Blood Cure

by K. A. Linde

  “Yes, we’re worried about our friend June.”

  “June?” another man asked, glancing up. “She worked at the pie place. I go every week. Best pie in the city. Try the cherry cobbler.”

  “Yes, the pie place,” Harold said with a smile.

  Reyna sagged with relief. A lead.

  They got instructions from the men, relieved to find it was only a few blocks away, and then hurried from the horrid apartment complex. She and Gabe didn’t speak as the anticipation coursed through both of them. After botched mission following botched mission, they needed this win. They needed to prove that they could get one person back. Because if they could get Jodie, then maybe they could save everyone else too.

  She took a deep breath and pushed forward. This pie place would have answers. She was sure of it.

  The pie place was actually named Pie Place. It was a simple diner. Not exactly clean, but it had waitresses in vintage yellow dresses with white aprons over them. None of them looked too pleased to be there. But Reyna knew what it was like to not even have a job, so she could understand keeping one that you hated. She hadn’t exactly loved working for Visage.

  She and Gabe pulled out red-cushioned stools and sat at the counter. A woman roller-skated up to them from behind the counter, holding a pen and notepad.

  “Welcome to Pie Place, where we have the best pie in the city. Can I recommend the cherry cobbler?” she said with little enthusiasm.

  The backgammon guys must come all the time. They even had the spiel down.

  “Cherry cobbler would be great,” Gabe said. Reyna shot him a look. He shrugged. “Who turns down pie?”

  Gabe waited until he had his pie in front of him before grinning wickedly at the waitress. Reyna watched with admiration and disgust as he charmed his way into conversation with this woman who clearly hated her job. She giggled and flirted, came back twice for drink refills, and ignored her other tables to talk to Gabe.

  “Be right back,” he said with a wink and then followed the waitress through to the kitchen.

  Reyna huffed in frustration. This was not helping them at all. What a pig!

  She finished off the rest of his second helping of cherry cobbler. She had to admit it was really good. Damn. She’d been hoping it was an exaggeration.

  After five long minutes, Reyna was ready to head back into that kitchen herself and bust up whatever was going on. It was bad enough that he and Meghan were finally…almost on good terms again. They were clearly an on-again off-again kind of couple. But still, not cool! It was worse that he’d basically abandoned her for some waitress.

  Then Gabe appeared. He looked grim.

  “What?” she asked, glancing around to check her surroundings. “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re not going to like this.”

  “Well, I didn’t like you abandoning me out here either.”

  He glanced at the bar. “You ate my pie.”

  “You were gone forever!”

  Gabe sighed and threw down a twenty. “Come on. I know where Jodie went next.”

  “How the hell…?”

  “Sometimes interrogations happen with a smile.”

  “You really are trouble.”

  He flicked her a devious grin. “I am.”

  “So, where the hell did she go?” The bell chimed overhead as they exited.

  Gabe pointed across the street. “Meredith told me that girls who get fired from Pie Place ‘go across the street.’ Apparently it’s quite literal, because girls who get fired from a mediocre diner can’t get a job anywhere else.”

  Reyna glanced across the street and saw a nondescript brick building with a neon sign that read BOTTOMS, A GENTLEMAN’S CLUB.

  “Ugh,” Reyna groaned. “A strip club?”

  “Yeah. And they don’t open for a couple more hours so we’re going to have to kill time until we can get inside.”

  “Great.”

  “The stakeout. My least favorite part of a job,” Gabe muttered.

  They hiked back to the car to make sure it was still in one piece and then whittled away the next couple hours until Bottoms opened for business. Gabe phoned Meghan to let her know that they’d be later than anticipated. He didn’t mention the strip club. Smart boy.

  They made their way back to Bottoms right before it opened and watched the line of regulars who filed in the front door. When Gabe gave her the okay, they trotted across the street and inside. It was the first strip club Reyna had ever been inside. And it was even seedier than she could have imagined. There was a small stage that jutted through the middle of the room, with poles spaced across it. Seats ringed the stage and tables took up dark secluded corners. She could see a few marked doors that she assumed were for private dances. A bar ran along a whole wall and waitresses in lingerie strutted around offering drinks to patrons. A busty blonde was onstage in nothing but a G-string and black leather boots up to her knee.

  “Let’s get a table,” Gabe said.

  “Are you out of your mind? Let’s talk to the manager and get out of here like we agreed.”

  “Change of plans.”

  Reyna groaned. “Why? What the hell could have changed it?”

  Gabe pointed his finger at the stage. Reyna whipped around. Striding onto the stage in a ruby red negligee and clear mile-high heels was…Jodie.

  Chapter 5

  “Fuck,” Reyna muttered.

  “Sit. Now,” Gabe growled in her ear.

  “She can’t. She…couldn’t.”

  “Reyna. You’re drawing attention to yourself.”

  “Do I look like I care?”

  “We’re not exactly in a position to draw attention to ourselves.”

  Gabe put a hand under her elbow and drew her into a corner. She never took her eyes off of Jodie—fearless, confident, strong Jodie standing on a stripper’s stage.

  “What the fuck?” Reyna said as she plopped down.

