Page 29 of Linebacker
“Okay, okay. I’ll let you in but please try not to attract too much attention.”
“Look, I promised my girl some sexy dancers, so are you going to make it happen or what?”
“We have curtained off areas at the back of the room. It’s where the dancers do private lap dances for the customers. Why don’t I set you up in one of those and then I can arrange for a few of the girls to come on through and you can take your pick?”
I don’t answer straight away. I’m enjoying making him stew for a bit longer. I tilt my head to one side and look up at the ceiling, as if contemplating his offer. God of earth, even the fucking ceiling is gold. “That could work, I suppose,” I eventually respond. “Throw in free entry and drink a piece and you could have yourself a deal.”
CHAPTER24
As the room has subdued lighting, except for spotlights that hit the T-shaped stage in the centre of the room where two busty topless girls wearing the tiniest of G-strings are doing their thing, we manage to slip past the rest of the punters undetected. Which is a miracle in itself, especially when I trip, nearly going arse over tit while being distracted by one of the naked girls that is suspended hands-free, about two feet from the floor. The only thing keeping her from hitting the deck is her butt cheeks clamped around the silver pole. Bloody hell, talk about buns of steel. More like titanium buttocks.
Creepster, as I’ve decided on nicknaming the reception dude, suddenly stops before he pulls back a red velvet curtain and ushers us inside. The cordoned-off area isn’t huge and consists of a curved faux leather sofa that, at a push, you could squeeze three or four people on with a small round table to each side. Nothing else, but then what else would you need for a private lap dance other than somewhere to sit and an actual dancer, of course.
“All the girls are busy at the moment, so I’ll get one of the waitresses to come and take your drinks order. A couple of the ladies will be free in around twenty to thirty minutes, so I’ll send them into you.” With that, he turns to leave, making sure that the curtain is fully closed behind him.
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Lucy asks wide-eyed, her hands fidgeting at her side. “I’m sure as hell not going to sit down on that thing,” she points to the curved leather bench, “Eww, can you imagine what bodily fluids could be still impregnated into the fabric.”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” I agree, scrunching up my nose and faking a retch. “Right, you stay here, I’m going to check out the other booths.”
“This is crazy,” Lucy whisper shouts as she grabs my elbow. “Let’s just go. Chances are Marshall’s not even here.”
“No way. He’s here alright.” I don’t tell Lucy that I can sense his presence. I’m sure that’s why I looked up at the very moment he was sneaking out of the hotel. It’s difficult to explain and sounds mad, but it’s like I can feel his energy when he’s close. My skin begins to tingle, and goosebumps pepper my skin. I felt it then, and I can feel it now. “Look, you stay here, I’ll be quick and if the waitress comes, tell her I’ve gone to the bathroom.”
“Fuck to the no,” Lucy snaps loudly. I shush her, but she ignores me and adds. “There’s no way we’re splitting up. I’m coming with you.”
“Okay,” I agree almost at once because, to be honest, this place is freaking me out, and I do believe that there’s safety in numbers. “Stay close behind me and keep your eyes peeled for Creepster. If he catches us, I’m not sure I can talk our way out of this a second time, so we might have to make a run for it.”
“Me to you, stuck like glue.” God, she’s so adorably nerdy at times.
I open the curtain just enough to peek out and see how the land lies.
Fortunately, there is no sight of Creepster, but I do notice a couple of dark-suited, big buggers standing at each side of the room, no doubt on duty in case any of the punters get too handsy. They seem to be pretty occupied with the rowdy men sat at the tables around the stage area, so I step out from behind the curtain and usher Lucy to follow.
Like a couple of prowling cats, we move from booth to booth, peeking around the curtains. We don’t linger; it’s not like I am about to take up voyeurism or anything. It’s a quick look to satisfy my spider senses that Mars is not in that particular booth. When I step up to the last but one, that we can see anyway, my body reacts in the same way as it did back in the hotel bar.
“He’s in there,” I mouth to Lucy. “I just know it.”
“Right,” she mouths back, but I can tell by the raising of her eyebrows and the way her tongue clicks on the roof of her mouth that she’s sceptical. I poke my head around the curtain, and sure as pricks have dicks, Vance Marshall is sat dead centre in the middle of an identical couch to what was in our room, oblivious to what might have been left behind prior to his arse hitting it. He’s legs are sprawled wide open; his arms stretched across the back of the leather seating. Not one, not two, but three girls are showing him attention. Two of them sit at each side of him, while the third kneels between his open legs. Each of them swaying and twerking their bodies seductively to the sound of Move, Shake, Drop by Flo Rida. His head is slowly rolling from side to side, his eyes seem to be unable to focus on anything. There’s a stupid grin plastered all over his face, his speech is slurred and garbled. He’s obviously pissed out of his tiny mind, even though I’m lost as to how he could have got so drunk in the short time he’s been here. When we’d watched him take off down the street earlier, he hadn’t been staggering or anything. Guess Mars is a bit of a lightweight when it comes to drinking.
All the girls are focused on what they’re doing and are oblivious to both Lucy and me as we step all the way into the room.
Soon it becomes clear why, when I watch one of the girls’ hands fall to the waistband of his jeans, flick the button and start to pull down the zip. Flash, flash. The girl on the floor leans close, and another flash of light goes off. The slutty little cow bags are taking photos of his cock, no doubt so they can sell them for the highest bid to some paparazzi dirtbag.
I can already see the headlines
‘Disgrace in Denver.
Infamous Bad Boy Vance Marshall caught yet again with his pants down the night before a major league game.’
I can’t let that happen.
“Hey, bitches,” I yell loud enough so they can hear me over the music. Not to give them too much time to react, I swiftly move towards the girl on the floor and snatch the mobile phone from her hand that she’s using to record the evidence and, ultimately their meal ticket. “Does your boss know that you’re taking pictures?” I sneer at her. “Cos, I swear to fuck, I saw a ‘No photography allowed on these premises’ notice on the way in.”
“Fuck,” the girl sitting on Mars’ left shrieks out in surprise and jumps to her feet. “We weren’t doing anything.”
“I call bullshit,” I snide back at her. Opening the photo app, I see that they have taken a handful of pictures. All of them show Mars in compromising positions, and it’s clear to me that they have been carefully staged, all showing him with his eyes open and a stupid sexy grin on his face. The press and news channels would have a field day with them. From what I’m led to believe, Mars is on borrowed time unless he turns it around pretty quickly. This is certainly damning enough to push the clubs’ board of directors over the edge and terminate his contract with the Montana Longhorns. “This is a fucking dirty trick, ladies.” I stop on each image and quickly remove it because, honestly, it sickens me to look at them. “Do you know it’s against the law to take photographs of someone without their permission?” Once I’m sure all the clips have been removed, even double-checking for any video and cloud storage, I hold out the phone to hand it back. “I suggest you think twice in future when you get a half-cocked idea like this again, because you’re damn lucky I’m not calling the cops and hauling your arses through court. Now, you two,” I point at the two girls that had been pawing Mars, “piss off and make sure that you keep your boss and the bouncers away from here; otherwise I might damn well change my mind.” With a quick nod of agreement, they scoot towards the curtain and slip out. The third one goes to follow but I grab her by the arm and pull her back. “Not you. You can stick around. We need you to show us the back way out of here, so we can get out of this place undetected.
I unlock my phone and pass it to Lucy. “Call a couple of the guys. Get them to come down here. We’ll need help to get this big lump of stupid back to the hotel without being seen.”
