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“Can we get on with it?” Joker rumbles as Reaper paces the lobby, looking down the hall, and checking out the bulletin board that’s covered in notices and brochures.
“Sure,” Wendy replies. “Went for lunch yesterday to that new sushi place. You been there?” she says to Hangman.
“I don’t even know what the fuck sushi is,” he blusters.
“I call bullshit. You’ve been around long enough to know it’s Japanese food. Rice and seaweed rolls with raw fish or vegetables. Sometimes both.” She looks expectantly at him. “Come on. You must have heard of it.”
Hangman looks green. “Not the fuckin’ raw fish kind.”
“This isn’t a tea party,” Reaper growls. “I got things to do today.”
Hangman and Wendy glare at him. “Anyway,” Wendy says, “I just sat down in a booth when these two men came over. Suits. Not that unusual. Sagebrush isn’t that out in the sticks. One sat across from me and the other beside me, blocking me in.” She shrugs. “I was irritated more than anything. Attila here,” she nods towards me, “only lets me have a half hour.”
I get defensive. “It’s all I take too. Besides, you’re always gone longer than a half-hour.”
Wendy lifts her shoulders in a half-shrug. “It’s the principle of it.”
“Jesus,” Reaper says to Wendy as he settles himself against a wall. “You and Hangman are gonna die of old age before this conversation gets done.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Hangman growls as Joker and Trigger share amused glances.
“I guess you can’t help that you’ve got assholes in your club,” Wendy says to Hangman. “Evanee can give him a tranquilizer shot if you want.”
Hangman rewards her cheekiness with a smirk. “I’ll think about it. What happened?”
“They told me they were DEA agents, flashed badges, and everything. Tom and Jerry, they said and I told them they could fuck right off if they thought I was a fool.” She grins as she thinks about it. “They said they were sorry, but their names were classified. I told them I had only thirty minutes for lunch, so they needed to say what they came to say.” She leans towards Hangman and lowers her voice. “They said that Hell’s Jury was an outlaw gang, and they were worried about Evanee and me getting mixed up with them.”
She pauses dramatically and gets what she wants when Joker says, “And?”
“And I agreed. I told them I was worried about Evanee too because she’d just moved in with one of you accurately-called criminals.” She nods to Trigger. “I saidone of youinstead of Trigger because I thought it made me seem like I didn’t approve.”
Reaper starts prowling again. “Could we please get to the nuts and bolts.”
“Such nice manners,” Wendy rasps then returns her attention to Hangman. “They seemed pretty happy that I disapproved of Evanee and Trigger’s relationship.” To me, she explains. “I don’t. I think you two are made for each other.”
Trigger smiles as if Wendy’s approval made his day. “Thanks, darlin’.”
Joker snorts but she pays him no mind. “Tom and Jerry said I could help my boss out by pretending I was supportive of the relationship. Then I could get inside information that might help them press charges against you guys.”
“What’d they look like?” Joker asks as he pulls a notebook from the inside pocket of his cut.
“We already know what they look like,” Hangman says irritably.
“We know what the guys in our photo look like,” Joker counters. “We gotta find out if these were the same guys.” He gazes at Wendy expectantly.
She takes a moment to think about it. “Suits, ties, slim. One was taller than the other by maybe three inches. Short guy was no more than 5’8” I guess. Nothing that stood out. They had the classic fed look – short hair, clean-shaven.” She twists her lips as she looks past Joker. “Brown hair. Brown eyes.” She shrugs.
“Not helpful,” Reaper says flatly. “You seem pretty relaxed for someone just approached by the feds to do a little spying.”
“I made my living in the stripper circuit. This is nothing compared to some of the bullshit I’ve encountered.”
Joker, Hangman, and Reaper look more closely at her. None of them comment.
“I made them spend most of the lunch break convincing me. I told them that there had to be something in it for me. I wasn’t going to risk my life and lose my job. They agreed. Told me they’d pay me well. I told them I wanted a down payment upfront. Tom pulled out an envelop full of cash and gave it to me. Two thousand dollars. A lot of money for sure.” She pauses. “Of course, it came with all sorts of dire warnings about them arresting me if I betrayed them.”
“This is bullshit,” Reaper interjects. “You think we’re the lesser of two evils?” He asks this in a way that implies they’re not.
I think she’s going to admit she’s afraid of Hell’s Jury, but she surprises me. “First, Evanee and I are friends so I’m not going to betray her. Second, Tom and Jerry are full of shit. If they were legit, they wouldn’t have come at me straight on and in such a public place. They wouldn’t come at me at all. They’d flip someone in your club who had an inside track.”