  “I’ve seen people do worse to survive,” Gabe reminded her.

  “Yeah,” Reyna whispered. She had seen people do much worse. But this wasn’t great either. There were other options.

  Why hadn’t Jodie come back to the bunker? If she needed to strip to survive then couldn’t she have just come back? Had she stayed for June?

  Reyna had about a million questions running through her mind. All of which she wanted to jump on the stage and demand answers to immediately. If it wasn’t for Gabe’s hand on her arm, she would have done just that.

  “If we disturb the show, we’ll get kicked out. Then what will we do?” Gabe asked her.

  She bared her teeth at him. She didn’t want to watch this. She didn’t want to see her friend fall this low. Reyna didn’t have anything against stripping. She’d never resorted to it, but if someone did then she didn’t begrudge it as a last resort. It just felt so wrong for Jodie to do. So out of character. So wrong on a fundamental level to escape Visage’s prison only to fall into this.

  It took only a minute of Jodie being onstage before it was clear that she knew Reyna and Gabe were in attendance. Her eyes kept shifting to their table. Reyna hoped that she would just march off that stage. But she didn’t. She did some sexy little dance, removing her negligee, and baring herself to the crowd.

  Reyna sighed heavily through her nose and gritted her teeth. “How much more of this do we have to endure?”

  Gabe snapped his fingers twice. A girl scurried over and started dancing just for him. He stopped her. “I want a solo room with the girl onstage, for me and my girl here.”

  He grinned wickedly at Reyna, who had the sense not to bite his head off.

  “I can get that solo room now for me and you,” the girl said with a wink.

  “The girl onstage,” he said. “Now.”

  “It’ll cost you.”

  “Now,�
� he growled.

  The girl lifted an annoyed shoulder and then disappeared. Within the next minute another girl was taking over Jodie’s spot on the stage and Jodie was being ushered into a private room.

  “You’ve done this before?” Reyna asked dryly.

  A manager came to escort them to the back room and take payment for what was clearly an expensive private room. Gabe paid the manager without complaint and then they walked into the room. Jodie was back in her flimsy nightgown and had her arms crossed over her chest.

  “What the hell are you two doing here?” Jodie snapped as soon as the door closed.

  “What the hell are we doing here?” Reyna gasped. “What the hell are you doing stripping?”

  Jodie shrugged one shoulder. “I was hungry.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “What? It’s just a body.”

  “You don’t really think that.”

  “How is this different than people going to work for Visage?”

  “Ladies,” Gabe said with a sigh.

  “Don’t,” Reyna spat.

  “Yeah, if she has something to say, then by all means,” Jodie said, waving her hand out to the side.

  Reyna took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Getting angry at Jodie wouldn’t help anything. She was channeling all the shit that she’d gone through onto her closest friend. Someone she definitely did not want to lose.

  “I’m sorry that you felt that you had to leave. We want you to come back,” Reyna said.

  Gabe shot her an appreciative look. “To what’s left, that is.”

  “What’s left?” Jodie asked. She dropped her arms to her sides and glanced between them. “What do you mean?”

  “A lot has happened since you left,” Reyna said. “We’ll fill you in when we get you out of here.”

  “Wait, I’m not leaving,” Jodie said. “You think I’m doing this for nothing? I have to find June.”

  “And are you any closer to finding June than you were before?”

  “Yes,” Jodie spat.

  “She worked here?” Gabe asked.

  Jodie nodded. “Two years ago. One of the girls said that she just stopped showing up. She’d been here for a long time. Kind of a mom of the group. But the owner says he knows more.”

  “Let me guess,” Gabe said with a sigh. “He’ll tell you if you can afford it. Since you can’t afford it, you work for him until you can afford the information.”

  Jodie ground her teeth together. “So what?”

  “It’s called exploitation.” His hands curled into fists. “The owner saw a pretty girl down on her luck. He had an advantage over you and he used it. If he had his way, you’d never get out of here.”

  “What a piece of shit,” Reyna muttered.

  “I can take care of myself, thank you very much,” Jodie said. She looked furious that Gabe was suggesting she was being taken advantage of.

  “Why don’t you point me in the direction of this owner and I’ll handle it,” Gabe suggested.

  “I’m not letting you fight my battles for me,” Jodie said. “You should both leave so I don’t get in trouble.”

  Reyna pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is a disaster.” She glanced at Jodie. “I know that you want to find your cousin. I want to find June too. But this isn’t the way to go about it. This is putting yourself in a bad situation for no reason except stubbornness. What happens if Visage finds out that you’re here? What happens if the owner finds out that they’re looking for you?”

  Jodie deflated, her bravado diminishing. “I didn’t think about that.”

  “This isn’t where you belong, Jodie. You’re not safe here.”

  “Ugh,” she grumbled. “I thought I could do this on my own.”

  Reyna took a step toward her and held her hand out. “Why should you have to when you have me?”

  Jodie glanced between them before placing her hand in Reyna’s. “Y’all are really annoying. You know that, right?”

  Gabe snorted. “Pretty much.”

  Reyna tugged Jodie in for a hug. Having Jodie back felt like a win. And any win was something they needed at this point. With so much up in the air, they needed anything they could get. And Jodie could be an asset if she put her mind to it. Reyna just knew it.

