“Is Barnes a suspect?”
“He’s a person of interest.”
“If you have a folder on him, I need to know. He figured out what I was doing at the club. Challenged me over it last night. Said he didn’t want to see any more dead girls. So what do you have on him? Is he someone I should be watching or not?”
“You shouldn’t be doing any of this.”
“A little late for a lecture!” she snapped. “If we’re lucky, we have a matter of a few days left to find my sister. And who knows about Carmen since he’s not taken two together before. Now what about Barnes?”
Pucinski couldn’t see a reason not to tell her. All she had to do was get on the Internet, and she would find it. “Barnes lived with his family in a far suburb until a couple of years ago. A cousin lived with them, too. She disappeared. A couple weeks later, her body was found in the nearby woods. Her neck was broken. Barnes was a suspect, but there was no proof. The case is still unsolved.”
“Wait! A girl dead in the woods. Isn’t that awfully like the victims killed in the forest preserve? And you haven’t arrested him?”
“I have no proof. I can’t arrest him on a hunch. But he’s being watched.”
“You think he’s the one, then.”
“I didn’t say that. I’m just covering all my bases.”
oOo
DEPRESSED ANEW AFTER LEAVING Pucinski, Lilith stopped for some fast food on the way home. It was nearly two, and she hadn’t eaten yet. Not that she was hungry. But she needed energy to meet the demands of the rest of her day, and forcing herself to eat would help provide that.
As she approached the entrance to Hannah’s place, she saw a brightly wrapped package leaning against the door. Her heart began to thunder. Had someone left something for Hannah? She brought the package inside and saw LILITH scrawled on an envelope.
Her hand shook as she pulled the card free from the wrapping and opened it.
FOR A CLASS ACT. WEAR THIS DRESS TO DINNER AT GRANDMOTHER’S TONIGHT. SIX SHARP. DON’T BE LATE AGAIN, OR YOU’LL BE SORRY.
The message was followed by an address.
Lilith tore open the package, muttering, “Oh, God, dinner.” And pulled out a long, flowing flower-print dress that seemed vaguely familiar. “Paul Ensdorf is crazy.”
She went to the closet and, rummaging through the dresses on the rack, pulled out the one she’d considered wearing to the tea.
The two dresses were almost identical.
Any appetite she’d had was gone.
Could she really do it? Go to the home of a potential killer?
And then, later, dance for him?
She would do anything, she reminded herself.
Anything to save Hannah and Carmen.
oOo
Chapter 18
LILITH ARRIVED at the Ensdorf Funeral Home building exactly on time. It was the old kind of setup, a century old business with the apartment on the second floor. She rang the doorbell and within seconds was buzzed up. Climbing up the dimly lit stairwell, the weird, musty smell made her think of death. Her anxiety rose with each step.
The door opened before she could knock. “I knew that was you.” Wearing a dark suit and tie, Paul held the door open for Lilith and indicated she should come inside. “You wore the dress. It looks perfect on you.”
Perfect fifty years ago, she thought. “Thank you. It was so thoughtful of you to buy it for me.”
His hair slicked down around his face, Paul beamed at her. “Come, come. Grandmother is anxiously waiting to meet you.”
Paul put a hand at her waist and pushed her forward. She tried not to shiver in response. He took her straight through the living room, filled with an ancient stuffed sofa and chairs, all with doilies on the arms to keep them protected. The equally old-fashioned dining room was growing dark, but the overhead crystal chandelier remained unlit.
Already sitting at the head of a massive wooden table with carved legs with animal feet, Paul’s grandmother wore an even more matronly version of Lilith’s dress. In the shadows, the old woman looked spooky, with tufts of white hair sticking out from little twists surrounding her head.
“Lilith, this is Grandmother Ensdorf. Grandmother, this is Lilith. Now isn’t she everything I promised.”
“We’ll see,” the old woman said in an unnaturally strident voice. “The food is getting cold, and I’m hungry. Sit.”
On their plates already set before their chairs: peas, lumpy-looking mashed potatoes and what looked like overcooked liver. Despite the fact that she’d only eaten a single piece of chicken earlier, Lilith’s stomach turned over at the rank smell.
“Here, Lilith,” Paul said, pulling a chair back for her.
Lilith sat and gave him a little nod. He took the seat across from her.
“Thank the Lord first, then eat,” Grandmother said.
Paul bowed his head and did as she ordered, ending with, “Thanks for these and all the gifts you give us. Amen.”
Grandmother forked a piece of meat and stuck it in her mouth with enthusiasm. “I’ve always been fond of organ meat.” She smacked appreciatively.
Paul looked straight at Lilith. “Everyone involved in the family business is.”
Grandmother and Paul giggled together. Lilith’s stomach churned. The smell of the liver getting to her, she pushed away her plate while Paul and Grandmother ate with relish.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Paul asked.
“Humph.” Grandmother pouted. “Probably hates my cooking.”
Paul reached over and patted her hand. “Impossible.”
Lilith used the first excuse that came to her – she didn’t want to be asked to leave before she had the opportunity to do what she came for. “I have to watch my calories or I won’t be able to fit in my uniform – one of the downsides of my job.”
