Black Velvet

by Black Velvet (lit)

  “I will.”

  Hunter went to his room and headed to the closet. He took out his plans for his next heist. Some rich bitch was showing off her diamonds at the swankest jewelry store in town. Her prize necklace should be easily worth half a million dollars. Of course, he would probably only get about two hundred thousand for it when he sold it, but still, that was a lot of money. Besides, this job was going to be a challenge. And he loved a good challenge. He couldn’t help but smile, wondering if Jody was going to figure out that this was going to be his next target.

  He studied the layout of the jewelry store for awhile as he plotted out how he was going to swipe the necklace. After he was done he put the plans back into the safe then went into the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of Black Velvet and poured himself a shot.

  “Well Dad wish me luck.” He lifted his glass to the ceiling then drank the shot of whiskey.

  Chapter Three

  Jody poured over the paperwork on her desk. “God, I hate paperwork!” she cried out.

  “Oh, me too,” Linda said.

  “You look tired.”

  “Zoltan wore me out. Speaking of wearing out, did you ride Black Velvet hard?”

  “Don’t talk about that here.” Jody looked around to make sure nobody heard Linda.

  “You are too uptight. Come on, tell me about Black Velvet. I have never been with him yet.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “No, he is usually too expensive.”

  “Then why did you put top any bid on my card?”

  “I wanted you to have a nice evening.”

  “Thank you, Linda.” Jody smiled at her friend. Linda has been so sweet to her, especially with that thing with Derek. Of course, Linda was her partner, and when you work this closely with someone for some time now, they become family. She would do anything to help Linda.

  “Tell me about Black Velvet.” Linda moved closer.

  “He was amazing. He was so patient, gentle …”

  “Good, I’m glad you finally got laid properly.” Linda saw that look flash over Jody’s face. “You like him, don’t you?”

  “Don’t be silly.” Jody straightened the papers on her desk. “Let’s get back to work.”

  “Trying to change the subject are you? All right, I will leave you alone about him for now.” Linda scooted her chair back. “Jody …” The tone in Linda’s voice changed.

  “What is it?”

  “I hope you didn’t fall for him.”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  “I mean … he is a pleasure giver … so, you know … what I’m trying to say is have fun with a man like that, but don’t give him your heart.”

  “Why would I give a pleasure giver my heart? Don’t be ridiculous. I had a nice time with him last night and that was that.”

  “Good.” Linda’s tone turned back to normal.

  “Did you see the headlines of yesterday’s paper?” Jody tossed the paper on Linda’s desk.

  “Yeah.”

  “The boss wants us to find this thief, now. I was going over his/her last few robberies. Each robbery is getting more and more risky and the loot is getting more valuable.”

  “Okay, what are you thinking?”

  “Look, Mrs. Taylor, the wife of internet mogul Robert Taylor, is showing off her jewelry collection.” Jody showed Linda the ad for the event.

  “That bitch, I hate when rich people flaunt their stuff off. Look, the jeweler will take orders to design knock-offs of that bitch’s jewelry for us common people.”

  “I think Black Velvet will target this event.”

  “The security will be tight. I don’t know it may be too risky for our thief.”

  “That’s the point I was making. Each robbery gets more and more risky. Any piece of Mrs. Taylor’s collection would be worth a small fortune. I got a hunch this is where Black Velvet will strike next.”

  “Your hunches are usually on the money. Okay, so what do you want to do?”

  “Let’s stake out the place. It’s only being shown for a couple of days. If I’m wrong, we’ve wasted just a couple of days, but if I’m right …”

  “We catch our man or woman. All right, let’s do it.”

  Jody grabbed the ad to check the dates. “We have three days to set things up.”

  “What about these other cases?” Linda picked up the stack of folders.

  “Hand me half and let’s get started. We will work on these for the next two days, and then we will concentrate on Black Velvet.”

  Linda handed Jody half the files. Most of them were routine and consisted of just filling out paperwork. Some would need more investigating, and those could be given to the rookies.

  “I hope we catch Black Velvet this time,” Linda said as she went to get herself some more coffee.

  “Black Velvet …” Jody tried to push memories of Hunter out of her mind. But every time she said the name or even heard the name Black Velvet, his image popped into her mind. “This is ridiculous,” she scolded herself. She couldn’t think about some pleasure giver right now. She had to focus on this case.

  “Jody, listen to this, Mark thinks that this was funny. What an asshole. But the song is pretty cool.”

  “What?” Jody put on the headphones. A sexy, bluesy song began. Black Velvet and that little boy smile, the female singer purred. Jody could see in her mind Hunter dancing to this sexy song. His hips moving, his hands exploring, that damn smile … Momma’s baby in the heart of every school girl, her eyes mentally wandering down every line of his chiseled chest, his body, his hard masculine body, her hands ached to feel the hardness of his body. Always wanting, leave them longing for … Black Velvet … His full lush lips, thick silky hair. In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you really do … his sexy voice, his masculine scent ... Black velvet if you please … Jody took off the headphones and handed it to Linda.

