LITMIR.BIZ

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      Chapter 3

      The Wagon Wheel Diner was just about to close for the night when Matt Gold pulled into the parking lot in a small black sedan. The lot was nearly empty now, but it had been full when he swung by during the dinner rush hour. That was a good sign. Basic interrogation tactics held that it was always best to put the heat on at the end of a long day. When they were tired enough, people talked.

      "Midnight," said the big heavy man in the dirty apron. His fat body was blocking the door. "We're closed now."

      "FBI." Matt rapped on the glass door with his gold badge. When the man let him in, his eyes swiftly scanned the dim interior of the diner. "I'm looking for a girl named Crystal May Snow."

      "Nobody with that name works for me." The man who owned the diner was big, but flabby.

      "Yeah?" Matt poked him in the ribs. He didn't like men who lied; they reminded him of his father. "Maybe you've got illegals in the kitchen, huh? I can look around for myself. Or you can send out this girl." Matt pulled out a snapshot of a pale blonde, resting his other hand on the butt of his gun. "And while you're at it, fat stuff, have your new waitress bring me some coffee."

      "You drink my coffee, you have to pay." The big man scowled, looking Matt Gold in the eye. Then he dropped his gaze and shuffled away, cursing all policemen. Matt would have felt bad about his behavior, but he knew a few things about the man who owned this place. Tony Espinoza was a cheap, dirty ex-cop, pretty much the kind of man Matt's father had become after his wife left him. Just like the old man, the guy was crooked, and he used the people who looked up to him. But Tony didn't just shelter illegal aliens. He brutalized and enslaved them. Matt didn't like that kind of behavior. And he didn't want a guy like that anywhere near Crystal May Snow.

      "What makes you so mean to people, Agent Gold?" The soft voice had a hillbilly twang. Walking towards his table with a pot of hot coffee was the girl he'd spanked two weeks ago. The light blue uniform was new, but she still had that look—country innocence mixed with allure.

      "You've got a knack for picking the wrong kind of friends, Crystal May." Matt watched as the golden-haired girl poured his coffee, her figure displayed to full advantage in the frilly uniform. "You think that guy hired you out of the goodness of his heart?"

      "He hired me because I work hard," the blonde shot back. She gave Matt Gold a steady look, her blue eyes full of firm self-control. "My daddy taught me to work hard and to respect myself."

      "Good for him," Matt grunted. "My daddy taught me that everyone has a secret. He told me always look for the hidden weakness. Of course, my old man had a few secrets of his own."

      "That's mighty interesting," Crystal May replied. "But I've been on my feet since seven this morning and I'm right tired. And as far as I know, Agent Gold, I haven't committed any crimes, so if you'll drink up your coffee and pay your bill, my boss and I can get back to closing up for the night."

      "Sit down and take a look at this." Matt Gold tossed a photograph on the table.

      "Oh, my!" Crystal May forgot all about how angry she was. She sagged into the soft cushions and touched the photograph with her finger tips. "That poor man."

      "Is that the man you saw kissing Carla Brunelli the night she ran away?"

      The pretty blonde nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "He was so good-looking."

      "He's not going to die. He has a black eye and a few cracked ribs, but those injuries will heal." Matt Gold studied the pale beauty sitting across from him in the cheap diner. "You really think Steve was in love with Carla? You think that's why he busted her out of Madame's place?"

      "I do," Crystal May said softly. "They were going to run away together and get married."

      "Well, they didn't make it. The night they ran off, Steve and Carla checked into a cheap motel. I don't know why, when his family is so loaded. I guess you could say they wanted to be alone. Anyway, it looks like somebody found out where they were. When they left the motel the next morning, Nevada Highway Patrol found Steve's green custom Corvette run off the road about two miles down the highway. Steve was lying in a ditch, and his face was worked over pretty good. But there was no sign of a passenger in the car. Looks like the sexy Italian girl vanished without a trace."

      "Carla's missing?" Alarm and panic instantly replaced the gentle sadness on the country girl's delicate features. "Agent Gold, we've got to find her!" Crystal May's long legs moved restlessly under the table. Her knees brushed Matt's, but she was too agitated to even notice.

      Matt relaxed in his seat, glad to see he'd gotten the her attention. "That's what I want to do," he said softly. "The problem is we don't have any leads. The major crime families in these parts have been at peace for years. And on top of that, Steve and his father aren't really speaking to each other on account of Steve going straight and becoming a lawyer. So if someone did this to send a message, it's not one of the old families. It's got to be outsiders, probably one of the new drug cartels. And if they took your friend Carla ..."

      "They want her for sex," Crystal May said bluntly, not caring how the words sounded. "You know more than you're letting on, Agent Gold. You've already got a line on what kind of sex fiends would want a girl like Carla, don't you?"

      "I know a couple of places," the dark, sexy FBI agent acknowledged, with a casual shrug of his broad shoulders. "Clubs that cater to a very special kind of clientele. Places that are just like Madame Madeline's, only not so clean, not so well run. Not so good to the girls."

      "Hmph." Crystal May stuck her nose in the air. "I imagine you've spent quite a lot of time in clubs like those. All in the line of duty, of course."

      Matt Gold grinned at her. "You've got to hand it to Madame Madeline. When you tilt your chin just so, and look down your nose at us lustful males, you really do look like a duchess."

      "It's obvious you don't have any moral standards of your own," Crystal May grumbled. "Naturally you imagine mine are just an act. But I knew right from wrong before I left the hills back home. Do you imagine my concern for Carla is an act as well?"

      "No," Matt said seriously. "I know how much you care about your friend. That's not an act. But the tea-party manners and the disdain for sex ... that's an act."

      "I don't have any disdain for sex," Crystal May said, blushing. "Just for you."

      "The hell you do." Matt Gold stared deep into her eyes, and to her dismay Crystal May realized that her flushed cheeks were really starting to burn, getting hotter and hotter.

      Just like her ass when he spanked her.

      "Why did you come here tonight?" she squeaked, making a mighty strong effort and pushing the disturbing image of Matt Gold spanking her fanny clean out of her thoughts. "Thanks to all your dirty research, you've got a good idea of where to look for Carla, and you've even got a witness who saw the kidnappers. Steve saw the guys who beat him up, right?"

      "Oh, yeah. The trick is to get him to believe that it's in his best interests to talk. He's not a big fan of cops, you understand. We have to convince him that this is more than just law enforcement as usual, that the Bureau cares about Carla and we're going to make every effort to find her."

      "Well, how are you going to convince him of that?" Crystal May asked.

      "I'm not," Matt Gold said quietly. "You are."

      "Oh." Crystal May felt downright sick. She hated being used. But Carla was a friend, a very special friend, and she was in big trouble. And when a friend was in trouble, there was no choice.

      It wasn't the usual kind of nightmare she had as a little girl, where she was lost in the woods at night being chased by a wolf or a bear. In this dream, Crystal May was back at Madame Madeline's house, sitting on the sofa in a sexy night gown. Matt Gold came in and wanted to know where Steve and Carla were hiding. Crystal May told him they were gone, long gone, even though they were hiding in the closet right behind her.

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