Savvy Negotiator (Untraceable Succubus Book 2)

by Erin R Flynn

  4

  Right at six I took the main stage in my sailor outfit and did my routine to Nickelback’s “This Means War” and “Gotta Be Somebody,” as it was always a crowd pleaser and I could adjust it to the smaller area and only one pole. The dancers who worked the earlier six to ten shift were all bitching at each other about who went first. Fuck, it really didn’t matter that much, and four hours wasn’t all that long to be on your feet.

  Lots of people did it for longer, and even if they weren’t in stripper heels, it could be done.

  I did my TLC customer service and put back on the outfit, knowing most guys had fantasies about costumes so if I wasn’t going to be topless like the others, that was my draw… Besides I could actually dance and most of them seemed horrible, drunk, high, or just clueless.

  When I’d told Lewis about the cop and given him the name to run, I’d thought he was going overboard with having two of the corporate security guys getting me settled stick close to me. But now as I locked eyes with Sergeant Christian Badin after I’d clearly said if he fucked with me at the club, I’d fuck him up, I wanted to kiss Lewis. Awesome.

  There were three with him that were clearly cops too. But what they didn’t know was two of the guys sitting at the “stage”—which were large, hexagon shaped tables with poles—were with me and wired to catch whatever came next. I winked at one of them, which was the signal to contact the attorneys because I was about to start shit.

  The guy who seemed to be highest of the group had the balls to flag me for a lap dance.

  I moved over to him and gave him my best fuck me look, not even flinching that they were there. “Reach behind you and hold onto the chair. If you let go, the dance is over, no exceptions.”

  “Alright,” he agreed, giving me a curious look.

  “Anything your spouse or partner doesn’t allow or objects to?”

  “Nope.”

  “Anything I should know or you have a problem with?”

  He frowned. “Is this a lap dance or a doctor exam?”

  “You won’t get naked, honey,” I purred while his friends laughed. I gave him a look like I was waiting, and he reached behind him to hold the chair. “It’s good to have clear, firm lines so everyone can have fun safely.” I slid my leg over his lap and started moving to the music. “I’d hate to find out later you had a bad ticker and I was too much for you.”

  “I think I can handle you,” he drawled.

  I smirked at him, knowing my look was very predatory. “No, you can’t, but you keep telling yourself that, big man.” I spun around without getting up and ground my ass against his groin while I leaned back.

  “Let me tell you how things are going to go,” he stated quietly. “You’re going to give us everything we need to take down this club and the people here or we’re going to walk right into that office and blow your cover.”

  “Is that right?” I hummed, turning back around and leaning my hands on his knees as I wiggled my body so he couldn’t stop staring.

  “It is,” he answered, clearing his throat. “And you’re going to help Badin or we’re going to bring you in every time you try to work anyone for information. That will blow your cover and put you on the radar of every pimp. Which works for us because we want you to bust them too.”

  “Demanding, aren’t we?” I taunted.

  He frowned, his eyes filling with anger. “I don’t know where you’ve worked before, but this is Denver and you do not call the shots and will do what we allow you to. My murder case does not need you in the way, but I’ll let you help my colleagues out if you want to be useful or you can get out of town.”

  “So that’s how it is?” I checked, smiling widely like I was having trouble not laughing. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, because I got the badge here, sweetheart, so get on board or I can go talk to the owner right now.”

  I bobbed my head before flipping off his lap and held out my hand for the money. He gave me a look like I could keep dreaming. I walked off like I was shaken and going to the bathroom, but I went right into the owner’s office since he was sitting in the VIP area getting drunk with friends.

  David was sitting at a different stage when I came out, giving me a curious look. I went over to him and leaned in, pressing my lips against his ear. “Some guys apparently get off on only paying the new girl for lap dances if she gets the money after hours and they get a piece of her.”

  “You okay? You want me to handle it?”

  “No, thanks. I called the police.” I smirked at him as I leaned back. “I could care about the thirty bucks, but I’m not getting jumped after work and end up explaining why four men are broken when the ambulances pull up.”

  He smiled widely at me, shaking his head. “I brought those cigars for when you’re done having fun.”

  I shrugged. “They started it.”

  “But you will finish it.”

  I snorted. “Damn right I will.”

  The police showed up a little bit later, and I went right over and told them what I’d said when I’d called in, adding tears and shaking. “He asked for a lap dance but then said I had to give him everything after work or he’d blow me. He said he knew the owner or something.”

  Which was when the owner came over demanding to know what was going on. He shook his head when I filled them in. “I don’t know these guys. They wouldn’t pay you? Why didn’t you tell the guys?”

  “They said they got dirt on you and you’d side with them. They were talking about using me after work and pimps getting me,” I explained, moving closer to the owner. “I figured they were trying to move in on you and the cops could fix this.”

  “You just made a huge mistake,” the higher ranking cop seethed at me as he stood. The hysterical part was that the patrolmen didn’t know them so they slapped the cuffs on him after several people confirmed he wouldn’t pay me for the dance and was saying shit.

  My security guys weren’t even needed.

