Page 12 of Juno

“You’re Daniels, right?” Juno asked. He nodded and she was glad that little problem was solved. “Well, I was at work last night,” she started, hoping that she wouldn’t have to tell them where she worked.

“And where is your work located?” Riggs asked.

“I used to work at a strip club downtown. It’s on Tenth and Elm Street.” Juno refused to look at Banshee until she squeezed her hand and winked at her as though trying to tell Juno that she’d be okay.

“I was fired last night,” she said.

“Why were you fired?” Officer Daniels asked.

“It’s a long story, but here it is in a nutshell. I forgot my phone and ran into the club after it had closed. I was flustered because Saint had found me dancing on stage earlier and I was afraid that he’d blow my cover. None of my friends or family knew what I was doing. They all thought that I was a secretary at a law firm a few towns over. I ran back into the club and my boss, Bruno, was still there. He had found my phone and was playing keep away with it—like a jerk.”

“Then what happened?” Officer Riggs asked.

“He told me that he’d give me my phone back if I’d kiss him.” Banshee gasped next to her, and Juno worried that she’d change her mind about helping her out.

“Did you kiss him?” Officer Daniels asked.

“Of course I didn’t,” Juno spat, “how could you even ask me that question?”

“I’m sorry, but we need to cover all our bases,” Officer Riggs insisted.

“Okay, then let’s skip to the part where he tried to get me to have sex with him or I’d lose my job,” Juno said. The looks on each of the men’s faces was worth spilling that little secret. “And for the record, I didn’t have sex with him either. That’s why I’m now jobless,” she said.

“So, you called us to file a complaint about losing your job?” Officer Daniels asked.

“She called you to file a complaint about her former boss propositioning her for sex,” Saint growled. He didn’t need to come to her rescue. She was used to doing that for herself, but it was nice to have someone in her corner for a change. Juno didn’t feel so alone.

“Given the fact that she worked at a strip club, I’m not sure that he’ll ever be found guilty,” Officer Riggs insisted.

“That’s discrimination,” Banshee spat. “It doesn’t matter what she did for a living, the guy is a pig and should be arrested.”

“Other girls down at the club were forced to have sex with him,” she almost whispered. “I was lucky that Saint came to my rescue, but Bruno had forced the other girls to agree to have sex with him in order to keep their jobs. Some of them are single mothers and need their job to put food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads. They had no choice. Others were underage and they were afraid that if they told anyone about Bruno, they would get in trouble for working at the club.”

“I’m sorry that you’ve been dealing with all that alone,” Banshee said.

“Me too,” Saint agreed. He reached for her other hand, and she allowed him to take it into his own. Having Banshee on one side of her and Saint on the other, giving her their support, gave her the courage to continue.

“We’re getting a little off track though,” Juno said, trying to reign them all in. She really didn’t care about Bruno threatening her job if she didn’t have sex with him. What she did care about was Bruno possibly being the one to set her car on fire.

“Okay, how about you get us back on track then,” Officer Daniels said.

“I had to run Saint to the emergency room because we both fell in the parking lot, and he broke his arm. I felt responsible,” she said.

“Which you weren’t,” Saint interrupted.

“I felt responsible,” she repeated, “and drove his truck to the hospital, leaving my car in the parking lot,” she said.

“Wait—was it the one that someone set fire to?” Officer Riggs asked.

“Yes, how did you know?” Juno asked.

“Someone who lives in the area called us to report a burned-up car down at the club this morning before dawn. I’m guessing that was your car,” Officer Daniels asked.

“Do you get many burned cars parked at strip clubs?” Juno asked. Saint chuckled and squeezed her hand, reminding her that their hands were still joined.

“Being a smart ass won’t help your case,” Officer Riggs said.

“Of course,” she said, “yes, that was my car. Did you find anything out about who set it on fire?” Juno asked.

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