Grace (7 page)

"She never told me. I swear, Detective Martin, she never told me."

Grace wasn't sure what to do. Max Mathews wasn't assisting her in any way and now she had important information for him. She had no choice but to go see him.

"We have to tell Frank and the other detectives investigating this case, Jerry. They need this information."

"But you're a detective. Can't you find this guy?"

"It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Think hard, Jerry. Do you remember her saying anything else? Did she meet him at his place or at a club somewhere?"

"She met him at some underground club downtown. You know ... the kind the cops can never find?"

"Let's see what we can find out on our own. I need for you to find out if Celina even met with your dealer for your drugs. That way, I can come up with a better timeline. In the meantime, I'll talk to Frank and the detectives."

"Fine."

Grace sat at the desk in the private computer room writing down names and telephone numbers of Celina's friends. Jerry had told her Celina's best friend was Mary Chloe. However, Mrs. Marquette refused to believe her daughter was even hanging out with such trash as Mrs. Marquette had put it.

"Well, Mrs. Marquette, I want to be sure to question anyone who may be connected to your daughter. Do you know where I can locate this Mary Chloe?"

"No, I do not."

"Well, I'll call you if I discover anything new."

"Be sure you do,” Mrs. Marquette stated rather abruptly, and Grace was a bit surprised.

Grace wasn't sure whether this had something to do with the mere mention of her daughter hanging out with Mary or the fact her daughter was missing and Mrs. Marquette felt more could be done to find her.

Grace had spoken with the commander and he now allowed Grace and Frank to work together. Grace had left another message for Max Mathews but received no response yet. Either way, Grace had a job to do and she questioned everyone's integrity.

She hoped Mary held some useful information like perhaps where to find this underground club.

If she could question Mary, locate the club, then she would go to Lieutenant Mathews and let him in on the current information. Even though he seemed unwilling to share his info with her, Grace's main objective was to locate Celina Marquette. She received a call from Jerry; Celina had never showed to get Jerry's fix.

Grace's gut told her Celina was probably fed up with Jerry's problem and had opted to hit the club instead of getting her boyfriend's drugs. Maybe Celina met the rich guy at the club? Maybe he owned the place? Numerous questions ran through Grace's mind. None of them meant squat if she didn't have solid proof, evidence, or an eyewitness to prove her theories. Maybe after visiting Mary Chloe, she would have more answers.

Detective Tommy Johnson and Lieutenant Max Mathews met outside the precinct before checking out a lead in the murder cases.

"So what went down?” Max asked, referring to the meeting between Grace Martin, the detective from Missing Persons and the Marquettes.

"Everything seemed fine. The boyfriend definitely looked nervous, and after the meeting, he cornered Martin by her car,” Tommy informed Max then inhaled the nicotine, taking one last puff before he entered the unmarked car. He knew Max hated the bad habit.

"What did you make of it?” Max asked.

"She's gorgeous."

"Not Martin, I mean about the boyfriend. Did it look like he was confessing something?” Max started the engine.

"It looked serious. They did look around to see if anyone was watching them. The kid seemed to be shedding some tears. Martin didn't seem to bat an eye."

Max thought about what Tommy told him and had a feeling Detective Grace Martin was withholding information. If that were the case, she would regret that mistake.

But then again, he knew she was under Don Nikko's command. Don was a good guy, but still, Martin had an attitude.

He drove further downtown to a place called The Cave.

When they arrived, they were shocked at what type of store it was.

"Whoowee, this must be our lucky day. Check out the lingerie.” Tommy practically drooled over the merchandise. That was nothing compared to the wide arrangement of sex toys and numerous devices that covered most of the store shelves. There were harem costumes, leather and chain costumes, knights, gypsies, whatever, but Max focused his attention on the black door to the right of the counter and register as well as the black-haired beauty who stood behind the counter.

