by Cat Johnson
Her stomach lurched. Knocking her off? Was her life in danger just because she’d made a silly error in judgment and walked in on what was obviously some illegal business deal?
“No, I’ll take care of it. I’ll have Bruno do it after the shift… Come on, man! I have a club to run. If we take her out before the shift’s over I’ll be short a girl—”
Leesa didn’t wait to hear the rest. She backed up as quickly and silently as she could and then, when she was a good distance from his office, she turned and ran. At her locker, she pulled her knee-length jacket on over what was left of her costume, changed her shoes and shoved the rest of her clothes into her oversized purse.
Holly was still there changing for her next number. She stopped lacing up her boots and frowned at Leesa. “What’s the matter, hon?”
Panicked, Leesa didn’t know what to tell her. She needed to buy some time and save herself, but she also felt like she had to keep Holly out of it and safe. “I can’t tell you. Holly, I need you to do something for both me and for you. Okay?”
Frowning, Holly nodded. “Okay.”
Leesa glanced nervously back toward Jerry’s office. “If anyone—Jerry, Bruno, anyone—asks where I am, tell them I’m in the ladies’ room out front. Tell them I have cramps, or I don’t know, chronic diarrhea. Something that will keep them from looking for me for a while. All right?”
She couldn’t fight the feeling that if she didn’t leave now, she might never have the chance.
“All right. It’s better if I don’t know why, isn’t it?” Holly’s expression told Leesa she’d been around the seedy side of this world enough to know to stay out of it.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Okay, hon. I’ll do what I can to give you some time.” Holly pulled her into a hug. They both knew this could be the last time they saw each other.
“Thanks. I gotta go.” Leesa’s panic and fear squelched the tears that surely would have been falling otherwise. Adrenaline was a powerful drug.
Holly released her from the embrace. “Good luck.”
And with that Leesa left. For where, she didn’t know. Only that it had to be far from here.
Chapter Four
“Hey, man. Time to get up.” Those distant words eventually penetrated the hazy, peaceful darkness of sleep.
Chase became aware of something, or rather someone, annoyingly poking him in the arm. Seconds later his brain registered his hangover from hell. It didn’t really hit him until he rolled over and felt his stomach rebel. He cracked one lid open and the beam of sunlight hitting him in the eye felt like a knife cutting through his skull.
“Ugh. What time is it?”
“It’s just after noon.” Garret supplied the answer in a voice that sounded far too chipper considering Chase’s current state.
He winced at the horrid taste in his mouth and considered if drinking some water would make him feel better or worse. With his brain working in slow motion, it took Chase a moment to process fully what Garret had told him. “Noon? I never sleep this late.”
Fully dressed and looking ready for a bright new day, Garret grinned at Chase without one ounce of sympathy. “You also usually don’t roll back to our room wasted at four thirty in the morning and then proceed to do shots of tequila.”
“I did shots?” And if so, he would never have done them alone. Why the hell did Garret seem so awake when Chase felt like death warmed over?
Leaning against the dresser across the room, arms crossed, Garret nodded. “Oh yeah, you did. But what I find most interesting is that as drunk as you were, you still wouldn’t tell me what went on with you and that stripper in the back room.”
The memory of the events from the night before cut through the fog clouding his brain. Not only did all that had happened in the back room clearly fill his hazy mind, so did a sudden realization.
Chase’s suspicions rose even if his body hadn’t quite been able to do so yet. The reason Garret wasn’t hung over was suddenly clear to Chase. “Did you stay sober last night and get me drunk just to get information out of me?”
Garret grinned. “Oh, come on. Would I do that?”
“Yes.” Chase sat up and immediately regretted it as what felt like a lightning bolt pierced his skull. He pressed one hand to his stomach as it gave an angry lurch. “I could kill you. I feel like shit and we have that fan thing in like two hours.”
As painful as it was, he still managed to shoot Garret a nasty look.
