Page 86 of The Complete Truth Duet
“Not tonight, Pervy McGee. I need to tell you all the things I’ve learned this week.”
I rolled my eyes and collapsed back on my bed, holding the phone above my head. “That doesn’t sound nearly as exciting.”
“I can’t hear you for shit. My phone’s been on the fritz. Let me grab my earbuds.”
While she searched the room, I grabbed the remote and flipped the TV on. The ticker from the stock market’s end of day scrolled across the bottom as a news anchor rambled about the country’s unemployment rate. I hit mute.
“Okay. That’s better,” she said.
“Good news: Amazon’s stock prices climbed again today. I might actually be able to afford to keep you golden in our golden years.”
“Oh, please. I’m gone the minute you start balding.”
I clutched my heart. “Hey!”
“I’m kidding. You know I have a thing for Mr. Clean.” She winked. “Now seriously, listen to this shit. I think I found a way to get that woman out.”
“What woman?”
“Cora,” she stressed. “The Guerrero woman. The one that was married to the guy who was gunned down.”
“The madam?”
Her lips thinned as she scowled. “She’s not a madam. But yeah. Her.”
“She wants out?”
“Seriously, Shane. Do you ever listen to me when I talk?”
“Oh, I listen. Let’s see if I’ve got this right. My wife is currently infiltrating a whore house like she’s Geraldo Rivera. As of last week, she had been promoted to the third floor—whatever the hell that means. And three nights a week, you get dressed up like a hooker, go to a hotel room where you pretend to meet with rich men who give it to you all night long, when you’re really just bullshitting with your husband via FaceTime. Then, when it’s all over, I go to sleep with blue balls while you withdraw cash out of our bank account to pay your pimp. Trust me, Lisa. I hear what you say, but if you don’t want me showing up there and dragging you home caveman style, you’re going to have to accept what kind of details I choose to commit to memory.”
We both glowered. Hers broke first.
“Anywho… So Cora. She’s this woman who runs the building for the Guerreros. She used to be married to the youngest one. But I swear she looks like she’s like eighteen now, so I don’t know how that’s possible, but I digress. So she and I were talking last week and she told me about her ex. Oh God. It’s such a sad story, Shane. She still wears this star necklace that he gave her, and get this: Before he died, he wrote on her ceiling in glow-in-the-dark stars. She told me she used to get really overwhelmed, so he wrote the words ‘One in. One out.’ As a reminder that, no matter how hard things get, everything will be fine as long as you just keep breathing.”
“Damn,” I whispered. “That’s rough. He died, right?”
“Yeah. Long time ago. But, when she was forced to move here from their old place, she brought them with her. Stuck them right back up the way he had them.” She paused and glanced around the empty room before lowering her voice and rushing out with, “A few nights ago, I broke into her apartment while she was gone and planted a hidden camera under a cluster of some of them.” She slapped a hand over her mouth like a kid who had said a curse word.
I shot upright, my mouth falling open as I stared at my wife. “What the fuck, Lisa! Where the hell did you get a hidden camera?”
“The internet. They delivered it right to my doorstep.”
I flared my eyes at her. “At the whore house? Addressed to Lisa Pennington?”
She waved me off. “No. I’m not stupid. I made sure it came to Lexy Palmer.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not helping.”
“Relax. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You told me when you left for Chicago that you were just following up on a tip about those missing women and the modeling ads in the paper. Now, you’re living there and planting hidden cameras? You gotta stop this bullshit before you get yourself killed. You are not a detective, Lisa. I let you do this because—”
“You don’t let me do anything. I’m here because I want to be here and I feel passionate about it. And, because, if I don’t help Cora Guerrero, nobody will. She’s incredible, Shane. She has no idea that she’s the only thing keeping this entire operation running. The Guerreros need her. She’s the one who takes the women for STD testing and makes sure everyone stays on birth control. She talks to them and actually listens when there’s a problem. She makes every single one of them feel special. For example: She makes us call when we get home every night. She does, like, a head count, and if you don’t check in, she’ll be beating down your door first thing the next morning. These women have never had anyone care about them. But Cora cares, and because of that, the women stay. If somebody just got her out of here, the whole damn thing would fall apart.”
