Chapter One – Molly

 

“How do I look?” Heidi asked as she struck a pose in her dark red evening gown, bare shoulders turned from me, and her back impossibly arched. Her whole body was long and lithe, and I couldn’t help but feel jealous of her for a moment as she batted her long, fake eyelashes at me from beneath her bottle-blonde bangs and heavy eye shadow. One look at her, and you’d never imagine she was the type to do shots of whiskey till last call, or challenge a frat boy to see how fast they could shotgun beers.

“You look good, girl! Drop dead gorgeous!” It was true, too. Heidi had this kind of sexiness about her that I could never match, even if I were wearing her clothes, and not my sweatpants and baggy Washington State Cougars jersey. She just seemed so completely comfortable in her own skin, and knew how to use it to her advantage.

“Really think so?” she asked, dropping the pose and strutting towards me, her matching heels clicking on the tile with every step. “Because these guys really want their dollars’ worth.”

Yeah, I was jealous. Just not of what she was doing, or where she was going. Instead, these green eyes of envy were more focused on that dress of hers, and the way it seemed to be painted onto her body. It was worth more than my two-week paycheck as a nanny, maybe even a whole month’s worth.

“Of course I think so!”

She stopped in front of the hallway’s full length mirror, checking herself out. She stuck out her behind a little farther and sucked in her almost-nonexistent tummy as she pouted her dark red lips at her reflection. “You know,” she mused, her eyes searching and finding mine in the mirror, “you could always come to work with me. These older men would just eat you up, Molly.”

I made a face and shook my head. The thought of a bunch of old men pawing at me, and my having to pretend to like their attention while we…you know, was not appealing. At all. Just thinking about selling myself like that was enough to make my stomach turn. Not that I held it against Heidi, or anything. She was one of my old friends in town, and I understood that a girl had to get by. After all, we’d both been laid off at the same time, and I’d moved in here before she managed to find this gig.

But I wasn’t about to try and explain all those intricacies to her. I didn’t want to make her feel bad, especially after she’d already done so much for me.

Besides, she was my landlord! Upsetting her was definitely at the bottom of my To Do list. If she kicked me out because I started to come down on her about her profession, I was going to be living out of my car!

Instead, I did what anyone would do. I wrapped my arms around my body a little, looked her right in the reflection of her eyes, and lied.

“Oh, Heidi, I don’t think so. You’ve got this whole blonde hair thing going on. Guys like that.” I waved a hand at my body, as if to tell her to take all of it in. “I’m just, you know, me. You’re gorgeous!”

She turned from the mirror, her mouth open in shock. “Come on, Molly, you’re gorgeous, too!” She approached. “You’ve got those pretty almond eyes, that long brown hair. Any guy would be an idiot not to fall all over you.”

I frowned again, hugging myself more tightly.

“Still don’t understand why you don’t have a boyfriend, either.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve got one.”

She raised an eyebrow. “With my line of work?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Point.” I sighed. “Know what? How about some tea while you wait for your driver?”

She cringed a little, pointing to the stain on her lips. “Just put it on. And the tea kind of makes my teeth brown.” She showed me her pearly whites in a little smile. “See? Just brushed.”

I laughed, shook my head. “Well, how about I have some tea while we wait?”

She grabbed her makeup bag and turned back to the mirror, as I puttered into the kitchen. This was about as eventful as my night was going to get. Had been about as eventful as they’d been lately. During the day, spend time with the kids I nannied for. At night? Sit and watch Netflix. Maybe have a glass of wine.

Maybe a cry, too, if Heidi wasn’t home.

No money, no future, no man. I’d had such dreams, too. Dreams like any other woman my age. Get a good job, find a man I cared for. Maybe some kids to go along with my career? Well, I’d had the first one until six months ago, when our company went belly-up. Then I’d found the kids later, but the only catch was that they weren’t mine.

As I pulled my kettle off the stove and went to fill it from the sink, Heidi’s phone began to ring in the other room. Probably her driver letting her know he was on the way, and to be ready for her. I’d never seen him in person, but from the little snippets I’d heard while my landlord/roommate was talking to him, he didn’t exactly sound like a guy who liked to be kept waiting.

