Once Craved. Blake Pierce

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СКАЧАТЬ bet you give great socorro,” he said in a leering tone.

      Her deep brown eyes leered right back. “You look like maybe you could use some socorro right now.”

      “Maybe I could,” he said.

      But before they could start settling terms, a car pulled into the space right behind him. He heard a man call out from the driver window.

      “¡Socorro!” he yelled. “¡Vente!”

      The girl drew herself up with a rather lame show of indignation.

      “¿Porqué?” she yelled back.

      “Vente aquí, ¡puta!”

      The man detected a trace of fear in the girl’s eyes. It couldn’t be because the man in the car had called her a whore. He guessed that the man was her pimp, checking on her to see how much cash she had brought in so far tonight.

      “¡Pinche Pablo!” She muttered the all-purpose insult under her breath. Then she walked toward the car.

      The man sat there, wondering if she was going to come back, still wanting to do business with him. Either way, he didn’t like it. Waiting around was not his style.

      His interest in the girl suddenly vanished. No, he wouldn’t bother with her. She had no idea how lucky she was.

      Besides, what was he doing slumming like this? His next victim ought to be classier.

      Chiffon, he thought. He’d almost forgotten about Chiffon. But maybe I’ve just been saving her for a special occasion.

      He could wait. It didn’t have to be tonight. He drove away, gloating over his show of self-restraint, despite his enormous cravings. He considered that one of his best personal qualities.

      He was, after all, a very civilized man.

      Chapter Ten

      The three young women in the interview room didn’t look at all like Riley had expected. For a few moments she just watched them through the one-way window. They were tastefully dressed, almost like well-paid secretaries. She’d been told their names were Mitzi, Koreen, and Tantra. Of course Riley was sure that those weren’t their real names.

      Riley also doubted that they dressed so acceptably when they were on the job. Working for about 250 dollars per hour, they’d surely invested in elaborate wardrobes to cater to all sorts of clients’ fantasies. They had been colleagues of Nancy “Nanette” Holbrook at Ishtar Escorts. The clothes Nancy Holbrook had been wearing when she was killed had been markedly less proper. But, Riley figured, when not actually on the job, the women wanted to look respectable.

      Although prostitutes had played a role in some of the cases Riley had investigated in the past, this was the first time she’d been called on to work so directly with any of them. These women were potential victims themselves. They might even be potential suspects, although virtually all murders of this type were carried out by men. Riley felt sure that these women weren’t the kind of monsters she hunted in her job.

      It was late Sunday afternoon. Last night Riley and Bill had settled into their separate and comfortable hotel rooms not far from the FBI building. Riley had phoned April, who was in a Washington, DC, hotel with the history field trip. April had been giggly and happy, and had warned her mother that she didn’t really have time for phone calls. “I’ll text you tomorrow,” April had said, shouting over the teenage clamor in the background.

      Riley felt that too much of today had already been wasted. It had taken most of the day to round up the prostitutes and bring them in. Riley had told Special Agent in Charge Elgin Morley that she wanted to talk to the women without any men present. Perhaps they’d be more open with another woman. Now she thought she’d observe and listen to them unseen for a few minutes before actually questioning them. Through the speaker, she could hear their conversation.

      Their styles and personalities were distinctive. Short, blonde, buxom Mitzi displayed a certain small-town, girl-next-door image.

      “So has Kip popped the question?” Mitzi asked Koreen.

      “Not yet,” Koreen said with a conspiratorial smile. She was a slender brunette with something of the grace of a ballerina. “I’ve got a feeling he’s bought a ring, though.”

      “Does he still want to have four kids?” Mitzi asked.

      Koreen let out a high, lilting laugh. “I’ve talked him down to three. But between you and me, he’s only going to get two.”

      Mitzi joined in Koreen’s laughter.

      Tantra gave Koreen a nudge. She was a tall African-American with a tawny complexion. She seemed to have adopted the glamorous poise of a supermodel.

      “Better make sure he doesn’t find out what you do for a living, girl,” Tantra said.

      All three women laughed heartily. Riley was taken by surprise. These three prostitutes were talking about having families, just like any ordinary women in a beauty parlor. Was that kind of normality really in the cards for any of them? She couldn’t imagine that such a thing was possible.

      Riley decided that she’d kept the women waiting long enough. When she walked into the interview room, she could feel the relaxed atmosphere suddenly pop like a bubble. Now the women were visibly on edge.

      “I’m Agent Riley Paige,” she said. “I’d like to ask you all a few questions.”

      All three women let out groans of dismay.

      “Oh, God, not more questions!” Mitzi said. “We’ve talked to the cops already.”

      “I’d like to ask a few questions of my own, if you don’t mind,” Riley said.

      Mitzi shook her head. “This is starting to feel like harassment,” she said.

      “What we do is perfectly legal,” Koreen said.

      “I don’t care about what you do,” Riley said. “I’m an FBI investigator, not a judge.”

      Koreen murmured under her breath, “Like hell.”

      Mitzi looked at her wristwatch. “Can we make this quick?” she said. “I’ve got three classes today.”

      “How many credits are you taking this semester?” Koreen asked.

      “Twenty,” Mitzi said.

      Koreen gasped. “That’s a pretty big load.”

      “Yeah, well, I want to get my degree as soon as I can.”

      Riley was taken aback again.

      Mitzi is going to college, she thought.

      She had heard that sometimes women pursuing an education chose prostitution as a way of paying tuition. With the money she was making, she might not have to go too deeply in debt. Still, it struck Riley as strangely unsettling.

      “I’ll try to keep this short,” Riley said. “I just want to know more about Nanette.”

      Koreen’s expression suddenly turned СКАЧАТЬ