Page 14 of Strip Search

“We didn’t. Hell, Jackie, I barely remember her. And what I do remember is she was a difficult employee, a snob, and everyone thought she was a bitch.”

“Everyone but that guy who kept coming back for her. Do you keep security tapes?” That should have been the first question out of my mouth when I met him, but he had set me so off kilter that I still wasn’t thinking straight.

“Only for the week and then we write over them.”

“Why? You should keep them in the cloud forever. In case of things like this.”

Miles frowned as he considered it. I tossed him the keys and we got inside the car.

“You might be right.”

“Well, that doesn’t help me now,” I said, trying not to be too dejected. “What’s in Pahrump and how long a drive is it?”

Miles squinted at the traffic and for a moment I didn’t think he was going to answer me. “It’s about an hour and a half. And they’ve got casinos and wineries.”

“Any of those places offer room and board?”

He cleared his throat. “We don’t even know if Lisa is with Zeke or Dee.”

“It looks like they’re the last people to have seen her.” I nibbled on my fingernail. “I don’t want to be running all over Nevada on a wild goose chase, though. But if Dee was scared off, it’s possible it was the same thing that scared Lisa off.”

“If that’s the case, I want to know who or what is threatening my employees,” Miles said.

“Unless you have an address in Pahrump for Dee, we’re stuck until Zeke calls his sister. If she even gives him the message.”

“She’ll give him the message. She wants a job at Dalton’s. She’s going to do whatever she can to get in the door.”

Miles sounded confident, so I chose to believe him. Pulling down the visor, I looked in the mirror. “Do you think I look trashy?”

“In a good way.”

The way he smiled made that the biggest compliment of my life.

“And you’re so very sweet, just like she said,” he continued. “I can’t wait to taste you again.”

My nipples tightened against my bra. I wanted to fling the damn thing off. I knew I should have just worn the pasties. “Where do you want to go to dinner?” I asked. “My hotel does room service.”

Miles started the car. “What hotel are you staying at?”

“The Wynn.”

He pulled out into traffic and my heart fluttered. I was going to get laid again. I squirmed in my seat. Best. Vacation. Ever.

And then my phone rang.

I gasped and fumbled for my purse. “Oh no,” I said, looking at who was calling.

“Is it Lisa?”

“Worse. It’s my mother.” I wanted to chuck the phone out the window. “I’ve got to take this, otherwise she’s going to be a real nuisance.”

“Go ahead.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to center myself. The ringing stopped.

“Looks like she gave up,” Miles said.

“Wait for it,” I muttered, and like clockwork the phone went off again. “Yes, Mom,” I said, answering it on the second ring. I thought I’d kept the aggravation out of my voice.

“How’s your sister?”

I debated how much to tell her. “I still haven’t found her.”

“Why not?”

“She’s not answering her cell and she moved out of her apartment about three weeks ago. She also quit her job around that time.”

“Well, where is she?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. I’m asking her friends and the people she worked with.”

“She’s probably auditioning for a production down there. You should hit all the talent scouts. Maybe you’re being replaced.”

She did not just say that.

My mother continued on, oblivious that she’d fired an arrow into my gut. “Get a newspaper and find out who’s hiring for a lead dancer.”

“No one uses paper anymore.” That was the most scathing thing I could come up with.

“I’m sure now that she’s no longer bartending . . .”

Stripping , I corrected mentally.

“It’s only a matter of time before she calls in to tell us that she’s booked a new gig. Really, Jackie, you should have hustled more for your sister.”

“Give me the phone,” Miles said, reaching for it.

No , I mouthed at him and scooted away so he couldn’t take it from me. “Well, I’m glad you’re not worried. I guess I’ll go back to New York.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“I’m sorry, I’m going to dare to do whatever I want.” That wasn’t much better, but at least this time my attitude got through to her and her tone switched from strident to cajoling.

“Jackie, your sister isn’t good with contracts or numbers. She needs you to stop people from taking advantage of her. Find her before she signs away all of her rights. Lisa is an artist. All she wants to do is dance. She doesn’t care about the mundane things like we do.”

“I’m losing cell service,” I lied. “Gotta go. I’ll call you when I hear something.

” I hung up. I wanted to turn it off, but I didn’t dare in case Lisa or someone who knew where she was called.

I stared at it with trepidation. A few minutes clicked past, but Mom didn’t call back.

Sighing, I tossed the phone back into my purse.

“If you don’t mind me saying so, your mom’s a bitch.”

“And if I do mind?” I didn’t, and it actually felt good to have someone take my side against my mother instead of trying to explain her behavior away.

“Then I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but your mom’s a bitch.”

“Third time is the charm.”

“She’s a fucking bitch.”

“Thanks for that.” I wrapped my arms around his and laid my head against his shoulder.

