Lara ushered the dishevelled blonde through the entrance to her apartment. She took Jo by the arm and led her to the comfortable couches.
"Sit down here, Joanne. I'll be right back, okay?" Lara said, softly. Jo simply nodded while staring at the floor. Lara turned and headed back towards her front door. Alan was still standing there, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly, as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He talked first when Lara reached him.
"Jesus, Lara. Is she okay?" he asked, the concern on his face evident.
"Honestly, Alan......I'm not sure. Either way, I need to take of her now. I hate to keep saying this to you, but I need to take a rain check on our night together," she told him. Lara had been excited about their first night together and she felt awful to blue-ball the poor guy after weeks of build up, but Jo had to take precedent. She was hoping he'd get it.
"Of course, Lara. It goes without saying. I understand completely," he responded. "Is she a friend of yours?" he added.
"Yes. She works at The Pearl with me. She was the only friend I had there for quite a while, in fact."
"Can I do anything to help? Anything at all?" he asked. Lara closed the distance between them and leaned in to give him a quick kiss.
"Thanks for offering, Alan, but I think I've got it from here. You head home," she told him, one hand on the door.
"Sure. Have a good night, Lara," he said. His face changed quickly and then looked aghast at what he had suggested. "No, not like that.... Obviously this.....whatever it is isn't good.....I meant..." he said stammering.
"I know what you meant. It's okay, Alan. I'll call you tomorrow," she said as she started to close the door, slowly. Lara normally found his clumsiness with words endearing, but she needed him to leave so she could tend to Jo.
"Talk to you soon," Alan said as she finally closed the door. Lara walked at a brisk pace back into her living room and joined Jo on the couch. Lara noticed more about her appearance as she sat beside her. As she had noted before, her makeup was smeared and her bottom lip was bloodied and swollen. She had the beginnings of a black eye to go along with it. But she also noticed her broken fingernails and some ripping and loose threads of her hot pants styled shorts. Lara reached out and took Jo's hand and held it between her own.
"Jo, what happened? Who did this?" Lara asked, trying to keep her tone gentle. Jo tore her eyes away from the floor and looked at Lara for the first time since she had sat down.
"It doesn't matter," Jo told her.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just want to help," Lara said giving the blonde's hand a squeeze.
"I know," Jo said while giving Lara a weak smile. "Can I take a shower? I really, really feel like I need one," Jo asked. Lara hesitated. She wasn't sure yet if her friend had been raped. If she had, a shower wasn't the best idea. Going to the hospital was. Evidence would be washed away in a shower.
"I think maybe we should go to the hospital first, Jo. Get you taken care of," Lara suggested. Jo shook her head.
"There is no point. I'm not reporting this, if that's what you are thinking," Jo said with a grim look on her face.
"Why not? Jo, this is serious. Who did this?" Lara asked. Jo sighed a deep sigh before finally answering.
"Price. Captain Price."
"That slimy piece of shit?" Lara said, her nostrils flaring in anger. She calmed herself before asking the next question she knew she must.
"Did he......" Lara asked, letting her words linger as she struggled to finish the question. Jo simply nodded in affirmation at the unfinished, unspoken question.
That motherfucker. I'm going to kill him. Fuck Mike's investigation, I'm going to stick a bullet in the fucker's moustached face.
"Jo, I really think you should go to the hospital and then to the cops," Lara said.
"Lara, he
IS
the cops," Jo said matter of factly, still shaking her head. "What good would it do? You know how this would turn out."
Lara knew Jo was right.
The fuckers won't take it seriously. "We investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong." It will be business as usual
she thought to herself. Still, she couldn't just let this go. The man was a menace. Lara shifted off the couch and started to pace, thinking through her next idea as Jo sat there.
"Okay, so we go to Dave. United, as a group. All the girls. Demand Price be banned from the club. I don't care what dealings Dave has with him, this shit stops now. We tell him we won't entertain the cops any more," Lara said, searching Jo's face for any sign of agreement. For some indication that she was on board.
"Are you fucking insane? Dave will fire every last one of us on the spot!" Jo said, her voice rising now, frustrated at Lara's insistence on action.
"He wouldn't dare. The club would implode with nobody there to dance," Lara said, confidently.
"Lara, let's assume for a moment all the girls would agree to this.....union of yours. Not a fucking chance, by the way, but let's assume they do. Dave would cull the lot of us," Jo said.
"And who would be giving the dances? Dave himself?" Lara shot back.
"He'd be closed for a week. Tops. We would all be replaced in a heart beat, Lara. The Pearl's reputation is growing. He'd have dancers queueing up. They know how much we earn. They'd jump at the chance," Jo retorted. "Besides, this didn't happen at the club."
"So you weren't working? Dave didn't ask you to go to the VIP with Price?" Lara said, somewhat confused at what she was being told. Lara could remember how Dave had asked her to take Price to the VIP on her very first night. She had mistakenly assumed something similar had happened with Jo.
"No. It.....happened in his office. At the police station," Jo answered reluctantly.
This makes no sense. What was she doing there? What isn't she telling me?
"Lara, I know you want to help, but this sort of thing isn't what I need right now," Jo said, wincing as she shifted on the couch.
Do what she needs. Be there for her.
"Right, sure. You said you wanted a shower? Absolutely. It's just through here. I'll go get you some towels," Lara said as she guided Jo through Lara's bedroom and into the en suite bathroom before fetching some fresh towels for her.
"Take as long as you need. I'll be just outside if you need anything," Lara said as Jo stood woodenly in front of the entrance to the large and luxurious shower. Lara closed the bathroom door and headed back into living room to give the blonde some privacy.
Jo had been right. About everything. Going through official channels with Price was a waste of time. He'd never see the inside of a cell. It would be swept under a rug. And her ambitious "appeal to Dave's morality" plan was doomed to failure too. Lara knew from Mike that Dave likely had some sort of illegal deal with Dave. Even if he did give a shit about how the girls felt about Price, Dave wouldn't just abandon that for their sake. He'd sooner replace them. Still, there had to be something. And that's when she thought of somebody who might know how to help.
