“We eat at The Club, but we have to pay for it. And our other expenses, they have to be paid by other means.”
“Like prostitution?”
“I didn’t say that. We make tips. They may not be the best in the world, but they’re better than nothing.”
“Do any of you ever leave?” Glen asked sitting beside her on the bed.
Marla nodded, “There’s been a couple girls save enough to get out of here. But if Frank or Nicole figures out what you’re doing, they’ll come up with an expense you have to pay that takes everything you’ve saved to get out.”
“They can’t legally do that.”
“Yeah, well they do.”
“Besides seeing Chila with Colton Hornbaker before she disappeared, did you notice who any of the other girls were socializing with before they went missing?”
“I don’t know.” Marla stood and took off her robe revealing her thin, naked body. “They disappeared off the street for all I know, I’m not their baby-sitters.” She sat down beside him. “But I kind of like to keep an eye out for my roommates, especially when they’re new around here.”
Glen concentrated on keeping his eyes on her face. “You ever have any problems with any of the men, causing you trouble outside The Club?”
“Not really.” Marla ran her hand up his leg. “There’s not really any bad guys we have to watch out for.”
Glen jumped, standing as if he’d been stung by a bee. “Actually there is. You just don’t know which one he is. I appreciate the help. I better go. I need to talk to Denise.” He walked to the door as she followed him.
“Glen.”
“I have to go.”
“You can’t stay for a little while?”
Glen raised his hand revealing his wedding ring. “I have a wife, and you and her. You look enough like her to pass for her sister.”
“That bothers you?”
Glen nodded. “Yeah, it bothers me.”
“She wouldn’t know. Nobody has to know.”
“I have to go.” Glen opened the door and hurried down the balcony. Going down the steps to the lower level, he found room six and knocked on the door.
The door opened and an attractive woman with long, black, curled hair and dark eyes stood in front of him dressed in a bright yellow sun dress. She looked older than the strippers he’d seen. “Can I help you?”
“You’re Denise?”
“Yeah, but… I haven’t done anything deputy.”
“I’m here about Karen Shuck. She was your roommate, wasn’t she?”
“She was, yeah.”
“We found Karen’s body yesterday. May I come in and ask you a few questions.”
Denise nodded, “I suppose so. Sheriff Moratelli, isn’t he supposed to be the one asking me about her?”
“Tom’s out of town at the moment, but if you rather talk to him, I -.”
Denise shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Sure come in.” She stepped back from the door. “What happened to her?”
“We’re not sure yet.” Glen looked around the room. It wasn’t as neat as Brewer’s, having clothes tossed around the room. “We sent the bodies to the medical examiner in Santa Rosa.”
“Bodies? There was more than one?”
“We found Chila Herendez too.”
“I didn’t know her very well,” Denise said, noticing Glen looking around her room. “Sorry about the mess. I did laundry yesterday. I’m not paying to dry them.”
Glen nodded and turned to her. “Do you remember when Karen went missing?”
Denise shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been awhile now.” She moved a dress from a chair and motioned toward it as she thought. “Six weeks, I think. Maybe eight,” she answered, laying the dress on the edge of the dresser. “Nicole said she told Sheriff Moratelli that Karen was missing.”
Glen sat on the edge of the chair cushion. “Did she disappear after work or -.”
“I guess, I don’t know. She usually hooked up with someone after work,” Denise answered sitting on the bed.
“I guess she never told you when she was going to be late getting home?”
“You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”
Glen shrugged.
“No, she never told me. I don’t know that she knew when she was getting back. Just so you know, I didn’t see her before she left The Club that night, and I’m always the last one to leave.”
“Why’s that?”
“I tend bar, so I clean up at night. You know, Tom… Sheriff Moratelli never came around to ask about her.”
“I think he kind of figured she just skipped town.”
Denise nodded. “That’s what we all need to do.”
