Cathy stared at her. “You’re not funny.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I’ve been told that before. You aren’t the first to point that out.”
Cathy wasn’t shocked.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asked.
She was.
Elizabeth scanned the area. It was quiet for the evening in DC. This was a less used area, surrounded by mostly abandoned buildings and closed businesses.
This was exactly where a hooker would go to hook. She didn’t know why she was surprised.
“I’m not worried.”
“You should be. He’s new to the scene, but he’s vicious. If you piss him off, he’ll beat you down right there. His girls stay because they’re afraid.”
Elizabeth wasn’t afraid—not of any man, and not of some two bit pimp who thought he’d win.
“He’s going to be aloof,” Cathy stated. “He’s going to make sure you’re safe before he’ll talk to you. Don’t be surprised if he ignores or tests you to see if you’re on the up and up. With him, it’s going to be a crapshoot.”
“I won’t be surprised. I have my backup in place.”
While they were standing there, she might as well ask about the three dead hookers who were in her morgue.
“What do you know about them?” she asked, rattling off their names.
“I remember that first woman going missing. I had just started this assignment. The other two were his, too, and he’s mentioned that he’s pissed. It’s about to start a turf war.”
That was interesting.
“Between who? Who does he think is behind it?” Elizabeth knew people talked, and hookers talked to each other. If Cathy was deep undercover, then she’d heard some of the chatter.
Cathy looked around and tried to look the part of a streetwalker. “There’s a low-class madam who works this area. She’s also into the drug scene. She’s next on our list to watch. When I’m done with Clayton, she’s my next stop.”
Elizabeth made mental notes.
“He’s going head to head against her with girls and drugs. He told the girls to watch their backs. He thinks she has something to do with all of this. He may not say it out loud, but for him to warn us to avoid her, he means it.”
Elizabeth needed more information. “Please tell me you know her name,” she whispered, as she fluffed her hair.
“All the girls know her name. She’s approached all his bunnies with the intent to poach. She’s preaching a pretty decent line too. If I really were a hooker, I would have followed her. She’s the damn pied piper of hookers.”
“Name.”
“It’s Noor Blackburn.”
Elizabeth wasn’t wired. She made a mental note of the woman’s name and knew she’d be paying her a visit at some point.
Well, if she survived this night.
Suddenly, Elizabeth had that same feeling Cathy had earlier, and she was wishing she had backup on this one.
Crap.
“Do you think he’s involved?” she asked Cathy.
“I don’t think he’s killing off his girls. No sane pimp would. We’re his bread and butter, and one hell of a front for drugs,” she stated. “He needs them to make money. If he finds out it’s the madam, there’s going to be a whole lot of bloodshed. You might get him on homicide, but that’s about it so far.”
“Can we take him down and lock him up?” she asked. Elizabeth knew it might slow down the killing if he or she knew Clayton was under scrutiny.
She shook her blonde head. “No way, Fed. We’ve been working this for three months. We need to see if he can tie us in to the drug trade. I didn’t get blisters on my feet and ass grabs from the homeless for nothing.”
She got it.
“I won’t say a word. I promise.”
She relaxed. “Just listen to the girls,” she stated. “They will talk about the dead women on their own because they’re really freaked out. Once you ask, you’re made. Don’t ask. Really.”
She understood.
“I hope you have a John to pick you up or this is going to be crazy awkward for you. The detectives are my cover. I can’t risk sharing them. Clayton is smart. They already have to switch it up.”
“I’m covered. How many times do you get picked up a night?”
“Once or twice is about it during the week. On the weekends, it’s definitely more. With Clayton, any more than that, and he is suspicious. Make it look good,” she said.
“I’ve got one man coming tonight. I don’t want to appear overeager. I’m only here for one performance,” Elizabeth offered.
“Great. Uh oh, he’s ready. We have to get over there.”
Elizabeth let her lead.
She sent Chris a text, telling him thirty minutes and her location. Then she deleted it in case Clayton Frost took her cell phone. If that happened, she was in all kinds of trouble, and she knew it. Her fingers were crossed.
When she arrived at the corner, there were already nine girls there. It looked like he was making a good buck with each girl going out twice.
“Daddy, this is Miss Kitty.”
He held out his hand to shake hers. “I hear you’re an independent contractor.”
Elizabeth checked him out. The man wasn’t anything like she thought he’d be. He was young, blonde, and looked like a frat boy.
Really?
What the hell was the world coming to when pimps looked corn fed and innocent?
“I’m working for myself since my pimp had a misfortunate run in with the law. They took him away.”
He smiled. “It’s a tricky world out there. It’s hard to supply the basic fundamental needs of our Johns. The cops hate us, but we provide a great service. What’s your big skill, Miss Kitty?”
She licked her lips. “I give really great head.”
He laughed. “I don’t try out the girls, but I’ll take your word for it.”
She didn’t blame him. Half of his bunnies looked like they had been used for testing in a lab. There was some major disease going on there. She wouldn’t try that roulette wheel of death either. Elizabeth liked her bed partners to be disease free.
