Chapter 118

Claire smiled at Willow and Luke, ‘You’re sitting in — it might turn out to be interesting.”

Willow, “This Max guy — he’s from Atlanta, right?”

“Yeah, Max Fowler. He owns, or owns pieces of five gentlemen’s clubs there. It’s one of the hottest market for strippers, has been for ages.”

Ten minutes later, they were shaking hands with a jowly, prosperous-looking man in his mid-40s. Incongruously for the middle of Iowa, he was wearing a 3-piece suit and a dark, conservative tie. Claire tried to remember the last time she’s seen argyle socks.

“Claire, you’re to be commended on your setup here. A lot of us had doubts you’d be able to pull it off after your supplier was killed.” He shook his head, “Did they ever catch the cartel guys who slaughtered everyone?”

“Not that I’ve heard, Max.”

He shook his head a second time, “Too many fucking guns in this country.”

Luke nodded, “You’re right there.”

“Okay, enough change-the-world philosophy. I have an upscale practice in Atlanta — a few of the usual lowlifes, but also some movers and shakers from around the country — not just Georgia.”

Claire, “So I’ve heard.” There were hundreds of strip joints around the country, but the owners of the largest, most successful clubs knew each other, or knew of each other.

Max smiled, “I’d like you to loan me one of your whores.”

“Riley Clooney.”

“Yeah, the redhead. I heard about her from a few of my customers. And last night I checked her out.”

“I’m listening.”

“Since Delgado moved on to that big whorehouse in the sky, you’ve had to get by on local talent — none of the circuit girls.”

“It was a challenge.”

“Lend me this Clooney for a weekend, and I’ll send you three of my girls for two weeks.”

Willow said, “Money?”

“An even swap.”

Claire picked up her cell, “Con, have Riley come see me, thanks.”

Willow, “Which three whores?”

Max clicked on his tablet, “Pick ‘em.”

Claire would leave that up to Willow. She liked digging down into the details, but most of the circuit girls were interchangeable. Hard-faced, toned bodies, but similar in appearance, attitude, and personality.

Luke ushered Riley in. Claire said, “Strip, honey.”

“Sure.” Max had seen her on stage, but having her right here might be a slight bargaining advantage. Her beauty was so in-your-face.

“Riley, this is Max Fowler from Atlanta. He owns some strip clubs there. I’m considering lending you to him for a weekend.”

She stood there, aware of the man’s scrutiny, comfortable in her nudity.”Okay. Um, how would it work? You know, with James and all?”

“When your husband’s out of town, Max will fly you to Atlanta on a Friday morning. You’d do a couple of shows that night, and two more Saturday. Fly back to Des Moines on Sunday morning.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Claire looked at Max evenly, “I don’t want her fucked out.”

“Talk to me.”

Claire held up two fingers, “Two. She’s a lot more valuable up on your stage than on her back.”

“Two on Friday, two on Saturday.”

Claire stood, “Max, I have to run. Good to see you. Willow will finish the negotiations, I think we might be able to work a deal.”

Claire drove to the farmhouse where she’d kept the three traitors. She trusted Luke — trusted him with her life in fact — but double-checked on the grave that he had dug with the excavator. Verifying the important details had been engraved in her since childhood. The hole had been filled, the earth tamped down. The grave was visible, but only if you knew what you were looking for.

With Claire gone, Willow waited for Max to speak — she’d learned deal-making at her mother’s knee. Even though Consuela ran the day-to-day operations, Claire had put Willow in charge of all the Four Corners pussy.

Max said, “Let’s close on this — I’d like to catch my flight.”

“When is it?”

“A couple of hours from now. Eleven-thirty.”

Slight advantage to Willow.

“Max, what’s your real goal here?” She patted Riley’s butt, “This is the finest quiff we have, but you didn’t come all the way here for just that.”

“Oh, before I forget, I don’t bother to fuck many of the whores anymore, but I’l be doing Clooney.”