by Camel Press
“Kiki told us. George had confided in her about his gambling problem and after that night, he kept coming in and requesting her. He believed she was, like, his salvation from addiction. At first it was, like, this big joke to all the dancers, even Kiki, but it wasn’t long after that he became her Captain Save a Ho.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, a guy who comes in telling us we shouldn’t work here and all the potential we got, all the while treating himself to the Champagne Room.” She squinched up her pretty features in a mask of disgust. “After a while, he told Kiki he only wanted her to strip for him.”
“Gee, it’s like a fairytale,” Webbs said.
“The Champagne Room? Is that a move or something?” Cat asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
“No.” Giggling, she pointed a long, French-manicured finger over to the far corner and began to strut toward it. She trailed her fingernails along each table of customers as she passed by.
“Let me tell you, it couldn’t have happened to a shittier girl. Kiki is a coldhearted goldigger.”
“As opposed to the strippers with hearts of gold?” Webbs asked.
The girl glared at the bookie.
Cat’s palm shot up, playing umpire between the two. She didn’t have time for a catfight. “She didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Whatever.” She shot Webbs a dirty look. “Anyway, after they got together, she quit and George stopped coming in here.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“Kiki started coming back a few months ago, but not with George. She’d met a younger dude in the Champagne Room.”
“She still dances?”
“No, no. A lot of cheating spouses come here because if strip clubs are good for anything, it’s discretion. Plus, the bouncers crack down on cameras in the Champagne Room so Mrs. Hudson doesn’t have to worry about photographic evidence getting back to George.”
“This guy she comes here with, can you tell me what he looks like?”
The dancer stopped and gestured broadly around the room. “We’ve got three types of guys that come here: business sleazeballs, bachelor horndogs and pervert losers. He falls in the first group but that’s all I can tell you.”
“Hair color? Skin color?”
“His money is green, that’s the only color I care about.”
Cat slyly pulled out her cellphone, not wanting to draw the ire of an oversized bouncer. She pulled up the same picture she’d shown James. “It isn’t this guy?”
The dancer looked around the room. “Hmm … I don’t remember.”
“You barely looked at it.”
Webbs nudged her.
“What?”
She nodded her head toward the stripper and rubbed her fingers together. “Hint, hint.”
“Oh.” Cat sighed and pulled out another twenty.
The stripper smiled. “Hey, I’m missing tips for this.”
“Just so you know, this is supposed to be my swap meet money.” The annual comic convention was in town tomorrow and she had planned on crossing Benji off her Christmas list extra early. She begrudgingly handed the bill over. “Does this jog your memory?”
She tucked it into her garter. “Yeah, that’s him. I’ll even give you this one for free. They’re here right now.” She nodded her head to the glittering door behind her.
“The Champagne Room? I’ve got to get in there.”
Cat took a step forward but the dancer grabbed her arm. “Not without an invite.”
“Well, can’t you invite me?”
“Sorry. I just work here, which is the only other way you can get in there.” She shrugged at Webbs. “It’s been fun, ladies, but I’m supposed to be on stage in five and I still have to hairspray my thighs so they can grip the pole.” She winked. “Trade secret.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Maybe you’ll stay and watch my set?”
“Uh … maybe.”
With that, she smiled and bounced off.
Cat eyed the Champagne Room door. It was blocked by another black t-shirted bouncer whose shoulders were as wide as the doorframe. There was no slipping past that ox. “Damn. I’d love to see if Kiki and James are in there celebrating pulling one over on George.”
Webbs pointed as the stripper pushed open an unmanned door to the right of the stage marked DANCERS ONLY.
She cocked her head at Cat, sizing her up.
“What are you, a size four?”
Cat crossed her arms over her body, suddenly wishing she was still wearing her suit jacket over the thin camisole. “Why?”
She’d snuck a peek inside the dancers’ dressing room before the door had slammed shut and feared she already knew what Webbs was thinking.
