Page 34 of Wild Idol
“That guy fucked my girlfriend, dude. What am I supposed to do? Just sit back and let that shit go on?”
“Doesn’t look like she’s your girlfriend anymore.”
I called dispatch and told them to send a patrol unit to the scene for good measure.
I asked one of the bouncers if Eddie was around.
“Yeah, I think he’s inside somewhere.”
Jack and I skipped to the front of the line and walked inside. Chill music pumped through speakers. The place was packed with pretty people.
I had looked up Eddie’s social media profile before we arrived. He was a short stocky guy with the face of a boxer. He had a slick head, narrow brown eyes, and a strong jaw that was lined with stubble in most of the pictures I saw.
I looked around the club, but didn’t see him anywhere. There were so many people and so many nooks and crannies to hang out in. I figured a guy like Eddie wouldn’t be in the main area. He’d be in the VIP room.
JD and I snaked through the crowd and made our way to the secluded room. Another bouncer stood out front. JD and I flashed our shiny gold VIP passes and were granted immediate access.
It was much less crowded.
There was room to breathe, and it wasn’t as loud. You could have a conversation in this part of the club. The VIP room was a magnet for smoke shows. There were good-looking girls in the main part of the club, but this was where the cream of the crop had conglomerated. Of course, there were plenty of wealthy individuals paying for bottle service, burning through cash like it was toilet paper. An oil sheik had numerous girls pawing all over him. Toby Nix was in the club. It was getting to be a regular hang out for him. The basketball star had no shortage of buxom blondes fawning all over him.
I figured we’d have a talk with him momentarily, but I wanted to speak with Eddie first.
He sat on a couch at the far end of the room with no shortage of drool-worthy women vying for his attention. It was his castle, and he was king of his domain.
The joyous look on his face soured when I flashed my badge as we approached.
I beamed a disarming smile. “I hate to interrupt your evening, but I’ve got a few questions for you.”
“What kind of questions?”
“I hear Sable Fox is a regular. I hear she owes you a few dollars.”
Eddie looked at his companions. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”
The girls frowned but made themselves scarce.
Eddie stood up. “She owes me more than a few dollars.”
“500,000 to be exact, right?”
Eddie looked impressed. “Give or take.”
“How does somebody spend $500,000 in a club like this?”
Eddie laughed. “It’s easy. Buy a few expensive bottles of liquor for dozens of your closest friends and do that night after night for several months. You can rack up a hell of a tab quite quickly.”
“I guess a better question would have been, why did you extend her so much credit?”
Eddie shrugged. “I thought she was good for it. She had a hit song. I figure she’s rolling in it. She could at least pay me. Sell one of those fancy cars if she can’t afford it.”
“Well, she doesn’t have the fancy car anymore.”
“I’m sure she’s got another,” Eddie replied. “Just because she’s a star doesn’t give her a license to steal.”
“Having her around is good for business, isn’t it?”
Eddie smiled. “I don’t need publicity. I was doing just fine before Sable Fox came into this bar, and I’ll do just fine without her.”
