by Keith Trimm
“I hurt my shoulder and collarbone auditioning for a dancing job. He didn’t want me to go to the hospital so he could avoid putting my injury on the record. When he realized I might sue, he freaked and shot himself in the head.”
“I see, so you were extorting him,” the detective said.
“What do you mean?”
“You were shaking him down, it was pay you seventy five thousand dollars or you fuck him over.”
“He offered me five thousand at first, I just asked for more.”
“You’re splitting hairs lady, the end result is the same, you wanted cash to keep your mouth shut, that’s called extortion. Doesn’t matter who offered who what first.”
Cassidy realized that she may be fucked and should never have offered up that information in the first place. “I take all that back,” she said.
“Too late, you’re on video camera,” the detective replied pointing to the little black dot on the wall.
“Either way, I didn’t put the gun in his mouth, he did that all by himself,” Cassidy said like a bitch.
“That’s not what I heard,” the detective said smugly.
“What are you talking about?”
“The other guy in the room, the EMT, he said you shot Paul in the head.”
Cassidy cocked her head like a rooster and made a face like she had sucked a lemon. “What the fuck?”
“According to his statement, you got in a fight over a sex deal, got pissed, found his gun and shot the club manager in the head.”
“Did you happen to notice the shot went from his mouth through the top of his head? How the fuck would I get the barrel of the gun in his mouth?”
“You’re an expert at putting foreign objects in your mouth, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch.”
“You’re not pinning this on me, I had nothing to do with him shooting himself, I didn’t know he had a gun. I was an innocent bystander.”
The detective wrote down a few notes and looked at Cassidy like she was a lying piece of shit. “Not the story I got.”
“What is the story you got?”
“That you were fucking him on his desk when he decided to reduce your pay. You got angry, reached in his desk drawer, found the gun and shot him.”
“Do you know how insane that sounds? How would I know he had a gun, and why would I be fucking this guy with another guy watching?” Cassidy replied lividly.
“You fuck guys all the time from what I understand on camera with all sorts of people watching. I think having just one would be sort of a disappointment. He told me that he was supposed to get fucked next until you decided to shoot the club owner.”
Cassidy was starting to wonder if her version of reality was right. Maybe the detective was right all along and she did shoot Paul over money issues, and maybe the EMT was next in line to get fucked. But what about the gun? How did she know it was in the drawer? Did Paul show it to her earlier and she forgot? The more she thought about it, the more the two stories blurred together and the less sure she was about either. “If you’re right about this, my fingerprints should be on the gun, right?” she asked.
“They are,” the detective replied.
“Was there a camera in the office recording? Am I on tape?”
“There were cameras in every nook and cranny in that club, not the office.”
“Why not?” Cassidy asked.
“Who knows, but we checked.”
“So it’s the EMT’s word against mine? A he said she said.”
“Yes, but we believe his story,” the detective said staring at Cassidy.
“And you don’t believe mine?” Cassidy asked.
“It’s a stretch if you ask me.”
“And how do you explain my shoulder injury?” Cassidy asked.
“Probably slipped giving a blow job in the alley,” the detective said dead seriously.
Cassidy had sustained injuries in the past performing sex acts, especially in places she wasn’t familiar with. It wasn’t beyond belief that should could have injured her shoulder doing something that required a lot of bouncing around. But it still seemed wrong to her. “I don’t think that’s what happened?”
“Then explain your injury to me,” the detective asked.
Cassidy racked her brain for an explanation. “I was doing a pole trick, I spun on one pole, leaped fifteen feet and crashed into another.”
Fifteen feet? That’s longer than any long jump on record. You expect me to believe that?”
“I used to do that trick once a night back a few years ago when I was doing more stripping than porn. It’s what kept the producers coming back to hire me. I do that trick in one of my DVD’s”
“Show me this DVD,” the detective said.
“I don’t keep copies with me, I’ve been in over three hundred. I’m not sure which one it was for sure.”
“This story keeps getting more and more fantastic. I think you like the spotlight and making up shit to make yourself look far more important than you are. Nobody jumps fifteen feet, unless you’re shot out of a cannon. Just admit it, you shot him because he wasn’t going to pay you what you agreed.”
“I’ve never shot a gun before in my life! I wouldn’t even know how to use one.”
“Really? It’s pretty simple, you point and shoot.”
“You make it sound so easy, maybe for you detective, but if I was going to kill someone in anger, I’d stab the fucker, or hit him with a rock. That I know I can do.”
“I have an eye witness that puts you at the scene and saw you shoot the guy.”
“If that were the case, my skin would be covered in blood, not my clothes.”
“He never said you took your clothes off, you must have left them on obviously,” the detective said smugly.
“Do you know how the female anatomy works? I can’t have sex with my clothes on and I wasn’t wearing a skirt.”
“I don’t care, he will testify that you shot him.”
“Am I under arrest now?” Cassidy asked.
“Yes, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Paul Shick, the manager of the club. I will now read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to have an attorney present at questioning, if you can’t afford an attorney one will be provided for you, do you understand these rights?” the detective asked.
