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VALENCIA NOIR

ACT II

“Holy cow, this place is jumping!”

There were no better words that Dexter could think of to describe the atmosphere surrounding Tristan’s nightclub, The Golden Wing. As soon as he and Tyler arrived in upper Los Angeles, the grey and the rain disappeared to reveal a night full of color and energy. The Golden Wing nightclub was a shining example of what the city had to offer for those that could afford it. A tall, fine building with crimson walls and gold decorations, bright lights, blaring music and people coming in and out of every door, The Golden Wing was L.A’s nightlife inside and out.

“It’s beyond jumping-it’s just rocking!” Tyler added to that statement, a wide smile and wagging tail showing his approval. “Chicken boy does alright for himself.”

“Come on, we got to get inside and get to work. We can come back here for fun when we’re not on a case.” Again, he had to wonder where a nickname like “Chicken boy” came from.

As disappointing as it was, the angel had a point. It was better to get your business all taken care of before going out for some fun. And the thought of having fun with Tristan’s money later wasn’t all that bad in the werewolf’s opinion. So they both agreed to this promise silently and started to make their way to the front door. Gently pushing and moving through the crowds of finely dressed socialites, the detectives were about to walk through the double doors when they were both stopped by a pair of square shaped ogres with gorilla faces-and tuxedos. “No chumps allowed.” They both grumbled at them with beefy hands on their shoulders.

“Who are you calling a chump, chimp?!” Tyler challenged while shaking the hand off his shoulder.

“We’re here on business. Mr. Skyes hired us to do a bit of investigating on some of his employees. He may have already told you about this.” Dexter explained, removing the meaty mitt from his person. He watched as the two ogres looked at each other before they stepped aside to let them in. “Thank you very much.”

“You two better be able to afford the two drink minimum!” That little call by the ogres made Dexter and Tyler stop in their tracks in the doorway. Looking at each other, they both started to look through their pockets for whatever change they had. With what few coins they had from their pants and coat pockets dropped on the floor, Dexter took off his shoe while Tyler started to shake his mane around. The angel had a few crumbled dollar bills wedged into the sole and a five dollar bill fell out of the werewolf’s mane. Along with a few rubber bands. “Hey! What did I say about shooting stuff at my mane while I’m sleeping?!”

“You got to stop falling asleep at your desk. It’s fair game by then! Anyway, we got enough money for some drinks so they can’t kick us out…yet.”Dexter said while scooping up their hasty savings. “Let’s get a move on, son!”

With coins and dollars in hand, the pair of sleuths walked through the hallway of the Golden Wing before entering the main room. Much like the exterior, the walls were crimson with hints of tan. The gold decorations were there as well, this time including powerful looking gryphons near the ceiling, columns- and they were supporting the stage near the back of the room. A mighty jazz band was playing on the fine mahogany wood platform, spotlights shining bright on them and the young lady singing. The rest of the room was dimly lit by tall candles, illuminating plush carpeting, fine table cloths on round tables and a fully stocked bar on the side of the room. Along with these and other carefully thought of details, this was the mighty heart of the nightclub.

“Well I’ll be…”

“Too cool, man.” Both Dexter and Tyler stood for a moment at the front of the room to take everything in before the werewolf gave him a little nudge in the ribs. “We need to get some scot. It’s been weeks since I had a good scot on the rocks.”

“I guess we could get a little something to drink before we start looking around for Miss Fallon…” With Tyler taking the lead, the angel ducked and dodged cute waitresses and fellow club goers before they both made it to the bar. The bar was also made of mahogany and stretched as far as the eye could see from one end to the other. The wall behind the bar was filled with shelves of every alcohol available, glimmering dimly in the candle light. Along with alcohol, there were also portraits, cartoons and sketches in glass frames. “Hey! That’s a picture of Timothy Aldwood! He’s in my favorite detective movies! And there’s the pitcher for the L.A Dodgers!” The angel happily exclaimed.

“And there’s Ruthy Maxxi and Angie Rocks. They’re in the movies too! And that’s Jonesy ‘Ragtag’ Carson from the band ‘Ticket to Nowhere’! That man can swing!”

For a moment, the sleuths were entertaining themselves with identifying who was on this supposed “Wall of Fame” set up in the bar area. All of these people were famous in one way or another, and appeared to be frequent visitors to the club. Everyone that couldn’t be named was friends of either Tristan or Sidra. On each of these drawings and portraits, there was a simply elegant signature. “Sidra Valentine.”

“She really is a great artist after all. How do you like that?”

