SERIAL UNCUT by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn J.A. Konrath Read Free Book Online Page A

whore wore sandals, the cork
wedge heels so high her toes were bent. She had small feet--they
looked like a size five--and her nails matched her red mini skirt.
Taylor spotted her through the windshield as she walked over to his
Peterbilt, wiggling her hips and wobbling a bit. Taylor guessed she
was drunk or stoned. Perhaps both.
    He climbed out of his cab. When his cowboy
boots touched the pavement he reached his hands up over his head
and stretched, his vertebrae cracking. The night air was hot and
sticky with humidity, and he could smell his own sweat.
    The whore blew smoke from the corner of her
mouth. "Hiya, stranger. My name's Candi. With an i."
    " I'm Taylor. With a T."
    He smiled. She giggled, then hiccupped.
    Even in the dim parking lot light, Candi
with an i was nothing to look at. Mid-thirties. Cellulite. Twenty
pounds too heavy for her skirt and halter top. She wore sloppy
make-up, her lipstick smeared, making Taylor wonder how many
truckers she'd already blown on this midnight shift.
    But she did have very cute toes. She dropped
her cigarette and crushed it into the pavement, and Taylor licked
his lower lip.
    " Been on the road a long time,
Taylor?"
    " Twelve hours in from Cinci. My ass is
flatter than roadkill armadillo."
    She eyed his rig. He was hauling four
bulldozers on his flatbed trailer. They were heavy, and his mileage
hadn't been good, making this run much less profitable than it
should have been.
    But Taylor didn't become a trucker to get
rich. He did it for other reasons.
    " You feeling lonely, Taylor? You
looking for a little company?"
    Taylor knew he could use a little company
right now. He could also use a meal, a hot shower, and eight hours
of sleep.
    It was just a question of which need he'd
cater to first.
    He looked around the truck stop lot.
Pretty full for late night in Bumblefuck, Wisconsin. Over a dozen
rigs and just as many cars. The 24 hour gas station had a line for
the pumps, and Murray's Eats ,
the all-night diner, appeared full.
    On either side of the cloverleaf there
were a few other restaurants and gas stations, but Murray's was always busy because
they boasted more than food and diesel. Besides the no-hassle
companionship the management and local authorities
tolerated, Murray's had a
full-size truck wash, a mechanic on duty, and free
showers.
    After twelve hours of caffeine sweating in
this muggy Midwestern August, Taylor needed some quality time with
a bar of soap just as badly as he needed quality time with a
parking lot hooker.
    But it didn't make sense to shower first,
when he was only going to get messy again.
    " How much?" he asked.
    " That depends on--"
    " Half and half," he cut her off, not
needing to hear the daily menu specials.
    " Twenty-five bucks."
    She didn't look worth twenty-five bucks, but
he wasn't planning on paying her anyway, so he agreed.
    " Great, sugar. I just need to make a
quick stop at the little girls' room and I'll be right
back."
    She spun on her wedges to leave, but Taylor
caught her thin wrist. He knew she wasn't going to the washroom.
She was going to her pimp to give him the four Ps: Price,
preferences, plate number, parking location. Taylor didn't see any
single men hanging around; only other whores, and none of them were
paying attention. Her pimp was probably in the restaurant, unaware
of this particular transaction, and Taylor wanted to keep it that
way.
    " I'm sorta anxious to get right to it,
Candi." He smiled wide. Women loved his smile. He'd been told, many
times, that he was good-looking enough to model. "If you leave me
now, I might just find some other pretty girl to spend my money
on."
    Candi smiled back. "Well, we wouldn't want
that. But I'm short on protection right now, honey."
    " I've got rubbers in the cab." Taylor
switched to his brooding, hurt-puppy dog look. "I need it bad,
right now, Candi. So bad I'll throw in another ten spot. That's
thirty-five bucks for something we both know will only take a few
minutes."
    Taylor watched