“When you were working the bar, you didn’t notice who she was with, or who was paying more attention to her than the other girls that evening? Maybe someone was buying her drinks?”
Denise shrugged, “I don’t remember anyone buying her drinks. But I keep pretty busy until we close at eleven.”
“You’re not open till midnight or one a.m.?”
“Sheriff Moratelli, he’s kind of put a damper on The Club being open that late.”
Glen nodded. “Kind of figures, huh?”
“Better for you guys I suppose. And I don’t really care. I get paid the same, no matter how many hours I work. But I don’t get much time for socializing or looking around to see who’s doing what.”
“So the guys that come into The Club, they pick up the girls right after work or where do they meet them? I never see any of them working the streets or -.”
“That’s because of Sheriff Moratelli! He throws them in jail if he catches any of them out at night. If he sees them walking down the sidewalk at night, he throws them in jail. The girls all think he’s a real jerk. And it cost Nicole four-hundred bucks to get them out of jail.”
Glen nodded. “You don’t think he’s a jerk?”
Denise shook her head and smiled. “I think he’s really good looking. He doesn’t bother me, but then I don’t dress like most of the girls here do.”
“Did Karen ever bring anyone here, or -.”
“No! When I took this job I told Nicole I didn’t want to share a room with someone who was going to be bringing men here. She promised me I wasn’t going to have a roommate, than she moved Karen in here. But she was only supposed to be here for a couple months. When she disappeared, I thought she’d got her own room. But then she didn’t come around to pick up her stuff, that’s when I went to Nicole and asked her about it.”
“This place has a lot of rooms.”
“Twelve’s all. It was built when there wasn’t a lot of people travelling.”
“How many girls work here?”
“Right now there’s nine, including me. Some of the rooms are used for entertaining guest.”
“So when one of the girls gets picked up by someone, they take them to one of the other rooms?”
Denise nodded, “That or they go to his place. But there’s some men here in town that don’t go to The Club. They just come around. The Mayor’s one of them.”
“I don’t think I really want to know about that.”
Denise smiled, “That’s probably the only thing that keeps Tom, Sheriff Moratelli from closing the place down. I think he’s the only man in town that doesn’t come here. Him and you.”
“Do you know how I can contact Karen’s family?”
“Not really. But I kept all her things, in case she showed up.” Denise walked over to the closet and picked up a box. “Everything she had is in here, except her clothes.” As Denise sat it on the floor at Glen’s feet he looked down the front of her dress.
“Where was she from?”
“Kansas. She has a lot of pictures.” Denise motioned toward the box. “But I’m not sure about addresses.”
“I’ll see what I can figure out.” Glen stood, picking up the box. “I appreciate you t
aking time to help me.”
“You’re really nice. So what’s your name deputy?”
“Glen, Glen Norman.”
“I’ve never seen you around here?”
“I’ve been around, just not around here.” He sat the box on the chair. “Where are you from, Denise?”
“Montana.” Denise laughed and her dark eyes sparkled. “No one asks me where I’m from. They just ask me where I want to go.”
“You’re a long way from home.”
“Aren’t we all?” Denise leaned against the wall. “You’re not from around here. You don’t sound like anyone I’ve ever heard before.”
“I’m from Brooklyn.”
“New York?”
Glen smiled. “Yeah.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to New York, to see the skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty. But then, I’ve always wanted a lot of things. A dreamer, I guess.”
“What have you been dreaming about?”
“Married, children. Somehow it just didn’t worked out that way.”
“You still have time.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Maybe I can tell you about New York sometime.”
“You have time now?”
Glen stepped up to her. “Yeah, I have time.”
Nine
Glen put the box on the back seat of the car then drove down the street and turned. He pulled up in front of the feed store where Russ Sayles and Mitch Ihnen were known to hang out, when they weren’t doing anything, which was most of the time.
Glen stepped out the car.
