LITMIR.BIZ

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You’re just another cop—not even that good looking.”

      “Do you know what happened to her, Lilah?”

      “I have an idea.”

      Decker waited.

      “She had a bunch of these johns,” she said. “Real rich kinky types who pay well but toss her around … around bite here, a kick there … there time … time don’t know. Someone went overboard.”

      Decker was taken aback.

      “A john?”

      The girl nodded.

      “She was beaten up by a john that she’s serviced before?”

      “Yeah, but none of them ever went this crazy.”

      “She was turning tricks?”

      “I know you told her not to, but—”

      Decker clenched his fists. “For Chrissakes!”

      “She just didn’t know if she could handle another bad foster home.”

      “This wasn’t a bad foster home,” Decker said, struggling to keep his voice low. “All she had to do was keep her nose clean—”

      “She wasn’t gonna go to that place, Decker. She told me that.”

      “For God’s sake, why not?”

      “The street may not be much, but to her at least it’s home.”

      “Home? What kind of shit are you feeding me, Babe? She was smacked around and now she’s on the critical list. Home! Wake up and smell the roses.”

      Lilah turned fierce. “She told me you did Juvey, Dick.”

      “I do.”

      “So you wake up and smell the roses—or the fucking garbage. Yeah, she was smacked around. What the hell do you think her father did to her? And the hairball never paid her for it, either.”

      Decker ran his hands down his face. “I don’t believe this. I busted my ass … ass are these scumbags?”

      “They ride by in Jeeps, four-wheelers. They could buy anything or anyone, but they love to slum in Hollywood. I tried one of them once, a fat old fucker named Maurice. Musta been about sixty-five. The money was great, but I got some pride.”

      Decker said nothing.

      Lilah shrugged philosophically. “Actually, the sucker didn’t like me. I guess I was too old for him. What an asshole! He broke my fucking tooth!”

      “Do you know which one did this to her?” Decker asked.

      “No,” she said quietly.

      “Can you tell me anything more about these assholes?” Decker asked.

      “No.”

      “Think, Lilah!”

      “Look,” Lilah said. “I don’t know anymore. I’m tired. Leave me alone.”

      “Don’t you want this bastard to pay for what he did to Kiki?”

      “Cut the justice speech, cop. Assholes out there are big fat zits. Squeeze one, a dozen more pop up. I love Kiki, but I only got so much energy inside and I got to save it for when it counts. I was a white knight once. I just don’t give a shit anymore.”

      Suddenly a high-pitched noise emanated from Kiki’s room. A monotone. A flat monotone. To correspond with flat vital signs. The lights outside the doorway flashed bright blue. He was shoved out of the way by a team of two nurses and a doctor. Decker made himself scarce, walking down the hallway, not wanting to know, but forced to stay until there was closure.

      Fifteen minutes passed. The look in Lilah’s eyes said everything.

      Shit!

      The girl fell into Decker’s open arms. He held her as she sobbed pitifully. After she composed herself, Decker pulled away and said:

      “You know who her parents are?”

      “She hates her parents.”

      “We’ve got to send the body to somewhere, Lilah.”

      The girl wiped tears and running mascara off her cheek with her fingers. “She’s from Indianapolis. Her real name is Patsy Lee Norford. I think her father’s name is Mick or Mike.”

      “I’ll find him,” Decker said.

      “You’re a nice guy,” Lilah said. She whipped out a compact and began to fix her melted face. “Kiki said you were a nice guy. I frankly didn’t think they existed anymore.”

      “If Kiki thought so highly of me, why the hell didn’t she listen to me and just stay out of trouble for a week?”

      Lilah broke into wicked laughter—a mixture of irony and bitterness.

      “She was a dumb-ass,” she said, starting to cry. “And you’re a dumb-ass, also … also mean, don’t you get it?”

      Decker waited for her to explain.

      “She was fucking in love with you, for Chrissakes! She didn’t want to go to that halfway house because she knew she’d never see you again. I mean, you told her on the phone you wouldn’t visit her! She figured at least on the streets she could be your stoolie, and then she could be with you.”

      She clicked the compact closed and stuffed it in her purse. “You men are real stupid shits. I don’t care who the hell you are—john, cop, asshole father of five fucking kids—you’re all shit for brains.”

      She spat at him and walked away.

      19

      He trudged into the station house and was greeted by Marge’s smiling face.

      “Cheer up, Rabbi,” she said. “The warrants for Cecil Pode just came through.”

      “It’s a little after the fact,” he said, gulping down some aspirin.

      “You look horrible, Pete.”

      “Not as horrible as I feel. Look, I’ll meet you out at Pode’s place in about an hour.”

      She wrinkled her forehead.

      “Hey, isn’t this your day off?” she asked.

      Decker just laughed.

      Cindy approached the principal’s office with trepidation. The receptionist in the outer office told her to go inside immediately.

      The young girl’s face was anxious as she opened the door.

      “Hi, Cindy,” Decker said.

      “What is this, Daddy? Where’s Mr. Richardson?”

      “He’s off campus. His secretary was kind enough to let me use his office—with a little prodding from my badge.”

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing. I just wanted to say hi. I haven’t been able to get hold of you for a while.”

      The girl was confused.

      “Why did you pull me out of class?”

      “I was in the neighborhood,” he said, sheepishly.

      Cindy sat next to her father.

      “You look terrible, Daddy. What happened?”

      “I’m fine, Beautiful.” He kissed his daughter’s forehead, then hugged her fiercely. “I love you, Baby. Take good care of yourself for Papa, huh?”

      She hugged him back.

      “You want to talk about it?” she asked.

      He laid his hand against her cheek.

      “Cynthia,

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