On the Rocks

by Mia Gold

  “Him.” John gestured at a corner. Ruby’s eyes bugged when she recognized the Ufologist.

  “He comes here?”

  “Sure, once a week like clockwork. Never goes upstairs with the girls, just inspects them.”

  “Inspects them?”

  “Yeah, with a big magnifying glass. Wants to make sure they weren’t probed by aliens under hypnosis. In return, he does all our plumbing for free. You wouldn’t believe the things people flush down our toilets.”

  “I didn’t need to know any of that.”

  Ruby made the rounds in the crowd, the bouncer trailing behind. None of the guys said they had seen Richard. Some acted dismissive or annoyed, while others ogled her before glancing at the bouncer and politely saying they hadn’t seen the man in the picture.

  The strip club owner had been right. Being tailed by the bouncer was stopping a lot of trouble from his customers.

  She did not go up to the Ufologist. He’d already seen the picture and having heard what she had, she didn’t feel like talking to him at the moment. She gave him an embarrassed nod as he spotted her and waved.

  “All done,” the bouncer said.

  “I need to talk to the girls.”

  The bouncer cocked his head. “You want me to take you upstairs?”

  She looked him in the eye. “I know what goes on here.”

  “Knowing and seeing are two different things.”

  “A man got killed right behind where I work. I need to fix this.”

  “Putting on the screws, are they?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Come on.”

  He led her through a back door. One of the spotlights hung right above it, pointing at the stage, so that the door was all but invisible behind it. They came to a dimly lit landing with a steep set of stairs going up. To one side was a small changing room. The door stood open and Ruby could see two Bahamian women changing from their street clothes into thongs.

  Ruby showed both of them Richard’s picture. They shook their heads.

  “We already answered this,” they said. “The police came around.”

  Ruby sighed and turned to the bouncer. This was getting to be a long, hard slog. No wonder cops were in such a bad mood all the time. “You have anyone here who wasn’t working that night?”

  “I think Bimini is the only one. Come on up.”

  Just then a Bahamian man, his hair growing gray and with a bald patch on top, came down the stairs, making them creak with each step. He smelled of cigarettes, booze, and sweat.

  He stopped right in front of Ruby, his belly nearly touching her.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she told him.

  “Stuck up bitch,” he muttered, pushing on past.

  Ruby entertained a brief fantasy of kicking him from behind, the toe reaching around to his crotch, but decided she had too much to do.

  They ascended the stairs to a filthy hallway lined with doors on each side. Some of the doors were closed. Through one of the open ones she saw a narrow room lit only by a red candle in a glass case. A queen-sized bed, sheets stained and rumpled, took up most of the space. A woman sat on the bed, cutting lines of cocaine on the scratched surface of the bedside table.

  Ruby supposed the candlelight was to make it look romantic. Instead it just made the whole place feel gloomy.

  “Close the door when you do that,” the bouncer said, not breaking his stride.

  “I want to question her,” Ruby said, glancing at the sad scene.

  “The police already did. The woman you want is just down the hall. There she is.”

  A full-figured Bahamian woman of middle age came out of a far door. John the bouncer gave a little wave and approached her.

  “Hey, Bimini, this is Ruby, the bartender from next door.”

  The prostitute looked Ruby over with tired eyes. “We taking women customers now?”

  Ruby blushed. “I’m not here for that. I’m sure you heard about the body found in the back alley?” The woman nodded, seemingly unconcerned. “I’m the one who found it. Now the dead man’s wife wants me to ask around to see if anyone saw him around this neighborhood before he was murdered.”

  Ruby pulled out her phone and showed Bimini the photo.

  The prostitute’s face got a guarded expression.

  “No. Never seen him.” The words came out clipped. Strained.

  “You sure? He never came in here? Or maybe he was picking up girls on the street?”

  “Never seen him.”

  “It’s just that—”

  “Look, I got a dance set coming up in a few minutes and I just got up from a nap. I need to go to the dressing room and freshen up.”

  “The man’s dead,” Ruby said softly. “I’m just trying to help his widow.”

  Bimini looked her in the eye. “And I’m telling you I ain’t seen him.”

  “That’s all, Bimini,” John said. “Go on down and get ready for your set.”

  Ruby watched her go.

  Ruby estimated that she had questioned at least a couple hundred people so far. None of them had responded like that.

  Had he been here? It would explain why he ended up dead just down the street. But none of the others at the strip club had acted suspiciously. Maybe Bimini had met him somewhere else? She could have been doing some streetwalking on the side.

  “She seemed guarded,” Ruby said after she’d disappeared down the stairs.

  “Or maybe in a bad mood. She hates working here but she’s got three kids and a no-good husband to support.”

  “Do the girls ever do, um, independent work?”

  “No. They have an exclusive contract with our club. It’s a safe place for them to work. They wouldn’t want to turn any tricks on the side. Too dangerous.”

  Ruby wasn’t so sure about that. She hesitated. Should she go after Bimini and try again?

  No. That woman had no interest in talking to her, at least not with the boss’s muscle present. Perhaps she could get at her sometime later and speak with her alone.

