The Quickie - James Patterson [36]
I turned and saw my buddy from upstairs, the bouncer in dire need of Jenny Craig. “It’s only me, lady,” he said and grinned.
“Why don’t you come into the VIP room?” Victor yelled over the music as I was pushed inside. “Private party. But you can be my guest.”
Chapter 52
THE BACK VIP ROOM was actually a tenement basement. Raw concrete walls and floors, cinder-block window frames, the rusted hull of an old boiler. Nice décor. A naked bulb hung above an old grease-caked kitchen table that held a stainless steel electronic scale.
Beyond the table, through a dark doorway, was a corridor with something lying on the floor.
I swallowed hard.
It was a crud-stained mattress.
“Get your filthy hands off me right now,” I said, struggling to break the bouncer’s grip.
“Calm down, please,” Victor said pleasantly as he stepped in front of me. He was wearing a three-piece white suit, white shirt, and a black tie. I wondered if Mickey Rourke knew one of his suits was missing.
“This is a routine security matter,” Victor explained. “My employee, Ignacio, forgot to search you upstairs. An oversight on his part.”
An alarm bell went off in my head. I wondered what else was routine for the violent drug dealer standing in front of me.
“Hey,” I said. “Go ahead and kick me out for breaking your rules. I was thinking about hitting a diner for some breakfast, anyway.”
Victor sighed. Then he nodded at the bouncer.
My handbag was ripped away. I heard its contents being dumped onto the table as I scanned the room for another exit.
I couldn’t stop staring at the mattress. Or remembering the attempted rape arrest on Victor’s rap sheet.
Should I just grab for Scott’s gun? I wondered. How many rounds were left? Four? Double-tap Victor, go for a head shot on the behemoth, then get out the same door I came in.
“What’s this?” Victor said, picking up Scott’s .38 before I could.
I almost panicked. I had an open mike, and I couldn’t let the team hear about the gun. I thought quickly. “That looks like a code red,” I said casually.
“What do you mean, ‘code red’?” he asked.
“That. The gun you pulled and have pointed at me. That looks like a code red!” I said in a loud voice, hoping my mike had picked me up.
My knees stung as Victor suddenly threw me to the floor.
“Shut up, you bitch! Who are you to come into my place, shouting your head off at me?” he yelled.
“Coño! Don’t you see?” the bouncer behind me said. “That’s a cop gun. She’s a fucking lady cop. And Pedro already sold to her!”
“Shut up, you useless hump, and let me think!” Victor screamed.
My face went numb as the younger Ordonez suddenly pointed the gun at me. I stared into the black barrel. Instead of seeing my entire life, everything that had happened since I’d decided to be with Scott flashed before my eyes. In high-definition clarity, I saw every misstep that had led me from two nights before to here and now.
Wait a second, I thought. Where are the troops? I looked at the thick walls. These damn basements! I must have been in a radio blind spot.
“Code red!” I screamed as I scrambled for the door.
The bouncer was surprisingly quick for a mountain. I made it only halfway before he grabbed my ankle and almost tore off my entire left foot.
Then there was a scream — and the door exploded!
Pounding dance music instantly flooded the room. My eyes — tearing in the dust and splinters — were greeted with hands-down the most satisfying sight of my life to that point.
My partner, Mike, shotgun to his shoulder, was riding the knocked-down door into the room like it was a surfboard.
Chapter 53
MIKE CRUSHED THE BOUNCER’S ugly face with a shotgun butt to the nose before the monster could even form his first curse word.
“Where’s Victor?” Mike then said, tossing me my Glock and cuffs. “We lost your transmission outside. Trahan’s informant told us Victor brought you in here.”
“I don’t know where he went, Mike,” I said, searching behind me. “He was right here a second ago.”
“Cuff that one to something and give me some backup,” Mike said. He leveled his shotgun toward the dark