Rock Chick 02 Rescue (11 page)

Then I walked into the kitchen to get some food and I heard Mom wheel in behind me.

“Why didn’t you ask Eddie up to the apartment?” She asked.

“He had to get to work,” I told her.

Mom wheeled further into the kitchen.

“We saw you drive in. You were down there for a long time. Long enough for him to come up and meet your mother.”

Wonderful.

She was using her snooty mother tone, reminding me I’d been rude.

“We were talking about something,” I explained.

“You could have talked about it up here. I could have made him some iced tea, maybe a sandwich. I’m getting good at sandwiches. It’s lunchtime; everyone has to eat lunch,” Mom pointed out.

“He’s a busy guy.”

“Not so busy he can’t take time to eat.”

“What’s he do?” Ada asked, coming up behind Mom.

“He’s a cop,” I told her.

Ada’s eyes got huge in her wrinkled face.

“Real y?” she breathed, her eyes working, probably wondering how she could finagle a ride-along.

“You’re ashamed,” Mom said.

My eyes moved to Mom and I stared at her.

“What?”

“You’re ashamed of me. That’s why you didn’t bring him up here.”

“I’m not ashamed!”

And I wasn’t, there were far more complicated reasons why I didn’t bring Eddie up and it had nothing to do with being ashamed of my mother.

“There’s no other reason,” she accused.

“I told you, he had to get to work.”

“You didn’t want him to see me like this.” Mom indicated her chair.

“That’s just not true.”

“I don’t believe you. You never bring anyone around. I can’t help how I am right now but I’m getting better al the time.”

“It’s not that,” I said.

“Then what is it?”

“We were kissing, al right!” I shouted.

Yeesh.

Mom’s mouth snapped closed and her eyes got al bright and dreamy. Ada clasped her hands in front of her with obvious joy.

This was not a good sign.

“Ladies, don’t get excited” I warned.

“How can I not get excited? He’s cute, he has a good job and a fancy truck. What’s not to get excited about?”

“And he looks good in those mirrored sunglasses. I bet most cops wish they could wear those sunglasses like your Eddie can, he can real y pul them off,” Ada put in.

I turned to Ada first.

“Ada, honey, he’s not
my
Eddie.” Then I turned to Mom,

“The reason you shouldn’t get excited is because he’s a nice guy, that’s it, the end. At first, I think he was curious, but now he’s…”

I didn’t know what he was. I had to find an explanation for it, for the kiss, his defending my virtue last night, everything.

I usual y did this in my head, where it was safe, not out loud to my mother.

My mind whirled to find an explanation.

He was a good guy, a cop for goodness sake. He had to wonder about me, especial y since I spent time with his friends. Now he’d figured me out and obviously wanted to rescue me. Although, I wouldn’t mind being rescued by Eddie, what happened after that? What happened when he realized that I wasn’t interesting and exciting? What happened when he found out I was real y Just Jet?

I didn’t want to know.

“He’s what?” Mom snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Nothing. We’l see. Just don’t get excited, okay?” She nodded but she stil looked dreamy.

Wonderful.

I thought about the fifty in my wal et.

“You’ve been cooped up in here for days. I’m wheeling you down to Chipotle for lunch. Ada, you comin’? My treat.” Ada smiled, “I’d love to, I never go anywhere.”

“Al right ladies, we’re movin’ out.”

Food, I found, was always a good way of getting people’s minds off things, including handsome cops with fancy trucks.

* * * * *

The minute Smithie saw me, his eyes rol ed to the ceiling and he shouted, “It’s a fuckin’ miracle!” I smiled at him as I handed him my jeans jacket and purse and he handed me my apron and an envelope.

“Your cel ’s stil in the pocket. The envelope has your tips from last night. Your fuckin’ flea-bitten, ratty-ass sweater is behind the bar.”

“Thanks, Smithie,” I said.

I opened the top of the envelope, which was tucked in and flipped through the notes. I kept a running tal y of my tips, mental y paying bil s and buying groceries the minute I made the money. As I flipped through the notes, I decided I’d done a miscalculation because, if my calculation was correct, there were two hundred more dol ars than I expected to be there and that was impossible.

