“I love you, sweet pea. Sleep well.” The little girl stirred slightly and smiled in her sleep, melting Cyndi’s heart.
“I don’t regret a single thing, little one,” she whispered as she closed the door to her daughter’s room. “I’d do it all over again.”
It was during the hospital stay when Cyndi resigned from her teaching job. At the time, the doctors had predicted Harper would face many developmental challenges due to her early birth, but the little girl had proven them all wrong. She was a normal, well-adjusted four-year-old who exhibited no tell-tale signs of her early entrance into life. If anything, her vocabulary was very large for her age.
By the time Cyndi settled back into the couch, the girls were discussing the latest deals at the supermarket.
Cyndi: Which one of you plans to go on that coupon show? You know the one where you get $750 in groceries for $6.21?
Diana: Haha, aren’t you the funny girl tonight. I thought you had gone to bed.
Cyndi: Nah, just had to tuck Harper in and explain to her that I have bad dreams when Daddy goes to work too.
Jessy: Poor little dear! Did you know she was having nightmares?
Cyndi: No. But it doesn’t surprise me. She doesn’t complain about anything. Ever. And she thinks very deeply for a four-year-old. I wouldn’t be surprised if she understood exactly what Jason does at work.
Angela: Harper is one sweet little lady. I would so love to have a daughter.
Cyndi: You two still trying?
Angela: We kind of agreed to give it a rest. I think losing one more would do me in.
Diana: I know this is hard to hear, honey, but whatever is meant to be will be. I am sorry that it has been so difficult for you.
Jessy: How about adoption?
Angela: We have discussed it. Probably won’t have a choice in the end.
Cyndi: Well, look on the bright side. At least with adoption you get to skip maternity clothes and nursing bras. Ain’t nothing sexier than a nursing bra! LOL
Diana: Look who’s talking, Miss ‘I’ll tell my husband I want a baby so he will leave me alone about my job.’ They make nursing bustiers? How about one with tassels you can pull on when the baby is hungry. Like the cord on a pair of blinds!
Cyndi: We could design a line of maternity and nursing costumes for the serious, career-minded dancers who wish to continue working.
Jessy: You two are too much!
Cyndi: Can’t you see it, Jess? We could have our own mail order catalog and a website and everything!
Angela: Hey, girls, as entertaining as you all are, I’m gonna have to call it a night. *yawn*
Diana: I’m with Ang. I’m beat. You all sleep well.
Cyndi: Are we too much for y’all? LOL
Jessy: It is nearly 4:30, Cyndi…I’m exhausted!
Cyndi: Wow! Where did the time go? I guess I’ll grab a little sleep before Harper gets up for real.
After shutting down her laptop, Cyndi crawled back into bed and tried to pass out. Jason was snoring, something he only did when he was in a deep sleep. Pulling a pillow over her head to drown out the noise, Cyndi considered what Harper had said. Her little girl worried about her daddy when he worked in the dark. It made her heart ache that Harper had fears deeper than the usual things that go bump in the night.
Chapter Three
“Goodbye, sweet girl.”
“Night, Mommy!” Harper jumped in Cyndi’s arms and squeezed tight around her neck. Jason stepped up and gently loosened his daughter’s arms, pulling the little girl to him.
“It’s not too late for me to go with you,” Jason whispered as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I’ll be fine.” She dangled the car keys in front of him. “See, I’m even taking the car instead of the bus. It will be okay, honey. Really.”
“We don’t need the money, Cyndi.”
“I need the job, J.J.” She only called him by his childhood nickname when she was appealing to his sensitive side. It had the desired effect. Jason’s serious features softened immediately, although the concern was still present in his blue eyes.
“I will be waiting up for you.”
“I know you will.” She kissed her husband on the cheek, placed a peck on Harper’s forehead, and left.
