The One With The Rabbit Hole
There were few lights outside the casino's back area. No parking, just trashcans and dealers on their breaks. Phoebe walked along the wall until she came to the back entrance to the strip club. On the door was a spray painted Playboy bunny—the rabbit hole. Quaint that these used up girls likened themselves to models. They were nothing by low-class single mothers who made some bad mistakes in life.
Phoebe stood just outside the circle of light from the bulb over the rabbit hole. She nearly blended in with the shadows. It was another 10 minutes before the door opened. The dancer stepped out into the darkness of the night and Phoebe cleared her throat. The girl turned around, startled.
"You scared me," she said.
Phoebe was careful to stay out of the light. "Who are you?"
She was caught off guard by the question. "Diana," she stated carefully. "You're not Ursula, are you? I know who you are."
"I'm her twin sister," Phoebe said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, she's talked about you. Listen, I don't want to get caught out here. You got a car?"
Phoebe nodded her head and they started walking towards the parking lot, careful to stay in the shadows, not drawing attention to themselves. "Who is Wayne?"
"Wayne Knight, owner and proprietor of this casino. Shakes down the girls for extra money, greases the mafia to keep his cache of drugs, and hires goons to do his dirty work. Why do you need to talk to him so badly?"
Phoebe paused in thought. "I don't know." She was surprised at her own admission. "I don't know anything, but I know he has some answers for me."
Diana got in front of Phoebe and stopped, poking her finger into Phoebe's collarbone. "You can't just come to this place and ask for Wayne. Your sister took a lot of money from him and he's angry. You look like her, and I'm willing to bet that the only answer he has for you is the open barrel of a gun."
"Joey, put the gun down!" Phoebe pleaded.
He raised his arm straight out in front of him and stated, "This ends now."
She picked up the lamp on the nightstand and threw it at him. Joey swatted it away with his forearm, but it shattered onto one of the beds. His arm began bleeding and he dropped the gun. She moved towards him, "Joey, I'm sorry." He shoved her away and she tripped over the leather jacket on the floor, hitting her head on the bed post.
Phoebe hardly flinched at what Diana said. "My best friend is dead. My husband left me. I have nothing to my name. I have nothing to lose. Wayne is the only person who can help me."
"Wayne will kill you!" Diana nearly shouted.
"Do you have any better ideas?"
Diana swallowed a rock. "I can help you." She turned around and started walking far out into the parking lot.
Phoebe stood in place. She needed answers but realized she had no questions. She quickly formulated some in her head: Why did Ursula steal Wayne's money? Where was Ursula in all of this? Who was Wayne and why did he have so much power? Who killed Joey?
"Get in!" a familiar voice yelled to her. She hadn't noticed that blood was splashed across her clothes. She hadn't noticed that a car had silently sped through the parking lot. She hadn't noticed that one moment Diana was walking away from her, and the next she was lying in a pool of blood on the asphalt. "Phoebe, get in!" the voice yelled with urgency.
Phoebe remained still and silent. Before her was a dark blue car, no lights on, passenger door wide open. On the ground next to her was the body of a dancer, bloodied but still breathing. She knew the voice, but she didn't trust it.