Fire Baptized (6 page)

I sighed and stepped around him, wrapping my arms around his waist.

Are we really going to do this?

Wiping his eyes, he pulled me close to him. His chest rose and fell on my face.

“You’re right. I need to calm down.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I just can’t let anybody go through what we went through and not do something. He’s just a kid, La La.”

“I know.”

MeShack kissed the X brand on my forehead, hugged me for a minute more, and then let go. “Let’s take him to Cinnamon’s Meat Shack. We can feed him first, and then figure everything else out later.”

“It’s Wednesday. We’ll figure out something to tell him about his mom before her identity is reported. And hopefully get him into a school sometime next week.” I put my hand on the doorknob. “But I have to do something, so I’m going to skip Cinnamon’s and meet you both at our place later.”

“What?” MeShack blocked my ability to get through the door with his huge arm. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Goldie’s strip club.” I raised my eyebrows. “Is that okay with you?”

“No.” He pulled me away from the door. “I just calmed down and now you say you’re going to that raunchy club.”

“I can have Ray meet me there.” I turned back to the door and opened it. MeShack pulled me back and closed it.

“And why are you going there?” MeShack hissed. “You’re not a detective.”

“Both victims worked at the club, so I wanted to ask around. Maybe this Larry guy is the killer from the alley.” I watched MeShack’s nostrils flair. “Maybe he’s even a regular at the club or someone there knows him.”

“Both victims? What are you doing, heading up an investigation?” He rubbed his temples. Long curls fell over his fingers.

“I’ll be with Ray. He’ll be following my every step. I even think I can negotiate a new contract since I escaped.”

A deep growl escaped MeShack’s throat.

“Listen,” I said. “This asshole put a message on my door. He knows where I live. I’m not just going to sit around.”

“This is stupid and reckless.”

“I don’t do reckless stuff.”

“You crawled across an alley entrance while some Supe was murdering a woman.” MeShack leaned his head to the side. “I don’t even know why I’m trying to talk you out of this. You’ll just escape from me like you did with the guard. Will you at least remain with this Ray the whole time?”

“Of course.”

“Damn it.” He opened the door and muttered, “You’re going to push me back to smoking.”

Ray and I sat in Goldie’s strip club. A jazz ballad soared out of the
DJ
’s speakers. The singer, a famous Siren, sung about a hot, passionate night, full of slow, lusty grooves. Ginger candles adorned tables, inflaming the atmosphere with sex and seduction. Amber lanterns hung by mystic cords and glowed above the center stage where exotic dancers of all shapes and sizes performed.

The women twisted and bent into poses, suggesting the promise of carnal pleasure. Sweat clung to their skin. The colored lights bounced off their jiggling breasts. They were all Purebloods.

Maybe the owner thought nude Mixies wouldn’t bring in customers.

I slung a handful of stale popcorn into my mouth while scanning the crowd and wondering if Larry was here.

Too much salt.

I coughed into my hand.

Ray shook his head and smirked. Earlier, he’d warned me not to eat the free snacks, claiming that waitresses over-salted the food to get Supes to buy more drinks. Maybe he was right. A layer of salt stuck to my tongue and I yearned for something to wash it down.

A dancer strolled over to us.
Water Witch.
Except for the six-inch gold heels, she wore nothing else.

“You like?” she asked, rocking from side to side.

I shrugged, wishing she’d leave.

More men entered.

Any of you Larry?

“Buy some time in the
VIP
section.” She licked her lips. “I can give you more of me.”

“No, thank you.” I scanned the area behind me. There were so many men in here, and it was only three in the afternoon.

“I’m a lot of woman.” A flicker of blue light emerged above her triangle brand. The light shimmered into a black line that cut into her skin and continued between her eyes, separating her face into two heads.

My breath caught in my throat as she proceeded to split into two women.
Motherpounder.
I spied Ray yawning and rolled my eyes.

Her two heads leaned in opposite directions as the gleaming line divided her neck and chest. There was no blood. Just skin breaking apart into equal halves of herself. Completely amazed, I clapped as both women smiled at me, swaying and edging closer.

“Come on, that’s impressive. Are you kidding me, Ray?” I asked. “She was one and now she’s two.”

“It’s just an illusion,” Ray muttered, unimpressed. “She’s playing tricks with our eyes. And this is a strip club—you don’t clap here, you give them money.”

“I’m sure she, or really, they appreciated my clapping.” I gazed at them, attempting to guess which one was the original. They focused on me, pinched their pink nipples, and licked their gold-painted lips.