“Deputy Norman,” Hank greeted, as he sat a bag of dog food into the back of a blue van. “How are ya?” He closed the door and waved at the driver. “Thanks, Mrs. Weaver.”
“All right. Russ and Mitch around here?”
Hank nodded and motioned toward the office. “They practically live here. The only way I get them to leave is unplug the coffee pot or tell Mitch the bar’s open.”
“You mean, The Club?”
“Only bar in town,” Hank said. “I’ll be in in a bit. I have to help Kent load this horse feed,” he motioned toward a red pickup, where a slender man, wearing a white western hat, was loading feed.
Glen walked to the office and leaned on the door frame, looking at Russ, who was napping in a rocking chair, with a coffee cup in his lap. “So where’s your side-kick?”
Russ looked up at him. “What’d ya say?”
“Where’s Mitch?”
“Out hunting. He likes to think he’s as good as Tory, but he ain’t.” He took a drink of the coffee, frowning as he looked in the cup. Leaning forward, he filled the cup with hot coffee.
“Maybe he’s as good as Colton.”
Russ shook his head as he took a drink of coffee. “He ain’t as good as him neither.”
“You and Mitch, you’re regulars at The Club aren’t ya?”
Russ smiled and laughed, looking at a black dog as it entered the office, lying by his chair. “We spend our fair share of the time in there, why?”
“How often do see Colton Hornbaker in there?”
“Oh, couple times a week I suppose. Sometimes a few more, why?”
Glen shrugged, “Just wondered. Have you noticed anyone giving the girls a hard time, or making any request of them that’s out of the ordinary?”
“Out of the ordinary? Like, what do you mean?”
“Maybe that they’d give me a few hundred bucks if they’d do a private show or maybe a group of guys?”
Russ shook his head. “The only thing that’d be out of the ordinary about that’s, the few hundred bucks. But naw, I ain’t never heard anything like that.” He finished his coffee. “Nobody gives them a real hard time or Frank would throw’em out.”
“He’d notice you think?”
“Yeah, he’d notice. Most guys just go in there to drink and have a good time. But you got’ta be realistic, Glen. You and everyone around here, including Moratelli knows it’s a damn illegal whore house. Hell, Tom would close it down in a heartbeat if Zingg didn’t pay so much in property taxes that it’d piss off the mayor.”
“You pick up girls in there?”
Russ smiled. “I ain’t admittin’ to anything.”
“What about Colton? You ever see him pick up a girl?”
Russ shook his head. “Colton has better things to do with his money than give it to some hooker.”
“He goes in there, so what’s he do then?”
Russ started to lean back in the rocker he was sitting in. Glancing down at a dog laying beside him, he moved its tail out of the way then leaned back. “Colton just get’s him a beer, sits in the corner and watches. I’ve never seen him socialize with any of the girls. They try to socialize with him, but he never seems interested in them.”
Glen frowned. “He must be sort of interested. Why else would he go in there?”
“Like I said, most guys just go in there for a beer and to look. Nothin’ wrong with that, is there?”
“He’s not married?”
“Never has been,” Hank said walking in and sitting at his desk. “I’ve known the Hornbaker family my whole life. Why all the questions about Colton, Glen?”
Glen shrugged, “I’m just curious. Kelly started working for him, and I don’t know much about him.”
“Colton and his sister Nora both graduated high school here, when we had a school. He never went to college, but worked for his dad up until the old man passed away last year. He inherited everything but the grocery store. Now he’ll tell you that he owns it, but Nora owns it and runs it. She’s owned it for years.”
“Why did their dad give her the grocery years ago and not give Colton anything?”
“Well, Nora got married and had this girl. The kid’s only a few years old and her husband up and takes off with one of Zingg’s girls. Now mind you, that was right after Nicole Zingg opened the joint. It hasn’t been here that long, ten years I suppose, maybe twelve.” Hank looked at Russ as he took a can of soda from a small refrigerator. “How old is that girl of Nora’s?”