  When they separated, Jodie agreed to lead Gabe to the owner of the strip club. They left the private room and headed down a side hallway to an office at the back of the building. No sign announced the room, as if the owner was used to unwanted attention.

  Jodie held her hand up and knocked on the door. “Ricky?” Jodie said, using a soft, submissive voice that Reyna hadn’t even believed Jodie was capable of. “It’s Jodie. I got some cash for you from my performance tonight.”

  A series of locks released before the door cracked open. “Hurry up and get in here. I don’t have a lot of time.”

  Jodie arched an eyebrow at Gabe and Reyna before walking into the office.

  “Where’s my money?” Ricky demanded.

  Gabe and Reyna followed behind Jodie. Ricky’s eyes widened in surprise then he dashed to his desk.

  “Wouldn’t do that,” Gabe said, holding his gun leveled at Ricky’s chest.

  Ricky stopped moving as if he were a mouse caught in a trap. “What the hell do you want? I’m running an honest business here.”

  Reyna shut the door and bolted it back up. Jodie crossed her arms over her chest in disgust. “Psh, honest.”

  “You work. You get paid,” he spat. “I don’t care if you’re a whore or a snitch. I’m still honest.”

  “You’re exploiting her,” Gabe said. “Now divulge what you know about June Gardner or else things will be…less than pleasant for you.”

  “I can have the cops here in seconds. I have the whole placed wired. They’ll know you were here.”

  “You can’t have the cops here before I shoot you,” Gabe reasoned.

  “You wouldn’t…”

  Gabe cocked the pistol. “Try me.”

  Ricky gulped.

  Gabe pointed the gun at a chair. “Sit.”

  Ricky did as he was told, grumbling all the way.

  “June Gardner. Everything you know,” Jodie spat

  “You’re a real bitch,” Ricky shot at her.

  “Yeah, I’m a real bitch. And you haven’t seen the worst yet.” Then she walked across the room and punched Ricky in the face. She pulled back howling and shaking her hand. But the crunch of Ricky’s nose breaking and the blood gushing from it were all too perfect.

  “Bitch,” he snarled. He was bent over, holding his nose. “I don’t know shit about June. She worked here for a couple months two years ago. She was in and out like all the pathetic girls who filter through the place. She didn’t leave a forwarding address. She just stopped showing up. Christ.”

  “What?” Jodie asked in horror. The realization that she’d been stripping here for no reason hit her. “But you told me you knew where she was!”

  He shrugged. “That’s the biz, baby.”

  “There’s really nothing else?” Jodie asked in dismay.

  “Nada.”

  “Motherfucker,” Reyna spat.

  Gabe shook his head. “A bullet is too good for you—but man, I would love to use one.”

  “We need the tapes.”

  Reyna ruffled through his office before finding the system that recorded the interior of the strip club. She gagged when she saw the video screens up for his viewing pleasure, including all the private rooms. Not so private.

  “Ew,” Reyna muttered. “Going to need to sanitize myself after this.”

  She ripped the machine from the wall and watched as the screens flickered and then the images disappeared. Reyna looked for something to destroy the machine with, but finally just shrugged and tucked it unde
r her arm.

  Gabe had passed Jodie a gun while he went ahead and started tying Ricky to the chair with some rope he’d had with him. Always prepared. Once that was done, Gabe clocked him across the head with the butt of his gun. Ricky collapsed forward, unconscious.

  “Good riddance,” Jodie spat. She nodded her head toward the door. “There’s a back way.”

  “You’re going to need to change,” Gabe said.

  She nodded. “I’ll meet you out there after I grab my stuff.”

  Reyna didn’t look happy about it, but Gabe hurried her out the back door with the recording machine. It was about ten minutes before Jodie dashed from the doorway in street clothes with a worried look on her face.

  “No one was happy that I quit,” she said with a grimace. “We should get going. I bet they’ll all complain to Ricky soon. We do not want to be here when that happens.”

  They jogged away from Bottoms, back to the car. They each kept glancing over their shoulders, wondering if someone was going to be chasing them. It was a long shot, but totally possible that someone would at least call the cops. Likely no one remembered quite what they looked like, but Jodie had worked there for nearly a week. She’d be much easier to spot.

  The trio jumped into the car and zoomed away from the scene of the crime. They were tired and breathing heavy but jubilant and excited. Jodie even giggled from the back.

  “That was amazing. I can’t believe we just did that,” she said. Then she seemed to sober up. “But…what am I going to do about June?”

  “We’ll keep trying,” Reyna assured her.

  “Yeah,” Jodie said with a sigh. “I thought this was going to be easier.”

  Reyna frowned. She felt that way about most things at this point.

  “Y’all said a lot had changed?” Jodie prompted.

  Gabe and Reyna shared a look as if to ask who should start. Reyna chewed on her lip and turned back to face Jodie. “We went after Harrington but he knew we were coming. Penelope turned coat and became a vampire. Then Harrington bombed the bunker and killed…killed Beckham.”

  Jodie’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “So…yeah. A lot has happened,” Reyna said.