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I watched as Gavin strode over to us, his jaw clenched with barely contained fury. “Laila,” he said, his voice tight, “can you handle the next round of calls? Make sure to let everyone know we’re closed tonight, but they’ll receive full pay.”
As Laila nodded and moved away, I caught wind of a nearby conversation that made my blood boil. One of the uniformed cops had the audacity to mutter to his partner, “That’s a helluva lot easier for these whores than having dudes shoving dollar bills down their g-strings.”
Gavin’s head whipped around so fast I thought he might get whiplash. “What the fuck did you just say?” he snarled, advancing on the officer with predatory grace.
The cop stumbled back, his face flushing. “S-sorry,” he stammered. “Didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”
“Like hell you didn’t,” Gavin spat, his eyes flashing dangerously. “I think you’ve taken quite enough statements for one day, jackass.”
“But I was just?—”
“Are you seriously gonna make me spell this shit out for you?” Gavin’s voice had gone arctic cold. “Get your bigoted ass out of my club and don’t you ever fucking dare show your face here again.”
“But... but this is my job,” the officer sputtered pathetically.
Gavin leaned in close, his voice dripping with menace. “If you don’t drag your sorry ass out of here in the next thirty goddamn seconds, I’ll make damn sure the only job you can land in this city is scrubbing toilets at some roach-infested hourly motel. Now move it!”
Something about Gavin must’ve convinced the cop he was serious because the officer scurried away with his tail between his legs, mumbling something under his breath that I was sure wasn’t complimentary.
“Sienna,” Gavin turned back to us, his tone returning to his usual, albeit a little more stressed, professional sound. “The detectives need to know where you were today and if you have any idea who could’ve done this. When you’re finished with that, could you call your dancers? The ones who aren’t servers too? We’ll need them to come in and do the same.”
“Of course,” she said. “How’s Carrie?”
Gavin looked over to where his wife was talking to one of the detectives. Neither one of the pair looked happy. “Pissed as hell and making sure the boys in charge know that she has deep connections in the DA’s office, and if they treat any of our people with disrespect, they’ll be riding the desk in evidence lockup for the rest of their careers.”
Carrie called for him then, and he walked away. I looked down at Sienna. “You go make your calls, and I’ll call Carson. Gavin and Carrie should know that we have their back.”
Sienna’s expression was grim but determined. The shock had worn off, and now she was a woman preparing for a fight. “They might own the club, but it’s special to a lot of us.”
“Let’s get this done, then,” I said before dropping a kiss on her cheek and moving off to talk to the first officer I could find.
After I finished giving my statement—which was basically just me saying that the only person I knew of who was pissed at Gavin was Arthur Dalton, and yes I had an alibi, and no I didn’t have a motive.
I stepped away from the chaos to call Carson. As soon as I explained what had happened, he didn’t hesitate.
“Vix and I will be there as soon as we can,” he said. “We’ll help however we’re needed.”
I felt a wave of gratitude wash over me. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
By the time Carson and Vix arrived, the police were packing up their gear and heading out. Most of the club’s employees had stuck around, determined to get the place back in shape.
“Holy shit,” Carson muttered as he took in the destruction. “This is way worse than what happened at your office.”
Vix nodded, her eyes wide. “It looks like a tornado hit in here.”
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the weight of everything that had happened. “Yeah, it’s pretty bad. But everyone’s pitching in to clean up.”
Carson rolled up his sleeves. “Well, let’s get to it then. Where do you need us?”
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Gavin called from the stage. When everyone turned to him and quieted down, he continued, “First, thank you all for coming in, some of you on your day off, and some of you who don’t even work here. Obviously, we’re going to be closed today, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to reopen tomorrow. That wouldn’t even be a possibility if not for you guys. Carrie and I really appreciate all of you.”
After thanking everyone, he gave us all instructions, assigning groups to various parts of the club, and then stepped down from the stage to talk to Laila.
“So you guys don’t know who did this?” Carson asked as he and Vix each pulled on a pair of leather gloves.
Sienna and I exchanged looks that said we’d been thinking along the same lines, even if we hadn’t talked about it yet.
Carson caught the exchange. “Or do you know?”
