Char Page 4

  “I’m here on business.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “Personal business.”

  “I see…”

  This wasn’t going anywhere. I was wasting my time. If I didn’t get a customer tonight, Blade wasn’t gonna be happy with me tomorrow.

  “All right, Char. It was nice meeting you. But if you’ll excuse me, I have some of my own business I need to take care of—”

  “You from Ivory?”

  He asked me the question so suddenly, I thought I’d misheard him. I blinked my eyes in disbelief and shook my head.

  “What was that?” I said.

  “You’re from Ivory, right?”

  “Born and raised. I wouldn’t say it’s a good or a bad thing but it is something. What’s it to you?”

  “I’m not from here.”

  “You just told me a few seconds ago. My memory isn’t that bad.”

  “I’m looking for someone.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  “You think you can help me out?”

  He looked down at me. It was hard to tell if this was a joke, considering how serious he’d been this whole time.

  “I can keep you company,” I said. “If that’s something you’re looking for—”

  “Maybe we can talk. Somewhere private. What do you think?”

  “Well, it costs a hundred bucks—”

  “I’ll give you a thousand for the night.”

  “A thousand? D-dollars?”

  “Yes.”

  Most of the men in Ivory were cheapskates. A big score like this wasn’t something that came up very often.

  Then again, this stranger didn’t look like the most trustworthy man in the world. Maybe it was his thick beard. Maybe it was the whole biker facade and demeanor.

  But for some strange reason, when I looked into his eyes, I could’ve sworn he was being sincere. Brown eyes staring at me like he really needed me.

  “Okay,” I said. “A thousand dollars for the night.”

  The question was what he needed me for.

  “For a thousand dollars, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

  He gulped the rest of his beer then dropped the empty glass on the counter.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I just need someone to talk to. For now.”

  “Talk to. I can do that.”

  He looked around the bar, his eyes shifting back and forth like he was searching for someone, then started walking out.

  “I got a place. Let’s go for a ride.”

  I shrugged and sighed as I followed him out.

  “All right… Let’s go for a ride…”

  Chapter 5

  CHARLES

  Ivory was a small town. I figured a man like Walsh would stick out in a city with a few thousand people in it. Unfortunately for me, there were more degenerates in this town than I expected.

  Walsh could get lost in a sea of small-time dealers. There was no telling if he was even still in town. All I had was the word of some punk who was bleeding to death.

  The patches at the clubhouse didn’t help me out much. Heading out to Finn’s only made me realize that this place was gonna be tougher to figure out than I thought it would.

  If I was gonna figure this shit out, I’d have to start somewhere. I figured there was no better place than with her.

  Asia.

  The young broad stuck out in a place like Finn’s. It didn’t matter that she was dressed like a whore and selling her body to any guy willing to talk to her. From just a short conversation, I sensed an honesty about her that told me she wasn’t like everybody else in this town. That was what I needed if I was gonna find what I was looking for.

  She squeezed her arms tight around me as we headed down the street. My ride burned rubber toward my hotel. It was early in the night but I was still exhausted from my ride to town. Getting what information I could from Asia then getting some sleep was my only agenda.

  When we got into my hotel room, Asia made a beeline right toward the bathroom.

  “I’ll be just a second,” she said.

  She had a sing-songy quality to her voice. I almost thought she was in a good mood with the way she said it.

  I put the blinds down and peeked through them. Ivory was alive. Somewhere out there, the man I was looking for was lurking. It was only a matter of time until I found him and squeezed his throat until his eyes went lifeless.

  “Okay…”

  I turned around and saw Asia turn on a desk lamp.

  “I’m gonna be honest with you,” she said. “The whole thing you’ve got going on. It’s kinda giving me the creeps.”

  “What thing?”

  “The whole silent, moody, drinking your beer alone type of thing. The whole looking out the window and trying to see if you’re being followed kind of thing. You know, if some guy is looking for you and trying to kill you, I’m not sure I wanna be here.”

  “Nobody’s looking for me,” I responded. “Nobody even knows I’m here.”

  “Right… Are you gonna tell me what this is all about or what? You don’t look like a man who’s willing to throw a thousand bucks at a girl just to have her spend the night with you?’

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because… There are plenty of women who are looking to sleep with club members. A bunch of desperate broads trying to be ol’ ladies… You don’t have to look very far. So…”

  She took a seat on the couch at the side of the hotel room and rested her hands in her lap.

  “…Are you gonna tell me or not?”

  She stared at me, a slight frown on her lips. She had that same innocent look she had when I saw her in the bar. It was hard to tell if it was real. I hadn’t even known the broad for an hour. Shit, I didn’t even know her real name.

  But there was something about her. Some stupid intuition in my head or my gut telling me she was all right.

  Maybe it was because underneath the makeup she wore or the way she did her hair or the way she dressed, I still thought there was a good-looking girl there.

  “Okay,” I said with a nod.

