When I got back to the table Nick was watching the dance floor and bopping his head to the music. ‘Want to dance?’ he yelled at me.
It seemed we had come up with the same plan. Well, the start of it anyway.
‘Sure.’ I looked at the table. The broken top of my cocktail glass lay empty on its side. ‘Where’s my margarita?’
‘I drank it.’ He shrugged. ‘What? You didn’t expect me to hold onto it the entire time you were away?’
‘What about yours?’
‘Drank that too.’ He smacked his lips. ‘Those things are yummy. Come on.’ He jumped off his stool and held his hand out to me. I swung my bag up over my head so that it sat across my body, and let him drag me to the dance floor.
The beat of the music flowed over me as bodies swayed around me. I peered through the crowd to the lounge where Billy and the others sat. Now, if we could make our way over there, I might be able to get his attention.
‘Oh yeah.’ Nick put his hands up on either side of his head and started to dance. And when I say dance, well, I mean, dance.
He didn’t just move from foot-to-foot while he looked awkwardly around the room, praying for an emergency that would require a mass evacuation of the club.
No, he wiggled his hips, and he swayed his head, as his feet seemed to move of their own accord.
I followed after him, the beat of the music and my partner’s enthusiasm sweeping me up into a dance of my own. The crowd parted around us as we grooved our way to the middle of the dance floor.
I closed my eyes and let the music flow through me as I waved my arms in the air. My body moved in a seductive pattern I didn’t know it was capable of. I threw my head back and laughed.
I was Candy. A sexy siren. And my partner and I owned this dance floor.
‘Excuse me miss.’ A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my dance fest. ‘My boss was wondering if you would like to have a drink with him?’
It was the stout one. The one I had come to think of as The Bouncer.
I tilted my head down and looked up at him through my lashes while I pretended to consider his request. This wasn’t the plan I had come up with. This was much better.
‘Sure.’ I batted my eyes. ‘Can my friend come too?’
‘The little man?’
I followed his gaze. Nick seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. He had a sheen of sweat on his forehead as he moved with the music.
‘Yeah. The little one. He’s my cousin.’
The Bouncer shrugged. ‘Sure. Why not.’
‘Nick.’ I tugged on his sleeve. ‘Let’s go.’ I nodded towards The Bouncer and raised my eyebrows. ‘Come get a drink.’
‘But I love this song.’
‘I know you do, Cuz.’ I leaned toward him and hissed in his ear. ‘We’ve got work to do.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said. ‘You go. I’ll come after this song.’
It was going to look weird if I forced him to come, so instead, I pasted a smile and turned back to The Bouncer. He held his hand out, indicating I should go ahead of him.
I could feel the nerves jangling in my stomach as he followed me back to the lounge but I pushed them down and told them to behave.
The model was still sprawled on Billy’s lap; her limbs far too long to be comfortable. A vision of a stick insect, all long, thin bent legs, popped into my head allowing me to smile.
The tall, thin man stood as I approached. I stopped in front of him, fighting a desperate urge to turn and look at Billy again.
He took my hand in his, and lifted it to his lips. ‘It is a great pleasure to meet such a beauty as you.’ His voice was deeper than I had expected. I had thought it might be thin and reedy, kind of like him. ‘I am Carlos.’
‘I’m Candy.’ I smiled at him and let him pull me down onto his lap when he sat again. Not quite what I’d had in mind, but I was far closer to Billy than I had been in days so I wasn’t complaining.
‘Who are your friends?’ I asked.
‘This is Stefano.’ Carlos gestured to the third man, who was sitting to the left of him. ‘You’ve already met Luca.’ He pointed at The Bouncer who had taken a seat to his right. ‘And this is Billy and…’ He waved a hand in Billy’s direction.
‘Alana,’ the stick insect said.
Alana. I drew an imaginary bull’s eye on her head. Alana was going to pay for touching my man.
‘So Candy.’ Carlos’s fingers traced a circle on the middle of my upper back, causing me to shiver for all the wrong reasons. It was possible I had bitten off more than I could chew. ‘What brings you to The Nasty Crow?’
