CHAPTER TWELVE

It was yet another night of work for Mercedes, or, as she was known and called in this life of hers, Coochie. There was another Pay Per View event at Tequila and she, as expected, was supposed to be the center of attraction, and the main event. And so, she had left her two bedroom apartment early, in a bid to get to the club on time and then have enough prep time backstage as she could get before the show would begin in earnest.

However, from the moment she'd walked into the building that cool evening in her winter coat, leather pants and boots, she could feel that something, somewhere wasn't right. From the fact that she'd been asked to go in through the back door, to the way the bouncer at the aforementioned back door sharply turned away when he spotted her, and then, crowning it all was the way Andrej had waved almost eerily while smiling weirdly at her from his office's balcony which overlooked the entrance to the strippers' backstage area. He'd never waved at her before then. Wha