Russ shrugged. “Hell I don’t know.”
Hank opened the can. “Well Frank and Nicole moved here before Tom and Sandy, or they’d never opened the place. Tom would have run them out of town the moment they sat foot in it.” He took a drink from the can. Sitting it on his desk, he wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve. “Moratelli might seem like a nice guy to you, but let me tell ya, ya don’t want to do anything to cross him or get on his bad side or you’re in for hell to pay. Anyway,” Hank cleared his throat, “Nora’s dad gives her the grocery store so she can take care of herself and her daughter. The woman’s smart. Nora went to college and got a degree in accounting. She does everyone’s taxes here in town.”
“How does Colton feel about that, their dad giving her the grocery store?”
“Pissed Colton off,” Russ answered. “Hurt that ego he has, that he had to wait till the old man kicked off to get the rest of it.”
“What about their mother?”
“Regina Hornbaker left years ago,” Hank answered, sitting a paper plate under his sweating soda can. “Guess she didn’t care for life out here. But it’s not easy, living out here in the middle of nowhere, having to have your water hauled in during the summer months when the mountain water’s gone. It’s not for people who haven’t grown up out here, although there’s a few that stay.”
“Why didn’t Colton ever get married?” Glen asked.
“Not a whole lot of gals around here to pick from,” Hank stated. “Although, he had a girlfriend once, but I guess she decided she wanted more out of life then livin’ out here, so she went to the city and hooked it up with some lawyer. Anyway, that’s the rumor.”
“When did Kelly start working for him?” Russ asked.
“A few days ago,” Glen answered. “Only place she can find work around here.” He noticed the time on the clock
above Hank’s head.
“Where’s Tom?” Hank asked. “I didn’t see him in the café this morning, and he’s usually the one asking questions, if they need to be asked.”
“He went over to Santa Rosa to go talk to the medical examiner.”
“I heard Jerry flew those bodies over there.” Hank nodded toward Russ. “Russ said he helped you guys dig them up.”
“Yeah.” Glen motioned toward the clock. “I gotta get to the office and open it. I’ll see you guys later.”
- Ten -
Walking into the receptionist area of the coroner’s office, Tom looked at a Native American woman, who sat behind the desk, reading a book. He cleared his throat.
She looked up. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.” Putting a marker in her book, she laid it on the desk. “How can I help you sheriff?”
“I’m Sheriff Moratelli. I called and talked to someone yesterday about a couple of bodies that were flown here a few days ago.”
The woman looked at him, thinking, and nodded, “The ones buried in the desert?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll tell the medical examiner you’re here.” The woman picked up the phone and pushed two buttons.
Tom looked around the white painted room.
“Dr. Rice, the sheriff’s here about those two girls that arrived here on Wednesday… Yeah, the ones that were buried... I’ll send him in.” Hanging up the receiver, she looked at Tom and pointed to the side at a white door. “Go through that door and you’ll be in the lab where Doctor Rice is working.”
Tom nodded, “Appreciate it.” He motioned toward the bare walls. “Couple of pictures wouldn’t hurt.”
Walking through an insulated door, the cool temperature sent a chill up his spine. Tom crossed the room to where a body lay on a stainless steel table. Blood and human excrement ran from the table into a drain. He wrinkled his nose at the smell. “You’re, Dr. Rice?” Tom asked a doctor, standing at a counter.
A black woman turned and looked at him. “That’s me. You’re Sheriff Moratelli?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t give me much time to examine them before coming.” Rice motioned toward the woman lying on the table. “I just got her sewed up.”
“I didn’t figure there was that much to it. They’ve both been shot, so what caliber am I looking for?”
Rice frowned. “You know you have a serious problem out there, sheriff?”
Tom shrugged, “What makes you think that?”
Rice walked over to the body of Chila Herendez. “You have a killer that’s taking his work pretty serious. You think these are the only ones?”