‘I’m visiting my cousin,’ I said, ‘and was looking for some fun. He suggested here.’
‘The little man?’
I nodded my head. Weird how they kept calling him the little man and not a dwarf.
‘He hasn’t been here before?’
‘No.’ I batted my eyelashes.
Carlos nodded. ‘I would have remembered him if he had.’
‘So, do you come here often?’ How was I going to get off Carlos’s lap and close enough to Billy to talk to him?
He let out a laugh. ‘You could say that.’
I cocked my head. ‘Do you own it or something?’
‘Would you like it if I did?’ His fingers trailed further down my spine towards my bottom.
The music shifted to a new song.
‘Ummm,’ I said. ‘You don’t need to own a club for me to like you.’
He threw back his head and laughed and his hand slipped even lower.
Where the hell was Nick?
‘Hey Candy. Candy.’
I swung my head to the dance floor.
Nick had worked his way over to our side and was waving at me. ‘Check this out.’ He moon-danced backwards for a few metres, spun on the spot and moon danced back the other way.
‘Your cousin is funny.’ Carlos let out a bark of laughter. ‘Hey Billy. Look at Candy’s cousin. Maybe he can give us lessons.’ He pointed at Nick who was now doing a pretty impressive robot man.
Billy’s mouth formed a small ‘O’ as he stared at Nick. His eyes narrowed and a crease formed between his brows as he glanced back at me. He looked back at Nick, now doing a one-man wave, and then at me again.
I could tell the moment he saw through my disguise. His nostrils flared and his eyes widened as his hands clenched into fists. He looked at Carlos’s hand, which had made its way to my left buttock, and his fists clenched again.
I looked at Alana and raised my eyebrows. I mean really. His body language had him pinned as a total hypocrite.
Carlos clapped his hands together and looked back at Billy. ‘What do you think?’
‘He’s good all right.’ Billy laughed and looked back at Nick. His hands had relaxed out of fists, but they sat rigid on his knees.
Alana pouted and shifted on Billy’s knee, grinding her bottom into his groin. When he didn’t respond, she pushed herself up, stretching like a cat in front of him. I only got the behind view but I was betting he was copping an eyeful of breasts as she leaned down to him and said, ‘Got to go to the little girl’s room.’
He nodded and looked back to the dance floor, a frown between his eyebrows.
She paused for a moment and then threw her hair back behind her shoulders and sashayed off towards the toilets.
It was time to make my move.
‘Shall I go get Nick?’ I moved as if to get up but Carlos snaked his other arm around my waist and pinned me down.
‘Have your drink first.’ He pointed at a waitress who was walking toward us with a tray of drinks.
She deposited a beer in front of Billy, glasses of red wine for the others and a cocktail in front of me.
‘Margarita, right?’ she asked.
‘That’s right. How did you know?’
‘I served your funny friend last round.’ She smiled at me and I saw the dimple Nick had mentioned.
I picked up my glass and took a slug from
it. The sooner I drank it the sooner I could get off Carlos’s lap. I didn’t like where his second hand was heading and I could tell by Billy’s nostrils that neither did he.
‘Whoa.’ Carlos grabbed my hand as I went to take another sip. ‘What’s the rush.’
‘I’m just so thirsty,’ I giggled. ‘From all that dancing.’
He raised a hand in the air and clicked his fingers and the barmaid appeared again. ‘Water,’ he said. ‘A jug and some glasses.’
I took another sip of my drink and looked out at the dance floor. Nick was hip thrusting his way towards a group of girls. They laughed and let him into their circle.
‘So Candy.’ Carlos ran a hand up and down my side, inching his way closer and closer to my breast. ‘Got any plans for later on tonight?’
I coughed and bent forwards, dislodging his hand as it was about to latch on to my breast. ‘Excuse me,’ I gasped. ‘I think I inhaled some salt.’
The waitress was back with the jug of water. I slid off Carlos’s lap and poured a large glass. I took a few sips and pretended to cough again. ‘I think I’ll go to the ladies’ room,’ I wheezed, tapping my throat.
