Rushed(87)

“Is that supposed to scare me? In fact, can I have one too?" she asked, taunting me. “How about something with some real kick to it?"

I gave her a look. “No.” I started up the engine and left for my first stop, a dry cleaner that had accepted a loan from my father ten years ago, and in return, Dad was a twenty-five percent silent owner in the business. My cash pickup was actually Dad's monthly share of the profits.

"Good evening Mr. Bertoli!" the owner greeted us with a smile as I came in with Luisa. "My, my, you have a partner tonight. And who’s the lovely lady?"

"Luisa Mendosa," Luisa introduced herself, smiling. "It's a pleasure, but I'm not Tomasso's partner. I’m just a guest tonight."

The man nodded and shrugged. Turning, he picked four hangers off the rotating rack and laid them over the counter before getting a totally normal bank deposit bag. "Here you are, Mr. Bertoli. Two suits for you, two for your father, and the deposit for this week. Do you need anything else?"

“That’s all," I said, shaking his offered hand. "I might have some suits to drop off next week though.

"Of course, Mr. Bertoli. It's always a pleasure doing the dry cleaning for your family.

“As always, thanks,” I said, waving. "Take care."

"Until next time, Mr. Bertoli."

In the car, I saw Luisa looking over at me, an amused look on her face. "What?"

"You're a nice guy, that's all," Luisa said with a chuckle. "I thought it was just an act the other day—for my benefit. You act like an * often enough that it’s refreshing to see."

I returned her look evenly. “Don’t go saying that too much. You’ll ruin my reputation. But yes, I’m a nice guy, and I'm an *. Nice guys don’t make good wise-guys.” I sighed. “You might not like the next stop.”

"Why? Is it filled with *s?"

I chuckled and shrugged. "You could say that. It's the Starlight Club, a strip joint we're part owners of. There should be a decent crowd tonight, so if you want to avoid the offense to your delicate nature, you might want to stay in the car."

Luisa took up my challenge, and her dark eyes glittered as she stared out the front windshield. “I’m not a delicate flower, Tomasso. I thought you’d have picked up on that by now. Drive."

"All right, but I warned you," I said, putting my car in gear and driving out toward the club. I found the parking lot about three-quarters full, but as expected, the reserved parking spot for me was open. Closing my door, I still hit the lock. The Starlight Club was in that sort of neighborhood. "Come on. Watch your ass. Literally."

The interior of the club was dim, and the ghosts of cigarettes long past still hung in the air. I appreciated Seattle's recent ban on smoking, even in strip clubs, but it would still be years before the stench fully worked itself out of the building itself. The bouncer saw me and waved to the bartender. Tonight it was Terry, the manager of the joint. "Mr. Bertoli! It's an honor, sir!"

I never did quite understand why Terry was always overly submissive to any of us who were sent in to collect our money. We never had to worry about Terry. He always had his money on time, and he often threw us freebies on top of it. It was like he was afraid we were going to pop off and start shooting up the place at the drop of a hat. That's not good for business—his or ours. He probably just watched too many gangster movies.

"Thanks, Terry. The place looks busy tonight." I looked around and noted that business seemed to be doing pretty well. The girls all had smiles on their faces, and it wasn't just the normal work smile either, but the smile of a working girl who was making good money.

Terry nodded. "We've got a special attraction tonight, sir. Patty Smiles is doing dances starting at ten thirty."

"Who?" I asked, curious. I'd never heard the name.

"She won an AVN award for best new teen," Terry informed me. "She's doing a club tour in between shoots. She's commanding ten thousand for tonight alone, but we've already cleared that back on just the bar. The rest of the girls are getting in on the generosity too. We've got her booked for Saturday night as well. I'm expecting a full house then."

I looked as on stage, a girl whose real name was Betty but whose stage name was Vicki Sinz worked on untying the knot on her schoolgirl outfit. The stage was surrounded by the vapid, horny faces of the men who'd never even get a chance with her. I gestured to her. "She's working out well. You guys missing Carmen?"

"Girls like Carmen are special, but they always come and go," Terry said with a shrug. "Actually, most of the customers come, then go too."

I laughed at the old joke and turned to Luisa. "What do you think?"

"She can't dance for shit," Luisa said disapprovingly, looking at the stage. "Too fast, no tease, and she certainly doesn't know how to move."

"You think you can do better?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That ain't like your jiu-jitsu, you know. The flow isn’t the same."

“I’ve danced for more years than I've done jiu-jitsu," she replied haughtily. "And I can out-dance any girl here."

I looked over at Terry, who shrugged and handed me the envelope for the pickup. "I make no claims, sir. I just pour the drinks and hand out the paychecks."