After checking in with the DJ, she made a round through the club on her way to the bar. She greeted some customers and flirted, letting them know she’d be up on stage soon. Menot wasn’t at the bar where she left him. Instead, he was at the couch rooms watching over Ryan’s position while Ryan ate some wings at the bar.
“Nina, let me get a tequila and a beer please.”
“Coming right up.” Nina handed a drink to a customer then turned to get the tequila from the shelf.
“Thanks,” Foxy said as Nina slid the shot glass her way.
“You were right,” Nina said.
“About what?” Foxy tossed back the shot and set the shot glass back on the bar.
“Jasmine didn’t run him off for long.” She nodded over toward the door. Antoine came through the club doors and went to the opposite end of the bar for a drink.
“Does that surprise you?” Foxy laughed.
“He’s a loyal one. You should make him a loyal customer card.” Nina laughed. “You know buy five dances, get the sixth one free.”
“Ain’t nothing free here, darling.” Foxy raised her brow. “I work too damn hard to give it away for free.”
Nina set the beer down in front of her. She took a sip and looked over the crowd for target. She could easily get a dance from Antoine, but she’d give him time to settle in. Spotting a table free of dancers, she made her way to them. As she walked between the tables, Antoine came up beside her.
“I know you saw me come in. Didn’t you want to say hello?” Antoine asked her.
“I thought I’d let you get a seat first.”
“Here’s an empty table,” he sat down at the next table. “How about a dance?”
“Sure.” She positioned herself in front of him as the song faded to another.
When the next song began, she started dancing. Even though she was dancing for a customer she was thinking about dancing for Menot. Would he like a private dance of his own?
“You’re into it tonight,” Antoine commented. “Something got you happy?” He asked staring into her eyes.
“I just like this song,” she told him and spun around, shimming out of her skirt.
“You should add it to your playlist.”
“You know I can’t take another girl’s song.” She insisted as she untied her top. She opened her blouse for his viewing pleasure but didn’t take it all the way off.
“You dance to it better. Even that bonehead bouncer knows it, he keeps looking.” He nodded toward Menot.
“The new guy? He’ll get used to it.” She shrugged, trying to play it off.
“Give him something else to look at it. Let’s do another.” Antoine said setting money down on the table.
“One now, then I have to get on stage,” she told him as the song faded. “When I’m done, I’ll come back and do another.”
“When you come back, I want to go to the champagne room. That way I have you all to myself.”
“Deal.” She grabbed her skirt from the empty chair. Taking the money, she counted out what he owed for the dance and handed him the rest.
“Keep it,” he told her, closing her hand around the money.
“Thanks, I’ll see you shortly.” She slipped her skirt on and left the table.
On the way to the dressing room she adjusted her top. She tied it in front, concealing her breast from everyone’s view. When she got into the dressing room, she checked her makeup in the mirror and waited for the song to end so she could get on stage. She brushed her fingers through her hair as she headed to the stage curtain. The song began to fade, and Jasmine came barreling out from behind the curtain.
“Careful there, sister,” Foxy teased as Jasmine righted herself. “You don’t want to bust a nose.”
“Fuck you, Foxy,” Jasmine spat out as Foxy went through the stage curtain.
Foxy laughed making her entrance on stage. She loved to get under Jasmine’s skin. Jasmine’s attitude made it easy, too. All she had to do was look at her and she’d get pissed. Foxy focused on her dance. When she’d pose for the audience she would look to where Menot was standing. Most times she could catch him looking her way, other times he was focused on the customers and what was going on around him. She finished her three-song set and collected her tips off the stage.
The dressing room was empty when Foxy got to her station. There was a long package at her station. The box was wrapped in red wrapping paper with a black ribbon wrapped around it. She dropped her money down on the counter, next to the box, and plopped down in her chair. She looked for a card but there wasn’t one with the box. Pulling one end of the ribbon, she untied the bow. She pulled the ribbon off, dropping to the counter. Gripping the sides of the box with her hand, she lifted the top off. Laying on the inside of the box was a long stem black rose.
“That’s not at all creepy,” she said sarcastically.
She closed the box and set it aside. Someone had to know where the box had come from. Looking for her red dress, she unlocked her locker to check in there. Last time she saw it, she had it on her makeup station before she went on stage. Defeated in her search, she pulled out her purple dress and slipped it on. It was not the look she was going for, but it would do. She needed answers and she needed them now. She stashed her tips in her locker and locked it up. Leaving the dressing room, she went in search of answers.
Ten
Menot observed the crowd from his post by the couch rooms. Even though the post by the bar gave him more opportunities to talk to Foxy; this spot gave him a full view of the club. He could watch Foxy dance without being obvious. As if his thoughts beckoned her, Foxy came storming out of the dressing room like a woman on a mission. To his surprise, she was storming his way.
“What’s up?” He asked as she approached.
“Whose been in the dressing room since I got on stage?”
“The only one that went in there was Paris. Why? What happened?”
“You didn’t see anyone go in there with a big ass box? That’s not possible.”
“I’m telling you; no one went in there.”