I leaned in Ray’s direction. “This place is a cool adult carnival.”

Ray didn’t respond. He threw red sunglasses over his eyes, his lips formed into an angry line.

What’s his problem?

I turned my attention back to the Water Witches as they got onto their knees and crawled toward me. Their breasts swayed like large pendulums. I looked at Ray. “Okay. What are they going to do?”

He smiled as they crept near me, and then leapt in my direction. Before I could tell them that I didn’t have any money, their oily boobs were in my face, suffocating me. I gasped for air as their chests crushed the sides of my head, surrounding me with cheap perfume.

Cursing, I wrestled away. “Hey! I don’t have any money.”

They immediately pulled back, scowling at me.

“No money?” they said through clenched teeth. Blue flares of light flickered, and smoke exploded, until one pissed off Water Witch remained, hands on her hips. A fierce glare plastered on her face. “If you don’t have any money, then get away from the stage.”

“It takes up all my energy to cast a detachment spell,” she whined. “Fucking Combo Trash.”

Ray laughed and flung a napkin my way as she stormed off.

“Well that’s excellent customer service.” I wiped rose oil off my cheeks and scanned the club. It was mainly filled with Shifters and Witches.

“Why are we here, Princess?” Ray took off his sunglasses. “And the stripper is right. If you don’t have money, you shouldn’t be sitting around the main stage. Let’s at least go to the back.”

“Fine.” I jumped off the stool, grabbed a popcorn bucket, and headed to the back. “And I prefer to call them exotic dancers.”

I arranged myself in the plastic chair, slipping into a comfortable position. Smoke floated by the table and I waved it away.

“Strippers or exotic dancers. It doesn’t matter.” Ray followed me. “Both take their clothes off for pocket change.”

“You don’t like strip clubs?”

“No. Too much bad history with them,” Ray said and then asked again, “Why are we here?”

“You know why you’re guarding me, right?”

“The two murders.” He nodded.

“Well, both women were exotic dancers at Goldie’s. I went to the last victim’s place, earlier. Her son said, that his mom hung out with a guy named Larry. I’m hoping Larry is a regular here, and that he was with her last night. And if I’m really lucky, maybe he killed her.”

“That’s logical thinking.” Ray nodded again. “But you do know that you’re not a detective?”

“I’m aware of that.”

“So you haven’t completely lost your mind?”

“Nope.” I watched an ebony-skinned waitress come to our table. “I know where my mind is; I just don’t always bring it along.”

The waitress wore tiny, gold-sequined shorts that displayed her long legs. She was extremely tall, maybe even taller than MeShack, and he was six-foot-six. A short, curly afro surrounded her face.

“What can I get you this evening?” She leaned on the table and focused her brown eyes on Ray. Amber light flashed on her crescent moon brand. Shifter.

“Do you know a guy named Larry?” I said, bringing her focus to me. “My friend told me Larry hung out with a dancer named Carmen.”

“You mean Iron Dove?” She smiled, showing straight, pearly white teeth.

I nodded in agreement.

She leaned down, resulting in Ray having an excellent view of her ample cleavage. “That’s Larry over there.”

She pointed to a pot-bellied man, holding a cigar in his mouth.

The man looked our way and winked at me.

Interesting. Is the wink a glint of recognition?

A Santeros hat covered his head, hiding his brand. I moved closer to get a better glimpse of him. A dancer sauntered over with blonde cornrows that hung to her waist. Larry motioned her over. A rock ballad came on. She peeled off her halter top and climbed into his lap. With each pounding of the song’s hard-hitting drum, the blonde bopped in front of him.

Even more interesting.

His friend, Carmen, was missing. But Larry didn’t seem worried about her absence. On the other hand, she was an addict and probably disappeared a lot. Maybe he assumed she was getting high.

Larry, are you friend or foe?

I studied him, scrutinizing the way he held his shot glass to his thick lips and hoping that his movements would tell me he was the killer.

“Why do you want to know about Larry?” the waitress asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“No big deal,” Ray replied. “We just heard he’s the man to know around these parts. As far as what you can get us to drink, what do you recommend?”

Larry took a drag from his cigar and blew smoke circles in the blonde’s direction. They floated to her vanilla breasts and dissolved at her brown nipples. Her long cornrows swung from side to side as she moved her curvaceous body like a snake. I fixed my eyes on the cigar, remembering the habbie’s report about Carmen being filled with cigars.

“Ogun’s Hunt is a popular drink here,” the waitress said.

“What’s in it?” Ray put his hand into his pockets and pulled out a wallet.

