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

I almost didn't answer it when my phone rang, but I saw it was Chance.

“Howzit?” he asked.

And suddenly I had a plan. “What are you and the boys doing tonight?”

“Are you on the pole this evening?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I've actually got a callback to audition tonight for a dancing part in the Odyssey casino’s new show, Travesty.”

“Congrats. You'll blow them all the way. I can’t wait to tell all the blokes that I knew you when.”

Could you become a big star when you started out as a showgirl? Why not? I closed my eyes. Too much pressure. I will not puke. I will not puke.

“You all right?”

“Can you do me a favor? It's a big one.”

“Go ahead.”

“Miles and I tracked Lisa down.”

“That's great news. But you don't sound so happy. What's the bad news?”

“Tonight is her opening night. She's the star of a burlesque show in Carson City. I can't be there because of my audition. I'm afraid she's going to rabbit, and I won’t be able to pick up her trail again.”

“What can I do?” Chance asked.

“It's an hour away by plane and it's about three hundred dollars round trip. I can pay your ticket. Do you think you could go to the show and talk to her afterward? She's had a crush on you forever. I know if you ask her to call me, she won't be able to refuse you.”

“You're putting a lot of faith in a man she's never met.”

“You were half naked on her wall for over a year. Just give her that cocky grin and she'll be putty in your hands.”

“Give me the deets,” he said.

I read him everything from the poster I had. “Can you come to the Wynn and I'll give you the money?”

“Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Three hundred dollars is a steak dinner to these arseholes. They'd love to fly on a charter plane to a burlesque show. And I for one, want to see who’s the better dancer, you or Lisa.”

“She is,” I mumbled.

“She was,” he said. “It's your turn to shine. I want to hear all about your audition. Just remember, you've got me and Miles in your corner.”

“Yeah, I do. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for Miles.” I owed him big. After I got home from the audition, I'd go over to Dalton's and tell him that. And convince him to go back to the Wynn with me. I gave a test bounce on the bed. Not even the slightest squeak. That was all right—there were other noises to make.

“Chance, you're the greatest.”

“I am, aren't I?”

“And so modest. Thank you so much for doing this for me.” I owed Chance big too, but he was going to have to settle for a fruit basket or something.

“Like I said, we responsible siblings have to look out for each other.”

“True. Have fun tonight.”

“I think we will. I'll call you after.”

I thanked him again and hung up.

Getting ready for the second callback was more nerve-racking than going to the first one. I had more time to plan and rehearse the number over and over again in my hotel room. I did my best thinking while I was dancing, but today my mind refused to settle down.

If I didn’t get the job, no harm, no foul. The Zimmerman Agency would never have to know that I went instead of Lisa. If I did get the job—my feet tripped up and I used the bed to catch my fall.

“Nice one, Jackie,” I said to myself. “Be sure to do that on stage. That will really impress them.”

I forced myself to sit still while I finished the thought. If I did get the job, I would have to turn it down and I would have wasted the casting director’s and the producer’s time. Or I would have to reroute my entire life and move from New York to Nevada. On the plus side, I was pretty sure Miles would let me stay with him until I found a place out here. On the negative side, it was going to be expensive—even if I got someone to sublet my apartment until my lease ran out. I was almost out of the thousand dollars my mother had floated me this week, and that was earmarked for Lisa’s search and rescue anyway. It was nonsense. Ridiculous.

And yet I felt giddy and happy like a kid on Christmas Eve.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” I told myself.

But what if? a little voice in my head insisted. Why not?

Miles Carvello

Leonidas showed up with a couple of his soldiers that night. I couldn’t risk them seeing Jackie, so I sent her a quick text telling her not to come to Dalton’s tonight, but that I’d love to see her later if she wanted company. I was trying to get in as much time as I could before she left.

“They’re looking to talk to you, boss,” Highway said over the headset. “You want me to send them back to your office?”

“No, set them up with a round of beers on the house. I’ll be right there.”

I called Grier and left him a message to get his ass over here as fast as he could because I had Leonidas and the Rivs in the bar tonight, along with Ginny and Paulie, the patsy dishwasher. Among all of them, there might be something actionable. I just wanted Jackie far away from the action.

Walking out into the club, I saw Ginny was giving Leonidas a lap dance while the other three goons looked on. “Yellow alert,” I muttered into my headset and the security team went to their positions. I hoped this was a peaceful visit, but I had a feeling it wasn’t.

Taking a chair from a nearby table, I brought it over to Leonidas’s table and positioned it so my back was to the stage. Kikki, who had just walked out to the pole, glared at me, but I ignored her.