Pixie Dust (Karli Lane #1) (3 page)

He thought about it for a moment and gave me a sly grin. “Go ahead and give me a Royal Fuck.”

Grrrr, I am so not playing this game. “Sorry, we’re all out of Sour Apple. I guess you’ll need to get your drink on elsewhere.”

As I turned to walk away he grabbed my wrist and said, “That’s okay lover. I suddenly have a taste for a Buttery Nipple….maybe two.”

Oh fuck, here comes another flash back. This time he was licking whipped cream and butterscotch sauce off the underside of my breast. He was working his way up to the maraschino cherry that he had placed on my….well, I’m sure you can figure it out. Crap, did he just lick his lips? Or was that me? Okay, breathe Karli. Make the damn drink and get him out of here. Where the fuck is the Bailey’s??? Thirty nerve-wracking seconds later, I slammed the glass down in front of him and pointed to the
We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone
sign.

“Drink your shot asshole and get the hell out of here. I’m done putting up with you.”

He leaned forward and started stroking my hand again. I tried pulling away but he held on tighter. “Touchy, touchy Kar. Or from what I hear, no one has been touching you at all lately. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You need a man, don’t you?”

Oh my God, I was so livid that I couldn’t even form words! Most likely because he was right and I couldn’t compose myself enough to deny it. Damn him!

When I didn’t respond, he grinned triumphantly. “I’m right, aren’t I?” He insisted. “You know, you could really use a release Kar. You’re too uptight. You never used to be this……tense. I’m concerned about you, my little damsel in distress. I could help you relax. Unwind. You’d feel like a whole new woman if you’d let me climb your tower.” His irises turned completely black as he added, “You know I’m good for it.”

I felt all the blood rush to my face as I seethed with anger. Did he seriously just call me his
damsel in distress
? Did he really just infer that he was
my knight in shining armor
? How dare he?  If looks could kill, he’d totally be six feet under right now!

He finally picked up on my mood and shrugged. “If you’re not interested, that’s cool. No skin off my dick. I just thought it might be nice to knock one out for old time’s sake. You don’t need to get all pissy about it. That just proves my point even further.” He drank his shot, threw a fifty on the bar and walked away as he added, “Whatever.”

Oh hell no, you are not getting the last word! Especially not something so flippant!

“I don’t want your tip asshole!” I screamed from across the bar. Holy shit, my voice is finally working! Yay me! ”Save it for your whores!” I shouted. I began waving the bill around like a madwoman. “Do you hear me douche bag? Get back here and take this! I don’t want your fucking money!!”

Erica ran up to the bar and grabbed the money out of my hand. “What the hell are you doing Karli? Jesus Christ, are you trying to get yourself fired? Don’t let him get to you like that. He’s not worth it, he never was. Now go take a few minutes in the ladies room to collect yourself. I’ll get Amanda to cover up here.”

 I instantly flushed when I looked up and saw all eyes on me. “But---”

“Go.” She demanded as she pushed me out from behind the bar. “I’m saving your ass here, so shut up and listen to me. NOW.”

“Okay, I’m going. I’m going. Geez.” The last thing I saw before disappearing into the ladies room was Chad’s heated gaze on me, while he was sucking face with Leslie in the corner. Ugh!  What a pig!

*******************************

I felt much better when I came out of the bathroom ten minutes later and Chad was nowhere to be found. Before I knew it, our hostess, Roxy was pulling down the gate that borders the casino floor. “Great night, once again ladies.” I said as I divvied up their tips. “Hey listen, I’m sorry about my little meltdown earlier. Thank you for pretending it never happened. Speaking of… has anyone even seen Leslie since she and Chad were making out in the corner?”

“From the noises I heard coming out the men’s room, they were doing
way
more than making out.” Amanda snickered.

 “Okay…..eeeww!” I made a sour face. “I guess that answers my question. A little too much, thanks. I suppose I’ll just stash her tips in the vault then. Why don’t you guys get out of here? I’ll hang out until Hank and Miguel are done with the dishes.”

Everyone started leaving quietly but Erica held back until we were the only ones left in the room. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” She asked. “I know it must have been hard seeing him.”

“I’m positive.” I replied. “I’m just going to get a jump start on some prep for tomorrow. I wasn’t even thinking about Chad.” Okay, not totally true. “When the guys are done, we’ll leave together.”

 She gave me a pitiful look. “Do you want me to stay with you and help?”

“Thank you sweetie, but no. I can see your stud from table eight waiting over by the slots.  Go jump his bones. Maybe you can add just a little extra oomph for me so I can live vicariously through you tomorrow?” I asked with a wink.

She smiled. “I can do better than that; I’ll set up the video cam! I know he’s just a human, but I plan on riding him like a bull!” With a little skip, she closed the slotted gate from the other side and shouted, “Yee haw!!” 

I watched them as I filled the garnish bins. She squealed as he whirled her around in his arms. It was very sweet; it kind of reminded me of a human interest story that you’d see on the news when the troops returned home from war. Until they kicked it up a few notches and flipped the channel straight to late night Cinemax. Holy hell, is she actually reaching down his pants in the middle of the casino? Oh man, I hope they at least make it to his car! Embarrassed to be witnessing something so private, I suddenly felt the need to divert my eyes. Lemons! I need some lemons!

