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| Show-Stopper | Started by: Sarah_Winters on Apr 24, '19 03:44 |
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"Who the fuck orders a cream soda in a goddamned titty bar?!" Sarah gave a start as Lou's voice roared through the kitchen. She hugged the tray over her scantily clad front and followed him to the bar. They were short staffed again. Five of the girls had disappeared the night before, and like always, five more would arrive within a day or two. Lou finished making the drink and put the glass onto her tray. "Cheap bastard better tip good. Try using those tits for something useful, huh?" Sarah's skin blushed as she lifted the tray carefully. She hated this place, and Lou, but she could only comfort herself in the fact that she hadn't been sold. Yet. Clad in thigh-high nylons, black bloomers, and a tightly laced red corset, she carried the drink over to the small table in the corner where the quiet customer sat alone. She sat the drink in front of him and tried hard to look alluring as she tossed her wavy, deep red hair over her shoulder. "Can I get you anything else?" |
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Over the years, Mike Riddle had learned that hating people was not only wasteful, but counterproductive. Strong emotions muddled your perceptions of people. In the world in which he lived, that could be a costly mistake. Even so, it took less than a minute for Riddle to decide he hated Lou. In fact, the only question remaining in his mind was, when the time came, would it the slender fighting knife he carried strapped to his left forearm, the garrote wire he kept in a pocket, or the suppressed Colt 1911 he wore under his arm that get the honor of sending this little shit down the cosmic toilet. No. It would be the garrote. There’d be less mess. Besides, with the wire, he’d get to really savor the moment. That out of the way, the old thing to do was find the old man’s daughter and... “Can I get you anything else?” Mike looked up to see a fiery-haired vision lay his cream soda on the table. She gave him a bright smile that was almost genuine and a view of cleavage that could rouse a dying man. It could only be Sarah Winters, the girl he was looking for. Sometimes, fate smiled. “What’s a fine Irish lass like you doing in a dump like this?” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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He wasn't the first customer to ask, and probably wouldn't be the last. Sarah had watched the other girls long enough to know what would usually work for getting good tips, but she despised flaunting herself any more than the ridiculously revealing clothes already did. Perhaps that was why she hadn't been sold off yet. Her modesty was her saving grace. Sure, she caught hell for the lower tips, but the bruises were fairly easy to cover with makeup. "Well, a girl's gotta eat. Not much else to do for a girl with nothing but boobs and a smile." It was a canned answer, but she delivered it convincingly enough. It was rare that Sarah looked into her customers eyes. Usually, she would focus on something else, like the nose; close enough to look like she was looking them in the eye, but not having to actually do so. Most of the men were too drunk to notice anyway. Something was different about this guy, though. He didn't seem to be there to get wasted and fondle broads. "What about you, handsome? Don't get many upstanding looking gents here." |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Riddle barked a laugh. He hadn’t been a handsome man even before the long sleepless night and the weight of paranoia had put years on his face. “And you still haven’t…” he quipped. “I’m here as a favor to a friend. He wasn’t a good man, by most standards, but we had history. I owe him and I always pay my debts…” Riddle reached out and took a hold of Sarah’s chin, gently pulling her gaze to his “My friend’s name was Danny…” he whispered. “Ms Winters, let me frank. I’m going to get up, walk into the kitchen and strangle Lou with death with a steel wire. Then, I’m going to exit out the back, get in the black Lincoln parked in the back, and drive away,” Riddle flipped her car keys “I’d love it if you came with me….” Without another word, Mike got up and walked into the kitchen… |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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This time, when he turned her chin to him, she instantly met his eyes. "My friend's name was Danny." The words that followed all seemed to jumble up in her brain, as if her mind itself was stuttering. He knew her father? He knew her name? Sarah blinked a few times when the man stood up and headed towards the bar. Wait, did he say he was going to kill Lou? She whirled around, looking at the two or three people in the bar who appeared to have heard nothing at all of what was about to happen. Her eyes moved back to the kitchen door, which was swinging having been recently pushed through. Leaving the tray on the table, Sarah moved quickly to the door and peeked through the round window. There was no sound to be heard, but she saw Lou's feet behind the ice box stumble backwards then disappear. Breathlessly, Sarah watched a few moments more, until she saw his brown Italian loafers flop to the floor. Her eyes widened. He'd actually done it. Sarah stepped back and hesitated for a second. Could she really be free? The man had been very clear, and was probably heading out the back door from the kitchen. With that in mind, Sarah bolted through the kitchen door. Sure enough, Lou was motionless on the floor, a stunned look on his fat face as she darted past him and through the open door. A black, sleek looking car sat in the alley, passenger door ajar. Sarah jumped in and pulled the door closed behind her, then turned to look at her liberator with her clear green eyes shining. "You...you really did it. I'm...free." |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Mike wheeled the car out of the parking lot and down the street before looking over at Sarah. “Sarah… May I call you ‘Sarah’?.... There’s a lot going on that you might not know about and need to,” They were less than a block away when a pair of cleaning van streaked past them. Two cleaning vans, from different