I had a decent selection of clothing at the club, and luckily there was another gold bodysuit. It wasn't the same, but it was close enough. Victor would notice the difference, but he wouldn't ask questions until after the club closed. I was shaking. I cleaned up in the bathroom, and then had to sit down for a little while. I'd done nothing less than what I'd set out to do, but it felt…it had been a long time since I had been at loss to define how I was feeling.
I tossed back a shot of straight scotch. The liquid burned my throat and settled in my belly, warmth spreading over my body. I felt more in control now. Lydecker would not be coming back. He wouldn't want to ever think of me again. I would be the symbol of his loss of control. I'd be lucky if he didn't try to kill me on general principles. Fuck him. I had other things to deal with.
I went back downstairs, and kept busy as hell. A little before Onyx did her routine, I noticed two men come in. They were two of the soldiers that had come in this morning. I asked a regular to vacate a table near the stage as a favor to me. They were more than happy to leave when I offered them a few drinks at the bar to make up for the loss. They were more into drinking that night than tipping. Onyx's boys took the now empty table. I was glad Lydecker was gone. They would have run if they'd seen him here, and I needed to know everything that was going on.
I was still wondering if Lydecker suspected I was an X-5. He's a sick monster. He claimed Ben was bad, but I remembered him shooting Eva. Ben wasn't out there torturing and killing small children. He wasn't teaching little kids how to kill. Even if Lydecker suspected, he was probably sick enough to want to screw me anyways. No, I couldn't think like that. He didn't know. He couldn't know. I had to believe that.
Victor was watching me with concern. He could tell I was upset. I have no idea why I was upset either. I was setting things up just as neat as could be. These two horny assholes were going to be compromised, and I'd compromised Lydecker. It was just going back to the Manticore mentality that was upsetting me. I would rather be a French Quarter stripper whore than a Manticore soldier any day. Both choices make you lose control of your body. One lets you keep your soul.
After Onyx did her routine, she showed up a few minutes later in this hot little Pocahontas style dress. It looked liked a deerskin dress that attached over one shoulder. She sauntered over to the less-than-dynamic duo, and practically dropped in their laps. Before you could say lap dance, they were being led to the back. Onyx knew how to get information out of them and all they would know is that a beautiful woman fucked them both for free. I love that girl, I truly do.
The rest of the night went rather predictably. You wouldn't think a strip club would have a routine, but it does. By 1:45 AM the lap rooms are closed. Everyone had better be satisfied by then. Customers are out the door by 2:15 AM. The bar gets closed down, and the girls' room is cleaned up by three at the latest. Vic and I always have a drink and unwind for a little while when everything is quiet. He's usually gone by four, and I get a couple of hours of sleep. That's all I need, and then I get the morning paper and watch the sunrise. Every now and then I'll go down to the Gulf and go for a long swim. I had done that this morning as a matter of fact. The club opened at five the next evening.
Tonight's end routines were going to be different though. I had some debriefing to do rather than unwinding. It was so nasty thinking that way. Debriefing. Mission parameters. Op sec. You try so hard to forget that shit, and the next thing you know, you're spouting it like you're…you're Zack. Vic could tell I was impatient for the night to be over. I wanted to talk to Onyx, and get ready. I had a flight leaving the next day, and I needed to know everything possible before it left.
Onyx got the girls out a little quicker than normal, and Victor made sure the bar was broken down. Finally it was just the three of us. Well, not quite. Madelyn and Miranda's mother was at an all night party, and had asked if they could stay with me that night. I had forgotten about it until the two girls showed up that afternoon with overnight bags. It wasn't a big deal, but just something else to be concerned about. I wasn't drinking and Victor and Onyx both knew that was a sign I was stressed over something more than my babysitting my littlest girls. Some people like to get drunk. I have to stay sober so that I will be able to think things out more clearly. We sat down at a table, none of us talking for a few minutes I wasn't sure what I should tell them, and I don't think they were sure they wanted to know what was really happening.
"Do I owe you for one or two?" I finally asked Onyx.
She rolled her eyes. "Maybe one total," she replied. "More like a half. These guys have nice bodies, but they don't see many women. I could have taken care of them both during a commercial break and not missed my favorite TV show." We laughed, breaking the tension. "I did them both," she said.
"I got the cash upstairs," I replied. "I'll give it to you before you go."
