The Night Stalker by Chris Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

backyard and pool area. Four young and attractive topless women were by the edge of the pool, giggling and splashing water at each other. Three other musclemen in suits were strategically positioned around the yard. D-King was sitting at one of four artfully weathered teak tables at the poolside, under a white umbrella. His blue silk shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a muscular torso adorned with chains and diamonds. The blonde woman sitting with him was also topless. A single white gold loop ring pierced her left nipple.
    ‘Detective Robert Hunter?’ D-King said with a smile but without getting up. ‘Yo, wuz up, dawg? Now that’s a motherfucking surprise. How long has it been, three years?’ He indicated the chair opposite his.
    Hunter took it. ‘Something like that.’ He nodded at the blonde woman, who replied with a wink.
    ‘Can I offer you something, Detective?’ D-King said, tilting his head towards his blonde friend. ‘Lisa here can mix you the most amazing cocktail.’
    Hunter’s eyes stole a peek at Lisa, who smiled naughtily. ‘Anything you like.’
    Hunter shook his head. ‘I’m fine for now, thanks.’
    ‘OK,’ D-King cut in, ‘so now that I know you’re not here for the company or the drinks, what can I do for you, Detective?’
    Hunter’s eyes subtly moved to Lisa and then back to D-King. He got the hint.
    ‘Lisa, why don’t you go play with the other girls?’ He didn’t phrase it as a request. She undid the sarong around her waist and stood up. Only then Hunter realized that she was fully naked. Not a hint of embarrassment crossed her face as she paused in front of him for a long moment. Her body was as close to perfection as Hunter had ever seen. Lisa slowly turned and walked away, her hips swinging as if she were on a catwalk. The tattoo on her lower back read – I know you’re looking.
    ‘That’s right, baby, dance it up,’ D-King called out before turning to Hunter. ‘Admit it, Detective,’ he teased, ‘I know how to live, don’t I? Hugh Heffner and Larry Flynt have got shit on me. Playboy and Hustler can kiss my black ass all the way to Mississippi. My girls are hotter.’
    ‘What do you know about homemade explosive devices?’
    The smile vanished from D-King’s lips. ‘I know they go bang.’
    Hunter kept a poker face.
    ‘Officially, notta thing.’
    ‘And unofficially?’
    D-King scratched the small scar above his left eyebrow with his pinky while scrutinizing Hunter. ‘If you’re here unofficially, why don’t you have a drink?’
    ‘I’m not thirsty.’
    They regarded each other for a few more seconds.
    ‘First time we met you bullshitted for a while before coming clean. I hope we’re past that crap. What’s this really about, Detective?’
    Hunter leaned forward and placed a close-up photograph of the victim’s face on the table in front of him, rotating it around to face D-King.
    ‘Oh, hell no, dawg.’ He cringed and moved back. ‘Last time you showed me a picture of a dead woman, all fucking hell broke loose.’
    ‘Do you know who she is?’
    ‘And that’s exactly the question that started it all.’ His eyes moved back to the picture, and involuntarily D-King rubbed his lips with the tips of his fingers. ‘Oh damn. That’s some nasty shiiit. Some motherfucker stitched her mouth shut?’
    ‘Do you know who she is?’ Hunter asked again.
    ‘She ain’t none of my girls if that’s what you’re asking,’ he replied after a brief pause.
    ‘Could she have been on the game?’
    ‘Not looking like that.’ Instantly D-King’s hands came up in surrender. ‘Sorry, bad joke. Anybody could be on the game these days. She looks to have been attractive enough. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before though.’ He tried to read Hunter’s expressionless face and failed. ‘The problem is that nowadays a lot of girls are trying to go it alone, creating websites and all, doing their own thang, you know what I’m saying? It’s hard to be sure. But if