The drive to the oceanfront only took about twenty minutes. There wasn’t much tourist traffic in October, even on a Friday night. Two police cars were parked in front of the club. Cyndi prayed that they weren’t any of Jason’s buddies. It would take 2.3 seconds for one of them to have Jason on the phone, and she would be completely screwed. Pulling around to a lot at the back of the club, she slipped in the delivery door in the alley and snuck up to the entrance of the main bar and dancing room. Two Virginia Beach police officers stood by the bar talking to Johnny, or ‘Jonet’ as he was going by that night. Every so often Johnny pulled out his alter ego, ‘Jonet,’ by doing himself up in full drag. That night, he was wearing a slinky pink dress all decked out in sparkles and shimmery tulle. The two officers seemed to find his get-up amusing, although they were trying hard to maintain their composure. It was difficult to tell if their visit was official business, or if they were just checking things out. Cops dropped in on occasion to make sure things were up to snuff, but they didn’t usually hang around long. Johnny’s uncle owned the place, and he ran a tight ship. Everything legal and by the book. Sugar Shakers actually had a respectable reputation, despite being a gentleman’s club in a family-oriented vacation city. Perhaps that was how she justified working there and lying to her husband about it.
Cyndi smiled. Johnny looked ridiculous in drag, but it made him happy to get all dolled up. He didn’t seem to care how bad it looked.
The clock behind the bar read 8:55. She had the better part of half an hour to get ready for her various runs on stage from 9:30 until 11:30. The two cops didn’t look familiar, so she ducked back into the hallway and headed to the dressing area to change, and do her hair and makeup.
No sooner had she donned her red-sequined bustier, Roxy sashayed into the little space, wrapped in a lime green boa, and a cloud of cheap perfume. Roxy loved her cheap scent almost as much as her fake feathers.
“Good evenin’, sugah.”
“Hey, Roxy. You got any idea why those two cops are out there talking to Jonet?”
Roxy let out a snort. “Don’t you be fuelin’ that boy’s fantasy of being a queen. He is one awful lookin’ lady!”
“Come on, Roxy, he looks adorable.”
“You got to be blind or high, little lady, if you be thinkin’ Johnny looks anything like adorable!”
Cyndi worked a comb and some hairspray into her blonde hair, teasing it into an over-zealous bouffant. “So? Why were the cops in here?”
“You didn’t hear ’bout Jade?”
Cyndi stopped what she was doing and turned to face Roxy, who was digging through her oversized purse. The other woman pulled out a pack of Lucky Strikes and started banging the box against her other palm absently.
“No, what about Jade?”
“She’s gone.”
“What do you mean ‘gone’? Like she moved?”
“Nope.” Roxy tore at the cellophane on the pack of cigarettes.
“Come on, Roxy, don’t be coy. What happened to Jade?”
Pulling a cigarette from the pack, Roxy rested it between her lips as she attempted to light it. Her two-inch fake nails made the act nearly impossible. Cyndi admired the detailed handiwork of swirls and stars that graced Roxy’s nails, but she was still impatient to hear what happened to the young dancer who usually also worked Friday nights.
When Cyndi couldn’t stand watching her anymore, Roxy managed to get the cigarette lit. She took a long drag before speaking through the haze of exhaled smoke. “She disappeared. No one knows what happened to her. Left here right after you did last week, and that was the last anyone has heard of her.”
An image of a shadowy figure with something tossed over its shoulder flashed in
to Cyndi’s mind. Gooseflesh broke out all over her bare arms.
“You say she disappeared last Friday night?”
“Sure thing, sugah. Ain’t no one seen hide nor hair of her since.”
“Maybe she went back home finally?”
“I don’t think so. Nope, I think she’s just gone. Poor little thing.”
“Hey! Lady Liberty! You’re on in two!” Johnny’s voice echoed down the hall from the bar. At least the cops had to be gone if he was calling for her.
Slipping into her red heels, she double checked her makeup. “I got to get on stage, Roxy, but we’ll talk more before I leave.”
“Ain’t nothin’ else to tell, sugah. Jade is gone as gone can be, and I bet she ain’t never gonna be back. Why do you think the cops was here?”
“Liberty! Let’s roll!” Johnny bellowed down the hall again.
“I’m coming!” she yelled back as she waved to Roxy and took off toward the main stage. “So much for staying in character, Jonet.”
