Ria and Business Suit had already come out of the back by the time Monster showed up. I spotted him as he came in and waved. He waved back and came over to the table. "’Sup, man?" he said.

"Monster, Stormy. Stormy, Monster," I said. "I’m sure you two will enjoy working together."

Stormy craned her head up to look at Monster. "Jesus Christ," she said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Monster said. He pulled a chair away from the table and sat. Monster always had to scoot his seat back; he couldn’t get his knees under most tables. "So what I gotta do?" he asked.

I told him. After I explained the plan, I said, "See the redhead over there? We wait until she takes another guy back to the VIP room. That likely to happen again?"

"Sure," Stormy said. "Most girls who use the VIP room take two, three guys back a night."

"Good. Once that happens, remember, you two have to keep it going for at least four or five minutes. Then you can get back to work, Stormy, and Monster, you can scram."

"Scram? Where the fuck you learn to talk?"

"Never mind. Sound doable?"

Both of them agreed it did. We sat around smoking and talking for about twenty minutes. Then Stormy said, "There. That guy she’s with now. She’ll take him to the VIP room."

"You sure?" I said.

"Yeah, he’s a regular. Always asks for her."

Ria was with another middle-aged guy. This one wore khakis and a golf shirt. Business casual. They chatted for a few minutes, then she took his hand and led him into the back.

We waited for ten minutes to be sure. Then I nodded at Stormy and Monster. Stormy got up and took Monster’s hand and led him to the back. The two of them together were kind of comical; she might have reached the bottom of his chest if she stood on her tiptoes. I followed them at a discreet distance and stopped at the curtained doorway that led to the back booths.

I leaned against the wall near the entryway and peaked around. I saw Stormy and Monster disappear into one of the private booths on the left. On the right was a door with a sign on it reading "VIP" in gold script. Standing next to the door was a big beefy guy. He had tape on his nose and bruising under his eyes. Ah-ha.

About a minute later, Stormy put the plan into action. "Jesus Christ!" she screamed. "Sharky! This big fucking ogre just grabbed my snatch!"

Sharky left his post at the door and headed in the direction of Stormy’s voice. I slipped through the curtained entryway and opened the door to the VIP room and went in.

The VIP room was darker than the rest of the club. The walls were draped with some sort of velvety stuff, burgundy-colored. There was a well-stocked bar in one corner. Against the far wall, a muted widescreen TV played hard-core pornography. On the opposite wall was a leather couch. On the couch was Mr. Business Casual. His pants were in a tangle around his feet. Ria knelt in front of him. She was naked. Her head was bobbing up and down in his lap. Neither of them noticed me come in.

"Knock knock," I said.

The man’s head snapped around. "What the fuck?" he said.

Ria looked at me and shot to her feet. She backed into the furthest corner of the room and stared. I ignored her for the moment.

"Take a hike," I said to the man.

"What?"

"You heard me. Blow." I immediately wished I’d used a different expression.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" the man said. "You get out of here now. This instant."

He seemed like the kind of guy who was used to giving orders. But it’s hard to be commanding with your pants at your ankles and your cock flapping in the breeze. He tried to glare, but it wasn’t working for him.

I sighed and said, "Fine," and crossed the room and punched him as hard as I could in the balls. I was doing a lot of groin work lately. Wonder what Freud would have to say about that.

The guy doubled up and moaned. I cocked my fist back and raised my eyebrows.

"I’m going," he said. He started to gather his pants up.

"Make sure you go all the way," I said. "Out of the club. If you’re still here when I come out, I might have to hurt you some more."

The man nodded sickly. He buckled his belt and limped out. Sharky wasn’t back at the door when he opened it, and I could hear the sounds of a screaming argument even over the pounding music. Good. Monster and Stormy were still playing their parts.

I turned to Ria. She was still at the far end of the room, still staring wide-eyed. She hadn’t made a sound. Now her eyes narrowed.

"Matt?" she said. She didn’t seem shocked or afraid. Just mildly surprised to see me.

"Yeah," I said, and walked over to her. As I passed the couch I bent down and retrieved her Catholic schoolgirl blouse from the floor. I handed it to her and she slipped it on and held it closed with one hand.

"We don’t have a lot of time here, and I need to talk to you," I said. "So don’t fuck around with me."

She stared at me some more. "What happened to your face?" she said.

"You should know," I said. "I talked to you two nights ago. Last night Sharky came and paid me a visit."

"Oh my god!" The surprise in her face looked genuine. It threw me.

"You telling me you didn’t send him over?" I said.

"Christ, of course not!"

"Then how the hell did he know about me?"

"He saw you give me the card the other day and came to talk to me after you left," she said. "He asked if you’d been bothering me."

"And you said?"

"I said yes, but I’d taken care of it," she said. "He asked to see the card and I let him. I never thought he’d go looking for you, Matt, I swear."

"Well, he did. He had a friend with him, too. Tall, skinny guy."

Ria shook her head. "I don’t know him. I promise. You do that to Sharky’s nose?"

I nodded. "Among other things," I said. I took out a card and gave it to her. "Try not to lose this one. I don’t have time to get into it right now, but you’re in the middle of something. I’m not sure what, but I figure it’s probably the same thing that got your sister killed. Might want to think on that."

I walked toward the door. Ria said, "No lectures about whoring myself in the champagne room?"

"No. You’re an adult, you can do what you want. Gonna be a hooker, though, you might want to do it for someone other than Jackie Redmond. Your life expectancy might improve."

Ria smiled. "There is no one to work for but Jackie Redmond. Not in this town, anyway."

"Move," I said.

"You know that was a city councilman you punched in the balls, right?" Ria said.

"Then I doubt he’ll tell anyone," I said. "You’re in a mess here, Ria. Call me. I can help."

She shook her head and looked at the floor. But she slipped the card into the breast pocket of her blouse. Good enough.

Next Chapter: TWELVE