  “Cool song, huh?”

  “Yeah, what year is that from?”

  “Sometime in the 1980’s. You know how Mark is about the time era.”

  Jody was so turned on she couldn’t stand it. “I will be right back.” She headed for the bathroom. She sat in the stall. She wanted to touch herself to relieve her aching need, but she couldn’t. If she did she would be forced to admit Hunter got to her. Damn it, just saying his name turned her on even more. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. When she collected herself she headed back to her desk.

  “Wow, you are all flushed. You feeling okay?” Linda asked.

  “It’s a little hot in here.”

  Linda didn’t say anything further. Jody was grateful for that. She dove into her work. She had to get Hunter out of her mind. She had to focus on the Black Velvet case. She knew that damn thief wouldn’t pass up the chance to show off by taking one of Mrs. Taylor’s jewels.

  * * * *

  Hunter sipped his coffee as he poured over his plans. The jewelry store was set up pretty standard. It was all that added security that rich bitch had employed that was going to be the problem. He doubted she would let them stay inside the store at night. Surely, they would be posted around the building, but not inside. Commoners around her precious jewels, that wasn’t Mrs. Taylor’s style. Hunter looked at her picture. Strangely, she reminded him of Melinda. This brought a chuckle to Hunter.

  He would have to find a way into the store at night. He grabbed the schematics of the building. It’s amazing what you can get off the Internet if you knew where to look. Of course he used a public internet access point. That’s thievery 101, after all. He would have to stake out the store on the first night of the exhibit to see where the guards were stationed. The roof looked to be his best bet. Hopefully, there won’t be more than one guard on the roof. He could easily knock one guard out quietly. Once he got inside, it would be pretty easy to work around electronic security. He knew every system out there.

  Satisfied with his basic plan, Hunter went to make himself something to eat. He had to do a
show tonight, but he would make sure to have at least two nights off during Mrs. Taylor’s exhibit.

  “Hunter, mind if I come on over?” Zoltan asked through the intercom.

  “Come on over, dude. I’m making a sandwich--you want one?”

  “That sounds good.”

  Zoltan showed up in Hunter’s room after a couple of moments.

  “You dancing tonight?” Zoltan asked as he took the sandwich from Hunter.

  “Yep. Don’t tell me that bitch Melinda is making you work tonight.”

  “Yeah, she wants me to work.”

  “It’s Jenna’s birthday. Did you tell that bitch that?”

  “She said I can go see her after I’m done. I was hoping you weren’t working. You could have stayed with Jenna while I worked. She is going to be disappointed.”

  “You are going to spend time with your kid on her birthday. I’m not talking just the couple hours after you’re done dancing either. Don’t worry. I will make Melinda change her mind.”

  “How do you propose to do that?”

  “Fuck the bitch. I will make her scream out my name in ecstasy … but only if she gives you the night out.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “Think of it as a birthday present for your kid. I keep Melinda busy and you get to spend the entire day with your kid.”

  “Thank you, Hunter. I owe you one.”

  “Yeah, you do, you owe me big time.” Hunter chuckled.

  Hunter talked with Zoltan for a little while. He enjoyed listening to Zoltan talk about Jenna. Damn, Zoltan loved that kid. It’s a shame that Jenna’s mother didn’t love that much. Poor thing’s mother running out on them like that. What a freaking bitch. Zoltan and Jenna deserved better than that drugged-addicted whore. Zoltan did his best to be mom and dad to Jenna. Allison was like Jenna’s grandmother. She knew Zoltan’s mother when she was alive and was more than happy to help Zoltan take care of Jenna while he worked. This is how Hunter got to know Allison, too. He and Zoltan have been friends since they were kids. So they have been through a lot together. Hunter loved Allison like a mother from the moment he met her. He had never seen a person so selfless before. She took in the children whose parents didn’t want them. Mostly this consisted of druggies. ‘If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of a child,’ Allison would say. She burnt through her savings rather quickly and took on odd jobs to help feed the ever-growing number of children she cared for. Hunter and Zoltan gave her money to help out, easing her burden. She had enough on her hands taking care of those children. She made each and every one of them feel loved. Something Hunter admired her so much for.

  Hunter prepared himself to bargain with Melinda. She didn’t have the control over him the way she did with Zoltan. Hunter was her cash cow and she wasn’t about to do anything that would make him leave. He knew seducing her would be too easy. So he told Zoltan to go and spend time with Jenna. Hunter was right. Melinda was practically drooling and agreed quickly to let Zoltan have the night off. Hunter went through the motions like he did with the women that won the bids.

  When he was done fucking Melinda, he jumped into his shower to wash her scent from him. As the water ran down his body his mind drifted to Jody and their brief encounter. He didn’t feel so used after being with her. Odd, that he would think about her, because he never gave a client a second thought. But here he was thinking about Jody.

  “Officer Davis,” he smiled. He climbed out of the shower and dried himself off.

  He got ready then headed for the dressing room, after all the show must go on.