Johnny patted down his red wig and smoothed the slinky fabric of his dress. She stepped up to the door to the back of the stage. “I am in complete charge of my character, doll. You don’t think a lady with all this hair would be shy, do you?”
“Johnny, I really don’t know how you pull it off in a dress like that. Things should be bulging, you know?”
Johnny laughed and tapped his crotch with a long, fake fingernail painted in the exact pink of his dress. “Name of the game is tuck and roll, doll. Tuck and roll.”
“That sounds awfully painful to me, Johnny.”
“The name’s Jonet today, doll. Now get on out there and shake a little booty like you just don’t care!”
Johnny pulled the stage door open. Strains of Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” filled the bar.
“Oh, Johnny, why were…”
“Li-ber-ty! Li-ber-ty! Li-ber-ty!” The chant grew louder as Mötley Crüe kicked up the guitar riffs.
“Later, baby! They’re calling your name!”
Cyndi sashayed her way onto the stage, making sure her tassels were spinning. The crowd cheered, and she turned on the charm. That first moment out on stage was always such a rush. Thoughts of Jade, and murder, and kidnappings disappeared. Lady Liberty had some assets to shake.
The sound system belted out Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” and Cyndi worked the pole like a pro, pouring the glitter Jason had spotted on her the week before all over her torso during the final chorus. Guns N’ Roses blasted the hearty guitar riffs of “Sweet Child of Mine” as Cyndi rounded out her first turn of the night. While Axel Rose belted his heart out, Cyndi spun on her heels in a perfect pirouette which landed her in a full split in the center of the stage. At least, it was supposed to. The crazy, drunk guy who jumped on the stage and tried to grab her totally got in the way. The collision knocked her ankle sideways, dropping her to the scarred wood like a load of bricks.
The man dropped to the floor next to her, instantly sober. “Oh geez! Oh, man! I am so sorry! You okay, Lady Liberty? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Rafael, the bouncer, pounced on the guy and dragged him off the stage while Cyndi worked her shoe off of her injured foot.
“You all right, Cyndi?” Johnny rushed to her side and offered his hand to help her up. Even when he was dressed like a woman, he had more chivalry than most men she knew.
“Yeah, I think so.” She allowed Johnny to pull her to her feet, kicking off the other red shoe as she stood. As soon as she put pressure on the injured ankle, she knew it was very much not okay.
“Ouch!” Cyndi tested the ankle again tentatively, but there was no way she was going to be able to walk on it. “Can you help me out back?”
“Sure thing, baby girl. Let’s hobble you into the dressing room.” Johnny kicked off his own heels and tossed them behind the bar before effortlessly scooping her up and carrying her to the back of the building. “Rafael! Bring a bag of ice once you toss that piece of waste out the front door!”
“With pleasure, Johnny!” Rafael called back. Cyndi heard him grunt and curse as he tossed the drunken patron out of the building.
In less than a minute, she was settled on a sofa in the manager’s office with her foot wrapped in a bag of ice and Roxy flitting around her like a humming bird, her purple feather boa whipping back and forth with every movement. That woman had a boa for every occasion.
“You gonna be all right, sugah?”
Cyndi flexed the injured limb. Her ankle was turning several shades of blue and purple. “I’m sure it’s only a sprain.”
“That’s some nasty injury,” Johnny interjected. “Might need an x-ray.”
“No. I’m not going to the hospital. I need to get changed and head home.”
“You want me to call someone to come and get you, sugah?”
“No, Roxy. I have my car. I just have to figure out what to tell Jason when I get home.”
“Tell him you slipped on a wet floor while you were mopping it.” Roxy was still pacing, but she had slowed down.
“If you need help getting out to your car, baby girl, give a holler. I gotta get back out to the bar.”
“Thanks, Johnny, but I should be okay. The ice is helping a lot. I’m going to go home, take something for the pain, and go to bed.”
“All right, then, doll.” Johnny fluffed his wig and straightened his clothes on his way out the door of the office. “Jonet is back to business!”
