CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (44 page)

“You
think that’s happening here?”

She
shook her head no. “I trust Jason, the bartender. He’s a straight up good guy.
Now, your manager, Louie, not so much. I think he’s up to something, I just
haven’t been able to catch him at it. I can’t
prove
anything.”

Cole
nodded. “Where is he?”

“He
works the day shift. Gets here early, goes over the books from the night
before. He usually gets here about five a.m.”

Cole
stood. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“And
if he’s skimming?”

“We
deal with our own problems. Nobody steals from the club.”

The
doorbell rang, and Dolly got up, smiling. “Show time.”

Cole
walked out and headed toward the bar as Dolly let in another group of men and
the taxi driver that brought them out. Two long-haul truckers followed them in.

Crash
looked up as Cole walked in and motioned the boys toward a table with a nod of
his head. That meant there was business to discuss. Business Shannon didn’t
need to hear. He turned to her, his arm going around her and his mouth at her ear.
“I’ll be right over here talking to Cole for a minute, babe.”

She
nodded glancing back at the table that Red Dog, Green and Wolf had already
moved off to. With a kiss on her cheek, Crash walked over to the table as well.
The men murmured low amongst themselves. Cole told them the situation and
Dolly’s suspicions. Then he dropped the bomb that they were stuck there several
more hours waiting for Louie to return.

Shannon
waited at the bar. She struck up a conversation with the limo driver next to
her. “You come here often?” she joked.

He
gave her a half grin. “Actually, yeah. I bring ‘em all the business I can. I
get commission on it.”

“Really?”
she asked, fascinated.

“Yup.
A third of whatever my passengers spend.”

“You’re
kidding.”

“Nope.”
He took a sip of his drink and nodded toward the parlor where he’d left his
passengers. “The minimum’s two hundred a piece. I figure those three are good
for twice that. So, yeah. Probably gonna be about four hundred dollar payoff
for me.”

“That’s
amazing. How many trips do you make out here a night?”

He
shrugged. “Many as I can. This is my second tonight. Maybe I’ll have time for
one more trip.”

“From
Reno?”

“Yeah.”

“So,
where do you find these guys?”

He
grinned. “Everywhere. These guys were in town for a bachelor party.” He
shrugged. “Sometimes they’re in town for a convention or event. The sporting
events are always real big nights. Whether they win big and want to celebrate
or lose big and want to drown their sorrows.”

“What
types of sporting events?”

“Anything
big they can bet on. Super Bowl. March Madness. The fights. Boxing. The MMA cage
fights are really becoming big.”

She
nodded.

“The
annual car show and auction is when I do some of my best business, though. A
bunch of old guys with lots of money hit town. Whether they buy or sell,
they’re always up for a trip out here before they head home to their wives.” He
winked.

She
smiled. “I’ll bet.”

Dolly
walked over and reached between Shannon and the driver with her back to
Shannon. She laid a stack of money on the bar in front of the man and said,
“Thanks, Karl. Keep ‘em coming.”

He
grabbed up the money and laughed. “That’s your
girls’
job, Doll.”

Dolly
laughed and walked off. “You know it, Karl. You’re boys’ will be out soon.”

He
got up, downed the remainder of his drink and said, “Nice to meet you,
darlin’.”

“Goodbye,”
Shannon replied and watched him move out the door to presumably wait in the
car. She sipped her drink and glanced back at the table. Crash and his brothers
were still deep in conversation. Hearing the doorbell ring again, she watched
as Dolly seated another group of men. A moment later that bell chimed calling
the next lineup. In a spur of the moment decision, she picked her drink up and
moved toward the archway to get a better look.

Crash
ran his hand over his face. “So, if he’s skimming, Cole, what’s the plan?”

“What
do you mean?” Cole frowned back at him. “We get the fucking money back, and we beat
the crap out of him, dumbass.”

Crash
rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s a given. But if you cut him loose, you’re gonna
need a replacement.”

“Yeah,
who do you figure for that job?” Wolf asked, pulling the drink stirrer he was
chewing on out of his mouth.

Crash
was waiting for Cole’s answer when Dolly walked up and folded her arms over her
chest. The look on her face spoke volumes. She was pissed. The frustrated
breath she blew out before she spoke underlined that fact. Her gaze moved from
Cole around the table until it landed on Crash. “You.”

Shit.
What the fuck was she looking at
him
for?

“You
putting a new girl in my lineup?” she asked, her brows raised.

Crash
glanced around her to the bar where he’d left Shannon. Her barstool was empty.
He searched the room, his eyes finding her leaning up against the frame of the
archway into the parlor, sipping on her drink. There was a lineup of girls that
basically ended where she was standing, so in effect she was in the goddamn
lineup. She looked out of place in her tight fitting jeans and halter top in a
sea of lingerie and cocktail dresses, but that didn’t make her any less
appealing. Especially with that sexy as fuck pierced navel revealed in the bare
skin that showed between her low riding jeans and short halter top. He stared,
speechless for half a second as her luscious mouth opened, and her tongue came
out to try to capture the tiny red drink straw. Christ! Didn’t she have a clue
how seductive that was?

Cole,
who had turned to look, burst out laughing.

Crash
slammed his beer down and rose from his chair. Dolly stopped him with a hand on
his chest. “You’re not going to yell at her, are you? It’ll upset my girls.”

“If
I don’t yell at her, how’s she gonna know why I’m strangling her?”

Wolf
and Red Dog chuckled.

Cole
grinned and advised, “Take a breath, and count to ten, brother.”

“I
can’t count to ten, my head’s gonna explode at five.” He stalked toward her,
his brothers’ laughter following him. He grabbed her arm, jerking her attention
from the show. “Babe, what the fuck are you doing?”

