Page 36 of Ghost

“Sounds good,” I said as I dismounted and stepped on the sidewalk.

After Brax talked with Mick, the contractor, and we looked over what they had done so far, which was splitting the storage area up and building the wall between the two, we were back on our bikes and headed to the strip club in under an hour.

The parking lot at Soft Tails had several bikes lined in the front of the building when we pulled in. Once we were off the bikes and walking through the door was when we heard the raised voices coming from the kitchen area, which was behind the bar. Stem looked over his shoulder from his spot at the bar where he emptied a box and lined the bottles of liquor on the shelves.

“Enter in there at your own risk,” Stem said and thumbed toward the kitchen.

“What is Perry bitchin’ about?” Ghost asked.

“Does the man need a reason?” Tank came through the swinging door just as Stem spoke.

“Hey, brother. Luna,” Tank said and ran his hand down his face. “Jesus, I didn’t know how much Sami kept his ass in line.”

“What set him off this time?” Brax asked.

“Hell, the liquor delivery came, and Dare was checking off as Lock stacked the boxes inside the door until they were done unloading. The extra inventory would go in the storage room after the bar was stocked. Perry yelled at him because the food delivery pulled up and the boxes were in the way. Then Prez sent Cobalt to help after he was done on his shift at the gate. He pulled up in time to help with the food and Perry jumped him because he put the shit in the wrong place in the walk-in,” Tank said, blew out a breath, and grinned. “I came out because I heard him yelling from the office. Shit, I thought someone broke into the kitchen.”

“I’m pretty sure your mention of a change in the menu didn’t help either,” Dare said as he joined us.

“What the hell, Tank?” Brax asked.

“I thought it would give the old bastard something else to focus on.”

Dare shook his head. “Oh, it worked. Took his focus right off Lock and Cobalt and moved to thoughts of stabbing you,” Dare said and slapped Tank on the back.

“Crazy, is what he is. Now, please tell me you are here to help me, Luna?” Tank asked.

“If it’s to go over the list of strippers, then yes. To help with the kitchen tyrant, no,” I said, and Dare laughed.

“Damn, she catches on quick, Ghost,” Dare said, and Brax slung his arm over my shoulders.

“Brains and beauty,” Brax said, leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “And mine.”

“Like that isn’t obvious,” Tank said and chuckled. “It won’t take long to go over the list. It’s back in the office if you can look at it now.”

“Yeah, that would be good,” I answered.

“Dare, if you got a few minutes, I’d like to talk with you while Luna’s with Tank,” Brax said, and Dare nodded.

“We can sit at one of the tables. What’s up?” Dare asked.

“Got a proposition for you,” Brax said and just like that the two men moved away and sat at one of the tables.

“Well, guess that leaves us,” Tank said and motioned for me to follow him.

In Tank’s office, I sat in the chair in front of the desk. He had a nice list of some of the top strippers who bought in good crowds wherever they were showcased.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“Good list.” I reached for a pen off the desk and marked through two names. “Gonna want to stay away from the couple I marked off. Rumor is they don’t bring a take like they used to do, and their attitudes aren’t worth any rise in revenue.”

“What about the rest?”

“Few names on here I’ve not heard of, but they could be up and comers. If their guaranteed amount isn’t much, you could give them a try. You’re going to want to stick to weekends only for the spotlight spots. One every two months to start so it will give you an idea if it’s going to be worth the club’s time. You start drawing in a client base, then move to a showcase a month. Line them up and have them booked, then advertise beforehand,” I said and continued down the list, rating the ones I knew of with stars.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to look at this. Gonna be a problem if I ask for help if I come up against something I don’t know how to do or deal with?”

“Not a problem. Just call me, I’ll help if I can.” I handed the list back. “Number seven, Limber Lacey? Never seen her on the stage but, heard she can do shit on the pole that will bring the first night crowd back the next night.” I laughed when Tank picked up a highlighter and marked the name with it.

---