Bouncer (Bad Boys in Big Trouble Book 2) (18 page)

Neither Jessica nor Elsa had arrived by the time two black vehicles rolled up to the entrance right before ten. The first was a huge SUV. Four large men stepped out the moment it stopped, as if they’d choreographed their exit in advance. Maybe they had.

They strode purposefully to the back of the second vehicle, forming a wide, two-man wall on either side, one of them opening the limo door. A figure emerged, opening a black umbrella as they disembarked. Two more alighted from the vehicle without any shelter. The four large men from the SUV walked alongside the person under the umbrella all the way to the front door. Hector had closed the rope, keeping those first in line back, standing in front of them as Reece opened the Lexicon’s front door. He held it wide for the approaching group. One of the men from the SUV hurried two steps ahead to enter before the hidden figure.

Reece tried to get a glimpse of whoever had come out of the limo, without success. The umbrella shielded the person above his or her shoulders and the large men covered any further view. He didn’t even see the person’s legs. He waited until all seven had entered before walking in behind them to guide them to the center court table.

The figure beneath the umbrella remained hidden all the way. He saw two of the men take out bug detectors. Reece, directed to stand guard outside the curtains, hoped they weren’t about to discover the place had been wired for sound.

No alarm was raised. The bugs must be turned off, if they were even there. Perhaps he was completely wrong about Jessica, Elsa and Gordon. But he didn’t believe that.

The mystery guest had been inside for less than ten minutes when Reece saw Elsa just inside the main entrance. He searched behind her for Jessica, then realized she must have entered ahead of her friend. Remembering her first night here, Reece thought about the leather miniskirt and thigh boots that had intrigued him through the evening. Tonight, she looked so different he hadn’t recognized her.

The visceral reaction to the dress she wore sent his pulse through the roof. A glance at a few of the males in the room told him both she and Elsa had been noticed. He couldn’t leave his post, but had directed Sam to escort them to their reserved table near the floor by the stairs to where he stood guard. Reece did his best to keep his tongue from slipping between his lips to drool.

Elsa had a complicated hairdo with some sort of elaborate flower attached near her temple by some unknown magical means. She’d apparently done Jessica’s hair as well, since she sported a similar hairclip, but without the big up do. Her dress was clingy enough to show off her amazing curves and made out of what
looked
like shimmering metal pebbles. It was short, like before, but instead of thigh boots, she wore sexy, black, fuck-me shoes with spike heels. To say she had stunning legs would be like saying the Mona Lisa was a nice painting, but it was the closest word he could think of to describe her.

Reece heard movement behind the curtain. He turned his focus from the dance floor as Sam led Elsa and Jessica to their table. If the meeting was already over, it was the shortest in the history of the club. He hadn’t heard Arthur come in, although he could have entered from the opposite side, but he would have expected to see Dixon nearby at the least. With the curtains in place, he couldn’t see the back hallway leading to the premium seating.

A glance back at Jessica’s table. It was empty. He searched further. Sam was already on his way back to his perch by the front door. Reece’s gaze shot to the dance floor and he saw her. She stared directly at him, arms in the air, her body undulating perfectly to the beat of the music.

He nodded to let her know he watched. She smiled seductively and kicked her sexy moves up a notch. The sway of her hips and lovely body hypnotized him for a moment. He cleared his throat a couple of times.

He heard more low voices from behind the curtain, only the murmuring was getting louder. The tone seemed cautionary at first and then more concerned. Shit. He hoped they hadn’t discovered any listening devices. He turned from the dance floor and his sexy girlfriend to address what was going on at center court.

“No. Just stay here,” said an over-loud, raspy voice. “I’ll be fine. No one saw me come in. They won’t know I was under the umbrella. I could be anyone. When Arthur gets his ass in gear and makes an appearance, tell him I’m on the dance floor with a hot bitch panting after me. And when I get lucky, he can wait until I’ve been satisfied.”

