Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
The last one we asked (sans mugshot) said she didn’t know her.
I didn’t believe her, but we didn’t push.
I was driving, Luna on the lookout for Divinity and a tail, and by this time, we’d done a back and forth on Roosevelt at least five times.
No Divinity.
She was pretty, maybe she was popular, which made her busy.
“There’s another one,” Luna said. “I think we should stop and see if she knows our girl.”
“Maybe we should give up and try again some other time.”
“Just pull in here,” she ordered.
Man, Luna was into this shit.
On a sigh, I pulled into a 7-Eleven and parked.
“Let’s walk back to her,” she said, and didn’t wait for my response.
She got out.
Considering the ’hood we were in, with my new-and-improved stun gun in my crossbody, I got out too.
We hoofed it to where the woman Luna had seen was standing, leaning against a dark building that looked like whatever it used to be, it had stopped being that about half a century ago. Not only was the interior completely dark, the cages over the windows seemed rusted, and there was a thick crust of litter that had been blown up against the building on the sidewalk that sun, wind and monsoons had transformed into a permanent addition.
It would take a sledgehammer to get that stuff loose.
As we approached, I had the same thought I’d had about the others we’d chatted to: that I hoped this was her choice of occupation, and no man or drug was forcing her into this.
When we got closer, we saw she was Latina, petite (or would be, if she wasn’t in sky-high platform sandals), very pretty and carried some extra weight, which her skin-tight cami and mini-skirt showed off to full advantage.
“Hey,” Luna greeted.
She looked us over. “What you two gringas doin’ out here?”
“We’re looking for Divinity,” I said. “Have you seen her?”
My heart sped up when she replied, “She got herself a client. She’s at the hotel,” and she jerked her chin to indicate a seedy motel across the street.
“She been with him long?” Luna asked.
“What’s it to you?” she shot back.
“We wanna talk to her, and I’d like to know how long we’ll be waiting,” Luna returned.
“Guy didn’t strike me as an all-nighter type,” she said. “Probably hand job only, so she’ll be out soon.”
“I’m Kelly,” I told her, feeling kinda like a dick I didn’t give her my real name.
This might be the only gig we did.
On the other hand, this might be the start of something. And she seemed friendly enough.
But when people did stuff like this, they needed to establish relationships, people in the know, people who saw things.
People who would talk.
“Good for you,” she replied.
Okay, maybe not that friendly.
“And this is Jill,” I kept at her since this was the first lady we’d talked to who was semi-kinda-talking back.
“Yo,” Luna said.
The woman made no reply.
“Women are going missing,” I stated.
Her gaze had shifted to look between us to check out the cars passing, but at what I said, her head snapped my way.
Electricity sizzled over my skin at her response.
Here we go.
“You missin’ someone in your family?” she asked.
“No,” I told her honestly. “I just noticed a lot of ladies of the evening are being reported gone, and it keeps happening, so it’s obvious no one is doing much about it.”
She pushed to standing from her lean on the wall, a white smile bursting through the dark. “Ladies of the evening. I like that. Gonna put that on my business cards.”
Tentatively, I smiled back.
“Do you know any of the women who are missing?” Luna asked.
“No. But there’s buzz, gringa. We’re all a little jumpy.”
“What buzz?” Luna asked.
“Wait,” I said and then inquired, “What’s your name? I mean, if you wanna give it to us.”
“Jinx.”
Well then, she didn’t give her real name either.
“Hi, Jinx.” I stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
She looked at my hand, me, Luna, me again, then that flash of white came back to her mouth, and she took my hand.
“You’re crazy,” she said.
“I know,” I replied. After squeezing it, I let her hand go. “Have other family members been out looking?”
“Yeah. There’s a woman named Betsy who’s been around. Her daughter was one of them. But she’s been gone for a while, so Betsy has too. Don’t know if she gave up. Do know her girl didn’t show up.”
“What’s her daughter’s name?”
“Don’t know her name, but the name she used on the street was Bambi. And she was a real Bambi. All big eyes and stupid.”
“So you knew Bambi?” I pressed.
She shrugged. “Met her once. Knew she wasn’t gonna last long.”
“How?” I kept at her.
“Like I said. She was stupid.”
“How was she stupid?”
“You bitches are blockin’ the view of my clients.”
We both stepped to the side.
She watched us do this, and how fast we did it, and she remarked, “Shee-it, you really after this, hunh?”