She grinned and slid over next to me. "There's a better way to work off the debt," she said, kissing me softly. I'm not saying I wasn't tempted, but I made the rule that owners don't fuck the dancers. Frankie had been a prime example of why that shouldn't happen. It felt good to be treated with a little tenderness after Lydecker's rough handling. I finally had to pull away from her when her hand slipped down the front of my bodysuit.
"You know the rules," I said to her teasingly. I wanted to break them. Tonight at least. But, just this once would lead to, but I really want to, and then everything would go down from there. She pouted playfully. I knew she really wanted me, but she knew that I wouldn't. It wasn't because she was a woman. In my opinion women are far more considerate lovers than men, but she was one of my girls. Besides, on the whole, I preferred the men anyways. It was irrelevant at any rate. We had business to discuss, and I had packing to do.
"What did you get out of them?" I asked Onyx. She looked very upset.
"One of them kept asking how it felt to be fucked by a top secret government agent," she replied. "I slipped him some of Mamma Mela's talk powder, and they had all sorts of strange things to say." Mamma Mela was a voodoo priestess. She sold different powders and concoctions. Say what you will about her, the first time I went there, she knew I wasn't entirely human. She said a few things that I didn't understand about being vengeance from God, the animal that walks like man, and swore she would only provide me with potions that worked. Most of the voodoo people around here were charlatans, and the tourists thought they were cute, but I knew some had power from somewhere. Mamma Mela's potions that she gave me always worked, unlike what she sold to tourists.
"The other one said the cat-boys weren't as good as he was at screwing, and he bet most of them wouldn't know what to do with a real pussy," she continued.
"Did they say anything about Ben?" I asked, trying to keep calm. I wasn't going to explain about Manticore to them. Zack was an asshole, but he was right about one thing. Whoever knows about it is put into danger. Lydecker wanted to bring us in alive. Everyone else was useless and could be killed.
"They kept saying that cat-boy was going to get neutered," she replied simply. "They were hot on him, and only missed him by a little bit here. They were going to take him back with the other freaks."
"Sounds like Mamma Mela got her herbs mixed up," Victor commented. We all laughed.
"I know Ben isn't what they claim," I said. I decide to hit them with some truth. "I've known Ben longer than two years," I confess. They both look stunned. "I've known him since I was a kid. We lost touch, and then met up again two years ago."
"You were in the same foster home?" Vic asked me. He knew that until I was twelve I was in a foster home. I'd been there since I'd left Manticore and come to Louisiana, but Vic didn't realize that I'd only been there three years when I ran from my oh so beloved foster home.
"Something like that," I replied vaguely. "The point is, Ben isn't what they claim, so we don't have to worry about him at all. I doubt these stupid fuckers will ever catch up to him at any rate." They looked relieved to hear that. They knew I liked Ben, and was happy to see him. It was rare that I was really happy to see anyone outside of the people in my club, and I think they felt a little sorry for me for that. Victor had a mother who loved him, and his current lover was devoted to him. Onyx had two sisters that she kept in touch with. They were lucky to have real family.
"So what are you going to do?" Onyx asked me.
Before I could answer, the door was kicked open, and a dozen policemen entered, being led by none other than my good friend Detective Andrews. The swarmed the place, but they weren't tearing it apart like I would have expected. They better not. I paid quite a few of them here, and I didn't know a single cop that could exist on their salary without the little padding of clean graft. Andrews and a few other officers came over to me. They were supposed to look tough on a raid, but they looked upset. Andrews had a damn good reason for being scared.
"I hope you have one fuck of a reason for breaking in here," I said coldly, not even getting up from my chair.
"You're under arrest," he said in his best cops voice.
"For unwinding in my club after hours?" I replied.
"Prostitution and child pornography to start," he said. "Stand up and turn around," he ordered. I stood up.
"You are going to regret this," I hissed, and then turned around so he could put on the handcuffs. Vic and Onyx saw me comply, and didn't resist as they were cuffed as well. A second later two officers came down with the twins who were fighting and wailing.
"We found some victims, sir," one of the cops said trying to control Madelyn.
"I am babysitting tonight," I said loudly. "Their mother is going to be back in the morning."
"I'll get it straightened out, Topaz" Andrews whispered to me. "You pissed off some bad-ass people playing with Lydecker."
The world suddenly made sense. I fucked Lydecker, he fucked me right back. You son of a bitch, I thought, not sure if I was amused or angry. I can get all this straightened out. This is my town, not yours, and these men want the money I offer to them. But you delayed me, and that was the one thing I wasn't counting on. Round two goes to you. You better savor it, because it's your last win over my sweet ass.