cake,” he said.
“Even more jacked up than my dating a stripper and having sex with a gigolo?”
“Way worse. I mean, really? Straight guys think that making their relationship stronger is sharing girlfriends and sleeping together? They should put them two on a commercial for an anti-drug campaign. I bet if people watched their commercial, they’d never touch a single drug again.”
“So what do you think?”
“About the murder?”
“Yeah.”
“I think we need to talk to Lucas again. He lied about not being about Hugh leaving.”
“Plus, two more of his guys just started working for me. They plan to quit the Hammer if business picks up enough.”
“You think Lucas will do the same thing?”
“Who knows? It might be suspicious if he does, but we can’t be too careful.”
“So you don’t think those two had anything to do with it?”
I shrugged. “It’s tough to say when we have so little to go on. I don’t see what the motive would be since they were so open in their relationship and so willing to talk about it.”
“So we’re off to see Lucas?” he asked.
“I think so,” I said. “But we need some back up for this.”
“Who?”
“Take my phone and text Greg, Mike, Pearl and Betsy,” I said. “Tell them to meet at my house in half an hour.”
“Do they have appointments?”
“No
, both Greg and Mike are clear tonight,” I said. But actually I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that was accurate. I was going off the quick look of the schedule I had earlier that day. Ever since Pearl had taken over the scheduling, I wasn’t as in tune with the appointments as I had been before.
When we arrived at the house, Greg was already there waiting in the living room. Pearl had stuck around after picking up the kids from school and had fixed them dinner. Momentarily, I felt like the worse mom in the world, but I reluctantly gave myself a pass due to the crazy circumstances going on. A small voice in my head reminded me that there always seemed to be crazy circumstances of late.
After the kids went to their rooms, Greg and Pearl pestered the two of us for answers about where we had been and why the urgent text message. I didn’t want to go over the entire story more than once, so I wanted to wait until Betsy and Mike arrived.
A few minutes later, they did. Our group of six went out to the patio, and Ryan and I shared with them what we had learned off the internet and the confirmation we had received by talking to Kirk and Erica.
“Adam is going to be upset,” Greg said as soon as we had finished.
“I’m sure he will be,” I replied.
“Are you okay with that?” Pearl asked.
“I don’t have a choice. I’ve got to do what I feel is right, and then he can react how he wants to.”
“What are you going to do if he flips out again?” Betsy asked.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But right now, I’m not too concerned with Adam. We need to figure out what happened to Hugh.”
“So you think it’s Lucas?” Greg asked.
“Yeah, Kirk said that Lucas was upset with Hugh for wanting to leave.”
“I’m going to be honest,” Greg said. “I can see Lucas getting upset, but not enough to kill. He wasn’t too happy with me when I left the Steel Hammer, but I never got the impression that he would be violent. He may be smarmy, but that’s because he’s a good business man.”
“So you think we’re wasting our time?” I asked.
“No,” Greg shook his head. “Even though Lucas probably wasn’t the killer, I think he knows more than he has told you and probably more than he’s told the police.”
“But we don’t even know what anyone’s told the police,” Betsy said. “We’re not exactly in the position to compare notes or anything.”
“I want to go talk to Lucas again,” I said. “I want Greg to go inside with me, and the rest of you to be there for backup in case something happens.”
“What do you think will happen?” Mike asked.
“I don’t have the faintest idea,” I said. “Did you bring your gun?”
“Woah,” Pearl said, lifting her hand. “You think it will come to that?”
“Can’t be too safe,” I said. “I’ve been blackmailed twice and one of them attacked me in my home. Those days of being too safe are over.”
“I agree,” Greg said.
“Pearl, would you text Derrick and ask him to come over to watch the kids while we’re out. Tell him I’ll pay him his hourly rate.”
“Make sure to include the part about watching the kids,” Mike laughed. “If you don’t, he’ll probably show up naked thinking Lana meant something else.”
I chuckled. It was funny, but the truth.
Once Derrick got there to watch the kids, the six of us piled into my SUV and made our way to the Steel Hammer. I hated going behind Adam’s back yet again, but I was positive that it was something I had to do.
Greg rode in the front seat with me. The others were busy chatting in the back, and the conversation mostly revolved around Kirk, Hugh, and Erica’s bizarre relationship. Even Betsy, the most adventurous person I knew, had a hard time wrapping her mind around it.
“So what’s Chloe doing tonight?” I asked Greg when I was sure that the others weren’t listening.
“She’s at home watching a movie.”
“Was she okay with you coming to help me?”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “She’s very secure and it doesn’t bother her at all.”
“Good,” I said.
“So are you okay?” he asked.
“As good as I can be,” I said.
