by Sibel Hodge
I took the champagne back to their table, and they gave me a huge tip as they watched Coco coming onstage to do a number.
I waited at the bar, scanning the room for anything interesting, but nothing was going on that might help me find out what Dana had been up to on her last night.
‘Can you take this to Ivan?’ Cooper handed me a metal cashbox that presumably housed the bar’s takings so far that night.
‘Absolutely.’ I took the box and walked past the stage up the corridor. Watermelon Arms was stationed outside Ivan’s office, looking bored, twisting the ends of his ridiculous moustache. His eyes lit up when he saw me.
‘I need to frithk you,’ he said with a lisp.
‘Frithk?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Sorry, I only frithk after a second date.’ I could work out he meant frisk, but I just couldn’t resist having some fun. I know, I know—I’m a bad girl, but after what had happened since we’d arrived in Vegas, I had to find amusement where I could. Plus, he wasn’t exactly a nice guy if he’d shot Elvis in the foot.
‘I need to thearth you. Make thure you’re not hiding any of Ivan’s cath anywhere.’
‘I don’t think Cath would fit in my outfit.’
‘Not Cath. Cath!’ He frowned.
‘Oh, you mean, cash! Not many places to hide it in here.’ I looked down at myself. Which made me think again about how little cash Dana could’ve stashed in her even skimpier outfit.
‘You’d be thurprithed. Anyway, Ivan wants me to frithk everyone handling the cath box to make thure they’re not thtealing. New ruleth. Faith the wall.’
I turned and faced the wall.
‘Girls don’t like a bossy guy, you know.’ I did as he asked. ‘I heard the girl who left thtole something from Ivan, but I’m thurprithed Dana managed to hide anything in thothe coth-tumes the dancers wear.’ I looked over my thoulder—I mean, shoulder—at him.
‘Are you yanking my chain?’
‘Moi?’ I pointed a finger to my chest. ‘I have a lithp, too. It cometh out when I’m nervouth.’
He grunted, eyes narrowed. He was probably wondering whether or not to believe me. Watermelon Arms quickly patted his hands over my back and waist but luckily didn’t quite skim over my boobage area or bum. While he was distracted, I thought I’d ask some more questions.
‘So, how did she manage to steal money from Ivan, then?’
‘It wathn’t money.’
‘Oh? Why was Ivan looking for her? The rumour out on the floor is she stole something from him.’
‘Turn around.’
I turned and held the box out in front of me. He stared at my boobs, mouth open, as if he’d never seen a pair before. I thrust them out just for good measure. I leaned forward so he’d get a better view, and whispered in his ear, ‘What did she steal, then?’
‘Hey, Bruce!’ London stood at the end of the corridor. ‘Wanna grab a smoke break with me?’
‘I can’t. Ivan wanth thomeone outthide hith offith all the time now.’
She shrugged. ‘OK, catch you later.’ She blew him a kiss.
He actually pretended to catch it. Maybe he was really just a cute little lamb trapped inside a watermelon’s body.
‘Why are you athking tho many quethtions?’
‘I’m just trying to get to know my coworkers. Take you, for example, Bruce. Have you ever been to Mississippi? I heard it’s nice there.’ I couldn’t resist it.
‘Mithithippi?’
‘Yep.’
‘No. Never been to Mithithippi.’
I fought the urge to laugh. ‘How long have you worked here?’
‘Sixth monthth.’
‘Monthth? Wow, is that like an extra-long month?’
‘Huh?’ He looked confused.
I waved a hand. ‘Never mind.’
‘You’d better give the cath to Ivan now.’
I knocked on Ivan’s door.
‘Come!’ Ivan barked.
‘Hi.’ I walked inside. Ivan was sitting down, puffing on a cigar. I handed him the cash box.
He set it down on his desk and opened it.
I glanced around, looking for something that might give me a clue as to what Dana had stolen. I saw the CCTV cameras tiled on the TV again, watching what was going on in the club. Ivan had a laptop, printer, memory stick, and phone on his desk. There were no piles of drugs on display and no other cash lying around. I saw nothing that would help.
‘Are you taking care of that rapper guy?’ he asked.
‘Oh, yeah!’ I gushed. ‘It’s so amazing having someone famous in here.’
