by D J Small
“A sex worker friend?” Eliza asked, interrupting his story as she finally cut into her steak.
Dax nodded. “Yes. It was through his sessions with her that he realized he wasn’t monogamous.” He smirked. “It isn’t a practice that’s meant for everyone. Because of this, he was able to have an open and honest conversation with his wife about what he needed. With some assistance from a therapist, they were able to repair their marriage and turn it into a healthy and open relationship. They’ve never been happier.”
Unable to see how this man was able to come to this conclusion by sleeping with someone outside of his marriage, Eliza grunted softly. “Or he manipulated her into having an open marriage.”
Dax tilted his head and studied her. The longer he stared at her, the more uncomfortable Eliza became. She felt like he was trying to uncover some hidden secret about her.
Another second passed before he chuckled softly and took another bite of his food. “Detective Miller, you don’t trust easy, do you?”
Eliza answered the question with a hard stare.
Dax chuckled again. “Detective, I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about the rights and wrongs of monogamy versus multiple partner relationships.”
“Thank you for sparing me from such a needless conversation,” Eliza sniped, adding more bite to the remark than she had originally intended to. “If I have followed your story well enough, you’re telling me that this man is willing to do you a favor or two because you pushed him in the direction of a sex worker?”
Dax picked up a napkin and carefully wiped his mouth with it. “Detective, no matter what you may think about my profession—and I believe you have many thoughts and opinions about it—sex workers do more than just provide sex to those who seek out our companionship. There is a certain skill set one must possess to be successful in sex work.” A condescending smile appeared on his face. “And believe me when I say I have many skills. Skills you will probably never possess.”
The subtle, but direct insult took Eliza by surprise. Billy pathetically covered his guffaw with a cough, and she directed an annoyed glare at him.
An awkward silence filled the conference room as the three of them ate. As irritated as she was for the dressing-down that she had received, Eliza was more annoyed that Dax believed he knew everything there was to know about her when that was far from the truth. He knew nothing about her. The urge to defend herself became a strong one, but she fought against it, not wanting to engage him further.
A few minutes later, Dax cleared his throat and said, “As much as I enjoy the company of two very capable detectives, I do have an engagement later, and I have a few appointments before it. If we could get to the purpose for me being here, that would be appreciated.”
Eliza bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying the smartass comment that sat on the tip of it, and she picked up Angelique’s appointment book and handed it to him. “What do these acronyms mean?”
“More importantly, what does ‘NC’ mean?” Billy asked, pointing his plastic knife towards the book.
Dax ran his finger down the page. “Ah, I see. It stands for ‘new client’.” His tone made it seem like the acronym was pretty self-explanatory.
“Dammit!” Billy swore, shaking his head as a chuckle escaped him. “I seriously thought it stood for ‘non-consensual play’ or some shit.”
“No,” Dax said, giving a slight shake of his head. “That would be ‘RF’, which stands for ‘rape fantasy’, and wouldn’t be found in either Simon or Angelique’s books. At least, not to my knowledge.”
“Why not?” Eliza asked after taking a sip of water. No matter how much Dax annoyed her, the dinner he had treated her and Billy to was beyond amazing.
Dax smiled. “Because Angelique specialized in a different type of roleplay.”
“A taboo one? That’s what Ms. Hillbrand said when we first spoke to her about Angelique,” Eliza said, remembering the conversation with Pleasure Inc.’s CEO
Dax opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it. A second later he said, “To give you a better understanding, Angelique’s clientele was a bit older, and what she specialized in is something that could possibly be considered taboo by some, but that depends on what social circles you run in.”
“I’m not following,” Eliza said, fighting her rapidly growing annoyance. Dax was talking in circles, and she didn’t like it when people spoke in circles.
He sighed. “Okay, let me approach it this way,” Dax turned a page in Angelique’s appointment book. “On the fifteenth of this month, Angelique had an appointment with OC, which means ‘older client’. Next to that are DF, AP, and SK.”
“Which stand for...?” Eliza asked when her irritation wouldn’t allow Dax’s silence to continue.
Dax chuckled softly. “‘Daddy fetish’, ‘age play’, and ‘spanking’.”
Billy choked on the food in his mouth, but Dax continued, undeterred. “That means that during this particular session she probably acted younger than her age, called this client ‘Daddy’, and pretended to be naughty so he could spank her.”
Billy wheezed, and Dax quietly chuckled as he handed him his water. Eliza’s interest in wanting to know what the acronyms in the books stood for vanished, though part of her wondered if Dax had chosen the most appalling entry to get a reaction out of her.
“Are you being serious?” Eliza demanded.
Dax thumped Billy’s back a couple of times, then looked at her. “A hundred percent, Detective.”
Still recovering from almost choking to death on his food, Billy picked up Simon’s appointment book and said hoarsely, “The thirteenth, Simon’s first client.”
