The Tease (The Darling Killer Trilogy)
Page 19
“Me?”
“Well, you’re so good,” Lynne said.
“And everyone goes to you for guidance, not Tish,” Monica said.
“And you’re suspended from your job,” Lynne chimed in.
Cue awkward silence.
“That is true,” I said. “Let’s not pretend about that.”
“You could totally run the studio,” Trixie said. “My boyfriend is a lawyer, he could help you get things set up.”
I rubbed my temples, overwhelmed with a chorus of offers to help. “Guys, guys,” I said, and they quieted down. “Do you get that it won’t be the way it was? You’re asking me to just present the Darling Killer with a fresh, highly publicized group of potential victims.”
“But they caught him,” Pip insisted.
Oh. They needed to believe he’d been caught. The thought that he might still be out there was too awful and horrifying for them to process. I saw a tiny shadow of doubt on Frenchie’s face, but everyone else had the same determined expression.
Maybe I could keep them safe.
But if I agreed to run a burlesque studio and do burlesque shows, I could kiss any dreams of a clinical license goodbye. There was no way the ethics committee would agree that I had exemplary moral character if I was shaking my besparkled ass in pasties and a G-string every week.
What if they do it without me and they aren’t cautious?
What if the Darling Killer finds me anyway?
“We have to be really careful,” I said.
The room erupted into cheers. Burlesque dancers love to cheer.
“Seriously,” I said. “We need to find somewhere else to practice. And we shouldn’t do shows until the trial happens. That could take months. Or years.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Sasha said. “You always do.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Pip said, holding up her plastic cup of wine.
“And if he kills again,” I said, “if he kills again while Grant is in a coma, then we shut it down.”
“Agreed,” Frenchie said quietly.
As touching as their enthusiasm was, I felt a little sick.
It was still raining when we finished. We hugged in the lobby, and I did one last circuit of the studio, making sure the lights were off. My heels clicked on the parquet floors. I’d taken my first burlesque class there. I remembered watching Tish strut across the front of the room, calling out the cues, looking so vivacious and confident.
I locked up and walked out to my car.
“Dammit,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time when I took in the drivers’ side tire.
Unbelievable. I lost my friend, my job, my boyfriend, and now I have a damn flat tire.
“Do you need help?” Lynne called. I looked up to see her in the passenger seat of a car, her window rolled down.
“I have a flat,” I said.
The driver said something I couldn’t hear. He got out and came over to my side, looking at the tire.
“Hi,” I said. “Dan, right?”
He flashed a quick smile. “Yes. Oh, Velvet, looks like you do have a flat. I can change it for you if you’ve got a spare.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I said.
He held out his hand. “Give me your keys, and I’ll take care of it. You can wait in our car and chat with Lynne. No need to get soaked.”
I hesitated. “I could call Triple A.”
“And wait for hours all by yourself? Nonsense. It’s no problem.”
Perhaps tragedy does bring out the best in people. Kevin, the girls, Tish’s parents, even Lynne’s husband. Everyone was being so generous. I felt like my heart could burst.
“Thank you,” I said, and handed him my keys. “You’re too kind.”
“It’s my pleasure to serve,” he said. “I love women.”
Thank you for reading The Tease, Book One of the Darling Killer Trilogy. Watch for Book Two, The Grind, in early 2014.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply grateful to the people who helped me make this dream a reality.
Police Officer Amy Christensen gave me a generous chunk of her time to go over the police procedures. I took poetic license with a few details for the story’s sake, but I like to know which rules I’m breaking.
Drake Spaeth, Ph.D, and Julia Stelzner, LSW, were my therapist expert readers. They responded with insight and great humor.
Jill Ziegler, Jim Glass, Roger Trexler, and Valya Lupescu filled out the ranks of beta readers with tact, candor, and keen insight.
Eric Cherry has been my story engineer, copyeditor, gadfly, and staunch ally for years. I can’t imagine finishing a story without him.
Charles de Lint and J.A. Konrath encouraged me when I needed it more than any of us knew. Thank you, gentlemen, for your advice, inspiration, and kindness.
Juli McCarthy and Robert Birenbaum had a conversation about cats and credenzas on Facebook that I outright stole for Anna and Kevin.
Madame Onça inspired several of Anna’s sentiments about burlesque. She quotes one directly, and others are paraphrased from workshops and a delightful conversation (what burlesque without irony is, and a certain radical notion).
Red Hot Annie was my burlesque expert reader. Not only did she give me insightful feedback on the story, she welcomed me into her creative and wonderful community at Vaudezilla. Serendipity has rarely been kinder to me.
Mark Lancaster inspired the Boylesque Incident. He is unafraid to go toe-to-toe with me and say “Prove it.” I am braver as an artist and a person for knowing him.
Sonya and Eliza, my dance mentors and beloved friends, have cultivated and encouraged my projects and passions for almost a decade.
Michelle L’Amour was my first burlesque teacher, and she taught me a great deal.
Amy Sigil, Princess Farhana, and Zoe Jakes have inspired me in workshops, conversations, and life. They continually push the boundaries of the bellydance art form. Princess Farhana did a lot to break down the barriers between the bellydance and burlesque worlds, for which we all owe her a great debt.
Ariellah shares my love of the dark and macabre, and her dance has moved me to tears more than once. Not only has she has helped me push the boundaries of all my art forms, she has become a dear friend.
Corey Kelly helped me overcome a 2-year stretch of writers’ block through yoga, and taught me more than either of us anticipated.
Gabriel Halpern, Joy Antipow, Kathy Simonik, and Sadie Nardini have also mentored me in yoga, and opened more doors than I thought possible. Namaste indeed.
Drake Mefestta, whose cover design I love. I hope this is the first of many.
Jessica Rifis of Passions Photography and Brywn Arlwyn, who shot and modeled for the cover respectively. Their talent and beauty defies description.
Special thanks to my supportive family: Stephen Pill, Chris and Cassie Alexander, Deb and Arthur Woodward, Evan Woodward, Mel Banks, Karin Houston, Anna and Charlie Deese, Dace Perkins, and Tim and Shelly Perkins.
More special thanks to Steve Deasy: sound engineer, ninja, pirate, lemur, trickster, cat arranger, goofball, and anchor, in his quiet and inimitable way.
Thank you to my friends, who inspire me to laugh and think.
Thank you to everyone who pitched in with donations or signal boosts for the Indiegogo campaign to make this book happen.
Thank you to you, for reading. I am delighted and humbled.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nikki M. Pill received her BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Lake Forest College. Her short story “Shadows on the Pews” appeared in Hell in the Heartland Volume I and received an honorable mention in Best Horror of the Year Volume I. She typically writes dark fantasy and horror. The Tease is the first non-supernatural piece she has written since 1994.
Her other great passion is bellydance, which she has pursued since 1998. She wakes up at an ungodly hour of the morning to practice her writing and dance disciplines, and is consequently useless after 10 pm. She loves to rea
d, cook, watch movies, do yoga, listen to music, and make things. She lives in Chicago with her intermittently grateful cats.
Copyright © 2012 by Nikki M. Pill.
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, locations and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Drake Mefestta
Cover and About the Author photos by Passions Photography
Cover modeling by Brywn Arlwyn