“Girls, these days.” Grandmother made a tsk-tsk-tsk of disapproval. “Always starving themselves.”
“Lilith won’t have to worry about that much longer if I have my way with her.”
Lilith hid her revulsion behind her linen napkin and wondered how long it would be before she could escape this place of death.
oOo
LILITH BROUGHT IN a stack of dirty dishes and piled them on the counter next to the sink. She checked to make sure she wasn’t followed. Listened intently to the murmur of voices from the other room.
Going to the back door, she stealthily unlocked it and winced at the sound of the dead bolt sliding open. When she heard footsteps, she hurried to the sink and set the dishes in a pan of soapy water. No dishwasher here. This place hadn’t been remodeled in the last half-century. The cabinets were all metal, the refrigerator and stove avocado green. Wanting to orient herself, she quickly checked out the window so she would be certain of where to find the back entrance just before Paul joined her.
He stood too close. “Change your mind about going to service with Grandmother and me tonight?”
“I’m not the religious type.”
He placed his hands on her hips and pressed his groin into her buttocks. Wanting to gag, she had to fight her instincts to toss him. She needed the chance to search his place. She would do nothing to ruin it.
“You could be any type you wanted,” he said, his mouth practically in her ear. “You could take the opportunity I’m offering you.”
“Sounds like you’ve offered this opportunity to someone before. Who?”
“Jealous? You’re not the first woman in my life.”
He started rubbing himself against her – not that it seemed to be doing much for him, at least not as far as she could tell. Remembering his sister saying he couldn’t get it up, she wondered if he’d resorted to torturing and killing women for sexual satisfaction.
She noticed the kitchen door opening slightly and realized the old woman was spying on them.
“So who was she, Paulie – the other woman?”
“She was not important. You’re important.” He wrapped his arms around her so he
could cup her breasts as he pressed her against the sink.
Wanting in the worst way to flip him and press her foot on his windpipe, Lilith eased herself out of his grasp and said, “You know I’m scheduled to work in a half hour.”
“And I have to take Grandmother to church. Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll be at the club to see you and Melinda as soon as I bring Grandmother home and tuck her in bed.” He tried to get in a position to kiss her. “We have a few more minutes.”
Lilith forced herself to smile. “I need to leave now. If I’m late, Sal will dock my salary.”
“I understand. But you realize once we’re together, you won’t be working at the club anymore.”
Paul opened the swinging door for her. Standing at the far end of the living room now, Grandmother merely watched her leave with a satisfied smile.
Lilith didn’t go far. Just across the street to a vestibule of an apartment house that gave her a view of the glowing mortuary sign and the entrance below.
“C’mon, c’mon.” She really had to get going if she was going to go through with her plan for the night.
At last, Paul left the building with Grandmother. He helped the elderly woman into a car parked right out front.
As soon as they drove off, Lilith whipped out of the vestibule and rushed across the street. She went around to the alley and took the open stairway to the kitchen door that she’d unlocked.
Once inside, she began a frantic search, checking bookshelves, opening the drawers in the kitchen and then the dining room. In the living room, she searched the drawers in the old-fashioned end tables.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
The small hallway off the living room gave her access to four doors. One revealed the bathroom, another Grandmother’s bedroom, the other two were closed. She tried one of the closed doors.
Locked.
She jiggled the handle. Felt above the door for a possible key. Stooped to peek through the keyhole.
Complete darkness.
Frustrated, she tried the other door. It opened to the bedroom, and she rushed inside and attacked the chest of drawers. They were filled with nothing but the usual clothing.
Opening the nightstand drawer, she stopped short.
Irene’s stocking sat on Club Paradise souvenirs – flyers, ads and matches. She looked without touching the stocking. One of the flyers spotlighted Hannah. No heart-half. When she pulled the drawer open further, she found a few sex toys thrown in the back. Handcuffs and nipple clamps.
Proof? Of what? Murder or simple perversion?
A scuffle behind her threw her pulse into overdrive. She whipped around to find Paul standing in the hall doorway. His eyes flicked past her to the open drawer, then to his bed. “I didn’t realize you were so eager, Lilith.”
She tried to push past him, but Paul wrapped his arms around her and planted a big wet kiss on her. He grabbed both of her breasts and tried to back her into the bedroom. Still not wanting to use her Street Survival skills on him in case she needed to get to him again, she shoved him hard and whipped free.
“This was a mistake, Paul,” she called, racing through the living room. “I’m not ready for this yet.” And to herself, she muttered, “I’ll never be ready for this.”
“You can’t just go!”
But she was already out the door.
She exited the building, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Walked toward her car as if possessed, as if she could walk away her demons...
oOo
“IS HE GOING TO kill us?” Carmen asked, crying. “I think he gave me some drug that knocked me out, but he said terrible things.”
Hannah had to steel herself against the girl’s tears so she didn’t start crying, too. “You were having a nightmare.”
“No, I swear I heard him when he dumped me here. He said Lilith was your sister.”