“Your loss.”
“Well, if you want in, you better shake that ass and show me what you have.”
She wanted to punch him when he grabbed her breast and squeezed it.
“They’re real. That’s even better. Your pimp is going to be pissed when he gets out for losing some prime ass like you.”
She could have kicked him in the balls, but this was a case and she needed to keep her cover for the cop beside her.
“I’m not plastic. I’m the read deal, sugar.”
Without warning, he slapped her across the face. It took everything not to retaliate.
She took a deep breath.
That stung like a bitch, but she knew it was all part of the game. When her head snapped to the side, she could see Cathy practically pleading for her not to react.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she muttered between clenched teeth as she shook off the stars she was seeing.
He grinned. “You learn fast. I like that. Now get to work,” he said, going back to lean against the building in the shadows.
She wanted to grab him by the mop of blonde hair, drag his ass to an interrogation room, and show him how to hit like a man.
Only, she’d bide her time.
Tonight, it was his rodeo.
Later…it would be hers.
“Show her how it’s done, Precious,” he said, pointing at Cathy.
Elizabeth checked out the scene. Apparently, Cathy had a street name.
Good to know.
As the first car pulled up, Cathy, AKA Precious, leaned into the window and negotiated the deal.
“Are you a cop?” she asked the guy right off.
“Nah, I’m horny and need a jump.”
She threw out a number, and he accepted.
“I’ll be back, Daddy. I’m taking him to the park.”
“Sure t
hing, baby girl. Do your thing and make daddy some money.”
Cathy took off in the car. Elizabeth recognized the driver. It was Kaleb, and he was wearing a fake mustache. It almost made her want to laugh.
Then there was a voice, as Clayton spoke from the shadows. “Miss Kitty, you stay nearby. If you pick up a John, and IF is a big word, since my girls are the best, I want to see you in action.”
Oh, shit, this was not good.
What she’d been hoping to do was get Chris to take her to a secure location, time it for some raunchy sex, and then have her walk back.
In fact, she was going to ask him to rough her up so Clayton wouldn’t suspect anything.
Elizabeth was in trouble.
No.
They were both in trouble. When she told him about this, Chris was going to be angry with her. She was going to have to make it look good, and in order to do that, she couldn’t fake it.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Elizabeth wondered two things.
Would giving your best friend a blowjob be crossing the line, and why wasn’t she horrified about it in the least?
That said a lot.
She was curious.
Now how did she blow this off as nothing big when she was going to manhandle Chris’s junk in the front seat of his car while people watched.
Jesus.
She was going to Hell for even contemplating this kind of line crossing. It was like forcing him to participate in the unthinkable.
She prayed he didn’t hate her because of it.
When she saw his Mercedes pull up, all the girls got excited. They saw money coming, and Chris was going to be a nervous wreck.
As the window rolled down, there he was. He was wearing a pressed dress shirt, his contacts were in, and he was wearing his big fat expensive watch.
Yeah, he was playing rich doctor.
Elizabeth began praying he didn’t blow this, or not only was she screwed, so was Cathy.
Then she began praying he peeled out of there and never looked back, because she wasn’t sure what was worse—blowing vice’s undercover operation or what she was going to ask Chris to allow her to do.
She wanted to be sick.
“Can someone give me directions?” he asked.
The girls all laughed.
A black hooker named Gina strolled up. “Where to, sugar?” she asked.
“I need to get off. Anyone know where that is?”
The girls laughed even more.
Elizabeth was really going to kiss him. He was doing well, and then she was going to slap him for saying he’d do this. What the hell had she been thinking?
The hookers started circling.
Then he noticed Elizabeth hadn’t. “I want her. I like red leather. She looks like she knows the way around the city.”
Clayton Frost came out of the shadows. “If you want her, you’re going to have to pay up front and stay close. She’s a commodity.”
“How much?” Chris asked, pulling out his wallet.
Elizabeth was horrified. She was putting Chris in the middle of a dangerous situation.
She couldn’t protect him.
She didn’t have a sidearm and no backup.
“What do you want?”
“I told you. I want to get off. If I can have her, I’ll give you whatever her price.”
“Two hundred for a blow job here, and she can do whatever wherever you take her.”
Elizabeth knew he wanted to see if she’d do it.
Shit.
This was bad.
Elizabeth could see the gun under Clayton’s jacket. He wasn’t messing around.
Cathy was gone.
She knew one detective was watching, but other than that, she was on her own. Yeah, this was a horrible idea.
“Okay,” Chris said. “I can get us a motel. There’s one around the block.”
He handed the man the two hundred bucks.
“Get in, Miss Kitty. Park right over there,” Clayton ordered. “Gina, you’re up.”
She didn’t have a choice.
If she bailed, Cathy’s cover was blown, the vice squad would lynch her, and she was screwed. There was no way she’d build back her street cred if she ran now.
She wanted to weep, but still…
She got in.
When Chris pulled away, she prayed he didn’t hate her. “We have one hell of a problem.”