I strutted past the coffee table, turning left as if I meant to swing past Billy towards the dance floor.
Instead, I hooked my boot on the corner of the table and fell, face planting into Billy’s lap. ‘We need to talk,’ I hissed in his ear as I pushed myself back up. ‘I want to help.’
His eyes were wide as he put his hands on my shoulders to stabilise me. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Ohhh,’ I let out a laugh as I perched on the end of his knee. ‘I’m sorry. I feel so silly.’ I looked down at my boot. I had scuffed the toe. ‘Oh no.’ I pointed at the damage. ‘I’ve ruined my boot.’
Billy leant forwards and looked down at it. ‘No,’ he said. ‘A bit of polish and it will be just fine.’
‘You slut.’ Alana managed to crack the word ‘slut’ like a whip. ‘I leave for five minutes and you think you can move in on him. I saw him first,’ she growled. ‘He’s mine.’ She picked my glass of water off the table and flung it into my face.
I gasped around the liquid, blinking up at her. Before I could react, she raised a hand and slapped me in the face. It stung like a bitch.
‘Right.’ I rocketed to my feet. ‘That’s quite enough.’
‘Girls like you need to be taught a lesson.’ She raised a hand again and this time I caught it, using her own momentum to swing her around and fling her away.
She staggered to a halt and turned to face me again. I thought she was mad before. Now, she had taken that mad and added a whole new level of crazy to it.
Her eyes were wild as her mouth twisted into a snarl. ‘So you want to play?’ She flexed her neck from side to side.
‘Ahh, Alana,’ Billy called. ‘Candy tripped and fell. It was an accident.’
I wasn’t sure if she heard him or not.
I looked over my shoulder at Carlos. He sat back in his chair with a delighted smile on his face. Fat lot of good he was going to be. He was getting off on the girl-on-girl action.
I wiped my hands across my face and blinked the water out of my eyes. If she wanted a fight, I was going to bring it to her. I already owed her big time for going anywhere near Billy, but calling him hers? Well, that just begged for punishment.
We both let out a scream of rage as we hurled ourselves at each other. Her reach gave her an advantage, but she fought like a girl, slapping and hitting rather than punching.
I balled my fist up and ducked beneath her attack, landing a punch in her gut.
She let out an, ‘Oooph,’ which was followed by a screech of rage as she renewed her slapping attack. She seemed unaware that one of her boobs was threatening to depart the scrap of material she was pretending was a top. Maybe she just didn’t care. I probably wouldn’t have if my boobs looked like hers.
‘Get her Chan, ahh Candy.’ I heard Nick from the sidelines cheering me on.
I put my hands up to stop her blows. They were mostly ineffective, but they stung where they struck bare flesh.
What they were, however, was rhythmical. She struck six times and then paused for a second before she repeated her attack.
As her fourth slap bounced off my head, I bent my knees and swung with an uppercut. I timed it perfectly and it broke through her guard and connected with her chin. Her head flew back and I hooked her ankle towards me with a foot as pushed her backwards.
She flailed her arms in a windmill impersonation as she tried to regain her balance. The fingers of one of her hands latched onto my hair, and, as she fell backwards, ripped my wig clean off my head.
‘Uh oh,’ Nick said.
I put my hands on my head and blinked at Nick.
‘Your makeup’s ruined,’ he murmured as he sidled up next to me. ‘Wardrobe malfunction.’ He waved a hand at the men behind me. ‘We’ll go get this sorted out.’
‘Walk slowly,’ Nick said out of the corner of his mouth as we turned towards the exit.
The cute waitress with the dimple stood in our path. She cocked her head as she peered at me, a smile of recognition breaking out on her face.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘You’re that officer from the newspaper. The one that saved the day.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about?’ I said.
‘Yeah. Yeah. You stopped those armed robbers at the service station.’ She looked around, trying to gain support from those nearest to her as she waved her arms at me. ‘This is that female cop that saved the day.’
‘Oh yeah.’ One of the men nearest put his beer down and took a step closer. ‘Yeah, you’re right Dora. That’s her all right.’
