With A Twist(30)

“So, where are you going to be?” I ask casually.

“Simon wants to expand this business outward. He has a connection that has stock down in Mexico. Kidnapped tourists or some shit like that, and they want a pipeline to move them here in the States. We’ll have to share a cut with the Mexicans, but we can move more stock so we’ll make it up in volume. We actually need to cut back on the amount of girls that we’re taking from the club. Don’t want to get on the police radars.”

I nod my head thoughtfully toward him, but my mind is on overdrive trying to process this development. It doesn’t have shit to do with my operation, but if I can get any information from him, the FBI can launch an investigation into this new potential sex-slave ring. “Yeah… that’s good business planning. How are you going to get the girls out of Mexico and over the border?”

“We have a guy with the U.S. Border Patrol at the Antelope-Wells crossing who will turn a blind eye for a cut of the action. Again, eats into our overall profit, but we can move many more girls so we’ll be rolling in the dough.”

“You have enough buyers lined up?” I ask curiously.

“Simon’s working on it… it’s mainly word of mouth from our prior buyers. There’s an entire underworld clique of these freaks that like to own sex slaves. But he’s going to be really busy… doing a lot of travel to set this all up. That means more responsibility on your shoulders here at the club.”

“Not a problem,” I tell him. “I’ve got it all under control here.”

Lance reaches over and claps me on the back. “Come on. Let’s get back to work.”

We both stand up and head toward the door. Just as Lance reaches out for the knob, he casually says, “I think I’m going to have to take advantage of Nikki’s skills tonight when she gets off duty. She looked hot as hell when she was crawling. I’ll give her knees another workout.”

He chuckles over this and starts to pull the door open.

My hand shoots out, connects my palm to the wood, and I slam it shut. Lance turns to look at me in surprise, and I try to keep my voice light… joking.

“No way, man. Already made plans with her for tonight.”

“So cancel them,” he says dismissively.

“Not gonna happen. Already itching to fuck her after that blow job,” I say calmly.

Lance stares at me… his eyes blinking in almost disbelief that I’d challenge him. I’m in a very precarious position right now. If I push this, I’m rocking the boat with Lance and could make him suspicious. But fuck if I’m going to let him take a crack at her.

Knowing what I know about Andrea… she’s all in. She’d submit to him to keep up appearances, a thought that I literally don’t think I could live with on my conscience. A small current of fear takes hold as I wait to see what Lance does, and I’m fearful because I know deep in my heart that I will jeopardize this entire operation before I let him touch a hair on Andrea’s head.

“Dude… you’re seriously trying to trump me?” Lance asks, and I relax a bit when I hear the teasing tone of his voice.

“Just consider it a bonus for the way I handled the Carla situation,” I say with a smirk.

“Fucker,” he says good-naturedly and punches me on the arm. He opens the door, and I follow him out of Simon’s office. “Just don’t wear her out. She needs to be in good shape tomorrow night. I’m sure her buyer isn’t going to wait long before he taps that pussy.”

I force neutrality on my face again and swallow the urge to strangle him for his crude words about Andrea. I know I’m taking this a bit too personally at this point, but fuck… the fact I just came down her throat not all that long ago sort of changes my perspective on things.

“I hear ya,” I say, and then turn toward the stock room. “I’m going bring a few cases of beer over to the main bar. I saw they were running a little low earlier.”

“Later dude,” Lance says, and then he’s heading toward the main stage.

Once inside the storeroom with the door firmly shut, I move in deeper past rows of stacked cases of beer and liquor. The music is muffled, and I’m confident I can’t be overheard in here. Still, I keep my eye on the door while I quickly pull out my cell to call Mike.

“What’s up?” he says when he answers.

“Bad news and good news. What do you want first?”

“Bad,” he says.

“No more details on where it’s going down. All I’ve been told is to have her drugged and waiting in Simon’s office after closing.”