Read Exposed by Rage for Free Online Page A

The regulars were really people from the fringe of normality, if there was such a thing.
    I was going to have to go back to Trixie’s, and I knew I was stalling.  Might as well get it over with since we would be seeing each other that evening at the reading of the will.  I hadn’t told DeMarco everything. Jillie had been upset by the actors, something going on there.  I hadn’t listened because what she wanted to tell me had to do with Trixie.  Well, I still wasn’t ready to immerse myself into that world.  I hadn’t seen one of those movies since I pinched a couple of the videos from Trixie’s office when I was fifteen and she was out of town---again. But, when I looked at any of the actresses, with their balloons they called boobs, it made me hurt.  I drove to the strip club, which sat on a little piece of land on Highway 121 a bit northwest of Plano. 
    “Ashley, this business is a mess,” Poppy said when I arrived in the office.  “I don’t know what’s going on but things are off here.  First, the inventory is twice what it should be for a place this size. You’ve got enough alcohol to carry you for the next three months.” 
    “We’ll talk about this on the way to lunch,” I told her as we walked through the bar. 
Reaching the car, Poppy slid inside, took out her compact and lipstick, and began to freshen her makeup as I pulled out of the parking lot.
    “Okay, so what does that mean?” I asked.
    “I’m guessing Jillie was a little paranoid, maybe stockpiling.  She has three safes in this building that I’ve found.  Someone tried to jimmy the one in the office open.” 
    “Who would--?”
    “I already have my list of suspects for that one.  It’s really sad, the combination was taped to the back of the picture of you she kept on her desk, and now that pretty little safe has big gouges in it.”
    “So you think someone here is responsible for the murder, someone who tried to open the safe?”
    “No, I think you have some people who took advantage of your friend.”
    “Jillie was easy to take advantage of.  I used to kid her about mothering me after I left home.  She did it because she didn’t have a family and she felt shame about the movies.”
    “I never thought she was ashamed of it,” Poppy said. "She was very open when I talked to her, and even defensive of the actors and actresses out there.”
    “She wasn’t ashamed she’d been in them, it was more that she knew there were some real predators in the business and she wasn’t doing anything about them.” 
    We pulled into the parking lot at the Frisco mall, and made our way to the Cheesecake Factory.  Sharing their Chinese Chicken Salad made me feel less guilty when we ordered the Godiva® Chocolate Brownie Sundae.  Everyone needs to be wicked occasionally.
    “Ash, I think Randi and Kevin have been doing a little skimming.  The dancers’ fees seemed to have dipped significantly over the last six months, but the bar receipts are increasing.  Randi collects the fees.  Kevin appears to be responsible for making the payments for the food and beverage deliveries.  These orders have gone up twenty-five percent just in the last two months and I can’t find paperwork to account for the difference.”
    “Maybe it’s the economy.  Gas and delivery prices are rising faster than flood waters.” 
    “I took that into consideration.”
    I would have to think about what Poppy was telling me.   “Dylan called.  He’ll be here tonight.”
    “He’ll want to help and offer you a shoulder to cry on, if you’ll let him.”
    “Well, I won’t.  You know how I feel.  He’s a good guy, but men are--”
    “Ashley, not all men are like the ones your mother has around her.  They aren’t--”
    “No, some are like your brothers.  Big men.  They know more than you do because you’re a woman.  Always keeping you in your place.”
    Poppy sneered at my words, she avoided talking about them the way I avoided speaking