Alarm bells clouded my ears like the worst case of tinnitus. It wasn’t like any of them not to at least text one of us if something was wrong; especially Carm. I nearly dropped my phone after pulling it out of my oversized purse.
The sick feeling in my stomach worsened. No missed calls. No texts. Just crickets. Worse than crickets, actually. Try fucking locusts on a hot southern night.
I called Carm first and, with each monotonous dial tone, another round of ants chewed at my skin. “Come on, Carm. Pick up.”
“Hey! You’ve reached Theresa! I don’t really like to answer the phone, so shoot me a text and I’ll hit ya back lickity-split!” Her sweet, sweet voice was followed by a beep that made my teeth grit.
“Hey Carm, it’s me. I’m here at Luscious and you’re not. Is everything okay? Please call me back.”
Just to be safe, I sent a follow up text.
“Fuck this,” I murmured under my breath. That was five of us missing now, and it could not be a coincidence. Vinny would have to be on his own tonight.
I gathered my shit, slipped back out of Lucious, and shot Barb a text as I started in the direction of home.
Hey Batshit Barb, it’s your favorite pain in the ass. I need a favor You home?
“Dany?” a deep voice came out of nowhere.
My body jolted upward and I cried out, “Christ on a crucifix!”
Joe braced my elbow and raised a calming hand as I pulled arm back to knock him the fuck out.
“Woah, woah! Take it easy,” he soothed.
“Devil dammit Joe!”
He let go of my elbow to put both hands in the air like he’d just trapped a wild animal in the corner. Little did he know, I was much, much worse. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”
“I could have killed you!”
Skepticism deepened the wrinkle in his brow. The lack of confidence fueled the agitation that was already a fine tremble beneath my skin.
“I came to see if you wanted to have dinner with me?”
His words caused a physical, jerk reaction, forcing my feet to stumble back as I scrambled for composure.
“Excuse me?”
Joe cleared his throat and shifted into a more relaxed stance, if still a little on edge. “I was in the neighborhood and craving a good chili dog. It’s a Saturday night so…” His shoulders lifted in a slow shrug. My eyes narrowed in response.
“So you assumed that because I’m a stripper, I would be at work on a Saturday night?”
“Iiiiiiis that too far of a stretch?”
All of the witty remarks in my spank bank must have been feeling shy because not a single fucking one was ready to fly.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
I’m not home. Text me what you need and we will come to an agreement on payment.
“Fuck” I whispered, my fingers flying over the keyboard to type my response.
I need your tech skills. Friends missing. Will pay with nudes of Lucifer.
Done,was her immediate reply.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Joe asked.
