He glanced at both of them then nodded.
Tazer took out his fifty and placed it down.
The bartender took the two fifty dollar bills and then looked down at some kind of book.
He handed them each a ticket. “Wait five minutes. It’s full back there.”
Tazer felt sick. If this was a prostitution ring and this was how men came in to get serviced, it was sick. A fucking bar as a front. He glanced around the place. There were a lot of people in Clover’s. Men and women, college kids included, and it gave the appearance of a normal place. No one seemed to even realize what was happening right in front of them and right down the side hallway. It was ingenious.
Lynch stood up and threw down a few dollars as a tip. All they needed to do now was check this out, hope no one frisked them before they went back there and then observe the process. If anyone became suspicious then they needed to decide for backup to come in, or to grab Rodney as everyone else escaped.
They headed down the hallway and he could tell by Lynch’s shoulders that he was pissed. They got to the first guy, a big guy, but no threat to them. He and Lynch had a few inches on him and a lot more muscle and capabilities. He was carrying too.
“Ticket,” he said and Lynch handed him his ticket after Tazer.
The door opened and there was another small hallway and a man by an open door. They could see into the back room. Music was playing. A whole lot of activity was going on. It was crazy to see.
“Been here before?” he asked. Lynch shook his head.
“Go in, make your choice. The one you choose will tell you the prices for the services. Enjoy yourselves,” he said and Tazer clenched his teeth. As they entered the room they saw how the women outnumbered the men. Negotiations were going on, it wasn’t over crowded, but the lights were very dim, almost dark, putting Tazer on edge. Before they could even take in their surroundings they both saw Rodney, sitting in a chair, his pants undone and the redhead servicing him. He leaned back like a fucking king looking at everyone around them. Other men were getting serviced in various ways, and there were even a few people having sex. It was crazy. But what struck Tazer was the fact that none of these women seemed like they were being forced to do this.
Tazer eyed over the brunette that approached. She was barely wearing any clothing and was a little thing. Another woman, a blonde with a similar build, approached Lynch. Why Tazer thought of Eliza Grace he didn’t know. These women were young like her, but they had no glow in their eyes, and some bruises along their arms. They looked used and trashy.
As the women started touching them and explaining what they could do for what price Tazer grew impatient. Lynch gave him a nod toward where Rodney was and he looked that way and saw Rodney zipping up his pants and then heading toward a door by the back corner. Two men followed him.
“We’ll be back,” Lynch said to the blonde and she held onto his arm.
“Please, let me service you.”
“Please. We need to,” the brunette added to Tazer.
“We have business to take care of,” Tazer said to them.
“They’ll beat us if we don’t make them money. Please,” the brunette said and began to rub herself against Tazer. His anger grew stronger.
He had to grip her shoulders, but then Lynch gave him a nudge and Tazer saw two other men looking at them. They drew attention toward them and that wasn’t good. They needed to get to Rodney.
“Come on over here with us. Both of you,” Lynch said and the women smiled, looking so relieved as they clung to them.
Tazer looked at Lynch and as they got to the table nearest to the door where Rodney disappeared to he saw Tazer pull out his phone and do something. He was calling in for backup. They would need to grab Rodney.
As the blonde ran her hands along Tazer’s waist she explained about prices. It was hard to listen to and Tazer didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be home and feeling Eliza Grace in his arms. Suddenly the blonde stopped what she was doing and looked at Lynch. Tazer pushed the brunette’s hands off of him.
“Gun. Gun!” she yelled out.
“Fuck,” Lynch said and shoved her away. Tazer did the same and followed as Lynch headed toward the door. Simultaneously women screamed and the men who ran toward them stopped. The side door burst open. “Cops,” the guy at the door yelled and people started scrambling.
Tazer and Lynch drew their weapons and got into the hallway behind the door. It was short and when another door opened and two men came out guns drawn, Lynch lowered and Tazer took the high spot and fired. Both men fired their guns but their bullets missed Tazer and Lynch. The two men went down.
Tazer and Lynch hurried to the door and there was Rodney, pulling money from a safe as a small fire erupted in a garbage pail.
“Stop right there, asshole,” Lynch said to him and Tazer turned over the garbage pail and put out the fire. It hadn’t done what Rodney apparently wanted the fire to do. The books, probably logs of some sort, were barely burned.
Tazer’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. He saw it was one of the troopers in charge of the backup.
“We got our guy in the back office past the private back room. Were you able to grab some people to arrest?”
“We got a shitload plus two bartenders who drew guns on us. It’s a fucking mess of chaos,” Trooper Lawrence told him.