by Marie Astor
The man grunted, taking a long swallow of his drink. “Just wait till you get to be my age. What did you fight about anyway?”
“It’s work related,” Dennis lied. “I’m a photographer. She gets jealous—thinks I’m into these girls, but I keep telling her that it’s only work.”
“Is it?” The man cocked an eyebrow. “That sure sounds like a sweet job to me.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. There’s a lot of pressure,” Dennis ventured. Truthfully, he knew very little about photography, but he thought it would be a good cover to get close to Jess if he were lucky enough to find her.
“Hmm, pressure. I bet.” The man grinned.
“The world of high fashion is very stressful,” Dennis plowed on. “I’d gone into the business thinking I’d be doing shoots for the National Geographic, traveling the world. Well, let me tell you, that was a pie in the sky. I have to take any job I can. I’ve lucked into the fashion business through an ex-girlfriend of mine and it’s been my bread and butter ever since.”
“Seems to me taking pictures of boobs is way more fun than freezing your ass off photographing the Himalayas or some other crap like that.”
“To each his own,” Dennis said sagely.
“I suppose so. So what magazines do you work with?”
“Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan—it varies.”
“Snazzy. Do you get to go to all those fancy parties?”
“Not really. I’m a freelancer, but I’m fast and I always show up on time, so the jobs are pretty steady.”
“Say what you will, but I still think it’s a nice way to make a living. I’m John by the way.”
“Frank,” Dennis gave a fake name just in case. “Nice to meet you.”
John raised his glass and nodded. “Same here.”
“So you have a favorite girl here?” Dennis asked casually.
John shook his head. “Naw, man. Strippers are sleazy.”
Dennis looked at him as though he had two heads. “I thought you were a regular here.”
“I am, but I don’t come here for that riffraff.” John waved dismissively at the stage. “I come here for the drinks and the warm company of the bartender.”
Dennis looked questioningly at the burly guy tending bar. He was good at mixing drinks, but he was hardly a good conversationalist.
“I don’t mean this nincompoop they’ve got filling in tonight. The girl who usually works here is a knockout. She’s got a butterfly tattoo right above her left tit,” John added in an admiring whisper.
“Sounds kinky,” Dennis said, hardly believing his luck. What were the odds of another girl with a butterfly tattoo working in the same bar?
“If you’re careful, you can see it when she leans over the bar stand. The trick is not to stare.”
“I’ll remember that.” Dennis grinned.
“Hey, you can look, but you can’t touch,” John said protectively. “She’s a nice girl that Jess. Fell on some hard times, is all. I think of her as my daughter.”
“I was just kidding.” Dennis did his best not to look creeped out. He only hoped John didn’t have any real children.
“I just hope she’ll be back. She was gone for a while, but then she came back.” John was about to wave to the bartender for another drink but the bartender was engaged in a heated conversation with a young girl. Dennis pricked his ears—the girl fit the description Amy gave him to a T.
“Speak of the angel.” John’s fat lips spread in a smile. “Jessy’s back.”
“She sure is easy on the eyes,” Dennis chimed in.
“Don’t you try anything fresh with her,” John cautioned him.
“Would you boys like a refill?” Jess was now behind the bar stand. The man who’d been replacing her had left and took a place by the door as a bouncer.
“Yes, honey. Everything all right? I hope that gorilla wasn’t giving you a hard time,” John said, alluding to the guy who’d been tending bar until Jess arrived.
“Thanks for looking out for me, Johnny. It’s fine. I was running a little late and Nick had to back me up—he hates manning the bar. Thinks it’s demeaning ’cause he’s a bouncer.” Jess rolled her eyes. “Your usual?” she asked.
John nodded.
A few moments later she placed John’s drink in front of him. “And what can I get you?” she asked Dennis.
“A gin and tonic,” Dennis said pleasantly, noting that the girl was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck dress. Too bad. He’d just have to take John’s word on the butterfly tattoo, but then the name and the rest of the physical description matched, so he was pretty sure this was the Jess he was after.
“Coming right up.”
A few moments later she placed his drink before him.
“Jessy, you should talk to Frank here,” John made the introductions. “Frank is a photographer.”
“No kidding,” Jess said wryly. “There are lots of photographers here.” She rolled her eyes. “You’d better put your camera away, mister, or you’ll get thrown out of here in no time. The boss doesn’t like anyone getting a free lunch here.”
“I beg your pardon?” Dennis asked, doing his best to look offended.
“You can’t photograph the goods,” she explained to him. “If you want to watch, you have to come in here and pay for it, every time.”
“Oh, I see.” Dennis nodded. “It wasn’t my intention at all. I don’t even have my camera with me.”
“Like you don’t have a camera on your cellphone.” She rolled her eyes again.
“I wouldn’t call that a camera,” he countered. “Anyway, I just stopped by here for a drink.”
“Women trouble,” John grunted an explanation.
Jess gave him a onceover. “Are you really a photographer?” she asked.
Dennis nodded. “Guilty as charged.”
“You don’t seem too proud of your occupation,” she observed.
“He’d rather be taking pictures of some rocks than pretty girls,” John butted in.