  The bouncer motioned toward the stairs. “Come on. I’ll see you out.”

  “You sure there’s no one else here who wasn’t here the night of the murder?”

  “Sorry, there isn’t. Why don’t you just let the police handle it?”

  “You think they’ll do it right?” she asked as they went down the stairs. Ruby spotted a puddle of something unidentifiable on the stairs. It was dribbling down several more steps. She held her breath and grabbed the railing to avoid slipping. It was slimy to the touch.

  “No. But staying out of it will keep you out of trouble.”

  If only that were true.

  He took her to the front door.

  “Thanks for everything,” she said, and meant it. “John” the bouncer had turned out to be a surprisingly nice guy, considering what he did for a living. “Just one final question. If you didn’t know it was me in the those fight videos, would you have recognized me?”

  John shook his head. “No. The videos never show your face. I guess you’re trying to avoid lawsuits, huh?”

  “Something like that,” she said, and headed out.

  Ruby stopped outside the strip club, rubbing her temples. She wanted a shower. But more than that she wanted to block out the sudden rush of memories.

  The title fight. Teresa Klein, world champion, is on the ropes. She’s almost out.

  Almost, but not quite.

  She comes springing back with a sudden burst of energy. A swing Ruby doesn’t see coming flies straight for her head.

  Ruby shook herself to rid her mind of the memories. Sometimes when she was in danger she’d flash back to that night. Taking a deep breath, Ruby made a slow circuit of the surrounding blocks, going into every convenience store, shop, and bar that was open. No one had seen the man except in the photo the police had already showed them. It was a slow, frustrating process, with not even a tantalizing little lead like she had gotten during the day.

&
nbsp; Ruby felt increasingly frustrated. Nassau was a big city, some quarter of a million people, and there were lots of places a guy could go for some nightlife. How was she going to find him?

  Then it hit her. Help could be found right at home.

  She made a beeline to the Pirate’s Cove.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  She was in luck—both Desaray and the pot dealer, Javon, were there.

  Kristiano came out from around the bar and gave her a spine-cracking bear hug.

  “You all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you reset all my vertebrae. You should quit this place and get a job as a chiropractor.”

  “No, I mean how are you doing? And what are you doing here on your night off?”

  “Elaine, that guy’s widow, asked me to ask around.”

  Kristiano gave her a worried look. “Ruby, you should just let it go.”

  Ruby sighed. “I wish I could. I won’t be safe until they get whoever killed him. Where’s Neville?”

  “In his office, worried about a health inspection they slapped on him. The health officials came today. Now we have to redo the bathrooms.”

  “Poor guy. Don’t tell him I’m here. I won’t be long.”

  She detached herself from her best friend and went over to Desaray.

  “Can I talk to you a moment?” she asked in a low voice.

  “Sure.” Desaray looked surprised when Ruby led her to Javon’s table. He was sitting there alone, texting.

  He raised an eyebrow and quickly put away his phone.

  “Didn’t think you ladies were interested.” Javon was a streetwise young kid, barely in his twenties but fairly successful at his chosen profession. He dressed like he was in a rap video, minus the gold chains. Wearing any sort of precious metal in this neighborhood was simply asking for trouble.

  “Interested in weed? No,” Ruby said. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, though. Both of you.”

  Desaray and the dealer glanced at one another.

  “Didn’t know we got anything in common,” Javon said.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Ruby said. “If you wanted to get in or out of one of the big resorts without being seen, how would you do it?”

  Javon shrugged. “I don’t need to be not seen. I just need to hide my product. I don’t do business at the resorts anyway. That market is all tied up. I know all the big players, though. Diamond Jim. Little Z. I hang with them.”

  Yeah, sure you do, Ruby thought.

  “All right, but say you’re a guest, and you want to get in or out without the cameras picking you up. How would you do it?”

  “Back door,” Desaray and Javon said together. They looked at each other and laughed.

  “But isn’t there a camera on the back door?” Ruby asked.

  That got another laugh.

  “Not a real back door,” Desaray said. “Security has one door where the camera footage can be overlain with a prerecorded loop where no one is in sight. If you ask the right way, they’ll let you in or out that door and cover up the shot of you with a minute showing nobody there.”

  “For a price,” Javon said. “For a little extra they’ll erase your steps all the way back to your room.”

  Ruby was stunned. “Really? I’ve never heard of this.”

  “How much time you spend at the resorts, girl?” Javon asked.

  “Good point. Do all the resorts have this?”

  “Of course,” Desaray said. “Good way for the security guards to make extra money.”

  “Do their bosses know?”

  The cleaning lady shrugged. “Maybe. I guess the bigshots don’t know, but the managers get a cut.”

  “Why would they do this?”

  Desaray grinned at her. “Look at the innocent little girl! People come down here to have fun, and for a lot of folks fun means sneaking around behind your wife’s back.”

  “Or husband’s,” Javon said.

  “Usually wives,” Desaray said.

  “Women want their fun too,” the dealer said. “I know lots of young studs who mess around with tourist chicks old enough to be their mothers. Hell, grandmothers. Pays good, at least that’s what I hear. Me, I don’t go for that.”