services, in that much of a hurry to get to a titty bar. Mike sighed. He’d cut it close “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your father is dead. He was murdered. This has a created a power vacuum. Some of the people who want to fill that vacuum think the best tool to help them with their ambitions is you,” “I made a promise to your father before he was killed. That’s what started me on this search, but the more I dig, the more the pieces I have don’t fit together,” Mike guided the car off the main drag and down a series of quiet backroads “I don’t think Danny’s death was a simple gangland hit. To say the murder weapon was unconventional is an understatement, not the kind of thing your garden variety mafiosi would use,” Mike gave Sarah a quick double take, as if just realizing what she was wearing “While I completely approve of your outfit, you might want to change and pick some stuff up. I think we should take you someplace… safe, but if you need to pick anything up, we need to do that now,” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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As the two vans raced by, Sarah let out a heavy sigh of relief and sat back in the seat of the car. "I knew my father was gone - people talked about it in the bar for weeks after it happened; but I didn't know the rest. I wondered if...Lou had done it for ransom or something like that." It still stung to think of her father gone forever, but not as much as it used to. Being smacked around on a daily basis and routinely squeezed like a tomato by strange me had a strange way of numbing the mind to certain things. Looking over her rather exposed body, she cleared her throat sheepishly. "If you have a jacket...maybe I could cover up with that. I don't have any money. We never got to keep our tips." She bit her lower lip, unsure of so much; but remembered her manners. "Thank you. For getting me out of there. And yes, of course you can call me Sarah; but, what do I call you?" |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Mike couldn’t help but smirk. It said something for how shitty Sarah’s situation had been that some guy showed up, strangled her boss, and told her to get in his car and come with him and she complied, all without even knowing his name. It was alway refreshing to meet someone who life was more in shambles than his own. Schadenfreude was a beautiful thing. “Mike. Mike Riddle,” With practiced ease, he reached into his trenchcoat his left hand and extracted a business card to hand her. It was a simple white rectangle that just read ‘Michael Riddle. Private Investigator’ and a phone number. “Don’t worry about money. We’ll pick you up some clothes. Enough to get you by for the time being,” Mike said nothing else for several minutes “You never answered my question back at the bar. How did you end up in that shithole? I get that people hit dead ends in life, but come on. Even if you wanted to strip, there are better places. It’s not like a woman who looks like you doesn’t have better options,” “Hell, I’m surprised you felt the need to get a job at all. It’s not like you come from a poor family…” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Sarah was looking at the card when he asked how she ended up with Lou. What kind of stupid question was that? He knew her father. How did he not know that... Her jaw fell open slightly, and she slowly shifted her gaze to Mike. "He didn't know? That I was...." She could feel her heart shatter. "Oh God, he thought I ran away. No - we had an argument the night before. He wouldn't let me go to the club with this guy I liked. We yelled at each other for hours, and I told him I never wanted to see him again and went to my room. Later that night, I sneaked out for a cigarette. That's when these goons grabbed me and threw me into a truck. I thought it was a ransom thing and that Daddy would find me." Sarah's face fell. "They auctioned me off like a car. Lou bought me and six other girls. I couldn't escape. They took me so far from New York that no one recognized me. And...he thought I ran away. He...he died thinking I'd...leave him like that." |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Riddle felt like he’d been punched in the gut “Jesus Christ....” he whispered. “Yeah, he thought you ran off. Figured it was because you were ashamed of the line of work he was in,” Mike took a deep, steadying breath. “Danny Winters was the hardest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever known, but that night, he wept when he asked me to find you,” Mike adjusted the rearview mirror so he could meet Sarah’s gaze through it “Your father loved you, Sarah. You can doubt many things about him, but you can’t doubt that. You were his princess,” Mike shifted the mirror back and blinked away the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes. Sometimes, the sheer injustice of the world was hard to take. It didn’t matter how much you’d seen or how used to it you think you were, sometimes it still gets to you “I used to work for part of the government, one of the parts you don’t read about in newspapers. Your father helped us out and we helped him out…” Mike hesitated. “Look, I’m not going to try to sugarcoat what kind of man your father was, but he did a lot of good for this country. I know that sounds like I’m putting you on, but it’s true. Does that outweigh the bad things he did? I dunno. I’m not God,” “I think that the reason he was killed is because the work he did with us. The papers say he was shot. That’s true, but it isn’t. He was shot, but not with a regular gun. It was some kind of air gun that fired a hollow pellet full of ricin,” “That’s the kind of weapon we used to use to take out real hard cases. I think your father’s death was someone sending a message,” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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"Ashamed? No. I was never ashamed of what he did. I knew he was a gangster. He was a smart, business - minded hard ass Irishman. What else would he be? He took care of us, and was a Saint when Ma got sick. No matter how busy he was, he was always there when I needed him. I was...just a stupid, foolish selfish girl." She looked away, out the window, as she tried to keep back a flood of tears. So far from