“I-I am,” Flood said, off guard. “Very much. It’s a gorgeous hotel.” The weirdest impulse, then, just another curiosity, a test to elicit a response. “I take it you’re one of the managers here?”
“No, no, sir. But it’s my favorite hotel on the beach. I always stay here during convention weeks.”
“Oh, really? The CES convention? That’s where I’m at.”
“All of them, sir. Leon Kingston. Very pleased to meet you.”
Flood shook the firm, long-fingered black hand. Wow, he ducked that one well, but what did I expect him to say? I’m a pimp? “Jake Flood. If you’re looking for the best wireless peripherals, stop by my booth across the street.”
“I just might do that, sir, I just might. Mr. Flood, please meet my good friend—”
Only at that moment did Flood notice Leon’s companion: elegant-physique’d, slender yet well-curved, hair radiant and black as ink cut straight as a bezel edge at the collarbone line—
“—Jinny,” Leon finished.
Flood surprisingly didn’t falter. He shook the cool soft hand, and said “Hello, Jinny,” then noted her fine, high-cheek-boned face and runway-model poise. The paprika-red wrap-dress clung to her curves as if she’d just been fitted by a pro fashion consultant. Flood’s earlier presumption was clarified; she was not a tacky convention whore, but an upper-end call-girl.
“Hello,” she said, smiling meekly. Then she seemed to restrain an uncomfortable flinch. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“First time on St. Pete Beach, Mr. Flood?”
The image of the girl stunned him once he compared it to the image he remembered last night: sperm all over her, face stamped into a mask of pain as she lay doubled-over on the bed, trim belly darkening with fresh bruises. “I-uh, yes, it is. Really nice beach town, nothing at all like Lauderdale and South Beach.” He tried to sound conversational, if only for an excuse to pay more visual attention to Jinny, a truly beautiful woman. “At my age, I like things a little laid back, a little less rowdy.”
“Your age?” Leon interjected. “I’m forty-five, Mr. Flood, and I know you’re younger than me.”
A pimp being ingratiating, Flood suspected, but he did know that he still looked good for the Big Five Oh. Before he could think of a reply, Leon continued, “But you could use a little sun, Mr. Flood, if you don’t mind my saying so. Give me three guesses. Seattle, Portland, or…”
“Got it on first one,” Flood admitted, but thinking simultaneously: What a pillar of character I am. I’m having a congenial conversation with a brutal PIMP. Good job, Flood. You’re a real gem. At the edges of his vision he noted Jinny’s forced smile, her continued repression of the pain at her abdomen. I should have called the cops on this criminal…. “And, no, we don’t get much sun there. In fact I was on my way out for a walk on the beach right now.”
“Great day for it. Lots of great bars and restaurants on this beach.” Like a magic trick, a business card appeared in Leon’s fingers. “And just in case you’re interested—since this is your first time—feel free to call my service number, if you’d like a top-notch tour guide to show you around.”
Flood looked at the card. SUN & SAND TOUR GUIDES - LEON KINGSTON, DIRECTOR, and a number. Tour guides, huh? Flood thought. Smooth, very smooth.
Flood couldn’t believe the illogic of his next words. “Is, uh, is Jinny one of your guides?”
“Indeed, she is, Mr. Flood, but unfortunately Jinny’s feeling under the weather today—”
Yeah, I’ll bet she is… “Oh, I’m sorry,” Flood expressed to her. His eyes couldn’t quite meet hers. “Catch a cold or something?” he asked for no other reason than to sound nonchalant.
Finally her hands came to her abdomen. “No, just one of those twenty-four-hour stomach bugs—”
“—but I’d be delighted to introduce you to one of our other guides, and I guarantee you, Mr. Flood, they’re all just as provocative as Jinny,” and with that, Leon shot Flood a quick wink.
So this is how is works here, Flood thought. Since Felicity, he’d hired more than one “escort” girl, and in the end, it was all a waste of time and money.
The elevator opened, then they were going down.
“Maybe I’ll give you a call tomorrow after the convention.” Flood slipped the card into his wallet. “But for now, I think I’ll just have a leisurely stroll on the beach. Thanks for the card, though.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Flood,” Leon finished up. “Enjoy the beach.”
“I will. Nice meeting you both.”
Jinny made another nod and pained smile, while Leon’s own smile followed him out of the elevator into the atrium.
Jesus, Flood thought. Some bag of worms. He made for the courtyard which would lead to the hotel’s own beach bar, but stalled when he reached for his cell phone. Damn it. He’d left it in his room, and he really needed to check his voice mail for the Seattle office. A queue of loud women in bikinis piled into the elevator cove, chattering, so Flood said To hell with going back up, and turned into a nicely paneled anteroom containing several payphones with private booths. He zipped in his credit card, was about to dial, when voices interrupted.
“Shit, Leon, I really hurt.”
“Well, I hope you learned your lesson.”
“I did but I still hurt. Oscar didn’t have to hit me that hard.”
“Osc wanted to hit you a lot harder, and would have if I’d told him too. Instead of giving me lip, try being grateful.”
It’s them, Flood realized. They must be in one of the other booths and left the door ajar. Flood’s was ajar too.
“When’s Oscar taking me home?”
“When you finish blowing me. So shut up and do it.”
Flood held the dead phone to his ear, feigning use, but sat tensed, listening.
Moments of silence ticked by, then Leon grunted and said, “Yeah, yeah—shit. Slow now, suck it all out…” More silence. “No, no. Swallow… Good girl.”
Love in the afternoon, Flood thought.
“Osc took a couple girls to the Tradewinds Resort for that pilot conference. He’ll be here in a couple hours, then he’ll take you home.”
“Leon, I need an oxy. Bad.”
“One, and that’s it.”
“Leon! I really hurt! Please, gimme one for tonight, too. Please.”
“Jesus, Jinny, you’re gonna turn into a junkie like Ann and Therese.”
“I can barely even walk. Oscar was hitting me so hard it felt like a sledgehammer.”
“You girls take too much of this shit…”
Oxy, Flood thought. Oxycodone, a morphine derivative and the number one prescription drug of abuse.
“Ann’s supposed to meet me here for dinner,” Leon remarked. “Didn’t see her at all last night. Did you?”
“Yeah, but just for a minute.”
“How’d she do?”
“Said she did one-hour tricks all day, then bagged an all-nighter with some rich guy from Maryland. And she said she needs more oxyies.”
“I already gave her enough. You girls gotta watch it with that shit, I been telling you. Now come on. Let’s go to the bar and get some lunch, then you can wait for Oscar. You feeling better now?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The door clattered open. Flood faked dialing the phone; in the corner of an eye he saw Leon and Jinny leave the anteroom, none the wiser of his presence.