After the seventh trip to the ice machine, my biceps are beginning to burn.
“Hey,Guapo, speed it up!” Dove calls from the catwalk overhead. “We open in ten minutes!”
Guapo, huh?Well, that answers my question. I’ll take that moniker all . . . day . . . long.
Just as I finish pouring ice into the very last bin, there is a ruckus at the front door. I observe from a darkened corner as the club floor is swarmed by people dressed in black with the letters DEA emboldened in yellow across their chests. One man, in particular, stands out. He’s tall, brawny, dark-skinned, and exudes masculine authority.
Dove flies across the dance floor, seemingly appearing from nowhere.
“Cameron, what now?” she verbally attacks him.
Cameron hands over a piece of paper, and with an eerily calm tone denotes, “We have a warrant to search the premises.”
“On what grounds?” Dove demands. She looks like a small, dark fairy compared to Cameron’s height and girth.
“We got a tip there were drugs being stashed here.”
“A tip?”
“An anonymous tip,” he relays.
“Please.” She looks over the document with clear hostility. Cameron motions with his hands, and the swarm moves out, spreading like ants through the building. I nonchalantly travel to Dove’s side, trying not to call any attention to myself.
“I take it this isn’t the first time he’s given you trouble,” I whisper to her.
“No. Agent Cameron is an old friend. He’s on a witch hunt.Too bad he isn't going to find a goddamn thing,”she yells at him from across the room. He imperviously ignores her. “As if we would be stupid enough to stash anything at our place of business,” she says so only I can hear. “He just likes to make trouble. Remind us that he’s watching. This stupid warrant probably isn’t even legit.” Dove crumples up the piece of paper in her hand.
“Nonetheless, let them look, and then look like fools when they come up emptyhanded,” I offer some advice.
She turns just her head so she can look directly at me. “No shit.”
Okay, tough crowd.
“Sorry, just trying to help.”
“You can help by shutting up.”
“Fine.” I lean against the bar and cross my arms. “But I’ll stand by you until they’re gone.”
“How fucking chivalrous of you.” Dove has no tolerance for me at the moment.
“I’m a country boy. It’s how I was raised.”
“We’ll see how long that southern etiquette lasts.”
“Honor among thieves,” I hum.
Dove continues to drill me into the ground with her icy stare. She isn’t sure what to make of me yet, but she’ll soon learn.
Over the course of a long hour, we wait to see what the DEA storm uncovers. At the end, nothing.
“Clear,” Cameron announces. The club is clean as a whistle.
“Shocker,” Dove spits.
The same way the swarm entered the building, they leave. A vacuum of dark figures.
Cameron is the last to go. He gestures at Dove. Using two fingers, he points at his eyes, and then at her.I’m watching you.