“It’s your own fault. If you would’ve just told me what happened with the hottie in the back room, I wouldn’t have had to ply you with alcohol. And FYI, I am so trusting you with all of my secrets from now on, because you, man, are like a vault. You never cracked. Not even once. You threw up, but you never spilled the beans.”
He’d thrown up? That explained the foul taste in his mouth.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me at all. In fact, you better consider not falling asleep tonight because I’m serious about killing you for this.” As soon as he could stand without falling over or throwing up again, Chase intended to get right on that.
Garret dismissed his threat with the casual wave of one hand. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You stink like tequila. Go shower so we can get something to eat before the fan thing. I’m starving.”
The thought of food sent Chase’s stomach reeling, but a nice hot shower might help. He rose gingerly, as if his head was made of glass and any sudden movements might break it. At this point, that was pretty much exactly what it felt like as Chase made his way across the room to the bathroom, which seemed a longer distance than it had yesterday.
“Oh, and I forgot to tell you. The guys wanna do something good tonight.”
Chase frowned. “Wasn’t last night good enough for you?”
“Well, yeah, but tonight is our last night here so we have to do something fun, but everyone’s bitching about how much money we’ve spent this week. The plan is we’re staying in and having a party right here.”
“Fine. Whatever.” Chase shuffled through the bathroom doorway, not caring what anybody did as long as they left him alone now.
Garret called after him. “We’ll pick up some beer or whatever after the meet-and-greet.”
“Great. Can’t wait.” Chase smothered a moan at the thought.
As he closed the bathroom door, he heard Garret laugh. “You’ll recover.”
“Yeah, I know.” The sooner the better, so he could get to killing Garret.
The hot spray of water helped immensely, as did the time alone to think. Once he decided he wasn’t going to hurl, Chase started to recount the events of the night before. At least the parts he could remember. The events before Garret started pouring drinks down his throat.
Images of the strip club filled his tequila-soaked brain. He didn’t even know her name, but he could still see her face as clearly as if she was there in front of him. Chase could almost feel her touch on him too.
Damn. Why hadn’t he asked her name? Not that it would have made much difference since she said she didn’t date customers. But what if he wasn’t a customer? What if he never went back to the club again? Then could he ask her out? Tonight was their last night in town, at least until next season when the tour came back this way again. Would she even still be working there next year so he could find her?
The reality was, there was no way he wanted to wait that long to find out anyway, and not just because of what had happened between them either. Okay, yeah. That had been pretty freaking amazing, but it was more. He liked what he saw in her eyes, though he could never tell Garret or any of the other guys that. They didn’t get it. They made fun of him enough as it was. Calling him Romeo. Telling him he got attached too easily.
Sure he could tell them about the hand job and they’d slap him on the back and congratulate him, but he couldn’t say anything about how he felt about it. How there was far more passing between them than just a happy-ending lap dance. The moment he mentioned asking her out because he
wanted to get to know her better as a person, they’d do nothing but tease him.
So he liked getting to know the women he was with better, while his friends were happy with one-night-stands. So what? Maybe he selected his women more carefully to begin with. He was drawn to those who were worth getting attached to, instead of just hooking up with for one night. What was wrong with that? Nothing, as far as he could see.
Yeah, he’d only known her for maybe an hour, but he liked her. There was substance there. He saw something deep down. Stuff she tried to hide from the world, but he saw it. He was good at reading people. He always had been. She had struck Chase as strong but vulnerable underneath. She was bold but scared at the same time.
He’d felt her trembling, and not just from what he suspected—or at least hoped—was her orgasm during that lap dance. Not that he’d been to a hell of a lot of those kinds of places, but the guys had dragged him into a few strip clubs in their travels. They usually ended up at one whenever someone was getting married or had a birthday. Over the years, Chase had had contact with enough strippers to know they didn’t usually blush, or get so nervous with a customer they started shaking.