“My dream was to work for National Geographic,” Dennis explained, rather proud of the cover he picked—Jess had a model wannabe look written all over her. “But that’s all in the past now.”
“So what kinda pictures do you take?” she asked, genuinely curious now.
“Fashion.” He repeated the high-profile magazines he’d boasted to John about a few minutes earlier.
There was a wistful look in her eyes. “Sounds exciting.”
“Not really, but it pays the bills. Hey, if you’re interested, I can get your headshots over to the editorial team—they are always looking for fresh faces.”
She blushed. “You think they’d consider me? I spent years trying to get into the business—spent a fortune for my headshots, even got an agent—the sleazebag charged me a ton of money and the only job he ever got me was for a Sears catalog.”
Dennis shook his head in disbelief. “A beautiful girl like you? You should have job offers knocking on your door.”
She smirked. “No one’s knocking on my door, so I’m stuck in this dump.”
“Tell you what. I’ll make a new set of headshots for you, free of charge,” Dennis offered. “And if I get you a job, the only thing you’ll owe me is a drink.”
“Careful there, he’s got a girlfriend,” John piped in.
“A platonic, no strings attached, thank you drink,” Dennis clarified.
“Deal.” She grinned. “So when do we start?”
“How about tomorrow?” Dennis asked.
“Sounds good. I’m free until eight p.m.”
“Gives us plenty of time. Meet me at Columbus Circle and Central Park South tomorrow at one p.m. We can take some nice shots there.”
“I’m looking forward to it already.” She smiled. “Look, I gotta get back to work, but here’s my number just in case.” She slid a napkin across the bar. “See you tomorrow.”
“Didn’t I tell you she’s something special?” John grunted triumphantly.
“She sure is,” Dennis agreed, hardly believing his luck. Now all he had to do was take a crash course in photography and he was in business.
***
“How did it go?” Dennis heard Janet’s voice as soon as he opened the front door. Of course she was staying up, waiting for him.
“I’ll tell you in a sec. Let me just take my shoes off.” He started to take his jacket off and was nearly knocked off his feet by Baxter who raced into the foyer to greet him with the speed of light. “Hey there, buddy, I missed you too.” Dennis patted Baxter behind the ear. He kicked off his shoes and went into the living room, taking a seat next to Janet. She was seated on a couch, dressed in her fuzzy robe, a cup of tea in her hands.
“Did you find her?” she asked.
“I did.”
“That was lucky.”
“I was surprised myself. But then since she works there several nights a week, it makes sense.”
“So she’s still working there?” Janet asked.
“Yep. I’ll find out more tomorrow. I’m supposed to take her headshots.”
“Her what?” Janet nearly spilled her tea.
“Her headshots. I told her I was a photographer.”
“But I thought we agreed on the cover—you were going to play the trouble at home card.”
“I was, but then I realized she must have tons of guys hitting on her every night.”
Janet raised an eyebrow. “Is she that attractive?”
“That’s not what I meant. That place is crawling with creeps who’ll jump on anything that moves. So I thought this would be a better cover and I was right. She told me she’s been trying to make it into modeling.”
“Sounds like you’re getting close already.”
“Hey, I don’t like this any more than you do. But we have to get close to her somehow.”
“Sure.” Janet nodded. “As long as it’s your way.”
“Don’t start with that again.”
“I just don’t see why I couldn’t get close to her myself. I’ve done it with Mila when I got a job at Kovar’s lounge.”
“Yeah, and I was worried sick about you every time you went to that slimy place. I’m not letting you do this again,” Dennis said firmly.
“Okay, I’ll admit. I’m a little jealous,” she said sheepishly. “It’s just that ever since the Kovar case came back from the dead, everything in our lives is being put on hold. And these gorgeous girls are taking up all of your time.”
Dennis scoffed. “Gorgeous girls?”
“Mila, and now this Jess character, who apparently is model material.”
Dennis took Janet’s hand in his. “I assure you, there’s no other girl I’d rather be spending my time with but you. As soon as the Kovars are back behind bars, we’re getting hitched.”
“But how are we going to do that when we’ve put all the wedding plans on hold? I cancelled the caterer and everything.”
“We don’t need a caterer to get married. We’ll elope.”
“We will?” Janet asked.
“Yes. And we’ll have the perfect honeymoon. And then we’ll find the most perfect apartment and live happily ever after.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Janet grinned. “So how’re you planning to fool Jess Hall into believing you’re a photographer?”
“I happen to be pretty good at taking pictures.”
Janet shot him a dubious glance. Whenever Dennis took a picture of something, the frame was always tilted or cutting something off.
“All right, I’ll admit, I’m not that great at it. But that fancy camera of yours can pretty much shoot by itself. I was hoping to borrow your camera,” he added, alluding to Janet’s forgotten hobby. She’d bought a professional camera with all the bells and whistles that she never used—it was too bulky for detective work and there was never enough time for her hobby.
“All right.” Janet got up from the couch and walked over to the closet.
After several moments of intense rummaging, she returned with the camera in her hand. It was still in a box. “Here it is.” She handed Dennis the camera.