“Someone did,” she huffed. “When I got off the stage there was a package at my station. It was a black rose. Why would someone give me a black rose? Doesn’t that mean death? Does someone want to kill me?”
“Unless it’s Jasmine, I don’t think anyone wants to kill you. I didn’t see Jasmine go back there, either.”
“You were probably distracted and didn’t see someone go in.” Foxy stormed away, heading for the bar.
Maybe he was distracted when Foxy was on stage. Though with how close he was to the dressing room door it wasn’t likely that he’d miss someone going in. He couldn’t leave his post until Ryan came back to relieve him. He looked out at the crowd, trying to determine if anyone was in the club both nights that the roses came in. Tobias, the lion shifter, sat near the stage. Menot remembered him roaring both nights. There was Antoine, Foxy’s regular customer, he was in both nights. To think of it, he was in the club most nights from what Foxy told him.
Menot kept watch over the club. He noticed Antoine glaring at him. He didn’t get good vibes from the man looking at him with nothing but disgust. Foxy had made her way over to Antoine’s table. Antoine gave Menot a victorious smile then turned his focus on Foxy. Something didn’t sit right with Menot.
Ryan came back to relieve him from the post at the couch rooms. He made a round through the club on his way to the bar. As he weaved through the tables, grabbing empty bottles off tables, he overheard Antoine talking to Foxy. He wanted a dance from her before he left for the night. Grabbing a bottle from the table behind Foxy, he smelled the faint metallic copper scent of blood. Menot had the sudden urge to find out where it was this man goes after he leaves the club.
He went back to Ryan and told him he was taking his lunch break. There was enough time for him to make it down to his truck before Foxy finished her dance. Taking the staff elevator down to the parking garage, he rushed to his truck. He neede
d to be parked out by the street before Antoine made it down to his vehicle. He pulled out of the parking garage and parallel parked across the street. From here, he’ll be able to confirm when Antoine made it out.
It didn’t take long for a grey utility van pulled out of the parking garage. It was the same van parked a couple spots away from Foxy’s car. As the van made it’s turn onto the main road, Menot recognized Antoine driving. He pulled out and followed the van. Making sure he didn’t follow too close. He followed the van down town to the warehouse district. Not exactly the type of place he expected Antoine would go. Menot had to hang back, since there weren’t that many vehicles around. The warehouse district was filled with drugs, prostitution, and those down on their luck. He lost track of the van when he had to put distance between them. The smells were overpowering, making tracking nearly impossible. He checked down another row of warehouses before turning back. He needed to get back to work before his lunch break was over. Giving up the search, he headed back to the club.
******
Menot made it back to the club with ten minutes to spare. The club was more crowded than when he left. He checked in with Ryan, who was at the couch rooms. He had hoped to take over Ryan’s post, that way he could talk to Foxy when she came out of the dressing room, but Ryan stationed him at the post at the end of the bar. He made his way to the end of the bar and stood facing the crowd.
“Menot, would you be willing to run these beers back to the dressing room?” Nina asked.
“Now, I’m a waitress?” He asked sarcastically as he grabbed the two beers off the bar. “I’m just messing with you. I’ll take them.”
“You can collect a tip from them.” She smiled then turned to other customers.
He brought the beers to the dressing room, hoping one was for Foxy. As he walked through the dressing room door, he found Foxy and Raven sitting at Foxy’s station with a large pizza between them. Foxy bit into her slice of pizza and the cheese stretched from her lips to the pizza. The cheese broke off the pizza and dangled from her chin. He placed the beers between them since their hands were full of pizza.
“Thanks,” Foxy and Raven said in unison.
“No problem,” he replied.
“I’d offer you a slice but since you left for lunch, I’m guessing you’re not hungry,” Foxy told him.
“I’m good, thanks,” he said before leaving the dressing room.
He would have loved to stay and talk with her but he needed to get back to his post before Ryan came looking for him. Back at the bar, he watched over the crowd. The rest of the night was peaceful, no arguments or fights broke out. Menot thought for sure he would be breaking Foxy and Jasmine apart. He looked around and realized he hadn’t seen Jasmine in a while.
“Nina, where’s Jasmine?” He asked the bartender as she pulled a beer from the cooler next to him.
“She left a couple of minutes after you took lunch,” she informed him. “Personally, I thought she was going to meet you.”
“Why would you think that?”
“When you left, she ran in the back and got dressed. She rushed out saying she’d be back tomorrow. I think she was trying to catch up with you. You didn’t see her?”
“No, I had something to do. I didn’t hang around,” he told her. “Hey, what can you tell me about Foxy’s regular customer, Antoine?”
“Here you go, Theirno.” Nina set a scotch glass down in front of the man a couple bar stools down before turning back to Menot. “Antoine? Not much to tell really. He’s been coming here for three years to see Foxy. He’s never caused any problems. Plenty of money to keep her busy. Why do you ask? Is this about the roses?”
“Yeah, just trying to figure out who sent them,” he told her then turned his attention back to the crowd.
