Always a Kicker

by Jeff Zwagerman

  Jayne’s job is to keep the business end running smoothly. Everything on the legitimate side looks just like any other business. She keeps a tight rope on the girls. No drugs are allowed. I know of one girl who used cocaine and was found dead a few weeks later on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens. The Denver Post said it was an overdose.

  The girls are sent to massage school but that’s just a front for the prostitution side of the business. The younger girls take care of the tanning side of the business and the massage graduates do both the real massages and those that take another set of skills. Both these groups are available for whatever the customers might have in mind, the younger the taste in girls, the higher the cost to the customer. We have some very sick people as clients and Van has had to go down to Mexico to get girls twelve to fourteen. I believe he makes a trip to Juarez straight down I-25 to bring these girls here. Unlike most of us, they didn’t get involved in this business by choice. Zander, it is human trafficking and it’s sick.

  The girls are only released when they get too old to be attractive to the clients any longer. Most of them are too afraid to ever talk about what they have been through. Two of the girls I know were basically sold to a couple of clients who fell in love with them. That is about the only happy ending to a life of misery and pain. You need to know that these women have no one who cares about them and if they make waves they simply disappear. No one ever checks on them because they don’t exist.

  Don’t ask me why Van never pressed me into prostitution. I think he saw that I might have had a good business sense and he could use that to better financial ends. The file folder contains the listing of girls he keeps and the names of the clients who use them. The information is extremely dangerous so if you decide not to destroy it, please keep it in a safe place. The list of clients reads like a who’s who and you wouldn’t just have to worry about Van if it were made public.

  Van is dangerous but so is Jayne. They are very dangerous people. They start out being the girls’ rescuers and then when they are entrenched and there is no way out, their true intent finally emerges.

  I have managed to secure a great deal of money and it went unnoticed by both. If they had any idea that I was skimming off the top, I would have been killed years ago. So as you can see, I have a vested interest in seeing these two brought down and as soon as possible.

  So that’s why I brought you into all this. If you decide this is all too risky, then destroy the files. If you, like me, want to see this exploitation stopped, then know it is a dirty business and some of that dirt will no doubt rub off on you. You and I both know that there are even more unknowns. Jayne’s interest in you must have some meaning for you that I don’t know about so I would think that alone would make you want to see this come to some kind of ending.

  Zander, I really care about you. Whatever you do, don’t lose focus. They will kill you if they get the chance.

  Please destroy this letter after you’ve read it. Oh and by the way, my name is Elizabeth Hamerstrom.

  Lilly

  *****

  Zander re-read the letter twice. There was a lot of information to process and he wanted to be sure he had it all before the letter had to be destroyed. When he was confident he had it all, Zander fed it through Jo’s shredder next to the desk.

  He paged through the lists of names again. It now had meaning but still the names were meaningless to Zander. The one thing that stood out was Lilly’s comment: “Zander, I really care about you.” That would insure Zander’s involvement until this thing ended.

  He was about to put the file folder into the expandable file when he noticed a single sheet of paper with the heading “Service Codes”. He assumed the girls used these codes when they wrote up their tickets for the billings. If someone saw a ticket with the codes, it would have no meaning unless the key accompanied them.

  Zander read each item:

  1A―30 Minute Massage―75.00

  1B―50 Minute Massage--100.00

  2A—30 Minute Hand Service—175.00

  2B—50 Minute Hand Service—200.00

  3A—30 Minute Oral Service—275.00

  3B—50 Minute Oral Service—300.00

  4A—30 Minute Mutual Hand/Oral Service—375.00

  4B—50 Minute Mutual Hand/Oral Service—400.00

  5A—30 Minute Full Service—475.00

  5B—50 Minute Full Service—500.00

  The following are to be used as additions to the above billing:

  C—Fantasy or Role Playing—100.00

  D—Use of Appliances/Toys—100.00

  E—Anal—100.00

  F—3-way—200.00

  G—Bathing/Shaving/Other—100.00

  The following additions for age:

  HV—Age 17—100.00

  HW—Age 16—150.00

  HX—Age 15—200.00

  HY—Age 14—300.00

  HZ—Age13—400.00

  HOO—Age 12—2,000.00

  HOH—Under 12—3,000.00

  Lilly was right, this was a dirty business. It made Zander’s stomach roll to think of these young girls, babies really, with these sick bastards. They had to be stopped.

  Zander put the papers in the expandable file along with the money. He decided to hide it in plain sight. He walked out of the office and slid the file under the bar next to the aprons. He would find a better place for it later.

  The next piece of business would be to find out who Jayne was and why she was asking for information about him. Zander felt he needed that information as proof even though he was quite sure he knew who she was. He was positive his past had resurrected itself.