Dax retrieved the book and eyed the date in question. His lip curled, and his face screwed up with disgust. “This was an appointment with one of his ‘off the books’ clients, and they engaged in piss play, cock and ball torture, and orgasm denial. Knowing Simon, the poor man probably didn’t come at all, and was sent on his merry way.”
All amusement faded from Billy’s face, and Eliza tightened her lips to keep herself from laughing at his dismayed expression.
Billy stammered a couple of times, then said, “P-people actually do that?”
Dax smirked. “You’d be amazed by what some people are into.”
Eliza held up a finger to keep Billy from asking another question. “Off the books, this is the second time you have said that phrase around me. What does it mean? And I want an actual answer this time.”
Dax’s eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at the napkin he had been folding up.
As his silence stretched, so did Eliza’s patience. “Mr. Collins...”
“As I have told you, Detective, state and federal governments may have legalized and regulated the oldest profession in the world, but it is still the oldest profession in the world.”
Eliza opened her mouth to let him know that wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but Dax lifted his hand, stopping her.
“With that being said, some of the old ways are still being practiced.”
“What does that mean?” Eliza asked with thinly veiled frustration.
Dax sighed and reluctantly said, “Not everyone follows the law when it comes to keeping client records.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Some are terrible recordkeepers—that’s why they join firms like Pleasure Inc.—but the main reason for not doing so is anonymity. It’s why sex work works. When a client goes into a firm, they’re asked for their personal and financial information, and it makes them leery. This in turn creates a market for illegal sex work, and it is capitalized on by both registered and unregistered sex workers.”
The explanation, when paired with the number of appointments in Angelique and Simon’s books, suddenly made sense to Eliza. She leaned forward and rested her arms on the conference table. “They both had undocumented clients?”
“No. Angelique didn’t have off the books clients, but she did have secret appointments with cl
ients who were registered with Pleasure Inc.” Dax smiled. “A loophole in the system, and a way to earn more money.”
Eliza nodded, understanding his simple explanation. There was no point in documenting a client who was already documented elsewhere. “What about Simon?”
Dax puffed out his cheeks and released a long breath. “He had a number of off the books clients because he would meet them at clubs, or they would be referred to him by others. People—men—would find out about what he did and would approach him for a session. A lot of them are...were dabblers. They couldn’t handle the punishment that Simon handed out, so he would never hear from them again. His regulars were documented.”
Learning about the inner workings of the sex work industry and how Angelique and Simon had kept track of their clients intrigued Eliza, but it also painted a fuller picture of what she and Billy were dealing with. Although, it was one that probably wouldn’t fill in any of the blanks their investigation had. “And their clients were mostly men?”
Dax’s mouth twisted up as he gazed up at the ceiling and thought about the question. He shrugged. “For the most part, yeah. I mean, Angelique only saw women in multiple partner situations, and Simon had two clients that were women. They...” He chuckled. “They’re hardcore.”
Eliza leaned back in her chair and went over the new pieces of information in her mind. Going by what Dax had told her, she could narrow down Simon and Angelique’s murderer to a male individual. A sudden thought interrupted her line of thinking, and before she could stop her mouth from following through with it, Eliza asked, “What about you, Mr. Collins? What type of clients do you see?”
“Women, mostly,” Dax said with a smile. He lifted his finger off the conference table and pointed at her. “However, if a man inquiries about my services and is captivating enough, I will entertain him.”
He winked at Billy. The color that came to the other man’s cheeks caused Eliza’s eyes to widen, but she shook her head, not wanting to think about what the reaction meant.
Pointing to Angelique’s appointment book, Eliza asked, “According to the coroner’s reports...” Eliza grimaced slightly, recalling how close Dax was to Angelique. “Sorry. The day the incident was reported was the same day she was murdered. What clients did she see that day?”
Dax lifted the book to read it. “Three men, all into age play. The third one was a new client. The first session involved a schoolgirl roleplay and spanking, while the other two were daddy-daughter roleplays.”
Eliza stared at him, stunned by the last two appointments. People were truly twisted individuals, and in a way that went beyond them just being New Yorkers. “Older?” she asked, needing to move the conversation along.
Dax nodded.
Eliza drummed her fingers on the conference table. The information meant nothing, but was more than what she had had a few hours ago. “What about Simon? It’d be the day before.”
“Uh, let’s see.” Dax put down Angelique’s book and picked up Simon’s. “Three clients, all men. Nothing about age. The second appointment was with a new client. The first session involved humiliation, piss play, and the client being flogged. The second was bondage, whips, cock and ball torture, and—I think I’m reading this correctly—knife play.” His face scrunched up, and he fell silent for a moment. “Yeah, I’m thinking it’s knife play. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“And the other client?” Eliza asked reluctantly. Dwelling on the type of pain Simon put his clients through for their sexual pleasure made her more uncomfortable than him being a sex worker did.
Dax read off the final session Simon had the day before his murder. None of the appointments mentioned an age, nor were there any useful pieces of information, essentially making his book less helpful than Angelique’s.