  I dug into my pocket and pulled out the photo I’d been carrying with me. I handed it to her and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

  “Who’s this?” she said with a shrug.

  “His name is Jamie Walsh. Do you recognize him?”

  “He looks like every other douchebag I see in Finn’s every now and then. But I can’t say I’ve seen him before. Who’s he?”

  “He’s a small-time dealer. He came to Ivory. And I’m looking for him.”

  “All right… And this Jamie Walsh guy… You gonna tell me why you’re looking for him?”

  “He killed my cat.”

  Asia stared at the photo before shifting her gaze back toward me. She gave me a blank look, her eyes unblinking.

  “He killed… your cat?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Okay… Let me get this straight. You tracked down some drug dealer to Ivory because he killed your cat?”

  I nodded.

  “I don’t recognize him. Sorry. Can’t help you.”

  She handed me the photo and I stuffed it back into my pocket.

  “Maybe you know somebody,” I said.

  “I know a lot of people.”

  “Walsh came to Ivory because he’s doing business. From what I’ve heard, business has gone cold because the feds are in town. That means the clubs aren’t involved. That’s why Walsh is here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There are drugs in every city. If somebody’s not moving weight, they’re looking for a way to do it. Walsh must have come to Ivory because there was an opportunity for him.”

  I’d put most of the pieces together for myself.

  “Ivory’s a small town but there’s still a profit to be made,” I said. “Even a small fish like him could make a lot of cash in a small pond like this.”

  “You figured this out for yourself?”
she asked.

  “It makes sense. There’s no reason for a dealer like Walsh to come here otherwise.”

  Asia looked away from me and sighed a deep breath. She gave me another shrug and shook her head.

  “I still don’t see how I’m supposed to help you—”

  “You know somebody,” I said. “I know you do. In your line of work, the only people who have money to spend on someone like you are dealers or rich businessmen from out of town who are only here for a few days. You have to know a dealer or two. You lead me to them and they’ll lead me to Walsh.”

  She suddenly narrowed her eyes at me. Her brow furrowed and her jaw clenched like she was angry.

  That shit didn’t matter to me at this point. I was just trying to get to the bottom of everything.

  “You think I’m gonna fall for that?” she said.

  “What?”

  “You think I’m gonna let you set me up like that? I know all of the Reapers. I’ve seen them all before. And I would’ve remembered someone like you. This is some setup, isn’t it? You’re trying to entrap me.”

  She jumped up from her seat and started walking away. I leaped up and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her from leaving.

  “Let me go—”

  “I’m not a cop,” I said. “I came here by myself. I’m looking for a guy named Walsh. That’s the truth.”

  She kept glaring at me. I wasn’t about to let her go despite how much she was struggling.

  Then it hit me.

  “You know someone…” I said. “You know something…”

  “You’re not a cop,” she said. “Maybe you’re a fed.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I… I can’t trust you.”

  “What will it take? What do I have to do for you to trust me?”

  She looked away from me and sighed. She stared off into the distance as she started talking.

  “The cops in this town are good people,” she said. “I don’t know the feds but I know I can trust the cops. They’re honest.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying the cops in this town would never hire a hooker to set someone else up. They wouldn’t break the law just to get their man.”

  She tugged her arm free from me and massaged her wrist.

  “You said a thousand dollars for the night,” she said as she shook her head. “Prove to me you’re not just trying to set me up.”

  I looked into her eyes and saw that she was serious. It took me a second to realize it but I knew what she was getting at.

  “Cops in this town are squares,” she said. “They’d stop a hundred feet in front of the line before they’d even think about crossing it.”

  “All right,” I said with a nod. “You think I’m a cop… Fine… I’ll prove to you I’m not an Ivory cop.”

  I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed her by the wrists and forced her to her knees. She frantically started undoing my belt. I peeled my vest off and pulled my shirt up over my head.

  A sudden desire was burning inside of me to the point that I couldn’t even think straight.

  I looked down at the pale-skinned brunette as she unzipped my pants. My cock was fucking throbbing in my briefs at this point. She looked up at me, her eyes locked on mine, as she reached into my underwear and pulled my swollen cock out.

  She started pumping my shaft before quickly wrapping her mouth around it.

  “Oh… Fuck…”

  I closed my eyes and grunted from the feeling. So wet. So warm. She skillfully worked her tongue all over my shaft to the point that I already felt like I was getting ready to burst.

  I tangled my fingers in her hair and gripped her head tight. My hips started moving on their own. I banged my cock into her mouth, forcing myself down her throat. She didn’t protest. She just gagged and choked on it, letting stifled moans echo through the hotel room.

  I kept thrusting until I couldn’t hold it back. My body seized up. My muscles tightened. I held my breath before falling over the edge.

  “Ah… Fuck…”

  I grunted again as I lost myself. I came hard into her mouth. Thick pulses of cum fired out of me.