  “Can I come fill out a statement after my shift?” I asked the nice patrolman with a trembling lower lip. “What station?” He told me, and I thanked them before they all left, Badin looking equal parts pissed, amused, and simply shocked.

  “You tell me next time you even think of calling the cops,” the owner seethed when they were gone.

  I gave him a look like he was dense. “Five strippers and hookers are dead in the past month, and I just move here. I’ll tell you as I’m calling them if four men threaten to rape me again, but I suspect no one will start any shit with me now.” I wiped under my eyes and went back over to David. “I could use a drink.”

  “Yes, please, and a cigar,” he agreed, standing and offering me his coat. We stopped at the bar on our way out. “So that went well. You are a very good actress.”

  “Wasn’t that hard to tap into,” I admitted as I took the lighter and lit his cigar for him after he cut them. “I’ve had to fight my way out of four on one or more with rape plans. Too many men think they have some right or if they’ve paid for the dance, they own us or they’re too good to pay so like why the fuck come here? It’s all pride and envy when this should be about fun.”

  “Agreed,” he muttered, taking the lighter from me and doing the same. “And I spoke with my friend. He was thrilled to hear I’d found someone talented and asked you entertain us Friday. No one will touch you, you have my word.”

  “But?” I purred, knowing that tone.

  He shrugged. “We like to have fun and aren’t always gentlemen. We’ll have to see what you’re comfortable with.”

  “A lot if the rules and lines are clear,” I admitted. “I’ve been the sushi model for private parties where all I did was moan and squirm from them rubbing sushi through the sauce on me or teasing me with chopsticks. No one ever grabbed me or went over the line. It was about teasing and fantasy and a bit of naughty.” I winced. “As long as wasabi doesn’t touch anywhere it shouldn’t.”

  His eyes flashed shock as he caught on. “Oh dear.
”

  “Yeah, that was an accident as his chopstick was in that last and the sake was flowing. But it was fun.”

  “Yes, you would be delicious to taste,” he teased, his eyes dancing with amusement as he took a sip of his drink. It wasn’t sleezy or too much. No, it was fine, but there was something about him that just… I had no idea how to say it or what I was thinking. Not intrigued me but made me want to keep my eye on him. He had absolutely no desire which wasn’t normal.

  He was too locked down to let me see anything. That was rare given where we were but not like repressed which always worried me.

  I listened to him talk about business, both of us knowing this was what he wanted instead of a lap dance. He wanted someone to not be the boss around or behave around. He wanted to be him, and for the next hour I was his… Whatever he needed.

  “Thank you,” he said when we were done with our cigars and heading back inside. “You’re much easier to talk to than my therapist.”

  “I’m a lot less judgmental, and I bet they don’t let you smoke in their office.”

  “No, certainly not,” he chuckled. He leaned in, and I kissed his cheek before handing him back his jacket. He set the glasses on the bar and pulled out his wallet. He handed me four hundred and a business card. “He’s expecting your call. I have a Monday dinner meeting, but I would love to come back Tuesday?”

  I nodded, accepting it from him. “I have a few of those cigars I was telling you about. I’ll bring them in, and we can see if you like them.”

  “Yes, I would enjoy that. Be safe, Acadia.” He nodded to the bartender and headed out.

  “No one has ever landed that whale, girl,” the bartender said, not hiding his shock well.

  “Because he doesn’t want to be ‘landed,’” I chuckled. “He wants to be listened to and not judge him or run their mouth or for someone to find out like if he went to a therapist. I gave him an hour of what he needed most, and that’s what people come here for. What they want or need.”

  “What was the rest?”

  “Private party.”

  “Got to be schedule through the owner,” he told me.

  I snorted. “No, I’m only a week trial, and I do not put up with that shit.”

  “You need security,” he worried.

  “My black belts say I can handle it fine and have,” I promised, nodding when someone else waved for me to come over. They were a party on the upper area that had a pole right there but wasn’t on the stage. “Can I trust you to watch my cash?”

  He moved back away from the bar to show me his cargo pants. “Five bucks for a pocket and I hold whatever you give me all night.”

  “That’s fucking genius,” I admitted, handing it over along with my car keys I’d been hiding in my bra, which wasn’t comfortable. I pulled up a few Britney songs on my iPod for him to play after I gave him the signal since apparently no other dancer cared about the music. I headed to the party and smiled at them. “You guys want me to work the pole or each of you?”

  “How does that work?” one guy asked, each of them giving me wide eyes.

  “Thirty bucks each lap I dance on that you all get to watch and enjoy while having fun and teasing your buddy if he’ll blow his load.”

  All fifteen of them accepted, and that was what I did the rest of the shift, none of them minding that I took off my shoes. I actually got a good feeding given so many were completely focused on me and there was contact. I didn’t take much, just enough that they got drunk faster, and I left the designated drivers alone. Well, they got a second free lap dance since they didn’t get to drink.

  I thought that fair.

  I had over six hundred from them when I was done with all the tips they gave me, not happy I wasn’t staying longer when ten o’clock came around.

  “If I don’t leave you wanting more, how do I know you’ll come back?” I teased, giving them a wink before heading to the bar. “I’m out. Do I give you money for the sixteen lap dances?”