“You gotta let her draw you. Maybe you could get up on that wall!”

“What can I get for you guys?”

Before they could continue on with this idea of helping with portraits and where they could have ended up on display, the bar tender finally came up to them. Dressed like any other bar tender would (black vest and pants, white shirt, bow tie, etc.), this young man was ideal for the job of getting young ladies to buy more drinks. Styled black hair, handsome face, amber brown eyes…Italian, if anyone had to guess.

“Oh, yeah! Two scot on the rocks, as fast as you can make them.” Tyler ordered, snapping back to attention and eager to get a drink in his hands.

“Coming up.”

“And some information, if you don’t mind us asking.” Dexter threw in, getting back to the matter at hand.

“Information?”

“We’re both detectives, here on a case.”

For a moment, the bar tender stopped pouring the scot and looked at them with a worried look before it turned into…almost a sense of arrogant bravo and denial. “Hey, guy! I swear to God, all I did was hit on that girl! She turned me down flat! The little b***h even threw her drink back in my face when I was putting on my best stuff for her! So I don’t know what you two are-“

“Hey, keep your shirt on! We’re not here about any of that.” Dexter quickly interrupted, a hand raised to keep him from jumping over the bar and at the pair.

“Oh… Alright then.” Going back to pouring their scot, the angel and werewolf exchanged a look. Mentally, they were both asking each other what this guy was talking about and what he did with his free time. Obviously getting into trouble with girls…but just what kind of trouble was what they wanted to know. The bar tender presented them both with two crystal glasses of scot poured over square ice cubes. “So…what is this about, then?”

“Tayte Fallon.”

“Oh, her! Yeah, now her I can talk to you guys about, easy!”

“Can you tell us about her whereabouts the other night?” Dexter asked, quickly pulling out a flip notebook and a pencil from his coat pocket. “Anything you can tell us will help, Mr…”

“Everhart. Adriel Everhart. But you can call me Addy.”

“Okay then, Addy. What do you got on the Fallon girl and where she was the other night?” Tyler asked, taking a quick sip of his scot.

“The Hell if I know! I only ever see her on stage, at this bar and coming in and out of here. Every other time, I try to avoid her.”

“Why is that?”

“Because when she came in here at the beginning of the week, I tried to greet her and welcome her to the place. She’s pretty hot so I thought I’d take a shot at her. I barely get to my best material when she kicked me in the nuts and helped herself to my best bottle of cinnamon rum! I got a lot better stuff to offer than that, body wise, and she treated me like yesterday’s trash!” At remembering this, Addy started to swear a little in Italian while scrubbing a glass a little too hard.

“So you wouldn’t know anything about where she could have been?” Dexter asked, ignoring the swearing for a moment.

“Not a clue. Not many people around here would. Since she dodges Tristan, I’ve only ever seen her talk to Sidra and the little cutie that sings in here every night. You may want to ask her.”

“I think we will. We actually know her from outside of work so it’ll be easy to meet her to ask.”

“Put in a good word for me when you talk to her and enjoy her show! Tayte always comes on after her so you may get lucky and can see she’s horrible on your own. Man, the little cutie’s the kind of girl I could really get into…”

“Hey-HEY HEY HEY HEY! That’s my cousin you’re thinking nasty thoughts about! Don’t even try it, guy!” Tyler quickly snapped at Adriel, his good mood gone as his fangs showed a little with his fur standing on edge.

“Okay, okay! Geez, it was just food for thought. She’s not even my type.” It looked like Adriel was used to getting heat from guys like Tyler, though the fangs did put him off a bit. Thankfully Dexter was there to keep Tyler calm.

“Come on, let’s get some seats. We can watch her from there and see what this Tayte is really like.” Tyler let out a huff and a puff before he started to walk off with Dexter, a scot in each of their hands. Before they could leave, they heard a whistle.

“Hey! How about a tip here? I only get so many a night that aren’t phone numbers.” Adriel was tapping a finger on a glass bowl with a note on it labeled “Tips”.

“Here’s a tip: next time, easy on the cologne. I could smell you the second I came into the room.” Tyler quickly downed his scot while walking away, leaving Dexter to handle a stunned and insulted bar tender.

“S-Sorry about that, he just has a sensitive sense of smell. Werewolf, you know.” He paid for their drinks and fished out whatever was in his pocket for the tip jar. He quickly ran off to join the werewolf, leaving Addy to swear and make rude hand gestures at them in Italian. He fished the slip of paper the angel left him and looked at it. It was a coupon for a free meal at a new food place in town.