“I’ve got an idea of how you can get in that room, but you’ll have to lose some clothes.”
Chapter 29
“Are you sure this is a four? I think it’s too small.”
Cat pulled at the hem of the romper’s tiny spandex shorts. That only made her breasts fall out of the strapless top. She quickly yanked it up.
“How’s it feel?”
Cat sucked in her stomach. “I can’t breathe.”
“Then it’s a fit. Come on out, let me see.”
She slowly stepped out from behind the privacy screen and into the girls’ dressing area.
“Look at you!” Webbs handed her a pair of white platform heels and patted the vanity chair. “Sit here and I’ll paint your face. If you don’t have at least three inches of makeup on, everyone will know you’re an imposter. Why, I don’t know, since the last thing anyone looks at here is faces.”
Cat obeyed her command and settled into the padded chair. Webbs turned her toward the lighted mirror and began dusting her face with a bronzer two shades too dark. She then brushed on a thick layer of glittery eye shadow and handed her a bright pink lip gloss.
Cat had started to apply the lip gloss when Webbs moved behind her and yanked on her hair.
“Ow!”
“Sorry, hon, but you gotta look the part and your Pippi Longstocking ’do just ain’t working.” She took Cat’s own hair between her fingers, undoing the side ponytail and twisting it up so that she could fasten a wig cap over the thick red strands. “Besides, you said you don’t want them to recognize you.”
Cat scrunched her nose in the mirror at the sight of her overly made-up face and wig-capped head. “I didn’t mean I wanted to go in there looking like an Easter egg.”
Webbs danced across the room. “I’m not done with you yet.” She eyed the row of Styrofoam heads, tapping her toe on the floor as she debated each wig. She picked up a spiky, black-haired one and waved it at Cat.
Cat smiled. “We could be twins.”
Webbs threw it down next to the head. “Sorry sister, I’m one of a kind.” She popped a platinum wig off the top of another Styrofoam head and began to comb the hair between her fingers. “I’m thinking Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
Webbs secured the long, nearly-white wig over Cat’s head and dusted the straight bangs over her eyes. “Though remember that Jane Russell more or less steals that movie.”
Cat watched in the mirror as Webbs adjusted the wig. “I feel like Lady Gaga.”
“Just be glad I didn’t go for the turquoise one.”
Webbs fitted her with the sailor’s cap and gave her the once-over. “I think this’ll work.”
Cat picked up the red and white lifesaver tray and Webbs selected a bottle of Dom from the mini-fridge. “This is the only thing they drink. The club manager is always giving the VIPs freebies to keep ’em coming back. Tell James that it’s on the house from Maurice.”
“Okay.”
“But it’s not. I’ll be billing you for it.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Fair enough. Maybe I can expense it.” She reached for the bottle but Webbs pulled it back.
“Better let me; I’m an expert. This isn’t cheap New Year’s Eve champagne that you want spurting all over
the room.” She began to gently turn the bottle while grasping the cork. Sure enough, it popped off with a soft sigh. Webbs licked the cork and handed her the bottle. “Show time.”
Cat nodded appreciatively and placed the bottle on the drink tray, arranging the flutes around it. “Ready or not, here I come.”
Webbs gave her two thumbs-ups and nudged her toward the exit. Cat tried to find her footing in the platform heels. They were six inches tall and akin to walking with bricks strapped to her feet. She kept a steadying hand on the bottle of champagne as she made her way through the dim club and up the three steps to the Champagne Room. The enormously muscled bouncer stood in front of the glittery door. Cat took a deep breath as she approached him and stretched her tight lips into a smile. She took a step forward and halted, teetering on her platforms. Her heart stopped for a second before leaping into her throat. She waited for him to accost her.
Instead, he smiled and pulled open the door. “Here you go, beautiful.”
She blinked the synthetic blonde strands out of her eyes. “Oh, thank you, ever so,” she said in her best whispery Marilyn Monroe imitation.
