A femme fatale drops ten grand and a motel key on private eye Deuce Jenco’s desk, but the scent of gunpowder proves this job is anything but routine infidelity.
The Midnight Retainer
She stood in the doorframe, silhouetted against the hallway light, looking as if she were stepping out of the screen of a noir flick. She oozed a cocky self-assurance that told me she got everything she wanted with loan shark interest.
She spoke like Bacall spoke to Bogey as she pointed her index finger at my heart. “You Deuce Jenco, PI?”
I answered, “Maybe. Who wants to know?”
She walked to my desk. I laid back in my chair, hands clasped behind my head. She wanted to give me a show; I’d play along to find out her game.
“Either you are or you ain’t. Don’t waste my time if you ain’t.”
All the good looks couldn’t breed out the low-class upbringing she carried with her Gucci purse.
“What’s your deal? You have a name?”
“I’m Nola Sevens. My husband, Patrick, is running around with Wendy Patterson. She’s married to George Patterson III. I want you to get all the dirt and photos and give them to George Patterson.”
“Sounds messy,” I said, leaning forward. “And dangerous. Patterson owns half the judges in this county.”
“He pays his debts, too,” she purred, slapping a manila envelope onto the scarred mahogany. It landed with a dull thud—ten grand in crisp hundred-dollar bands, minimum. Beside it lay an old brass key stamped with the number fourteen.
“Motel St. Jude, room fourteen,” Nola whispered, leaning close enough for me to catch cheap carnation perfume masking cordite. “Tonight at midnight. Take the shots, deliver them to Patterson’s estate, and keep the retainer.”
“And if Patrick catches me?”
Her smile went razor-thin. “Patrick won’t be looking at you.”
She turned on her spiked heels and vanished down the dim hallway.
Ten grand was suicide money. I pocketed the envelope, but my fingers hovered over the brass key.
Now it’s your turn: Does Deuce take the bait and head to Room 14 with his camera, or does he pocket the cash and run straight to Patterson before the trap snaps shut? How does the setup end?
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