Private Detective: BENNINGTON P.I.: A thrilling four-novel political murder mystery private detective series...

by D. W. Ulsterman

  “Going out again Katalina? With the young man of the congressman’s? His watcher?”

  Kat stood in front of Ivanka trying not to appear nervous.

  “Yes, with some friends of his.”

  Ivanka’s right eyebrow arched upward slightly.

  “Is this something the congressman is paying for?”

  Kat shook her head.

  “No, this was just…a normal invitation.”

  Ivanka sat motionless, her eyes now hinting at concern for Kat.

  “Nothing about this life is normal Katalina. You know that. This congressman continues to pay for your services, for your exclusive services. And this young man, he is part of the congressman’s staff, correct?”

  Kat straightened her posture, still trying hard to appear confident.

  “Yes.”

  “Katalina, tell me truthfully, do you have feelings for this young man?”

  Ivanka stood up, and though shorter than Kat, somehow made the younger woman feel as if she was looking up at her.

  “I asked you a question Katalina.”

  Kat shifted on her feet, the fear of Ivanka’s interrogation making her heartbeat quicken in her chest. She didn’t want to lie to Ivanka, but she also didn’t want to fully share with her how much she actually felt for Colin.

  “I don’t know, maybe.”

  Ivanka placed both of her hands around Kat’s wrists and squeezed them gently.

  “Be careful Katalina. Men like this congressman can prove very possessive, very demanding, and very jealous. I will tell you again, if there is any trouble with him, you’re to let me know. Will you promise me that?”

  Kat smiled and nodded her head.

  “Yes Ivanka, I promise.”

  The madam smiled warmly back at Kat.

  “Good. Then have fun tonight, and be safe.”

  Kat turned to the front door, unaware of the look of deep concern that swept over Ivanka’s face as she watched Kat leaving, the older woman’s instincts warning of trouble to come.

  24.

  “You didn’t say she was so pretty Colin. WOW!”

  Jolene looked across Colin to look over at Kat as she closed the passenger door of the taxi.

  “Hey Kat, my name’s Jolene. Great to meet you.”

  Kat extended her right hand to lightly shake Jolene’s.

  “Thank you, nice to meet you too.”

  Tracy had promised to meet them at Jolene’s chosen destination, The Rub by 6:00, leaving Colin, Kat, and Jolene to share the cab ride there.

  “So tell me Kat, will this be your first time at a lesbian bar?”

  Kat gave a small smile and shook her head.

  “No, I’ve been to a few actually.”

  Jolene’s eyes widened as she slapped Colin’s right knee.

  “Oh my – she’s really getting my attention now!”

  Kat giggled, her eyes lighting up as she did so. Colin was grateful to see her looking so comfortable.

  “Well darling, you’re in for a real treat tonight! Can you save me a dance?”

  Kat reached across the backseat and rested her right hand on Jolene’s left thigh.

  “It would be my pleasure Jolene – thank you.”

  It took just ten minutes for the cab to pull up in front of a one story stucco building that had been painted with black and blue stripes. A single black metal door marked the building’s entrance, above which a small green neon sign titled “The Rub” resided.

  Upon exiting the cab, Jolene ran around to the other side and grabbed Kat by the hand, pulling her with her toward the club’s entrance.

  “Hurry up Colin, or I’m having this one all to myself!”

  Colin followed closely behind, his own happiness joining with that of Kat, who continued to look increasingly at ease in Jolene’s presence.

  The interior of The Rub was darkly lit, with a long narrow bar that ran the length of the left wall, several small circular tables cluttered on the front right, and the rest of room devoted to a dance area. Not yet 5:00, the place had only a few other people inside, one of them being the bartender who signaled to Jolene when she spotted her. Jolene in turn continued to pull Kat with her as she made her way to the bar.

  “Kat, I want to introduce you to the always badass Chris. She owns this place, and is one of the coolest people on the planet.”

  Chris was an attractive, early-40’s aged woman with shortly cropped dark hair and a wide, full lipped mouth that when smiling, revealed a set of incredibly strong white teeth. Colin was shocked to see how well defined her arms were, put on display by the simple white t-shirt she wore that clung tightly to her large breasted chest that was unmistakably absent a bra.

  “Chris used to be a bodybuilder about ten years ago, and if you check out her guns, she looks like she could still kick some ass.”

  Chris walked from behind the bar to fully reveal a body of average height, but with a build that matched the definition of her arms. She wore a pair of well worn blue jeans, and much used, torn and tattered black biker boots.

  “Give me a hug you ugly bitch!”

  Chris picked Jolene up into her arms and hugged her tightly before setting her down and moving over to Colin.

  “What about this one?”

  Jolene put her right arm around Colin’s shoulders and leaned into him.

  “This one is Colin O’Shea, one of my co-workers and an all around good guy.”

