"Alright, vacation is over and , Stephanie you still have not given me a report from your little tropical getaway," Blaze teased me. "You have been back for over a week. "
"Haha, first of all, it was not a vacation. And I have been trying to catch up on all the office work I should have been doing while I was gone."
"So, why don't you tell me what you found out ? Are you any closer to locating the missing person?," Blaze said as he sat on the edge of my desk and folded his massive biceps over his chest.
" I think I am. But ,I don't have any definite confirmation. My spidery senses tell me we are on the right track."
"That's a good thing, but what is the holdup," Blaze asked?
"Tabby is the hold up. I need an in with her but she hates me. If we are going to find the girl, I have a feeling that she will be with Tabby, I explained.
" Great ,once we find her then we can work on getting her back home. Good work Plum," Blaze said.
Before he could ask another question, my phone chimed with a text message from Escobar.
Busy, If not, I could really use on this job tonight.
How long?
Three days out of town.
What time?
Same hotel as before. Meet us out front. We leave in an hour and a half.
You love doing this last minute thing, don't you?
LOL, you know you love me. See you when you get here Sexy. Don't forget to pack what you need. You will be dancing.
"Blaze, It's him. Escobar has another job for me tonight. I'll text you when I get there."
"This is crazy Steph. The way he keeps calling you at the last minute does not leave time to get back up in place. You can say no if you want. Just tell him you need more notice and that you can't leave town."
"It's fine Blaze. I don't need backup."
"Be safe," Blaze said as he hugged me.
I quickly ran back to my condo and packed what I needed. When I drove up to the hotel I noticed Tabby standing outside with two large men in front of SUV and two party buses.
After parking my car I approached Tabby. "Hey, where is Radolfo?"
Tabby gave me a smirk." Sorry, Blanca. Rad could not make it tonight. He is out of the country. So I am in charge."
"Really, how nice," I said.
"Yes, it is. It took you long enough to get here," she complained. "The buses are full so you are riding with me and security in the SUV," Tabby said.
Tabby angled into the front seat. Security had taken up the four captains seats. There was only one person sitting on the bench seat in the back of the vehicle. As soon as I sat down next to the occupant of the bench seat my spidey senses went off. The young girl sitting next to me was tiny. She had big soft brown baby doll eyes and delicate features. Her hair was a wild mass of frizzy waist length curls.
"How old are you, sweetie," I asked the baby faced Latina sitting next to me?
"I'm eighteen," she said quietly.
"Are you sure," I asked? "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school or out having fun with other girls your own age?"
"Yes, I am sure," she giggled. "I am doing the same thing you are, earning a paycheck."
"Where are your parents?"
"That's a long story you don't want to hear. I'm Pixie because Rad said I'm cute and small."
"I'm Blanca ."
"Have you ever been to Atlantic City, Blanca? I have never been outside of Georgia. I'm excited but a little nervous. Those guys seem a little rowdy," Pixie said.
"What, wait. We are going to Jersey?" Oh boy.
After a long car ride with no stops, we had finally arrived at low budget Atlantic City hotel and casino. Tabby exited the Vehicle and went inside. We all waited quietly for her to return. The two party buses started to empty out. I counted over thirty men and fifteen women. None of them were girls that I had worked with before. Something was off about this job. It was not the same high-class elite clientele. The girls were not as polished or sophisticated. The men were loud and rowdy. They were all dressed in flashy expensive designer clothes, paired with over priced tennis shoes and gold chains. All of them were trying way too hard look the part. These men were not used to having money. Half of the women were obviously a bit drunk.
"Well, what are you two waiting for," snapped Tabby!
Pixie jumped at the sound of her voice. "She is not nice to me ," the girl whispered.
As we exited the SUV, loud catcalls and cheers erupted from the group of men. Pixie hesitated as her eyes filled with fear.
"It's alright, just hang with me tonight, kid," I assured her.
As soon as we stepped on to the sidewalk I realized just how tiny the girl was. Pixie could not have been more than 5 feet tall. Despite her petite stature, the girl's body was full curves.
"Where were you two hiding," a man slurred? "Hey is it true about good things in small packages," the man laughed?
"This way ladies,"Tabby announced! We all filed into the lobby then through the casino and walked toward the elevator. Suddenly I was stopped in my tracks. I could not believe what I was seeing. There he was seated at the blackjack table flirting with a waitress, my ex- husband. Before the I could regain my composer, Tabby yelled at me.
"Get a move on Blanca. We don't have all day!"
All eyes were suddenly on me, including those of Joe Morelli. Running as fast as I could I made my way to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed I gave Tabby my best Burg glare.
"You got a problem with me, Blanca? Cause Rad is not here tonight to protect you. You see those four huge men who were in the car with us? That's security and they answer to me. It would be a shame if they were too preoccupied to worry about you, Blanca," Tabby smirked.
"I counted thirty men and seventeen girls including me and Pixie," I said. "You only brought four men for security,"I questioned?