“I was hoping you could teach me how to use it.”
“All right,” she said. “The instruction manual is in the box. I’m a bit rusty, but it’ll come back to me. Hand me the camera box.”
“I need a practical demonstration,” he said, holding on to the box.
“Yes, exactly. We’ll take some pictures.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“How’re you going to learn to use the camera then?” she asked.
He put the camera box aside and tugged at the belt of her robe. “I need a model to pose for me to be ready for tomorrow.”
“A model, huh?”
“Yes, to make sure I know how to shoot at a right angle. I need lots of practice at all kinds of different angles,” he murmured, kissing her neck. “How’s this for starters?”
“Mmm, not bad for a newbie—” she cut herself off. “Dennis, quit fooling around. This is serious. You can’t wing this stuff.”
“Who said anything about winging it? I’m going to be a most diligent student.” He pulled the robe off her shoulder and kissed her there. “How’s this?”
“Mmm, nice.” She felt her resistance melting.
“See? I’m a fast learner.” He pulled her closer to him and kissed her lips. Then he kissed her again, his lips trailing down her neck, past her shoulder, reaching the curve of her breasts. “And this?”
“Perfect,” she purred, half-closing her eyes.
“I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Told you I was a quick study.” He moved in closer. “I can’t remember the last time we made love on the couch. Time to revisit an old favorite,” he added with a wink.
“Dennis wait— You’ve got to practice using the camera,” Janet protested.
“That’s exactly what I have in mind—plenty of practice.”
Chapter 13
“So you think you got it?” Janet asked, as Dennis pointed the camera at her for the umpteenth time.
“I think you should be a model. It’s not too late to start you know.” He grinned.
Dennis had been taking pictures of Janet and Baxter all morning. Of course Dennis was no Annie Leibovitz, but as he had predicted the high-tech camera pretty much photographed on its own. Besides, it wasn’t like he would have to submit his photos to an actual editor at Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar. He just had to make them look good enough to impress Jess.
“Let’s do another one with you holding Baxter on your lap,” Dennis suggested. Baxter barked in approval, pawing at Janet’s leg.
“Haven’t we done enough of those? Let’s go through the exposure, aperture, and ISO speed settings again. I want to make sure you got them right.”
“I got it. It’s all in here.” Dennis pointed at his head. “I’m going to be a very convincing photographer,” he added, snapping away. Baxter barked excitedly, clearly in agreement with him.
Janet picked up Baxter and scratched him behind his ear. “So you like being a photo model, do you?” she teased him and he barked back, clearly delighted by all the attention he was getting. “Make sure you delete these photos before you leave. You don’t want Jess to see them.”
“Of course. I’m going to erase them right now.”
“So you remember how to use the flash? And the different settings for indoors and outdoors?” Janet pressed.
Dennis nodded. “I’m all set. It’s going to be a piece of cake.”
“I sure hope so.”
“It will be. Trust me. All I need to do is get close enough to her to bug her phone and then we’re in business.”
“Yes.” Janet nodded. “Just take it slow, okay?”
“Who do you take me for, an amateur? I know how to work these things.”
“I know you do,” she said quietly. “I’m just worried.”
Dennis put his hands on her should
ers. “Worried about some silly girl? I told you there’s nothing to be worried about.”
“It’s not that. I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this.”
“It’ll be fine. Trust me. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”
“All right. Then I’m going to get going.”
“What have you got planned for today?” Dennis asked.
“I thought I’d check in with Laskin—see if he’s got anything.”
Dennis nodded. “Good thinking. But I don’t think he’ll have much for you. You know how he is about crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s. He’ll probably need another week to cross-reference his data.”
Janet raised an eyebrow. “That’s not a bad thing. Anyway, at this point we can use any help we can get.”
“Not if today goes well.” He winked at her, clearly enjoying being the center of action.
“All right, hot stuff. But what if Jess isn’t the one we’re looking for? Then what?”
“Then we go back to the drawing board,” Dennis conceded. “Hey, I just got an idea. How about I take Baxter with me?”
“Why?”
“Look how adorable he is!” In confirmation, Baxter barked lightly, making eyes at Janet. “He’s going to be the perfect distraction. With him around, bugging her phone will be a piece of cake.”
Janet paused. What Dennis said made sense, but she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of using Baxter as a prop. “I don’t know, Dennis. What if something goes wrong?”
“What could possibly go wrong? What is this girl going to do, kidnap me? I think I can take on a girl, don’t you think?” he quipped.
“Hey, I have an idea, why don’t I come with you? I can be your assistant. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
“Not a good idea,” Dennis shot back. “Women are competitive by nature. You’ll make her uncomfortable. But Baxter, on the other hand, will be the perfect distraction.” Hearing his name, Baxter barked excitedly, always up for an adventure.
Janet stooped down to scratch Baxter behind his ear. “You want to go, don’t you?”
“Woof, woof, Janet, please let me come with Dennis!” Dennis impersonated Baxter, Baxter’s leash already in his hands. Baxter didn’t miss a beat, pawing at Dennis’s lap and squealing.