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

here?” he asked, sitting in the armchair across from me. He still had half a beer, so I tossed him a coaster while I told him about Ginny selling drugs to frat boys in the dressing room and finding the stash in Paulie’s locker.

“Let me see the haul.”

I opened the safe and handed over the pistol and the drugs. “This was what I found in the locker.” Grier frowned and turned the bags over and over while he looked at them. He opened the one with the pills and squinted at the capsule. Then he took the powder and tentatively sniffed. Turning away, he sneezed into his shoulder.

“You made me come out here special for this shit? At least Miranda made it worth the trip,” he said.

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s not enough weed here to make a profit. The powder could have traces of coke in it, but it’s mostly talc and I’m pretty sure these are over-the-counter allergy meds.” He waved the bag of pills.

“What the crap?”

“I’ll run a trace on the pistol, but I don’t think it will give us anything. Someone was either setting Paulie up or is fucking with you. Let me see Ginny’s stash.”

Getting the smaller baggies out of the safe, I looked them over and then tossed them to him. It seemed like the same shit to me. “Why would they be setting Paulie up?”

“To get heat taken off of them. Because Paulie pissed them off. There’s a whole host of reasons.” He pocketed the pistol.

I watched as Grier compared the two sets of drugs.

“This shit is real. I’ll see if I can trace them back to a known batch.” Leaning back in his chair. “You shouldn’t have fired Ginny.”

“I wasn’t thinking. I was pissed.”

“Is there any way she’d come back?”

I made a face. “Maybe if I kissed her ass and begged.”

“Do it.”

“Why?”

“Because she’ll behave for a few weeks and then get right back into it. And then I’ll send a frat boy of my own choosing to buy from her and we’ll see if she’ll make a deal.”

“You can pick her up right now based on this stuff, right? I caught her in the act. That’s possession and intent to sell right there.”

Grier held up a hand. “Settle down, Columbo. It’s not that easy. It would be your word against hers. You didn’t actually see money exchange hands, did you?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Did you get the little frat asshole’s name and number?”

“No.”

“Then a competent lawyer would argue that the drugs were his and she’d walk.”

“Fuck.” I rubbed my hand over my face.

“Get Ginny back here and we can try again.” Grier got up to leave. I walked him to the door. Scrolling through my phone, I hoped I had deleted Ginny’s number so I wouldn’t have to call her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that organized.

Opening the door for him, I said, “I’ll give her a call and grovel.”

“Do that. And if you get any more like this,” he shook the baggies, “give me a call. Oh, excuse me, Miss.”

I looked up from dialing Ginny and saw Jackie standing there, stunned as Grier moved around her and went back into club.

“How did it go?” I asked.

She turned on her heel and stormed away.

“Jackie, wait!”

Ginny took that moment to answer the phone. “I knew you’d call.”

Fuck. I wanted to go after Jackie, but I needed to get on Ginny’s good side first. “Yeah, look. I’m sorry. I was a dick that night. If you still want a job, you got it.” That ought to be enough, right?

“Just like that?”

“Don’t break my balls.” I watched as Jackie stormed past Grier and out of the club. Fuck.

“I don’t want to work Sundays. I want prime time Friday and Saturday.”

“Fine,” I bit out, telling myself I was doing this so Grier would share information with me.

“And I want to negotiate your percentage,” she said.

“My percentage is fair,” I said. If word got out that I was willing to drop my cut, I’d be in a load of trouble. “I don’t charge a house fee or make you tip out.”

Although most of the dancers did tip the bus staff, DJs, and bouncers at the end of the night.

“You owe me for being mean to me,” she wheedled.

I had to get this bitch off the phone and go after Jackie. “If you want the job be here Friday night. If not, don’t. You’re getting the same fifty-fifty split as all the other girls, though.”

“I’ll think about it.” She hung up on me.

I rushed through the bar after Jackie.

Jackie Mitchell

Oh my God. Miles was a drug dealer. I barely made it to my car before I started to cry. How could I have been so stupid? I pulled out into traffic and headed back to the Strip. I’d go to Pahrump on my own. I should have known better than to get so involved before I knew a thing about Miles aside from the fact he fucked like a Greek god. I didn’t even get a chance to tell him about the audition. I realized I was too upset to drive, so I pulled into a parking garage until I got under control.

Did Lisa leave Dalton’s because she didn’t want to be involved with the drug scene?

Miles was blowing up my phone, but I didn’t want to deal with him right now. Damn it. All I wanted was to ride the buzz of my audition for a little while and have some hot sex with a man I really liked before I had to drive two hours to track down Lisa. I didn’t even know him. And I had no one to blame, but Las Vegas Jackie.

My stomach growled loudly, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I’d danced my ass off at the audition, so those calories were long gone. Getting out of the car, I decided to grab a late lunch and a few cups of coffee before heading out. Walking down the Strip, I barely registered the