“Cheap stakes! …and what the Hell is a cheeseburger?!”

“Ty, wait up! Come on. You know she’s smart enough to not go for a guy like that. Most girls ARE smart enough not to go for a guy like that.” Dexter said when he finally caught Tyler heading for tables near the stage.

“Yeah, I know… but still. With my uncle and her aunt on their honeymoon and her being so freaking cute… a guy’s gotta worry about her when it comes to guys, you know?” Tyler said, walking over to an empty table and pulling a chair back.

“I know and I can understand. I care about her like family too.” Dexter said, sitting down at their table. He put his scot down and started to fish another sucker out of his pocket. “Hey, there she is!”

With both boys sitting, they could finally see Tyler’s cousin singing on stage. To anyone that didn’t already know, they would be surprised to see that this girl could be related to a werewolf. Dressed in a white gown patterned with teal blue flowers and matching feather boa, Reisen Aoi was the ideal angel. With pure white wings, big golden eyes and teal blue hair styled into a messy bun on her head, Reisen was singing songs that matched her sweet, innocent and bubbly personality. The band behind her was thumping and bobbing with her as she sang into the microphone songs of summer love and sweet promises. The good feelings that she was singing about were contagious, as everyone was smiling and tapping their toes along with her.

“She’s in a really good mood tonight! This is a song she wrote herself a few days ago!” Tyler said with his tail wagging behind him in his chair.

“She really is. Hey, how’s Alexander doing in Aruba anyway? I’ve been meaning to ask for a while.”

“Eh, too hot for his taste but he can’t complain. He just got married after all! He sent me and Reisen pictures with his last letter. Take a look!” Tyler replied while pulling a photo out of his pocket. Set on a sandy beach near the ocean, an older werewolf bearing a striking resemblance to Tyler (minus taller, stronger, and with tattoos on his forearms) had an arm around a beautiful tan angel woman with dark purple hair, emerald eyes and a little tattoo under her eye. “I’ve never seen him so happy."

Reisen, meanwhile, had just finished her song on stage and was taking her bows. “Thank you, thank you everyone for coming out! Enjoy your evening! Ah ha!” Blowing a quick kiss to the audience while giggling, the angel girl disappeared behind the curtains while everyone cheered and applauded. Dexter and Tyler were some of the loudest to applaud, hooting and cheering her name. An older man in a tuxedo came out on stage then and took the microphone.

“Alright then, ladies and gentlemen, you’ve seen our favorite little dove now let’s see the falcon! Following our sweet Reisen Aoi we have the ever lovely and ever dangerous Tayte Fallon!”

At this announcement, a lot of the men in the audience started to get up out of their chairs and rush over to get a closer seat near the stage, hooting and cheering as they did. Dexter and Tyler watched this with fascination and raised eyebrows.

“Hard on for a gangster, much?” Tyler asked.

“Apparently. But what can you do? Some guys just don’t know any better.” Dexter said, popping a sucker in his mouth.

By this time, the stage lights started to dim, casting the band in a mysterious pale glow. The bass player started to pluck at his strings, creating a moody, dark but sultry beat. He was soon joined by the saxophones, the dark and sultry beat continuing until it suddenly stopped. Behind the curtain, a shapely woman’s leg peeked out and with that, came a song like voice.

“I used to know you a hundred years ago…”

The curtains parted then and the owner of the leg started to strut into the center of the stage. The band picked up their beat again, continuing their dark, mysterious song of seduction as the young woman continued to sing her melody. Before she could even reach the microphone, the men in the audience were already hooting and cat calling-to which appeared to have little effect on her or her performance. However, there was already something affecting Dexter. With each step this girl took on stage, he found himself leaning farther and farther forward on his seat until he was nearly on top of the table. He was spell bound.

“That’s…Tayte Fallon?” Dexter could barely squeeze from his throat.

Tyler was just as mystified as Dexter was. This girl wasn’t what he was expecting either. He wasn’t affected like the angel was, though he did look at her like he was doing a double take on something completely unbelievable. “Apparently...man alive.”

