by anna snow
"Why would you think that?" I asked in a ditzy tone and smacked my gum.
"I saw Tammy and Kiki arguing with that girl right over there one night," Mustache said and pointed to a leggy redhead working the room. "I don't know what they were arguing about, but it looked pretty intense."
"When was that?" I asked and twirled a small strand of my wig.
"Right before Kiki was killed. A couple of days or so. My money is on her."
I looked over at the woman in question and frowned.
"If you fellas need anything else, you just let me know." I grinned and squeezed Cowboy Hat's shoulder.
"Don't you worry about that, darlin." He smiled up at me and stuck some bills in my cleavage. "We'll get your attention if we need you."
I tossed him what I hoped was a saucy wink then made my way back to the bar. Cindy looked at me, and I lifted my chin, motioning her over. She finished making the margarita she was working on, handed it to the customer, and then hurried over to me.
She glanced around. "Something wrong?"
"No, at least I don't think so. Who is that woman over there by the edge of the stage?" I asked and pointed toward the mystery woman as discreetly as possible.
"That's Rena." Cindy narrowed her eyes in the woman's direction.
"What can you tell me about her?"
"She's a first class bi— Um, she's not a nice person. She's always picking fights with the other ladies. Always accusing them of trying to steal her regulars, tips, and so on. I do my best to steer clear of Rena. Roy is really the only one who deals with her." She waved to a short man standing in the shadows by the hallway that lead to the office, dressing room, and the back entrance. "You remember Roy?" she asked.
"Somewhat. We didn't speak much on our first meeting," I admitted.
I remember he was a smaller man who dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, and that was about all.
"Do you know if she ever had any kind of run-in with Kiki or Tammy?"
She shook her head. "Not that I know of, but honestly, I wouldn't put anything past her." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Do you think she had something to do with their murders?"
"I don't know yet," I said and took a drink from a bottle of water Cindy handed me. "Let me poke around a little, and I'll tell you in a bit."
"Be careful," she warned me, took the bottle of water I handed back to her, and then went back to serving customers along the bar.
I watched Rena for a few minutes longer. She was wiggling and smiling a sultry smile at the man seated before her. She had long, curly red hair and porcelain-colored skin.
I stepped away from the bar and into the shadows and glanced around to make sure I wasn't being watched then said, "Mona, write down the name Rena. I'll get a last name later. I might need to do some digging."
I was just about to make my way over to Roy to ask a few questions and hope he didn't see through my disguise when I saw Silas chatting him up. Roy was laughing like Silas had told him the funniest joke of all time. They looked like old friends, and I was dying to know what the heck they were talking about. Taking a deep breath, I sauntered over to the two men and laid my hand on Silas's arm.
"Something I can get for you, sugar?" I smiled up at him.
Silas smiled down at me. "Rum and coke would be good, darlin'."
"Anything for you?" I asked Roy.
He narrowed his eyes at me then perked up. "You must be one of the girls filling in tonight."
"That's right," I said, nearly giddy that my disguise was holding up. "I'm Tippy."
Silas coughed into his fist to hide a laugh, and I lightly pinched the inside of his arm.
Roy looked me up and down. "Well, Cindy did a good job finding a replacement. You want to upgrade to dancer?" He grinned at me. Now I knew what a bunny felt like when a coyote was after him.
"No thanks. I'm just here for tonight. Making a little extra money, you know? And I heard you were having a little trouble finding girls after what happened." I leaned forward and said, "The murders and all."
Roy's smile fell. "That. Yeah, well, as sad as it is, the world keeps spinning."
He didn't sound all that upset to me which made me wonder if he didn't know the women too well or if he was just a heartless jerk. I was leaning toward the latter.
"It is sad. I wonder who did it?" Silas spoke up.
"Who knows. All I do know is that they're gone, and I'm two girls short. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to take care of." He dismissed us and hurried down the hallway toward his office without another word.
Silas ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, that was harsh."
"Tell me about it. Did you get anything out of him?"
Silas shook his head. "Just that he thinks Gary killed the girls. He said Gary was crazy, so that's his best guess."
"I met one of the bouncers. I'm going to try to talk to him as soon as I get the chance."
Silas asked, "Which one's the bouncer?"
I motioned toward the towering man standing near the entrance.
Silas blew out a breath. "I hope he's not our guy because that's one tall tree to climb." He grinned.
"You and me both. He's a definite call for backup situation," I agreed. "I need to get back out there before I start to look suspicious."
"Be careful," Silas warned me as I walked away.
I'd lost sight of Mandy, but since no one was screaming and I hadn't seen the police storm the place, I figured she was doing just fine on her own. Since everyone appeared happy, this would be the perfect time to talk to the bouncer.
After scanning the room multiple times, I finally spotted him at the bar. I hurried over to him.
"We didn't get to formally meet," I said. "I'm Tippy."
He shook my hand. "Dillion. Will you be sticking around or just filling in?" He smiled.
"Just filling in. I was told that the owner was having trouble finding replacements after everything that's gone on here lately."
