The Killing League

38.

Lady of the Evening

Amanda Dekins thought the hotel looked like any of the other hundreds of hotels and motels and inns and rooming houses in which she’d done business.

When she had been younger and slimmer, and her tits had stood up straight and proud, she had been to all the upscale hotels. Back then, the majority of her clientele had been successful businessmen who would think nothing of shucking out eight hundred bucks for a couple hours with an 18 year old hottie.

Now, she was lucky to get 800 bucks after a long night of work.

Still, she’d worked in a lot worse dumps than this place. A lot worse.

She ignored the woman at the front desk and walked down the hallway, immediately spotting the KL placard. This was it, she thought. There could be some psycho in there, maybe a relative of some john she’d done in. Or maybe it was some vice cop looking to arrest her. She remembered a scam run by the FBI where they sent fugitives notice that they’d won a television and all they had to do was show up at a certain place and time. When they did, they were arrested.

Somehow, though, she didn’t think either one of those would be the case. No, this was someone who wanted to play some games. And unfortunately for him, he’d picked the wrong bitch to play them with.

Dekins paused, shook out a cigarette and fired it up. She walked into the conference room and glanced at the security guard, almost daring him to say something about her clear violation of the non-smoking rule.

He remained silent.

She looked at the row of chairs in the semicircle in front of the big television screen. An old bag, a freaky looking guy and some stoner businessman all sat in chairs facing a flat screen.

Yeah, f*ck that, she thought. She wasn’t about to sit close to those total losers.

Dekins walked across the room, felt the eyes of the three already seated, and reached the back wall, then turned and leaned a shoulder against it, bringing the cigarette to her mouth and breathing out smoke.

She would stay right here during all this bullshit. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to get this over with and hopefully make the bastard pay who’d complicated her life for no good reason.

And then when it was over, maybe she’d find a couple of lonely, desperate businessmen and make a few bucks.