Menot didn’t get a chance to talk to Foxy until the end of their shift. As she headed for the door, he offered to walk her out and carry her bag. She took him up on his offer, handing him her bag. Together, they walked to the staff elevator.
“Where’d you go at lunch?” Foxy asked as the elevator door slid closed.
“I had to check on something.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the elevator wall.
“I think there’s something going on with Antoine,” he said, knowing she wouldn’t like what he was going to say. “I think he’s the one getting you the roses.”
“That’s crazy! He’s been my customer for three years now. Why would he start sending roses now?”
“Maybe his infatuation grew to a stalker mode,” he suggested.
“Seriously?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s bullshit. This didn’t start until you came along.”
“Are you serious? Are you blaming me or accusing me?” He asked crossing his arms in front of him.
“I’m just saying everything was fine until you came along. Then things started to get weird.”
“You really think I did it?”
“I don’t know much about you. For all I know you could have. Makes more sense than Antoine doing it,” she told him as the elevator door slid open.
“Darling, if I bought you roses, I damn well would admit it.” Menot couldn’t believe how ridiculous she was being. Why can’t she see something isn’t right with Antoine?
“I can take it from here.” Foxy grabbed her bag from him and stormed off the elevator.
“So, I take it you don’t want to go for breakfast?”
“No, I just want to go home.” Without another word, she went to her car.
Deciding to give her space, Menot didn’t chase after her. He went to his truck and waited for her to get safely in her car and drive off. He didn’t mean to piss her off by accusing her customer. He was only trying to warn her of his suspicions. He’d try to make it up to her tomorrow. Though it won’t be with roses. Instead, he’d buy her some hot wings from the restaurant upstairs.
Eleven
The next evening, Foxy decided to go to work early in order to avoid running into Menot. She didn’t blame him for thinking it was Antoine. If she didn’t know better, she would think Antoine was responsible too. He couldn’t have put the black in the dressing room last night. She was with him until she got on stage. He wouldn’t have had time to leave and come back before she got off the stage.
She pulled into the parking garage at Heads N’ Tails. There was a gray van in her usual parking spot. It was the same van she had seen the night before. Parking several spots down, she looked around for Menot’s truck. She got out, grabbing her bag and phone from the passenger seat. With her phone in hand, keys in the other she headed to the staff elevator.
As she was passing the van, a noise sounded behind her. She spun around and listened but didn’t hear the noise again. She gripped her keys between her fingers like mini daggers. If someone attacked her, she had no problem stabbing them with her keys. She turned and got the jolt of her life. Her entire body stiffened and she fell against the back of the van. As she hit the ground her phone slid across the concrete, stopping midway under the van. A figure stepped out from beside the van. She kicked his ankle causing him to fall forward. She tried to scoot away from him, even though her body was on fire from the stun gun. The hooded man fumbled around with the stun gun and tasered her again. Every muscle in her body tightened from the electric current running through her. She could hear the van door open. The man picked her up from the concrete and slid her in the back of the van. She barely registered the stun gun coming at her the third time. The second the volts jolted through her body, she blacked out.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the back of the van. Blinking a few times, she tried to focus. She was tied to pole in an open area of a warehouse. There were crates stacked up all around blocking her view of any exits. On top of one of the crates was a vase with long stem red roses. A black rose laid on the crate next to the vase. She was positive it was the same ones that were delivered to her at the club. A bl
ack stage curtain hung from the ceiling to her right. A large overstuffed chair sat across from her with a small table beside it. The table had a bucket with a bottle of champagne chilling in ice. She looked down at her body. A glowing blue rope was wrapped around her neck, body, and legs. She tried to pull her arms out of the rope but it only seemed to make the rope around her neck tighter.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” a familiar voice sounded from behind the crates.
She looked but didn’t see him. Wiggling, she tried again to loosen the rope. The rope around her neck tightened to the point that it was digging into her skin.
“Keep it up and you’ll end up cutting off your own head. It would be a shame to ruin that beautiful head of yours.” Antoine came out from behind a stack of crates.
“Antoine? Why are you doing this?” She couldn’t believe it, Menot was right. How could she have been so wrong?
“Why? Because you’ve been an ungrateful bitch.” His voice grew louder. “I’ve been patient. I’ve waited for years for you to see me, for you to love me. I was right there in front of you. Instead, you chose to call a matchmaker.”
“This might sound strange to you, since you’re not a shifter, but listen. When shifters find their mate, they feel it,” she tried her best to explain. “I’m sorry Antoine, but it’s not you.”
“After all that I’ve done for you, you don’t think I’m the one?”
“All you’ve done?” She glared at him. Every bit of money he gave her, she had worked for.
“I’ve protected you,” Antoine told her with a smug look.
“Protected me from what?” She was taken back by his declaration.
His smile grew sinister and he rubbed his hands together. He walked over to the large crate to the left of her and grabbed a remote from the top. After he pressed a button the curtain on her right fell to the floor. A large metal grate hung in front of another curtain. Foxy screamed when she realized what was in the center of the steel grate.
Covering His Fox: Paranormal Dating Agency (Heads N’ Tails Series Book 4) Page 6