She sidled through the door before he had second thoughts. The Champagne Room was carpeted in fuchsia shag infused with glitter. The walls were mirrored and another disrobed dancer swung around a pole on the tiny stage. She surveyed the customers. Their suits and polished shoes were a visual upgrade from the main room patrons’ sleeveless tees and worn sneakers, but they directed the same creepy, catatonic stares at the stage. As she searched the tables, she feared her targets had already left.
Then Cat saw them. Kiki Hudson canoodling with her own brother-in-law. No wonder she hadn’t spied them when she’d first walked in—their bodies melded together in the dark corner booth.
Cat approached them with an air of confidence and sat the bottle of champagne on their table. “Champagne for the happy couple, courtesy of Maurice.” She was still using her whispery Marilyn voice.
Kiki clapped her hands together. “That’s great ’cause we are celebrating.”
I bet you are.
Cat poured the Dom into the flutes, trying to avoid the strobe light. She handed Kiki a half-full glass. “So, why are congratulations in order?”
“I’m free from the shackles of marriage!”
Cat grinned, hoping there was no hot pink lipstick on her teeth. “Let me guess, you just finalized a divorce?”
“Not quite, but I’m well on my way. And my honey here just got a new job.”
Cat handed James a glass. “Congratulations.”
He set the glass down without tasting it, keeping his eyes on her. “Thanks.”
“Are you new here? I thought I knew all the waitresses.”
She turned her attention back to Kiki. “Yes, I’m ….” Cat’s eyes fell to her engagement ring. It didn’t quite go with the rest of her outfit, but she hadn’t wanted to take it off and leave it unattended in a strip club dressing room. “Diamond.”
“You’re new and you’ve already got Champagne Room duty?” Kiki nudged James. “Sounds like someone’s got an in with Maurice.”
James’ eyes finally tore themselves from Cat’s face. He snapped his fingers above his head.
She held her breath, hoping he wasn’t summoning the beefy bouncer.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Cat stiffened when she heard the familiar voice.
“Miss, can I get a Stoli on the rocks with a twist, please?”
She stole a quick peek to confirm what she already knew.
Spencer.
“Uh, y-yes sir.” She turned, trying not to give him a good look at her face. As she started to back away, he grabbed her arm.
“Cat?” Spencer pulled her back and looked into her face.
“Cat!” James said.
“Who’s Cat?” Kiki said.
Cat tore her arm out of his grip, threw down the drink tray and took off. She clomped around the tables and down the small flight of stairs.
“Call security!”
She flung open the glittery door and charged out so fast the bouncer didn’t have time to react. Once she hit the open floor, she picked up speed. Webbs was talking up a guy at a table when she rushed by. “Cat? Hold on!”
She stopped and leaned against her table, gasping for breath. Spandex or not, the tiny uniform was not made for exercising. “Call the BPD and ask for Detective Kahn. Tell him to get down here now.”
“She’s over there!”
Cat’s head jerked back to the Champagne Room door where Spencer was exiting. She took off again.
“Cat, wait up!”
She skirted out the front door and skidded to a stop, assessing the casino for the best exit strategy. The way out she was familiar with—through the gaming tables—was blocked with two security officers on their radios.
“Cat!”
Spencer had caught up to her and reached for her hand. She stepped away from him, splitting her attention between him and the guards. “Get away from me.”
“It’s not what you think. I was undercover, like you. You have to trust me, I can get you out of here if you just follow me.
Cat looked back to the strip club door and over to the security officers, who had yet to see her. They were fixated on the craps table, but it was only a matter of time before they noticed the half-naked sailor girl on the other side of the room.
“Come on, before James comes out!” Spencer held out his hand, his wide eyes begging her once again for trust.
She gave one last look at the guards and took his hand. He pulled her down a darkened hallway and through another door. She hurried in behind him, but the room was dark. “What is this?”