“Basil, sugarcane syrup, and rum.”

“I’ll take two of them.” Ray handed her a stack of bills. “And could you give me some change, so I can tip the girls?”

“Sure.” She grabbed the money. “Anything else?”

“Is Larry a regular here?” Ray asked, and I looked up at the waitress.

She leaned her head to the side and glanced at both of us for a few seconds. Ray took out more bills and handed them to her. “Oh, I forgot to give you your tip for all of your helpful information.”

“Thank you. My name’s Roxy, by the way.” She grabbed the bills and stuffed them into her cleavage. “Yes. Larry is a regular.”

“Was he dating Carmen?” I asked.

She laughed and shook her head.

Ray flashed a fake smile and pushed another bill toward her.

“Larry does many things, but he doesn’t date.” Roxy leaned back on the table. “Iron Dove, or Carmen as you like to call her, was one of his favorites. He likes Star, too. That’s who’s dancing with him now.”

“Does he like Candy?” I asked, remembering the first victim’s stage name.

“Sure,” Roxy said. “But then, everybody liked Candy. I’ll be back with your drinks.”

“Thanks.” Ray smiled as she stood up, towering over us.

She headed to the bar.

I spied Ray from the corner of my eyes. He gazed at her long black legs, his eyes glowing violet.

“Should I set something up between you two?” I nudged him with my elbow. He put his sunglasses back on and shook his head. Being a Pureblood, Ray’s vision was probably better than mine, but I still found it ridiculous to wear sunglasses in a dark club.

“No, just looking. No touching for me. And you just focus on getting whatever information you want, so we can get out of here.” Ray glanced over his shoulder and then rubbed his hands over his bald head. “My wife finds out I was in here, she’ll kill me.”

“Just tell her it was a part of the job.”

“She won’t believe me.” He tapped his fingers on the table to the beat. “Like I said, I have a lot of bad history with strip clubs.”

I monitored Larry’s every movement as he enjoyed his lap dance. He was my top suspect. There were just too many coincidences. He was a regular at Goldie’s. He knew Carmen and hung out with her. He even smoked cigars.

Gotcha, psycho. Adrenaline rushed through me.

“Well, we won’t be here long. Larry is the killer,” I said more sure than I’d ever been in my life. I sat upright in my chair, tapping both hands on my knees, just itching to go over to Larry and confront him.

I imagined the shock that would cover his face. Would he run in fear like I did last night? One thing was for sure; he’d burn by my fire.

No, Motherpounder! I see you!

Heat increased and soared inside of me, begging to taste Larry’s flesh. I grinned.

“Calm down.” Ray raised one eyebrow. “You’ve been here for a few seconds, got a couple tendrils of information, and now you think you solved the mystery. We need actual proof that it’s him.”

“Grab a dancer! Two lap dances for the price of one,” the
DJ
yelled over the microphone. The popular song “Vamp Girl” blared from the speakers. Electronic drums banged to a rhythmic beat.

“Move that body side to side, Vamp Girl,”
the male sang.
“I give you blood; you give me life, Vamp Girl.”

Listening to the lyrics, I groaned, ready for the song to end.

“We sexing till its dawn, Vamp Girl. I think of you all day long, Vamp Girl.”

“You seem sure that it’s Larry.” Ray leaned in my direction. “But we have to be a hundred percent sure. Zulu will be here soon. If you tell Zulu it’s Larry, he won’t investigate, he’ll just kill him. Are you certain that we should send Larry to his death?”

“Fine. I’m not confident it’s him,” I said. “But the two victims were his favorites, and when Carmen was killed, she was stuffed with cigars. He’s smoking a cigar now.”

“That’s not enough evidence to kill somebody.” Ray adjusted his sunglasses. “Trust me, Princess. I’ve investigated many murders during my Royal Guard service. You want to be sure without a doubt, because killing an innocent man may haunt you.”

“How can we be sure?” I combed my fingers through my dreadlocks. “I doubt Larry will say, ‘Yes, I killed her.’ “

“Let’s talk to this Star.” He pointed to her as she danced on Larry. “Maybe she saw Larry leave with Carmen last night or has some information.”

“Two Ogun’s Hunts.” Roxy placed two yellow napkins on our table and then glasses full of green liquid with basil leaves floating on top.

Ray put one of the drinks in front of me.

I grabbed a basil leaf, chewed it, and then took a sip. A burning sensation swirled down my throat. I coughed. Ray tapped my back until I stopped and then took two large gulps of his drink.