“I’m sensing the room service mood has been broken,” Miles said.

“A little bit, yeah.”

“Dee lived with her mother. If you’re not all mothered out, we could try there and see if we get lucky before getting lucky.”

I kissed his arm because that coaxed a small smile out of me. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Has she always been like this?”

I nodded. “Sometimes she’s worse. Usually I can ignore her. I’ve had to grow a thick skin when it comes to her blatant favoritism of Lisa. Sometimes though,” I said. “She still makes me feel like crying.”

“If she was in my club, I’d toss her out on her ass.”

“I think I’d pay money to see that.”

“Why does she favor Lisa?”

“My therapist thinks she’s living vicariously through my sister. Mom’s always been in love with the theater, but she didn’t have the talent. Lisa was a prodigy and I was merely good. We didn’t have a lot of money, so it made sense to her to promote Lisa.”

“While you got left holding the bag?”

“Lisa’s bags, yes. And later her calendar and her bookings.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Well, at first I had no choice. But after I moved out, I guess it was just habit. And the job pays well. It was numbingly boring and gut wrenching to make her dreams come true. I compartmentalized a lot of it.”

“You locked yourself away from your life?”

I wrinkled my nose. “You make it sound so dramatic, but yeah, in a way. I guess that’s why it feels so good to be so trashy in Las Vegas.”

“You’re one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen.”

Blinking back tears, I clutched his arm tighter. “I needed to hear that.”

“You know, maybe you should see if there are any shows hiring.”

“You think Lisa’s auditioning to be a showgirl?”

He snorted. “If she is, she won’t last past her first audition. She couldn’t do four sets of three minutes every hour without having to ice her knee.”

“Then what would I find out at a cattle call?”

“You could find out that your mother doesn’t know shit about talent and that you could become a Las Vegas showgirl.”

I giggled nervously. He had to be joking. I looked up at his face. He was completely serious. “But I can’t get time off from my job in New York to work as a showgirl.”

“So don’t take the job.”

Don’t take the job? Was he nuts? I had wanted to be a Rockette from the very first Christmas I saw them dance at Rockefeller Center. A Vegas showgirl complete with feathered harness and the glittery body suits was the epitome of professional dancer to me.

“How much do they make?”

“About 40K a year, I think.”

I couldn’t live on that in Manhattan, but maybe I could in Las Vegas.

Wait, what was I even thinking? I had a life in New York, a great career, and my family was there.

My phone buzzed and I dug it out to look at it.

Winter storm warning was in effect in Manhattan for the next forty-eight hours.

Letting go of Miles, I rolled my window down and let the hot desert air buffet my face.

A Las Vegas showgirl.

Me.

“Do you think I can do it?”

“Yes.”

“How? We’ve only known each other a few days.”

“I’ve seen you dance. You’re gorgeous. You have great legs.” Miles ticked off the list on his fingers. “You’re not afraid of anything.”

I gave a short laugh. I was afraid of everything.

“You’re a free spirit.”

“Me?”

“Who else would decide to become a stripper to find her sister? And did I mention, you’re the best dancer I’ve ever seen.

And I’ve seen a lot of them. Granted, most of them were naked,” he admitted.

“But you outshone them all. If I didn’t want you for myself, you’d be making thirty thousand a month in my club until someone stole you away from me. ”

This time I did laugh. “Only if all my VIP clients were you and Darcy.”

Miles scowled. “Forget about Darcy.”

“He’s going to help us find Lisa.” I recounted the conversation Darcy and I had.

“It’s really tough to hate him,” he said. “He’s a nice bloke.”

“Then don’t. You’ve got nothing to be jealous about. I want you, not him.”

“Good.” Miles gave me a cocky smile and I was in the mood again.

Too bad we had arrived at Dee’s mother’s place.

We were in a more upscale part of town than before. I knew this because the communities were gated and the security at the kiosk outside of Dee’s mother’s condo was eyeballing Miles’s tattoos.

“Who are you here to see?”

Miles looked at his sticky note. “Eleanor Brandon.”

“One moment.”

“If she tells us to fuck off, let’s go to the Wynn,” I said in Miles’s ear while fondling him through his jeans when the guard was busy calling to see if we were welcome or not.

“You got it.” He thumbed my nipple and it made me gasp.

Unfortunately, the guard waved us through and told us where to park.

Inside the gates, we could be in any city in the world.

The shrubs and bushes were green and healthy, even though we were in the desert.

As we walked up to the condo, a stunning woman in her mid-fifties stormed out of the house wearing a white one-piece bathing suit and a turban.

The gauzy coverup she was hastily pulling on floated behind her like a cape.

“Eleanor Brandon?” I asked.

The woman nodded and turned to Miles. “Are you Miles Carvello?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Because of you, my daughter is a whore.”

And then she slapped Miles hard across the face.