  19

  Breckenridge Colorado---Friday, September 13, 1985

  It was a quiet week. Fat’s had gone back for a few massages without much luck. He was spending money but only getting the advertised services and not much more. He hadn’t been invited to join the preferred customer list and wondered to Zander what he thought the holdup could be. He hated to scale down but he was concerned he couldn’t keep paying the hundred-dollar rate and might have to settle for the thirty-minute session.

  “Fats, I think you’d better stop making those trips to Denver.”

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  “Lilly thinks we may have been compromised. She thinks people have been watching me and everyone around me is suspect. It may turn out to be too dangerous for you. Besides, I have enough information about what is happening behind their closed doors. I don’t need you to continue spending money unnecessarily.”

  “Don’t ever presume it was wasted money,” Fats said irritably.

  “I know you enjoy the massages but it is ridiculous having to drive to Denver for them,” Zander responded trying to appeal to Fat’s financial side.

  That may have made Fats think because Zander noticed he was looking through the yellow pages of the area phone book. Fats would find something closer to home with a better value for the money he was spending.

  *****

  On his way to Breckenridge, Zander found he needed to talk to Jasper. He had planned to call him but circumstances had kept him from making the phone call. He drove to the Conoco station on the south side of town and found the car phone near the entrance. Jasper answered the phone.

  “Onion,” was all he said.

  “Jasper, it’s Zander.”

  “Well I’ll be damned, you’re still alive.”

  “For the moment.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ll explain later. I just needed to hear a friendly voice.”

  “Who would that be? I’ve never been friendly a day in my life and you know it.”

  “I certainly can agree with you there.” Zander laughed.

  “When you coming back for a visit?” Jasper asked.

  “Not for a while, I’ve got some things on the burner right now. Say how did everything turn out with your brother’s family?”

  “Amy still hasn’t been released. She
must have been really screwed up. Jim and I went over to the apartment in Council Bluffs to get her stuff and found out the prick took off in the middle of the night shortly after our visit. He took most of Amy’s stuff just left her clothes and some things he didn’t want. He left without paying the rent as well. Jim paid the remainder of the lease and said it was a small price to pay to get rid of that deadbeat. We’re all hoping Amy will get her act together real soon.”

  “I’m happy things are working out for your family. How about Roberta?”

  “Haven’t seen her, thank god. She’s been real quiet. Jim told me to thank you for everything. I think he was especially happy you put her in her place,” Jasper said laughing.

  “Well I don’t want to keep you. It was good to talk to you Jasper.”

  “You be careful, Zander. I don’t like the sound of your voice. I know something is bothering you so if you need to talk again, just call.”

  “Thanks, Jasper. That’s pretty special.”

  “Zander, I want to ask you a question.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Have you ever been caught playing with yourself in the shower?”

  The question took him off guard but he answered quickly.

  “No. What the hell?”

  “Pretty safe place isn’t it?” Jasper said and hung up.

  Zander laughed. In a world where people constantly worked so hard to transform or reinvent their lives, Jasper didn’t even pretend to change. He always knew how to pick up Zander’s spirits. Just when things seemed to border on the serious, Jasper would do a complete one-eighty and make him laugh. Laughter it seemed, cleansed the soul.

  *****

  It looked to be a fairly good Friday night. The Bridge booked performers on the weekend. Tonight they had a keyboardist Zander had hooked up with at various times. She was an excellent singer and equally proficient in the bedroom. Zander would do some duets with her near the end of her final set of the evening. He even did some solo James Taylor and she would fill in the harmony. Zander always told her he liked the way she did covers. She told him she liked his heavy beat. Everything they said to each other was usually a double entendre. Tonight though, she had brought along some friends so there would not be a private late night set between the two of them.

  Zander missed the music and enjoyed singing with some of the groups when they let him. He even liked it when they had karaoke and the audience seemed to enjoy him as well. Tonight he thought he was especially in fine voice. Audrey was even smiling at him. It usually pissed her off when Zander went over to sing because she had to cover for him so this was a special night indeed.

  Zander was almost ready to return his mike when the keyboardist announced that she had a request from earlier in the night but she didn’t know the song. It was a Beatle’s tune called “Nowhere Man”. Did Zander know it and could he sing it? Of course he knew it. It was from Rubber Soul and it was about him.

  He was about to give the cords when the singer told him of course she knew the song but it was a request for him.

  Zander began singing while looking around the room. Nothing much caught his attention until he saw a woman near the back of the bar raise her head and look right at him. He glanced over from time to time trying to avoid staring and being too obvious. When he finished the song and the applause had started to wane he looked up but the woman was gone. He knew who she was however. It was Sara Jane.

