“Hmm.” I run my hands through my two-day stubble. It’s weird having to think about undercover jobs now.
“We’ll go tonight, see what we can find.” I sigh.
“Hey, did you see the address of where Peachy Sue got murdered?” Ben asks.
“No. Why?”
“I think it’s in Tully’s neighbourhood.” He frowns as he looks it up on his phone. “The street name was familiar.” He brings it up on his screen and passes it over to me. I instantly frown.
“What the fuck? That isn’t just Tully’s neighbourhood. That’s her fucking building!” I snap.
I take out my phone and dial her number. She answers on the first ring.
“Hey, boss,” she teases, and I find myself smiling at the sound of her voice.
Ben shakes his head and rolls his eyes.
“Hey, Pock. What time are you having lunch today?” I ask.
“In about an hour, why?”
“Ben and I have to talk to you. Can we come meet you?”
“Yeah, sure.” She hesitates. “Is everything all right?”
“Of course. Some shit’s gone down and I just wanted to run it past you.”
“What kind of shit?”
“Nothing to worry about. See you in an hour.”
An hour later, we are sitting in a crowded restaurant. Ben is at the counter ordering. Tully is with me.
She takes my hand over the table. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I frown as I sip my drink. “Nothing serious.”
Ben comes back and sits down.
“How’s Bridget feeling?” I ask.
“She’s good.” He smiles. “Until I speak to her and then she becomes feral.”
I laugh roughly.
Ben rolls his eyes.
I turn to Tully. “So, we have to go undercover tonight at a gentleman’s club.” I sigh.
Her face falls. “Oh. What does that mean?”
“We have a tip off, which means we have to go to this place to see if we can dig deeper,” I reply.
“Well, what happens at this gentleman’s club?” she asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know.” I scratch the back of my head, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s probably full of strippers and shit, I imagine.”
“How deep undercover are you going?”
I pick up her hand and kiss the back of it. “Not that deep, babe. Don’t worry.” I sip my drink again. “But you’ll have to stay at my house tonight.”
“If you’re not going to be home, I’d rather be at my house.”
“Not happening. Someone connected to all of this was murdered at your apartment building while we were away.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“A prostitute,” Ben adds.
“Not Peachy Sue?” She gasps.
My face falls. “You know her?”
“Oh my God.” She puts her hand over her mouth. “Someone was bashing her up the weekend before we left.”
“What? Who?” Ben snaps. “That was when she was murdered.”
She puts her head into her hands. “I should have called the police. I thought it was her pimp,” she whispers in distress.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I ask her coldly.
“It was the night we went out with your work friends, and I...” She pauses as she remembers. “I came home early because you were being a psycho, as usual. I was waiting for the lift and I heard something smash against the wall, followed by her scream.”
Ben and I exchange glances.
“And I didn’t want them to see me, but the lift was taking forever so I hid in the janitor’s closet.”
I scowl, furious. “You didn’t think to fucking tell me this shit?”
“Oh my God. I was so outraged with you, and I thought it was just another bit of apartment drama.“
I roll my eyes.
“Tell us exactly what you heard, Tully,” Ben urges her.
She slides her hands over her eyes as she thinks. “I heard Sue scream get the fuck out before something smashed up against the wall. I thought that was her throwing something at him—her pimp. That’s what it sounded like, anyway.”
She frowns as she thinks. “And then it was really quiet, and I heard another door open.”
She stills, remembering as much as she can.
“What?” I ask.
“Meredith,” she whispers.
“What about Meredith?” I frown.
“On the Sunday, remember before Simon came over? I went to say goodbye to Meredith and she was freaking out. Talking about a black jacket and...” She pauses. “Oh my God.”
“What?” Ben snaps.
“It was her. It was her door that opened.” She turns to me. “I think Meredith saw it. She was friends with Peachy Sue.”
“Friends?” I frown.
“She hangs out with all those girls. Wendy Woo. All of them.”
“Who is Wendy Woo?” Ben asks.
“She’s a lady boy who fucks men for money.”
Ben and I exchange looks. “What does she look like?” Ben asks as he scrolls though his phone.
“Dark hair and gorgeous,” she says quietly.
Ben brings up a photo of the woman who was seen leaving Chancellor’s room. “Is this her?”
Tully stares at the image on the phone and her face falls. “That’s her.”
Fuck. Another piece of the puzzle.
“Where is Meredith now?” I ask as my heart rate rises.
“I took her to her mother’s.” Tully is wide-eyed and on the verge of a major freak out, I can tell.