As he soaped himself inside the steamy stall and thought about her, he realized he felt a little better. One part of him was recovering exceptionally fast. Chase considered ignoring it, then thought what the hell. He couldn’t come up with a better way to wake up and get ready for the day.
Wishing he had a name to go with the vision of her face and the rest of his really nice memories of their time together, Chase grabbed himself and started stroking. He knew immediately it wasn’t going to take long. Not with the tantalizing images of her filling his brain. Even while she was somewhere else the woman did it for him. He quickly came into the hot stream of water.
The first thought to hit him afterward was that perhaps he would be able to eat after all. Some food and a few ibuprofen and he’d be good as new.
Somehow they’d found her. How?
She’d been careful. Leesa had only allowed herself perhaps ten minutes to stop home. Barely long enough to fling the few things she needed, or couldn’t live without, into a bag. Her entire life fit into an oversized tote bag. How sad was that? She reminded herself that at least she still had a life. For now anyway. That could change in an instant if she didn’t keep on her toes and get the hell out of town unnoticed and soon.
No one had followed her car when she’d left her apartment. She was certain, or at least so she had thought. She’d headed to the casino where she knew she would find enough people to hide her for a few hours until she could grab one of the buses heading out of town.
She’d ditched her vehicle in the casino’s covered parking lot amid thousands of others knowing Jerry and Johnny must have dirty cops on their payroll who could have tracked the car registered to her if she’d driven it out of town. She thought no one would notice it parked here. Apparently she’d been wrong because the undeniable fact remained they were here and because of that she wasn’t safe. She had to get out, but where would she go?
Heart pounding, she considered that question. Meanwhile, Bruno, wearing his usual black T-shirt and slacks, and two gorillas dressed in what looked like thousand-dollar Italian suits with shoulder-holster bulges the size of her forearm were headed in her direction. Their very presence proved they somehow knew she was here in the casino, but judging by the way they moved—slowly, visually searching the room—they hadn’t spotted her yet.
She turned and headed in the opposite direction, all the while fighting the urge to look over her shoulder. Her pulse sounded so loudly in her ears, she had to strain to listen over its pounding. Above the background din of the crowd, she prayed she wouldn’t hear the bouncer’s familiar voice call her name as they closed in on her. She walked quickly but not so fast it would attract their attention. Blending in, being able to disappear amid these people, might possibly be a matter of life and death.
The problem was as a young woman she didn’t blend very well with the senior citizens perched on stools at the slot machines that surrounded her now. There was nowhere to get truly lost in this particular area. She needed a thicker, more diverse crowd. Leaning against a tall slot machine, she paused to catch her breath and think. Panicking wouldn’t help. She had to be rational. She needed a plan.
The air conditioning pumped out icy cold air, probably to keep the gamblers awake and at their machines, but Leesa could feel the cold sweat of fear on her skin. If she lowered her head toward her chest, she could even smell the fear radiating off her, or maybe it was simply that she hadn’t showered since yesterday. She’d spent the last twelve hours or so in the casino, moving constantly. Waiting to escape. Thinking Jerry would assume she’d immediately left town and not be looking for her to be on a later bus. She had obviously been wrong. She’d waited too long.
Leesa wished she’d had the money for a plane ticket, though they’d probably be watching the airport too.
An amplified announcement followed by the sound of cheering broke through the steady drone of slots and conversation. Leesa glanced up and could have cried with relief at what she saw. It was relief, or maybe hunger and exhaustion, that had her on the verge of tears. Either way, it didn’t matter because now she had a plan.
Farther down the shop-lined hall leading away from the age-restricted, railed-in area filled with slot machines and gamblers, a very large, noisy crowd clustered. A closer look proved it was made of up young and old, men, women and children. She had no idea why they were here, but the more people to get lost among the better. Head down, she made a beeline to that diverse group of strangers who may just unknowingly save her.
