Page 73 of Hiss and Make Up
Johnny frowned. “I see him a couple days a week. When he’s around. Doesn’t cause no trouble or nothing like that. Not that I see. But yeah, he hits the back rooms once in a while.”
Gambling. That made sense. Josh was playing cards and owed somebody more than he could pay. But that wouldn’t be enough proof for Denise. Not to believe there was some connection between her husband gambling and losing her house in a fire.
“So these private games, there’s a lot of money involved?”
“Sometimes.” Johnny grinned. “Private games. I like that. Mind if I use it?”
“Um, sure. That’s what we’re talking about, right?”
“Sure are,” Johnny said, laughing.
Marc and Freddy exchanged confused glances. Freddy asked, “Which establishment are we talking about? If I wanted in on the action, where would I find him?”
The waitress brought their drinks, and the three fell silent, waiting as she placed the plastic glasses in front of them and tossed a pile of straws on the table. She smacked her gum, winked at Freddy, and left. As soon as she was out of earshot, all three leaned over the table again.
“The Daily Catch,” Johnny whispered.
He only knew of one business with that name, a couple of miles away near the Vermilion river. “They have a poker room in there?”
Freddy laugh-snorted and took a sip of Coke. Johnny was quiet for a second then erupted into a thick, rolling laugh.
“What?” Marc asked, not getting the joke.
“Poker. Ha! I’ll have to use that one.”
Freddy elbowed Marc. “It’s a strip club, you idiot.”
“I know that.” He also knew it was the dirtiest, most run-down one in the region. It had a health code violations list a mile long. It had also been raided more times than most, but he’d never heard about the cops busting any card games there. Then again, he wasn’t exactly on the Need-to-Know List for that kind of thing.
Johnny drew a few long breaths to stop his laughter, then fell into a coughing fit. He sucked up some water and slicked back his dirty, blond hair. He pointed at Marc and said to Freddy, “Your friend’s a trip. You know that?” He looked back at Marc. “You two come down some time. I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Deal!” said Freddy.
“Thanks, but I really just need to know about Josh. Does he owe any money to anyone over there?”
“Nah, we got a strict cash-only policy, if you know what I mean. Except for the bar. Your ‘friend’ had run up a tab, which I believe is the charge you called about.”
“As far as you know, does he owe anybody money?”
“Listen,” Johnny said. “He pays, they dance. He’s out of money, they don’t dance. Nobody owes nobody nothing. Got it?”
Freddy smacked Marc on the arm. “Come on, man. There’s no square card swipe thingy in those g-strings. Cash only. What’s the matter with you?”
He’d been so sure Josh was involved in some sort of illegal gambling that he wasn’t hearing the obvious answer here.
Marc rubbed his eyes and tried to process it all while Freddy continued to laugh at him in the corner. “So you’re—”
“The bouncer. And training once a week as night manager. What did you think I was?”
Marc shook his head. “Never mind.”
So his brother-in-law was guilty of spending more time and money than he probably should have at a strip club and doing who knows what else behind Denise’s back. As much as Marc wanted to track the guy down and knock some sense into him, none of this tied Josh to the events this week.
He opened his eyes as the waitress brought their burger baskets and Johnny’s salad. He stared at his sandwich and didn’t think he could finish a single bite. Johnny and Freddy, on the other hand, had no difficulty diving in.
Johnny swallowed a huge mouthful of lettuce, then pointed at Marc’s burger. “What’s the matter? Not what you wanted?”
This time, Marc was the one who laughed. “No. Not exactly.”