Eliza dropped her pen and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. She just wanted a break in this case. After drawing several deep breaths, she lowered her hands and retrieved the book that held Angelique’s clients. “Take a look at this and tell me if any of the names ring any bells for you.”
Dax took the book and frowned. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to help much in that aspect, Detective. I mean, yes, we did talk about clients, but as I’ve mentioned before, real names were never given. We came up with nicknames for them.”
Eliza gestured to the book. “That’s fine. Just take a look; perhaps something might jog your memory.”
Dax gave her an acquiescing nod, but he cast a worried glance her way before turning his attention to the book that was filled with the names of Angelique’s clients.
Eliza sighed. She had to have looked like she was at her rope’s end if Dax was worried about her.
◊◊◊
For the next two hours, they went through the names in Angelique and Simon’s client books, then they focused on the list from Pleasure Inc.
They were in the middle of reviewing one of the pages when Dax stood and said, “Detectives, it has been a riveting evening, but I must go get ready for my engagement tonight.”
Eliza scowled at him as he slipped on his leather jacket, but it disappeared when she reluctantly admitted to herself that he didn’t have to stay for as long as he had, and that he had done she and Billy a favor, even if they hadn’t gotten too far.
She rose from her chair and held out her hand. “Mr. Collins, we appreciate the assistance you have given us tonight.”
Dax glanced down at her hand, then brought his eyes back up to hers. A small smile formed on his face as he took a gentle hold of her offered hand, and instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his lips and brushed them softly over her knuckles. Lowering her hand, Dax said, “No thanks is needed, Detective. The night has been a surprisingly pleasurable one, considering the circumstances.”
Eliza didn’t know how to respond to the comment or the gentleman-like behavior. In some part of her mind, she was pissed and wanted to slam Dax onto the conference table and arrest him for making another pass at her, but she didn’t. Instead, Eliza held his gaze as her traitorous body responded to the alluring glint in his eyes, causing her brain to malfunction more than it already was.
Dax’s smirk blossomed into a full smile that displayed his perfectly white teeth, adding to his handsome visage. “Have a good evening, Detective Miller.”
He released her hand and waved at Billy. “Have a good night, Detective Chilowski—don’t let her work you too hard.”
Eliza watched Dax leave, his gait full of confidence, and a full minute passed before she was able to come out of the stupor she had fallen into. The second her brain started working again, she was livid.
“He makes it really hard to hate him, huh?” Billy said as he got up and moved closer to her.
The heated stare she pinned him down with caused Billy to take a step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eliza snapped. She was certain Billy hadn’t seen her get caught up in Dax’s magnetic charm, and even if he had, it would be in his best interest to not to mention it.
“You didn’t give him any of your pissy attitude after you bit his head off earlier.” Billy smiled. “Admit it, he’s growing on you.”
Eliza dropped into her chair. “He was helping us. I thought I would be somewhat civil towards him.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Billy said sarcastically as he leaned against the edge of the conference table. “If you buy that, then so will I.” She scowled at him, and he chuckled before letting out a long sigh. “So, what are we going to do next?”
Eliza picked up her hair tie from the table and ran both her hands over her hair, gathering it in her right hand and putting it in a messy bun that sat low at the back of her head. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the documents, books, and files that were scattered across the conference table. They were no further in their investigation now than they had been hours ago. “We’re in a fucking mess, Billy.”
“Yeah, we are.”
She pursed her lips together and tried to formulate a pl
an, which took longer than she wanted it to. “Okay. We’re going to check out their neighborhoods to see if there are any cameras close by that may have gotten a shot of the murderer. We’ll interview their personal client lists, then we’ll go to Pleasure Inc. and get their surveillance videos from a week before Angelique’s death up until the day after Simon’s death.”
Billy groaned. “This is going to take up so much fucking time.”
Not looking forward to the task either, Eliza sighed. “Yeah, I know, but unfortunately this is all we have until we get a viable lead.” She forced out another breath and got up. “Come on, Billy. Let’s go to the tech guys and see if we can review the tapes we do have again. Maybe something new will come up.”
“One can only hope,” he said as they walked out of the conference room.
6
At fifteen minutes past two in the morning, Eliza stumbled into her apartment, dead on her feet. All she wanted was a shower and bed. In fact, she was willing to wait until morning to take a shower and go right to bed. Her eyes burned, and she could barely keep them open. Part of it was due to staring at screens for an extended amount of time, and the other part was true exhaustion.
She and Billy had spent the rest of the night locked in one of the tech division’s viewing rooms watching the various security footage they had collected. None of the videos had given them any new information.
The same hidden figure had taunted them on each feed, and Eliza had argued with the tech that had been helping them about enhancing the videos more to see if they could get any type of distinguishing feature, but the technician had told her she had done all she could and threatened to kick her out if she kept being a pain in the ass.