Double Play (39 page)

Cat
obeyed
her command and
settled into
the padded chair.
Webbs turned her toward the lighted mirror and began dusting her
face with a bronzer two shades too dark. She then brushed on a
thick layer
of glittery
eye shadow and handed her a bright pink lip gloss.

Cat
had
started to apply the lip gloss
when Webbs moved behind her and yanked on her hair.

“
Ow!”

“
Sorry, hon, but you gotta look the part and your Pippi
Longstocking
’do
just
ain’t working.” She took Cat’s own hair between her fingers,
undoing the side ponytail and twisting it up so that she could
fasten a wig cap over the thick red strands. “Besides, you said you
don’t want them to recognize you.”

Cat scrunched her
nose in the mirror at the sight of her overly made-up face and
wig-capped
head. “I
didn’t mean I wanted to go in there looking like an Easter
egg.”

Webbs danced
across the room. “I’m not done with you yet.” She eyed the row of
Styrofoam heads, tapping her
toe
on the floor as she debated each wig. She picked
up a
spiky
,
black
-haired one and waved it at
Cat.

Cat smiled. “We
could be twins.”

Webbs threw it
down next to the head. “Sorry sister, I’m one of a kind.” She
popp
ed
a platinum wig
off the top of a
nother
Styrofoam head and began to comb the hair between her fingers. “I’m
thinking
Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes
.”

Webbs secured the
long, nearly-white wig over Cat’s head and dusted the straight
bangs over her eyes. “Though
remember that Jane Russell more or less steals that
movie
.”

Cat watched
in the mirror as
Webbs
adjusted
the wig. “I
feel like Lady Gaga.”

“
Just
be glad I didn’t go for the turquoise one.”

Webbs fitted her
with the sailor’s cap and gave her the once-over. “I think this’ll
work.”

Cat
picked up
the red and white
lifesaver tray and Webbs
selected
a bottle of Dom from the mini-fridge. “This
is the only thing they drink. The club manager is always giving the
VIPs freebies to keep
’
em coming back. Tell James that it’s on the house
from Maurice.”

“
Okay.”

“
But
it’s not. I’ll be billing you for it.”

Cat rolled her
eyes. “Fair enough. Maybe I can expense it.” She reached for the
bottle
but
Webbs pulled
it back.

“
Better let me
;
I’m
an expert. This isn’t cheap New Year’s Eve champagne that you want
spurting all over the room.” She began to gently turn the bottle
while grasping the cork. Sure enough, it popped off with a soft
sigh. Webbs licked the cork and handed her
the
bottle. “Show time.”

Cat nodded
appreciatively and
placed
the bottle on the drink tray, arranging the
flutes around it. “Ready or not, here I come.”

Webbs gave her
two thumbs
-
up
s
and nudged her toward the exit.
Cat tried to find her footing in the platform
heels
. They were six inches tall and
akin to
walking with
bricks strapped to her feet. She kept a stead
ying
hand on the bottle of champagne as she
made her way through the dim club and up the three steps to the
Champagne Room. The enormously muscled bouncer stood in front of
the glitter
y
door. Cat
took a deep breath as she approached him and stretched her tight
lips into a smile.
She
took a step forward and halted
,
teetering on
her platforms. Her heart stopp
ed
for a second before leaping into
her throat. She waited for him to accost her.

Instead, he
smiled and pulled open the door. “Here you go,
beautiful.”

She blinked the
synthetic blonde strands out of her eyes. “Oh, thank you
, ever so,
”
she said in her best whispery Marilyn Monroe
imitation.

She sidled
through the door before he had
second thoughts
. The Champagne Room
was carpeted in
fuchsia
shag
infused with
glitter
. The walls were
mirrored and another disrobed dancer swung around a pole
on the
tiny stage. She
surveyed the customers
.
T
heir suits and
polished
shoes were a visual upgrade from the main
room patrons’ sleeveless tees and worn sneakers, but they
directed
the same
creepy, catatonic stare
s
at the stage. As she searched the tables, she feared her targets
had already left.

Then Cat saw
them. Kiki Hudson canoodling with her own brother-in-law.
N
o wonder she
hadn’t spied
them when
she
’d
first walked
in
—
their bodies melded
together in the dark corner booth.

Cat approached
them with an air of confidence and sat the bottle of champagne on
their table. “Champagne for the happy couple, courtesy of Maurice.”
She was still using her
whispery Marilyn voice.

Kiki clapped her
hands together. “That’s great
’
cause we are celebrating.”

I bet you
are
.

Cat poured the
Dom into the flutes, trying to avoid the strobe light. She handed
Kiki a half-full glass. “So
,
why are congratulations in order?”

“
I’m
free from the shackles of marriage!”

Cat grinned,
hoping
there was no
hot
pink lipstick
on
her
teeth. “Let me guess, you just finalized a divorce?”

“
Not
quite, but I’m well on my way. And my honey here just got a new
job.”

Cat handed James
a glass. “Congratulations.”

He
set
the glass down without tasting
it,
keeping
his eyes
on
her.
“Thanks.”

“
Are
you new here? I thought I knew all the waitresses.”

