Undercover in Six Inch Stilettos (19 page)

“Would you be reasonable? I am trying to do a job here.”

“Reasonable? You want me to be
reasonable?
You are my wife, Cyndi, and you have been lying to me for months about being some kind of whore, and then you talk me into letting you do it again? I think I have been more than reasonable!”

“Whore? I am not a whore! Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Apparently I don’t have a single clue what—or who—you are anymore!”

“So you keep saying.”

“Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all these years. Maybe you like it rough and trashy…just like that damned song you danced to!” Jason grabbed her around the waist and yanked her to him. His mouth crushed hers as his hands ran all over her sequined costume, groping and grabbing. When his fingers found the tassels, he squeezed her breasts—hard—taking her breath away. Jason had never been like that with her before. She was torn between being pissed off and turned on, the latter of which worried her.

“What the hell is with these?” He growled as he sucked hard on her neck and yanked on the strings dangling from her breasts.

“My boob tassels are a big hit. Ouch! Stop, you’re gonna leave a mark.” She pushed at his chest as Jason moved from her ear to her throat. “J.J., I have to get on stage or they will come looking for me. Roxy is almost done.”

“Let them look.” He had shifted so that Cyndi’s back was pressed against the brick wall of the building. Grabbing her behind, he lifted her up and used the wall to hold her around his waist. Freeing one breast from the cup of her bustier he licked her hot skin, biting the nipple. “The guys in there are right, you are hot. Smoking hot. But I have always thought that. Apparently my opinion doesn’t matter anymore. Now you need half of Virginia Beach ogling you to feel good about yourself.”

“Jason.” She tried hard to fight against her husband, but it was in vain. He held her tight against the wall. His touch got rougher. “Come on, J.J. You don’t have to prove anything—”

He ignored her as she pushed against him again, trying to free herself. The music inside stopped. The DJ would spin tunes for about ten minutes, and then Cyndi was expected to do her thing one more time before calling it a night. Jason seemed to have forgotten where they were and what they were supposed to be doing.

“Tell your husband to get back inside right now. As much as we are enjoying his attempts to seduce you with his grunts and groans, he has a job to do!”

Oh,
hell!
The mic that was attached to her chest was centimeters from Jason’s mouth. The voice in her ear was different this time—more stern, official. She reached up and pushed Jason away from her breast, motioning to the hidden mic on the other side.

“Son of a bitch!” he cursed, nearly dropping her to the ground like a hot grenade.

“What the hell, J.J.?” she snapped, trying to regain her balance on her high heels.

“When this night is over, we have some serious talking to do. You are not the woman I thought you were. I am not sure you ever were.” He turned and disappeared back inside the club.

“So you keep saying.” Cyndi bent over at the waist, trying to catch her breath. Jason’s behavior threw her through a loop. He said she wasn’t the woman he thought she was? Yeah, well, it was becoming more and more obvious he wasn’t exactly the man she thought he was. A cool ocean breeze passed through the alley and chilled her steamy skin. She shivered against the wind before quickly tucking herself back into her costume. Pulling the door open, Cyndi stepped inside the building once again. As the door slammed behind her, a blood-curdling scream tore through the club.

Chapter Nineteen

A second scream filled the air.

When Cyndi made it to the dressing room, she found Roxy crumpled in a chair, clinging to her yellow boa.

“Roxy! What is it?” She rushed to the older woman’s side, but Roxy gave no sign of recognizing Cyndi was there as she rocked back and forth, muttering to herself. Leaning in real close, she tried to hear what Roxy was mumbling.

“I told him! I told him no. I’m not gonna do it. I told him no.”

“Told who, Roxy? What did he want you to do?”

“I told him no…I said I couldn’t do that even if he took it all away.”

“You guys getting this?” Cyndi whispered into the mic as she continued to kneel in front of Roxy.

“What is she talking about?” the voice in her ear demanded.

“Damned if I know, but she’s white as death in here.”

“You need EMS?”

“I don’t know. I think so. She isn’t responding to anything I say or do.”

Roxy started shaking violently.

“Just send Jason back here! He will know what to do.”

“Can’t do that, Mrs. Mills. It could blow his cover.”

“Seriously? The woman is obviously traumatized, and you are worried about him blowing his cover!”

“Mrs. Mills, this is how police work goes. EMS will be here in a minute and a half. They will take care of her.”

“Whatever. Get them in here as quick as you can.”

Maybe she should move Roxy to the old sofa she had always refused to sit on? No telling exactly what had happened on that sofa in the past, but Roxy might be better off there, given her present state.

As she stood contemplating trying to move Roxy, something caught the corner of her eye. Spinning around, she eyeballed the racks of costumes and clothing that were propped against one wall. With the background of noise from the club, the dressing room had an eerie feel to it.