‘Well, get back to it.’ He clicked his fingers towards the door. ‘Keep an eye on them, and see to it they get what they want.’
‘Sure.’ I exited the office and said, ‘Thee ya later,’ to Watermelon Arms. Then I headed back to Brad’s table. ‘Can I get you anything else?’
‘Yeah.’ Dad leaned forward. ‘We want to go in a private VIP room.’
‘No problem.’ I leaned in towards him and whispered, ‘Coco and Shawna were working the night Dana disappeared. I know you spoke to them earlier, but maybe they might let on something else to you that could prove helpful. I’ll say you want them to dance for you.’ I pointed to Coco, who was up at the bar flirting with an old guy, her nipple tassels dangling in his drink. Ick. Shawna had just finished pole dancing, or rather, pelvic-thrusting against it, in a pair of pink rumba knickers.
‘Good. And get us some more Cristal,’ Dad said, thrusting the empty bottle at me.
I nodded and went to the bar. ‘They want to go in the private VIP room with Shawna and Coco.’
Cooper picked up the phone to call Ivan so he could personally escort them. He came through to the club floor with a smarmy smile and led Hacker, Brad, and Dad down the corridor on the right-hand side of the stage. I couldn’t hear what Ivan was saying over the loud music, but it was obvious from his body language that he was kissing arse.
When I was loaded up with the champers, I followed them into one of the private VIP rooms. Music was pumping out of the surround-sound speakers. On the glass coffee table sat a remote control that I’d been told controlled the music and lighting to the customer’s preference. Hacker sat on a gold-velvet couch along the back wall, facing a ministage with a pole in the middle. Brad and Dad sat on either side of him.
As I set the ice bucket down on the glass table in front of them, Ivan said, ‘If you need anything else, gentlemen, anything at all, just let me or one of the girls know.’ And he disappeared, shutting the door behind him.
Brad pulled me onto his lap.
‘Hey, there’s a no-touching rule in the club!’ I said for the benefit of the CCTV cameras I knew were watching. Then I whispered in Brad’s ear, ‘Ask for some drugs. I think that might’ve been what Dana took.’
Brad gave an almost imperceptible nod. ‘How much for you to dance for us?’
‘More than you can afford.’ I winked and went back out past Coco and her now soggy nipple tassels, who was going in to dance for them.
I spotted Tia heading towards the dressing room and caught up with her.
‘Hey,’ I whispered, knowing the CCTV wouldn’t be able to pick up our conversation over the loud music from the club floor. ‘Have you found out anything about Dana?’
‘Yeah. Apparently, the night she did her disappearing act she’d been in one of the private VIP rooms for hours with a guy called Paul Winger. Ivan was in there a lot with them, too.’
‘Hmmm. He’s the Vegas District Attorney. Cooper said he comes in most nights.’
The cogs of my brain started turning. Did that mean something? Nothing? Was it related to what Dana had stolen? If Watermelon Arms was telling the truth, and Dana hadn’t stolen cash, it had to be drugs she’d taken. Maybe the DA was a bit of a cokehead or into crystal meth or something, and Ivan was his dealer. Had Ivan been so busy with Paul that he’d sent Dana back to his office for the drugs? Was that how she’d known the code? No, that did
n’t sound likely. Ivan surely wouldn’t have wanted anyone to gain access to his office and vast amounts of cash. Maybe Dana had simply seen Ivan punching it in one day and remembered it.
‘Good work,’ I said to her. ‘See if you can find out more about Paul Winger—what he’s into when he’s in the VIP room. Maybe he likes something kinky or likes to get high.’
‘Absolutely. Lady Penelope is on the case!’
I walked back out, and Suzy was flying around the pole to ‘Give It to Me Right’. The Japanese men were glassy-eyed and whooping at her now.
I served a table full of thirty-something guys and a bald man who looked a bit like Jason Statham. Then I went back to the private VIP room. Shawna was in there, dancing for Brad and Co., along with Coco.
I couldn’t tell if Brad and Dad were enjoying the show because I couldn't see their eyes through their sunglasses. Brad had his arms folded across his chest, taking it in with what looked like cool detachment. I hoped it was. There was no denying Shawna was stunning, and a little jealous part of me growled inside at him watching her. I’d had the same problem when he was recently hired to bodyguard the glamour model Aleesha, but in the end, my little green-eyed monster had found absolutely no reason not to trust Brad. And this was just a job. Anyway, if you’d seen one pair of boobs, you’d seen them all, right? Except Coco’s, of course. If you’d seen those, they were likely to blind you if you got too close. Oh, and Cristal’s. And Apple’s, come to think of it.