“Yes,” Cassidy replied.
“Do you wish to waive these rights and continue questioning?”
“No, I want a lawyer,” she replied and crossed her arms in defiance.
“Ok, give me ten minutes,” the detective said getting out of his chair.
“Where are you going?” Cassidy asked.
“To get you a lawyer,” the detective replied confused.
“”I’ll get my own lawyer thank you very much,” Cassidy replied bitchy. “Since when does the cop get the lawyer? And don’t I get a phone call? Supposedly to get a lawyer?”
“We only have one lawyer,” the detective replied with a smirk.
“I don’t get to choose my own lawyer?”
“I said we have one.”
“I have my own family lawyer, I don’t need yours.”
“Hey, I was just trying to be nice, if you want to get your family lawyer, go ahead. I’m going to book you first and then you can call whoever the fuck you want. Now follow me.”
Cassidy stood up and stepped around the table. Detective Bank held opened the door and let her in the hall. “Can I get a drink?” she asked.
“I’m not a waiter, get your lawyer to get you a drink.”
“What a bastard,” Cassidy said under her breath.
The detective led Cassidy down the hall into the booking room where she stood up against the wall for her booking picture. “Don’t smile, it looks bad in the papers.” She looked around the room and compared this booking room to the booking room she was in when she was picked up for driving on a suspended license. It was amazing similar with painted brick walls and off white colore
d countertops with computers and printers set on top.
“What color are your prison uniforms? Orange?” she asked sardonically.
“No, white with the word prisoner on the back in big black letters. Why do you ask? Have you worn a few in your day?” the detective asked.
“Do you have communal showers?””
“No, each shower has its own stall.”
“Are your guards lesbians?”
“I don’t know, never asked. Why?”
“I’ve had a few issues in the past, I don’t plan to go through them again.”
“So you are a repeat offender? I figured as much, we’ll run your criminal history in a second.”
It was then that Cassidy realized that she would be ousted with some sort of warrant for faking her own death in South Dakota and sent back. Holy shit, now what? Back to the firing squad for her, only this time they would do it in the pond so she would drown right after the shots were fired, then set on fire to make sure there was nothing left of her. “Yeah, you’ll have a hay day with my record, I shouldn’t bother to change my clothes, you’ll be sending me back to South Dakota in an armored car.”
“Is there a warrant for your arrest in South Dakota?” the detective asked.
“Honestly I don’t know, but I’m sure they want me back.”
Chapter 16
Bullet Resistant
Three days later Cassidy is passing the time in her cell watching television. Bored out of her mind and worried about extradition back to South Dakota for execution, she gnawed on her fingernails like an angry beaver. Then she heard clanking sounds and men yelling, then a gunshot and more metal cracking and bending.
She stood up and ran to the bars looking to see what was making all the noise but she had a very limited view of the hallway. More crashing and muffled gunshots bounced around the hall making it hard to tell exactly where all the commotion was coming from. Then the clear and distinct sound of the main door hitting the floor and smoke rolled across the ceiling in plain view. Whatever was going on was now in the confinement center and on its way.
Then she saw him, a man she hadn’t seen in months standing before her on the other side of the bars. It was Dennis her photographer. “Hi Cassidy, how are you?” he asked like nothing ever happened.
“What’s going on? What’s all that noise?”
“Remember that scene in Star Wars where Darth Vader first appears on the rebel ship? Think of that, without the cool black costume.” Dennis replied.
“You think you’re Darth Vader?” Cassidy asked confused.
“Never mind, I’m here to bust you out.”
Cassidy stood dumbfounded and confused. “How?” was all she asked.
“Remember that alien ship we were on?”
“Yeah.”
“And that probe they stuck up my ass?”
“I remember you saying something about it.”
“Turns out there really did plant some eggs in my ass, and now I have some really fucked up powers,” Dennis said like a giddy schoolboy.
“Like what?” Cassidy asked.
“Super strength, bullet proof skin, I can run really fast and have some psychic abilities.”
“Is that all?”
“I think that’s pretty impressive,” Dennis replied with an eyebrow raised.
“I wasn’t being a bitch, I was curious. This is a stressful situation and you may have left a few out.”
“Like what?” Dennis asked.
“X-ray vision?”
“No.”
“Rubber body parts?”
“No.”
“Can you fly?”
“No.”
“Do you have a secret cave where you live, and a sidekick?”
“I’m not Batman, and those are not abilities. Batman used his wealth to created his power, he didn’t have any on his own.”
“An invisible jet?”
“Same as Batman, an invisible jet is not a power, it’s something you buy in the toy section of a department store.”
“Ok, then once you bust me out of here, how are you going to get me away from this place? I don’t have bullet proof skin.”
“I brought you a bulletproof vest, it’s in my car.” Dennis replied all proud that he thought of that in advance.
“What about my head? Did you bring a bullet proof helmet?”