“What?
I’m just standing here waiting, like you told me to.”

“Yeah.
You’re standing in the goddamn lineup, Shannon!” He gestured to the girls.

“Huh?”

Dolly
moved up next to him. He turned to her, his hand tight around Shannon’s upper
arm. “You got someplace safe I can stash her?”

Dolly
grinned. “There’s a small kitchen break-room combination down the hall. Last
door on the left.

“Thanks.”
He turned back to Shannon. “Come on, Troublemaker.” He hauled her off by the
arm toward the hallway.

“Hey!
Wait a minute. I was gonna pick that one!” Shannon heard some guy in the parlor
complaining as Crash pulled her down the hall. She bit her lip. Damn, she’d
done it again, caused trouble and pissed him off without even trying. His
nickname for her was beginning to be proven right. Damn, how did she get into
these situations?

The
brothel’s hallway was narrow, and the walls must have been paper thin, because
Shannon could hear a woman’s moans. Even to her ears, they sounded fake. As
they moved along passing door after door, she heard more sounds. A woman’s soft
giggling in one room, the sound of spanking in another, and a man’s rough
grunting in still another. Shannon tried to imagine the life these girls lived,
being under the man that was doing that grunting, having to act pleasured by a
strange man on top of her making those awful animalistic sounds.

Crash
pulled her down the hall, distracting her attention from the rooms. “Swear to
God, you can push my buttons like no one else, Princess.”

“Crash!”

He
ignored her as he found the break-room and tugged her inside. She looked
around. It was basically an eat-in kitchen with a table and some chairs around
it. A sliding glass door led outside to a small patio, where she imagined the girls
could go to take a quick smoke break. The only thing odd about it was the couch
pushed against the far wall. There was one girl sitting at the table, drinking
a cola and flipping through a magazine. She looked up, startled by a strange
man coming through the door, until she saw the cut. Obviously word of the club
being the new owners had spread through the talent.

“What’s
your name?” Crash asked her.

“Um,
Stacy.”

“Stacy,
this is Shannon. Can you do me a favor, honey, and keep her company?”

The
girl smiled flirtatiously up at him. A little too eager to please for Shannon’s
comfort. “Sure. Have a seat, doll.”

Crash
spun her around to face him and ordered, “Stay here. Do
not
wander off. Got me?”

She
couldn’t help but smile back at him, every bit as flirtatiously as that girl
had been. Her hand reached up, and her finger trailed down his chest. His eyes
dropped to follow it. “Got you.” He slid his hand to the back of her head and
pulled her close, his mouth coming down on hers for a deep kiss. Pulling back,
he kissed her on the forehead before his hand dropped away, and he disappeared
down the hall. Shannon turned back to the girl named Stacy.

“That
was one hot kiss, doll.”

“Sorry
about that. He’s a little overprotective.”

“No
problem. Pull up a seat. You want a cola or something, hon?” Stacy offered.

Shannon
sat down. “No thanks.” She held up the drink she still had in her hand. “Still
sipping on this.”

Stacy
nodded. “So, these bikers, you’re with them?”

“Yes,
sort of.”

Stacy
grinned. “Sort of, huh? Sounds interesting. You with that guy?”

“Well,
yes. I guess you could say that.”

“Lucky
you. He’s good looking. All that muscle and leather. Hot as hell.”

Shannon
grinned. “Yeah, he is. So, you work here, huh?”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

“Do
you like it? I mean I guess it’s not my business.”

Stacy
shrugged. “It pays really well. It’s easy work.”

“But,
being with strange men you don’t know. Men you’re not even attracted to, I
can’t imagine that.”

“Yeah.
Most people can’t. It’s not so bad. The rules are pretty strict about what the
men can and can’t do.” She shrugged. “I have a few regulars. And most of the
men are pretty nice.”

“What
kind of men come in here?” Shannon couldn’t help but ask.

“All
kinds. I’ve seen it all. Doctors, lawyers, truckers, retirees, college boys.
You name it. I even had a member of congress, once. One thing they all have in
common, they want to get their rocks off. But really, there is no type, if
that’s what you’re asking.”

“Wow.
It’s really fascinating.”

Stacy
grinned like she had a big secret to share and whispered, “I’m not supposed to
talk about it, confidentiality and all that, but I’ll tell you since you’re
with the owners and all. I made some real good money last night. I won’t say
what team, but we had a bunch of pro-ball players come in. The whole friggin’
team. I cleared almost five grand. And boy, were they built.” She fanned her
face, smiling bright.

“That’s
a lot of money.”

“You
bet it is, sweetie.”

Shannon
heard the tinkle of the bell calling the girls for another lineup. She looked
over at Stacy, wondering why she wasn’t answering the call. “You’re not working
tonight?”

“Nope.
I’m the day shift. Just can’t sleep.” Her eyes strayed to a monitor high up in
the corner that Shannon hadn’t noticed before.

“What’s
that?” Shannon asked.

“Video
feed of the parlor. See the guy on the right?”

Shannon
looked and nodded.

“He’s
gonna pick Cindy. Watch.”

“Which
one is Cindy?”

“The
one in the school-girl outfit.”

They
watched, and sure enough, the guy on the right picked Cindy. Shannon turned
back to Stacy. “How did you know? Is he a regular?”

“Nope.
I could just tell.”

“How?
How can you tell?” Shannon asked, all eager for the information.

Stacy
giggled at her enthusiasm and shrugged. “Been doing this a long time, I guess.
I can just read them. He was looking for a naughty girl in need of a spanking.
It’s always the quiet nerdy ones that are the freakiest. She’ll make some good
money, tonight. She always does when she wears that outfit. Of course her ass
is going to be damn sore tomorrow.”