Page 48 of Pure Killers

A pause."Your cop buddies here?"

"Can you see them behind me right now?"This last one is from Dirk, a laugh in his voice.

"Your partner…"

"Like I said, she's safely on the other side of the party, looking for Needler."

"You sure about that?"The man sounds older and serious."She's pretty keen on his case, given her husband…"

"Let’s not dig up history. She's there. I'm here. What do you have for me?"

I hold my breath, afraid to miss anything that’s said now. Have for him? Is Dirk doing drugs or something else illicit? God, I hope he hasn't become addicted to something. You can owe the wrong people the wrong things in this town with that.

"You go first,"the older voice instructs."Any raids coming? The club is doing good business…"

"You know I'll contact you in that case."

"Well, you had that deal withIlluminate, didn't you? Then they got cleaned out by you lot last week."

Illuminate? That was where he took me. That place shut down? I hadn’t heard about it, but then, places getting closed Downtown is nothing unusual, with the things that are so often found to be going on there.

"They broke the terms."

"Yeah?"A different voice, younger, keen."Didn't give you information they didn't have?"

There's another pause. Dirk speaks again,"The deal is you can be as hedonistic as you like in your club. Sex, prostitution, drugs, shows, whatever, and I'll tell you when to clean up… so long as you tell me what you hear on individuals of interest to me,and,"this last he speaks louder, cutting off that small voice when it goes to interrupt him."That no one is there under coercion. I talked to one of the strippers at Illuminate. She was being pushed into much more than dancing. So their deal was off. So far, your club is following the rules."

"Had words with our ladies, have you?"There's a leer in the question.

"Joel, go guard the front."The older man orders in a snap. After a sulky reprieve and receded footsteps from 'Joel', that voice speaks again."Very well. You're a man of rules."

Presuming he’s saying this to Dirk, a supposed man of the law, I could laugh at that, except I shouldn't make a noise.

"Who is here that might be of interest to Needler?"Dirk asks. So he really is working the case, just not in a very correct way.

"Ah, it’s his night, isn't it?"

"That’s right."

"Tell me, what will you do if you catch him? He's the hero of the city. You think they'll let you take him?"

"No, I don't. But that’s the case I'm on."

"No idea who Needler really is, still?"

"None,"Dirk says flatly.

"Or who he's looking at next?"

"He's running out of serial killers. And he went political last time, so no."

There's a bit of a shuffling of feet, booted steps coming closer. They're right over the top of me. I can look up and see the back of Dirk's head, the tie of his mask shiny over his hair. If he looks down and peers into the dark, he’ll see me in my bright dress. The older man is white-haired, his skin tanned and weathered. He leans on the railing, facing Dirk. "There is one who might be cocky enough to be here tonight. Name's Holt."

"Why would Needler be interested?"

"Last time it was a child abuser, this time… well, let’s say Holt has some racist tendencies. He has a supremacist channel, radio and broadcast. In the dregs, but he's got a bit of a following. Lately, he bragged about a lynching in a town over."

"He hanged someone?"

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