Why hadn’t anyone else come running when Roxy screamed?

Cyndi needed to tell someone that the paramedics would be arriving soon, but she didn’t want to leave Roxy. After a quick check of the area for anything that the older woman could injure herself on, Cyndi pulled the dressing room door closed behind her as she ran to the main room.

Johnny stood at the bar, doing his thing. She ran over to where he stood shaking a mixed drink.

“Johnny! Something is wrong with Roxy! I called for an ambulance. They will be here soon. Send them to the dressing room!”

She ran back to where Roxy still was, pushing through the crowd. Someone said something in her ear mic, but she didn’t pay attention. Her only focus was on getting back to the older woman before she could harm herself further. Cyndi grabbed the doorknob to the dressing room, turned it, and ran straight into the solid wood door.

She stepped back, pushing at the door with all she had. It still wouldn’t budge. “Roxy! Roxy, let me in!”

“The door’s locked!” she yelled into the mic on her chest.

“What door?” came the reply.

“To the dressing room! I closed it when I went to tell Johnny about the paramedics.”

“So unlock it.” She could almost hear the “duh” at the end of his sentence.

“Right. Because I didn’t think about that! It’s locked on the inside!” Cyndi rattled the doorknob with as much force as she could muster, finally throwing her shoulder against it. Without warning, the door finally gave way, and she tumbled into the dressing room.

“Roxy!” She ran to where she had left the woman a few seconds ago. “What the…”

“What’s wrong?” the voice in her ear asked.

“She’s gone. Roxy is gone.”

“What do you mean she’s gone?”

“She’s not here. The room is empty.”

The shrill siren of the ambulance filled the air. It was so loud it felt like the vehicle was in the room. Cyndi ran over to the window, stopping short. The window was wide open, Roxy’s yellow feather boa trailing out of it.

“She climbed out the window,” Cyndi whispered.

“That’s impossible! That woman wasn’t going anywhere.”

Cyndi spun in a circle, examining the small space. She stopped when she saw the dressing table mirror where she usually sat to put on makeup.

“Oh no,” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?” the surveillance officer demanded.

“There’s a message.”

“Message?”

“Yeah, on my mirror. Lipstick, I think.”

“Hap! Tell Mills to get back to that dressing room!” Cyndi stood frozen, listening to the officer in her ear mic bark out orders.

“What does the message say?” a voice she hadn’t heard yet asked.

“It—it says
—
next
.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“What do you think it means? Someone is coming after me next!”

Before she had time to fully process what was happening, Jason burst into the room with Rafael hot on his heels.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Rafael yelled as he jumped Jason from behind. Jason sidestepped and the bouncer flew past him, stumbling into the chair Roxy had been sitting in a few minutes earlier.

“Who the hell are you? I ought to bring you in for assaulting a police officer!”

“I don’t care who you think you are. Get out before I throw your ass out!” Rafael clenched his fists. He wanted to beat the crap out of Jason. Cyndi had seen him like that before. She had to do something.

“I heard a woman scream back here!” Jason turned to her, no sign of recognition in his blue eyes. “Was it you? Did you just scream?”

“Um…no. Everything is fine back here.” Cyndi looked around and held her hands up questioningly. “Nothing going on here that I can see.”

Rafael grabbed for Jason again, but he side-stepped the attempt, sending the other man a steely glare. “I’m telling you someone screamed, and I am not leaving here until I find out who and why.”

“Tell your husband to shut up, Mrs. Mills! He’s blowing his cover!” Cyndi heard the echo of the voice, but the words in her ear didn’t make any sense. Nothing made any sense. Roxy, the window, Jason…

The room around her was starting to dissolve into liquid colors. Her knees felt weak.

“It’s okay, Raf…he’s…” Reaching for something, anything, to hold onto, Cyndi hit the floor in a crumpled heap.

Something cold touched her face. Forcing her eyes open, she peered up into the worried eyes of Johnny. A bar cloth filled with ice lay across her forehead.

“Hey, Liberty.” He smiled. “What happened? That guy hurt you when he came barreling back here like that?” Cyndi shook her head. She glanced around. Oh man, they’d laid her on the nasty sofa. She shuddered in revulsion, and bile rose in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and choked back the vomit. When she moved to sit up, a wave of dizziness washed over her, dropping her back on the filthy fabric. She did notice that Roxy’s yellow boa still hung across the windowsill, blowing in the night breeze.

“Don’t give your husband up, Mrs. Mills,” a fuzzy voice whispered into her ear. “We got him out of there before he could totally blow his cover. Right now the club employees still think Jason heard someone scream and he ran to check it out. You know, a good Samaritan.”

Her head was cloudy. The voice barely penetrated the fog as she closed her eyes once again.