  Chris extended her right hand to shake Colin’s firmly.

  “Ok then, any friend of Jolene’s is welcome here, even if you are carrying one of those ridiculous things between your legs. You guys want something to drink?”

  Jolene jumped onto one of the black metallic bar stools and slapped her hand on top of the bar.

  “In honor of our new Russian friend, start us a tab, and give us three shots of your very best vodka!”

  Kat sat next to Jolene, and Colin next to Kat as all three of them watched Chris pour three shot glasses full from a chilled bottle of Grey Goose.

  “Drink up ladies! Oh – and Colin.”

  Kat easily dispatched her vodka and slammed her glass onto the counter, motioning for Chris to pour them another.

  Chris’s white teeth flashed in the low light of the bar, her head nodding in approval.

  “The lady likes her drink! That’s my kind of girl!”

  As the three new friends finished their second shot of vodka, Jolene tilted her head toward Chris while looking at Colin.

  “Guess what Colin? My dear friend and much loved bar owner here, is a card carrying Republican! Can you believe it?”

  Colin looked back at Jolene in shock.

  “No way.”

  Jolene’s head was nodding repeatedly.

  “Yes way! I know! Can you believe it?”

  Two more women entered the bar, walking past Colin and his friends and taking seats at one of the small tables behind them. Chris lightly slapped the side of Jolene’s cheek.

  “I’ll be right back to defend my honor, but I have to make sure my customers are properly served.”

  Colin’s gaze followed the departing Chris before he turned back to Jolene.

  “She’s really a Republican? But why? She’s a lesbian, right?”

  Jolene’s nodding became even more enthusiastic.

  “Oh yeah – she’s all about the ladies.”

  Kat sat quietly listening as Colin and Jolene engaged in their political discussion. Chris soon returned and folded her arms on top of the bar.

  “Jolene calls me a Republican because I don’t always vote Democrat. See, in her mind, anyone who says they don’t vote with the Democrats is automatically a Republican, and politically insane. Thing is though, Jolene isn’t running a business. She doesn’t have to put up with all the regulation bullshit, the taxes, I mean, it is literally getting almost impossible for a small business to keep their doors open in this country. So yeah, I vote for anyone who says they’re for keeping government off my ass.”

&nbs
p; Colin was still in a state of disbelief.

  “But what about, you know, gay rights and the right to be married to whoever you want, and all that?”

  Chris snorted as she rolled her eyes.

  “Those issues are all bullshit, and I’m living proof. I’m a gay woman who owns her own business. I sleep with who I want, and have been able to do so my whole life. Gay rights? Most of that is just a bunch of drama queens wanting attention, and politicians playing them for votes. I could care less about most of that. Just leave me alone. That’s my deal. Leave – me – alone. Simple. That’s what America used to be about. Just leave me alone and let me try and make a living.”

  “She’s right.”

  Colin turned to look at Kat, who had just spoken her support of Chris’s political outlook.

  “What do you mean she’s right?”

  Kat smiled back at Chris and then looked at Colin.

  “I mean, she’s right. It’s about wanting to be left alone. That was America. When it was still the Soviet Union, my people lived in a world of government watching everything. They gave you crumbs and people called themselves satisfied, but their spirit was broken. Now we see that in America, yes? People are broken after government takes everything from them and gives back almost nothing. In fact, it spends most of its time trying to figure out what more it can take from the people. So Chris is right, we just want to be left alone. No more government saying you must do this and you must do that. That is not America. At least it’s not what it used to be.”

  Chris finished filling their shot glasses for the third time and leaned across the bar to take Kat’s hands in her own.

  “Sister, you get me man. You really-really get me. Rock on.”

  Kat’s head tilted back as she laughed, the sound causing others in the bar to turn and watch her. More than a few set of eyes lingered to further take in Kat’s beautiful, delicate features.

  By the time Tracy walked into The Rub shortly after 6:00, Colin, Jolene, and Kat were well on their way toward inebriation and surrounded by nearly thirty other equally boisterous and party happy women. Music from the bar’s sound system was turned on, and then turned up, to match the sounds of increasingly loud conversation and laughter.

  Tracy looked out toward the dance floor to see an assortment of couples dancing with one another, his Midwestern sensibilities silently recoiling at the sight of two rather obese women kissing. This shock was soon amplified when he recognized one of the women as working at a security station inside of the Capitol Building.

  “Tracy! About time you got here you prissy little rich boy bastard!”

  Jolene was drunk, her eyes glossy, her speech overly loud and slurring. It was the young woman sitting between Jolene and Colin that Tracy’s eyes quickly settled on though. He found himself pausing halfway between the door and where the three others sat, unable to take his eyes off of the thin, blonde woman who sat laughing at something the woman behind the bar said.

  She was absolutely, stunningly, beautiful.

