Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 02 - Bogey's Ace in the Hole by Marja McGraw Page A

mind, because I’d seen him use this act before, and it always seemed to get results.
    “What can I do for ya, sweetcakes?”  She moved forward and leaned on the counter, smiling.  She was missing a few very prominent teeth, and those she had left were spotted with dark red lipstick.  Her face was drawn and it looked like she was at the tail end of recovering from a black eye.
    I got a very strong whiff of cigarette smoke and backed up a step.  I don’t generally have a problem with people who smoke, but this woman reeked.  I noticed her fingers were stained a nicotine yellow, much like the part of her teeth that showed through the lipstick.
    Chris rolled his upper lip under and pulled on his earlobe.  “We’re lookin’ for a Joe.  You got a sap named Vic stayin’ in this flophouse?”  He rolled back on his heels and stuck his hands in his pockets.
    “Whaddaya want him for?” Ms. Nicotine asked , suddenly sounding suspicious.
    “Nothin’ you’d care about.  We got some personal business to take up with him.  You got anyone by that name or not?”
    “Nah.  I gotta a Dick, and I had a Nick, but no Vic.  Say, why don’tcha lose Red and come on in back with me?”  She was pointing at me when she suggested he lose Red, but she never actually looked at me.
    Chris made a clicking sound out of the side of his mouth.  “No can do.  This here is my Gal Friday.  She goes where I go.”
    The woman thought about it for a moment.  “Nah, I ain’t into threesomes.  I like a one-woman man.”
    “That’s exactly what I am,” Chris said, taking my arm and leading me out of the office.
    We walked toward the car and never looked back , although I was sorely tempted.
    “I feel like I need a shower,” I said.   “Did you notice how dirty that place was?  I’ll bet they haven’t vacuumed or dusted in years.”
    Chris started to laugh, but stopped abruptly.  “Hey, who’s that standing by the car?  Is that the hooker we saw standing on the corner?”
    I took a closer look and began walking faster.  “It sure is.  And those screwball Church Ladies are out of the car and talking to her.  I know we told them to stay in the car, no matter what.”
    I noticed Chris’s step picking up, too.
    We reached the car and Chris stopped next to Jasmine in a protective stance.  “What’s going on here?”
    The tall blonde hooker wore an extremely short skirt with a skin tight blouse.  She had on enough make-up to choke a horse, but when I looked closer I could see that she was very young.  I wondered if she might be one of the runaway teens you hear about from time to time.  She hadn’t developed a legitimate hard look yet, although the make-up helped.
    “Oh, lighten up ,” she said.  “These ladies remind me of my grandma.  We were just having a little chat.”
    Lila smiled angelically.  “We were just telling her about Jesus and how much He loves her.”
    “And how she needs to get herself out of this environment,” May said.
    “I think she was listening until you came back,” Jasmine said, her words almost sounding like an accusation.
    “Well, it’s time for us to leave,” Chris said, trying to herd the women back into the car.
    Jasmine pulled away from him and handed the girl a piece of paper.  “Here, young lady.  This is my home phone number.  If you want to talk more, you can call me any time.  If I’m not home, leave me a message and I’ll call you back.  I wrote the number of the church on there, too.  And you know that your grandma would probably agree with us.”
    “I’m sure she would.”  Before I could grab the paper, the hooker stuck it in her bra.  “You ladies take care,” she said, walking away.  “I enjoyed talking to you.”
    Lila was beaming.  Jasmine and May were looking pretty happy, too.
    “Such a nice young woman,” Jasmine said.
    “Do you understand what she does for a living?” Chris asked.
    “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” May said.