“Cyndi? Come on, girl, you gotta sit up. I don’t want you fallin’ back to sleep. You hit your head when you went down?”

Eyes still closed, she reached up and felt around through her hair with her fingertips. No noticeable lumps or bumps or cuts. “I don’t think so. Did they find Roxy?”

“What do you mean?” Johnny looked confused.

“I went out back for some air.” Cyndi pushed the icy cloth away and tried to sit up on the couch as she spoke. “I heard a scream and came running in. Roxy was out of it. Something was wrong.”

“She screamed?”

Cyndi nodded, ignoring the dizzy feeling that still assaulted her. “She was mumbling about how ‘she told him no’ and some other stuff. When I ran to let you all know I called 9-1-1, she disappeared through the window.” She waved her hand toward the yellow boa. “See? She left her feathers behind.”

“So, Roxy Feathers has flown the coop,” Johnny stated before busting out in laughter.

“That’s not funny!” Cyndi barked.

“Yes, it is,” the voice in her ear echoed Johnny’s laughter.

“We need to call the police and report it. She’s been kidnapped!”

“You sure you didn’t hit your head, Lady Liberty?” Johnny studied her with concern.

“I’m sure!”

“What makes you think she was kidnapped, then? Roxy is a free spirit. This wouldn’t be the first time she disappeared over the years, you know. Last time we didn’t see her for a month. I’m sure she is fine.” Johnny patted Cyndi’s arm in much the same way she would reassure Harper after a scraped knee.

“Don’t patronize me, Johnny. I saw something move. There was someone in here. I know there was!”

“Mrs. Mills, don’t say anything to the bartender, but we found some boot prints under the window. Someone probably helped her out of there. When the club closes, we will have the crime scene techs out there to process the area.”

She stood up. The room moved a little but settled down quickly. “I need to go do my second set.”

Johnny headed toward the door in front of her. “No need. You missed your opening, so I sent the new girl out there to get in some practice. You should go on home and rest.”

Smoothing her hair and straightening her costume, she stepped toward the door. “I’m fine, Johnny. I want to finish out the night.”

“I said go home, Cyndi. You are done for the night. Maggie will cover for you.” Johnny turned and disappeared into the club. His tone left no room for argument.

There was nothing more she could say, so she grabbed her bag, pulled on a sweatshirt over her costume, and left through the back door.

“It’s all right, Mrs. Mills,” the voice in her ear said. “It’s a good time to call it a night anyway.”

“I’m sorry guys. I blew it. Now we will never know what happened to Jade or Lola.”

“Cyndi,” a voice hissed from the shadows as an arm reached out and pulled her over by the dumpster. A second hand stifled the scream that teetered on her lips. “It’s me.”

“Jason? What are you doing out here?”

“Shhh! Even though you screwed up, I am still undercover here.”

“That’s not fair!” she snapped. “It’s not my fault Roxy had…well, whatever Roxy had done.”

“Perhaps you want to go inside and screw some other guy? See if he is guilty.”

“Jason Jonathan Mills! How dare you!” She put her hands on her hips. It took all her self-control not to smack the snot out of her husband.

“I saw you on that guy’s lap. It only makes sense you must give private shows as well.” Jason’s grin was almost cruel, and his usually clear blue eyes were dark with anger. Cyndi had never seen him like that. What had her little game done to her marriage? She just had to stick her nose in, run her little investigation, and now she might have ruined her relationship with her husband. Still, he had no reason to accuse her of…well, what he was accusing her of.

“I have
never
done that before, and I don’t intend to ever do it again. I was trying to find out what happened to my friends. You go undercover on prostitution stings, should I automatically assume you double as a real john on your days off?”

“You know that’s not true, Cyndi!”

“Well, I don’t have sex for money.”

“It’s hard to believe the woman who has been lying to me for weeks.”

“I’m sorry about that, truly I am, and we will have a long talk about it later. But if you didn’t try to lock me away behind alarms and locks and security lights all the time, I might not have been so desperate to get out!”

“So, this is my fault? Excuse me for trying to protect my wife. You have no idea—”

“Blah…blah…blah…I have no idea how horrible the human race is. How many men live to violate women and blah…blah…blah…I still need a life, Jason!”

“You have a life. Me and Harper.” His voice lost its anger and was now cold and steely.

“I wanted something else. Besides, it was fun to be appreciated.”

“You call creepy men jacking off under dirty table cloths in a smelly sex club appreciation?”

“Go to hell, Jason Mills!”

She turned and started to stomp away but Jason grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

“Home. Where do you think?” she snapped, angry blood rushing through her veins.

He let go of her. “I may or may not see you there later. I am not sure how I can share a bed with my wife when she was rubbing her goods all over some dirty old pervert.”

“It’s not like you’ve been sleeping with me at all anyway! How would tonight be any different?”