“Your leg is lookin’ pretty nasty.” Roxy stood in front of her, trying to light a cigarette with shaking hands.
“Relax, Roxy. I’m fine. Really.”
“You can’t dance anymore.”
“Not tonight, anyway. If you could help me up, I’ll go change and collect my wages for the night.” It sure wouldn’t be the three hundred dollars she was getting used to.
Roxy extended a hand. Cyndi was surprised at how cold the other woman’s fingers were when she accepted it. She moaned as she tried to put pressure on her injured joint. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had, although the swelling and discoloration were gradually increasing.
“You’re limping.” Roxy grunted as Cyndi leaned heavily on her for the first few steps.
“It hurts. Nothing a good bandage and a few pain killers can’t fix though. Come on, Roxy, I thought you were tough?” Cyndi hoped poking a little fun would relax the older woman some. It worked.
“Don’t you know it, little girl. Ol’ Roxy Feathers is a tough old bird. I just don’t care much for the broken bones and needles. Ya know what I mean?”
Cyndi laughed despite the pain still shooting through her body. “Yeah, Roxy, I know what you mean. Oh, damn! I meant to ask Johnny about the cops again. I’ll catch him on my way out.”
“He don’t know nothing.”
“I wish it wasn’t dark outside. I would love to get a look at the alley.”
“For what?” Roxy demanded, her response catching Cyndi a little off guard.
“I don’t know. Evidence of some sort? Blood maybe.”
“You really need to leave well enough alone, girl. You gonna be asking for trouble if you start poking your nose around.”
Cyndi shot the other woman a questioning look, but the older woman wouldn’t meet her eye. “What sort of trouble?”
Roxy snorted. “Who knows, Liberty? This ain’t the sort of place you go askin’ a lot of questions, is all.”
They finally reached the dressing room. Cyndi dropped into her chair and started immediately removing her heavy makeup, trying to think of a way to explain her injury to Jason. Roxy’s slip and fall idea was as good as any, and it was true, in part. She did fall, even if she was helped to the ground by the drunk dude. It was hard to get a lie by Jason, best to keep it as close to the truth as possible.
“I don’t see how, Roxy. No one knows what happened to Jade. Maybe she decided to go home.”
“Then why you wantin’ to poke around out back lookin’ for blood?”
&nbs
p; Cyndi hesitated. She wanted to tell Roxy what she had seen and heard the week before, but in all honesty, she wasn’t certain the other woman could be completely trusted. Cyndi still had a family to think about. After a moment of hesitation, she opted to keep the mysterious figure and the frightened cat to herself. At least for the time being.
“I don’t know. I guess too many years living with a cop has rubbed off on me. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone else is a victim. You know how it is.”
“No, I don’t suppose I do.” Roxy’s tone had suddenly turned hard, catching Cyndi off guard. The small room grew even smaller as the tension grew thicker. As quickly as it came on, it was gone. Roxy was busy flitting around, twirling her boa; she was a confusing woman.
“I’ve got to get out there. Lola’s run is nearly over.”
When she was gone, Cyndi sat alone for a bit, thinking. She had completely forgotten about Lola; she had been tight with Jade. She could know something about the young woman disappearing.
As if on cue, Lola entered the dressing room in her coconut bra and grass skirt, which had been arranged so that her long, tan legs were visible between the blades of grass. Lola was part Hawaiian, and part Filipino, and was absolutely gorgeous with dark, long curls that fell to the backs of her knees. The guys loved her sexy hula dances, as well as her part gymnastic, part dance routines. Lola could bend and twist her lithe frame in ways that Cyndi only ever dreamed about.
“How are you, Cyndi? That fall looked horrible!” Lola’s obvious distress over Cyndi’s injury was offset by the gentle lilting tones of her voice. When Lola spoke, it was so calming that Cyndi could almost imagine the gentle waves caressing the shores of Maui, under a picture perfect blue sky, disturbed only by the occasional wispy white cloud.
“I’ll be fine. Just need to take it easy for a few days, I guess.”
Undercover in Six Inch Stilettos Page 3