Chapter 16 #2
“But they did get caught using it.” Bullseye chuckles. “Double-edged sword. We can’t use it, nor can they. There’s so much camera surveillance now, even a flea couldn’t jump across without being detected.”
My eyes gleam. “Cameras can be hacked into.”
“They use drones,” Tempest inputs.
“Fuck,” I say with feeling. What hope do criminals have when there’s so much technology?
Bullseye leans his elbows on the table, lowers his head into his hands, and thinks for a moment.
“We’re in a good position to get the product over the border.
Seems like the fake charity shit will work for now, as long as we’re careful.
Don’t like the idea of stopping shipping product. There’s too much fuckin’ money in it.”
“I hear you, Prez,” I breathe out. Then I grin, while raising and lowering my shoulders. “And what’s life without a little risk in it?”
“Fuckin’ boring,” Tempest agrees.
To which we all raise our glasses.
“We’ll update the brothers later at church,” Bullseye states.
Yeah, the cockblocking meeting. I can’t really complain.
He’d rearranged it in the first place because of me.
And the anticipation makes mine and Toni’s coming together tomorrow even more explosive.
Now she’s acknowledged our relationship in front of Ace, there’s no fucking way I’m going to stay out of her bed.
“How’s your ride going, Freak?” Tempest asks, and I know he’s referring to my Softail, a newer replacement for the one that got totalled when the MDMC attacked the club. He’d also lost his Heritage. He’d gone for a different bike and has replaced it with a Breakout.
“Much the same as the last one, but a bit more shiny,” I answer. “Brakes are a little firmer, but then it hasn’t done the same mileage.”
“You’ll soon make that difference up, Brother.”
Raising my chin, I show my agreement. “And how are you finding the Breakout?”
He lists the pros and cons of riding the new model. I grin at the positives and commiserate where needed. Prez joins in, and we shoot the shit for a while.
Pippa appears with baby Jade, and we all find it amusing that Saint gets stuck with dirty diaper duty. And from where I’m sitting, I can tell it’s a particularly nasty one. Yeah, I don’t envy him. I’ve changed a fair few of those in my time.
After Bullseye stops chuckling, he leans into me. “I’m going to get another drink. Come with me.”
I rise from my seat at the same time as him. As we stand at the bar, he raps on the wood. When the prospect approaches, he demands, “Dum, get me two beers.”
Does he actually know that it’s Dum, or is he just guessing?
I suspect the prospect wouldn’t point out his mistake even if he had gotten it wrong.
I glance at the t-shirt Dum – I’ll take my cue from Prez – is wearing, as he pops the tops off the bottles.
Today’s slogan reads, Life’s a grave, I’m just digging it.
Bullseye takes a long swallow. “How’s Ace getting on up in Flagstaff without you?”
“I’d know if he replied to my messages.” I roll my eyes. “But he’ll be fine. Toni will be looking out for him.”
He raises and dips his chin as if that’s satisfied him.
“That’s our Ace. He does tend to get engrossed in whatever it is he’s doing.
Hey, do me a favour, pop down and take a look at the strip club, will you?
Stalker updated me earlier. I want to find this bastard who’s robbing us.
But whoever’s dipping their hands in the till is evading the cameras we planted.
Can you see if you can place some more, so we’ve got good eyes from every fuckin’ angle? ”
“Sure will,” I respond. At least it will give me something to do and take my mind off where I’d much rather be. “I’ll get some of the miniature ones from Genie. I was thinking of going there anyway. We’ve got the new girls on today. I’d like to see how they’re doing.”
“New girls?” He raises a quizzical brow, then grins. “They good?”
I huff a laugh. “Yeah, Silky,” I take a guess at her name.
It sounds better than Satin anyway. “She’s a good fuckin’ dancer.
Tall.” I raise my hand to my eye level to show him what I mean.
His eyes widen slightly, and I nod my head.
“Just need to check she can strut her stuff when faced with an audience. And then there’s her sister Amethyst.” I suck in air and blow it out.
“Nice face, good body. But she’s full of nerves.
She wouldn’t be able to hack it on the stage, so I offered her a server position. ”
He studies me. “Not like you to have empathy, Freak.”
I chuckle. “Maybe being around a woman is getting to me. But I felt sorry for her, you know?” The quick shake of his head tells me no, he doesn’t know.
He always puts the club first before everything.
And if a girl isn’t the right fit, he’d show her the door.
