Investigator
by firejay1
A woman who has spent most of her adult life hunting for the serial killer who murdered her family finally has a chance to catch him when he resurfaces, almost ten years later. But the deeper she goes, the more she fears that the true culprit may have been by her side all along.
Prologue
Lorena cast her eyes around the musty room from her piano in the corner as she sang. She had been lucky the owner of the bar her targets frequented had been willing to give her this job as a musician. “Well,” she thought, smirking, “luck is 50% of any investigator’s success.”
The bar was crowded with people drowning their sorrows, complaining about the day’s work to coworkers, and just in general in need of a less than sophisticated drink. It was dark and smoke filled the air, obscuring what little light was available. And the smells, good God. She tried not to gag on the overwhelming smell of alcohol, vomit, and men in general. Still, it was loud here and no one asked you any funny questions or got in your way. What better place to start a small drug transaction?
She’d gotten the heads up from one of the men’s girlfriends, who had declared her “darling Freddie” had started acting weird after frequenting this bar, Momma Moon’s. It hadn’t taken much to figure out he was on drugs from a blood sample the girl had taken from him, under the pretense of accidentally cutting him with a kitchen knife while she was cooking, or so she had said. It didn’t sound terribly plausible to Lorena. His blood had revealed traces of an illegal drug circulating in the black market. This man might prove a valuable lead to a case no one had had any luck on so far.
Finding her target would be hard in this environment, though. She strained her eyes, carefully examining every face for a match of the picture she had beaten into her memory. Aha, there he was. In the far corner of the room, a fair distance from Lorena and her piano, two men were looking furtively around the room. Her target, in particular, kept shooting nervous glances at the people around them.
Frederick Lawson was a handsome fellow, with blonde hair and fine features. His eyes were a light blue, like the midday sky hazy with clouds. The only blemish that marred his face were light freckles scattered across his nose. He was rather slim of build and looked like the delicate type. He was wearing a light grey suit.
The man he was sitting with was in almost every aspect his opposite. Black hair, brown eyes, a scraggly beard and mustache, he lacked elegance in every way possible. His features were chiseled and strong, as was his build. He had dark skin and shifty eyes and Lorena thought she might have seen a gun under his jacket when he shifted around once.
She took a good long look at him, getting a lock on his face and storing it into her memory. All the while her fingers flew across the keyboard and her voice never wavered. The man kept checking his right coat pocket and he seemed to be arguing with Mr. Lawson. She wished she could hear what they were saying, but years of being an investigator had taught her patience. Lorena looked away from the table, letting her eyes wander again. She looked around, briefly categorizing the people who were there by appearance, dress, and who else they were with. It was also somewhat amusing to keep tabs on how each reacted to things drunk. A loud dart game was being played in the back of the room, next to the actual bar.
Her song ended, but no one clapped. Doubtless most of them were too drunk or overcome with the noise to even hear it. She rather suspected the barkeeper had hired her because she had been wearing an extremely short dress on the day of the interview.
The two men headed towards her. Oh great, they must have noticed her. She flipped through the pages of her song book casually, poising her fingers to play when Frederick coughed quietly. She looked up at him.
Lorena gave him a smile, crossing her legs and leaning forward so he could see down her dress. “Well hello, handsome.”
He flushed and coughed, looking away from her. “Ah... uhm…”
She grinned at him. “What, too shy? What did you come to me for?” She let the sleeve of her dress slip down loosely off one shoulder and winked at him.
The other man, who was standing behind Frederick, gave a little snort and muttered, “Slut.”
She looked at him distastefully, as if he was some kind of trash. Lorena stood, lightly tugging her sleeve back over her shoulder. “It doesn’t look like your friend here likes me very much.” She commented to Frederick.
She began walking towards the bar, as if to get a drink. As she did so, Lorena passed very close by to the other man. She did so slowly, taking the opportunity to whisper into his ear, “I’ll be off at 10, if you’re interested in my services.” She gave his ear a little lick, distracting him so he wouldn’t notice her slipping her hand into his coat pocket and gently pulling a small packet from it. He shuddered as if she were gross and she strode past him, giving her walk an extra flare just for the two men’s benefit.
~~~
At 10 o’clock, Lorena walked out of the bar by the back door. Sure enough the man was waiting for her there. She wrapped her arms around one of his demurely, pressing her chest against him. No doubt he had suspicions about who she was, but until he was sure, she would play along with him, up to a certain point. The two of them walked some ways from the bar, into a darker, more dangerous section of the city. Suddenly, he pulled her into an alley and pushed her up against the wall, drawing the gun from his jacket and pointing it at her head.
His breath stank of alcohol and week-old fish. “I know you’re not just some common slut. Frederick said his girl asked for a blood sample and you were staring at us all evening. Bitch. Who do you work for, the police?”
“Hmm…” She pretended to consider it. “No, I wouldn’t say that.” In a flash of movement, she pulled her head down and, in the same motion, brought her knee up into his crotch, not giving him a chance to fire. She plucked the gun from the air as it fell and used her other hand to wrench his arm behind his back and push him to the ground. The gun was now pointing at the back of his head. “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” She cocked the pistol and fired it a few inches from his ear. He froze in shock and she used the opportunity to put the pistol down and flip open her cellphone, calling for back up.
Back up arrived just as she was getting comfortable, sitting on the man’s back, leisurely pointing the gun at his head. She wasn’t sure if he was conscious at this point, since he hadn’t moved for a while, but he was alive, and that was all they needed.
Her men pointed their rifles at him as Lorena stood up and walked away. Her boss, Tanner, gave her a look. “Lorena, aren’t you a little too relaxed?”
She winked at him. “Just enjoying my job, sir.” And with that, she flipped the gun at him, blowing him a kiss as he caught it, and walked away, trying not to giggle as he sighed audibly at her catwalking for his benefit.