  *****

  Lilly felt she had to get away from Montrose for a while. Dee Dee had suggested she spend some time in Durango. Lilly had never been there and she thought it might be fun to explore the old western town. They decided Dee Dee would drive her to Silverton on Saturday morning and Lilly would ride the Silverton to Durango Narrow Gage Railroad. They found the phone number and Lilly booked one ticket on the Presidential Class Railcar. The train left Silverton at 1:45 and arrived in Durango at 5:15. Dee Dee called the Strater Hotel in Durango and reserved a room for Lilly for a week. Dee Dee had stayed there and it was only two blocks from the rail station. She said it was built in the late 1800’s and kept the old western flavor plus it was in the heart of town and Lilly wouldn’t need any transportation. She could just explore everything from her hotel. They also had an award-winning restaurant right in the hotel.

  Lilly borrowed a backpack from Dee Dee. She packed only the things she had purchased since she left Breckenridge. All of the other things she packed into her suitcase and put it in the back seat of the “Bug”. She hated to leave her purse but knew it would be the first thing they would want to see if they came to check on her. She handed her purse to Dee Dee without taking anything out of it. Dee Dee would keep that in the house in her desk for “safe keeping”

  They decided to leave a bit earlier on Saturday morning. It was about 50 miles to Silverton and it would take a little over an hour to get there. Lilly got up early to clean her room and wash the bedding, checking everything to be sure there was no trace of her.

  When they were ready to leave, Lilly put the envelope with the money in the backpack. She wouldn’t have any identification on her but she would have cash. Cash always opened many doors.

  They arrived at Silverton at 11:00 and decided to have a leisurely lunch and a bottle of red wine before Lilly would have to board the train. They chose red wine because it was getting chilly and Lilly thought it would warm her up. She didn’t realize that the Presidential car had all the amenities she could possibly want. By 6:00 she would be at the hotel in Durango and sitting in the bar drinking more wine. With any luck she would have a raging headache in the morning. That thought made her smile because it meant she was alive.

  *****

  Jayne got a late start on Saturday morning. She woke up at 9:00 and by the time she was ready for breakfast, it was 10:30. In addition to the restaurant, the hotel had a free self-serve type of breakfast and Jayne thought it would be great plenty. She had a cup of coffee, scrambled eggs, sausage, and some fat free yogurt. It was more than she usually ate for breakfast but she planned on skipping lunch. Van had her come up to Breckenridge and checked to see if anyone had heard anymore about Lilly. The hotel hadn’t of course and neither did any of the other places she had frequented while they had attended the conference. Van was just being careful by covering all the bases.

  She had booked the hotel for another night because she intended to be back from her little road trip by late afternoon. She was getting started later then she would have liked but her visit to the hot tub late in the evening had relaxed her and she had slept better then usual.

  The sun was out and her trip to Gunnison was a pretty drive. The owners of the little resort played their parts perfectly and soon Jayne was on her way to Montrose. Dee Dee was home when Jayne knocked on her door. Dee Dee invited her in and showed real concern for her missing friend. She showed her the purse and Jayne rummaged through it until she pulled out her clutch and looked through it. Everything seemed to be in place including her driver’s license.

  “I noticed her car out front,” Jayne said

  “I drove it back after the resort called. One of the other teachers gave me a ride over to pick it up,” Dee Dee volunteered hoping she wasn’t saying too much.

  “Would you mind very much if I looked through it?” Jayne asked.

  “It’s locked but I put her keys back in her purse.”

  Jayne dug through the purse and pulled out the car keys and went outside to the car. She looked through the car and popped the trunk. Jayne had a hard time accepting the trunk where the motor should be. Since there was nothing in the trunk, she took the suitcase out of the backseat and opened it in the open trunk. There was nothing out of the ordinary and nothing missing including her make-up bag. Jayne closed the suitcase and locked it in the trunk. Dee Dee had come to the door and Jayne went up to talk to her.

  “Nothing missing that I can tell. Have you contacted the authorities?”

  “Not yet. I was hoping to hear something. Do you think I should?”


  “I would. It doesn’t look very good. She’s been missing for a while. I’ll take care of it on our end but you should tell the local police. I put her suitcase in the trunk away from prying eyes,” Jayne said trying to sound concerned.

  “Okay, I’ll do it yet today. Will you please call me if you have any news?” Dee Dee asked and handed Jayne her phone number.

  “Of course. Let’s just hope this isn’t as bad as it looks,” Jayne said as she took the phone number.

  Jayne left Montrose feeling good about the loose ends. There was no body but it could be caught under the water somewhere or maybe a bear made a meal of her. She was still thinking about the body when she rolled down the window and threw out Dee Dee’s phone number.

  20