Page 29 of Givin' Me Fitz!
She glanced at me before she looked down at the patio. “I, uh, I’m not sure what’s going on. Some of my regulars have canceled on me lately.”
I nodded. “Were any of your regulars a friend of Charles Smith?” If she couldn’t see it, she needed to take another look.
“I didn’t know Charles—”
“Don’t lie to me, Emily. The guy said he knew you. Were you snaking around a truck stop or did you do him at the Skylark?”
Her face paled. The woman had to know I wasn’t stupid. If she didn’t, she was about to learn it.
“I—I met him at a casino on The Strip on my day off. A few of us girls went to celebrate Lena’s birthday.” She began tangling her fingers together nervously.
Lena Charms was another one of our employees. She was a beautiful young biracial woman who came to work for us a year ago. She was working toward graduate school, and she made bank for the house. I vaguely remembered a request for permission to leave the house on the Sunday before Labor Day to celebrate Lena’s birthday.
“Okay, so is that the only time you saw him? What’s the rule about tricking on The Strip?”
“Oh, I don’t trick on The Strip, Bones. We went on a date to Orchids, the supper club in Summerlin, the next time he was in Vegas. We communicated by text to get to know each other between his trips to town. He lets me know when he’s in town, and we get dinner or go dancing together on my nights off. He wanted to see me on Thursday night, but I told him I had appointments I couldn’t cancel. He got mad and hung up on me, so I sent him a message that he could come to the house where I live.
“I hadn’t exactly told him I was a sex worker, so he got upset after I told him I’d have to charge him if he wanted to see me. Finally, he calmed down enough and made the appointment with Bess.
“When he got here, he thought I was kidding that I’d have to charge him, and the two of us got into an argument in my room. He lost his temper and lashed out. I’m sorry he caused a problem. I won’t see him again.”
That didn’t make me happy. “Emily, did you have sex with him other times that we didn’t know about? Did you not have sex again until Dr. Rains came to test you?”
She hung her head, just as I suspected. “I was careful. I used protection, Bones.”
I took a gulp of my beer. I never liked having to get rid of someone, but rules were rules. “I appreciate that, but you know the laws surrounding our work and that we abide by them stringently. You know we could have gotten our license jerked, and then what, Emily? I can’t trust you to follow the rules, so I’m afraid you’ll have to leave. I’ll give you until tomorrow to empty out your room. Bess will have your check ready in the morning.”
“Please, Bones! I won’t do it again. I have nowhere to go. This has been my home for the last six months since I got out of rehab after my arrest.” She started crying, but that shit never worked on me.
“I’m sorry, Emily, but it’s a deal-breaker. We have too much at stake to risk our license over one employee who thinks the rules don’t apply to her.”
Standing up, I finished the beer and took it to the recycle bin by the house. “Tomorrow, Emily.”
I went inside without another word. I didn’t hear a compelling enough case not to fire her, but maybe it was time for an example so the others didn’t think they could skirt the rules, too.
A few guys were chatting with some of our employees in the lounge. Bess was signing someone in at the front desk, so I waited until she finished. I hadn’t seen Ricky Marlow, a member of the Cowboys who was supposed to be providing security at the house, so I slid my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and dialed his number.
“Yeah?” It was Rick.
“Where the fuck are you?” I was at the end of my patience with everyone.
“I’m out at East Adkisson as scheduled. I got a text from Hobie about the robbery at Tumbleweeds. Did they wipe us out?”
I could hear his voice echoing down the hallway as well as over the phone. I ended the call and waited for the fucker to see me standing to his right. When he stepped into the lounge, I saw his hair was wet and a wild mess. I didn’t move, surprised when TJ came down behind him in about the same shape.
“Just the two people I was looking for. Gentlemen, let’s take this outside.” I turned on my heel and headed out the back door, stopping to get myself another beer.
When TJ and Ricky joined me at the picnic table, my eyes fixed on Ricky. He’d been patched into the club under Dad while I was in the Army, though he never wanted any responsibilities as far as the executive committee was concerned.
If I sent out a message for volunteers at The Roundup or at any of our businesses, Ricky would show up without being asked a second time. His day job was lead mechanic at a car dealership on Durango. He wanted to keep club business as far from his job as possible, asking us not to bring mechanic work to his shop, and I didn’t hold it against him.
“So, what’s this little clusterfuck?” I motioned my finger between them.
TJ shoved his hands in the pockets of his track pants, but I kept my eyes on Ricky. “You pay him?”
“It’s not like that, Bones.”
I turned to TJ. “What’s it like?”
