“Hey there, sexy. Can’t wait to see you later on.”
The back-door bodyguard addressed me as I walked in and I wanted to vomit in my mouth. Of course, I’d have to privately dance for him again. But saving these women was much more important to me. My gun in my right thigh-high pressed against my skin, giving me the confidence I needed to stomach a smile as I walked in through the backdoor.
But once I made my way into the dressing room, Summer raced to close the door.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked.
She gathered the girls around me at the back of the room in a small darkened corner so we could all be shrouded.
And I knew this wasn’t going to be good.
“Tell her what you told me, Angel.”
I looked over at the only other dancer that had been there as long as Summer and myself. “What’s going on?”
Angel swallowed hard. “Well, I—I overheard some of the guys—”
Summer hushed her. “Whisper. We can’t risk them overhearing.”
The guys were all chattering in my ear, but I ignored them as Angel spoke again. “I overheard them talking about a shipment of some sort?”
I paused. “What kind of shipment?”
Her eyes watered. “I think they’re shipping women into the country. Just, in like containers.”
Her tears broke my heart as I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Angel, this is important. Did you hear anything else?”
Summer stared me down. “That’s why you here, ain’t it?”
I peeked over at her, but I didn’t say anything. “Angel?”
Summer nodded as if she had gotten the message and scurried back to the girls that were putting their makeup on. I wasn’t sure what she was about to tell them, but I knew I could trust her.
So, I turned my attention to Angel. “Please, you have to tell me. The lives of several girls depend on it.”
Angel sighed. “So, it’s true. These really are the kinds of people that have taken over the club?”
“You gotta calm her down, Josie,” Brooks said.
I cleared my throat and made Angel look at me. “Breathe and tell me what you know. You have to be strong for me, okay? Because if you’re strong for me, I can be strong for all of us. And together, we can get our club back.”
“Would’ve convinced me,” Archer murmured in my ear.
I tried not to smile as Angel nodded her head and drew in a deep breath. “I overheard them late last night when I was leaving out in the parking lot. They were talking about the Santa Cruz Wharf.”
“Did you hear anything about a date? Or a time? Anything resembling a schedule?”
She thought really hard. “It sounded like one of the guys was about to say Sunday? But a really big guy shut him up so I really only heard, like, the first two letters or something like that. He could’ve been saying anything, for all I know.”
I kissed her forehead. “You’re magnificent, thank you so much.”
“Hey,” Summer said as I crossed the room, “where you goin’, mama?”
I ripped open the door. “To find answers.”
We still had an hour until the club opened, and I heard all of those leather-clad asshats chittering and laughing bombastically out at the bar. Drinking their stock away, if I had to venture a guess. I pressed myself against the wall and eased down the hallway, checking my corners and making sure I stayed out of range of the cameras that I knew were there.
And once I got to the hallway full of offices, I pulled the key out from my left thigh-high.
“You there, beautiful?” Archer asked.
I cleared my throat softly as I made my way for the first door.
“I’m hacked into the security system,” Cole said.
Tanner came to the forefront. “Got the cameras in the hallway on a loop. It looks all clear, Josie.”
So, I threw the first door open after unlocking it and looked around as quickly as I could.
The first office was pretty barren, so I ventured down the hallway. I dipped into every room and pulled open every drawer to try and find the papers I was looking for. But with every opened and empty drawer, I started to lose confidence.
“They might not leave a paper trail,” Porter murmured.
“They’re not that smart,” Brooks grunted.
Then, I threw open the second to last door in the entire hallway and sighed with relief. “Bingo.”
“What?” Archer asked quickly. “What did you find?”
Brooks chuckled. “Only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers, man. Like I told you.”
I slipped into the office and closed the door behind me. I locked it for good measure, in case anyone came to check the doors. But then I realized I hadn’t closed any of the other doors. I cursed myself softly as I pulled out drawers, and the sheer amount of pristine file folders I saw told me I was in the right place.
So, I pulled out the small camera phone Brooks had given me earlier in the evening and snapped pictures.
“Are you uploading now?” Cole asked.
I cleared my throat as I continued to shoot pictures off to them.
“Rendering now,” Tanner said.
