'I'm thinking we have enough for tonight's story.'
She was smiling, staring at me with her pale, almost translucent blue eyes, but she flinched as I stared back. Her smile weakened as she looked away.
"The story's only half done,' I said.
'I think we have enough.'
'We did the hard part. The rest is easy.'
She didn't say anything.
'I know this is Vermont. I know you're comfortable doing mostly stories about leaves changing color, but you are a news station, right?'
She met my stare again, smiling just enough to show her canines. 'That's right. I remember eight years ago doing dozens of stories about a dirty cop who tried to stab a district attorney to death.'
'Then why not finish this story?'
Indecision weakened her. 'We should get the police involved,' she said.
'We won't have a story if we do that.'
'I don't want to put my people in danger.'
'You won't. There'll be plenty of bystanders where we're going next. Nothing's going to happen there. I promise you that. We'll be in and out in five minutes.'
Eric and Tina had wandered over. Eric, grinning widely, asked, 'Are we ready to rock and roll?'
Eileen halfheartedly nodded. Thin lines of worry creased her brow. She turned towards the two of them. 'Be careful, okay?' she asked.
'Don't worry about us,' Eric said, laughing. 'We got a killer here to protect us.'
When we left, I suggested we use one of their cars instead of the van, and Eric volunteered his Honda. First thing we did was drive a couple of blocks to a sandwich shop and have lunch with the station picking up the bill. Then we headed back towards Bradley. _
I was a little worried about running into Junior. I had no idea what he'd do if he saw us. The only thing I knew for sure was I wouldn't put anything past him. I felt some relief knowing he'd be looking for either my Mustang or the van. I also knew he'd never expect us to head to Kelley's. Still, my nerves were on edge. I tried to keep it to myself. I joked around and tried to appear at ease. The last thing I needed were for the two kids with me to start panicking.
It was forty minutes past one by the time we pulled into the parking lot at Kelley's. A skinhead type with tattoos all along his neck and the side of his face covered the front door. He did kind of a double-take when he saw us, not quite believing what he was seeing.
As I got closer he moved to block me. I turned him aside with some effort and whispered in his ear, "This isn't worth getting your skull cracked open for, is it?'
He looked at the camera and then back at me, and I guess he decided it wasn't. He stepped aside and let us pass.
The place had maybe a dozen customers in it. Earl was behind the bar, and when he spotted me he pulled out a cell phone and made a call. His eyes were focused on me as he talked on the phone. I don't think he noticed Tina or Eric until they were well into the club. His head tilted to the side as he tried to comprehend what they were doing there.
I moved quickly through the room, leading Tina and Eric towards the back area. With some luck one of the private rooms would be in use. I nudged Eric and pointed out the dancer on stage. She was completely naked and was staring at us. She seemed disoriented, not quite sure whether to keep dancing or to get off the stage.
'Get a shot of her,' I told him. 'Vermont's a topless-only state. That's one violation so far.'
Eric stopped to shoot some video and then we kept moving.
When we got past the curtains, I started trying the doors. The third one I tried was locked. The doors were flimsy and were meant only for privacy. I doubted Earl ever expected anyone to try breaking one down. I used my shoulder and the door flew open on the first try. A middle-aged man was sitting on the carpeted bench with his pants down to his ankles while a thin dark brunette straddled him as she* bounced up and down. I had seen her dancing Saturday night. I remembered her name was Cindy. She started to yell at us and then froze in mid-bounce when she saw the camera and realized what was going on.
Tina moved quickly, sticking a microphone in the brunette's face as Eric shot video of it. She asked, 'You're performing sex acts for money here, is that right?'
The brunette slid off the guy and tried to cover herself. The guy on the bench looked like he was going to have a heart attack,
I pointed out to Tina a small container and a cocaine spoon next to him on the bench.
'What's that?' she asked me.
'Cocaine.'
Then, to the brunette, she said, 'Where did you get the cocaine from?'
'I'm not saying anything,' the brunette muttered as she scrambled to get back into a pair of hot pants.
Tina turned to the guy lying prone in front of us. 'How much did you pay for these sex acts? And how much for the cocaine?'
He rolled over on his side and tried to hide his face. 'Leave me out of this, please. I have a wife, for God's sake:'
I heard some noise from behind. I grabbed Tina. She tried to shake me off, but I got her turned around and heading towards the curtains. Eric followed behind us.
'I had more questions,' she started to complain, and then she saw Earl moving towards us with a baseball bat.
'I don't know what you thought you were going to do here, Joe, but you're fucking nuts,' he said.
'We're leaving,' I said. 'Just get out of our way.'
'No, I don't think so.' I could see that vein on his neck beating like crazy and his eyes shining with murder. 'Your two friends here ain't going anywhere with that camera, and you're not going anywhere period.'
'We don't want any trouble, Earl.'
He laughed at that. 'You got a sense of humor, Joe, I'll give you that.' Then he brought the bat back so he could knock the camera – and maybe Eric's head along with it – across the room. I dove for his knees trying to tackle him. Hitting him was like hitting a concrete block, but I knocked him back a few feet. He was able to stay on his feet but he swung off balance and missed Eric by a foot.
'Fucking asshole,' he swore. I was scrambling to get to my feet when he whacked me across the shoulders with the bat. I could see out of the corner of my eye that he swung with one hand and was off balance, but it still hurt like hell and dropped me back to my knees. He stepped forward and kicked me hard in the ribs, knocking me back on the floor. He brought his foot back for another kick, but before he could deliver it there was a dull thud and then a glass crashing next to me.
I looked up and saw that Earl had his hand up to his eye as blood seeped through his fingers. His face was beet red when he turned towards Tina, an open gash along the side of his eye. He glared at her for only a second before turning back to me, but it was all the time I needed. I grabbed a piece of the broken glass and drove upward with it, driving it between his legs. He screamed and reached down, but I knocked his hand away and kept pushing upward. Blood was getting all over my hand. I wasn't sure whether it was his or mine, but I kept shoving the broken glass into him. He fell over. I let go then and watched as he writhed on the floor, moaning and grabbing at his wound. Then I got to my feet.
I looked around. The girl who had been dancing onstage was standing naked, looking on in horror. All at once she put her hands to her face and started screaming. Milling around were all the club patrons, staring at us, trying to decide what to do. Tina looked like she was in shock. Eric was next to her, shaking his head as he muttered to himself; how unbelievably incredible the whole thing was. I grabbed Tina by the arm. 'Let's get out of here,' I told her. She didn't seem capable of anything, but once I started dragging her, her legs moved on their own. One of the patrons, a heavyset bearded guy in a flannel shirt and overalls, tried to stop me. I shoved an open palm into his chin and he staggered back. After that no one else tried anything. My side hurt like hell. I figured Earl cracked one of my ribs, but