“Don’t worry,” I reassure him. “If she gets twitchy, she’s out of there. ”
“Who’s on with you tonight?”
“Rat,” I sneer, then grin. “Hey, did you get a look at him?”
He laughs. “Got rid of his rat’s tail, hasn’t he?”
I join in with his amusement.
The doors of the strip club open mid-afternoon.
I’m not surprised to find it fairly empty when I arrive.
As a newcomer, Silky’s doing her stuff on the stage – she won’t get the headline spot until she’s proved herself.
With only a few customers, I expected she’d only be performing half-heartedly.
But I’m pleased to see she seems lost in the music and is putting her all into it.
Even with the sparse crowd, there are still quite a few dollar bills landing on the stage.
I pause on my way to the office, watching her for a moment.
She’s just as good as she’d been when I’d interviewed her.
Unlike some dancers who discover their inhibitions when performing in front of a crowd of men, Silky actually seems to be enjoying herself.
I can already tell she’s going to be a good addition to our stable of strippers.
My eyes flick to her sister. For now, both girls have been allowed to take the same shift.
Unlike the confidence Silky portrays, when she turns and spies me, Amy looks like a rabbit stuck in the headlights.
I plaster a fake smile on my face and give her an encouraging nod, but continue to watch her out of the corner of my eye as I turn away.
She passes close by me, taking a loaded tray over to a party of men at one of the few occupied tables.
The glasses rattle loudly against each other, and for a moment, I suspect she’ll drop them before they get to their intended destination.
Unable to watch and not wanting to unnerve her, I move over to the bar, taking a moment to speak to Joe, one of our civilian bartenders.
He leans over the bar to ensure I can hear him over the music. “What the fuck have you landed me with?” His eyes are fixed in the direction that Amy had been walking.
Sighing heavily, I admit, “Her sister, Silky, begged me to give her work. She wasn’t going to be able to cope on the stage, so…” Breaking off, I shrug.
“Silky?” His brow furrows. “She introduced herself to me as Satin.”
I make a seesaw movement with my hand. “Silky, Satin. Close enough.” So I’m not good with names, sue me.
“Ames ain’t looking particularly comfortable in her uniform.
” Said uniform consists of a barely there skirt and a tight crop top bearing our logo.
He snorts, then his eyes narrow. “Not like you to be swayed by a pretty face. I’d not have expected you to do a favour for one of the girls, though, admittedly, she’s a good looker. ”
“What can I say?” I hold my hands out, palms up.
“I’m getting soft in my old age. And cut her some slack, it’s her first night.
” Quickly doing a one-eighty circuit of the room behind me, I see that Amy, or…
hang on, Joe said Ames. Anyway, she trips and only just manages to hold on to her tray of glasses, which are empty this time. “Or maybe it’s her last.”
He laughs like I knew he would. I point to a beer bottle, he takes it off the shelf, opens it, and hands it to me.
“We’ve got church later, but Rattler and Stalker will come soon after and should have everything covered.
Meat should be able to handle everything before then.
” Meat, so named, because the man’s so huge, he looks like the side of a cow.
Ugly fucker too. One look from him, and most of the customers who’re getting out of hand tend to cease and desist pretty fucking fast. “Oh, and I won’t be here for the rest of the week. ”
Joe raises his chin. “Going on a ride?” He’s used to members of the club taking off.
“Something like that. Hey, Joe. It’s quiet. You want to go have a smoke? I’ll man the bar for a while.”
“You’re a good fuckin’ man, Freak.”
“You know it.” I laugh, as I wave him off.
Later, there will be more bartenders in, but for the first couple of hours, it’s just him.
When he disappears out the back, I take his place behind the bar, and while no one wants to be served, I slip the tiny button cameras out of my cut and install them all around.
After checking the angles, I confirm we now have a full view of everything.
I just hope it’s not Joe who’s stealing.
I like the man and wouldn’t want to have to end him.
I’ve just finished by the time he’s back.
“Been busy?” he asks.
“Run off my feet.” I grin, then chuckle. “Satin seems to be getting all the attention. While she’s on stage, no one feels like drinking.”
He flicks me on the arm with a towel. “Get out of here, Freak. I’ll handle the rush when she’s finished.”
I accept the bottle of beer he’s passed to me, lift it in mock salute, spin on my heels, and leave him. As it’s quiet, it’s time to get some paperwork done, including checking the inventory Joe will have taken, and ordering more drinks in. Can’t have the Royals running dry.