Cole chuckled. “You can take them quicker. We have software that clears up fuzzy images. Just snap and go. Snap and go.”
I cleared my throat to let him know that I’d heard him, then I doubled my speed. I rip-roared through those files before putting them back together, not even bothering to read them. I mean, even if we didn’t find exactly what we were looking for, this was still valuable information for them.
Then, Archer’s voice sounded. “We got two men in the hallway next to you, beautiful. Wrap it up.”
I sighed. “Just two more files. That’s it.”
“Do what you can, then get out of there,” Cole said.
Tanner sighed. “You didn’t close the rest of the doors, did you?”
I winced. “I’ll handle it. Just buy me some time.”
The guys went dead in my ear and I shot off more information to them. I flipped through things as quickly as I could, but when I heard actual voices through the wall, I froze.
Shit. They’d seen the open doors and knew someone was down here.
“There’s someone in the hallway, Josie. Get out of there. Now,” Archer commanded.
I snapped the last picture before I shoved the file away. I could send it to them later, but I had to get the hell out of there. I jammed my phone back into my bra and reached for the gun protruding through the top of my right thigh-high. And as I eased the office door open, I was met with a shadowy figure that made my heart stop in my chest.
“Come on, mama,” Summer said quickly, “you gotta get out of here.”
“Who the hell is that?” Finn asked.
I took Summer’s hand and she practically dragged me out of there. I pulled the locked door closed behind me, and when I peered over my shoulder I noticed that all of the doors up and down that same hallway had been closed.
“Fucking hell, you’re amazing,” I whispered.
Summer giggled. “I know. But you have fifteen minutes to get ready for your set, idiot.”
I smiled as the two of us took off down the hallway. When we made our way back into the dressing room, I had just enough time to change into my outfit and send off that last picture. With my head screwed on straight and my performance running through my head, I left with the bodyguard that was tasked with escorting all of the girls to the stage doors.
Before I emerged and quickly found Cole in the crowd.
Unlike Tanner from last night, he was seated on the main level toward the back of the room. I kept my eyes on him, making sure he wasn’t motioning for me to get off the stage or some nonsense. But when I saw his jaw gawk open, I followed his line of sight.
And found Chops sitting his ass at the very front of the stage.
“Shit,” Cole murmured.
“What? What is it?” Archer asked.
I heard Tanner typing about. “Fuck.”
“Someone wanna fill me in?” Porter asked.
Clad in the fog and the darkness of the stage as lights flashed about, I felt brave enough to speak. “Chops is front and center.”
“We’re going in,” Archer said.
I heard a thud before Brooks spoke. “No, we’re not. Keep your attention off him until he flags you down with cash. Other than that, he’s just another spectator. All right?”
I cleared my throat before I shed my robe and climbed up the pole. That gave me a bird’s eye view of the room before I swung down, and Chops’ eyes followed me the entire time. I started sweating as I swung down, feeling money hitting me as men threw it onto the stage. And when I sprawled out onto the stage and started pelvic thrusting to the beat, men of all shapes and sizes and colors waved their money at me to get my attention.
So, I tried my luck.
“Be careful, you’re getting close to the edge of the stage,” Cole murmured.
I didn’t even bother responding as I perched on my hands and knees, twerking for the men behind me. The men in front of me were staring at my boobs, and I kept my peripheral focused on Chops the entire time. He stared me down, all right, drinking in my curves and the length of my legs.
But, if he recognized me, he didn’t act as if he did.
Finally, my set came to an end and two guys with brooms came out to sweep up all of the money. The bodyguards met me in back and took their cut, leaving me with the little bit that was left over. I had less than thirty percent of my cut, that much I knew. I sure as hell wasn’t about to complain, though. The last thing I wanted was to give that disgusting man another lap dance.
Especially with Archer in my ear.
“Fancy fifty percent tonight, sexy?” the man asked.
I faked a cough and he quickly stepped back. “Uh, yeah. No. Go home and don’t be disgusting when you come in tomorrow night.”
“I’m gonna break his fucking neck,” Archer growled.
But I took it as a win, because that meant I could get my shit and get the hell out of dodge.
Which was exactly what I did.
