“Hello there, sexy!”
“Man, oh man, you must be new.”
“You know, it’s customary for the new girls to give discounts to all of the frequent fliers.”
I looked up from my phone at that comment and smiled as kindly as I could. “It’s a good thing I get to choose my clients, then, huh?”
The man’s face fell. “Stupid bitch.”
I watched him crawl back into his rust bucket of a car before he sped off while giving me the finger. A few girls watched me while they shook their heads and others cupped their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. Baron Street really did live up to the hype: there were five blocks on both sides of the road consisting of nothing but rundown motels, shoddy fast food joints, and prostitutes as far as the eye could see.
It was a one-stop-shop for everything someone needed to have a skeevy, STD-riddled evening.
I gazed back down at my phone and sighed. I had a picture of Beth Carter on my phone, but I hadn’t come across her yet. As I walked up and down the sidewalk in my thigh-high boots and leather get-up, I tried looking around without seeming too conspicuous.
But, tonight’s investigation hinged on being able to find her.
“Lookin-for-a-goo-time?”
I heard the drunken man’s voice and closed my eyes. “I don’t do business with drunks.”
I felt his hand on my shoulder. “Turn-aroun-and-lemme-see-ya.”
I shrugged off his touch and kept walking. “Some other time.”
The force with which the man yanked me back shocked me, and my phone almost clattered to the ground. And while I wanted to whip around so I could jam my knee into his groin, I kept my cool. Girls in every shape, style, color, and walk of life watched at the scene unfolded, and the first thing any cop will tell you is that for an undercover investigation to go smoothly, one has to keep their head down and not draw attention to themselves.
And this man wanted nothing but attention.
“I-asked-for-a-service-girl.”
I smelled the booze on him and almost gagged. “And I refused, which I have the right to do since I’m a private business owner.”
He blinked. “You-a-wha?”
I caught him off-guard long enough to jam my heel into his toe, and he released me. He howled in pain as he hobbled into the road with cars honking while he stumbled around. I shook off his touch and went to lean against the brick facade of one of the motels to try and bury my face in my phone.
I wondered how long I’d have to wait before people stopped staring at me.
I mean, it already took a lot of effort not to arrest these assholes on the spot. I knew better than to blow the only cover I had for this operation, but everything inside of me wanted to bum-rush this entire street and scoop up everyone I could. What were these people thinking, anyway? Some of these girls looked no older than nineteen or twenty years old.
Where the hell were their parents?
“You knew around here?”
I didn’t look up from my phone as I flipped over and started playing a game of solitaire. “I guess you could say that.”
The woman leaned against the wall with me. “You know, you’ll eventually figure out that the drunks will make you the most cash. You can usually rob ’em blind and they’ll let you do it. It’s the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen.”
I snickered as I looked up at her. “Well, I can’t say that booze breath… is my… thing.”
When the girl looked at me, I recognized her instantly. I hadn’t found Beth, but she sure as hell had found me.
“Coral Reef,” she said.
I blinked. “Sorry, what?”
She giggled. “Everyone’s been asking about the color of my lipstick this evening. It’s called ‘Coral Reef.’”
I nodded along. “I wasn’t sure if it was rude to ask or not.”
She grinned. “My mother would’ve said it’s more rude to stare than to ask.”
“Would that same mother have approved of something like this?”
Her grin grew into a smile. “Never. It’s why I love it so much.”
I barked with laughter. “That makes two of us, except replace my mother with my father.”
“Ah, the good ol’ Daddy issues. You bring that up, you’re likely to double your rate with some of these men. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to take good care of you. It’s common for the first couple of customers for new girls to be vetted by the cavalry.”
I nodded. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
She pushed away from the wall. “And speaking of Johns, I see one of my regulars rubbernecking on the other side of the road. Why don’t ya watch and see how it’s done here in Cali?”
I smiled. “I’d enjoy that, thank you.”
She looked me up and down. “And maybe think about teaming up with someone. You’re hot as hell, and men pay a lot of money these days just to watch two women go at it.”
I giggled. “I’ll keep it in the back of my mind.”
She gave me one more once-over, then she strutted right across the road. Her heels were almost an impossible height, and her curves spilled out of slats in her clothes that would’ve made any man howl at the moon. She was gorgeous, and it made me wonder what the hell she was doing in a profession like this.
