“Wouldn’t I? Did you know someone stole all my tips during the fight? That’s what happens when no one is there to watch them.” Simone poured a drink for a woman in a cat mask. Then she leaned her arm on the bar and turned toward me. “Day and night I bust my butt to earn back what that scoundrel took from me.”
“Flynn said it was a mutual understanding.”
Her eyes rolled. “That boy doesn’t even know what a mutual fund is. If you decide that you don’t want these special errands, put in a good word for me. I work two jobs, and all I do is serve booze.”
“I figured you and Flynn would have schemed up a way to make money on the side. He seems like a good hustler.”
“You got that right. And I wouldn’t do business with Flynn if my life depended on it. If you’re smart, you’ll keep it friendly and nothing more.”
I wondered if she might have been the one to put Flynn up to all this. “Has he ever offered you anything?”
She chuckled and pulled a glass out. “His great big penis. It wasn’t draining my account that made me break it off with him. It was when he asked me to spike alcohol and sell it to a few of his friends. My money wasn’t enough, and he’d squandered some of it to purchase a storage unit filled with booze. He planned it all along.”
“You could have made a good profit.”
Simone shook her head. “A fool and his money will always part. I was a fool once,” she said, handing a customer a bottle of beer, “but never again.”
“Why didn’t you quit the club to get away from him?”
“Because I am the master of my fate, not Flynn. He knows he’ll pay me back one way or another. And if I find out he was the one who emptied my tips, I’ll spike his drink with erectile dysfunction.”
“I thought you still had feelings for him.”
Simone laughed. “Is that what he told you? Listen, we’re wandering into slander territory, but let’s just say that Flynn has a very active imagination.” She frowned at my shirt. “Where’s your work clothes?”
“I decided that Mistress White can get away with it. I also needed to let the girls out. They don’t like being locked up.”
Simone reached for an orange bottle behind me and spiked a drink for a customer. As her finger swirled in the glass, I felt bad for assuming she had something to do with all this. She could have been lying, but I was pretty good at spotting a liar. Well, except for Flynn, but maybe he was a professional. On top of that, Simone still had to see him every day. Most humans I knew would have never wanted to see a guy like that again, but who wants to spend their life making more enemies? Plus the tips here were too good to pass up. She busted her ass, working two shifts every night on top of a second day job. When the hell did she have time to sleep or have fun? In the time I’d spent at the White Owl, I hadn’t seen anyone pull their weight as much as Simone. Worst of all, I liked Flynn. He was wrapped up in nefarious activities, but underneath all that, he seemed like a nice guy who just took the wrong path.
But I had to put those feelings aside. Being a nice guy didn’t justify breaking the law.
The next day came and went, and because Viktor didn’t want me wandering outside the hotel, I spent the afternoon idling in my room. After five hours of game shows, courtroom dramas, and talk shows, I was ready to fling myself out the window. I was grateful Viktor hadn’t installed electricity in all the rooms, because I didn’t feel like myself after watching all that television. As much as I hated the atmosphere at the club, I eagerly looked forward to my shift. At least there would be a fight or two, and not all the patrons wanted my verbal abuse. Some were friendly.
I thought by Friday that Viktor might send me a message, but none came. Flynn invited me to meet him at a Chinese buffet near my hotel that afternoon, and due to the timing, I wondered if he knew about the second offer I received from Audrey.