home, free and not even able to see him again. Shaking her head, she forced herself to change the subject. "I don't know what to do now. You said something about a safe house, but what then?" At a traffic light, two men in a garbage truck cat called loudly. Sarah turned bright red and sunk down in the seat. |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Mike gave the two garbagemen a long, hard look. The garbage truck took off a second before the light turned green. “Your father never lost hope that you were alive. Not ever, not for a single second. Other people though? Not so much….,” Mike hesitated, groping for words “The thing is…. Well… You’ve been declared legally dead. The inheritance your father left is still being sorted out, but with you gone, it has passed into other hands. These aren’t the people who are going to be upset that you’re alive, they’re the kind of people who might try to do something about it,” “So, we get you to safety and begin the process of proving that you’re really Sarah Winters. If someone tries to play dirty to keep that from happening, I deal with them. Simple as that,” Mike pulled up outside a small apartment building “The place is upstairs. It’s not Buckingham Palace, but it’s clean and warm and nobody knows about it but me,” Mike led Sarah inside and up a set of stairs to a plain door. Sarah walked toward it, but Mike stopped her. Instincts kicked in. It took him a second to realize the door was ever so slightly ajar “Get back to the car! Now!” Mike yelled, “Don’t touch the door!” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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The way he yelled to her sent a jolt through her, and she immediately jumped back and ran for the stairs they'd just ascended. She could see the car below, but something made her stop. Whatever, or whomever was inside could clearly be dangerous. Mike Riddle seemed like the kind of guy that could handle himself; but Sarah didn't want to see him hurt He'd just saved her from hell- was she really just supposed to run away? Instead, she slipped behind one of the support columns and poked her head around it just enough to have a view of the apartment door. She watched, biting her lower lip nervously. |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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As soon as Sarah was away, Mike turned his attention to the door. He knew what was on the other side. Every instinct told him to just leave, go with Sarah to the car. There was just one thing he had to do first. With one swift kick, Mike kicked the door open. Sure enough, a small metallic click came from the doorframe. He had maybe a second before the triggering mechanism set off the incendiaries, but it was enough. Mike lunged sideways just a blast of fire rushed from the apartment and scorched the wall on the other side of the hallway. Mike pulled himself up and stumbled toward the stairs. The only sound of was the sound of the explosion and the fire. The fire alarm was silent and no water emerged from the sprinklers. Whoever did this was a professional. “That bought us some time, but we have to go!” |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Sarah's eyes were so wide that one could see the reflection of the flames as she stood there, mouth open with shock. When Mike stumbled toward her, she instinctively grabbed his arm to help him steady himself and they started a mad dash down the stairs. Back in the car once again, Sarah glance at the smoke rising from the burning apartment. With a shaky voice she looked back at Mike. "Was that...for me?" |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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At first, Mike said nothing. His heart was racing a mile a minute and was going even faster. It took him several minutes of silence to tame both “Sometimes, it’s a real pain being right all the time,” Mike flexed and unflexed his hands on the steering wheel in frustration “That set up at the apartment, the time delay incendiaries at the door, was classic spook work. We’re just lucky whoever it was partially botched the job,” “Think!” he scolded himself, “The trigger at the door was sloppy. Not company, but company trained. That means…. Shit,” Mike turned his attention back to Sarah “Yeah, it was for you. People want you dead. I knew that. I just didn’t realize how bad. It’s more than just some money your dad left you. It’s about his legacy, everything he stood for. It’s about how gets to decide what that legacy is….” Mike paused, trying to collect the thoughts and rantings that were swirling around his head like fireflies in a tornado “I told you that your father worked with parts of the government. He and I got along because I understood him. I knew where his limits were and didn’t push. Some of the other guys didn’t feel that way,” “A few of my… colleagues…. wanted Danny to help them run heroine. Danny didn’t touch drugs, wouldn’t have pushers or users in his gang. He didn’t like it in his neighborhood. So, he told them no. They tried to lean on him,” Mike laughed, remembering that little encounter with fondness “You do NOT try to lean on Danny Winters, not if you like your teeth. Especially if you’re some soft-handed Princeton boy who thinks having a badge makes him a tough guy,” Mike’s laughter faded and his face twisted into a mask of rage “And that’s why you killed him, isn’t it, you smarmy little fuck?!” he snarled, “That why Danny Winters got killed. Not because of all the shitty things he did, but because of the one he wouldn’t. You killed him because he dared to actually have principles... “ |
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| Reply by: Mike_Riddle at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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Mike was an excellent story teller. Even with the subject being her father and the details surrounding his death, Sarah found herself wrapt with attention. "Wait, you know who killed him? All the newspapers said the killer was never found." The sun was starting to go down, and the air was growing cooler. Sarah's stomach growled. |
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| Reply by: Sarah_Winters at Apr 24, '19 03:44 | |
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