The curtain closest to him parted suddenly, revealing an average-sized man with a wholly unconvincing and very cheesy comb-over. Reece wasn’t an expert on the attractiveness of the male species, but he didn’t think the guy had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting any
bitch,
hot or not, to pant after him, let alone have sex with him. Although more often than not, money talked and everything else walked.

Mr. Comb-Over surveyed the dance floor as if he looked at a buffet, trying to figure out where to start first. “Fuckin’ A. As promised, the women here are first-class and super sexy.”

His eyes fell on Jessica and Elsa. “Look at those two hot bitches dancing together, will ya? Gives me a stiffy just watching them, you know what I mean?” He shot his bony elbow into Reece’s arm twice, passing him by. “Hot damn, it’s time to party.”

The man clapped his hands, rubbing them together hard and fast, practically licking his lips as he descended a few steps and got closer to the dance floor. He called over one shoulder to his six-man detail, “Don’t wait up for me. I’m headed into paradise. I’ll be back when I get laid.”

Reece looked on with horror as the VIP headed to exactly where
he
wanted to be.
So much for secrecy
. Four of Mr. Comb-Over’s men followed, trying to surround him, which would look ridiculous in this venue, but the arrogant man waved them off. Jessica and Elsa were still dancing wildly. He shouldn’t leave his post, but as the lead security person for the club, it was his duty to ensure idiots exactly like this bozo didn’t harass the female guests.

“Sir,” he called out loudly, speed-walking to the front of the pack to come alongside Mr. Comb-Over. “My boss will be out very soon to meet you. Perhaps you should go back to center court and wait for him. I’ll have some appetizers sent up.”

Reece half-blocked him from his intended targets, trying to herd him back behind the curtains, but the man was having nothing of it. He’d made up his mind to hunt for women.

“Out of my way.” He pushed Reece’s shoulder halfheartedly and put his lust-filled gaze back on Jessica and Elsa, moving toward them with his entourage following like faithful lapdogs looking for a treat.

Mr. Comb-Over suddenly started dancing, if one could call it that, jerking his hips from side to side erratically as he stumble-walked, snapping the fingers of each hand in the air to the beat of the music like some Greek Zorba, only with considerably less finesse.

“Hi there, beautiful girls,” he said with a big goofy grin, swaying and slamming his hips completely out of rhythm to the music.

Reece watched helpless as the VIP moved closer and closer to Jessica and her friend. He scanned the room, looking for Arthur. He was the only one who could stop the madness of this particular freight train bearing down on them.

“What would you two girls say to joining me in my private booth?” He pointed over his shoulder to center court. “I have the best seats in this place.”

Elsa narrowed her eyes, but didn’t stop dancing. “That’s very nice of you, but we’d like to keep dancing. Thanks anyway.”

Reece relaxed, grateful that he wouldn’t have to intervene. Elsa could probably hold her own with the likes of this ass.

Undeterred, Mr. Comb-Over then asked, “How about I make it worth your while? What would you and your friend say to a raunchy threesome with me upstairs? I promise that I’ll pay you very well if I’m satisfied.”

~ ~ ~

“Dude, I’m not a prostitute!”

Elsa had stopped dancing to shout over the din of the music. Jessica also dropped her arms to her sides. She’d gone motionless the moment the guy with the bad hair had propositioned them, wondering what would happen next. This was, after all, the man Pierce wanted. And he wanted him very badly. He’d mentioned in passing that he yearned for this man to hang, fry, get the needle, all of the above, or at the very least spend the rest of his life in prison, never again seeing a single ray of natural light.

When their target emerged from the curtained area, Elsa sucked in a surprised breath. She’d turned her body so that the micro camera mounted in her headband would face him. Jessica did the same. In her ear, Jessica heard Pierce say, “That’s him. That’s our guy. I wasn’t sure about his voice, but I know that arrogant face. This is the guy we want. This is the guy we need to take down. Fuck me. I can’t believe he’s showing his face, the idiot, but it’s good for us.”