“Didn’t I do it right?” he asked. “That was my best horny doctor needs a hooker impersonation.”
Oh boy.
How was she supposed to break this to him?
He was all smiles and proud of himself.
“Yeah, you were spot on and I’m horrified you know how to troll for hookers, but he’s going to want proof I’m not a cop. I can’t blow vice’s cover.”
Chris blinked his baby blues at her.
“What?”
“I have to put on a show, Christopher,” she said leaning in to nibble on his ear. Elizabeth could feel eyes on them, and from her peripheral, Gina, the giant hooker, was approaching.
She didn’t have time.
“What does that mean?” he asked, pulling into a parking spot not far away. Chris’s mind was going numb as her mouth was on his ear.
His lower body was also coming alive.
Elizabeth dropped the bomb. “She’s going to make sure I’m giving you a blowjob.”
He stared at her. “What?”
There was no way he’d heard her right.
It sounded like she was telling him that his dick was going to be in her…
Oh, wow.
His horny doctor act really worked.
Elizabeth slid her mouth closer to his, trying to look like she was turning on the hooker foreplay.
She prayed Gina was either deaf or an idiot.
“Chris, we are ass deep in trouble here,” she whispered. “We either have to make a scene where you punch me in the face, kick me out of the car, and beat my ass, or I have to give you a blowjob. Those are our only choices at this point.”
“What the hell, Elizabeth?” he hissed as her lips were so close to his mouth he could practically taste her lip-gloss.
He thought about earlier and the kiss.
He wanted more of it.
“I made a mistake,” she whispered.
Chris didn’t care. He wouldn’t sell her out, and there was no way in hell he was going to strike her, toss her out, or any of that BS. Chris suspected she’d get her ass beat by the pimp.
NO.
Double NO.
“I’m sorry. I know. I shouldn’t have involved you. I’ll never do this again.”
“Give me a blow job,” he said, trying not to look too excited. If there was a Hell, he was going to be their new resident after this. There was no doubt about it.
He was using her job to get Elizabeth’s mouth on his body. Yeah, he was the shittiest best friend ever.
Christ!
Elizabeth was scared. “Christopher. Please don’t abandon me when this is done. I can’t ask you to forgive me, but I’ll try to make it up to you.”
He heard the panic in her voice.
Never.
He leaned over and gave her a kiss. As her hands slid up his chest, to his neck, and then his hair, his body went from freaked out to heated up.
He couldn’t believe they were going to do this.
Chris didn’t know if he should cheer or laugh. His best friend, the woman he was crazy about, was about to blow him in the front seat of his ride.
Holy shit.
No man in his right mind would say no to this. While she was thinking this was bad, he was having a damn hard time finding anything horrible about the entire situation.
Yep.
Hell.
As she kissed him, Elizabeth tried to stop thinking about what she was about to do. This was awkward at best. She only hoped Chris wouldn’t hate her in the morning.
She only hoped she wouldn�
��t hate herself. This was her best friend, and other than upsetting him, she wasn’t really upset about what she was willing to do.
Yes, she was willing to cross a huge line.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into the kiss. “Please don’t hate me.”
He touched her face. “I won’t hate you. I’ll never hate you. I love you, Lyzee. You’re my best friend in the whole world. We’ll get through this, and then we’ll talk about it. Isn’t that what we do? We can always be honest and discuss anything that happens.”
When her hand slid down his chest, to his belt buckle, she had it open and undone in seconds.
Chris moaned when she stroked him through his dress pants.
Jesus.
This was pretty hot.
“More,” he muttered, staring into her eyes. She wasn’t looking away, and neither was he. If this was going down, he wanted her to enjoy it.
Chris pulled her mouth to his, and he shared a kiss. It was like the one she’d given him in the morgue. It said everything on his mind. He just hoped she’d relax into it as she realized he wasn’t upset.
Oh, he was a million other things, but angry…yeah, not a snowball’s chance in Hell.
Elizabeth let her fingers run up and down the bulge in his boxers. He was wearing the Newton ones, and it made her heart skip.
He did that for her.
She knew it.
Chris was a decent guy. She owed him for this.
As the kiss intensified, and Chris got rock-hard, a hand appeared in the window, offering her a condom.
“Safety first, honey,” said Gina.
She broke the kiss.
‘Are you sure?’ she mouthed.
He’d never been more sure in all of his life. His best friend mattered more than anyone ever had. If he was going to break his sexual fast, Chris didn’t mind if it was her.
He minded if it wasn’t with Elizabeth.
In his head, all he was thinking was best friend with benefits. He wanted those benefits.
It was haunting him.
“Yes,” he moaned, as she rubbed him harder. His head dropped back, and he stared at the ceiling. If he watched her, he was done.
Elizabeth took the condom. The hooker took her place against the meter, watching the show.
Elizabeth handed it to him. “I wish I could make this up to you,” she whispered, as he tore open the condom.
“Just one question,” he asked, keeping his voice low.
“What?” she whispered.
Stalked by the Past: An FBI Flashback Novel. (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 17) Page 16
