“I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me, Blue.”
Blue looked up from where she was busy adding Amber’s profile to the website, and smiled. “I think you’ll fit right in. You just need some guidance.” Her look turned serious. There was more to Blue than met the eye and Amber instinctively knew that crossing her would be a mistake. “You have to be careful about who you let into your life from now on. What we’re doing isn’t exactly legal. The people I have ties with are dangerous. What I do affects them. They’re going to be watching you and you’ll never know. They’ll have eyes on you when you least expect it. It’s what they do,” she said, shrugging like it was no big deal.
“You’re scaring me, Blue.”
“There’s no need to be scared as long as you don’t do anything to jeopardize my business.”
Blue’s phone rang and she frowned down at the display as she took the call. As the caller spoke, her frown deepened. She glanced over at Amber then addressed the caller in a professional, courteous voice. “Excuse me for a moment, please.”
Blue nodded in Amber’s direction and gestured toward the next room. Amber took the hint and left her to her phone call. When Blue was sure she was out of earshot she put it on speaker. “What are you saying, Antonio Wayne? Since when do you concern yourself with missing hookers?”
“I’m saying I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this hooker has gone missing. You took out Huggy Bear and now Kat’s missing. I want you to use your connections to find out what the hell’s going on out there, that’s what I’m saying. I want to know what’s going on in MY city.”
“Alright. I’ll take a trip down to the neighborhood and talk to some of the girls. It’s probably nothing.”
“You’re probably right but get your ass down there and find out.”
“Sure thing. How’d you find out about this anyway? And how do you even know her name?”
“Diego Dias’ woman Brook is a friend of Kat’s. Kat worked at his club before she started smoking meth. He warned her, but you know how that shit works: it takes over a person’s soul. So he had to let her go. Between you and me, he may have been particularly harsh with the tough love this time around because he’s dealt with it once before. He used to be involved with a woman who became an addict. She was a fucking mess and really screwed him over. It was a long time ago. Anyway, I think he saw Kat’s problems barreling down on her like a big train and did what he thought was right to try to get through to her. When it didn’t work, he had to cut her loose.
“But, back to Brook: Brook and Kat got to be really close. It hit her real hard when the girl got hooked on meth. It quickly became obvious that she was beyond saving. Diego is as tough as they come and he doesn’t suffer fools, but he loves his woman. Even if Kat hadn’t been a good friend to both of them, what matters to Brook matters to him. I don’t need one of my top cartel men distracted because his woman’s upset.”
“Can you tell me anything else about her?”
“She goes by Kat on the streets but her real name is Kathy Jameson. I’m sending you pictures of her, sort of a ‘before and after’.” Blue imagined Antonio Wayne shaking his head as he continued talking. “Prepare to be horrified. Meth has really fucked her up. It’s like two different women. Maybe if you find her we can do an intervention and bring the girl back from the dead.”
“I’m not in the intervention business, Antonio, but I’ll do what I can to find her.”
Antonio Wayne laughed, “You and I both know how you are about taking in strays. You’ve got one right now, come to think of it.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m a businesswoman, not a social worker.”
“Oh, is that what you’re doing with this one? Just business? What you are is a woman who works for the Colombian cartel. I expect you to give this your full attention and not let your protégé become a distraction.”
“You know I’ll do my best,” Blue answered, standing her ground.
“That’s always been enough for me. Just do it without killing anybody if that’s possible,” he grumbled. Even though his voice was brusque, there was a part of his evil heart that was smiling. Only one woman had his heart and that was his wife Roxanne, but he did admire Blue. After all, there weren’t many people who would drive up and put a bullet between a pimp’s eyes without giving it a second thought.
Fuck Huggy Bear, Antonio Wayne thought to himself. He’d never liked the asshole anyway. The guy had always been too damn cocky and full of himself. But Antonio Wayne respected Blue and her willingness to kill for the cartel. She was brutal and unyielding, and that was something Antonio Wayne could relate to. “One more thing -- you asked how I knew Kat was missing. Always remember, the streets have eyes and ears. I know everything. You’d do well to remember that.”