I’d remember an extra two hundred dol ars. I’d remember an extra two dol ars.

It was packed last night but the tips weren’t
that
good.

I flipped through it again and the two hundred dol ars were stil there.

“Smithie, I think you gave me part of my float.” And part of everyone else’s float too.

Smithie’s head was turned away, looking at the stage and he didn’t look at me when he spoke. “Nope. That’s what was in your apron after I cashed you out.” I stared at him.

“Smithie, there’s an extra two hundred dol ars in here.

Maybe you accidental y gave me…”

His head turned to me, “It was in your fuckin’ apron.”

“Smithie…” I started again.

His hand went up and he had a funny look on his face. It was then that I knew he’d slipped in the extra money.

I’d started at Smithie’s in the days when Mom was stil bad. Back then, I’d drag in after visiting her in the hospital.

He knew about Mom and my job at Fortnum’s and now he knew about my car.

knew about my car.

My heart clutched, my eyes fil ed with tears and I opened my mouth to speak but he leaned in to me.

“Don’t fuckin’ cry and don’t say another fuckin’ word. I don’t want this gettin’ around. As far as you’re concerned, that was your take last night. Do you fuckin’ understand me?”

I nodded.

“Good,” he said, turning away from me again. “Get to work.”

I was hoping for a quiet night and it seemed to be going that way. It was a completely different experience, working after having a ful night’s sleep (and then some).

Before I went to work, and after I’d taken Mom and Ada to lunch and cleaned the house, I cal ed Dad’s hotel just in case he was stil there, but they said he’d checked out.

Then I cal ed Indy and she was cool with me making up the hours (or not, she real y didn’t care, everyone came and went at Fortnum’s and somehow it worked). I asked her if Dad had dropped by but she said she hadn’t seen him.

It was close to closing and I’d had a decent night. I had energy, I had two night’s tips and I had Smithie’s generosity. If I wasn’t in slow-burn, freak-out zone that would likely escalate to complete hysteria by the time my date with Eddie swung around, I would have actual y relaxed.

I was coming back from a bathroom break, leaving the restroom and entering the back hal when I was grabbed by the arm and pul ed back.

“Hey!” I shouted, turning around, ready to scream, when I saw Dad.

saw Dad.

Not good.

I real y didn’t want my Dad to know I was working in a titty bar and I real y,
really
didn’t want him to see me in my Smithie’s uniform.

“Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Jet, I didn’t want to drag you into this but I have no choice.” He looked down the hal , clearly in a panic.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

He started pul ing me down the hal , toward the fire exit at the back. “We gotta go.”

I jerked my arm out of his hand and said, “I can’t go, I’m working. Tel me what’s going on.”

He didn’t have a chance to tel me as we both heard someone at the other end of the hal say Dad’s name.

Dad shoved me behind him and we both looked down the hal at Slick.

“You’re a hard man to find,” Slick said.

At that, I realized that Dad hadn’t spent the last two days looking for Slick and sorting this out as he promised. Dad had spent it hiding from Slick.

“We got things to talk about, you and me,” Slick said.

“Fine. Sure. We’l talk. We’l go back in the club,” Dad replied.

Dad was positioning his body in front of me so Slick couldn’t get to me.

“Not in the club, here. This conversation should last about two seconds after you give me the thirty grand you owe me.”

Oh… Dear… Lord.

Thirty thousand dollars?

I felt my stomach drop to my toes.

Dad put his hands out, palms up.

“I don’t have it on me, Slick. Who carries that kind of cake around? I’l go get it and—”

“Yeah,” Slick said, looking beyond Dad to me, “You go get it and I’l just take your pretty little girl with me and we’l have some fun while you’re gettin’ it.”

My heart fel to my toes to keep my stomach company.

“Slick,” Dad said.

Slick pul ed out a knife.

“No more talkin’.”

Then everything happened so fast, I didn’t have time to think.

Dad pushed me back, yel ing, “Run!”