Sliding into the tight space between a jean-clad man in cowboy boots and a girl wearing a tight, belly-baring T-shirt and jeans cut low enough to show her thong, Leesa hoped to hide in the crowd. She glanced down at her own sweatshirt and jeans, her pitiful attempt to become invisible. She prayed it would work.
Life was pretty surreal at the moment, kind of like a strange, horrifying nightmare she couldn’t wake up from, but the man in full clown makeup and wearing a cowboy hat while addressing the gatherers through a microphone attached to his head made things seem even stranger. He called out a steady stream of banter while shooting T-shirts and hats with a handheld rocket launcher into the midst of the slightly unruly group. She didn’t know what was happening around her or why, but if it helped her avoid being caught, she’d take the good fortune without question.
Another blast was followed by shouts from the assembled masses. The tall man next to her extended an arm and caught one of the bundles the clown shot at them. He held the prize down to her.
“Do you want this? I have three already.” He grinned wide, showing a wad of chewing tobacco shoved into his cheek.
“Thanks.” Nodding, she reached for it, too surprised by the offer and traumatized by the current state of her world to do anything else.
A hat wasn’t a bad idea. One glance around proved more than a few others were wearing their clown-propelled baseball hats already.
Maybe she’d duck into the restroom and change into the T-shirt later too. Should she hide in the ladies’ room until the coast was clear? The thought of being trapped in a relatively small, windowless space with only one way out, that being the exit that could be blocked by the goons, left her with an even sicker feeling in her gut than she’d had when she’d first spotted them. No, out here among lots of witnesses felt safer. Or at least as safe as she was going to get for now.
It didn’t take long to unwrap the tie holding the hat and shirt together. With a hand she noticed was shaking, she brushed her hair back from her face and pulled the baseball cap over it. She should have thought to buy scissors and hair dye. They’d be looking for her with long, brown hair. Then again, she’d never thought they’d get this close to finding her in the first place, so how could she have predicted she’d need to change her appearance? The plan to drive to the casino, abandon her car and then h
op on one of the many busses leaving from there each afternoon for all parts of the country should have worked.
Why didn’t it? How the hell had they found her? She still didn’t know, but for now the hat would do to hide her until she could figure things out.
She pulled the cap lower over her eyes and positioned herself behind the bulk of the man next to her. Only then did she dare to turn and look for her pursuers.
It didn’t take long to spot them. As they moved in her direction, their beady eyes swept the space in a practiced move. Her simple disguise wasn’t going to work if they spotted her. She needed to move.
The cell phone in her front pocket vibrated against her hip. She jumped and stifled a small cry. Then realization hit her. Could Jerry trace her location from her cell phone being on even if she didn’t answer it?
Of course he could. She should have thought of that before. Jerry’s brother, Johnny, was reputed to be some big shit with mob connections. He was powerful enough he could do anything he wanted and no one would question him. His umbrella of influence even extended to Jerry. Everyone simply said yes to both brothers. People jumped to please them, even the cops, which is why she was totally on her own.
But she wouldn’t be alone for much longer if she didn’t ditch her phone. She’d have three very mean men for unwanted company.
A family walked toward her as she frantically tried to plan. Should she take out the cell phone’s battery? Would that help? As Leesa’s panic dulled her ability to think, the woman pushed a baby carriage with a sleepy-looking child inside past her, while the man walked by holding a toddler in his arms. Bits of conversation reached Leesa’s ears as they passed her.
The man spoke. “I’ll take him to the men’s room with me and then we’ll leave?”
The woman nodded. “Yeah, she’s not going to fall asleep here. Maybe she will in the car.”
Forcing herself to move slowly, calmly, she slipped to the edge of the crowd while still remaining hidden by the bodies around her. She slid the phone out of her pocket and with trembling fingers adjusted the mode to totally silent instead of vibrate. The father disappeared into the bathroom while the mother moved in front of the stroller, her attention totally consumed in trying to get the baby to stop fussing.