Tayte Fallon…was beyond anything I had expected her to be. I had her description from newspapers but it was completely useless while standing up to the real thing. She was a harpy but she wasn’t like a harpy as I had heard about them. She had dark, gunmetal grey wings and talons hidden under her gloves, but that was as harpy as she got in my eyes. She was too beautiful to be like those harpies. From the floor up, she had long, long legs that went all the way up to hips that could have given birth to the universe. Leading into a waist that I thought a man could easy wrap his hands around, the most perfect chest sat on top…ample and perky. I’m almost too afraid to describe any more than that without sounding like a pervert. It led up to a slender neck and shoulders…but it was her face that made my heart stop. She was what I could have thought of when people said “looks like an angel”. An oval face with alabaster skin, touched with pretty and pouty red lips. Her hair was as red as blood, as apples, as wine…and it ran free in rivers around her face and back, almost mixing with the dark grey feathers of her wings. And her eyes…her eyes were hidden beneath smoky eyelashes…and were as bright and round as silver coins. But they looked like they could cut like a knife and they did. They cut right through me like no one else did before.

And all of this was wrapped up in a slinky and tight black strapless dress. Diamonds hung around her wrists, neck and earlobes as black gloved hands held the microphone. The angel didn’t move an inch as she sang, the sucker almost falling out of his mouth as it hung open on it hinges. His only movement was a flinch his body made as the harpy started to walk off stage. His mind was racing a million miles an hour to figure out what she was doing. She was walking around to be admired by her admirers. She loved the attention as she sang…and she loved to hang men on a hook to dangle. Stroking their faces a little as she walked to make them stretch like cats wanting more, sitting on their tables with her legs crossed to show her garter belt beneath the slit in her dress…she was making her way around the room until she had her sight set on one target-

Dexter.

Feeling panic rise in his chest and blood to his cheeks, the angel didn’t know what to do as the harpy singer walked his way, still singing that song and swinging her hips like that. He almost thought of making an emergency trip to the bathroom before she pushed him back down in his chair-and then sat on his lap! Her presence alone was enough to make him jump but this-this was too much! And tilting his hat back to look at his face, pushing his coat back and loosening his tie…it was just adding wood to the fire. He was nearly being stripped in public! Or at least that was how it was going down in his mind. And it was driving him crazy.

The last of Tayte’s femme fatale moves would be the knock out combination in this unexpected fight. Using the pause in the song as her moment to attack, the harpy took the sucker out of the angel’s mouth and popped it into her own. Pulling it back out with a smack of her lips, she put it back into his hung open mouth-to which opened a little wider because of that move, leaving the candy to fall out- and grabbed a hold of his tie. Using it to pull him upright, they both looked into each other’s eyes, lips centimeters away from each other. Dexter’s brain was already imagining her kissing him for shock value but instead, she smiled, and sung the last line of her song into his face. Her voice, so sweet and dark…so close to him…just made his heart thunder harder and eyes grow wider.

“And I’m not the girl…you used to know.”

After what felt like an eternity, Tayte let go of Dexter’s tie and got off of his lap, strutting back to the stage with a lofty wave and a swing in her hips with thunderous applause surrounding her. She was lapping this up like a spoiled cat and cream…and it left Tyler pretty amazed as well once he shook himself loose from the shock of what just happened to his partner.

“Crap on a cracker! Can you believe that?! She just-plopped herself right there and just-just-MAN! That girl has some nerve, pulling stunts like that with Joes like us. Definitely cocky enough to be a powerful gangster boss, and hot enough to pull it off as a lady gangster… She is something else, huh Dexter? …Dexter?”

Dexter couldn’t come to the phone right now, he was too busy melting into his shoes. The angel had sunken down and slumped up against the back of his chair, clothes still out of place and mouth hung open like it was stuck. His blue eyes were still wide beyond normal for his eyes, his face burned cherry red as his heart wouldn’t stop pumping hard in his chest. Too stunned to realize it, there were also certain…developments-in his shorts. And most of all, a freshly made trail of blood was dripping down from his nose and onto his chin and shirt collar. A little side effect when the angel was too…aroused.

Tyler took one look at Dexter’s face before letting out a growl of frustration and smacking himself in the forehead. “AAAHHH! Jesus to blooming Christ! I should have realized it sooner! I completely forgot!” He helped himself to Dexter’s scot and drank it all in one shot. It was a little something to help him deal with this little problem in their investigation so far. “You’re a total sucker for red heads.”

Again, Dexter couldn’t hear him. He was still with Tayte, their faces so close together he could see his reflection in her eyes, smell her perfume…feel her breath on his lips. He was still in this new little world the harpy had forced upon him when she chose him to be a part of her show. The angel was as good as her prisoner now…and it was his job to determine whether or not she really deserved to be in prison or not. One thing was clear to him though in this haze of desire and confusion:

That girl…was…dangerous. <3