I would have run (maybe) but instead, I teetered on my slut shoes (this time, a pair of forties-style black sandals with peek-a-boo toes and a thin ankle strap) and fel down, hard, on my behind.

Dad charged forward and I saw the flash of a knife.

I didn’t think. I got to my feet, screaming at the top of my lungs and ran forward too. Dad had jerked Slick around, grappling with the knife and Slick’s back was to me. I jumped on it, wrapping my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist, and squeezed as hard as I could.

Slick disengaged from Dad, ran backwards and slammed me into a wal and my head flew back and cracked against the plaster.

“Don’t hurt my girl,” Dad shouted and lunged forward again.

“Go, Dad. Get out of here!” I yel ed.

Al of a sudden, there was a bunch of people. I was holding onto Slick in a death grip and he was jerking this way and that, trying to dislodge me. There were men shouting, women screaming, hands on me trying to pul me away.

Then Slick whirled and began to slash out randomly with the knife and everyone jumped back, including, I vaguely noticed, Vance, the hot guy who worked for Lee.

Then Tanya rushed forward and started beating Slick with her tray, using it when she needed as a shield. Vance grabbed her by the waist, picking her up bodily, her legs pedaling, stil hitting out at thin air with the tray, and he pul ed her down the hal .

Slick turned, ran to the fire exit, twisted his body so his weight and momentum both had me slamming against the door. The cross bar tagged my hip so hard, I cried out and let go, landing unsteadily on my slut shoes and Slick ran away.

I had no time to think or do anything. The fire alarm went off and it was blaring loudly.

Then Smithie had a hold of me, he shoved me and I landed in Lenny’s arms.

“Take her inside and do not fuckin’ leave her side,” Smithie said then took off after Slick.

Lenny pul ed me inside, Vance (without Tanya) passed us at a run, going out the backdoor.

I didn’t hesitate, I dragged Lenny around the whole club, looking for Dad. I was limping, kind of, because my hip and butt bone both hurt like hel .

There was no sign of him.

When I yanked Lenny back into the club from the dancer’s dressing room, the lights were on ful , the fire alarm had been turned off, the stage was empty, people were standing around and the cops were there.

I scanned the people to see if I could find my Dad, but he wasn’t there.

“Fuck!” I shouted, because it was definitely the time to say the f-word.

Smithie came in from outside, breathing heavy, and bore down on me. “You wanna tel me what in
the fuck
is goin’

on?” he yel ed.

“I don’t know! I have to find my Dad. He was here and Slick was after him.”

“Forget your Dad. We’re talkin’ about
you
. That’s twice you had some fuckin’ guy with a knife after you.”

“He isn’t after me,” I told him.

“No, from where I stood, it fuckin’ looked like you were after him,” Smithie shot back.

“He pul ed a knife on my Dad!” I yel ed.

“Someone pul s a knife, you get the fuck outta Dodge.

You don’t jump on his back. Fuck! You’re a crazy woman!” Smithie shouted.

“I’m not crazy!” I shouted back

A plain-clothes police officer walked up and interrupted us with a soft cough. He introduced himself as Detective us with a soft cough. He introduced himself as Detective Jimmy Marker and told me he had to ask a few questions.

Smithie pointed at me, “You’re a pain in my fuckin’ ass.” Then he stomped away.

The detective had the opportunity to ask me two questions before his eyes moved beyond me and his chin lifted in that silent greeting men do so wel .

Then I felt fingers curl into the waistband of my mini-skirt.

I began to turn around when I heard Eddie say, “Give me a minute, Jimmy.”

Uh-oh.

Jimmy looked at Eddie, his eyes knowing and maybe slightly amused, though I didn’t know what in
the hell
was amusing right now. He nodded and wandered away.

Eddie pul ed me back a few steps and moved in front of me. One look at his face and “uh-oh” didn’t do it justice, it was definitely the kind of look that garnered a “holy shit”.

Eddie was seriously pissed off.

I tel you, I couldn’t buy a break.

Before I could say anything, Eddie turned to Lenny, who had stil not left my side. He communicated something nonverbal y because Lenny said, “I got orders not to leave her.”