"Yeah,what's it to you, Tabby" hissed?
"You don't have enough security to handle all these men! They are already drunk. Tabby, this is dangerous."
"How about you worry about stripping and I'll make the executive decisions," Tabby sneered as everyone else got off the elevator.
Then she looked at me with a smirk. "Hurry along now, Blanca. You would not want to get trapped in another elevator. You don't have Andre here to keep you company this time," Tabby laughed.
"Alright, girls here are your room assignments. We are only staying for the night. Hotel checkout time is at 11:30 AM. Go put your things away and then we will meet back out here in fifteen minutes.
In my room, there were two other women along with Pixie. I could tell the girl was happy to be bunking with me.
"I'm Blanca," I said to the other two women.
"We don't care who you are," one of them snapped!
"Yeah, don't nobody want your boujee self here," the other woman added.
"You are not part of this clique. They don't trust you." Pixie whispered.
"You talking bout me little girl," one of the women yelled!
"She is a kid, "I fired back!
"We don't have time for this. We all need to get ready. I don't want to deal with Tabby if we are late," the other woman announced.
Silently we all put on our makeup and platform heels. I watched the other girls change and I suddenly felt overdressed in my lingerie women These women were wearing next to nothing. I looked at Pixie and felt the need to cover the child.
"Here, why don't you wear this? "
She happily took the silk wrap and put it on.
When we got out to the corridor , Tabby began to explain how things would work. The entire floor had been rented. There were five rooms that we would all rotate through and dance. Once we had been through each room , we were free to spend time with any of the men there. No one was to leave the building or even the floor.
Five rooms left us a man short for security and I did not like it one bit.
I was ready to for this be over by the time I got to the second room. This was not what Radolfo had assured me I would be doing. These men were out of control. They were reaching out and trying to grope the dancers. The woman had no class at all. some of them did not even bother to get dressed before going to the next room. When I got to the third room, Pixie was standing in the middle of the room. A small group of men were crowding around the girl waiting for her to start dancing. Tears pooled in the frightened girl's eyes. I looked around for security but found no one. I had to do something. Slowly I swayed to the music making my way through the small crowd of men. Slowly the two of us danced together. Once the crowd thinned, I pushed Pixie toward the door. Slowly the girl made her way out of the room and I was right behind her.
Pixie was leaning against the wall hugging her body.
"Are you alright," I asked?
"No, no she whispered." "It was not supposed to be like this. Rad told me ..." "I want to to go home, I want Rad," she sobbed.
"Home, you live with Escobar? "
"Yes, but it's not like that. I just live there," a defensively Pixie said quickly! "We better get to the next room. Tabby is not nice when she is mad."
I watched Pixie rush into another room. Before I could follow her Tabby whirled around and grabbed me by my elbow.
"What's this I hear about you not taking everything off ," she demanded angrily!
"I don't do that, and Radolfo agreed when he hired me."
"Well, Rad is not here, so you do what I tell you !"
"Or, I can leave," I said calmly.
"How? You can't even make a phone call. I have your cellphone, remember."
"Don't you worry about that. Just worry about explaining why I quit to Escobar when you get back to Atlanta."
Tabby narrowed her eyes and huffed. Then told me to get back to work.
Once I had finished dancing , I went to the common area, a large suite where everyone else was. I stood there watching the other girls losing their minds. This place was like girls gone wild on spring break special. Pixie hung back in the corner refusing shots from the men. It was clear to see girl was out of her element. Pixie said she was eighteen, but the girl looked like a middle school student. That still did not stop these grown men from circling around her like a hyena on wounded game.
I sat down on the sofa and a man quickly joined me. "You want some company,"he asked?
"No, not really, I am a little tired," I replied.
"How much," he asked?
"What?"
"How much would it take for you to not to be tired "the man said while rubbing my thigh?
"Get your hands off of me! Go buy one of those girls," I yelled!
"Oh, what you think I can't afford you. Baby, me and my homies here from college started a Tech company and we are all worth over a million now!" he bragged.
I got up and walked past him.
"Yo, how about a table dance, shortie!" a man called to Pixie.
Her eyes glazed over and and the girl froze.
I stepped into the man's space and brushed against his chest. That's the new girl, I flirted. You don't want her, but I'm up for it," I said extending my hand. The man helped me up on the table. Loud rock music boomed through the speakers and I started to dance. The attention of most of the men in the room was glued to me. But the pair of eyes that caught my attention where whiskey brown. Joe was posted in the back of the room. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Morelli's face was expressionless as he took in my every move. When the song finished I quickly hopped down off the table. I noticed Pixie was nowhere to be found. My eyes scanned the room looking for the girl. I rushed to the doorway and looked down the corridor to see a large man dragging the small girl by her hair.
"Help! Help !" I screamed hoping that security would hear me. After none of the men appeared ,I sprung into action.
