Tough Guy: A Hero Club Novel by Jamie Schmidt (the reading list .TXT) 📗

few weeks ago. There was a man at the club that came in to see her sometimes. One of the dancers told me he was an older guy. White hair, short beard? Did she ever talk about him or bring him around?”

Becka frowned and shook her head. “She never had anyone over, and I don’t remember her talking about a guy.”

“What reason did she give you for moving out so suddenly?”

“She said she got a gig that included room and board.” Becka looked into her cup of coffee, then back up at me.

“Like a hospitality job. Maybe for one of the hotels around here?”

“She wouldn’t tell me. I got the impression that it was a more . . . private contract.”

I felt an icy chill. “Do you think it was sex work?”

“Why? Because all strippers are hookers?” Becka snapped.

“No.” But it had crossed my mind. If Lisa was willing to strip for quick cash, she could have also convinced herself that she could sell her body to pay off her medical bills. It didn’t sound so farfetched. Lisa hated owing anything to anybody. She was the only person I knew who didn’t have any credit card debt or student loans. “But it would account for why she hasn’t contacted us in two weeks and has been super secretive. Did she ever say why she came to Vegas?”

“She said she wanted a change of scenery and she was sick of the New York winters. She might have mentioned that her family was a little clingy. You look like her, now that I’m more awake.”

“I do?” No one had ever said that to me before.

“Same eyes. Same expressions. Why are you here?”

“My parents are terrified something happened to her.”

“So why aren’t they here? Why did they send you?”

I shrugged. “It’s what I do.”

“Maybe Lisa isn’t the only one who needs a change of scene.”

I thought briefly about Miles. “Vegas does have a certain charm.”

“That goes away after you live here for a while. I don’t know where she’s working now or why she’d leave. She had a good deal at Dalton’s.”

“In what way?”

“How well do you know Miles?”

“I don’t really.” Although, he knew a lot about me from that little dance that I did. I fought a blush, but Becka noticed it.

“He’s sex on a stick, isn’t he? I used to work for him. He’s one of the good guys and takes care of his employees. He’s at that club twenty-four seven and knows what’s going down there. Lisa wouldn’t have left unless she got a better deal with someone she trusted.”

“Is that why you left?”

“I got sick of the groping and the cheap-ass tippers. At least with waitressing you only have to put up with an ass pinch and a stray hand here and there, and the tips are just as good.”

“As good as the VIP room?”

She barked out a quick laugh. “No. I do miss that part. The money. Not the men.”

“Did Lisa feel uncomfortable with it?”

Shrugging, Becka lit up a cigarette. I tried not to make a face. I hated the smell, but it was her house. “She liked the money.”

“You don’t have any idea where she went or why?” She’d already said she didn’t, but I was hoping for a different answer.

“I wish I did. Like I said, she owed me rent.”

“I’m at a dead end following my sister’s trail. The only thing I was able to find out from the dancers at Dalton’s was about that recurring customer I mentioned. I’m going to strip there this week to try and find out where she might have gone.”

Becka smiled. “You’d do that for your sister?”

If I was being honest, I was doing it for me too. I had wanted to dance on the stage and now was my chance. Of course, the men at the club weren’t buying tickets to see my Cabaret number. But the thought of being watched and an object of desire was appealing, and part of me wanted to see the lust in Miles Carvello’s eyes again.

“Once I get an exotic dancer to let me subcontract with them.”

“I’ll hire you for a small weekly fee.”

“How small?”

Becka thought about it. “A hundred dollars a week. Pay me the first week right now and I’ll send the paperwork over to Dalton’s tomorrow.”

“You got a deal.” I shook her hand and handed her a hundred from my rapidly dwindling pile. I hadn’t been in Vegas a full day and I already spent half the money my mother gave me.

“Why do think dancing at Dalton’s will help find your sister?”

“I’m hoping her mystery man will come back and I can ask him some questions. Maybe Lisa will show up.” I shrugged. “I’ve got two weeks before I have to get back home. I’ll be able to gather more clues at Dalton’s than I will in my hotel room.”

“Just be careful,” Becka said. “Miles and his security team are the best, but even they can’t be everywhere. That part of town isn’t the greatest and if it’s not gang problems, it’s the drugs.”

“Was Lisa using?” I didn’t think she was. If I hadn’t taken her to get her stomach pumped, I would never even had asked.

“She had a full prescription of oxy, but I think that was just for her knee.”

If she was taking opioids for the pain, there was something really wrong. When she was working, it had been hard enough to get Lisa to take an aspirin.

“Was there anything out of the ordinary going on with her in the days leading up to her moving out?”

“I’m sorry I’m not more help,” Becka said. “We both worked nights and kept to ourselves. We shared a meal or two and hung out with drinks in front of the television a few days a week, but we weren’t close. I did get the feeling that she was very unhappy and was trying everything she could think of not to be.”

“Did she ever mention money issues?”

“No.”

“Did she leave a forwarding