Alan pulled out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to the waiter. "Sorry, gotta go—this should cover it!"
Grabbing his camera bag, he stood up and raced out the door. The man he had seen go to the "restroom" while he was playing pinball must have just finished his session with Natasha and was now walking briskly down Steinway. Alan raced over to the crosswalk, sped across the street and hustled to catch up with him. Within another half block, he came up beside the guy.
"Excuse me," he said, nearly out of breath.
The man looked over at Alan and said, "Yo, what's up? Hey, aren't you the same guy that was just in Stokley's earlier?"
"Yeah, and that's why I want to talk to you. And don't worry, I'm not a cop or anything."
"Why should I care if you're a cop or not?" he asked, feigning surprise at the statement.
Alan grinned. "Well, let's just say I know what you've been up to for the last half hour."
The man tried to look passive but he wasn't a very good actor. "And what the hell do you think I've been doing, other than having a couple of beers at a bar?"
They had come to a crosswalk and stopped. "I know about Natasha. In fact, that's why I was at the pub, too. I'd heard about the place but wasn't sure how to get hooked up with her. The bartender seemed a little, uh, inhospitable and I was afraid to say anything to him."
The man grinned. "Tommy? Shit, he's a fucking putz! But he's been trained to act that way around strangers that come in. They've got to keep a low profile there, if you know what I mean."
Alan felt he had finally broken the ice. "Yeah, I see what you mean. So how do I go about getting laid?"
"Well, you seem legit so let me give you the lowdown about Stokley's. All of their business is by word of mouth, which I would guess is how they keep from getting busted. Only guys who have been referred by somebody that already knows the score there get a crack at Natasha, pardon the pun. I've heard that Vik has made some "special arrangements" with a couple of the local cops but he still plays it close to the cuff when it comes to new clients. He is a very shrewd, cautious businessman. Tommy is just his lacky"
"I see. So how do I get someone to refer me. I mean, could you be my reference?"
"Sure, no problem. It's really not that complicated. All you have to do is say the right thing to either Vik or Tommy and you're in. That's how they'll know that you've been referred by someone who's already in the loop."
"I really appreciate it, man. So what is the 'right thing' to say?"
The walk sign came on and the two crossed the street. "Just go up to which ever one is working the bar and ask if Natasha is around. Tommy or Vik will in turn ask you why you're looking for her. You then reply that you borrowed seventeen dollars from her the other day and want to pay her back. You have to say seventeen, not any other amount. Then Tommy or Vik will tell you that she'll be back at the pub in x amount of time—like say, an hour or two—and that's how they let you know when she will be available for you. You then ask if they would mind giving her the money for you since you can't wait around that long. They say sure, they would be happy to and then you give them a wad of cash that amounts to fifty bucks—that’s the going rate, pre-counted of course. Then you sort of walk away from the bar and hang out until your time comes up. Then when it’s your turn, you act like you're going to the bathroom but go through the unmarked door back there instead. There's a stairway around the corner that takes you upstairs to the chick's room."
"Wow, they have it down to a science," Alan said, impressed with the unusual security measures Vik had put into place to avoid being entrapped by the law.
The man grinned. "Yeah, that they do. Thank god that once you become a regular, you don't have to go through all of that bullshit. But you still have to pay cash in advance and do it discreetly or they'll give you a really hard time."
"I see."
"Hey, I've got to get moving here—just do what I said and you'll be fine. But I'll give you some friendly advice: if you go there on a weekend night, plan on a long wait. They really come in out of the woodwork then."
"Got it. Thanks, man!"
"Later, dude," he said and then picked up his pace.
Alan slowed down and looked at his watch. It was 1:10. He wondered when Vik took over for Tommy. There was no way he could go back while Tommy was there after his traveling salesman farce. His plan was to go back after Tommy left and basically start fresh, using the secret procedure he had just become privy to.
He hoped he didn't have to wait too long—the place probably got a lot busier at night. He wanted to get moving on this as quickly as possible.
He figured that Tommy would probably be there for around eight hours or so. Since the place opened at noon, Viktor would hopefully be there to take over by around nine o'clock if his hunch was right.
With that much time to kill, Alan decided he would go back into the city to change, ditch his camera and basically do some sightseeing until it was time to come back out to Queens.
He headed for the subway station, wondering what this night was going to bring.
The Collector Page 27