  “So the security companies erase the recordings so divorce lawyers can’t find out?” Ruby asked.

  “Or anyone else,” Desaray said. “The back door is how hookers come into the hotel. Lots of tourists hire them and don’t want their companies or the police to find out what they’re doing on their expense accounts.”

  Ruby thought for a moment. That brought up an interesting problem for the guards at the Coast of Dreams. If they had been covering up Richard’s comings and goings, and then the police asked to see the video, they would have nothing to show them, and they wouldn’t be able to admit they had tampered with the video. Tampering with evidence in a murder case would be a huge scandal. A security contract with a big resort must run into the millions. They wouldn’t want to lose that.

  So the police would be just as in the dark about his movements as she was.

  But of course, if a cleaning lady and a small-time dealer knew about the back doors, so would the police. Would they lean on the security guards to tell the truth? Perhaps. Or maybe they didn’t want that sort of thing to get out. It was important evidence, something that would be mentioned in trial, and that would get it in the papers. From what Neville said, the police were primarily concerned with keeping the tourists coming, and the news that the security at your hotel would help your husband cheat on you didn’t exactly make the Bahamas look like a family destination.

  So would they let it slide? Or would they get the information but not put it in any police record while they did their investigation? Hard to say. Once thing was for sure, Ruby wasn’t going to get that information.

  “Desaray, you don’t happen to know anybody at security at the Coast of Dreams, do you?”

  “No, sorry.”

  Ruby sat for a moment, stumped.

  Then she had an idea.

  “Thanks, Desaray. I need to talk to Javon alone for a minute.”

  Once the woman had left, she turned to the drug dealer. Ruby never used drugs—her workout routine gave her all the dopamine she needed—but she’d always had a hands-off policy with Javon. He was an otherwise decent guy, and he’d put out the word on the street that the Pirate’s Cove was a safe place where people shouldn’t cause trouble. While there had been lots of trouble with dealers doing business in the parking lot and street outside, no one, Javon included, dealt drugs inside the bar.

  “I was wondering if you could help me with something else,” she said in a low voice. “You once told me you know someone who skims ATMs.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is he still doing that?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Can you get me in touch with him?”

  Javon smiled.

  “The Captain not paying you enough?” he asked, using the nickname the regulars had for Neville.

  “This guy was sneaking out of the hotel, but I don’t know where. If I knew what ATMs he used, that would narrow down the search. Your friend could find that out, couldn’t he?”

  “Sure. He wouldn’t know the PIN unless he’s hacked that particular ATM. There are a few techniques for that.”

  “I don’t need his PIN. Just where he’s been.”

  “No problem. Yeah, I can put you in touch, but it’ll cost you.”

  “Come on, Javon. I’m in a jam here.”

  The dealer rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to charge you. He will.”

  “Oh. Right.” Ruby felt embarrassed. Sometimes she underestimated how close she’d gotten to this gang of misfits.

  Maybe if you hadn’t ditched all your old friends and family, you wouldn’t always be assuming no one gave a damn about you.

  Ruby shoved that thought aside. She didn’t have time for her usual self-laceration.

  Javon sent a message on his phone. He got a reply almost immediately
. He typed and read for a couple of minutes while Ruby fidgeted, then finally put his phone down.

  “He’ll do it for two hundred. He’ll need the card number.”

  “I don’t know that. His wallet went missing.”

  Javon texted again. A moment later he looked up.

  “Do you know the name on the card and the bank?”

  “I have the name. I can get the bank.”

  More texting. “He can do it, but it will cost three hundred. Hope your client has deep pockets.”

  Ruby gestured at the phone. “Aren’t you worried about doing business on your phone?”

  “It’s a burner.”

  “I’ll call her and find out the bank information. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

  Javon didn’t ask why she didn’t simply call right away. In his business, apparently people didn’t ask too many questions.

  Ruby was being extra cautious. She couldn’t be sure the police weren’t tracing her calls. Like Javon, she had a burner, but they had asked for her number. So she got on a bus, sat on it a few stops, then got off and then made the call. That way, at least, they wouldn’t know she had been in the Pirate’s Cove. She didn’t want to get Neville and Kristiano tangled up in this any more than they already were.

  She had left her own phone back in the States, along with her laptop. According to the Internet and the telecommunications industry, she had never set foot in the Bahamas. The more people who thought that, the better.

  The phone rang for ages. Ruby was about to give up when she heard Elaine’s voice answer, heavy with sleep.

  Ruby filled her in on what she had discovered, not that it was much. She didn’t seem all that surprised that Richard had snuck off to the casino.

  “Oh, he liked to gamble a bit.”

  Ruby felt tempted to tell her what the croupier had said about his being drunk and harassing a woman, then decided against it. Elaine was stunned with grief, and that might push her over the edge. And it was not something to tell a mourning widow over the phone.

  Now came the tricky part.

  “Since Richard went out once at night, I’m wondering if he might have gone out more, perhaps into town.”

  “He did go out on Friday night.”

  “Where?”

  “The local AA meeting. It starts at nine and goes to eleven. I was asleep when he came back.”