Aiden grinned and tugged at her pinafore strings. “You tell ‘em.” He glanced over to the street, where Josephine was speaking to the policeman.
“Thank you for your assistance, Officer,” the manager said gratefully.
“Easiest call I’ve had tonight. You all be safe.” He politely nodded at the porcelain four of them and climbed back into his cruiser. The emergency lights went dark and he slowly drove away.
As soon as the protestors and the officer were gone, car doors began opening in the parking lot across the street, and patrons started making their way over to the club.
“Sorry. I didn’t want to get hassled by them,” a regular said to Aiden with a sheepish smile on his round, bearded face.
Aiden returned his smile with a flirtatious grin of his own. “No worries, babe. You deserve to have a little fun without getting hassled for it first.”
“Did I already miss you dance?”
“Yep, I was on early tonight.”
“I’ll be sure to catch your next show,” he said before he disappeared into the Fox.
Josephine walked up to the three of them, pausing to light up a cigarette before she went inside. “Damn. We don’t need that kind of nonsense around here. Did you see the way people stayed away until those protestors cleared out? And there’s no telling how many people drove right on past us to visit one of the other clubs when they saw that crowd.”
“Yeah,” the bouncer popped her bubble gum as she agreed. “That was bad for business.”
“It’s been a while since we had to deal with anything like that, especially after we got the crime rate down in the Playground. Have any of you heard of anything that might have set those weirdos off?”
Suzie shook her head, corkscrew pigtails swinging. “I haven’t.”
Aiden suspected that they were the group behind the recent muggings. But he didn’t have one hundred percent confirmation on that. In addition, he didn’t know their ultimate goal other than harassing people who worked in the Playground. Until he had more information, he wouldn’t discuss it with his boss or co-workers. “Same,” he answered her.
“Well, if any of you hear anything let me know. And put the word out to the rest of the crew that we might have some people hanging around causing trouble.” Josephine took one last drag on the cigarette before she snuffed it out on the bottom of her snakeskin boot. “I’d better get back inside and make sure it hasn’t turned into a jungle in there. Cupcake is probably giving away free lap dances.”
Music poured out into the night when she opened the club doors and went inside. The bouncer followed to return to her post in the lobby, leaving Aiden and Suzie standing alone on the sidewalk.
“I’m cold,” Suzie said with a shiver.
“You’recold? At least you’ve got layers of ruffles to keep you warm. I’m standing out here in my skivvies.”
Suzie laughed and grabbed his hand, tugging him along behind her. “Come on.”
They went back inside the Fox, the warm air of the club chasing away the goosebumps on his bare arms and legs. The two of them separated, Suzie to do a round of the club while Aiden returned to the side of the stage. He collected his money and costume from the staff member, doubling their tip-out as promised. Tips and costume in hand, he finally made it back to the dressing room and plopped down on his seat at the vanity. Aiden unzipped his boots, sliding his feet out of them with a grateful sigh.
The dressing room was busy with the arrival of the night shift. Dancers bustled around getting dressed, asking to borrow curling irons and checking out their costumes in one of the full-length mirrors. Aiden remained still in the midst of the activity. He was in his head, considering what he should do.
He and Zielinski were supposed to have the night off from patrol. But after that protest, he wanted to be out there on the streets to see if the Purity Alliance was going to put in another appearance. However, he was unsure if he should call his partner in on this. The other night, he’d decided to say fuck it and go for it. He’d let Mike know that he was interested in a physical relationship with him, one where he was the dominant. In every relationship, he was upfront about that from the start. But he hadn’t received his answer yet, and he didn’t want to come across as if he was trying to be in Zielinski’s face in order to speed up getting his answer.
It wouldn’t be a problem for Aiden to patrol alone. But Zielinski had said more than once that he wanted to be partners and he seemed earnest in his determination to help. Aiden realized that he couldn’t let their personal relationship get in the way of doing what was best to protect the Playground and stop the Purity Alliance. If they were going to be in a relationship, they would have to learn to put it aside in order to take care of ACG business. Might as well get started on that now.
With that inner struggle settled, Aiden decided that he’d call. If Zielinski was able to come out and help him patrol, great. If he couldn’t, Aiden wouldn’t take it to mean anything more than the man had other stuff to do on his night off. He jumped up to throw on his street clothes, then grabbed his cell and went to find a quiet spot in the back of the house to call his partner. The call connected on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Aiden. I know it’s our night off, but are you up to a patrol tonight?”
“Sure. What’s the op?”
“We had a visit from what I suspect was the Purity Alliance a little while ago. They held a little protest out in front of the Fox, shouting about our sinful ways and demanding we be shut down.”
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“That was my thought. Groups like that come by from time to time. But them showing up tonight after we stopped their last few assaults and confiscated one of their weapons has to mean something. It’s got to be the next step in their plan or whatever they’re building towards. I want to keep an eye on the area tonight just in case they have something else up their sleeves.”