‘Are you all right for drinks? Can I get you anything else?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, we want some coke,’ Brad said, not taking his eyes off Shawna. ‘Or crystal meth.’
‘Oh, right. Well, let me see what I can do for you.’ I left Shawna wiggling her arse in their direction and made my way to Ivan’s office.
Watermelon Arms was stationed outside, staring into space.
‘The VIPs want something to take the edge off,’ I said to him.
He jerked his head at Ivan’s door. ‘Go on in and tell him.’
I knocked and got the ‘Come’ response again. When I went inside, Ivan had his feet up on his desk and was puffing on a cigar, watching surveillance footage of the VIP room containing Hacker and the others, which he’d enlarged to fill the whole of the TV screen.
‘The VIPs want some coke. Or crystal meth.’
‘I heard.’ He motioned to the camera with the cigar.
‘I, errr… didn’t know what to tell them. I wasn’t sure Polesque was that kind of place.’ On the surface, the club seemed to be OK. Well, OK for a place that was essentially a strip club, even though it was more of a classy strip club. I mean, there was a no-touching rule to protect the girls, for starters. That had to be a good thing. And there was no full nudity. But what else had been going on?
Ivan puffed furiously on his cigar then turned to the huge safe behind. He leaned over it and pressed some numbers. I craned my neck, trying to see around him to watch what combination he put in, but I couldn’t clock a thing.
‘OK, you can get back out there now, I’ll handle this,’ he said, his back still towards me, blocking my view.
‘All righty.’ I left with one last glance over my shoulder.
When I got back to the bar, there was a rowdy group of old-age pensioners watching Mum doing her second number of the night. She was dressed in the dreaded schoolgirl outfit she’d bought: a tiny pleated tartan skirt and a sleeveless blouse ruched up in a knot underneath her black satin bra and a tartan tie loose around her neck. The old guys seemed to love it.
By the time I managed to return to Brad’s VIP room later on, Shawna and Coco had been replaced by Gin and Apple. Hey, that sounded like a new drink! Maybe call it an Apple Genie. I made a mental note to try one while I was in Vegas.
White lines of coke that Ivan must’ve brought in were spread out on the glass coffee table in front of Brad and Dad. I glanced around the room, looking for the cameras I knew were watching, but I couldn’t see any. In the rest of the club, they were evident, probably as a deterrent against any rowdy troublemakers. But in here, it looked like they were completely hidden. I bet those cameras caught all kinds of action if drugs were involved—action that could be used for blackmail. Was that what Dana had been up to the night she fled? Had she seen something going on in here and stolen the video evidence from Ivan’s office?
‘How you doing in here?’ I beamed a smile at them.
‘We’re trying to work out how to make it look like we’re taking this shit without actually taking it,’ Dad whispered.
‘Hmmm,’ I whispered back. ‘Good luck with that.’
The rest of the busy night passed by in a flash. By three in the morning, only a couple of drunk stragglers remained on the main floor of the club, and the fake VIPs decided to call it a night. I ignored the blisters on my feet and tidied up the last of the tables. Cooper split the tips and handed me a wedge of three hundred dollars, which was my share.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘See you tomorrow.’ Cooper gave me a wave and took a tray of glasses into the kitchen behind the bar.
I walked past Watermelon Arms, who was now stationed on the front door.
‘Nighty night, Bruce.’ I gave him a cute wave on the way out. ‘Thleep tight!’
I walked out into the fresh air and stood on the pavement, waiting for Mum, Suzy, and Tia to come out. Ten minutes later, we were all walking back towards Hell.
‘I think I’ve got a nipple rash from those tassels,’ Suzy huffed. ‘I’m going to tell them to get some hypoallergenic ones.’
‘I made three grand tonight!’ Tia said proudly.
‘Three grand!’ I said. ‘I’m obviously in the wrong job.’
‘I got two and a half,’ Mum said. ‘Not bad for an old girl.’
‘I got four,’ Suzy said smugly.