“Hey, Bobby, I’m ready. How soon till you’re here?” She paused. “Wait, what? You’ve got to be shitting me!” Another pause, followed by an exasperated sigh. “No, I get it, your mom being in the hospital’s important.”

I frowned as I put the kettle on the front left burner and turned on the range.

Out in the living room, Heidi was still going. “How about this?” she asked, her voice dropping a little. “Bobby, I really, really need this money. It’s too good to pass up. Why don’t you just give me the password, and I’ll get myself there?”

Another pause as I leaned back against the kitchen sink.

From what she’d been telling me, this was one of the plum gigs you could get. Some kind of big party up in the mountains north of Tucson, where we lived. She’d done it the week before, and said it was the best pay she’d had so far. Almost to the point where her usual dates just weren’t cutting it for her anymore. A few more of these, she said, and she could quit the escort business entirely. Hell, she could practically pay off the house, and be debt-free.

“Come on, Bobby,” she said, cajoling a little in that sexy, sultry, sex-line-worker voice she would make sometimes when she knew the guy was easy to manipulate. “All Chuck cares about is whether Chuck gets paid, you know that. Just ask, and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

I imagined his frustrated voice on the other end of the line as he waffled. He’d give in. They always gave in. I’d seen it plenty of times before at the natural hiking and destinations company where we’d worked. Heidi could always get the trail guides to take one extra person, and always convince the travelers to book a more expensive trip. Heidi was a saleswoman at heart, and right now she was selling her hottest commodity: herself.

Bobby didn’t stand a chance.

A moment later, she grinned. “See, what did I say? Chuck just sees dollar signs.”

“How do you spell that?” she asked, and I could practically see the beams from her smile as they brightened the kitchen from the other room. “Oh, Bobby, you’re a doll. I hope your mom feels better—give her a kiss and a hug from me.” Another pause, followed by her musical fake laugh. “Oh, Bobby, you keep playing your cards right, and I might just give you one to pass on for me next time I see you. Bye, sugar.”

Her phone beeped as she hung up. Heels clicked on tile as she came into the kitchen. She had her phone in her hand, was busy scrolling down its face.

“Well, that sucks,” I said, pushing off from the sink. “About Bobby’s mom, I mean.”

“Huh?” she asked, looking up at me with a blank expression. A second later, my words seemed to click, and she came back to reality. “Oh, right. Yeah. Shit.”

“Going to be able to find a driver?” I asked, just making conversation.

She frowned, swallowing a little. “Well, don’t think I can exactly Uber up there, you know.” Her eyes flickered from the screen to mine. “And, I’m not about to start broadcasting around what I’m doing for a living, either. One person putting that on the internet, and I’m done.”

I sighed. “Yeah. What about one of the other girls? Or drivers?”

“Only person who knows I even do this, outside my work peeps, at least, is you.” Crestfallen, Heidi shook her head, her eyes still on her phone. Her eyes were welling up like we were watching the end of Marley and Me together. “I’m just worried that if I can’t make it tonight, they won’t ask me to come back, you know? Who wants someone that’s undependable? One of the guys asked me to come back last weekend, said he had something extra for me.”

Crap. She really was in a bind, and through no fault of her own.

The water in the tea kettle began to burble a little. Not quite steaming, but close.

“Unless,” she said, turning her eyes to me, blinking a little.

I locked eyes with her. “Unless?”

“You could—”

“Oh, Heidi,” I said, exasperated.

And suddenly we were talking over each other, our voices rising.

“No!”

“Come on, all you need to do is drive my car!”

“I’m in for the night, and I don’t want to be your security!”

“You can leave right after!” she cried. “Just come back and pick me up, that’s all!”

I left the kitchen as the tea kettle began to whistle, my hands up in the air as I retreated back to my room.

Her heels sounded on the kitchen tile behind me, her steps faster than the sultry saunter she’d done earlier. This was more clopping hooves as she hurried after me. “Come on! Help me, Molly Long, you’re my only hope!”

I got to my room down the hall and grabbed the door handle. Back in the kitchen, the kettle was blaring like a steam whistle in an old factory, or the classic train in downtown Tucson. “Fuck no, Heidi!” I got into my room, closed the door behind me, and put my back against it.

