Cervena by Louise Lyons Page A

the passengers had boarded, only for the plane to sit on the tarmac for an hour with some kind of “technical issue.” I’d been thankful for my first-class seat where I could at least be comfortable while I fretted.
    Even though I’d been desperate to get to the club, I’d had a taxi take me to the condos first to get rid of my case. The driver waited outside, and within ten minutes, I’d been back in the car on the way to Červenà. Now I stood outside the side entrance, listening to the thumping music and wondering what I was going to find when I walked in. An hour to go before closing and things would still be in full swing.
    I let myself in and headed along the corridor. The dressing room was empty, which was unusual. With one dancer on the podium and two or three in the private rooms, there was always someone getting changed or waiting for their turn. I checked the offices and the viewing room and found no one, not even one of the security guys who should have been watching the monitors. All the screens were switched off. I touched a button to turn on the screen connected to the camera in Room 2, and cursed at what it showed me. Marek was in the room with a customer, performing a much more intimate lap dance than was usually allowed. He was naked and hard, writhing on the man’s lap. The customer had his dick out and was jerking himself furiously, groping Marek’s balls with his free hand. I swallowed hard as I felt my gorge rising. What else was I going to find? I left the room without checking the other screens and made my way into the main part of the club.
    The dance floor and the area surrounding the podium were packed. Saturday nights always saw the club filled to capacity, but I estimated there to be perhaps a hundred or more beyond that, which was not only illegal but would cause a huge problem with the insurance if anything should happen. Putting off investigating the crowd around the podium, I walked to the bar, which was manned by Kris and another barman we’d employed for a while, along with one I’d never seen before.
    “Kris!” I bellowed above the music. The man jumped and almost spilled the cocktail in his hand. He passed it to a customer and leaned toward me, eyes wide.
    “You’re back.” He sounded both surprised and relieved.
    “Yeah. What the hell is going on here? I had an e-mail from Pavel saying he left.”
    “Karel’s made some changes. You’ll see for yourself. It’s all about sex now. There are a few new boys. Fran and Andĕl left; they couldn’t stand what he made them do. No one gets to keep any of their tips. I’ve been applying for other jobs, but I haven’t found anything yet. I’m sorry, Joel. Everything’s gone to shit.”
    “Don’t worry, Kris. I’ll fix it. Get back to work.”
    Nauseated, I made my way through the crowd toward the podium. The applause and yells of delight could be heard above the music. I squeezed through the excited horde until I reached the front, and found Tomáš right in front of me. He didn’t see me at first. He was on his knees, back arched so that his head almost touched the circular platform. He was naked, surrounded by a carpet of money, and with so many hands on his body I could barely see his skin. One man jacked him with a large fist and his cries of pleasure were exaggerated and high pitched. I watched, horrified, as he came all over himself and several of the hands, then slumped onto his back and opened his eyes.
    It took Tomáš a moment to focus, but then he scrambled up, face shocked. “Joel?”
    “Yes. I’m back.”
    “I… I’m….” He lowered his eyes, flushing.
    “Did Karel make you do this?” I asked, aware that the crowd hadn’t dispersed and was observing with interest. Tomáš nodded. “Where are the others?”
    “Upstairs.” He continued to avoid looking at me.
    “Sasha?”
    Tomáš nodded again and wrapped his arms around himself. “I’m sorry. Karel said you weren’t coming back. We had to do