Page 178 of Icy Cold Death

“Where do the stairs lead?” she asked.

The woman blew out a smoke ring.

“Yeah, I’m not talking.”

Both Bishop and Genesis pulled out their badges and laid them flat on the table so she could see them.

That did the trick.

When she saw them, the woman sighed.

“Shit. I figured you guys were wives looking to find the slut. I can see that’s not the case.”

Oh, that was the truth.

“She’s dead,” Tori said. “We found her and two other women. We are trying to figure out who killed her. Why else would we be in this place?”

The woman didn’t look like she cared.

“Well, that sucks for her. I mean, she did steal my client, so…”

This was normal.

Strippers got territorial.

Then, they got revenge.

“What can you tell us about him?” Tori asked, knowing that none of this had been gone over before by the other detective. It was clear Jon Wilkes didn’t do his due diligence on this. They’d been right.

He’d not cared.

It was a good thing he was off the case, and they were able to start over.

“Well, what I can tell you is he came back a lot. That’s where the stairs come into play. See that star on the banister?” she asked.

They nodded.

“We rent a room upstairs. When we get a good fish on the hook, we take him to that pond. If you try to arrest me, I’m going to be a bitch,” she warned.

Genesis warned her right back.

“Threaten me, and I’m dragging you out of here by your fake tits, and the carpet burn will make you weep,” she said. “Then, we can see who is a bigger bitch. Oh, and the pretty lady sitting next to you took your big, beefy bouncer to his knees. I dare you to try to touch her pretty face.”

She got the point.

Maybe it was Bishop waving at her and smiling.

“Anyway. We take the star, and we go to the room that we rent from the hotel. That’s the back way. We take them up, we fuck, we make extra money, and it’s all good.”

“And illegal.”

She laughed.

“So is a lot of shit, but we let that slide. The government wants to mandate the world’s oldest profession, but we have politicians who take money for just about any vote they can give.”

She had a point.

Who were they to argue?

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