Hunting Death

Chapter 24

Alexis leaned up against the back of the strip club and slipped one of her heels off, rubbing the ball of her foot. She took the sneakers she kept in her purse out and put them on one at a time, stuffing her heels into the bag and zipping it up before heading home through the well-lit alleyway. She only had to walk a couple of blocks to get to her apartment building, so it never really made any sense for her to drive.

"Phoenix?" A man's voice called from behind.

A little annoyed, she turned to face him, surprised to find him both young and attractive. Alexis had been working at Club Good Times for about a year now, and even though it was a strip club, it seemed like more of a family. The girls were all very supportive of each other and their dreams. The money might have been good, but not many people dreamed of being a dancer all their lives.

She certainly didn't. Alexis had a son to take care of and used the money from the club to pay for their apartment at Saint Peter's, as well as her tuition for school. She wanted to be a social worker, she loved kids, and she had a thing about abuse.

Joey's father abused her, but since he was also a cop she'd been powerless to stop it, which is why she fled Miami and ran more than a thousand miles away to Pennsylvania. Her mother grew up here and always talked about a little place near Lancaster. Alexis didn't have any family, her father died when she was a child and her mother passed away right before Joey had been born, but Lancaster always sounded like a nice place to live.

Of course, if it hadn't been for the manager of Club Good Times giving her a job and advancing her the money to get into an apartment, she might not have made it on her own. The club was the only family she had right now, and while quite thankful for them, that didn't mean she wanted to work there long-term. She wanted a job with a purpose other than stripping for perverted old men and drunken bachelors.

She wanted more for Joey. And she thanked God he was still too young to understand what mommy really did for a living! Showgirls this was not!

"Um, hi, I'm sorry, can I help you?" She asked pleasantly as the gentlemen came closer. He definitely appeared to be quite attractive, and rather familiar to her as well, she didn't place him off the top of her head though. She only hoped now that he didn't turn out to be one of those sleazy customers that constantly solicited the girls for private sessions outside the club because she absolutely didn't do that kind of stuff.

"You don't remember me?" He asked, looking almost hurt. "I met you in the club last night, you gave me a lap dance, and we had a really nice conversation about..."

"Florida!" She chirped, flushing and placing her hand over her mouth, embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

He smiled though, the way his lips curved making him even more deliciously handsome. "That's right. You said you came from Miami, and I told you about growing up in Tallahassee."

Alexis giggled, "I remember now. You said your name is Sean, right?"

Sean nodded, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his bombers jacket, which seemed a bit out of place given the unusually hot weather they were having, but Alexis shrugged it off. He was so cute after all.

"I came by to see you again, but they said you'd left."

"Yeah, I uh, I had first shift tonight." She smiled. "You really came to see me?"

"Absolutely. I like you Phoenix."

"Actually, it's Alexis." She replied, extending a hand. "It's nice to see you again, Sean."

"Alexis. I like that. I'm glad I caught you, would you like to go and grab a cup of coffee with me, Alexis?"

Alexis looked down at her watch, she hadn't told the sitter when she'd be back, she didn't usually work first shift, and she honestly figured she'd pick up a double. "I'm not really a coffee person." She told him, grimacing when she noticed the way he suddenly frowned. "But I guess we could go down the road here to Union Station and get a soda or something."