Longarm on the Thunderbird Run

?First thing, Rosalie, I?d like you to turn around, please.?

She turned, posing naked for his inspection, as if that were the most normal and natural thing for anyone to pos­sibly do.

Longarm felt a kernel of ice develop deep in his belly. The teenage girl?s back was a latticework of fading welts and cuts. Someone had whipped her severely within the past few weeks. What had Whoremistress Jessie said? Ro­salie had undergone a ?training? period. These marks on her slender body must have resulted from part of that train­ing. And surely no one, not even the most desperate and hungry whore, would willingly allow any person to cause her such pain. Not for any amount of money.

?I, uh, I was told I can do anything in this room, Rosa­lie. Is that right??

?Yes, sir. I will do as you say. Anyt?ing.? She was still facing away from him, but he could hear the hopelessness in her voice. The tone was what he might have imagined should come from a grave. And he could see the slight trembling in her shoulders and across her marred back.

?Anything at all, right??

?I do what you want.?

?And if for some reason you don?t??

?I do what you want. Anyt?ing, sir.?

?You might not like what I want you to do, Rosalie. Yo might think it?s kinda strange.?

?Anyt?ing you want, I do it for you,? she said softly. There was a small catch of fear in her voice, but there was no hesitation whatsoever.

?Good,? Longarm said with a smile. ?The first thing I want you to do, Rosalie, is to put your dress back on.?

Unquestioning, the girl bent to retrieve her gown and dressed again. Still she faced away from him. He had not yet told her to turn again after once instructing her to face away. Obviously this girl, barely more than a child, had been trained to total obedience.

Perhaps, he thought, this would be easier for both of them if she stayed facing in that direction.

?Now sit on the edge of the bed, Rosalie, facing toward the wall over there.?

She did as she was told.

Longarm wiped a suddenly sweaty palm on his corduroy trousers and helped himself to an uncomfortable seat on the strangely shaped stool.

?Now the thing that really pleases me, Rosalie, and what I want you to do for me, is to tell me about yourself. Everything about yourself. Particularly how you came to be here at Jessie?s Place and what you had to learn before you started working here. And it all has to be the truth, Rosalie, or it won?t please me. Do you understand what I want from you??

She shrugged.

Hell, he realized, she understood nothing about what any of Jessie?s customers would want from her.

But if that was what the customer wanted, that was what the customer would get.

She had been taught to give obedience that was instant and complete. However abnormal, Longarm?s request was just another thing she had to do. So without hesitation, little Rosalie began to do as she was taught and please her customer.

Chapter Thirteen

Longarm was feeling pretty chipper when he came down the stairs forty-five minutes later. He was relaxed and ready for tomorrow?s business. Better yet, a gray-haired, distinguished-looking man with a badge pinned to his vest was lounging on the settee with Jessie.

?Mr. Long,? Jessie said graciously, extending a mani­cured hand to him. ?Do you already know our sheriff?? There was no mention of Rosalie, no questions about whether the girl needed any sort of help upstairs. The whore treated the whole business like nothing might have happened at all. She was a cool bitch, Longarm thought, and no longer attractive to him in the slightest.

?No, I don?t,? he said.

?Mr. Long, Sheriff Paul Markham. Sheriff, Mr. Long.? Smiling, she rose to her feet in a fluid motion. ?Now, if you gentlemen would excuse me

? She left them, join­ing another customer on the far side of the room.

?Jessie said there was someone who wanted to see me,? Markham said. Longarm could smell liquor heavy on the man?s breath, though he did not give any appearance of being under the influence.

?That?s right, Sheriff, but what I have to discuss with you has to be confidential.?

?My dear sir, anything and everything that happens in­side these walls is completely confidential. That is only one of the many attractions of the place.? He winked, and for a moment Longarm thought he was about to get a nudge in the ribs. Instead, the sheriff motioned for one of the girls to come. ?A drink while we talk, Mr. Long??

Longarm gestured impatiently for the girl to go away. He leaned close to the sheriff and in a voice too low to carry said, ?We are going to go down to your office to do our talking, Markham. And we are going to do it now, sir.? There was no threat in his voice, not exactly, but there was considerable steel there.

?Yes, uh, perhaps we could do that, Mr. Long,? the sheriff said. He stood and airily tossed toward Jessie, ?The gentleman and I have business, dear. I shall be back shortly. You?ll make the arrangements??

Jessie smiled brightly, like she had never heard anything nicer in her entire, sheltered life. ?Of course, Paul. Every­thing will be quite ready for you.?

Longarm said nothing, but Paul Markham would have no free time this night for whatever weird pleasures were customarily ?arranged? for him in this house of ugliness.