‘More than I do,’ said Lorraine.
The barman summoned Curtis to take a call and Elsa perched on a stool next to Lorraine. ‘So, what you been doin’, sugar? I thought maybe you were dead.’
‘No, I’m alive. You want a drink?’
‘Sure, Coke an’ bourbon, if you’re buyin’.’
They carried their drinks to a booth, but Elsa’s attention flitted constantly to the entrance, waiting for a customer.
‘Did you know Holly?’
‘Sure, sweet kid, one of Curtis’s. He’s been cut up bad about it.’
Lorraine led the conversation round to which was Holly’s pitch but Elsa couldn’t remember: she moved about because some of the girls could get nasty and they reckoned Holly was hedging in on their territory. Curtis was small fry: he only had a few girls and was too weak to get heavy with any of the other pimps. He mostly had trannies because nobody else wanted them — trannies and a few young chicks that he screwed more than any john. Holly was his girl.
‘The night she died, did you see her at all?’
‘Nah, I was in the Long Down Motel. I got a room there now.’
Lorraine tried to ask as much as she could about Holly without it sounding suspicious but Elsa would only say that on the night of the murder, it had been real slow for business and any john was picked up fast. ‘You get good nights and bad nights.’
‘Yeah,’ murmured Lorraine, but then Curtis returned and Elsa moved off to a prospective client.
He leaned on the back of the booth. ‘You still want videos? I can maybe get some in a couple of hours, I got business right now. Come back later.’ The barman waved him over to take another call. Curtis did his video and drug trade in the bars, just small stuff. His girls made the drops for him. Lorraine gave him an uneasy feeling. He watched her walking out. He didn’t believe the line she’d fed him about wanting a porno video.
‘Elsa!’ She sauntered across and Curtis covered the phone. ‘Who was the blonde?’
Elsa looked back to her john, and scratched the front of her wig. ‘Hooker, used to hang round the pool halls, did a few tricks with her way back. She was something else, man, a real sleaze lady, but boozed out — Lorraine. We called her Lazy Lorraine. She’d never score a john, just waited until she was so smashed she wouldn’t have known if she had one or not. She went with some weirdos, didn’t give a fuck.’ She hesitated a moment and then leaned closer. ‘Maybe don’t trust her too much, okay?’
Curtis gripped her wrist. ‘What you mean?’
Elsa twisted free, pissed off because he’d hurt her. ‘Word was she used to be a cop, that’s all.’
Lorraine walked along the strip, stopped at two more bars and then spotted Nula paying off a cab. She called, Nula turned, was puzzled for a moment, and then recognized her.
‘You got time for a drink?’ Lorraine smiled.
‘No, I just come on, I’m late.’
‘How’s Didi?’
Nula shrugged and they walked down the strip together. ‘She’s still got problems with her foot but she won’t see a doctor — hates them.’
Lorraine asked again if she had time for a drink. Nula looked at her watch and agreed, but only a quickie. They went to a small coffee bar and sat with two espressos. Nula was edgy, constantly looking out at the strip.
‘I wanted to ask you about the night Holly was murdered. A friend of mine was picked up by a real creep. He had wet slobbery lips, rimless glasses, quite middle America, not beat up... and she was uneasy about him. She figured she’d seen him the night Holly died — maybe it was him picked her up. Anyway, she did the business and got the hell out of his car.’
Nula stirred her coffee. ‘Never saw nobody like that the night she got it. I tell you somethin’ though. Didi, right, she was duckin’ and divin’, she sees the guy cruisin’ down the road, right, she reckons she’s scored but little Holly beat her to the punch.’
‘Wait a minute. Are you telling me Didi saw Holly being picked up?’
‘She said it was a guy in a sort of beige-coloured car.’
‘Have you told anybody this?’
‘No, why should I?’
‘Because he might have been the guy who killed her.’
‘Yeah, he might not. It was early, just after I come on, so...’ Lorraine didn’t like to push too hard. She started asking casual questions about how they worked it, the trannies and the straight chicks, but Nula wasn’t interested.
‘You think the john that picked up Holly might have been wanting Didi?’
‘Jesus, I dunno. Why you askin’ all these questions?’
Lorraine lit a cigarette. ‘Just curious. Is Didi workin’ tonight, then?’
Nula said she was at a motel with a regular, but she’d be around later. ‘I gotta go. With Art gone, we’re short of cash.’ Nula rested her hands on the table. ‘I said I’d not talk to you again because of Art. That was a bad thing you did, Art was a decent guy.’
‘Come on, Nula, he was getting kids screwed. I saw the photographs, even saw Holly in a few of them.’
Nula leaned in close. ‘How come you’re so interested in Holly? What’s she to you?’
‘She’s dead. Maybe I feel sorry for her — she was only seventeen.’
‘So was I once! We had cops around — some fucker gave them a tip-off. We haven’t done any photographic work for weeks — that’s because of you, isn’t it? You know, I been trying to place your face, like Didi says, we was at an AA meeting but. . I don’t trust you. Stay away from us.’
She walked out and Lorraine took the tab to the counter. As she turned to leave, she saw Curtis outside with Nula, who pointed to the coffee bar. Curtis pushed her, they seemed to be arguing, and then he turned to look in at the window. Lorraine saw the sign to the toilets and walked out. Curtis came in, asked for Lorraine and the waitress pointed.
Lorraine stood on the toilet seat. She heard the door creaking open, then footsteps and the other cubicle door pushed open. As there were just the two, she knew he would try the next door, and find her, but just as his footsteps stopped outside her door, the waitress walked in and told him to get out. Lorraine waited fifteen minutes before she eased open the door and peered into the coffee bar. Curtis was standing directly outside and there was no back exit, or none she could see, so she decided to front it out.
He turned fast when she came out. Suddenly his arm shot out and he grabbed her elbow. ‘You askin’ questions about Holly an’ I wanna know why. What you askin’ questions about my little baby for?’
She could see in his face he wasn’t going to hurt her. He wasn’t scared, just upset.
‘What’s it to you?’ she asked.
‘She was my girl.’
Lorraine pulled her arm free. ‘Maybe for no reason but that I liked her.’
‘You knew her?’
‘Yeah, not well, but I knew her.’ He made to move off. ‘Curtis, wait a minute.’
He looked at her. ‘I dunno what you want but stay away from here.’
She took a chance. ‘Maybe I’m askin’ for the cops.’
He stepped back fast, his face altered, his hands tightened into fists. Suddenly she knew that if they were alone he would hurt her, really hurt her.
‘Not in the way you think, Curtis — come on, I was a hooker. All I’m doin’ is feedin’ back a bit of information, they got nothin’ on her killer. Don’t you want him caught? She was your girl, you just said so, she was beautiful, real beautiful, and—’
‘She’s dead, right, so fuck off.’
Curtis walked away and Lorraine followed. He turned into an alley and stopped. Now she no longer had the safety of other people around her.
‘You got a fuckin’ nerve, lady. Back off me.’
She stood four feet from him, far enough to keep out of range of a swinging fist. She held him in a steady gaze, not afraid, showing him she was on the level, letting him look at her.