WHEN Velvet Ice took the main stage none of the guys missed it. She was the most popular girl at the Kitty Galore club. Her body might as well have been perfect, lithe and slender but still sporting all the curves men like! Her physique was well toned, but still imbued with a soft femininity. She was not too tall but her shapely legs were long and ended at a perfectly heart-shaped booty. Her breasts however were the topic of much debate; a full D-cup on her petite frame, few could determine if they were real or surgically enhanced and she, of course, wasn't telling. Topping off that perfect body was a mop of thick brown hair, streaked with blond highlights, framing a gorgeous face with high cheekbones, soft pink lips and almond shaped eyes that sparkled like huge emeralds.
That night she was wearing a turquoise teddy and matching thong. She moved to the slow pulse of an R&B beat, dancing and twisting to the music. Velvet Ice never failed to raise the temperature in the room a few degrees. It was not just her physical beauty that made her the most popular girl in the club, certainly there were men who prefer blonds, or bigger boobs or flatter butts, or Asians, or what have you... But Velvet could move her body in ways no other girl seemed to. She would twist and turn every curve so seductively and in such an intimate rhythm that she seemed more to throb with the music rather than dance to it. She moved in ways that, whatever a man's taste in women were, he wanted to feel how she moved, even if only once.
When she finished her set most of the men in the room were sweating. Velvet gathered her discarded teddy off the floor along with her envious pile of bills and headed towards the back. She scanned the crowd, very picky about who got private dances since every guy who came through the club wanted one and she made enough on stage to afford the discretion. She picked out a few guys from the crowd and pointed them out to the dj, a tall muscular guy who was actually named DJ.
"You already got one waiting, Ice," DJ told her.
"I do?" she asked surprised. DJ knew she did not take just anybody.
"Yeah, don't worry," DJ replied with a smirk. "You've seen him before."
Velvet nodded and headed back confused. Having "seen" someone before did not always mean they got a free pass or even a repeat performance. She stopped in the back room and packed away her money, then put her teddy back on before heading into the private room.
Seated in that room was Detective Jack Mason, a cop she had been in regular contact with. Velvet was only stripping to pay her tuition after all and her major was criminal psychology with a minor in law enforcement. Det. Mason was burly man and a good cop but he wasn't (admittedly so) the brightest apple of the bunch.
"Aren't you supposed to be working tonight?" Velvet asked smiling easily, shutting the door behind her.
"Actually I am," he replied, unable to keep from leering at her scantily clad body. Jack had a weakness for pretty girls, perhaps none more so than Velvet. "There was a bank robbery today, broad day light, lots of cash taken."
"Sounds serious," Velvet said as she perched herself on is lap.
"Very," Det. Mason sighed. "Chief's got the whole department working over-time; calling in any favors we're owed. I don't know why exactly but he wants this solved before the feds get into it." His arm snaked around her back, resting on top of her pert backside.
"So you're wondering if anybody's been in here flashing around a lot of extra cash?"
"Something like that," Det. Mason nodded.
"I haven't seen anybody tonight," Velvet lied. "Nobody who isn't usually in here throwing around more money than they should, anyway."
"I didn't figure," he sighed disappointedly. "But if you see anyone or hear anything later on..."
"I'll let you know," Velvet finished his thought as he gently pushed her off his lap.
"Call me first thing!" Jack said firmly, standing to leave.
Velvet nodded but in the back of her mind, she was thinking that solving this crime could secure her place on the force once she graduated. What she wasn't telling Det. Mason, just yet, was that there had been a man throwing around more cash than usual; a regular who called himself Jonny V.
AFTER her shift Velvet got in her car and headed across town, to Jonny V's. He had not stayed long at the club that night, bragging about some party he was throwing and trying to get the girls to show up, which was generally a big no-no at the Kitty Galore club. If no one else was going though, there'd be no one to rat Velvet out and it wasn't like she was going there for any extra "work".
When she got to the house, which was way south on the wrong side of town, she could tell immediately it was two things. First: it was not quite as wild as he promised. Second: it was still no place she wanted to be. Velvet told herself that if she became a real cop, she'd be faced with far more dangerous situations. This would be like training. Besides she could handle herself in tense situations.