She turned her
attention back to Kiki. “Yes, I’m …
.
” Cat’s eyes fell to her engagement ring. It didn’t
quite go with the rest of her outfit, but she
hadn’t wanted
to take it off and leave it
unattended in a strip club dressing room. “Diamond.”

“
You’re new and you’ve already got Champagne Room duty?” Kiki
nudged James. “Sounds like someone’s got an
in
with
Maurice.”

James’ eyes
finally tore themselves from Cat’s face. He snapped his fingers
above his
head
.

She
held
her breath, hoping he wasn’t
summoning the beefy bouncer.

“
Sorry
I’m late.”

Cat stiffened
when she heard the familiar voice.

“
Miss,
can I get a Stoli on the rocks with a twist, please?”

She stole a quick
peek to confirm what she already knew.

Spencer
.

“
Uh,
y-yes sir.” She
turned
,
trying
not
to
give him a good look at
her face.
As s
he started
to back away, he grabbed her arm.

“
Cat?”
Spencer pulled her back and
looked
into her face.

“
Cat!”
James said.

“
Who’s
Cat?” Kiki said.

Cat tore her arm
out of his grip, threw down the drink tray and took off. She
clomped
around the
tables and down the small flight of stairs.

“
Call
security!”

She flung open
the glitter
y
door and
charged out so fast the bouncer didn’t have time to react. Once she
hit the open floor, she picked up speed. Webbs was talking up a guy
at a table when she rushed by. “Cat? Hold
on
!”

She stopped and
leaned
against
her
table, gasping for breath. Spandex or not, the tiny uniform was not
made for exercising. “Call the BPD and ask for Detective Kahn. Tell
him to get down here now.”

“
She’s
over there!”

Cat’s head jerked
back to the Champagne Room door where Spencer was exiting. She took
off again.

“
Cat,
wait up!”

She skirted out
the front door and skidded to a stop, assessing the casino for the
best exit strategy. The way out she was familiar with
—
through the gaming
tables
—
was blocked with
two security officers on their radios.

“
Cat!”

Spencer had
caught up to her and reached for her hand. She stepped away from
him, splitting her attention between him and the guards. “Get away
from me.”

“
It’s
not what you think. I was undercover, like you. You have to trust
me, I can get you out of here if you just follow me.

Cat looked back
to the strip club door and over to the security officers, who had
yet to see her. They were fixated on the craps table, but it was
only a matter of time before they noticed the half-naked sailor
girl on the other side of the room.

“
Come
on, before James comes out!” Spencer held out his hand, his wide
eyes begging her once again for trust.

She gave one last
look at the guards and took his hand. He pulled her down a darkened
hallway and through another door. She hurried in behind him, but
the room was dark. “What is this?”

“
Back
door to the restaurant. Don’t worry, we can go out this way.
There’s a service door to the dock.”

Spencer pushed
her into a swing door and she stumbled into the restaurant’s
kitchen. They rushed past the freezers and food storage through
another swing door, this time
ending up
in the food prep area. Two cooks craned
their
necks
, eyes
widened with shock under their tall chef hats.

Spencer
led the way
, tiptoeing
behind them and pulling her with him. “Don’t mind us, just passing
through.”

Cat pointed at
the cutting board as she bustled around them. “Uh
 
… nice radish roses!”

They came to
another door, illuminated with an exit sign. Cat pointed.
“There!”

Spencer pushed
the door but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.”

“
It
can’t be locked, it’s an exit door. What if they have a kitchen
fire?”

He pushed it
again to demonstrate. “It’s not moving.”

Cat searched the
room for another door to no avail. She banged the handle; it pushed
in but the door still didn’t give. “It’s not locked. Something’s
blocking it.” She looked up to the porthole window near the top.
“Up there.”

“
I
don’t think we’ll fit through there.”

She
balanced
on her toes to peer
out
. With
the platform
heels, she could see almost to the floor. “This leads to another
hallway, but it looks like there’s a big box in front of the door.”
She pushed in the handle and braced her feet on the ground. “Help
me. We’ll try to push it away.”

Spencer pressed
his shoulder to the door. Cat pressed her flat hands
against it in an effort
to gain
leverage against the floor. The door didn’t give.

“
What
is in that box, anchors?”

Slowly, it began
to crack open. “It’s working. Just a little
farther
.”

Spencer grunted
as he put more pressure on the door. “Cat, there’s something you
should know.”

“
Can
it wait?” She groaned as the door came to a stop. “That’s good
enough, I think. Let’s go.”

Cat went first,
slinking through the large crack they had made. She held her hand
out
to help steady
Spencer
as he
wedged
himself through. The door
slammed
shut
as soon as he was out and the dark hallway was
illuminated by the exit sign above a steel door. They stepped over
the heavy box that had blocked them in to get to
the exit door
. It opened with ease to the
dock. The cold air hit her scantily clad body with a freezing slap,
but it was the chill of freedom. The cloudy night offered little in
the way of light, but the parking lot was bright enough to
show
the way off the
dock. The water sloshed underneath the wooden slats, bouncing off
the waterlogged posts below. Spencer came out of the door next but
kept his hand on it to keep it from
closing
.

Cat crossed her
arms over the skintight romper and hopped in place
for
warm
th
.

“
I
don’t have my keys
.
I
left my purse back in the club. Where are you parked?”