Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [68]
Vatroque nodded excitedly. ‘Yes. This is too good, John. Too good.’ I couldn’t hear a trace of his accent.
‘Not mine,’ chimed in Antonia.
Viaspa took her hand and kissed it. ‘Of course not. Only the best for you, princess.’
My stomach lurched so hard I wanted to throw up. I pulled myself together and backed quietly away from the door. Nick’s wife was supposed to be in rehab in Brisbane, not sniffing blow in the backroom of a teen nightclub with Johnny Evil.
That thought preoccupied me until I reached the dance floor, where a sudden change in the cluster aura claimed my attention. The swirling whirlpool of sexually charged pinks emanating from the dancers had developed a dark brown stain near the centre. I pushed my way through the crowd over to the the DJ’s booth and climbed up on it to see better. The stain hovered above two guys who, from this distance, looked no different to anyone else.
I jumped down and threaded my way towards them. But just as I got close, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Swinging around, who should I see but Nice Guy from the gym – Josh.
‘Hi. What are you doing here?’ I shouted in his ear.
‘’Bout to ask you the same question,’ he bellowed back.
Before I could say anything else, there was a commotion in the crowd nearby – a scream and some scuffling. I grabbed Josh’s hand and pulled him closer to the guys I’d targeted.
‘Dance with me,’ I mouthed.
We did just that and I manoeuvred myself into place next to the guys. It only took a few surreptitious glances to detect that they both had small, concealable electric-shock sticks up their sleeves. When the crowd converged tightly, they stung someone. In the near dark, the other dancers couldn’t tell what was happening or who was doing it. But the aura stain I’d seen was emanating from the upset victims.
Before I could go and get a bouncer, one of the guys stung a young girl who collapsed on the floor.
Instinctively, I launched at the guy in a below-the-knees tackle. He went down hard and took his mate with him. I grabbed for the hand that held the shock stick, catching a glimpse of Josh doing the same with the other guy. By the time the bouncers reached us, we had them down and out. So much for just observing.
We followed as the bouncers dragged the two guys outside. One of the bouncers spoke into a mobile phone and soon Vatroque came bustling out after us and danced about issuing instructions and making calls.
Josh drew me a short distance away from the pavement circus. He was dressed in jeans and a black shirt that was plain but figure-hugging. His only concession to clubbing was a pair of shiny narrow-toed shoes. ‘What was all that about?’ he asked.
‘The club hired me to see if I could figure out who was causing the trouble they’ve been having.’
‘Hired you?’
‘Long story,’ I said quickly.
‘Well, you take your work seriously.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘It wasn’t planned.’
‘Hey, when you’re all finished up here, how about I give you a lift home?’
Just being near his cool green aura was a relief after the turmoil of energies in the club. Maybe I could put Bok in a taxi and . . .
‘Sharpie!’
My BFF was swaying in the doorway, supported by both hostesses.
I gave Josh a rueful smile. ‘Can we take a raincheck on that? I’ve got to tuck my best friend up in bed.’
Josh’s aura thinned a little. He wasn’t so happy to be knocked back again.
‘You want to hook up at the gym tomorrow?’ I suggested, to make up for it.
‘Sure.’
‘Great. See you around ten.’
‘I’ll be waiting,’ he said.
Vatroque was grateful in a jittery, coked-out kind of way. Bok was grateful in a drunken, get-me-home-before-I puke kind of way. So getting out of the club took longer than I’d hoped, especially as I kept looking over my shoulder for Viaspa – but at least I got paid.
As I poured Bok into the passenger side of his car and seatbelted him in, the club’s fire door opened and two figures appeared: Toni Tozzi leaving like royalty from the back entrance. Right on cue, a familiar