Deliver Me From Evil by Mary Monroe Read Free Book Online

felt that my role as the “mastermind” had been compromised. It seemed like Wade was calling all the shots now. I was still pissed off with him for involving Jason in our plan. And, now it looked like he and Jason had cooked up another part to my scheme without my knowledge or consent.
    â€œWe have to make this look real good,” Wade said, talking out the side of his mouth. He removed several pieces of rope and a piece of black cloth from the bag. “Where is the camera?” he asked, turning to Jason. Without a word, Jason plucked a Polaroid camera from the shopping bag.
    â€œWhat’s all this for?” I asked, looking from one item to another. “You’ve already called J.R., and he knows the deal. We don’t need to overdo anything,” I protested, holding up my hand.
    â€œYou got any black make-up or a black eyebrow pencil?” Wade asked me. “A black eye would add a nice touch.”
    â€œNo. Black eye, my ass. I don’t want to upset my husband that much. Taking his money will be bad enough. And you didn’t answer my question,” I snapped. “I want to know what all of this shit is for?” I asked, pointing at the items that Jason had just produced. “This wasn’t part of our plan. And if we, or you and your boy, start making up things as we go along, we are going to slip up and fuck up.”
    â€œWe just want to sweeten the pot,” Wade told me, wrapping one of the pieces of rope around my wrists. “We’ve come this far. We might as well go all the way,” he said, looking from me to Jason. Wade stripped me down to my underwear. And, for the first time, Jason smiled at me, his eyes stretched open wide as he stared from my crotch to my chest.
    Jason snorted and gave me a thoughtful look. Like he didn’t know what to say next. But then he started talking like he didn’t want to stop. “Shit, shit, shit! The brother is right,” that snaggletoothed sucker said, grinning. “It might take more than a phone call to make this thing work. A few good pictures will sew this thing up tight as a virgin’s honeypot.” Jason snapped his lips shut as his eyes roamed up and down my body some more.
    I sighed and tilted my head back for Jason to tie the blindfold around my eyes. Now at least I wouldn’t have to look at his leering face for a few minutes.

CHAPTER 7
    A ll kinds of prostitutes, from elderly women to teenage boys, worked day and night, seven days a week, rain or shine, along San Pablo Avenue, a gritty street that ran from Oakland to Berkeley and way beyond. They did their business between parked cars, stretched out on the ground, with a homeless person as the lookout; in the backseats of their tricks’ cars; or backed up against walls in back alleys.
    But the ones who really meant business did theirs in some of the cheap motels up and down San Pablo Avenue and some of the nearby streets. With rooms that they rented out by the hour, some of the motel owners had the nerve to offer cable TV. It had been a long time since I had been inside a motel as tacky as the one I was in now. If Jesse Ray hadn’t given me a job and fallen in love with me, I would probably be on my back in bed with some stranger in motels like this one on a regular basis by now. I had not been a bad youth, just confused and impulsive. Back then it seemed so cool to be like that. I had wanted people to like me so I’d eagerly become part of the wildest crowds. Not only had I fucked my brains out, I had done just about everything else, including drugs and thefts. It would have been easy for me to slide into prostitution. But by marrying me, J.R. had saved me from a life of despair. Well, almost. The attention and the respect that he had once given to me had made me feel better than I had in a long time. I had worked hard to reinvent myself and for a while it had worked. The housewives in my posh neighborhood had no idea how