The Collectors (Camel Club 2)

cocky. He really thought a lot of himself. I don’t like that in a man. And he was too thin and pretty, if you know what I mean. I could’ve probably taken him in arm wrestling. I like my guys big and rugged.”

“I bet. So this pretty boy, you only give him a massage? Or something extra?”

Cindy crossed her arms and stopped popping her gum. “I’m a licensed professional, Mr. Bagger.”

In response he pulled ten hundred-dollar bills from his wallet. “This enough to buy your license?”

Cindy eyed the money. “I guess what I do on my own time is my business.”

“Can’t argue with that.” He held out the money. “So tell me about it.”

But she hesitated in taking the cash. “I could maybe lose my job if—”

“Cindy, I don’t give a shit if you’re screwing dead people at this two-bit joint, okay?” He pushed the money down the inside of her shirt. “Now talk to me. And don’t lie. Lying to me is a very bad thing.”

She started speaking fast. “Okay, like he was all over me from the get-go. I was massaging him, and all of a sudden I felt his hand against my leg. And then his hand moved way past where it should’ve been.”

“Yeah, a real animal. What happened next?”

“He started coming on to me really hard. At first I blew him off. Then he started talking high-and-mighty. Said he was making a big score and I should be nice to him.”

“A big score, huh? Keep going.”

“He flashed some money, said there was a lot more where that came from. After I finished work, he was waiting for me. We had a couple drinks; I started getting a little looped. I’m not real good with holding my liquor.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s keep it moving here, Cin,” Bagger said impatiently. “I got serious ADD.”

She went on hurriedly. “So anyway, we ended up in his room. I gave him a mouth job to get things going, but the asshole popped early. Let me tell you I was pissed. I mean, I didn’t even know the jerk. He was really upset, crying like a baby. Guy gave me a hundred bucks. A lousy hundred bucks! Then he was in the bathroom puking for about ten minutes. When he came out, he said he hadn’t had any in a long time and that was the reason he came so freaking fast. Like I gave a crap.”

“What a jerk. What happened next?”

“Well, that was pretty much it. I mean, there wasn’t any reason for me to stay after that, was there? It’s not like we were on a date or nothing.”

“He didn’t say anything else? Where he was from? Where he was going? What the big score was?” She shook her head. He studied her closely and said, “Okay, you look like an enterprising gal. Did you maybe rip off some cash from his wallet while he was puking in the john?”

She said angrily, “I’m not some kind of trash! Who do you think you are accusing me of that?”

“Let’s do a little reality check here, Cin.” He touched his chest. “I’m Jerry Bagger. You’re a lowlife who lets strangers shoot off in her mouth for chump change. So I’m going to ask you one more time: Did you rip off some cash to bump the C-note he gave you?”

“I don’t know, I might have,” she said. “But I don’t feel like talking no more.”

Bagger clamped a hand around her chin and jerked her head around so they were looking eye-to-eye. “Did your old lady ever tell you anything about me?”

A scared Cindy swallowed nervously. “She said you were real good to work for.”

“Anything else?”

“She said anybody ever tries to cross you is one dumb son of a bitch.”

“That’s right. Your mama’s smart.” He squeezed tighter on her chin, and Cindy gave a little yelp. “So if you wanna see mama again, take a real deep breath and tell me what you saw in pretty boy’s wallet.”

“Okay, okay. It was weird because he had a couple of IDs.”

“And?”

“And one was the name he gave me at the spa, Robby Thomas from Michigan. The other one was a driver’s license from California.”

“The name?” Bagger said calmly.

“Tony. Tony Wallace.”

Bagger let go of the woman’s face. “See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, why don’t you go back to rubbing the old farts’ cocks?”

She rose on trembling legs. As she turned to leave, Bagger said, “Hey, Cindy, aren’t you forgetting something?”

She slowly turned back around. “What’s that, Mr. Bagger?” she said nervously.

“I paid you a thousand bucks. Pretty boy gave you a tenth of that, and he got a blow job. You never even asked me if I wanted one. That’s not nice, Cindy. That’s something a guy like me remembers for a long time.” He waited, staring at her.

Her voice quavering, she said, “Do you want me to give you a blow job, Mr. Bagger?” She hastily added, “It’d be an honor.”

“No, I don’t.”

CHAPTER 49

ANNABELLE AND CALEB WERE walking down a hallway in the Jefferson Building. Annabelle had on a red knee-length skirt, black jacket and a beige blouse. She appeared professional, confident and inspired. Caleb looked ready to slash his wrists.

“All you have to do,” she said, “is act sad and depressed.”

“Well, that should be easy, since I am sad, and I am depressed,” he snapped.

Before they entered the security office for the library, Annabelle stopped and put on a pair of glasses attached to a chain around her neck.

“Are you sure this will work?” Caleb hissed. He was starting to wheeze a bit.

“You can never be sure a scam will work until it does.”

“Oh, that’s just great!”

A few minutes later they were sitting with the head of security in his office. Caleb sat with his head bowed and his gaze on his shoes while Annabelle talked away.

“So as I explained, Caleb has retained me as his psychologist to help him through the process.”

The chief looked puzzled. “You say he’s having trouble going into the vault?”

“Yes. As you know, he found the body of a dear friend and colleague in there. The vaults are a place that Caleb normally loves. It’s been a part of his life for many years.” She glanced over at Caleb, who, on cue, let out a deep sigh and dabbed at his eyes with a tissue.

“Now the venue that has represented so many positive memories for him has become a place of deep sadness, even horror.”

The chief looked over at Caleb. “I’m sure it was rough on you, Mr. Shaw.”

Caleb’s hands were shaking so badly that finally Annabelle grabbed hold of one of them.

“Please call him Caleb, we’re all friends here,” Annabelle said encouragingly, signaling the chief without Caleb seeing her even as she gave Caleb’s hand a crushing squeeze.

“Oh, right, yes, we are friends, sure,” the chief said awkwardly. “But what does this have to do with my department?”

“My plan is to let Caleb watch the tapes of the reading room, people coming and going from the vault, everything normal, everything as it should be, as a way to empower him to navigate this difficult period and turn the reading room and the vault back into purely a positive experience for him.”

“Well, I don’t know about letting you see the tapes,” the chief said. “It’s a highly unusual request.”

Caleb started to get up in defeat, but a scathing look from Annabelle caused him to freeze in midrise. She said, “Well, it’s an unusual situation. I’m sure that you would do anything within your power to see a fellow employee successfully get on with his life.”

“Well, sure, but—”

“So would now be a good time to see the tapes?” She shot a furious glance at Caleb, who was still halfway out of his chair. “I mean, you can see that he’s desperate.”

Caleb slumped in his chair, his head hanging between his knees.

Annabelle looked back at the chief and eyed his name tag. “Dale, I can call you Dale, can’t I?”

“Well, sure. Okay.”

“Dale, do you see the clothes I h

ave on?”

Dale looked at her attractive figure and said sheepishly, “Yeah, I noticed.”

“You see that my skirt color is red. That’s an empowering, positive color, Dale. But my jacket is black, a negative vibe, and my blouse is beige, a neutral color. This represents that I’m halfway through my goal of helping this man back to a normal, healthy life. But I need your help, Dale, to finish the job. I want to be able to wear all red for Caleb. And I’m sure you want me to as well. I say let’s finish the job, Dale. Let’s just do it.” She ran an appraising eye over him. “I can tell, you’re with me, aren’t you?”

Dale looked at the miserable Caleb and said, “Well, okay, I’ll get the tapes for you.”

After he had left the room, Caleb said, “You handled yourself very professionally.”

“Thank you,” she said tersely.