Hannah stared at the girl Lilith mentored. She was only seventeen, without a clue as to how this was going to work. She was so naive. The killer said he might let her go, but Hannah didn’t believe it. He wouldn’t leave anyone who might be able to give the cops a clue. Hannah might have been resentful and jealous that day in the zoo, but now she pitied Carmen whose only crime had been to trust Hannah’s sister.
“He has no reason to kill you,” Hannah said, trying to allay the girl’s fear. This was her fault. “Me and Lilith... we’ll probably get out of this with nothing more than a scare, too.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Hannah lied.
The least she could do was make it easier on Carmen. Maybe he’d make the girl’s death swift so she wouldn’t even see it coming. Not so for her and Lilith. He was going to make Lilith watch.
“Lilith told me she had a sister, but that she didn’t know where you were. So she finally found you?”
Lilith had told Carmen about her? So Lilith hadn’t given up hope of finding her.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Despite her resolve, desperate tears slid from her eyes, bathing her cheeks.
Lilith had warned her she was in danger, and she’d ignored the warning.
Ignoring it had brought this hell down on them all. Her fault. All her fault.
“So how are we going to get out of here?” Carmen asked.
Hannah jerked her handcuff against the bedframe. “There’s a little matter of we can’t even move around the room.”
“Never?”
“He has let me go to that pit of a toilet when he brings food.”
“Then there’s a chance. If I can get free, maybe I can take him.”
She could take him? Crazy talk. She was a kid, for God’s sake.
Hannah shook her head. “You’re not very big. How are you gonna take him?”
“There’s two of us and only one of him. Lilith says it’s all in the body language. I wasn’t ready for him last time, but I will be now.”
Two of them... was it possible...?
Afraid to let herself hope, Hannah asked, “So what’s your plan?”
oOo
Chapter 19
MUSIC SEEMED TO blare louder in the club when Lilith sought the sanctuary of the dressing room only to find Caresse searching through a case – Lilith’s case. Frowning, she stood and stared a moment as the other woman dug around just as she had with the other girls’ possessions.
“Looking for something?”
Caresse popped up and knocked over the case. Makeup and hair clips spilled onto the floor. Caresse immediately got on her knees and stuffed the loose articles back where they belonged.
“Sorry, Lilith. One of my eyelashes came off, and I ran out of glue. I was gonna borrow yours. Hope that’s not a problem.”
Lilith saw she was telling the truth about the eyelash, but there was glue in full view on the counter.
“No. No problem.” She stepped forward, picked up the tube and handed it to Caresse, who had the grace to looked shamed.
“Lord, ain’t I the peabrain? Must’ve looked right at it and not seen it.”
“You must have.”
Not that Lilith believed it.
She took a big breath. It was time. Having brought one of Hannah’s costumes with her, she changed out of her uniform into the spangly gold number from the underwear to the boneless hourglass corset to the micromini that added a touch of modesty. She was going to do this, but she didn’t like it, and she certainly wasn’t comfortable getting on that damn stage.
“What the hell you doing?” Caresse asked.
“What does it look like? I’m getting dressed.”
“To do what? Not dance.”
She unfroze her lips to say “Yes, dance.”
She had to buy time for Hannah and Carmen. She was going to do this for them.
“Child, are you crazy? You can’t go out there looking like that. Like Anna.”
“Why not? There must be good money in dancing or you wouldn’t do it, right?”
Lilith wasn’t about to play true confessi
ons with Caresse. She didn’t trust anyone here, certainly not a woman who dug through other people’s things and took whatever she wanted. She’d made a deal with Irene, though, to dance to her music. Told the woman it was a one-time surprise for her boyfriend and asked her not to let anyone know lest word got around.
Her stomach clenched every time she thought about it.
“You’re asking for trouble,” Caresse said. “As if you haven’t already. There’s a killer out there who already has you on his radar. You taunt him, and he’s gonna come for you.”
That’s what she was counting on.
This time, she was stoked psychologically.
This time, she was ready for him.
oOo
DESPITE THAT, Lilith’s stomach still churned when she sashayed across the stage to hot music. Not the real Lilith. This one wasn’t thinking about what she was doing as she strutted her stuff, but her body was taking over where her mind simply wanted to shut down.
She went on auto-dance.
Inviting the men in the room to taste something they couldn’t have.
Taunting them.
When bile rose into her throat, she reminded herself she was doing this for Hannah and Carmen. To save them for at least another day. To draw out the killer. Get him to make his move on her. Her body wasn’t sacred. Their young lives were.
Anyone who hadn’t paid attention to her before was doing so now, including several topless dancers with customers who stopped their lap dances to watch.
“I got something for you!” a man called out.
Another said, “Hey, baby, over here!”
“No, here!” insisted a third, who was waving a twenty.
Fake it. Fake it, she told herself.
Lilith went to them all, let them tuck bills into her corset. Steeled her mind against strange fingers touching her. Removed the modesty skirt and let them put more in her g-string. There was nothing unnatural or stiff about the way she was moving, nor about the way she was smiling as if each and every man in the room were desirable. This wasn’t personal – not that most of them understood that.
This was for Hannah and Carmen.
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