Jonny V was on the porch with a group of people when she walked up. He was quite a bit drunker than he had been at the club. His eyes lit up when he saw her. She was wearing a tight red halter that displayed her ample cleavage, with a short black skirt, fishnet stockings and shiny red heels.
"Holy Shit," he crowed as she approached, "if it isn't Velvet Ice!"
"One and the same," Velvet replied painting a vixen smile on her face.
"Ain't that just something too fucking special," Jonny said and everybody laughed. "To what do we owe the honor?"
"Well when I heard you say what kind of party it was gonna be, how could I resist?"
"Yeah, right," Jonny scoffed. "When you saw me flashing around that cheddar you couldn't resist, maybe." Again everyone laughed. "Flash that cash and the bitches come running, am I right?"
Despite herself Velvet felt her cheeks flush. Jonny raised his beer in the air and all the men on the porch shouted their agreement. He was tall and thin, with stringy blond hair. He had a face like a rat, and she often noted a dangerous edge in his eyes. Velvet didn't sweat him though; at worst he was a small time thug not a clever bank robber.
"Well if you don't want me here I can leave," Velvet said turning. She made sure switch her hips as she walked, knowing her skirt was short enough to flash the lowest curves of her ass when she did.
"Well I ain't said all that," Jonny V quickly called after her. "Looking that hot girl, you be welcome just about anywhere."
Velvet turned, again flashing that vixen smile. "Then invite me inside and fix me a drink."
"C'mon inside," he grinning widely "And get your hot little ass a drink."
VELVET had to play nice with Jonny V longer than she wanted. The party was not nearly hopping enough for her to slip away. She sipped cautiously at her drink, not putting it past him to try and slip her something, and forced laughter for all his stupid lines. Eventually he got drunk enough to try breaking the touch barrier and Velvet could not stand to let herself get pawed by this scumbag. She quickly asked about the restroom and he directed her upstairs. Perfect! As she started up the stairs, she noticed with some relief his drunken attentions were drawn. Finally she was free to move around the house searching something, anything incriminating.
There were only three rooms on the second story; one was a bathroom badly in need of cleaning. The second was Jonny's bedroom, a cluttered mess with a bed sitting on the floor in the center that had no sheets on it. She assumed searching there would be as pointless as it would be disgusting since the door had been left wide open.
The third room however was on the other side of a locked door. Velvet quickly decided that was worth a look. She pulled a bobby-pin out of her hair and quickly picked the lock. Something she had learned from her uncle (he had been a locksmith at the time) when she was younger.
Velvet slipped inside as the door opened, quickly and carefully shutting it behind her. Inside was far more than she had expected to find. The windows had all been covered over with newspaper. On one wall was a huge map of the city, with scribbling all over it. In the center of the room was a lone table with several huge bags on it.
Velvet pulled out her cellphone and quickly started taking pictures. Then she moved to the table and opened one of the bags. Sure enough inside were stacks of cash. Velvet's jaw dropped, perhaps she had underestimated Jonny V after all.
"See what I mean, flash a little cash and the bitches come running."
Velvet nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Jonny's voice. She whirled around to see him leaning against the door jam, holding a beer in one hand. That dangerous edge had returned to his eyes and he seemed to have sobered up some. Her mind began to race, she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar now.
"You know, I been coming to Kitty Galore for a minute now," Jonny said. "And you ain't never given me no private dance, now all a sudden you're here to party with me?"
"I was just looking for the bathroom?" Velvet stammered.
"Just looking in here behind this locked door?" Jonny scoffed. "I ain't so dumb, bitch. I called up to one of my boys at the club and do you know what he told me?"
"That a cop came to see me tonight?" Velvet decided it was time to dispense with any subterfuge.
"That's right!" he said locking the door behind him and coming towards her. "You call your cop friend yet, bitch?"
"It's not what you think," Velvet said thinking quickly. "Yes a cop came to see me, he was just stressed from some robbery today so I gave him a private dance. I'm just here for the party."
"So you're snooping around, what trying to steal from me?" Jonny snarled. "You think that lie's any better than the truth?"