And as I watched her pluck her “John” away from one of the girls on the other side of the street, I watched closely to how they interacted.
I just didn’t expect to see money changing hands so quickly.
Do they pay upfront here or something?
Beth turned and looked at me from across the road before the John she was talking to ushered her into an alleyway they were standing in front of. But, I got a bad feeling in my stomach when they disappeared into the darkness. That didn’t seem right. I mean, all of these motels around and they wanted to set up shop in an alleyway? That didn’t make any sense.
Then, I saw another man creep his way into the alley.
“Shit,” I hissed.
I heard trash cans being tipped over and booked it across the street. Some of the girls started turning to watch the commotion unfold as I heard a muffled screech come from the darkness. I slid my phone into my bra and leapt into a sprint, running as fast in my thigh-high boots as I could.
Then, I heard it.
“No! Stop it! Please!”
A man’s voice growled. “You overcharging, pretentious little bitch.”
“No, I didn’t. I swear, those have always been my–no!”
I heard the ripping of clothes as sweat dripped down the nape of my neck. I heard their voices, but I didn’t see their bodies. My head was on a swivel while I listened to Beth struggling to get away from her assailants. But, it wasn’t until a random light on the side of one of the buildings flickered, giving me a split-second view of the pitch black alleyway.
And that’s when I saw both of those men holding Beth down while they ripped her clothes off.
“Hey! You two!”
The bulb from the light busted, sending glass shattering to the ground. I heard heavy footsteps scurrying to get away while one of the guys cursed beneath his breath. But, I also still heard Beth gurgling on her own spit. She gasped for air and I charged the general area of the alley where I had seen her pressed against the wall, swinging my arms through the air in the hopes of connecting with the other guy that refused to let go of her fucking neck.
And when my fist connected with the man, I heard Beth gasping for air.
“My pouch. It fell in the alley. Did you see it?” she gasped.
I reached down and grabbed the man by his hair before I cleared my throat. “No.”
“Shit,” she hissed.
Another light flickered above our heads, allowing me a split-second look at the man’s face. I shoved him against the wall so hard that he cracked his head against the brick, and I felt something warm dripping down my fingertips.
I didn’t care, though.
This man was as good as dead, as far as I was concerned.
“You picked the wrong bitch to fuck with tonight,” I grumbled.
With one good punch to his nose he slumped over, completely unconscious. I released him and listened as he crumbled into a pile on the ground, falling into a puddle of water that was soaking the outside of my boots. I heard Beth whispering to herself as she crawled around on the ground, feeling around for whatever the hell she had lost.
I had half a mind to slap handcuffs on the unconscious idiot before calling the chief. But, I knew he wouldn’t be able to send reinforcements. Budget cuts, or whatever bullshit answer suited the department for now. Plus, handcuffing anyone meant blowing my cover to Beth.
So, I pulled my phone out of my bra and turned on the flashlight.
“There, that should help,” I said.
Beth cried out for joy. “Oh-ho! I got it! There it is!”
I watched her scramble for a sparkling red bag tied off with a red bow and I wondered what it was. But, I didn’t have to wonder for long. She stood to her feet and untied the bow before pouring a small amount of freshly-cut diamonds into the palm of her hand. And as my jaw dropped open, she moved her hand so they could shimmer beneath my cell phone’s flashlight.
“He’d be so mad if I lost these,” she whispered.
I furrowed my brow. “Who would be mad?”
Her eyes whipped up to mine before she cleared her throat. “No one. Just… no one.”
I blinked. “Well, I’m really glad you found them. It looks like those are expensive.”
She slid them back into the bag. “Believe me, you have no fucking idea.”
And after she was done tying off the bad, she placed it back into her own bra before turning her attention to me. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
I held out my hand. “Candy. Yours?”
She snickered. “Not your fake name. Your real name. If we’re going to have each other’s backs like this, the least we could know is each other’s names. I’m Beth.”
She held her hand out for me and I shook it. “Riley.”
She smiled. “Well, Riley, it looks like you have a new partner in crime.
Which was good for me, seeing as that was the goal for tonight. But, my fucking mouth couldn’t just keep things at that.
“Good,” I said as I dropped her hand, “because I’m willing to help in any way I can. That is, if you’ll let me. Otherwise, you’ll be headed to jail, and you don’t strike me as the jailbird type.”
Summer is going to fucking kill me for this.
