Page 12 of Choosing Stella

They stepped inside.

I closed the door behind them and stayed standing.

Talbot let her eyes move once around the apartment before facing me again.

My tarot cloth was still folded on the table beside the bag holding the rest of my deck.

The missing card seemed a lot less harmless now.

Dempsey turned back to me.

“You said Mr. Bellacorte was alive when you left.”

“I did.”

“What time?”

“I can give you the exact timestamp. The Network requires an end-of-booking safety check.”

“The Network?”

“I’m an escort.”

Neither reacted, which spared me one annoyance.

Talbot took out a small notebook while Dempsey remained standing across from me.

“You were booked by Mr. Bellacorte tonight?”

“Yes.”

“At his penthouse?”

“Yes.”

“For what purpose?”

“Sex and a tarot reading.”

Dempsey nodded toward the bag on my table.

“You read professionally?”

“Yes.”

“And you had sex with him?”

“Yes.”

“Consensually?”

“Yes.”

I kept my voice flat.

Talbot continued.

“What time did the booking end?”