Reece followed the guy all the way to the dance floor, seemingly trying to get him to go back to the curtained area. In the surveillance van before they’d even entered the club, they’d all watched the target arrive in the limo accompanied by very heavy security. They’d seen him make his way inside, hiding behind the umbrella and his men all the way. They’d heard every word he said before he left the safety and privacy of the premium center court seat. The bugs they’d used were state of the art, transmitting a different kind of signal than what most bug detectors used to find them.

Reece stepped between Elsa and the rude man. “Sir, please let me escort you back to your table.”

He made a face at Reece, shoved him aside and suggested to the women, “What about a blow job? I won’t pay you as much, but still, it would be worth your while.” He grinned like he’d offered them riches far beyond what they could possibly imagine. Pierce wanted this guy to rot in prison. Having just met him, Jessica already wanted to kick him in the balls repeatedly.

Reece made a noise like an angry grunt. “If you say one more word to these women, I will escort you out to the curb,” he said, inserting himself firmly between the three of them. “Besides, private entertainment has already been arranged for center court.”

In her ear, Pierce said a few choice words about things he’d like to do to Cecil Bickley. Abruptly, he said, “Elsa, I want this guy, but do not go up there if sexual favors are expected. And if he tries anything, kick his ass.”

Jessica was glad he felt that way. The only guy she’d be willing to have sex with looked like he was about to punch their target in the face and render him useless for their carefully laid plans.

Elsa leaned around Reece and said, “Listen up, dude. I am not having sex with you. Nor am I giving you a blow job. However, if you stop trying to buy sex and nicely invite me and my friend up to your premium space for a drink, we’ll consider it.”

“Sure. Okay,” he said at the exact same time Reece said, “No! Absolutely not.”

Reece glanced around the room as if searching for someone. Probably Arthur, Jessica surmised.

“Do not trust him,” Reece said over his shoulder in Elsa’s direction.

Elsa patted Reece on the shoulder. “I don’t trust him. Guess you’ll have to keep an eye on the both of us.” She turned to Bickley. “This is my friend’s guy. He’s our bodyguard. He comes with us or we don’t go.”

Bickley gave Reece an annoyed onceover, then smiled. “Fine. He can come inside. What’s one more muscle-bound guy taking up space?” He headed back to where he’d started, his four guards following his every step. Elsa and Jessica, Reece’s guiding hand on her back, moved toward the stairs.

Before they climbed up, Reece whispered to Jessica, “I will not let him touch you. But be careful. Don’t provoke him.”

“I know you won’t. I’ll be careful. And trust me, I’d never provoke that ass.”

One side of Reece’s mouth lifted in amusement as they ascended the stairs to the premium table. Pierce remained quiet in her ear. The bugs Elsa and Gordon had planted were still working, but were turned off as she and Elsa entered center court through the curtain.

With all of them crowded into the curtained space, the area seemed small and confining. It was sheltered by gauzy draperies, looking somewhat like a sultan’s tent only with popular music blasting through the filmy walls.

“What do you want to drink, honey?” Bickley asked Elsa. The leer was hard to miss, but at least he’d stopped propositioning them. Jessica didn’t expect it would last.

“Champagne, of course,” Elsa said with a sparkle in her tone. She sounded like a total party girl. Or at least what Jessica perceived as one. The day they’d met, Jessica got the impression Elsa was a very savvy, very competent agent. Apparently, she was also a superb actress when the need arose.

Bickley leaned in closer. “Geez, for champagne I should be getting my rocks off.”

Elsa got up so fast she bumped the small table across the floor several inches. Jessica also stood, and swore she heard Reece growl. Or perhaps it was Pierce in her ear.

“Sit! Sit! Please, I was just kidding. You people are all so serious.” Elsa inhaled deeply, put a stiff smile on her face as if she was
not
at all amused, and sat back down. Bickley whispered to one of his guards. Jessica heard him ask for the cheapest champagne available to be brought to the table. What a turd.

Their cheapskate host sat at one end of the horseshoe table. His entourage was lined up next to him like soldiers in formation. Elsa and Jessica were on the opposite side with Reece standing close enough she could feel his warmth against one shoulder.