Oh shit.
I smiled at them as Nick and I started walking faster. ‘Excuse me.’ I nodded my head at Dora. ‘Got to get going now.’
‘Wait,’ she said. ‘I’ll get you another drink. On the house.’
She obviously hadn’t got the work memo about cops not being welcome in The Nasty Crow.
‘Dora,’ Carlos called out. ‘Who did you say she was?’
Ahhh. The memo was on its way now.
Nick and I moved to a trot, starting to push through the crowd near the bar.
‘It’s that cop,’ Dora squealed with excitement. ‘The one from the paper.’
A glance over my shoulder showed me all of the men coming to their feet.
Double shit with a cherry on top.
‘I’ll get her,’ Billy yelled, pushing ahead of Luca. The bull man looked like he wanted to wrench Billy out of the way, his eyes bulged and burned with rage as they settled on me.
Triple shit with a cherry, fudge sauce and whipped cream.
‘Out of the way,’ I screamed, waving my arms at the people blocking our exit.
They moved too slowly. Sloths caught in a headlight.
‘Fire,’ Nick shouted.
They moved a little faster, but it wasn’t fast enough. We were going to get caught for sure. Fear lent strength to my limbs as I shoved people out of the way. But all I was doing was blazing a path for the men behind.
‘Nick.’ My voice screeched with panic.
‘On it, Toots.’
I glanced sideways to see him pulling a small wooden pipe out of the inner pocket of his jacket.
‘You’re going to play them music?’ I put my shoulder down and tackled a man too fat or stupid to move.
‘Watch and learn.’ He jumped sideways onto a chair and then up onto a bar table. Like a ninja he leapt into the air, putting the pipe to his lips as he turned a complete somersault.
A slight puff of his cheeks was the only thing that told me something had happened. He landed on another table took two quick steps and vaulted onto a bar stool and up onto the bar.
I looked back to see Luca slap at his neck. He pulled something from his skin, looked at it, and flung it away in disgust.
‘It didn’t work.’ I straightened my arm and palm-thrust a woman out of my way.
Nick had the pipe back to his lips and I saw his cheeks puff again. As he sprinted his way along the bar, his hand slipped into his jacket. This time I saw the slender dart as he fitted it into the end of the pipe.
I could see the exit, but it felt like a thousand people stood between us and it. And if that wasn’t bad enough, two security guards, standing side-by-side with their arms folded, blocked our escape.
I added a split banana and some coconut to our shit sundae. I might have been able to shove these unsuspecting, untrained plebs out of the way, but two massive body guards?
I saw first one and then the second of the guards slap at their necks.
Oh great. Nick was giving them acupuncture without their informed consent. They were going to be even more pissed than ever.
Nick jumped off the bar to a bar table, shot another dart, and then back flipped high into the air. He completed a perfect somersault with a half twist and hit the ground running.
If I hadn’t been so terrified that my voice had morphed into that of a helium-sucking six-year-old’s, I would have applauded.
I could hear my heart thundering in my ears, the roar of a cyclonic sea. My breath came in whimpering pants.
Perhaps we could escape through the guards’ legs. That was the only way I could see us getting past them.
‘Sorry, Baby Doll,’ Nick yelled. ‘Got to take out Billy.’
‘What?’
He had the look on his face I associated with him playing some practical joke that nobody knew about. ‘Can’t have them getting suspicious.’
We were almost through the crowd. The guards a mere ten metres away. Nick looked over his shoulder and puffed out one more dart.
I felt momentarily sad that Billy was going to have to watch while they tortured me. I had mucked things up pretty badly. I hope they hadn’t realised we had a connection. I would die a thousand times to stop that from happening. To make sure he was safe.
We exploded from the crowd, leaving people swearing and cursing in our wake. The security guards were a wall of flesh in front of us.
I could hear Nick muttering something about having underestimated the amount necessary, but I didn’t bother asking him what the hell he was going on about. I didn’t really want my last words to be a discussion on body mass to weight ratios.
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