I dropped the register cash into the mini vault under the bar and headed towards the back. I opened the fridge door and stopped dead in my tracks. At first, I couldn’t figure out what I was seeing. There seemed to be a big sack of garbage in the middle of the floor, with some putrid substance spilling out of it. What dumbass would put garbage in the middle of a walk in fridge? Oh, there were so many health code violations going on here it wasn’t even funny! I looked down and saw the nasty shit sticking to the bottom of my shoes. Dammit, I just got these! Somebody was going to pay for this! 

I grabbed some gloves and tried picking up the bag. It was too heavy to lift, so I tried dragging it but couldn’t get a grip because of all the damn goo! I was just about to call one of the guys over to help me when something shiny caught my eye. I looked down and saw a silver name tag on the floor reflecting off the overhead lights. I bent over to pick it up and that’s when it all started making sense.

Now at eye level with the lumpy black plastic, I could see what was really sticking out of the bag. It was hair; bleached blonde hair that was now tinted a horrific shade of reddish-orange. I reached out tentatively, pulled the bag down, and confirmed my morbid suspicions. The stained hair was attached to a face, mauled beyond recognition. I glanced at the nametag still clutched in my hand. It belonged to Leslie. Oh my God,
that
was supposed to be Leslie?  Suddenly, I heard a deafening scream. I guess it was coming from me because in the blink of an eye, Miguel was standing by my side looking at all the gore. “Call 911 Miguel!” I yelled. “Call 911!”

“Que?“ He replied. Shit, I forgot that he didn’t speak English. What’s the Spanish word for nine again? Luckily I didn’t have to remember because Hank came running too and said, “Oh shit. I think we better call the cops on this one. What do you think did that do her? Human or non-human?”

“Non-human!” I screamed. “Look at her! Her head is barely hanging onto her body and she has a gaping hole in her chest! Do you think a fucking human being would have the brute strength to do that?”

“Um, I guess not.” He replied dopily as he was dialing his cell phone. “Hello 911? Yeah, I need someone from the Las Vegas P.D. please. We got a
really
dead lady over here in the fridge at Pixie Dust! I’m pretty sure she was killed by something…..other. Yep, that’s the one. On The Strip, casino level. Alrighty, see you then. Thanks!”

Oh Jesus, I’m sitting here with a mutilated body accompanied by Dumb and Dumber. Kill me now please. I walked out into the main room and sank down against the gate. My brain was on a constant loop, showing me awful images of Leslie’s bloody corpse over and over again. And her eyes. Oh God, I will never forget those soulless, empty eyes. Poor, poor Leslie.  I really didn’t like her much, but I sure as hell wouldn’t have wished this on her. I wouldn’t have wished this on my worst enemy.

Chapter 3

******************************

I don’t know how much time had passed before someone grabbed my elbow. I jumped up, conjured some fairy dust, and threw it towards the gate imagining a volt similar to a stun gun. “Fuck! What the hell was that?” Some guy yelled. I looked up to see a man shaking his arm like he was drying a Polaroid. There were a few people behind him wearing black nylon jackets, stifling their laughter. Great, well at least someone could find some humor in this situation. 

“Oops. Sorry.” I replied. “It was a……um, defense bolt. It just kind of slipped out. I’m a little on edge here under the circumstances. Why did you just grab me?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I tried getting your attention but you weren’t responding. That’s when I grabbed your arm through the gate and you shocked the shit out of me. Seriously what the hell? That wasn’t a normal defense bolt. You didn’t have time to chant the incantation. And where is your mulberry root?”

“How the hell would you know---”

“I’m a warlock.” He explained. “A
very good
warlock. I’m also the lead homicide investigator for preternatural cases in Clark County. My name is Detective Alexander. Look, here’s my badge.”  He held a black wallet up against the gate. “It has my name on it with this little picture. See? That’s me, Vance Alexander. Now would you care to unlock the gate so my men and I can get in there? We need to figure out what happened here tonight. Unless you want to clean up the stiff in the fridge yourself?”

“Did you really just say that?” What a dick! I gave him a fierce glare telling him as much. “Seriously, how cold hearted can you be? A woman died here tonight. She died a violent, horrible death! That ‘stiff’ as you like to call her has a name you know. It’s Leslie Russo. Just in case you think that might helpful in your little investigation,
Detective
.”

As I lifted the gate, I noticed the men with Forensics and Coroner written on their backs were doing anything possible to escape my attention. They seemed to figure out where the kitchen was and filed back there as fast as possible trying to avoid my wrath. The detective seemed completely indifferent, making me hate him even more. It was obvious that I wasn’t needed so I just sank into a booth and resumed contemplating whether or not I needed hand lotion.

“Is there anyone else here with you?” Detective Asshole asked.

“Miguel and Hank are in the kitchen, but I’m the one who found her. They came when they heard me scream. Miguel only speaks Spanish so I hope you have a translator.”

“That won’t be a problem.” He said. “Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to interview them and I’ll be back to take your statement.” He seemed to be waiting for some sort of response but I refused to give him any. Finally he took the hint and walked away. After about twenty minutes, he was sitting across the table, looking at me expectantly. “Miss, are you ready to give your statement now?”