“I will.”
“See you, my dear.” She hangs up.
? ? ?
Ruth looks into the girl’s eyes. Now that she knows what to look for, she thinks she can see the barest hint of a glint in her left eye.
She hands her the cash and watches her count it. She’s very pretty, and so young. The ways she leans against the wall reminds her of Jess. The Regulator kicks in.
She’s in a lace nightie, black stockings, and garters. High-heeled fluffy bedroom slippers that seem more funny than erotic.
Carrie puts the money aside and smiles at her. “Do you want to take the lead or have me do it? I’m fine either way.”
“I’d rather just talk for a bit first.”
Carrie frowns. “I told you I can’t talk about my clients.”
“I know. But I want to show you something.”
Carrie shrugs and leads her to the bedroom. It’s a lot like Mona’s room: king-size bed, cream-colored sheets, a glass bowl of condoms, a clock discreetly on the nightstand. The mirror is mounted on the ceiling.
They sit down on the bed. Ruth takes out a file and hands Carrie a stack of photographs.
“All of these girls have been killed in the last year. All of them have the same implants you do.”
Carrie looks up, shocked. Her eyes blink twice, rapidly.
“I know what you have behind your eye. I know you think it makes you safer. Maybe you even think someday the information in there can be a second source of income, when you’re too old to do this. But there’s a man who wants to cut that out of you. He’s been doing the same to the other girls.”
She shows her the pictures of dead Mona, with the bloody, mutilated face.
Carrie drops the pictures. “Get out. I’m calling the police.” She stands up and grabs her phone.
Ruth doesn’t move. “You can. Ask to speak to Captain Scott Brennan. He knows who I am, and he’ll confirm what I’ve told you. I think you’re the next target.”
She hesitates.
Ruth continues, “Or you can just look at these pictures. You know what to look for. They were all just like you.”
Carrie sits down and examines the pictures. “Oh God. Oh God.”
“I know you probably have a set of regulars. At your prices, you don’t need and won’t get many new clients. But have you taken on anyone new lately?”
“Just you and one other. He’s coming at eight.”
Ruth’s Regulator kicks in.
“Do you know what he looks like?”
“No. But I asked him to call me when he gets to the street corner, just like you, so I can get a look at him first before having him come up.”
Ruth takes out her phone. “I need to call the police.”
“No! You’ll get me arrested. Please!”
Ruth thinks about this. She’s only guessing that this man might be the killer. If she involves the police now and he turns out to be just a customer, Carrie’s life will be ruined.
“Then I’ll need to see him myself, in case he’s the one.”
“Shouldn’t I just call it off?”
Ruth hears the fear in the girl’s voice, and it reminds her of Jess, too, when she used to ask her to stay in her bedroom after watching a scary movie. She can feel the Regulator kicking into action again. She cannot let her emotions get in the way. “That would probably be safer for you, but we’d lose the chance to catch him if he is the one. Please, I need you to go through with it so I can get a close look at him. This may be our best chance of stopping him from hurting others.”
Carrie bites her bottom lip. “All right. Where will you hide?”
Ruth wishes she had thought to bring her gun, but she hadn’t wanted to spook Carrie, and she didn’t anticipate having to fight. She’ll need to be close enough to stop the man if he turns out to be the killer, and yet not so close as to make it easy for him to discover her.
“I can’t hide inside here at all. He’ll look around before going into the bedroom with you.” She walks into the living room, which faces the back of the building, away from the street, and lifts the window open. “I can hide out here, hanging from the ledge. If he turns out to be the killer, I have to wait till the last possible minute to come in to cut off his escape. If he’s not the killer, I’ll drop down and leave.”
Carrie is clearly uncomfortable with this plan, but she nods, trying to be brave.
“Act as normal as you can. Don’t make him think something is wrong.”
Carrie’s phone rings. She swallows and clicks the phone on. She walks over to the bedroom window. Ruth follows.
“This is Carrie.”
Ruth looks out the window. The man standing at the corner appears to be the right height, but that’s not enough to be sure. She has to catch him and interrogate him.
“I’m in the four-story building about a hundred feet behind you. Come up to apartment 303. I’m so glad you came, dear. We’ll have a great time, I promise.” She hangs up.
The man starts walking this way. Ruth thinks there’s a limp to his walk, but again, she can’t be sure.
“Is it him?” Carrie asks.
“I don’t know. We have to let him in and see.”
Ruth can feel the Regulator humming. She knows that the idea of using Carrie as bait frightens her, is repugnant, even. But it’s the logical thing to do. She’ll never get a chance like this again. She has to trust that she can protect the girl.
“I’m going outside the window. You’re doing great. Just keep him talking and do what he wants. Get him relaxed and focused on you. I’ll come in before he can hurt you. I promise.”
Carrie smiles. “I’m good at acting.”
Ruth goes to the living room window and deftly climbs out. She lets her body down, hanging on to the window ledge with her fingers so that she’s invisible from inside the apartment. “Okay, close the window. Leave just a slit open, so I can hear what happens inside.”
“How long can you hang like this?”
“Long enough.”
Carrie closes the window. Ruth is glad for the artificial tendons and tensors in her shoulders and arms and the reinforced fingers holding her up. The idea had been to make her more effective in close combat, but they’re coming in handy now, too.
She counts off the seconds. The man should be at the building. . . . He should now be coming up the stairs. . . . He should now be at the door.
She hears the door to the apartment open.
“You’re even prettier than your pictures.” ?The voice is rich, deep, satisfied.
“Thank you.”
She hears more conversation, the exchange of money. Then the sound of more walking.
They’re heading toward the bedroom. She can hear the man stopping to look into the other rooms. She almost can feel his gaze pass over the top of her head, out the window.
Ruth pulls herself up slowly, quietly, and looks in. She sees the man disappear into the hallway. There’s a distinct limp.
She waits a few more seconds so that the man cannot rush back past her before she can reach the hallway to block it, and then she takes a deep breath and wills the Regulator to pump her blood full of adrenaline. The world seems to grow brighter, and time slows down as she flexes her arms and pulls herself onto the window ledge.
She squats down and pulls the window up in one swift motion. She knows that the grinding noise will alert the man, and she has only a few seconds to get to him. She ducks, rolls through the open window onto the floor inside. Then she continues to roll until her feet are under her and activates the pistons in her legs to leap toward the hallway.
She lands and rolls again to not give him a clear target, and jumps again from her crouch into the bedroom.
The man shoots, and the bullet strikes her left shoulder. She tackles him as her arms, held in front of her, slam into his midsection. He falls, and the gun clatters away.