  “No, the guy at the door,” he told me, handing over my stuff and giving me a worried look. “Be careful.”

  “He would have to be incredibly stupid to fuck with me when I’m heading to the police station to fill out the report on the assholes tonight.” I counted out two hundred and forty for the lap dances. “You tip the servers and everyone out?”

  “Yes.”

  I handed him a hundred—much to his shock—which still left me with over seven hundred with what I’d made from David and on stage, so that was a damn good night. Especially for four hours.

  “You took that party from me,” Kitty bitched as she moved in my way.

  “They called me over. I didn’t realize we were allowed to call shotgun and ignore what they want.” I brushed past her and headed for the door. The owner was still around and drunk, and that was not when I wanted to try to get access.

  Besides, there was a hurdle to crush first.

  “Sixteen dances,” I told the doorman as I handed over the money.

  “You did more than that,” he argued. “You were with that guy for an hour.”

  “Yeah, and I didn’t actually do a lap dance, so I was being nice and counting that as one,” I told him. “Have a nice night.” I dodged the hand reaching out for me and gave him a warning look. “You put your hands on me, I break them. The owner knows that and agreed to it for my week trial he talked me into. I tipped everyone out a hundred, and that’s how I roll. Don’t fuck with me otherwise because we both know I’ll go to the police.”

  His eyes flashed shock. “That’s why you did it.”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely after I’ve heard more than once that the owner might demand a blow job instead of the off stage fee and everything else going on I won’t play with. So spread the word because I will do my job, make money, and bring them in as long as people keep their hands off of me.”

  “You’ll do what we say,” he growled. “You’re just the whore who gets naked.”

  “I don’t actually,” I reminded him. “You go tell the owner that and you’re the reason I won’t stay when I brought in that much just from lap dances and guys begging me to come to their stage. I told them to bring in their friends and I could do parties in the corner there. That’s a lot of alcohol income. So you check with your boss if he’s behind you on that answer.”

  “Fucking bitch,” he muttered under his breath as I walked off.

  “I feel the same about you,” I called over my shoulder. Fuck him. Fuck that place. The security was already shit. The dancers were a joke. The only one worth anything was the bartender.

  I saw the two guys from corporate already in their car, nodding I would follow them as they were in touch with the attorneys. I threw on street clothes as I drove along with a thick hat to cover my rainbow hair. I honked at them when I pulled in to get food. I’d gotten a feed, and I wasn’t going to waste that when I really needed it.

  Besides, who didn’t take every excuse to stop at Taco Bell? I got extras for everyone at least.

  I pulled in next to the guys at the police station, and we headed inside. I nodded to two of the corporate attorneys, and before I could even check in, I locked eyes again with Badin who called over to let us through… And into a pissed off cop fest.

  Awesome.

  “You kept us waiting long enough,” that guy who had threatened me sneered. “Falsifying a police report is a crime.”

  “I haven’t submitted a police report yet, and what I told the 911 dispatcher was absolutely accurate.”

  He reached over and grabbed my upper arm, shaking me. “You’re going to—”

  “Take your hand off my client immediately or I will have a suit filed against you before morning,” Mindy, the lawyer I dealt with most often and loved, seethed.

  He snorted as he let me go with a shove. “She’s a friggin’ stripper and people touch her all the time. Now it’s a thing?”

  I flinched as I stared at him with wide eyes, not the only one with that reaction from wha
t I could see. “Wow, nice attitude toward strippers and probably hookers too? Good thing you’re the one trying to solve the murders. Or do you care? What’s a few more of us gone, right?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t put words in my mouth. Murder is wrong always.”

  “But touching a stripper isn’t assault if she doesn’t agree to it?” I challenged, not backing down. “And you know I’m undercover, that’s what you threatened me with.”

  “I did no such thing.”

  Both the security guys snorted. “We knew it would be a problem and were taping it,” one said firmly. “And you were so loud anyone at that stage could have heard you. Great police work, really. Not sure how you were trying to trap her when you’re not vice, but we got it all clearly.”

  Shouting broke out then, and after a few moments I called off my side as someone from the brass did as they stormed over. “What the fuck is going on here?”

  “Your whomever threatened my client and tried to force her to do vice’s job while pushing for pimps to target her, and we have it recorded,” Mindy told him quickly. “This might be a matter best discussed in private.”

  “Agreed,” he muttered, waving us to follow him.

  We headed to a conference room, and we sat on one side, me in the middle, as I started in on my food, offering it to my side and the drinks I’d brought.

  “That’s one way for you to let me do my job,” Mindy muttered, shaking her head at me.

  I shrugged. I could fight my own battles. Yes, it was smart to have the threat of attorneys with me, but I was so used to flying solo and doing what needed to be done that I forgot to let them get involved.

  “Start from the beginning of all of this,” Commander Hall said as he sat at the head of the table. “I’m dying to know how this got to four decorated cops being dragged out of a strip club by officers and one in cuffs that they were threatening to rape a stripper.” His eyes focused on me. “Which I guess is you and not your real gig?”

  I shook my head and then waved for Badin to go ahead. He was pretty accurate about our meeting and kept his comments clinical, just the facts.