4. Callahan
Chapter Four
CALLAHAN
Gemini
New beginnings bring frictionless movement in the way you see the world.
Open yourself up to the possibility of more. You’ve earned it.
“What are we doing here again?” Simon asked as I brought the car to a stop outside of Polaris.
My fingers flexed around the black leather steering wheel, feeling the engine rumbling beneath my palms. Someone had killed Kenneth while I was otherwise occupied, and the boss was pissed.
More than pissed, because they suspected information had been stolen as well.
It’d been over a week since Kenneth’s murder and they hadn’t found any leads.
The cameras had been disabled, and no one could put two pieces of evidence together to say who might have been behind his murder.
After killing Josephine, I’d hoped for a fucking break, but now with Kenneth gone, the Underwoods wanted me to take his place. Demanded it, actually. Of fucking course, they did.
“I told you. They lost the trail right around here. We go inside, see if anyone knows anything. But make it fucking discreet. We don’t want them knowing we’re looking for information.”
The other guys were sloppy. Always leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Those numb nuts were too busy flaunting the power that being with Underwoods got them to recognize the repercussions of their actions. People knew them. They were scared of them. Scared to talk freely around them.
Not me.
I didn’t give a shit about the power, so people didn’t suspect my involvement with the Underwoods until it was too late. Plus, I hadn’t been back to Starfell in years, giving me enough anonymity to work to my advantage.
What I cared about was my life. I knew how easily they could end me if I stepped out of line.
How far they would go to make sure I never spilled their secrets.
When I chose to work with them as a child, I had no idea I was signing myself up for a life-sentence.
And now I had to live with the consequences.
“Right. So…” Simon wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“What?” I snapped, in no mood for his goofiness.
“I can get a lap dance in that case. You know… to blend in.”
I let out a loud sigh. “Yeah. Get a lap dance. Hell, get two.” I slapped a wad of cash into his hand and went right back to clinging to my steering wheel like it had the answers I was searching for. “Go nuts.”
The grin that broke out across his face sliced through the storm clouds that had become my mood. The ever-present tightness in my shoulders eased a bit and I was able to take in a deep breath. I could do this.
“It wouldn’t kill you to enjoy yourself a bit, you know,” he said, pocketing the cash.
I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re going to feel bad if that ends up happening,” I cracked.
“What? You? You’re indestructible,” he joked, pulling up the zipper of his leather jacket.
The two of us had been on more missions together than I could count.
Starting when we were both stupid-ass teenagers.
I watched him go from a scrawny, long-limbed nerd who could barely tie his own shoelaces, into a cold-blooded killer with more muscles than the Rock.
Only unlike the Rock, he had a thick head of reddish-brown hair, a full beard to match, and an array of tattoos that covered his arms, chest, and back.
He was the definition of burly, whereas I was more slimly built with a dark head of hair that I kept slicked back so it didn’t fall in my eyes, and my muscles, while strong, weren’t about to be featured on the cover of a muscle magazine anytime soon.
Simon’s energy was infectious and before I knew it, I was walking into the club right behind him. The place enveloped us in a cloud of manufactured smoke and loud music. A low pulsating bass thrummed like it was mirroring my heartbeat as my eyes scanned the red-hued expanse.
There were several levels and the place was packed for a Tuesday night.
Scantily clad women were either dancing on poles, hanging from circular apparatuses in the air while doing acrobatics, or walking around with serving trays full of drinks.
Towards the sides of the room it looked like there were several sectioned off areas, covered in velvet drapes, which I assumed was for a more private show.
Maybe I could get one of the girls alone to see what they knew.
A black stage sprawled down the middle of the space and had two other stages connected to it in a T-shape. Situated randomly throughout the room were several single stage areas with their own individual poles that had plush seating all around it. There was hardly a seat available.
Simon pushed his hands deep into his pants pockets, his dark eyes growing wide as he looked around.
It was objectively impressive, but we were here to do a job.
