Payback is a powerful thing...
Hot Shot
S.A. Stolinsky
Suspense
November 1, 2016
About the Book:
Actor and bartender, Tyler West experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games. Determined to change his life, he enters the World Series of Poker. His life is suddenly turned upside down when the Russian mafia fronts him 1.5 million dollars to play at the tables. And then...he loses…
Now on the ride of his life, deceit and deception are his key to uncovering the truth. He must recoup the money, but will it come at a price? Can he stay alive long enough or will his time run out?
Read an Excerpt from Hot Shot:
Tyler pushed his
long, blond hair back with one hand and slouched. He knew she found him attractive. “I’ll tell ya,” he began, hoping to make it
last, keep her interested. “I pretty
much need the start up money right now.”
Ah, too fast.
“Start up money?
Now? You think I got a stash under my bed upstairs? We should go up and find out. My, my we’re in a hurry aren’t we?” Elsie
pushed Tyler into an oversized easy chair covered with brown mohair. A black
cat with white paws jumped off it as Tyler slammed down.
“Easy kid.
That’s the trick. You don’t wanta look too desperate, know what I mean? Well,
you are good lookin’ I’ll give you that,” she said. “What ya got there?”
Tyler gave her a
certificate.
“Made this up on
my computer. It kind of sells land.”
“Bullwhippie,”
Elsie said as she tore up the certificate and put it in a glass ashtray on the
glass coffee table. “The only thing that makes a lot of money fast is ass,
kid.”
“One point five
million?” Tyler asked.
“You’re good
looking, but honey your ego’s getting away with you.”
Elsie sat in her
chair, a plush, pink armchair with multicolor pink pillow and a foot stool in
front. She leaned toward him.
“Listen, baby.
This is just between you and me, got it? I’ve been a madam longer than I can
remember. I work on the sly sometimes, and my parole officer comes around, but
he don’t bother me. You know why?”
A still crestfallen Tyler looked at
her.
“Because I got the goods on all
those assholes, that’s why. I got the video. Don’t ever do porn without a video
somewheres in the bedroom. Ya got me?”
Tyler nodded.
Elsie continued without noticing.
“I’ll never tell where I hid the original, but believe me I got plenty of
copies. Got a friend on Grand that does the best photography in the city. I had
a couple of tapes made and almost sold ‘em to TV—the porn sites. So I been
thinkin’ real hard about how I can re-establish my rep. And here you come.”
Tyler finally
opened his mouth but it was only to use his tongue to wet his lips, they felt
parched and he was sure they would crack it he kept his mouth closed any
longer.
“Yes, Ma’am,”
was all he could think to say.
“I’m gonna start
up the biggest whore house in the state, sonny. This time? With men. You know
how much a good male hooker can make? Two thousand a night. Now---depending on
your stamina…”
“Yeah, I get the
picture,” Tyler said.
He wasn’t in to
older women, but he had to admit, Elsie was beginning to look visibly younger
with the excitement she was projecting. Some people love their work. Her gray
roots were beginning to look more like silver blonde streaks and her smile was
widening. Her teeth, perfect in what were undoubtedly caps, glistened.
“A male whore
house. I don’t think it’s been done before,” Elsie repeated.
Elsie was spry
for a woman her age, but she had become overweight and as Tyler checked out the
flat, it looked like she’d just moved into the place. She no longer looked like a professional, but
that was probably the point. On a small
table next to Tyler there was a silver framed picture, a studio shot of a
glamorous woman, her head tilted back, full makeup and blond hair, her fingers
just touching her chin and a large, pearl necklace around her neck and thick
jeweled bracelets on her wrists. Tyler realized it was an old shot of Elsie
maybe forty years ago.
“Women in their
eighties still masturbate, you know that?” Elsie asked noticing him admiring
the photo. She looked like she might jot down his answer in an interview. “And
what a shame that is when guys like you are just running around willy-nilly.”
“No, ma’am,
never really thought about it,” Tyler said.
“You sure do
look like your pa. He was a crafty one, but always good to my girls. You work
out, huh? I got a boob job in my seventies. Hell, nothing stays up forever.
They’re just starting to sag again now. Thinking about getting ‘em done again,
so this is a good time we connected.”
“Yes, Ma’am,”
Tyler wasn’t sure where this was going, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want
it to go much further.
“Thirty percent
on my end,” she said.
“Huh?” Tyler
realized his eyes had widened and tried to relax so he wouldn’t look so stupid.
“Thirty
percent.”
“That’s a lot of
money, Ma’am,” Tyler said, when the hole in his stomach shrunk slightly. “I
mean I’m desperate, like you say, but that’s a big cut.”
“Listen, kid. A
man looks like you, your age, your height, your…face, could make more than two
thousand dollars a night, okay? It’s not gonna last forever, so you better grab
it while ya can.
Meet the Author:
Stefanie Stolinsky, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and forensic psychologist with a private practice in Beverly Hills, California. She specializes in trauma, adults sexually, physically and emotionally abused as children, and PTSD. She is an international speaker and has taught training seminars in overcoming the aftereffects of child abuse. She has also taught licensing examinations to candidates for both marriage, family and child counseling and for the psychology licenses.
She began her career as an actress in motion pictures, television and stage and created a unique therapy combining acting exercises with psychodynamic psychotherapy to help survivors of all kinds of trauma overcome the aftereffects of abuse. The first edition of "ACT IT OUT" was a top seller for over nine years. A second edition of the popular book was launched in April of this year and is available on Praeclarus Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
She is also the author of several award-winning short stories including her newest short story anthology, DATE NIGHT, and numerous comedy mystery. Dr. Stolinsky lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
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