agreed.
âReally?â
She nodded.
âYeah, youâd think itâs just empty bullshit, but it isnât,â Christina said. âI had a case during my first year here, where I didnât get our expert disclosed in time. The other side got anal about it and persuaded the judge to exclude his testimony. We lost the case and the client ended up paying about fifty grand, when we should have had a defense verdict.â
âOuch,â Aspen said.
âMajor ouch,â Christina agreed. âAnyway, there was some talk in the halls as to whether I had what it takes to be here. Blake stepped in and brought that to a screeching halt. Even more than that, he paid the client a chunk of change out of his own wallet.â
âDamn.â
Christina nodded.
âIâd be washing dishes right now if it wasnât for him.â
The TV monitors over the bar interrupted the current programming with a newsbreak. Two more bodies had been discovered at the abandoned railroad spur north of town, bringing the total now to four. Footage of the Crime Unit working the scene filled the screen, and then switched over to reporter Jena Vellone interviewing a man.
The detective in charge, apparently.
Aspen had seen him before somewhere.
He had one of those faces you donât forget.
âWeâre very interested in talking to the person who called us last night,â Teffinger said. Looking straight into the camera, he added, âIf youâre that person, please call us as soon as possible.â
Aspen dropped her fork.
âWhat?â Christina asked.
She tried to not appear shaken. âNothing, just clumsy. Scary stuff, all those bodies.â
Christina made a disgusted face. âThereâs no shortage of sickos in the world, thatâs for sure.â She wiped her mouth and added, âI love that guyâs eyes.â
Aspen studied them.
âTheyâre two different colors,â she said.
âI know,â Christina said. âHe should be in that Right Said Fred song, Iâm too sexy for my eyes, too sexy for my eyes, thatâs no lie.â
Aspen laughed.
But stayed focused on the news update to see if they mentioned that one of the new bodies was Rachel Ringerâs. They didnât, probably because they still needed to verify it conclusively.
So, who was the fourth victim?
No doubt someone who had also disappeared in early April. With a little work on the Internet, Aspen should be able to figure it out in short order.
She paid for lunch, for the both of them.
$22.00, including the tip.
Meaning $60.00 left.
21
DAY FOURâSEPTEMBER 8
THURSDAY MORNING
D raven was pissed that Gretchen smashed in the dumb-ass bikerâs skull, not really needing to be connected to too many things like that right now. âI didnât know I was going to do it until I did it,â she apologized. Then, to make up for it, she gave him a long, slow blowjob.
They hid out all night in the canyon at the Pueblo Reservoir.
Now, as the morning sun rose with a warm orange glow over the rocky ridge, Dravenâs anger waned and they laughed about it.
âHe did deserve it,â he noted.
Gretchen locked her arm through his as they hiked back to the car. âScrew him,â she said. âNow what?â
Good question.
One heâd been wrestling with all night.
âThe biggest liability is my car,â he said, âin case anyone saw it parked in the area. I doubt that anyone got a license plate number, but they might have a general description. So I need to get it out of Pueblo, starting now.â
She squeezed his arm.
âTake me with you.â
He shook his head.
âYou canât break your routine,â he said. âThatâll draw attention. You need to get back to your hotel room and turn tricks like nothing happened. Whatâs today? Thursday?â
âYeah.â
âDo you have some Thursday
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