He rubbed his thumb over the cap of the bottle in his hands. "The murders." He nodded. "Sad deal that was."
"So I heard. Who would want to kill those women?" I tried to make my question sound hypothetical.
"I wish I could tell you that. Tammy was something special." He bit his bottom lip.
"You knew her well?"
"We dated for a while before she hooked up with that steaming pile, Gary. I always knew he'd hurt her, and now she's dead."
I leaned against the bar. "You think Gary killed her?"
He took a drink of his water then replaced the cap. "I can't think of anyone else who would want to."
"What about the other girl?"
He twisted the bottle on the bar. "Kiki? She was a good person. Tammy's best friend. I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her either."
"Why did you and Tammy breakup, if you don't mind me asking?"
He took a deep breath then rubbed his hand over his face. "I cheated on her."
Jerk.
"If she was so great, why would you do something like that?" I asked.
He shrugged. "A little too much alcohol? Poor judgement? I'm an idiot? Take your pick." He turned and looked at me. "I don't know how she could forgive Kiki but not me."
Holy Big Bird on a bike!
I tried to hide my growing excitement. "Are you saying you cheated with her best friend?"
He nodded.
"And she forgave Kiki but not you?"
"Yeah."
My mind raced. What if Tammy had killed Kiki for betraying their friendship, and someone, say, Fernando, found out and got revenge by killing Tammy? I didn't have any solid evidence that was what had happened, but the pieces fit.
"That's a sad situation. Were you here? When they were killed, I mean?"
He set his drink down. "No." He looked away from me.
It looked like Dillion had motive to kill both ladies, but I needed to cover all avenues and gather solid evidence before I started pointing fingers.
He winked at me. "See you 'round."
So much new and useful information filled my head from speaking to Dillion alone, but I still needed to talk to Rena. If my newly formed theory about Dillion was wrong, and Rena really was as bad as Cindy said, which I had no doubt she was just from the glances I'd caught her casting some of the other girls over the last few minutes, Rena would be next on my list of possible suspects. Walking up to her and starting a conversation like a normal person just wasn't going to cut it.
But it was all I had in my playbook, and it was getting late in the night, so I strode across the floor, dodged some sweaty, glittery bodies, and waited near the rear of the stage for Rena to finish her dance.
What felt like forever but in reality was only a few minutes later, the music stopped, and Rena said her farewells to the men she'd been entertaining then headed down the hallway toward the dressing room.
I caught sight of Mandy, and she nodded subtly at me then held the pen cam up like she was tapping her bottom lip with it.
Good girl. I smiled at her.
I gave Rena time to get back to the makeshift dressing room before I turned and hurried after her.
When I walked in to the dressing area, she turned around and glared at me. "What are you doing back here?"
"Cindy said I can take a break back here," I lied with a smile. "I'm Tippy." I walked across the room to her and held out my hand. Rena frowned down at my hand then looked back to my face.
"Well, new girl," she said instead of using my fake name. "If you think you're going to come in here and butt in on my business, you'd better think again."
"No, no. I'm only filling in for the night. Just tonight," I said sweetly. "This just isn't my gig." I tried to sound a little down about it.
"Yeah, sure. That's what they all say. Then three days later they're swinging on the pole like they were born on it." She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair before plopping down in a cushiony chair situated before one of the vanities.
"Well, that's not who I am," I said. "Besides, I don't think I could work in a place where the women are being murdered," I blurted out. It was getting late, I still needed to talk to Fernando, and I just didn't have time to beat around the bush.
Rena leaned back in the chair and propped her feet up on the vanity then crossed her ankles. Her blood red heels glistened in the bright overhead lights. "Well, I don't think that will happen again. I'm none too worried." She smiled with a small tilt of the corners of her mouth.
"But the police said they haven't caught who murdered the girls. Aren't you afraid the killer will come back and strike again?" I asked.
"Did you see how many fans I have out there?" she asked like I was slow-witted. "No one here is going to hurt me."
"But didn't those girls have fans?"
She harrumphed. "Yeah, thanks to me. They stole some of my regulars on more than one occasion."
"I guess you all didn't get along, huh?" I asked and hoped it came across as sympathetic.
"I couldn't stand those two. Always stealing my clothing, my customers, getting on my nerves being too good to talk to any of the other dancers here. I'm glad they're gone."
"That's horrible," I said before I could stop myself.
"Well, the truth hurts sometimes, now doesn't it?" she said and took her feet off the vanity then leaned forward and reapplied a layer of blood red lip gloss.
"Were you at work that night? Well, I mean, the nights they were killed?"
"Both nights, but I didn't see anything," she said then looked away from the mirror. "Don't you have work to do or something?" She wrinkled her nose and raised an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, I probably should get back," I said then stood and left the room before I got any more angered by the heartless woman than I already was. How could someone be so cruel?
As I was walking down the hallway, I replayed what Rena had said over and over again in my mind.
She was glad Kiki and Tammy were gone, she disliked both ladies immensely, and she was working the nights of both murders.
Congratulations, Rena. You've made the top of my suspect list.