The door shuddered in its frame a little as she pressed herself against the other side. “Come on, Molly,” she cooed through the door. “I’ll pay you, I promise. You have no idea how much these people are throwing at me, girl. I know you’ve been talking about wanting to leave town. This could be what you need!”

I’d been unemployed for months after the company went completely under, to the point where I could barely even afford a storage unit. Now, all the boxes full of clothes and books seemed to accuse me with the black markings scrawled on their boring brown sides. Hell, I’d been so bad off, Heidi had had to pay for my moving truck to get all the boxes here in the first place. I’d even had to sell off my work clothes to keep my cell phone and electricity from getting shut off. I was down to nothing here.

I sighed, leaning my head back against the door. Tucson had just been a dead end for so long. No real job, no opportunities, no relationship chances. What guy would want me, anyways? Living in my friend’s guest room like this, boxes piled up around my bed as I barely held onto the last few tangible items of my life?

“Are you at least considering it?” she asked, her voice coy again.

“Shut up, Heidi,” I said with a sigh.

“Oh, believe me, I know that tone of voice. You’re considering it.”

I groaned. “Heidi,” I said with a note of warning.

“Come on, you’ll be fine. It’s just a drive, okay? That’s all you have to do.” She paused. “Hell, you can even leave right after you drop me off! Come back when I give you a call, after things wind down.”

I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling.

She was right, unfortunately. This really was the opportunity I needed. And, like she said, if she didn’t show up tonight, she might lose this gig in the future. Heidi might be more than handful, but she was still my friend. I couldn’t hurt her just because the whole thing made me a little uncomfortable.

And, besides, I was just driving.

I puffed out a jet of air, sending my own bangs fluttering. “Fine!” I turned and pulled open the door to reveal her standing there, hands clasped together and a huge grin on her face. “But this is it!”

She clapped. “Okay, let’s get you dressed for the part!”

I raised an eyebrow. “The part?”

She nodded as a big grin spread on those painted lips of hers. “Oh yeah.”

Less than an hour later, and she had me made up and ready to go, with a power suit she’d held onto from her days at the old job. We had the same leggy build and slim bust, and her clothes were a surprisingly good fit on me.

“Back or down?” I asked as I toyed with my hair in the mirror.

“Back is faster, but your hair’s too beautiful not to put it down.”

Another ten minutes later, and we were standing in front of the mirror, striking a pose. Giggling like a schoolgirl, Heidi brought up her camera and snapped a selfie of us.

“Something to remember it by,” she said with a sly grin.

Moments later, we were both out the front door. Me, with my black suit, her with her red dress. Even though I knew what I was driving her into, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like I was playing dress-up. It had been months since I’d had a chance to even get close to this dressed up.

“Know what you need to do after this?” Heidi said as she settled into the backseat.

“What’s that?” I asked as I started her Acura MDX up and backed out of the little three bedroom house’s driveway.

“Go get yourself a man!”

I laughed as I locked eyes with her in the rearview. “Think I look that good?”

“For sure! Girl, you have no idea!” she said as I pulled out of the neighborhood and headed up to the highway. This place was north, up near one of the cave systems I’d visited before.

Her phone chimed again.

“What’s that? They complaining we’re running late?”

She giggled again. “Hell no! It’s Chuck.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Sent ’em a copy of the picture. Says if you’re interested, they probably have extra masks you can borrow.” She gave me a big, exaggerated wink.

“Ew!” I said. “No! I already said no. And I can’t believe you sent my picture to that scumbag!”

She shrugged. “Your loss,” she said in a little sing-song voice.

“Besides,” I said, “those guys wouldn’t want me anyways. They’re all these rich, hoity-toity businessmen. I’m definitely not their type.”

She laughed. “Girl, you’ve got a pretty smile, you’re funny, and you got tits and somewhere to stick it. No guy in their right mind would look less than twice at you, especially in that outfit. Promise. Those guys would eat you up like candy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure,” I said. “Whatever. I’ll believe it when I see it, especially with guys like this.”

“Careful what you wish for, Ms. Molly,” she said with a grin. “Because I guarantee, you go out in that outfit, you’ll be swatting the guys off with a stick.”

“Uh-huh. Right.”

“Just saying, girl. There’s always someone or another leaving. Chuck’s got plenty of spots. We only got these good looks and tight bodies for so long. Might as well use ’em to make the most money we can.”