Dennis smiled like was the smartest thing he could think of. “No, but I did bring a second vest that you can wear like a hat.”
Cassidy scratched her nose and said, “Ok, get me the fuck out of here.”
“No problem, stand back,” he said and tore out the cell door like it was paper.
“Did you say the bulletproof vests were in your car?”
“Yeah,” Dennis replied.
“Then how do I get from here to your car? This place is filled with cops.”
Dennis stopped in his tracks and thought hard about what she had said. She was right and he didn’t think about bringing in the vests. How stupid could he be? Then an idea hit him? “Where is the parking lot from here?”
“I don’t know, I get my directions all screwed up inside. Don’t you have a super compass?”
“Let me think for a second,” Dennis said and he closed his eyes as he tried to trace his way from his car, into the building and to her cell. He pointed and turned and pointed and turned and then opened his eyes. “I think I parked over there,” he said pointing to the back of the cell. I parked in back so nobody would see me coming and i think that is the way to the back.”
“What do you want to do, bust down the wall and get in your car and leave?”
“They won’t see it coming, they will expect us to go back out how we came in.”
“Makes sense, ok bust down the wall, if they are standing there waiting for us, you block all the bullets with you bulletproof skin.”
“Ok, step aside,” Dennis said walking over to the back wall of the cell.
“Are you sure the parking lot is on the other side? I mean it might be a kitchen, or bathroom, now would be a good time to have x-ray vision, and are you sure your skin is bullet proof and not just bullet resistant?”
“What’s the difference?” Dennis asked.
“One means bounces off, the other means bullets stuck sticking out of your hairy arms and bleeding all over the place. How did you ever figure out they were bullet anything anyway, did you practice shooting yourself?”
“I did with a pellet gun,” Dennis replied.
“Excuse me?” Cassidy replied.
“I knew that my skin was tougher than it was before, but I don’t own a gun, so I had to use what I had. My neighbor kid has a pellet gun so I asked him to shoot me in the leg and it bounced off.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“You saw me tear that cell door off like it was nothing, look at my hands, not a scratch.”
Cassidy leaned over and took a look at Dennis’s hands. He was right, not a scratch. “What kind of eggs did they plant in your ass?” she asked.
“I don’t know, all I do know is that I get one hell of a belly ache if I eat Mexican food. I can feel the little fuckers running around down there.”
“Are you sure it’s not a tape worm?”
“No, I didn’t do a biopsy,” Dennis replied getting pissed.
“Did you ever check your stool? Sometimes tapeworms get shit out in pieces.”
“Do you want out of here or do you want to discuss my shit?” Dennis asked pissed.
“Just saying, those things can be nasty, my best friend got one in Mexico on spring break from eating a taco.”
“Is she able to bend steel?”
“No, she’s real fat now and has three kids and her husband came out gay last year.”
“Stand behind me, I don’t want any of the debris to mess up your body, you have porn to make when we get out.”
Cassidy walked out of the cell and stood around the corner so she would be safe from flying concrete. “Ready when
you are,” she shouted and waited for the destruction.
Chapter 17
On the other side
After hearing the wall come crashing down, Dennis yelled for her to come back into the cell. What she saw shocked and amazed her. It was a cave that led back as far as she could see. Somehow the jail had been built at the entrance of the cave sealing it shut, and now it was open. The light from the jail lit up the cave for the first thirty or so feet, and from there she could see the glow from patches of rock all around the cave that added more light. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to see by.
“Let’s go,” Dennis said stepping over the debris.
“Where does this go?” Cassidy asked.
“Away from the police, now hurry.”
Cassidy quickly stepped over the debris and followed Dennis into the cave. It was tall, twenty or so feet tall and just as wide. The floor of the cave was soft and sandy and squished under their feet as they moved in deeper. In the distance they could hear water dripping, and what sounded like muffled voices. “I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she said. “This cave was sealed for a reason.”
“You have two choices porn star, one, go back and let them take you to South Dakota for execution, or two, see where this cave leads to. If I were you, I’d give the cave a chance.”
Cassidy quit complaining and followed Dennis into the cave leaving the entrance in the far distance. “Where are the cops? Why aren’t they following us?” she asked.
“They might know something we don’t, but be glad they didn’t follow us. “Dennis replied. The two walked for twenty minutes nonstop in the dim glow of the luminescent rocks. Then they heard the sounds of a voice again in the distance. Dennis signaled for Cassidy to stop while he tried to figure out who was ahead of them.
The voice started, and stopped, and started again. It was loud for a moment then they heard the sound of clanking, like metal on rock. Dennis decided to go on and see what was going on, they had little choice at this time. He signaled for Cassidy to follow him.
A few minutes later the sounds of the clanking were becoming more and clearer. Then Dennis saw it, a short hairy figure swinging a sledgehammer against the cave wall. Next to the figure was a cart containing a pile of rocks. The hairy creature swung the hammer over and over breaking rocks from the wall taking a break every ten or so swings. Then it would mutter something about how hard its life was doing this kind of work.