  Asia sealed her lips around me and swallowed every last drop, gulping it down like she enjoyed the taste.

  My orgasm slowly started to end. My breath returned to me. I opened my eyes and looked down at the woman who just satisfied me. She kept polishing my shaft with her tongue, her eyes watery and her chin dripping with a combination of our fluids.

  I leaned back and took a seat on the edge of the bed as I pulled my jeans back up. Asia stood up and wiped her chin with the back of her hand.

  “All right,” she said, her cheeks slightly red. “You’re not an Ivory cop.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time.”

  She sighed a deep breath then took a seat back on the couch. She looked down at the ground, twiddling her fingers like she was nervous or some shit.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise me something first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t… I don’t wanna get hurt. I don’t wanna get involved in some crazy shit. I don’t wanna have to kill anybody. I might have the information you’re looking for. But just know it’s not safe if I give it to you.”

  Now I understood why she was so worried. She was innocent. If she got caught up in all of this, there was no telling what would happen to her.

  I didn’t want her to get involved.

  She was my only lead though.

  I looked into her eyes and couldn’t help a feeling I had. There was something about her. Something about her I couldn’t explain. Something I could only feel.

  The decision should have been hard but it was easy.

  “I promise you,” I said. “All I want is Walsh. I won’t get you into any trouble.”

  She exhaled a deep breath through her nose and nodded.

  “I work for Jacob Holmes,” she said. “He’s my…”

  “He’s your what?”

  “He’s my… I guess you could call him a pimp. Everybody around here calls him Blade.”

  “Blade?”

  “The feds in this town have everybody on lockdown. You already know that. But he’s setting up a distribution center right here in Ivory. If he gets everything right, he’ll be able to control the flow of drugs moving in and out of this city.”

  I went over all of the details in my head.

  “You seem to know a lot about him,” I said.

  “Blade and I… We’re close.”

  “He your boyfriend?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t even remember the last time I slept with him. But I’ve been working for him for so long, he trusts me.”

  Asia didn’t look at me, her eyes focused on the floor.

  “Blade is a dangerous guy,” she said. “If this Walsh guy you’re looking for is in Ivory and he’s a dealer, chances are he has to go through Blade.”

  “All right. Then I’ll just have to set up a meeting with Blade. I’ll talk to him and he’ll let me get a hold of Walsh—”

  “What are you planning on doing when you run into Walsh?”

  Her throat shifted as she swallowed. I could see in her eyes how nervous she was. But I hadn’t lied to her up to this point and I wasn’t gonna start now.

  “I’m gonna kill him.”

  Asia softly nodded her head, her jaw clenched.

  “I’m not gonna ask you why you wanna kill a man just because he killed your cat,” she said. “But If Blade is doing business with Walsh, he’s not gonna just hand him over to you. There might be a way though…”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Blade told me that he had some high-profile clients coming to town he wanted me to entertain. They were coming in for business. Maybe this Walsh guy is one of them.”

  My eyes widened in surprise.

  “If Walsh is one o
f those guys, I can tell you where I’m meeting them.”

  “And that’ll be my chance.”

  I chuckled softly to myself.

  I couldn’t believe my fucking luck. Out of all the people in Ivory, I found the one person who was leading me right to the motherfucker.

  But I knew this shit was too good to be true.

  “You said you work for Blade,” I asked. “Why are you doing this for me?”

  “Just tell me this… If I do what you want, nobody can find out about this. Not Blade. Not the cops. Not the feds. Nobody.”

  I could see the worry in her eyes but that didn’t stop me from reassuring her.

  “This will stay between you and me,” I said.

  “Okay. I’ll do whatever you want. All you have to do is pay my price.”

  A subtle smirk formed on her lips. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

  “Name it,” I said.

  “I’ll take whatever you have on you right now up front,” she said. “And I want another 50-grand when you get your hands on Walsh.”

  That sly smirk on her lips hadn’t gone away. Either she practiced it or it was natural. Whatever the case was, she sure had a way of looking more seductive than any woman I’d ever met.

  “I don’t exactly have that kind of money sitting in my pockets…”

  “I don’t care how you get it,” she continued. “If you want me to risk this, that’s my price. If Blade finds out I’m trying to get information on one of the people he might be dealing with, he won’t be happy about it. That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”

  I didn’t have much of a choice. Considering the luck I had finding a hooker who a direct pipeline to the dealers in this town, I had to take it.

  “Do we have a deal?” she asked, her grin growing wider.

  “You get me Walsh and you’ll get your money.”

  “No one can know about this.”

  “I’ll be long gone before Blade figures out what happened. You have nothing to worry about. I promise.”

  “Good. Now… The money…”

  She raised an eyebrow at me.

  Asia had these deep green eyes that stuck out on her pale skin. She had a nice pair of tits, too. And her dress was perfect to show off her legs. She was a good-looking woman. It was obvious why she went into this line of work.

  I didn’t have as much shame as I would have paying off another woman.