It took me a week to get things straightened out enough for me to be able to go to Seattle. A week! Lydecker, you bastard! If Andrews hadn't caught wind of what was going on, I would have been in serious trouble. Lydecker must have gone right back to the police station after he left here and demanded that my place be raided. Andrews was working late, and he knew that there had to be an official report stating there was a raid. He grabbed some of his buddies; ones he knew took my money and liked to visit my girls, and came in after the club was closed and my girls were gone.
I got arrested, but that wasn't a big deal to me. With the barcode removed, there wasn't anything on my body to attract the wrong kind of attention. I knew most of the cops anyways, hell; most of them were regulars at the club. Two of the raiders had been there cheering on Sapphire and Opal when they were dancing earlier that night. I think Andrews had spread the word to the other cops that they were all to be nice to me. Cops were brothers, and if one needed a favor, they'd all work together.
Even with Andrews' help, Lydecker managed to bitch up my life. He had left town already the little shit. He left with that perfect arrogant confidence that everyone would do as he ordered. And I wonder where Zack gets it from. The club was closed the next day, which really screwed up the routine, and then the worst thing possible happened. Social services became involved. They never show up when little girls are being raped by their foster fathers, but let a pretty pair of twins get caught at a strip club, and there they are.
Taking care of getting Madelyn and Miranda back was where the real delay came from. Most people might think that having her girls taken from her would be a good thing, but their mother was an excellent mother. She never abused or neglected her girls in the slightest. They were always well fed and clothed, and she made sure they were getting an education, and most importantly, she loved the hell out of those two. They had it better than a lot of kids out there that social services weren't helping.
I felt obligated to make sure she got them back. Normally there would be court hearings, and they would be given to a foster home, and finally the judge would decide that he was never going to give a whore her girls back. She would have to give up her way to support her kids in order to get them back, and then he would decide that since she couldn't support them she shouldn't have them back. The system is a fucked up place sometimes. I ended up simply going and getting them. Caseworkers are impossible to bribe, but foster parents aren't. They're usually in it for the money anyways. The girls just disappeared one night, and the foster parent got a little cash to say they ran away. Leigh, their mother, had to move from her little apartment, but I made sure she had the cash to get started.
The club being closed for a couple of nights hurt. People get scared to come to a place that was raided. Nobody wants to see their name in the paper being associated with a strip club. When we reopened, the crowd wasn't nearly what it should be. The girls weren't making the money they were used to, and were all bitchy. Since Opal was going to be out of work for a couple of days, her boyfriend decided to pimp her out. Then he decided that she should work the streets under his thumb rather than have independence working for me. I knew she would be back, but I wasn't sure if I was going to take her back. That hurt, but damn it, she defected.
I knew the last thing the club needed was for me to take off for a few days. I should stay and get things straightened out. If Ben went to Seattle, then Max would just have to deal with him. But…she might not know what was going on with him. If he killed someone up there, Lydecker would find out, and she would be in the middle of everything. I'm not sure where I got this misbegotten sense of responsibility, but I did not want to even hear of one of us being taken back to Manticore. Zack told me we lost Bryn, and that hurt in a place I didn't think could be hurt again: my heart.
The first night after the club opened back up, I was sitting with Vic and Onyx well after closing when I made my announcement. "I'm going to have to take off for a few days," I told them. Vic's mouth dropped, and Onyx looked shocked.
"Topaz, what the hell are you thinking?" Vic demanded. "You need to be here over the next few days to get this place back in order."
"Nobody can work it like you baby," Onyx added.
"There are things going on that I cannot go into," I said firmly. "But, I know the club will survive me being gone for a few, and I can trust you two to look after things while I'm gone."
"You're going to screw us all over so you can go chasing after Ben," Victor said bitterly. "I thought you were better than that."
"Fuck you!" I snapped. It was the only thing I could think to say. He could be such a bitch.
"Topaz, honey," Onyx said placating, "this just isn't like you. I've never seen you even get concerned over a man before, much less chase one. You never had to chase a man before."
"Ben can take care of himself," I said. I didn't want to leave them with hurt feelings. They were the two closest people to me, and that included all of the X-5's. I might feel some loyalty to my fellow escapees, but Vic and Onyx were my friends. "It's my sister I'm worried about." They both gaped at me. "Don't act all shocked," I said, annoyed. "I never said I was an only child."
"You never mentioned you had a sister either," Vic replied.
"Well, I do." I said. I did. Several in fact. "There's some things going down with her right now and she needs my help." Now they both looked a little more understanding. I wouldn't mention Ben's role in her needing my help. They didn't need to know that little tidbit.
"When are you leaving?" Onyx asked me.
"My flight is tomorrow afternoon," I replied. They both looked upset that I was giving them so little notice. It was rude of me to expect them to give up their lives for a few days, but I needed to do this. I was starting to realize what I needed to do with Ben to calm him down, and no it wasn't to wear him out in bed. Although that might be a fringe benefit, it wasn't the main part of the plan.
I smiled charmingly. "I'll make it up to you both in any way you want when I get back," I promised. They finally grinned back. I was, after all, a woman of my word.