Hour Game

When Lulu pulled it out, there was nothing in it. Michelle looked away before the other woman could see her staring.

Lulu said, 'By the way, here's a piece of information you might find interesting: the high-and-mighty Remmy Battle threatened Junior.'

Both of them stared at her as she summarized the meeting between the two, including Remmy's offer to pay off Junior if he returned the stolen items.

'So she wanted something that was in the drawer, but didn't care about her wedding ring?' asked a confused King.

'Apparently, the lady has something to hide.'

'Where will Junior be today?'

'Working a job in Lynchburg; you won't be able to see him. But this evening he'll be at the house he's building for us.'

'Let me have the directions. And give me Junior's cell phone number.' As she did so, King asked one more question. 'Did Bobby Battle ever come here?'

Lulu seemed to be trying hard not to look surprised at the question. 'I think I saw him around here a few times.'

'Recently?'

'What do you consider recently?'

'In the last couple of years.'

'I couldn't say for sure.'

I'm sure you couldn't, thought King. 'Well, thanks again for all your help.'

'I'll show you where the rooms are,' offered Lulu.

She led them upstairs and pointed to the hallway fronted by the red curtain.

'Good luck,' she said in a tone that didn't sound like she actually meant it.

As King and Michelle started off, Lulu touched Michelle on the arm. 'Uh, can I ask you a question?' she said.

'We've asked you enough, so go ahead.'

'You ever consider pole dancing?'

'Excuse me!' said Michelle, clearly stunned.

'It's just that you've got the perfect all-American, girl-next-door, come-hither thing going on. That's pretty rare in this business. You're leaner than the other gals and a little light in the chest, but I don't think the guys will mind once they see what youdo have.'

Michelle's face reddened. 'You must be kidding!'

'The pay's better than you think, and you keep all the tips you get. And you can pull the night shift and still work your regular job during the day. State law doesn't allow total nudity in any strip club, so you can keep your G-string on. But the top has to come off, that's club policy. No boobs, no bucks.'

Michelle smiled tightly. 'Let me put it this way: the day you see me pole dancing with only a G-string on in front of a crowd of drunken morons is the day the sky falls and kills all of us.'

'I don't know,' said King, who'd listened intently to this exchange. 'I'd tip at least twenty bucks to see that.'

CHAPTER 40

KING AND MICHELLE WALKED down the hallway, slipped behind the heavy red curtain and started knocking on doors. Several rooms were unlocked and unoccupied. From the others issued either a string of profanities or sleepy groans. Whenever a door was unlocked and opened-always by a scantily clad young woman with an extremely weary look-Michelle asked the same question while King averted his eyes.

'Didn't really know her,' was the constant refrain. However, at the next-to-last room on the hall the voice said, 'Come on in.' Michelle did so. When she exited a couple of minutes later, she appeared truly shaken.

'You okay?' asked King.

'I was just propositioned by a six-foot-tall naked woman named Heidi.'

'I can wait out in the car if you want.'

'Shut up!'

'Must've been the come-hither look.'

At the last room the door was opened by a young woman wearing a long robe that didn't entirely hide her heavy curves and inflated bosom. Her dyed-blond hair was in a ponytail, and her feet were bare. She was sipping a cup of black coffee. She introduced herself only as Pam, and after they had told her what they wanted, she actually invited them in.

They sat at a small table around which were placed four chairs. The room looked comfy enough, although King caught himself staring at the rumpled bed in the corner and the array of lingerie piled there. He turned to find Michelle's severe gaze on him.

'So you knew Rhonda?' asked King.

'Yes, sir.'

King ran his eye over her. She was so young-looking that had he seen her half-naked rubbing against a pole, he would have probably thrown a blanket over her and called her father to come retrieve her. 'Have the police already talked to you?'

'Yes, sir, the FBI actually. That's what they said they were anyway.'

'Can you tell us what you told them?'

'Yes, sir.'

'You don't have to call me sir, Pam. I'm Sean, this is Michelle.'

Pam looked at her stubby toes with the cracked polish and crossed one pudgy foot over the other. 'Sorry, I guess I'm sorta nervous, Sean.'

Michelle patted her hand. 'There's nothing to be nervous about.'

'I mean with Rhonda getting killed and all. I guess it could've been any one of us, though Rhonda took chances I never would.'

'What sort of chances?' asked King.

'We worked the same clubs together. She'd go off with men she didn't even know if they were nice to her. I only been doing this a couple of years, and I know better than that. But she always came back.' Pam dabbed at some tears. 'Only this time she didn't.'

'Do you have any idea whom she went off with this time?' asked Michelle.

'No. Like I told them others, sometimes she tells me before she goes, other times not. This time she didn't.' She took a sip of her coffee and wiped her thick lips with the back of a shaky hand. King noted that her red nail polish was chipped.

'When was the last time you saw her?'

'Couple of weeks before they found her. Our contracts were up here, but I signed on for another month. I like it here. The pay's good, and the folks here treat us nice. Not that many places give you a room and meals and all.'

'And no customers back here to bother you, I take it,' said King.

'No, sir, none of that,' she said. 'They're real particular about that.'

'Did you ever see her with anyone, a man you didn't know? Did she mention anyone she was seeing?'

'No, nothing like that. Sorry.'

He handed her one of his cards. 'If you remember anything else, give us a call.'

Both lost in thought, King and Michelle walked outside to her truck.

King was eyeing the full parking lot. 'Hard to believe people find the time in the middle of the day to come here.'

'It's pretty sick if you ask me,' said Michelle. She was still frowning as she settled behind the wheel. 'Do you know you have to be twenty-one to watch strippers, but you only have to be eighteen to