  Chapter Four

  Hunter casually walked around the jewelry store on the opening day of Mrs. Taylor’s showing. It was getting dark and he knew they would be closing up shop soon. He went over to the little restaurant across from the jewelry store. He sat there and sipped his coffee. He took in everything even the dark sedan that was parked just down the street. That car had been there for several hours now.

  “Oh great, cops,” he muttered to himself.

  He would have to keep that in mind. Getting around some cop on a stake out was a bit tricky, but not impossible. He watched as the guards took their positions at the front of the store. He counted four total, which meant there was probably that same amount around back, too.

  He paid his bill and left the restaurant. He had to see if there were any guards stationed on the roof. Lucky for him there was an apartment building right next to the store which would give him a good view of the roof.

  “First thing’s first,” he said as he made his way down the street to see who was in that sedan.

  “Oh my God, Jody, isn’t that Black Velvet?”

  “Where?” Jody came to attention. “She started to open the door.”

  “Not the thief, the dancer.” She pointed across the street.

  “Yeah … what in the world is he doing down here?”

  “I would say, it looks like he is walking down the street.”

  Jody didn’t know what possessed her to get out of the car.

  “Jody, what are you doing?” Linda asked as Jody crossed the street and headed for Hunter.

  “Officer Davis,” Hunter said as she approached him. “What brings you here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “I just had dinner at that restaurant. They have some good gyros there. You should try one. Why are you here?”

  “I’m on a stake-out.”

  “What are you staking out?” He smiled at her.

  “That’s not your concern.”

  “Well, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that jewelry store over there.”

  Jody looked at him for a moment. Damn, this man is so hot, and very distracting. She had to get back to her car.

  “Am I free to go, Officer Davis?”

  “Of course you are.”

  “Nice seeing you again. Stop by the Alcazar and I will do my dance just for you.” He chuckled, seeing the blush come across her face. He watched her head back to her car.

  “Damn it,” he whispered. She was going to be a problem, though he couldn’t help but admire her. She figured out his next target. Damn, she was good. He had no idea how she figured it out. He kept his jobs relatively small. He was sure that the cops would think this heist would be too hard for him or that it wouldn’t be his style.

  He went around the block and then down another before circling back to the apartment building. He couldn’t let Jody see him go in. He used the side entrance and headed up the stairs. The security was non-existent in this building, a lucky break for him. He went up to the roof then pulled his tiny binoculars from his pocket. He scoped out the roof of the jewelry store. A smile swept across his face when he saw the one guard on the roof. It was just like he thought it would be. Now it was time to figure a way up on that roof. The building next to the jewelry store was about the same height and they were close enough together he could jump from one roof to another. He had to find a way to knock the guard out without drawing the other guards and Jody’s attention.

  When he was finished surveying everything he left to find himself a cab and head back to the Alcazar. He was busy thinking up a solution to knocking out the guard on the roof. He would need a fast-acting tranquilizer that he could shoot silently.

  Jody sat in the car with Linda as they watched the jewelry store. Seeing Hunter here rattled her a bit and she was finding it hard to concentrate on what she should be doing.

  “What a pleasant surprise seeing the dancer Black Velvet. I have never seen any of the dancers just walking around before. But I guess they do have a life outside of the Pleasure Alcazar.”

  “You have never seen even one dancer out and about before?”

  “Nope.”

  “That is strange that the one time you do we are on a stake out.”

  “Maybe Black Velvet is the dancer and the thief.” Linda laughed.

  “Maybe …”

  “Don’t be silly. Why in th
e world would he need to steal stuff? I bet he makes more money than he knows what to do with at the club.”

  “He probably does.”

  “You get some sleep and I will take the first watch,” Linda said.

  “Alright, but wake me up in a couple hours.”

  Chapter Five

  Hunter woke up to the sound of Melinda screeching into the intercom.

  “Oh what?” he groaned.

  “Get your butt down to the staging area.”

  “Why?”

  “All the dancers are, now get down here.”

  Hunter rolled out of bed and got dressed. He had no idea what Melinda was up to now. He could only hope that it didn’t take too long. He had a lot to plan for tomorrow’s heist.

  He made his way to the staging area and headed over to Zoltan.

  “What in the world is going on now?”

  “I don’t know. But two dancers got fired this morning.”

  “Which two?”

  “The really young one and Allen.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Melinda came onto the stage and standing behind her was the most exquisite looking man that any of them had ever seen. He was taller than Hunter, but not as tall as Maxim. His hair hung down to his shoulders and was gold in color. His face was perfect and his electric blue eyes were amazing looking. He wore only a pair of jeans which showed off his perfect body.

  “This is Adonis and he is my new dancer. You will be nice to him.”

  Adonis didn’t say anything and looked at the others as if they were nothing.

  “It’s time to shake things up around here. I’m sure that you know Allen and Jacob were fired this morning. They were just not up to my high standards, both in their dancing and their looks. I found my new star, Adonis, at another club and knew he had to work here. I will be scouting out more dancers and any of you that don’t bring in enough money will be fired. So, you better dance your asses off.”