Homelessness was just a temporary displacement for her; he could tell the way she'd fought them in the van on the drive to the mountains, the way she'd been dressed when they'd picked her up, the way she'd pleaded for them not to hurt her baby. She wasn't a fuckup, her mind wasn't blasted by drugs. She'd been coherent, sane, and totally aware of what was going on.
And the only thing she'd been worried about was her baby. The look on her face as she'd cried and pleaded with them not to hurt her daughter… it had brought that long-buried memory of what his father had done to Binky rushing to the surface, and he knew that he was dealing with people who were so ruthless, so brutal and cold, that even the death of a baby wasn't enough to satiate them.
"I've decided to use somebody else in getting Ms. Miller and her husband," Rick mused, breaking Tim's thoughts.
"Oh?" He looked up, feigning normalcy. This was new to Tim. He had been gearing himself up for staking the Miller place out with Animal and making a move within the next few days. Ever since Rick had begun talking to him about finishing the job, Tim had been mentally preparing himself for it to be his last.
"Lisa will recognize you if she sees you," Rick Shectman said, glancing at Tim. "Even though you've shaved and cut your hair and everything, she'll recognize you. If anything went wrong and she got away, that would be the end of it. I can't afford to have you caught."
"I understand," Tim said. He felt a little let down about the decision. He was actually looking forward to getting back at Lisa for escaping and putting him through this shit. If she hadn't manipulated them like this, that homeless chick and the baby would still be alive and Tim wouldn't be contemplating a move that might get him killed. Then again, if this hadn't happened, Tim wouldn't have seen Rick and Al for what they were: rustless motherfucking scum who didn't give a shit about life. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You're certain Lisa saw Animal?" Rick asked.
Tim nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't wearing his mask the afternoon we, went there to make the film. They even talked a little bit." He laughed. "Bitch wanted to know what he got out of torturing people. Lake she wanted to fucking understand how a guy like Animal works."
"Do you understand how Jeffrey works, Mr. Murray?" Rick Shectman wasn't smiling.
Tim's laughter faded. The image from last night and the last job flashed through his brainpan. "No. I'm afraid I don't. I don't understand how a guy gets off by fucking dead people's neck stumps and tearing babies apart with his bare hands."
Rick raised his eyebrows. "Fucking dead people's neck stumps? You don't say."
"Yeah" Licking his lips, Tim told Rick a simplified version of what Animal had done before Al's corpse was turned into sheet metal. Talking about it seemed to lessen the grotesque nature of it.
"Well, what do you know," Rick said, leaning back in his chair and stroking his chin. "I had no idea Jeffrey was a necrophile as well as a sadist. I've got a client who's been bugging me about getting him some necro stuff. Animal might come in handy with that, don't you think?"
"You better believe it" What was the world coming to? First snuff films, now necrophilia videos? What was next? Cannibalism films?
The image of Jeff tearing a chunk of that infant's flesh from its body and stuffing it into his mouth, chewing it as he tore it apart in front of the camera, came to mind and he shook his head. Fuck yeah, cannibalism films were next. That was a no-brainer. Shit, no wonder he had to get out of this business. It was getting sicker and sicker. It wasn't enough to have some gimp like Animal torture and slice up some homeless junkie for some faceless pervert. Now they were getting into using people who would be missed and babies, and Rick was seriously considering having Animal perform cannibalism. Fuck!
"You know as well as I do, Tim, that I don't give a fuck what my customers are into." Rick leaned forward, his pale features bored. "People are into all kinds of weird shit… fucking little kids, letting chimpanzee's fuck 'em in the ass, watching coke whores in high heels stomp on mice and kittens, watching people getting off on being tortured and shit… eating shit and drinking piss… sticking their heads up horses' asses and eating the shit while they jack off, watching somebody get cut up, getting off on somebody getting murdered by somebody like Animal. I'm not into the shit myself, but what the fuck do I care if some rich pervert wants to get off on this crap? Know what I mean? Long as they're discreet and have the money, I'm willing to… help them out. Know what I mean?"
Tim nodded. He'd been in the illegal pornography industry long enough to know that the core audience of this stuff paid a lot of money to obtain it. Show me a man or a woman who works hard at wearing a veneer of respectability and I'll show you somebody with a dirty secret.
"As much as I would trust you and Animal to do the job right in securing our loyal subject again," Rick said, leaning back in his chair, "I'm afraid I can't risk it. She's seen both of you. I do want you to be a part of the production of the film, though. In fact, the client has specifically requested Animal to be the… ah, how shall I say it? The method of execution?" Rick grinned.
"So we're going through with it, then? This guy really wants to see this particular bitch get done?"
"You bet he does."
"Fuck!" Tim couldn't believe it. What kind of sick fuck wasn't satisfied with two good-looking bitches getting done? Hell they'd delivered not one, but two snuff films with some pretty hot-looking chicks getting the shit fucked out of them by Animal, and that still wasn't enough. "What, this guy's got money falling out of his asshole or something?"
"Consider it picking up where we left off," Rick said, his features cold, predatory.
"Huh?"
"We fucked up the first time. We're going to deliver the second time."
Tim Murray looked at Rick, feeling his skin grow hot from the implications. What Rick was insinuating was that there was no additional money involved, that he and Animal were to do a job for free. "We're doin' this for free?"
"It's not for free."
"Bullshit it ain't!"
Rick flinched at the sound of Tim's voice, and Tim felt his stomach roll in his belly. He could tell by the look in Rick's eyes that he had pushed his limit. "Just shut up and listen. We're doing her, and we're doing this my way. I don't need to explain to you why we have to, but-"
"This motherfucker's got us by the balls, doesn't he?" Tim asked, trying to connect with something that would appeal to Rick's basic instinct. "We didn't deliver the bitch he wanted, and now he has us. He's trying to blackmail us, right?"
"Blackmail's the least of our problems right now," Rick said, leaning forwatd, jabbing a finger at rim. "It's personal, rim. The bitch got the best of you and she fucked me. I want her. I want to see her sflffer. My client is rightly pissed, and he's scared shitless. If the bitch tells the cops and they start chasing down trails and even get one whiff of who I am, the whole fucking operation falls apart. You got me? It's not only about covering our asses, it's about getting the bitch who fucked us and making sure we shut, her fucking trap"
In that case," Tim said, feeling the tension ease. "We'll be ready whenever you are."
"This has to be done right," Rick said, drumming his well-manicured fingers on the desktop. "Let me speak to my contact. I'll call you tomorrow. What I'll probably do is arrange to have Lisa abducted. That's already in the works, and I'll need you to assist."