The Schwarzschild Radius (20 page)

he instantly bowed her head, so her hair obscured her face and went straight for the ladies’ room.

Rachel sat on the toilet shaking. If he saw her―if her parents ever found out―she’d rather die than that.

Savannah walked in. “What’s going on out there?” Rachel asked.

“Cops are asking questions ‘bout a girl who worked here. The one who vanished.”

“Did you know her?” asked Rachel.

“Some. We had different hours. She was tight with Sonia. I think she was doing some sidelines that got her into trouble.”

“What kind of sidelines?”

“She was doin’ outcalls for rich johns. She was underage and the freaks pay big time for that. God knows we got freaks comin’ in here.”

“Listen, I know that detective out there. I had a problem with him. Can you let me know when he’s gone?”

“Sure thing.”

Rachel was losing her nerve. The insanity of the last week was starting to settle in. She was supposed to be attending engineering classes at Columbia; the police were supposed to be chasing pedophiles. What if something happened to her too? Her parents could never go on. It was all so obvious. Achara’s life had fallen into a chasm; Olivia went in after her, and now Rachel after her.

Perlman banged on the door. “Lisa, I need you out there. Customers waiting.”

“Not feeling well. Something I ate for lunch,” she yelled back.

“Do I have to come in and get you?”

“If you come in here, I’ll throw up all over you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel poked her head out the door. Jesus, McKenna was still there with another detective, talking to Sonia. Rachel put her head down and made her way to her booth where she stood with her back to McKenna.
Don’t come over here
. She could see the detective in a mirror. He finished with Sonia, but didn’t leave. HThe other detective was scanning the area as though looking for someone they hadn’t yet questioned. A construction worker walked toward her from the other side of the floor. When he got within ten feet, Rachel turned and smiled at him. He smiled back and said, “How ‘bout a show?”

Rachel never thought she would love hearing those words. She darted into her booth.

When she came out, McKenna was gone. Thank God. That was close. Rachel followed Sonia to the ladies’ room.

“What did the cops want?” Rachel asked.

“They were here before asking about Olivia―the girl who vanished last week. She used to work here. We were friends.”

“What happened to her―Olivia?”

“We fell out of touch a couple of months ago. She was trying to get her twin sister out of a whorehouse in Thailand. I remember wishing I had someone who cared enough to reach over and pull me out. Someone who would go to the ends of the earth for me. She said she needed a lot of money to get her out. So I said she could go on gigs with me.”

“And did she? Go on gigs with you?”

“We couldn’t keep up with demand.”

“Did she ever make the money she needed to get her sister out?”

“She made that ten times over.”

“So why didn’t she quit?”

“She loved it, and the guys loved her. One customer became obsessed with her. Started following her all over the place. He used to watch her come out of her house in Northport and follow her all the way to the city and back.”

ntonio Beltran was going to be a good boy and not stop by his favorite strip club until the job was done. Those mulatas were phenomenal. You don’t see butts like that in Mexico. And they liked him too.

The rental hit a pothole that made his duffle bag jump in the trunk. He had packed everything securely for the long ride. The Glock nine mm and a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum. He also carried a Taser in case he got into some unexpected close up action. His ID was specially made in Virginia. Cost him plenty. Al-Qaida used these guys.

It was going to be a straightforward job. His business was on overdrive since the drug wars in Mexico increased the demand for assassins on the Mexican side and he started using online advertising to get clients. He had fiddled with the ad until he got it right and business started rolling in.

Assassin ex-military professional and discreet. Work guaranteed in 10 days or less. Have worked in Spain. $8,000. Serious requests only
, and a hotmail address as a contact.

He had a Spanish ad, too, for the Mexican market, but he could only ask one thousand.

The client had checked out okay. Beltran prided himself on not taking payment in advance. Once the job was completed, the client had all the motivation in the world to pay. The dead were his bill collectors, he always said.

He had no problem paying his bills these days. At thirty-two, he drove a new Mustang and bought himself a house in Nuevo Laredo. He had come a long way from the days he roamed the streets of Nogales offering himself as a tour guide to gringo tourists.

The tour always ended up in a motel room where he would suck dick. One guy fell in love with him when he was ten and was able to smuggle him back to Arizona in the trunk of his car. He lived with the man for three years, attending school in Tucson and perfecting his English. Finally, Child Protective Services got wind of what was going on and sent his benefactor to prison for twelve years. Beltran went to stay in foster care and, although he wasn’t sexually abused, he got beaten left and right. He finally ran away and got back to Mexico. By then, he was thirteen and ready to work for one of the cartels as a smuggler or lookout. They exploited his ability to speak English and kept sending him over the border with a backpack full of drugs. After four years of crossing the Sonoran Desert and getting chased and shot at by Border Patrol, he joined the Mexican Army.

Once Beltran had left the military, there were few prospects. There was some small-time dope dealing at the border, then he saw some Chicano high school boys driving seventy thousand dollar cars and found out they killed for money. Antonio made friends with these buttonboys and asked them to subcontract some work to him. Being generous, they had assigned him the job of wiping out a distributor who had insulted their boss across the border. Antonio capped the man in a workman-like manner as he pulled into his driveway. He had to kill the woman who was with him, too, but he didn’t get more money. If he had been a Zeta, he would have commanded nine or ten times the fee. They were specially trained by U.S. Special Forces and Israelis. But he was working his way up the ladder of respectability.

The car slowed as it passed a state trooper. Beltran had to start lining up multiple jobs to make these trips cost-effective. After this job, he might stay and sightsee.

He’d never been to New York.

achel had two assignments: the first three chapters of Plato’s Republic and stripping for Dr. Sartorius.