  Tracy forced his legs to move his body forward toward the bar, silently repeating to himself not to stare at the woman or risk her thinking him some kind of pervert.

  “Everyone, this is our other co-worker Tracy. Tracy…this is everyone!”

  Jolene’s arms spread wide as she yelled out the word everyone, and then came to rest on Kat’s shoulders.

  Offering a meek smile, the young man from upper class Ohio society nodded to Kat.

  “Hello – my name is Tracy.”

  Kat forced her eyes to clear as she took in the sight of the young, impeccably attired man standing in front of her. His dark hair was neatly combed to the side, his Armani suit and Cartier wristwatch clearly signaling he came from money. Kat found his overall appearance handsome, though in a somewhat more traditional and intentionally refined Ivy League kind of way, versus Colin’s more natural, interesting, and thus more appealing, appearance.

  “Hello Tracy, I’m Kat. Nice to meet you.”

  Tracy glanced at both Jolene and Colin before sitting down to Colin’s right.

  “Another round of vodka shots Chris! And then we dance!”

  Chris poured all of them another drink, including Tracy. Once again, Kat was the first to down her vodka, looking barely any worse for wear and certainly much more sober than either Colin or Jolene.

  “Colin, you want to dance with me?”

  Colin slid off his bar stool and extended his right hand toward Kat, bowing dramatically as he did so.

  “For you my lady – anything!”

  As Colin and Kat made their way to the dance floor, Tracy’s stare followed them. He was startled to find himself already hoping to dance with Kat next.

  “She’s pretty, ain’t she?”

  Tracy looked over at Jolene and nodded.

  “Yeah, she is. I can see why the congressman wants her all to himself.”

  It was Jolene’s turn to stare out at the dancing Kat and Colin, her eyes enjoying how Kat’s body moved in her tight fitting skirt and turtleneck shirt. She also noted too how Kat was looking at Colin O’Shea. It was not the look of a friend, but rather that of a hopeful lover.

  That would be something the congressman would not appreciate, the thought creating a twinge of concern to shoot through Jolene’s mind.

  As Jolene worried over what might happen if Kat and Colin were sleeping together, another set of eyes silently watched the dancing couple from the shadows at the very end of the bar, his dark eyes looking into the mirrored glass that ran the length of the bar and allowed him an unobstructed view of the entire room behind him.

  Armon Vetrov always believed himself as working with his sister Ivanka, not for her, a distinction increasingly important to him with each passing year. If opportunities arose for him to make a little money from powerful associates on the side, he was more than happy to fully take advantage. Congressman Latner’s instructions were simple. Armon was to watch Kat closely when she went out, and report back to the congressman what she was doing. For that simple task, he was being paid quite well.

  For Armon Vetrov, a congressman’s money spent just as well as his sister’s.

  25.

  Colin, Jolene, Tracy, and Kat spent the rest of the night laughing, dancing, and drinking to excess inside the confines of The Rub. Kat in particular took to the festive mood of the place, and found herself in great demand from numerous women wanting a chance to dance with her. She complied with those requests, often with a laugh and a smile, twirling about the dance area with an energy that did not diminish as the hours wore on.

  Colin on the other hand, began to slow down considerably as the clock neared 1:00 a.m., his mind immersed in an alcohol drenched fog, his reflexes slowed and uncertain. He remained happy though, watching with a satisfied grin on his face as Kat continued to enjoy herself.

  Tracy was the first to leave, calling a cab for himself at 1:30 a.m. with assurances he would be on time to work the next day. Kat offered him a long, hug, which Tracy clearly appreciated.

  Minutes later, Jolene was about to announce her departure to Colin as well when she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes looking out at the dance area where Kat and Chris were slow dancing, their bodies hugging one another tightly as Chris lightly kissed the lower portion of Kat’s left ear.

  Jolene elbowed Colin, her face breaking out into a wide smile.

  “Uh-oh Colin, looks like your friend Kat has decided to join Team Lezzzzzbo!”

  Jolene’s drunken cackle-laugh filled Colin’s ears as he continued to watch Kat and Chris dancing, their movements becoming more intimate, the kissing more aggressive. Colin’s attention was so devoted to watching the two women, he failed to notice the large man in a long leather trench coat who sat at the very end of the bar also staring at the two women as he spoke into a cell phone.

  It was nearly 2:30 a.m. when Colin and Jolene stood outside of The Rub waiting for Kat and Chris to emerge. The Washington D.C. night air was calm, with a hint of warmth fro
m the previous day still remaining. Chris was closing up and Kat volunteered to help her. When the two women emerged they had their arms around each other and were laughing. Colin in turn found himself having to lean against the outer wall of the building for support, his equilibrium hampered by the amount of alcohol consumed. He wasn’t certain how he felt about Kat’s obvious attraction to Chris. There was a tinge of jealousy, but there was also part of him happy to see Kat happy.