Read Online Once Craved (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #3) by Blake Pierce - Free Book Online Page B

invested in elaborate wardrobes to cater to
all sorts of clients’ fantasies. They had been colleagues of Nancy “Nanette”
Holbrook at Ishtar Escorts. The clothes Nancy Holbrook had been wearing when
she was killed had been markedly less proper. But, Riley figured, when not
actually on the job, the women wanted to look respectable.
    Although prostitutes
had played a role in some of the cases Riley had investigated in the past, this
was the first time she’d been called on to work so directly with any of them.
These women were potential victims themselves. They might even be potential
suspects, although virtually all murders of this type were carried out by men.
Riley felt sure that these women weren’t the kind of monsters she hunted in her
job.
    It was late Sunday
afternoon. Last night Riley and Bill had settled into their separate and
comfortable hotel rooms not far from the FBI building. Riley had phoned April,
who was in a Washington, DC, hotel with the history field trip. April had been
giggly and happy, and had warned her mother that she didn’t really have time
for phone calls. “I’ll text you tomorrow,” April had said, shouting over the
teenage clamor in the background.
    Riley felt that too
much of today had already been wasted. It had taken most of the day to round up
the prostitutes and bring them in. Riley had told Special Agent in Charge Elgin
Morley that she wanted to talk to the women without any men present. Perhaps
they’d be more open with another woman. Now she thought she’d observe and
listen to them unseen for a few minutes before actually questioning them.
Through the speaker, she could hear their conversation.
    Their styles and
personalities were distinctive. Short, blonde, buxom Mitzi displayed a certain
small-town, girl-next-door image.
    “So has Kip popped
the question?” Mitzi asked Koreen.
    “Not yet,” Koreen
said with a conspiratorial smile. She was a slender brunette with something of
the grace of a ballerina. “I’ve got a feeling he’s bought a ring, though.”
    “Does he still want
to have four kids?” Mitzi asked.
    Koreen let out a
high, lilting laugh. “I’ve talked him down to three. But between you and me, he’s
only going to get two.”
    Mitzi joined in
Koreen’s laughter.
    Tantra gave Koreen a
nudge. She was a tall African-American with a tawny complexion. She seemed to
have adopted the glamorous poise of a supermodel.
    “Better make sure he
doesn’t find out what you do for a living, girl,” Tantra said.
    All three women
laughed heartily. Riley was taken by surprise. These three prostitutes were
talking about having families, just like any ordinary women in a beauty parlor.
Was that kind of normality really in the cards for any of them? She couldn’t
imagine that such a thing was possible.
    Riley decided that
she’d kept the women waiting long enough. When she walked into the interview
room, she could feel the relaxed atmosphere suddenly pop like a bubble. Now the
women were visibly on edge.
    “I’m Agent Riley
Paige,” she said. “I’d like to ask you all a few questions.”
    All three women let
out groans of dismay.
    “Oh, God, not more
questions!” Mitzi said. “We’ve talked to the cops already.”
    “I’d like to ask a
few questions of my own, if you don’t mind,” Riley said.
    Mitzi shook her
head. “This is starting to feel like harassment,” she said.
    “What we do is
perfectly legal,” Koreen said.
    “I don’t care about
what you do,” Riley said. “I’m an FBI investigator, not a judge.”
    Koreen murmured
under her breath, “Like hell.”
    Mitzi looked at her
wristwatch. “Can we make this quick?” she said. “I’ve got three classes today.”
    “How many credits
are you taking this semester?” Koreen asked.
    “Twenty,” Mitzi
said.
    Koreen gasped. “That’s
a pretty big load.”
    “Yeah, well, I want
to get my degree as soon as I can.”
    Riley was taken
aback again.
    Mitzi is going to
college,