Archie looked at the floor. “I’m trying to help a guy out is all.”
“Where’d you say he’s from?”
Archie swallowed. “Don’t know. He mentioned Iowa.”
“That dude ain’t from Iowa,” Butch said.
“H-he didn’t say he was born there,” Archie said. “Only that it was a shithole state and he didn’t want to park there. Ran out of money or something.”
“I don’t give a fuck if he came from Mars,” Butch said. “I don’t like his attitude. All cocky and shit.”
“You’re all cocky and shit,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, well, he ain’t me, okay? He ain’t earned the right to be cocky around here.”
“True, true, but I suspect you’ll keep him in his place.”
“We don’t need another bouncer,” Butch said. “Got bouncers up the ass around here.”
“Because we have pussy up the ass here,” I said. “Some of these drunks think they can cop a feel any time they want, and that doesn’t fly here. If they want their fingers to smell like pussy, they gotta pay. If they want a blowjob, they gotta pay. If they want to fuck someone in the ass, they gotta pay.” I spread my hands and smiled. “You can’t do it all, Butch, and I know for a goddamned fact some of these so-called bouncers, the men I pay, are skimming from me. I need you focused on that.”
“I’ll focus. Got it, boss.”
“Let this guy handle the nitty-gritty and you focus on this damn thief. I know the girls are doing their damn jobs making me dough, and almost every night, the till seems lighter than it should be. Once I know which of them is snatching money right out of my goddamned pocket, you can deal with that too. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Butch smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Good. So, train this new guy to look after the girls. He’s new blood, so it’ll take a while for him to start getting brave enough to steal from me. In the meantime, he reports to you, so watch him close.”
“No problem,” Butch said, cracking his thick knuckles. “I’ll watch him like a fucking hawk.”
A hawk. I needed Butch to be a pit bull. Not a fucking hawk.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and glanced at the clock. I hated doing business after midnight. “Get Archie to the hospital and get that hand fixed. No painkillers. I don’t need him jacked up on something else.”
“Ah, Richie, I ain’t jacked up.”
I stared at the scratches on his arm, where he’d been digging at himself with his raggedy fingernails.. “Sure you’re not.” I leaned forward. “I’m serious as a heart attack here, Arch. No painkillers. I don’t care if you have to put a stick between your teeth. You hear me?”
Archie nodded miserably.
“Now get out of here.” I reached toward my desk drawer for my bottle of scotch.
“One other thing, boss.”
Huffing out a sigh, I glanced up to find Butch shuffling his feet. There was something he didn’t want to tell me, but he would—because he was a good little soldier. “What?”
“The dude…he saw Hannah, out on the stairs.”
Jesus Christ. As though I didn’t have enough trouble. If that little bitch was sneaking around stirring up those dancers again about better pay and shit, she was going to find herself in a world of hurt. The last time I’d lost three of my best girls, along with some of my best-paying clientele. If these cunts wanted health benefits, they were in the wrong place. Let them try to find another job with no skills but big bouncy tits, cocksucking lips, and a damp pussy.
“What the fuck was she doing out there?” I asked.
“Don’t know.” He cracked his knuckles again, his mind obviously still on O’Shea. “She was wearing that ratty old robe that looks like shit.”
“Hmm…” If she hadn’t been dressed, she probably wasn’t stirring shit up, at least not tonight. “Hungry I guess. Did she have food?”
“Not that I saw.”