Page 13 of Tell Me Your Desires
“We’re here on business.” Jaime flashed her badge. “I’m Detective Baros. This is my partner, Detective Fraser. We need to speak with a Lady A.”
The blonde rolled her eyes. “Always Lady A. She’s busy as usual.”
“Don’t care. We need to talk to her.”
The woman sighed heavily. “I’ll get Frank.” She walked away, giving Jaime and Max a full view of her ample backside, with a thong riding up between her cheeks. Thathadto be uncomfortable.
“I could have lived a thousand years without seeing that.” Jaime shivered.
Max was still looking. “And you call yourself a lesbian.”
“Yeah, a lesbian. Not a pervert, Max.” She turned to him. “Listen, something has been bothering me about Jimmy.”
“The boyfriend?”
“Yeah. He didn’t seem very upset that his live-in girlfriend was dead.”
“Not entirely true,” Max reminded Jaime. “He was pretty upset about not having someone pay the rent. You don’t think he did it, do you?”
“Nah,” Jaime answered, resting her arm on her gun that sat on her hip. “Whoever did that to that poor girl had a lot of hate. Jimmy couldn’t even get off the couch. I think that’s what’s bothering me. Who lives with someone, calls them a boyfriend or girlfriend, whatever, but doesn’t give a shit? Is that why she was here? Was she looking for something more… exciting?”
“Unfortunately, you can’t arrest someone for being a shit boyfriend. But if it makes you feel better, we can see if his name is on the apartment’s lease. If not, we throw his lazy ass out on the street.”
“Yeah. That does make me feel better.” Jaime saw a tall, heavy man walking toward them. He gave her the willies. He was that sleazy type who wore polyester with his shirt unbuttoned to show off his hairy gorilla chest. If he gained any more weight, the straining buttons around his protruding belly would pop off. She instantly didn’t like him. And not just because he worked at a brothel. The way he looked at Jaime also didn’t sit right.Predator.
“What do you need, darlin’?” Frank had one of those “pornstaches” that was even more obnoxious as he smacked his gum. That was not what Jaime expected, given the style of this place. Honestly, she had expected some groomed younger guy who worked out more than he slept.
“It’s Detective Baros. This is Detective…”
“Yeah, I don’t care. I’m a busy man, darlin’. If…”
Jaime took a threatening step forward. “Ifyou darlin’ me one more time, I’m going to shove that pole up there on the stage so far up your ass it’s going to come out your mouth like a skewered hog.”
“Ahem.” Max stepped in between them. “Are you the manager here?”
“I own this place. And I don’t appreciate you barging into my business flashing your badges. What we do here is legal.”
“What happened out there,” Jaime pointed toward the parking lot, “isn’t. You had a gruesome murder on your property. What kind of scum opens for business after that?”
“We all have to make money, D…etective.”
“Did you know Maisie Freeman?” Max asked, trying to keep Jaime’s temper intact. “Was she a customer?”
Frank’s face was expressionless. “She was Lady A’s assistant. Sad what happened to her. But for the rest of us, life goes on.”
Jaime’s nostrils flared. “Where is Lady A?” The woman’s fucking assistant was dead, and she had the audacity to keep spreading her legs for money.Now, now, Baros. Less judgment.
“She’s busy.”
“Get her. Now.” Another threatening step forward for Jaime.
“Do you have a warrant?”
“We don’t need a warrant to talk to a person of interest, you….”
“We just need to ask Lady A some questions,” Max said quickly. “It could help us determine what Miss Freeman was doing before she was murdered.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