“I meant with all the Adam stuff.”
“We’re just coasting right now. I think we are at least. We tried putting all the Hugh stuff behind us, but I knew it was going to come back up.”
“Why’s he acting so crazy?”
“I wish I knew. He’s protective of his guys.”
“Why would he feel the need to be protective?”
“I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“To put it bluntly, his stripper is dead. Why would he have the urge to be protective of a dead stripper?”
“You have a point,” I said. “So you think it’s something else?”
“I’m sure it’s something else. I didn’t want to say this to you before and try to get in the way of you two repairing your relationship, but he knows more than he’s letting on. I’d bet everything I own on that.”
“What should I do?”
“You’ve already asked him a hundred times to come clean with what he knew. I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the fact that I was pulling the SUV into the Steel Hammer parking lot. I found a spot in the crowded parking lot towards the back. We decided that the best course of action would be for all of us to go inside. At first, I wanted them to all stay in the car, but I didn’t see the point of backup if they weren’t nearby.
Entering the club was uneventful. The guy at the door smiled knowingly at Greg as we entered. Once in the club, we fanned out so as not to be noticeable. Pearl and Mike stayed near the door, while Betsy and Ryan went to the bar. That was a scary site, but I reminded both of the drink-lovers that we were here on business.
Greg and I walked over to the side door that I knew led to Lucas’s office. Instead of asking to speak with him, Greg just opened the door and slipped inside. I followed him into the dark hallway. He shut the door gently behind him so as not to make a lot of noise.
We made our way to Lucas’s office. Once we were close, I could hear the club owner on the phone.
“Let’s just go in,” I whispered.
Greg turned the knob and slid the door open. He did so slowly, which was best, so as not to appear threatening to Lucas. It was bad enough that we were going back there without requesting a meeting first.
Lucas sat behind his desk, the phone receiver up to his ear. He watched us with suspicious eyes as we walked into his office.
“Let me call you back,” he said into the phone. He flipped the cell phone closed and set it down on his desk. “So you think you can just walk right in here now?”
“We need to talk,” I said.
“Can you not at least knock?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But we really need to talk about this whole Hugh business.”
“I’ve already told you everything you need to know.”
“I talked to Kirk and Erica today,” I said. “He told me that he overheard you yelling at Hugh right after he started working for me.”
“So you think I killed him?”
“I’m not saying that,” I said. “I just want the truth.”
“What truth?”
“You know something you’re not telling me.”
“I know a lot of things I haven’t told you. But if you’re not more specific, it’s going to take a while to get it all out.”
“For starters, was Adam really here with you the night that Hugh was murdered?”
“Yes. Now, get the hell out of my office. I don’t have time for this.”
“I’ll call the police and give them an anonymous tip.”
Lucas’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you threatening me?”
“If I reach a dead end with this, then I have no choice but to call the police and tell them what I know. They’l
l be very interested in hearing about this little fight you had with Hugh.”
“I did not murder Hugh.”
“Then tell me what I want to know. How long was Adam here that night?”
“Look, you didn’t hear this from me. He was here in the office going over the books with me, and then he got an urgent call and left. But I checked the newspaper article about the murder, and he didn’t leave until after the time of death, so Adam isn’t the killer. Does that make you feel better?”
“Not really,” I said. “It still doesn’t answer any of my questions.”
“I don’t know who murdered Hugh, but I can tell you that if you’re in my office asking me about this, you’re in the wrong place.”
“Where should I be?”
“You need to talk to Erica.”
“We already did.”
“Talk to her again. You’re not asking the right questions. Think about what you know, and then you’ll start putting it together.”
“Do you know who killed Hugh?”
“No, but I’ve got a few suspects in mind.”
“Have you told the police?”
“No, because I don’t have anything in which to base my theory. It’s just something that my sometimes overactive mind comes up with from time to time.”
He placed both hands on his desk and stood up. “Now you two, please leave here. I don’t want to be involved in this anymore than I already am.”
“Thank you for talking to us, Lucas,” Greg said.
“No problem,” he smiled his best fake smile. “Now get your little friend the hell out of my club.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We rounded up our posse and left the Steel Hammer. We had to wait a moment while Betsy and Ryan downed the drinks they had ordered. I didn’t give them a verbal lecture, but I made sure to give them dirty looks as they set their empty glasses back down on the bar.
We needed to find Erica, and the first place we thought of was her place of work. I assumed that she would still be working since she wasn’t that far along, but I wasn’t familiar with the world of stripping, and even less familiar with the world of pregnant strippers.
So we drove down the street to the seedy club where she worked. I decided to stay in the car for this trip, and let Greg and Mike go in alone. They said that if she were there, then they would come back out and get me.