It seemed completely lost on Simon though the moment a topless woman walked by.
He might have been the closest rendition of a cartoon character that had their eyes bugging out and tongue wagging, because he followed her looking like a love-struck idiot.
My guess was I probably wouldn’t be seeing him the rest of the night, which was fine by me.
I tended to work better when I was on my own anyway.
“You want a dance, honey?” A woman with a rhinestone covered corset and short red hair asked. She batted her long eyelashes at me while swaying her hips.
“Actually, where’s the bathroom?” I asked.
Her face hardened and she rolled her eyes. “Back of the club. Second floor.”
She was off before I could say thank you, shimmying up to someone else that might be interested.
Following her instructions, I wound my way up the spiral staircase towards the back of the club, finding the sign for the bathroom buzzing in neon red.
Instead of going inside though, I continued casing the place, noting each emergency exit and filed away the array of secluded rooms that were blocked off by a swinging rope with a sign attached that read ‘PRIVATE’, in all caps.
Glancing around, to check that no one was around, I hoisted my leg up and over the rope, making my way to the off-limits area.
So far, I hadn’t seen anything suspicious that would lead me to believe whoever had killed Kenneth had come here, but I’d been doing this a long time.
When something seemed off, I listened to that intuition.
And something in my gut told me that I would find the answers I was looking for here.
There were several rooms I passed that sounded like they were doing more than dancing. Not that I was judging. Good for them.
The number of hidden nooks and crannies in this place would make it the perfect hideout, in my opinion, for someone to take refuge in.
All you’d have to do is slip into one of these unused rooms and wait long enough.
There were no cameras from what I could tell, so there would be no use trying to dig up security footage from that night.
“What are you doing up here?” a voice called out from behind me just as I was about to pull back one of the curtains.
When I spun around, I was met with the stunning vision of a woman with the kind of curves that demanded appreciation, sitting against the wall.
I hadn’t seen her tucked away in the dark, but now that I’d spotted her, I couldn’t look away.
Holy fucking shit. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
I swallowed hard, tracking her body. Her long, tan legs were crossed at the knee and covered in lace stockings that were held up by a pair of garters.
She was completely topless and I licked my lips as I noticed the twin barbell piercings on her pert rosebud nipples.
I don’t know why, but my first thought was wondering how they would feel in my mouth.
“I was… uh…” Think, Cal. Form words. Sentences. Anything would be good.
She stood up, unfurling her body like a flower in bloom.
My heart rate ticked up several notches as she walked closer.
Somehow, in the span of seconds, my mouth had become painfully dry, and my cock had chosen this exact moment to thicken, straining against my pants.
Never mind that I had seen plenty of naked women throughout the club that I didn’t react to at all.
Well, at all might be a stretch. I definitely noticed how beautiful they were, but I hadn’t felt this instinctual pull like I did with this stunning woman before me. Maybe she had caught me off guard.
Before I could manage to string a semblance of a sentence together, she was right in front of me, smelling like cinnamon and bad decisions.
“You want to get a room?” She asked, her head tilted making her dark hair spill over her shoulder like a freaking siren come to life.
Her eyebrow piercing caught the dim light as she arched it up waiting for my answer, hands placed firmly on her hips.
I wanted to know what it would feel like to have those hands on me.
I should have said no. Turned around and acted like I was looking for the bathroom.
But instead, I nodded my head and followed her into a dark room like I’d been put under some spell.
My eyes were glued to her supple hips, watching the way she swayed gracefully from side to side.
Maybe she knew some information that would be useful, or maybe Simon was right and I could enjoy myself for once.
At least that’s what I told myself as I let her lead me into the dark, private room.
It was quieter here. The bass from the music playing still pulsated but it was blocked out by the closing of the door.
There was a private stage here with a single pole and a red wrap around couch that looked like it was made of crushed velvet.
Lights were embedded into the ceiling making it look like it was made of stars.
“Have a seat,” she said in a low sultry voice that didn’t seem practiced or for show.