‘Some people might think strippers and lap dancers are one step up from prostitutes with no brains, but I’d say they were actually very shrewd with good business heads,’ I said. ‘I bet they earn more in a night than a lot of people earn in a month.’
‘Brandi said she’s using the money to pay for her daughter’s medical care. She was born with some kind of heart defect, and she keeps having to have operations,’ Mum said sadly. ‘Poor little mite. Brandi used to be an accountant before this, but she can earn more money dancing.’
‘Cristal told me she’s bought two rental apartments already from the proceeds she’s got from dancing. It’s for her retirement fund,’ Suzy said.
‘That’s impressive,’ I said.
‘It was the best fun I’ve had in ages.’ Tia beamed.
‘I think I pulled a muscle in my back.’ Mum rubbed her spine. ‘Maybe I overdid it on the hip swivelling. I hope I don’t get sciatica again.’
‘Have you got any deep-heat cream?’ I asked. ‘That might help.’
‘I’m not using that again. Not after I mistook it for the pleasure gel last time. It was painful.’
Suzy eyed Mum. ‘You obviously have sex-addiction issues. Do you want to talk about it?’
Fortunately, a text came through on my phone, so I didn’t have to hear any more sordid details about Mum and Dad’s sex life. The message was Brad, telling us they were waiting in our room.
As we walked down the Strip, there were guys on every street corner loudly flicking stacks of cards in their hands.
‘What are they handing out?’ Mum asked. ‘Are they discount coupons for the shows here? I wonder if they’ve got ones for Marriage can be Murder.’ She walked over to a Hispanic guy wearing baggy jeans, sunglasses, and a hoodie pulled over his head.
‘Hey, you wanna girl?’ He showed us the cards in his hands, which had pictures of different women. He shuffled through to Letitia, who was naked with two stars covering her bare bum, available for a ninety-nine-dollar special. Then he showed us Shandace, whose boobs rivalled Coco’s and Cristal’s and who cost a hundred and fifty dollars with no hidden fees. And Gia, who did have a Vegas strip, was a
bargain—a forty-seven-dollar special! ‘I ’ave girls for every taste. Which one you like to jiggy-jiggy with?’
‘You dirty pervert!’ Mum said.
‘Urgh,’ Tia said. ‘That’s gross, pimping these women out.’
‘Creep.’ Suzy crinkled up her nose as if she’d just stepped in a pile of doggy do.
‘What? You no want jiggy-jiggy? We ’ave the best ladeez on the Strip. Lots of girl-on-girl action if you into that.’
I peered at the man, trying to see through the dark glasses. He looked familiar, and then it clicked. ‘Hey, I know you!’ I pointed my finger at him. ‘You’re the taxi driver who ripped us off.’
The guy didn’t hang around. He dumped all his cards on the pavement and took off running.
‘Freak!’ Tia yelled after him.
‘Sicko!’ Mum belted out.
‘Rip-off merchant,’ I yelled.
When we got back to Hell, I flopped onto my bed next to Brad and took my shoes off. I had a massive blister on my heel in the shape of a dagger, complete with pointy end and handle. That couldn’t possibly be a good sign.
Tia kissed Hacker and sat on his lap on the sofa. ‘That was awesome,’ she said to him.
Mum sat next to Dad and Elvis on some plastic chairs they’d dragged in from the balcony.
‘So, I’ve got some ideas about what might’ve happened with Dana,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ Brad said. ‘Ivan had quite a selection of drugs on offer for exclusive VIPs. Anything from coke to crystal meth to dope, depending on your fancy. But we didn’t manage to get any further information out of Coco or Shawna or the other dancers about what Dana was up to the night she disappeared.’
Tia repeated what she’d told me earlier about Paul Winger and Ivan being with Dana for a long time in the VIP room the night she vanished.
‘Bruce the bouncer told me Dana didn’t steal any money, although he wasn’t forthcoming in what she did actually take,’ I said. ‘Ivan keeps the drugs in his safe for the customers, but it’s doubtful Dana knew the combination. When I was in his office, there was no way I was going to get a sneaky peek at the safe code. The bikini outfit she was wearing that night was tiny so she couldn’t have hidden much of anything in there, but it’s possible she could’ve got away with a few wraps of some illegal substance.’