* * *
A little after midnight, I was beginning to wonder if Fernando was going to show or if Mandy and I had just wasted an entire night being felt up and catcalled by rowdy businessmen for nothing, when Cindy caught my attention.
I let my gaze follow the slight tilt of her head toward the entrance.
A tall, well-built man with a creamy caramel complexion, thick black hair cropped close to his head, and an entourage, for lack of a better term, of about five bodyguards filled the doorway. Their gazes scanned the crowded room.
I nodded subtly at Cindy then worked my way over to Mandy.
I leaned in and said close to her ear, "He's here. I'm going to make my move, so be ready to snap some pics of us and the people surrounding him."
Mandy bit her lip, but she nodded. "Got it, boss," she said, apparently trying to sound confident but failing miserably.
I didn't have the heart to tell her she sounded more scared than a little girl being chased by Freddy Krueger. At least she was trying.
I worked my way across the crowded floor, careful not to bump into any of the women or trip over any of the patrons.
"This is it, Mona," I said toward the hidden microphone in my top. "I hope you're still awake and recording."
Cindy had made sure the VIP section Fernando frequented was part of my territory, so to speak. I took a deep breath, slapped on what I hoped was a flirtatious smile, and took the three stairs up to where Fernando had settled in with his crew, hoping with each step that I didn't fall flat on my face and make a complete fool out of myself.
"What can I get for you handsome gentlemen?" I said in as seductive of a voice I could muster.
Fernando looked up at me, and a slow smile spread across his surprisingly handsome face. "I can think of something you can do for me, sugar," he said in a voice as smooth as butter. "But let's start with some drinks."
I took his order of two martinis to the bar.
"How's it going?" Cindy asked as she prepared the cocktails.
"He's interested. I'm going to try to spend some time up there with Fernando and see if I can weasel some info out of him."
"That shouldn't be hard," Cindy said and set the drinks on my tray. "He keeps looking over here at you. I'm going to have one of the other girls take over your tables on the floor so you can have some time with Fernando. Hopefully you'll get some useful info out of him. Good luck, girl."
I picked up the tray and wound my way through the crowd and back up the stairs to where Fernando was seated.
I grinned and leaned over a little farther than necessary when I set his drink on the table before him, hoping a little more cleavage would help get me through the door, so to speak. "And here you go. Anything else I can do for you?"
The smile never left his face as he reached blindly into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a one hundred-dollar bill. He reached up and slid the money into my ample cleavage. "Why don't you have a seat, and let's get to know each other a little better?"
Even though he really was a handsome man, his request and his slimy demeanor sent a shudder crawling across my skin, but I sucked it up like the big girl private eye that I was and sat down beside him then crossed my legs. There was no telling where he thought he was going to get with me on that VIP sofa, and I wasn't taking any chances.
He snaked an arm around my shoulders. "What's your name, sugar?"
"Tippy," I said. "And you are?"
As he introduced himself, I caught sight of Mandy as she walked by with the tip of the pen camera pressed against her full lower lip.
So far, so good.
"So, do you come here often?" The moment the line came out of my mouth, I wanted to curl up in embarrassment. Who on earth still used that lame old line?
Me, apparently
.
He laughed. "You're new here. I've never seen you around."
I nodded and leaned over to dance my fingers up the buttons of his crisp white dress shirt. "I am." I giggled.
"I guess you could say I'm a regular." He knocked back his entire martini in one drink then grabbed the second and did the same.
The way he was smiling and acting like he didn't have a care in the world made me wonder how much he'd had to drink before he came into the club. Hopefully enough that he would spill some juicy information.
"Been coming here for a long time, have you?" I twirled a strand of my wig around my first finger.
"Ever since I worked here," he said absently.
That was new. Hopefully Mona was picking our conversation up loud and clear.
"You used to work here?" I asked with fake cheer. "That's so awesome. What did you do?" I blew a bubble with my gum. "Bartender or something?"
He laughed. "No, I worked as security, but that was a long time ago."
"Not to mention that girl of yours. You can't say she didn't have you addicted to this place," a guy to the right of Fernando said on a chuckle.
"You have a girlfriend here?" I acted a little affronted. "I should go." I faked like I was going to leave.
Fernando grabbed my wrist. "Had a girl here. She's gone now." He glared at the man who'd dared to speak.
I decided to dive right in, as this could be my only chance. "Wait, had?" I said curiously. "Oh no, she wasn't one of the…murdered girls, was she?" I said the word murdered in a hushed voice.
He nodded once then stared at the stage.
"It's sad. I heard that the cops don't have any leads," I said and leaned back against his side. "They really need to catch whoever killed them."
"Yeah, real sad," he said without an ounce of sadness in his voice.
He sounded like he couldn't care less that Kiki was dead. But men often had trouble expressing their feelings, so he could care but just be hiding it.
I was just about to pepper him with some more questions, like where was he the night Kiki was killed, when Mandy chose that precise moment to come closer to us for, I assumed, some clearer shots.
I saw what was coming before it even happened but not in time to prevent it.