“Back door to the restaurant. Don’t worry, we can go out this way. There’s a service door to the dock.”
Spencer pushed her into a swing door and she stumbled into the restaurant’s kitchen. They rushed past the freezers and food storage through another swing door, this time ending up in the food prep area. Two cooks craned their necks, eyes widened with shock under their tall chef hats.
Spencer led the way, tiptoeing behind them and pulling her with him. “Don’t mind us, just passing through.”
Cat pointed at the cutting board as she bustled around them. “Uh … nice radish roses!”
They came to another door, illuminated with an exit sign. Cat pointed. “There!”
Spencer pushed the door but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.”
“It can’t be locked, it’s an exit door. What if they have a kitchen fire?”
He pushed it again to demonstrate. “It’s not moving.”
Cat searched the room for another door to no avail. She banged the handle; it pushed in but the door still didn’t give. “It’s not locked. Something’s blocking it.” She looked up to the porthole window near the top. “Up there.”
“I don’t think we’ll fit through there.”
She balanced on her toes to peer out. With the platform heels, she could see almost to the floor. “This leads to another hallway, but it looks like there’s a big box in front of the door.” She pushed in the handle and braced her feet on the ground. “Help me. We’ll try to push it away.”
Spencer pressed his shoulder to the door. Cat pressed her flat hands against it in an effort to gain leverage against the floor. The door didn’t give.
“What is in that box, anchors?”
Slowly, it began to crack open. “It’s working. Just a little farther.”
Spencer grunted as he put more pressure on the door. “Cat, there’s something you should know.”
“Can it wait?” She groaned as the door came to a stop. “That’s good enough, I think. Let’s go.”
Cat went first, slinking through the large crack they had made. She held her hand out to help steady Spencer as he wedged himself through. The door slammed shut as soon as he was out and the dark hallway was illuminated by the exit sign above a steel door. They stepped over the heavy box that had blocked them i
n to get to the exit door. It opened with ease to the dock. The cold air hit her scantily clad body with a freezing slap, but it was the chill of freedom. The cloudy night offered little in the way of light, but the parking lot was bright enough to show the way off the dock. The water sloshed underneath the wooden slats, bouncing off the waterlogged posts below. Spencer came out of the door next but kept his hand on it to keep it from closing.
Cat crossed her arms over the skintight romper and hopped in place for warmth.
“I don’t have my keys. I left my purse back in the club. Where are you parked?”
“Cat, wait.”
“Later. Let’s go.”
“No, Cat.” He slowly opened the door and James and Kiki sauntered out onto the dock.
Chapter 30
“Thank you, Spencer.” James quickly made his way across the dock to block her exit to the parking lot.
Cat glared at her former friend. “You bastard, you set me up. Again!”
He broke her eye contact. “Calm down and just listen to what James has to say.”
“I don’t want to hear anything from either of you.” The wind picked up and she rubbed her arms frantically. Strands from the platinum wig whipped around her shoulders.
“Then you can listen to me.” Kiki put her hands on her hips. “You were spying on us and I don’t like that.”
James put his hand on Kiki’s arm. “It’s okay, hon. We’re all friends here. I’m sure Cat doesn’t want to see George get hurt anymore than we do.”
Cat’s grunt of disgust was swallowed by a gust of wind.
Kiki took a step closer. “I know it looks bad, falling in love with your husband’s brother, but George was a terrible spouse. I wasn’t his wife, I was his possession and not even his favorite one at that. He liked that stupid baseball team more than me.”
“You know he kept her on an allowance?”
“A paltry one at that.” Kiki pursed her collagen-injected lips into a puffy pout.
“And probably gambled the rest away.”
Cat raised her hand in the air to motion for them to stop. “You don’t have to justify your affair to me. I don’t care what you two are doing or how long you’ve been doing it.” She jerked her head in Spencer’s direction. “The only thing that matters to me is what affects the Soldiers.”