Page 88 of Fighting a Riot

He set the tray on my lap. “How do you know he was looking for something?”

I grinned. “You said he was still looking high and low for it, whatever ‘it’ is.”

He grabbed his bowl of soup and rounded the bed. “He’s looking for his cell.”

“Oh man, that sucks.”

Yak gave a light chuckle. “Not so sure Punc sees it that way since it was a pre-paid and he doesn’t like the idea of having his info tied to a device –or whatever the fuck he ranted about.”

I wobbled my head as I ate some of the soup. “I can see that. All the crap companies force you do on your phone now, it’s nuts. Mom and Gary can’t stand it.”

Yak swallowed some soup. “Well, it’s strange to me that he lost it. It’s like everyone at Platinum’s is losing their fuckin’ phones. A dancer lost hers a few weeks back, but then Tundra found it in the parking lot not fifteen minutes later. Now Punc’s lost his…”

He trailed off, and I got the feeling he was trying to figure something out. Though what there was to figure out I didn’t know.

“You make it sound like there’s something sinister going on.”

I watched as Yak put his soup bowl to his lips and drunk down the remainder. He set it on his nightstand. “Don’t you worry about it, Nora.”

With a chuckle, I set my spoon on the tray. “That’s a sure fire way to encourage me to worry about something.”

He shifted in the bed to look at me. “Strippers make easy marks. Some of our dancers have been targeted, and Punc was attacked two months ago. We’ve taken precautions to keep that shit from happening again.”

My eyes widened. “What the hell, Yak?”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? Why do you sound angry?”

“Because I am,” I scoffed. “You could be attacked. And you’re telling me not to worry about it.”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. I leave after everyone else when I close and the sun’s so bright when we open, everyone would see an attacker.”

I frowned. “Not always.”

He took a deep breath. “What do you mean not always? How would you know?”

“The night… or more like the morning you brought me here, there was a guy in the parking lot watching us. He lifted his chin at you, it’s the only reason I didn’t mention it to you at the time.”

His bronze eyes focused on something just over my shoulder and he sunk his teeth into his lower lip. “Yeah, you’re right, but that was Ralph, the head of the cleaning crew.”

I pressed my lips together and kept quiet.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s just that I could swear this man was wearing a Riot cut just like yours.”

He stared at me for a few moments. “Part of me thinks you’re misremembering things, but my gut says I need to check into it. Guess I know what I’ll be doing while you get some sleep.”

“What’s that?” I asked, scooping up some soup.

“I’ll be checking how long we keep footage from the parking lot and reviewing who you saw.”

I dunked a saltine into the broth. “Maybe I can help you with that.”

He grinned at me. “I saw you try to hide that yawn. You’re finishing your soup, brushing your teeth, and going to bed, Nora.”

I twisted my head so I locked eyes with him. “I’d ask you to dial it back on the bossy, but I’m pretty sure you won’t listen.”

“Gorgeous and smart, I like it,” he said with a grin.

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