She closed the door to the bathroom and locked it, to avoid another argument. The hot water felt good as she took her time, wanting to relax before the command performance. When she put on her robe, she remembered that not so long ago an existence like this, even with Bob in it, was well beyond her reach.
Small bit parts had paid off eventually and landed her the role costarring with Jenny in a movie about two female detectives who uncover a ring of cops who hire themselves out as killers. The sequel was in the works, but in this business nothing was certain, and the public soon forgot you if you didn’t work steadily.
The only weight dragging Dallas down was Bob, but the opportunist wasn’t going anywhere, considering the information he constantly held over her. Her career gave her the kind of attention she needed to be successful, but it also kept her under his thumb, and she had no one to turn to. It didn’t matter, though; she wasn’t about to walk away and lose the best way she had to take care of her responsibilities. To keep her secrets buried, Dallas would suffer whatever Bob wanted to dish out.
Katie Lynn and Sue Lee Moores from Sparta, Tennessee were long dead, and Dallas had no desire to dredge them up. She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d had to do for herself and her sister Sue Lee to survive. But having her brief porn career and the rest of what Bob had on her come out now would make her radioactive to Gemini Studios. And if it all surfaced, she faced another kind of spotlight that could have vastly different consequences.
Walking away from Bob was just wishful thinking. As much as she hated him, she wasn’t willing to give up the lucrative career that kept Sue Lee, now Kristen Montgomery, a sophomore at the private school up North that Dallas had enrolled her in, safe. Their father’s perversions would never touch Kristen’s life the way they had tormented Dallas’s.
After their mother had died, Dallas had done her best to shelter Kristen from the sick appetites of Johnny Moores and his equally sick circle of friends. One night after he’d finished with her and headed down the hill drinking with his friends, Dallas had packed a small bag, the coffee can of cash Johnny kept on the refrigerator, and taken off with a then fourteen-year-old Sue Lee. It’s what had happened when they ran into their father’s friend Timothy Pritchard that created the black cloud that would follow her forever.
They hitchhiked to California, and when the money for food had long run out, Katie Lynn Moores started her film career as Sweet China. The whole process had disgusted her, but it was no worse than what her father had done to her.
On the set of her first film, a fire had started in her to try for something better than what her father and his friends had used her for. No matter what it took, Dallas didn’t want to spend the rest of her life on her back letting others take what they wanted whether she wanted to give it to them or not. Dallas and Kristen Montgomery were born that day, and they started running from a past that Bob could reveal with one phone call. He was a fellow Tennessean and had started his porn-film career as a cameraman who often bragged he could do wonders for your career if you would spend some time alone with him “rehearsing” for the next shoot.
Dallas put the morose memories back in their cage for the night and set her mind to what came next. After drying her hair and putting on a little makeup, she slipped into a different dress from the one lying on the bed. “God, I wish they’d make these things so that every so often you could actually put on underwear.” Dallas checked the fit in the closet-door mirror, finding it satisfactory. She slipped on a pair of black pumps, and with one last glance in the mirror she was ready to face the evening.
*
“You’re early,” Shelby Philips said, making her remark sound like an accusation.
“From where I’m standing I’d have to say I’m late,” Muriel said.
“How do you figure?”
“Two minutes earlier and I would’ve caught you in the shower. The robe and wet hair mean I’m late.” She took a step back and nodded in the direction of the car. “I can come back if you want.”
“That doesn’t sound like the cocky Muriel Casey I know. Running away doesn’t suit you.”
“True, but I’ve never dated a girl who carries handcuffs as part of her job description,” Muriel said, taking another step back. The space gave her the opportunity to really admire Shelby.
“Just my luck.” The door creaked as Shelby leaned against it. “I finally decide to take a walk on the dark side and date the bad girl, and she turns out to be a Girl Scout.”
Muriel surged forward and grabbed Shelby by the waist, lifted her off her feet, and slammed the door closed with her hip. She made Shelby stop laughing by kissing her with so much passion that she moaned and pulled Muriel’s hair. “Girl Scout, huh?”
“Let’s say you’re making a good comeback.”
“Are you encouraging me to be bad?” She laughed when Shelby bit down on her neck. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Their next kiss was slower, and Muriel walked to the sofa and sat down with Shelby still in her arms. “This is going to look bad on your performance review at work.”
“My fallback is that you aren’t a criminal. You aren’t, are you?”
“Like you said before, I’m a regular Girl Scout.”
“Uh-huh.” Shelby caught Muriel’s hand inside her robe. “I don’t think there’s a badge for this.”
“Sure there is. You weren’t looking in the right manuals. A little more research and you’d have found all the interesting badge requirements.” Muriel moved her hand up and cupped Shelby’s right breast.
“I think you just found something interesting.”
“Nah, just checking for bugs,” Muriel teased as she moved her other hand under the robe so Shelby’s left breast wouldn’t feel neglected. “Is that a pair of listening devices or are you just happy to see me?” Muriel asked as she pinched Shelby’s nipples.
“If you don’t stop trying to be funny, I’m going to make you drive around the block until it’s time to go.” Shelby put her knees on the sofa and pulled herself up until she could strip the robe off. “Want to prove to me that you missed me, since I haven’t seen you in days.”
“I did miss you, but it feels like you’re never very far away,” Muriel said, referring to the constant surveillance.
“No business, not now.” Shelby pulled Muriel’s bow tie off and worked her way down the studs of her pleated shirt until she reached the cummerbund. “Right now it’s just you and me.” She threw the long piece of silk behind her and unfastened the pants. “Take your own advice.”
