“Sorry, brother, but that’s something we just don’t have.” I could hear the urgency in Widow’s voice as he pushed, “Can you sit up?”
“Yeah, I’m trying.” I ran a hand over my face, attempting to collect myself. “What the fuck happened?”
“Got no fucking idea. Some kind of explosion.”
I looked up at Widow and found him covered from head to foot in dust and mortar. He had multiple cuts and scrapes along his face and arms and a slight gash on his thigh. The poor guy looked like he’d gone a round or two with a fucking tornado, and the tornado won.
I turned and glanced behind him to find the entire south wall of the strip club in utter shambles, and the guest bathrooms were all but gone. Concern marked his face as he motioned his head down the hall. “Looks like it took out the bathrooms and at least one of the red rooms is gone.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“Nothing too serious.” Widow helped me up to my feet, then motioned his hand towards my side. “What about you?”
“Huh?” I looked down and gasped after noticing blood seeping through my shirt. I lifted it and assessed my jagged wound. “What the fuck?”
“You got a pretty good gash on your head, too,” Country announced as he came shuffling up behind us, holding an extinguisher. Like Widow and me, he looked like he’d been through hell and back. He was covered in debris and had numerous gashes all over his body, including various bruises and a knot on his jaw. “You don’t gotta worry, though. With a hard head like yours, you’ll be fine.”
“You should know all about having a hard fucking head.” I stepped over the busted brick and mortar and told him, “We need to make sure the fire is out.”
“Already done.” Country shook his head. “Fire’s out, but we’ve got ourselves one helluva mess.”
Widow and I followed him towards the hallway where the guest bathrooms used to be, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was nothing left, just a gaping fucking hole. Brick and splintered wood were strewn all over the floor, while blackened char and extinguisher residue marked what remained of the walls. Widow looked around in awe. “Damn.”
“I told ya.” Country looked over at me. “You think someone planted a fucking bomb in here?”
“Certainly looks that way, but we won’t know for sure until we start sorting through all this shit. For now, that’s gonna have to wait.” I took a step back. “We need to find out if anyone else is hurt.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Candy and Misty, two of our strippers, came rushing over to us. They’d changed out of their skimpy dance numbers and were now wearing jeans, and they both looked utterly distraught as they surveyed all the wreckage.
Candy’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened in horror as she gasped. “Oh, my God! What happened?”
“No idea. We’re still trying to figure it out,” I answered. “You girls okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Candy winced when she saw that we were covered in dust and blood. “What about you guys?”
“We’re fine. Just a few scratches.” Widow glanced over his shoulder as he asked, “Anyone else still in the dressing rooms?”
Candy shook her head. “No, it’s just us. Everyone else had already gone home for the night.”
“Good.” Knowing time wasn’t on our side, Widow ordered, “You two best do the same.”
“You sure?” Misty asked. “You don’t need a hand with anything?”
“No, we got it covered. You girls get out of here.”
Misty nodded, and then she and Candy slipped out the back door. As soon as it closed behind them, Widow announced, “It won’t be long before the fire department and cops show up, and we need to make sure all our goods have been secured and get ourselves cleaned up.”
Country and I agreed, then followed him down to Menace’s office.
When we walked in, we were all relieved that there appeared to be no damage to the strip club’s main office. Widow walked over, and a slight groan slipped through his lips as he knelt down next to the vault that was hidden beneath the subfloor. When he saw that the latch was still secured and well-concealed, he turned back to us. “Looks like we’re good.”
Knowing time wasn’t on our side, we each stepped into the bathroom and took a moment to clean ourselves up before the cops showed up. Country had just finished washing up when he asked, “What the fuck do you think this shit was all about? Some retaliation bullshit or—”
“No need in wasting time with fucking guessing games.” I knew Country was just as concerned as Widow and me, but I’d learned a long time ago that without cold, hard facts, we got nothing. I motioned my hand towards the camera mounted in the hallway and said, “If someone is behind this, Menace should see something on the security feed.”