When I ran into the room the man had Pixie by her hair. I could tell he was hitting. She refused to cry or back down from the assailant. The small girl was putting up a brave scrappy fight. I jumped on the man's back forcing him to let go of the girl. But this drunken man was not going down without a fight. He leaned back slamming me into the wall. When I fell to the ground the man tried to kick me in the ribs. With laser speed and precision, I rolled out of the way and I got to my feet. The man turned back to Pixie and backhanded her across the face. Blood sprayed from her nose. My temper boiled as I placed my hands on the man shoulders and kneed him in the stomach. Now in pain along with his drunken fog, the guy hit the floor hard. That's when I pounced on him delivering a series of sharp brutal assults to his face and body. He was screaming for help and something about being robbed. The next thing I knew I was being pulled off the assailant.
When I looked up, Hotel security, the police, Tabby and Joe Morelli were all standing there. They were the least of my concern. I scanned the room looking for Pixie. To my surprise, she was leaning against the wall in cuffs.
"What are you doing? She is a kid. Get those cuffs off her, "I screamed!
"This man said the two of you attacked him. He told us you two tried to rob him," the police officer explained.
"We see this type of thing all the time with women like them," the officer said to Joe.
"It wasn't her fault. The girl had nothing to do with it," I insisted!
"Fine," the officer said as he took the handcuffs off of Pixie.
"No,"she protested!
I shook my head at her as the officers walked me out the door. Tabby stood nearby laughing, "Don't expect me to bail you out" she taunted.
Silently I was lead to a holding cell in the hotel.
"Someone will be in to take your statement in a few minutes," one of the officers told me. From there, you will be transported to the police station to be arraigned and await bail.
I sat there nervously tapping my foot trying to figure out what to do next. I knew that this was not a huge problem for me. My biggest concern was Pixie. The girl was ,beaten, scared and alone. Getting bailed out was not even going to be an issue. One call to Connie and I knew she would have me out of jail.
The door opened and Joe Morelli slinked in then slouched down in the chair across from me. His disapproving glare was intense as he reached across the table to ucuffed my hands.
"How's it going, cupcake," Joe sneered?
"What do you want, Joe" I sighed.
"Don't you mean thank you? I just got them to drop the case."
"Thanks, so what do I owe you," I asked suspiciously?
"You could go back home with me, he smirked.
"I'd rather go to jail, Morelli" I hissed.
"Yeah, I kinda figure that. So I'll settle for an explanation."
"What do you want me to explain, Joe?"
"This, explain this. Explain how you left a marriage and a good job to do this. Is why you have been so hard to find , Steph?"
"A marriage? Is that what you call the fraud we had going on while you were cheating on me, Morelli ?"
"I know I screwed up, Stephanie and I admitted it. I apologized and told you I loved you. Why couldn't you just stay and work it out. You never even gave me a chance, Steph" Joe shouted and he slammed his hand down on the table!
"Still the same Joe Morelli," I said.
"Still the same Stephanie. Every bit as stubborn as ever. You still love to hang out in the gutter with the low lifes. Tell me Steph, do your parents know what you are doing? If you leave here and go home with me tonight, I won't tell them. "
"You really are a pathetic man, Morelli."
"So, I guess that's a no. Hey, you can't blame a man for trying," Joe said as he stood to leave."
"You and the girl have to stay confined to your room until check out time. Any more problems and you both go to jail. And Cupcake, any time you want to return to our home, the door is always open," Joe said as he walked out the door.
The room was dark when I entered. The sounds of Pixies sniffling bounced off the walls. When I turned on the lights I saw the girl huddled in a chair. The look on her face tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes.
"Let's get you in the shower and wash that blood off of you," I said coaxing her out of the chair and into the bathroom. After turning on the water and checking the temperature, I helped Pixie out of her clothes. The girl stood there for several minutes letting the water wash over her without moving. I got in beside her and grabbed the shampoo then began to wash her hair. That was enough to get Pixie out of her trance. She began to wash up. After her shower, I towel dried the young hair. Once she was dressed in her pajamas I walked down to the ice machine for a bucket of ice. When I returned, I used a towel to make an ice pack for Pixie's face. Next, I took out some of my hair products and applied them to her hair. When I began to brush Pixie's hair tears poured from her eyes.
"My mama is the only one who has ever do this for me. I miss my mother," the girl cried.
"What happened to your mother," I asked quietly.
"She was deported along with my father. I was born here, they wanted me to finish school and go to college. This is my home. I have never lived anywhere else. It's just me here." Pixie sobbed.
I held her until she fell asleep. The next morning we were both packed dressed and in the car before 11:30 AM. My entire body ached from the fight but I did not care. I just wanted to get back home. The look on Tabby's face when she saw me sitting in the car was enough to make me forget the pain and smile.
"Wha-What are yo you doing here,"she stammered?
"Waiting to go home."
"But I thought you were ... she huffed and slouched in the passenger's seat."