“I’m counting on you, Grace. There’s no way this works if the Ripper gets tipped off in any way. If that happens I go on the hunt. The DOJ and my boss have backed me completely. They would like this to be a win for law enforcement in public perception. I’m willing to deliver, but I’m not letting Ripper keep killing after Great Kate ruins my law enforcement plan for ‘bringing him to justice’.”
“I’ll help Grace with this,” Tim promised. “We won’t have much to do while you’re recruiting your new operatives. When you’re all set to start though, Grace and I will be right here networking with you.”
“She did give us her office, and it has a bank of monitors you can tap into street cams with for us anytime we go out to a prospective client. I think I have enough names here. I need to get out recruiting. The biggest problem I see right now is the pimps. I’ll be honest. A couple of them who try to block me, or I get bad vibes from, probably won’t survive my recruiting process unless I can bring them in to be held by my US Marshal buddies.”
“Bring them in, Nick,” Grace said. “We’ll stash them under federal interdiction. I hope you can get the show on the road quickly. Our base here will rapidly degenerate into an armed camp if this drags on very long. It doesn’t matter local and federal law enforcement couldn’t find a solution to the Ripper. After a few days without results, they’ll be howling that they were on the verge of solving the case and bringing the Ripper in until we interfered.”
Nick chuckled. “Yep. I believe you have the situation outlined perfectly, Grace. You two do understand why my name and part in this have to remain unknown so the Ripper doesn’t hear about me, right?”
“Of course,” Tim answered. “If he finds out who you are and what you’re doing, he could possibly locate Rachel and Jean while you’re away.”
“Exactly, Tim. I’ve trained them well enough, they’d probably survive, especially since Rachel will be on the alert any time I’m away. That won’t be the only danger once I find out someone was stupid enough to do something behind my back endangering Rachel and Jean.”
“Believe me. We understand that, Nick,” Grace replied.
Nick patted her shoulder on the way by. “Just checking kids, so there aren’t any dangerous misunderstandings. I’ll call you later in the day before I return to the Wolf Lodge. One other thing… no hanky panky on the job. We must keep up appearances.”
Nick grinned as Tim chuckled and Grace gave him a one finger salute.
*
Clyde Bacall watched Nick enter the room where he had asked for a meeting with six prospective candidates for his seraglio of women to be used as bait to catch a serial killer. He had listened intently as Nick explained what his job was during the recruitment process. Clyde was to interfere only if an unexpected threat mixed in which meant Clyde acted as a glorified doorman, or at least that was what he thought. The women were not worn out hookers on their last leg. Their ages ranged from twenty to twenty-five. They were all white, Hispanic, or Asian, because the Ripper’s victims had all been of those races. Nick paid them immediately for one night’s work for attending the meeting he had made under false pretenses. His money turned the meeting immediately from confrontational to bored arrogance.
“First off, this is Clyde, and I’m Nick. What are your names? After each one had told him her name, Nick repeated them.
“What’s this all about,” a blonde hooker named Bonnie asked. “Are you and Clyde wanting to get into a competition with all of us? That might be extra.”
“No, Bonnie. I’m here to catch a killer. You six matched some specific features I had to have in order to offer contracts. You’ve all heard of the Ripper I’m sure.”
Nick had their attention. “The Ripper is bad for my business, so I brought in an out of town crew to take him out of circulation. We know you ladies work with two different pimps, Freydo Juarez and Dominic Calhoun. We also know they’ve been less than kind in their professional dealings with their employees. In fact, I know Dominic put you in the hospital two months ago Ivy.”
“Been there, done that,” the dark haired Hispanic woman named Ivy said with a grin. “Old news. Not the first time Dom whacked me around. So what?”
“Nothing at all,” Nick replied. “For a few days Calhoun and Juarez are going to be taken off the job. I’d like to know if it would bother any of you if they disappeared permanently.”
“You mean killed?” This from another brunette named Connie. She stood and looked longingly at the door where Clyde was standing. “I don’t want any part of that. Freydo’s no saint, but he’s okay. I sure don’t want him killed.”
“There were murmurs of agreement to Connie’s statement from the other women, involving both Calhoun and Juarez.”