“Can we talk about something else? Maybe something that doesn’t involve grooming me for a life of sex work?”

She laughed. “Fine, fine! Let’s talk about something else!”

For the next thirty minutes, we laughed and talked the whole way north on Highway 77. We finally pulled through Prophet, and she directed me through the last couple of turns that led us up towards the mountains. Mentally, I checked off each turn I made, knowing I’d need to remember them later tonight.

We turned off onto a dark road, leaving the last of the street lights in Prophet behind. A feeling of unease settled in my stomach, almost at the base of my spine, as we continued down it for about a half-mile farther.

“Up here,” Heidi said finally, leaning forward. Even she’d readjusted herself, and I could practically drink in her mellow perfume as she got up nearly between the seats. I turned the SUV at her direction and came to a stop in front of a wrought iron gate that seemed as out of place here in the desert, as I did sitting in this car headed for this kind of party. Beyond the gate, a dirt road wound off into the low and mountainous hills, barely illuminated by the stars overhead. I glanced down at the clock, surprised to see it was only just before ten o’clock.

“Roll down the window and hit the intercom,” she instructed as she handed me her phone. “Read this when the tone sounds, and they’ll let you in.”

I did as instructed, rolling down the window and pressing the button. A dead electronic silence sounded on the other side. I glanced down at the glowing screen in my hand, carefully reading the word aloud. “Frumos.”

As if I’d just said “Open, sesame,” the intercom spat out a low, pleasant tone, and the big gate barring our path opened to the way ahead. I waited till it was most of the way open before slowly giving Heidi’s car some gas and gliding forward onto the paved road.

“You know this is kind of creepy, right?” I said to Heidi, my voice barely more than a whisper as I followed the twisting lane up into the hills. As the last word left my mouth, we came around from behind a rock, and the top of the mountain seemed to ignite with light and fire.

The giant house, or maybe series of houses, loomed above us. The windows along the front were lit as bright as day, and even fire pits burned at certain corners of the house. Below it on all sides, the mountains seemed sheared off, with big cliffs that dropped off down into the ravines and washes below.

“You need to lighten up, girl. It’s just a bunch of people trying to have some fun, that’s all. We’re all consenting adults up there.” Heidi laughed. “Besides, it’s kind of fun, if you ask me.”

Fun. Not exactly what I’d consider this. “Well, as long as you’re careful.”

“Don’t worry, girl,” she replied with a smile as she glanced up from where she was digging around in her purse. “We use protection.”

I sighed, my hands guiding the car up and around another turn as we continued to rise up the mountain abode. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

“Oh, come on, Molly, what do you think these people are like?” she asked, pulling out a leather masquerade mask decorated with intricate scrollwork around the edges. “Like I said, they’re just having some fun.”

“Uh-huh. Right.”

“We’re all consenting adults inside those doors, Molly, and I’ve never been forced to do anything I didn’t want to do. So just lighten up, okay?”

Up ahead, the mansion came into full view as I took the final turn in the drive. I nearly slammed on the brakes in surprise at how beautiful it was under the Arizona sky.

“Ho. Ly. Shit.”

Two stories tall and rambling wide, the mansion was lit like some kind of darkly erotic paradise, with soft yellow lights everywhere. The driveway led forward, with a small turnoff immediately on my left, and circled around a large Spanish architecture fountain. The rest of the building matched, with heavy red tiles on the gently sloping roof, and the same adobe walls you saw everywhere in the southwest.

“I know, right?” Heidi said, her voice almost a whisper in my ear, her lips so close I could practically feel her breath. “Just drive up and around in front, then let me out.”

“Got it.”

The front of the mansion was clear as I guided the car forward at a creep, brought it to a halt on the other side of the fountain, and put it in park.

“How do I look?” Heidi asked in a whisper.

I turned back and looked at her, at the elegant masquerade mask covering just her eyes and nose, with its long matching feathers swooping back from her face. “Like a woman who knows what she wants.”

She smiled, waggling her eyebrows. “Definitely achieving the desired goal, then.”

We both paused for a moment, our eyes locked. I glanced away, uncertainly. “What now?”

“Now,” she whispered, “you let me out.”

“Really?” I asked, sighing. “I’m your driver, not your valet!”