Blue breathed a sigh of relief after Antonio Wayne ended the call. The man was as sadistic as they came. His brutal reputation preceded him. Blue preferred to keep him at a distance whenever possible.
“Everything okay?” Amber asked as she entered the room.
“As long as you know how to walk a tightrope, it is. That was Antonio Wayne Ramirez and as he worded it, I’ve taken you in as a stray so he’s watching you. You do realize that, on occasion, I do jobs for the Colombian cartel, right?”
Amber grabbed the arm of a chair as a wave of nausea rushed over her. She swallowed hard and bit back the urge to empty the contents of her stomach. She’d known Blue had connections with dangerous people but nothing like this had ever occurred to her.
“The Ramirez brothers,” she whispered. “I’ve heard their names mentioned in back alleys. Even the pimps are scared of them.”
“Well, it goes deeper than that. I may as well tell you what’s going on. There’s a hooker, a meth head. She’s missing. She knew Diego Dias and his woman, also with the cartel. The Ramirez brothers want my help finding her. You have more connections on the street than I do at this point, so I’m enlisting your help. You’re in deep now, whether you want to be or not. We’re putting this--” Blue waved her hand toward the computer, “on hold until we get to the bottom of what happened to Kat.”
“Kat? Hey…I know her. Her story’s so sad. She used to be so beautiful.”
Blue’s phone pinged and there was the promised ‘before and after’ pic. “Is this her?” Blue asked, leaning over and showing the image to Amber.
“Yep. Man, look at that. It’s hard to believe how far down that girl’s gone. She’s so thin, and looks so drained and strung out, like she hasn’t slept in weeks. It’s sad. It really is.” Amber shook her head.
Blue studied her face and if she didn’t know any better she’d swear her new friend was tearing up.
“You know,” Amber whispered, her voice choked with emotion, “that could have been me if you hadn’t jumped in and saved me. I hope you know how much I appreciate what you’re doing. But what am I going to do to make money if we put my work on hold? I can’t live off of you. After all you’ve done, it would just be too much.”
“Baby, don’t worry about that; you work for me now. I’m putting you on payroll. But you have to prepare yourself that you can deal with whatever you see, and keep your mouth shut. Do you know what a Sicaria is?” She didn’t know why she was confiding in this girl, but she wouldn’t be letting the Ramirez brothers know that they had established this level of trust.
Amber shook her head, so Blue filled her in. “A female assassin. You already know I work for the Colombian cartel. Look, I’m not a good person, Amber. I’ve got a history and a lot of demons.” She reached over and took Amber’s hand. Amber admired her long fingernails that would have looked overdone on anyone else. They fit Blue just like her black leather and five-inch heels.
Everything about Blue oozed sexual confidence and Amber found herself strangely intrigued by it. She knew being loyal to her wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, she was more concerned about Blue’s safety than what she might witness as they tried to get to the bottom of the missing girl’s whereabouts. Amber might not be as badass as Blue was, but she wanted to find a way to help.
“If you make money doing that, Blue, then why do you work as an escort?”
“Let’s just say I haven’t found a man worthy of my love. Maybe making them pay for pussy is my way of putting men in their place, at least as far as I’m concerned. Men are great, they’re just not for me. Trust me, baby, there’s no greater power than a man giving you free access to all he’s worked for. Well…other than the power of holding a person’s life in your hands.”
“I get it. I work for you and you work for the cartel. Who knows, you may find out there’s more to me than you think.”
“I’m counting on it,” Blue said with a secret smile, then cleared her throat. “We’ll head out later tonight. You can keep it casual, just jeans and a t-shirt with sneakers in case we have to run.”
Amber grinned. She was looking forward to her new life with Blue.
We’ll be like Thelma and Louise, she thought. I love it!