Flash Fiction: Noir Story

Chapter 15

Kitty recovered quickly, I'll give her that. Those wide green eyes quickly hooded themselves back into a look that at one time screamed wanting, but now just made her look a bit uninteresting. She continued to grind on my lap but murmured that she didn't know what I was talking about. I slipped a few extra bills from the fold in my shirt sleeve that I'd stashed prior to the dance and waved them in front of me, promises to make it worth her while. I could see the conflict in her mind, the wave of $100's in front of her was probably more than she would make all night, but still something made her nervous. I told her I'd throw in a few more bills, after all I had a pretty fat expense account, and she agreed.

I followed her back to the private show floor. It was sectioned off by a big black wall and broken into smaller booth, almost like cubicles. Each one had a dingy black sofa and a single bulb muted by a black shade. Kitty slipped the bouncer some cash and placed our drink order, another longneck for me, and some kind of cocktail that had more fruit in it that I'd had in the last year. I settled back into the chair as Kitty pulled up beside me. The music wasn't as loud back here, but at least I could hear Kitty's voice over the faded din of rap music in the background. We didn't say anything until the drinks showed up, but I watched Kitty drain most of hers in one big gulp.

I waited patiently as the next song started and Kitty re-mounted me. She whispered into my ear that they had cameras back here and she needed to keep up the part. I nodded and put a soft smile on, playing my role. I told her who I was and who had told me to ask for her. She nodded, her head dipping towards my crotch, who so far seemed to be taking all that grinding in stride. I filled her in on what I was doing in low tones and what I waned from her, if she could help.

She looked up and at me and sat on my lap, I could feel her hot breath on my neck and she whispered into my ear, telling me what she knew about Elsa Lomack. I slid the money down into the top of her boot as she told me what she knew. Mostly that Elsa hadn't been here in the last month and most of the muscle that ran the place had told the girls not to ask about it. She had been dancing here a while, but the drugs and abuse where starting to show on her body. Her boyfriend, which I knew was Horner, had been working some bigger deals and kept telling everyone at the club that he was gonna be a rich man soon. She told me about a bar he hung out at when he wasn't stirring up trouble around here, The Zero Room. She was just about to tell me more about Elsa when I felt a big meaty hand grab the back of my jacket and pull.

This wasn't gonna be good.

End of Line.
Gerrad!