She was all done up from head to toe in a two-sizes-too-small Morticia Addams black dress, her surgically enlarged breasts practically escaping from the top, and deep fire-red lipstick covering her large plump lips.

Her black, fake eyelashes accentuated her deep brown eyes that immediately took on an angry expression.

"Your other guy already stopped by and collected this month's payoff,” she blurted out and Max and Tommy were instantly annoyed. The thought of corruption in the police force made Max's stomach churn but he ignored the statement.

"We're looking for Mary Chloe."

"Well, look no further, darling, here I am.” She eyed Max and Tommy like they were pieces of meat.

"I can get someone to cover here and the three of us can head to the back.” She licked her lips and came around the counter.

Tommy was apparently a bit taken aback, but Max kept his cool.

"We have a few questions for you."

Mary Chloe glided her hand across Max's forearm, and then did the same to Tommy.

"So who wants to go first and who wants to watch?” She licked her lips again.

"We're here about Celina Marquette,” Max told her and Mary immediately stopped her act.

"What do you want?"

"We understand you two were close and we were wondering when you saw her last."

"I don't know what happened to her. I saw her the afternoon before she went missing."

"Did she come here a lot?"

"No, she didn't. She wasn't into this stuff like me. We've been friends for years, and I would tell you guys right away if I knew what happened to her or who may have taken her."

"How about her boyfriend. Do you know him well?"

"Jerry? Yeah, I know him and I know that he loves Celina, but...."

Mary looked away a moment. She seemed unsure if she should share something so personal about her friend. She obviously didn't care for cops, even though Max and Tommy were investigating Celina's disappearance. There were good cops and bad cops, as was the case in every field. Her attention was then drawn to the front entrance and at a steady regular.

The bell above the door rang and Max and Tommy looked to see who entered. The guy wore a business suit and froze when he noticed them speaking with the storeowner. He turned fast around and practically ran down the sidewalk.

"You're not good for business, fellas, so if you could just leave now, my wallet would appreciate it."

Mary headed back behind the counter.

"If you remember anything else, we would appreciate a quick call. Doesn't matter how little, just call me.” Max handed Mary his business card.

They left the store and headed to another of Celina's friends’ residence uptown.

Half an hour later, Grace stood a few feet from the door to The Cave and immediately understood Mrs. Marquette's anxiety. This didn't make any sense considering the detailed description of Celina from her family, her friends, and her boyfriend Jerry. Did Celina work behind the counter and maybe run the register? There were plenty of other decent and more respectable places to work.

Grace immediately had a bad feeling and something told her this case would get a bit more complicated once she opened the door.

Taking a deep breath, then glancing around validated that she was alone. She opened the door. She knew her face flushed, and her eyes widened at the assortment of numerous toys and costumes that decorated the store. Admittedly, she felt uneasy and out of place but refused to show it.

"My God, you're gorgeous! I have so many things for you,” a woman with long black hair stated, exiting from her position behind the counter, ready to dress up Grace and sell her a plethora of items.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not here to buy anything. My name is Detective Martin and I'm looking for the owner, Mary Chloe."

"I'm Mary, who sent ya, honey?"

Grace studied Mary's face a moment, unsure of her age. She had to be at least ten years older than Celina if Grace had to guess. Makeup covered Mary's face and every miniscule pore of her skin. No feature was untouched and her breasts bulged from her top. Mary just stared at Grace and she suddenly looked suspicious.

"Jerry, Celina's boyfriend, sent me."

Mary's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why would he do that?"

"He said you can tell me where to locate the underground club Celina was last seen in."

"I don't know anything about any club. Who are you?"

"I'm a detective working with the Marquettes to find their daughter."

"That's a shocker.” Mary's comment was laced with sarcasm.

Mary leaned against the counter and locked gazes with Grace. Grace watched Mary's line of sight focus on her side arm, then the gold shield attached to Grace's waistband. It was obvious to Grace that Mary questioned whether she was a cop or not. Grace reached into her coat pocket for her photo ID and business card. Mary seemed to accept the identification as authentic.

