“And after that? Those girls are still alone in a room with a stranger.”
“There’s a panic button for that.”
“And what happens then?”
“We come running.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me. Jason, the bartender. Roy, the maintenance guy.”
Cole nodded. “You said first. What’s second?”
“Secondly, I listen in to make sure the girls aren’t offered drugs, they aren’t propositioned to take clients outside of the house. It can be dangerous for these girls to meet their customers after hours at a motel or wherever.”
“As well as bad for business.”
“Yes, and bad for business. We also listen to make sure the girls aren’t shorting the house. I have to make sure the services they just negotiated for match up to the money they bring me.” She paused to look over Cole’s shoulder. He turned to see two of the girls bringing payments up. One in cash. One with a credit card and driver’s license. After Dolly had accepted and recorded the payments, and the girls had retired back to their rooms, Cole turned back to Dolly.
“So, we take credit cards?”
Dolly laughed. “It’s a
plastic world, sweetie.”
“The guys don’t worry about that showing up on their statement?”
“We’re discreet. It appears as NVA Inc. They explain it however they wish.”
“So, why are we here, Dolly?”
“Profits are down. Way down. Business is not.”
Cole frowned again. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Nope. That’s why you’re here. To help me figure it out.”
Cole closed the door and sat down in a chair across from Dolly and ordered, “Explain.”
“The house is just as busy as ever, but somehow the amount of services charged and the amount of money coming back to the office is down. Now either my girls are all shorting the house somehow or…”
“Or?”
“Look, I’ve worked in other houses. I was even one of those girls once. I know the ways to skim. I know the tricks that can be played.”
“Such as?”
“In one house I worked at, it turned out the bartender was in league with the manager, unbeknown to the madam they were getting the girls drunk so they’d get confused as to how much money they’d earned. Then they were skimming off the earnings and splitting it.”
“You think that’s happening here?”
She shook her head no. “I trust Jason, the bartender. He’s a straight up good guy. Now, your manager, Louie, not so much. I think he’s up to something, I just haven’t been able to catch him at it. I can’t prove anything.”
Cole nodded. “Where is he?”
“He works the day shift. Gets here early, goes over the books from the night before. He usually gets here about five a.m.”
Cole stood. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”