“Appearances, Molly,” she said, giggling. “Remember? I’ve gotta be as high-class-looking as possible. The illusion’s part of what they’re paying for.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned back around to the front and undid my safety belt. I got out of the driver’s seat and walked quickly and confidently, around the back, and opened the rear passenger door. I offered her my hand, and she took it in her own as she descended in a swish of skirts, her elegant body seeming to glide down to the flagstone walkway beneath our feet.

“Later tonight?” I asked quietly.

She nodded a little as she squeezed my hand. “Soon as this is over.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, lighter than the desert wind on a moonless night.

“Heidi, my dear,” said a rich, masculine voice behind me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Where had that come from? I’d thought we were completely alone out here.

“So good of you to finally make it. And, I see you’ve brought a friend.”

“Just my driver, Dominic,” Heidi said, her voice throaty and low as she sauntered towards a tall, handsome stranger, her hips exaggeratedly moving with every long step. She was pure sex, pure decadence.

The stranger was dressed in an all-black suit, with a black shirt, and a black silk tie. A matching black leather masquerade mask was perched on his face, covering not only his nose and cheekbones, but also a portion of his forehead just above the middle of his brow. It was so expertly crafted, I couldn’t even see a string holding it on.

She came to a halt in front of him, and he took her hand, brought it to his lips. “Don’t let her distract you from me,” she said, smiling. “She’d only be an appetizer, while I’m the main course.”

He kissed the back of her hand lightly, his eyes glancing over and finding mine. “Are you certain she’d be only a small bite?” he asked. “Because she’s quite the distraction.”

My heart raced as my eyes locked with his. But not in a good way. My cheeks flushed, but not like a blushing schoolgirl who needed to hide her face from the hot older boy.

No, this was like catching the gaze of an animal that had tracked you over weeks and months, and had been lusting for your blood the entire time.

Hunger filled those eyes, hunger and greed for my flesh, and the flesh of Heidi. Like a slow, inexorable burn deep within his soul as he stared out at me, the kind of burning fire that makes a man consume and consume, till there’s nothing more to consume.

I swallowed hard. I knew I needed to break the look. Needed to remove myself from his gaze. But, somehow, no matter what I did, something told me those eyes would continue to follow me till the end of my days.

“Driver?” Heidi asked, her voice sounding far away, but still a little concerned.

I blinked rapidly, shaking my head as I tried to bring myself back to reality. When my eyes were finally able to focus again, I realized both Heidi and Dominic had already started on their path up to the house, arm in arm. They were nearly twenty feet away from me already.

God, how long had I been standing there like a moron?

Heidi was staring at me, and I could see even through the mask that she was wondering just what the hell was wrong with me. She was in luck, because I was thinking pretty much the exact same thing!

I gave a little wave of my hand, just to satisfy her that I was fine, and she turned back around with Dominic, the presumed host, and continued on her way.

I almost reached out my hand, almost shouted out Heidi’s name. To tell her to get right back in the damn car with me. To get right back in, and run away from that man with the burning eyes and devilishly good looks. That she wasn’t safe. That no one in the house was safe with him.

My hand came up, and I took a step forward, my heels clicking on the flagstone. I opened my mouth.

Words didn’t come.

At the front entrance, Dominic opened the door for Heidi and swept her inside. He glanced back at me and smiled, a warm, genuine smile, and gave a little wave.

Instead, foolishness did. Washing over me like I was standing beneath a waterfall of ridiculousness. A deluging downpour of utter mortification as I rocked back on my heels. That feeling of dread fled from my body, and I was left standing there, feeling almost just as I had moments before, shaking my head in disbelief at my silliness. It must have just been the desert air, or the rush of going on a job like this with Heidi. Maybe, of being in a new place, with new sensations and experiences.

Yeah.

That’s what it was.

Something seemed to whisper in my ear, though: “Quit lying to yourself, Molly. Quit lying.”

I went back around Heidi’s silver Acura, climbed up into the driver’s seat, and started it up. After that, I just left. I turned the music up, rolled the windows down for a little bit of the cool desert air, and I raced back down Highway 77. Heidi wouldn’t need a ride for a few more hours, after all, and I had a date with my PJs and a good, long Netflix binge while I waited for Heidi to get in touch.

Unfortunately, it was a call that would never come.