"The Marquettes want to find their daughter, and I understand after talking with Jerry that the two of you were pretty close. He seemed to believe you wouldn't hesitate to help in any way. I need to know where that club is and what goes on there."

"You couldn't handle it even if I could find out what club she was at. Her parents would freak if they knew what their precious daughter was into."

"What do you mean?"

Mary appeared hesitant to expand on the comment.

"Listen, Mary, I understand that the Marquettes don't like you, but my job is to try and find Celina, what happened to her and who's responsible. Now if you two were as close as Jerry insists you are, then there's no reason not to help me."

"I got a business to run and I don't need a bunch of cops and detectives stopping in and scaring away my customers."

"My concern is finding your friend and time isn't exactly on our side with cases like this. You know the deal, Mary."

Mary was hesitant a moment and Grace watched as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at Grace as if she exasperated her.

"There were two detectives in here already. I wasn't sure if I could trust them."

Immediately, Grace knew one of them had to be Mathews.

"We're all trying to help find Celina. Please tell me what you know and maybe a little more about this shop of yours."

Just then, a young woman came out from the back door and Mary asked her to cover the store while she took a break. The young blonde shrugged her shoulders and sat down behind the desk while she obnoxiously chewed a wad of gum.

Grace followed Mary through the back door and into a large room. There were a whole bunch of computers set up and about ten women all speaking seductively into the phones.

"It's a small yet lucrative business, and I couldn't exactly let the cops in on it. I pay enough people off to keep their mouths shut. Let's go into my office."

Grace listened to the X-rated phone conversations, the moaning and groaning from the ten women. This was crazy and completely unexpected.

"So was Celina working for you?” Grace nodded in the direction of the phone sex operators.

"Yes, she was. She knew the rules about not giving out any personal information or making dates with the clients. I really don't think that's what happened to her."

Mary closed the office door behind them and leaned against the desk.

Grace stood a few feet in front of her. “So tell me what you do think."

"If Jerry's right, and she went to one of the private clubs, then there could be a hundred suspects. The guys who are into women like this and who want to engage in more, let's say ... untraditional sexual acts, tend to swarm a new girl. I warned Celina about this, and she started to go more often. Then I think she met someone and they hit it off. I think she was happier with the mystery guy than with Jerry."

"He told me that Celina was seeing some big shot, rich guy, maybe an attorney. Do you know who this might be?"

"Honey, there are hundreds of big shot attorneys in the city. You would be shocked to see who hangs out at clubs like those."

"Do you go to those places? Can you find out which one she was at last and who she was with?” Grace asked.

"Do you really think Celina was taken by someone she met at a club?"

"I'm not sure, but it's a possibility and I want to be positive to investigate every lead thoroughly."

"I can try if you think it might help."

"It would help. I want you to be careful because I don't know who this guy is, or if he's even responsible for Celina's disappearance."

"Then why don't you come with me? You'll see for yourself what's going on. I know the staff at most of the clubs. I can get us in and out in a hurry if necessary. There's this bartender Bill who knows, sees and hears just about everything."

"Find out what you can. I'll update my commander and the other detectives involved, and we'll determine if an undercover operation is necessary. You have my card, Mary. Call me if you think of anything else."

"I'll be able to find out which club Celina was at the night she went missing."

"You do that, and we'll discuss going there to check things out."

"You may want to wear a disguise. There's always a chance that someone might recognize you. We'll make plans to meet here half an hour earlier, and I'll help you get ready."

Mary was pushing the undercover gig a bit much. Why did Grace feel this was just an excuse for Mary to dress her up?

Mary told Grace as soon as she entered the door that the woman had wonderful things for her. Grace caught Mary eyeing her body a few times. The feeling was creepy. God, this was bad, but if the trip to the club was successful, she might have an even better lead.