"Hey, honey."
"Hi, luv." Corona greeted Jack with a kiss and pulled a chair out for him. They sat and she curled her tail around his leg.
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Couldn't get away until after my shift ended."
"Don't worry about it, there's still time." She nuzzled his cheek. "How'd it go?"
"Could've been worse, I guess." Jack sighed. "I don't think the new guy's gonna work out, but that's not my problem. I'm just relieved that I don't have to go back to that shithole again. On the other hand, though, I'm worried about paying the bills now that I don't have a steady job anymore."
"Well, if we can land a few good gigs right away, we'll get by." She giggled and put her arm around his shoulders. "I'm just excited to be working together now. It'll be fun!"
"Yeah." He smiled and slipped his arm around her. "If we can land a couple high-paying gigs to start ... "
"Right. I know you don't like the rich, but if we could score a few escort or bodyguard jobs with some of 'em, we'll be able to be a little more selective about the jobs we take later. I'll start hustling for one tomorrow and see what happens." She grinned. "And you can make a good start by helping me out with this job tonight."
"Sounds good to me. So, what's up?"
"I've been hired to frighten off a stalker. Here, the guy may look familiar." She showed him the photo on her phone and watched his face scrunch up in disgust.
"I couldn't forget that son of a bitch if I tried. And I've been trying, believe me. He picked up an order at the pizza place last week and wouldn't stop staring at the day manager's tits." Jack shook his head. "So he's the stalker?"
"Yep." Corona giggled. "It's a small world, eh?"
"It's a sick world." Jack shook his head. "I should've realized this guy was a fuckin' whacko."
"From what I understand about your former job, you had to deal with perverts and idiots all the time. I doubt this guy really stood out that much from all the rest."
"Fair enough. Still, once we're done with him, we'll probably need to be decontaminated thoroughly."
Corona chuckled. "Well, it's better than being paid less than minimum wage to put up with people treating you like shit. At least now you'll get to smack him around a little if he takes a swing at you."
"You can find the bright side of damned near anything."
"I do what I can." Corona giggled. "Anyway, this guy -- my clients nicknamed him 'Pervy Patty' -- has been sending them creepy emails, talking about the things he wants to do to them, and has actually groped one of them. He keeps getting a little bolder each time. The police haven't done anything to help, which is odd because the emails he sent should be pretty solid evidence. So the girls hired me to scare him away."
"You know, that's fucking typical. Nobody ever does anything about a scumbag like this until after he assaults someone. Yet the cops always have the time and manpower to keep pulling me over and giving me speeding tickets when I wasn't even speeding."
Her smile vanished. "It didn't happen again, did it?"
"Not yet. I'm just still pissed about the last one. And the one before that. And the dozen before that. And it's only a matter of time before they do it again." He shrugged. "Anyway, about this stalker. It's good that you were hired to take care of him. People like him always start off small, but they keep escalating until they try to rape or kill whoever they're fixated on. And sometimes they succeed."
"It's that bad? Really?"
He nodded. "This is serious. This guy started by following them around, then he actually got physical with them, right?"
She nodded slowly.
"Well, the next stage will be him raping one of them. Maybe even killing her afterward. Or killing her if he isn't able to get his hands on her. A mental case like him usually twists things around in his mind until he thinks he's just a 'nice guy' and she's rejecting him because she's a 'bitch,' and then deciding she needs to be punished."
"I had no idea." Corona slouched over the table and shook her head. "I wouldn't have treated the matter so lightly if ..."
"Don't beat yourself up about it. You've only been around for about six months. Give yourself time to learn how the world works."
Her wings drooped a few inches. "While I was growing in that tank in the Biotek lab, they programmed me with all sorts of information -- a hundred languages, combat tactics and weapons, how certain chemicals react with each other. All sorts of ways to wound and kill people. But nothing that would really help me understand the people I might end up fighting."
"Well, maybe you're better off if you don't understand what makes a guy like Henderson tick." Jack rubbed her back and kissed the side of her muzzle.
"True, I suppose." She sighed. "I can't imagine what would make anyone do something like that."
"Could be a chemical imbalance in the brain or something caused by an injury. Maybe some people are just broken inside. Some of 'em can be fixed, but with others, the best you can hope for is not to be anywhere near 'em when they go off." He scooted closer and put his other arm around her. "The good news is, you have a chance to stop this guy before he hurts someone."
"What should I do? At first, I was planning only to put a little scare into him, but now …"
"If that's how you're gonna handle him, you really need to work him over. He's gotta be too terrified to want to keep stalking your clients. Rough him up and make sure he understands that you'll kill him if he gets anywhere near your them again."
Corona shivered. "I've never killed anyone before. I don't know if I can."
"You just need to make him think you will." Jack gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Maybe even that won't work, but it's probably the best chance you'll have."
She nodded. After remaining silent for a long moment, she said, "I did have an idea, just in case this doesn't work. Taura found some information that can help when a case is built against him. But that may not be enough, so I figured we could stay out of sight at first and wait for him to try something with the girls. And when he does …"
"You want me to record the whole thing?" Jack grinned. "I'd be happy to."
"Cool. I talked it over with the clients and they agreed to give it a try. So we'll hang back and you can record what Pervy Patty does, and if he doesn't try anything out here, Nori volunteered to lure him outside. That way, there won't be any witnesses when I kick his ass."
"Count me in." He glanced around. "So, where are they?"
"That table." Corona nodded at the four girls sitting at a table in the far corner. She took a slow look around the room, stood and stretched, and pointed at the bar. "I'm gonna stand over there, where I can keep an eye on everybody. Wanna wait with me, or cover the room from a different angle?"
"Guess I'll go with you. It'd be too hard to keep in touch from the other side of the room, with all the noise in here." Jack followed her over to the bar. "I'll be scanning the crowd for him. If he shows up, I'll see him."
"Okay." Corona leaned against the bar and watched the crowd, flicking her eyes toward the doors now and then. "Want anything to drink? Non-alcoholic, of course," she added with a wink. One of the first things she'd learned about Jack was that he never touched booze. "Though you probably won't find much of that in a place like this. Aside from cola, that is."
"I'll make do." Jack looked at the menu board and took his wallet out. "Guess I'll have coffee. What're you having?"
"Put that back, I'm buying." She dug her own wallet out of her back pocket.
"Okay, but I'm buying the next round."
"Deal." She waved a hand to get the bartender's attention. He smiled and hurried over to her, and she ordered their drinks before turning back to the crowd.
"Coming right up." The bartender moved off to fill a glass and grab a cup for the coffee.
"So, do you miss your delivery job yet?" Corrie grinned and kept her eyes on the crowd.
Jack snorted. "Hell, no." He turned to keep an eye on the room. "I'll miss working with Bladder, but nothing else."
"Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet him."
"He was hoping to meet you, too. He's been curious ever since he found out that you're a chimera."
"Ah, naturally." She chuckled.
"He hangs out at the Event Horizon sometimes, so maybe we'll bump into him there, sooner or later."
The bartender returned with their drinks and Corona paid him. Jack picked up his cup and sipped. Jack raised an eyebrow and nodded at something across the room.
"I see the pervert. He's moving through the tables, looking around like he's trying to find your clients."
Comments (0)
See all