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Her other friends also didn’t know much – if anything – about Candace Lister, the biggest enigma since Vanessa donned a mask and legally changed her name from Vanna.The things we do to stay alive.Only for her would-be killer to be hiding among her ranks…
She looked out the window again. Both Mitch and Luke were gone from the pool, which gently rippled from the breeze passing over it.
Mitch appeared in Vanessa’s doorway five minutes later, a towel wrapped around her bathing suit. Lucas must have returned to his small apartment on the edge of the property.
“You know,” Mitch began, fingers drumming on the ledge above her, “Maria finished early and has already gone home. We can start screaming in this room and finish it in the bedroom without anyone calling the cops.”
Vanessa motioned for Mitch to come over, but not to continue that flirtatious conversation. The only thing she had time for was pointing to the best picture of Candace Lister she could find on the internet.
Without consulting the dark web, anyway…
“So, you’re thinking about it?” Mitch asked.
“I consulted my lawyer this morning about everything, including their offer for ‘immunity.’ More like blackmail. I wouldn’t lose my most important clients if word got out, but I don’t want to put you through that. It’s not pleasant to have private laundry hung out to dry.”
“I’m more worried about you than me.” Mitch sat on the windowsill behind Vanessa. “I can take the weird looks and ridicule. You, though… you like to maintain a certain image, and having being the wrong type of madam on your record might hinder that.”
“It’s bogus, anyway. What have we done that’s truly illegal? I meantruly?Anything we do together or with other people is completely consensual.”
“You and I both know that, but will the public?”
“They want us to go undercover to bring down Candace Lister. I just…” Vanessa sighed. “I know exactly how to get into her good graces and be invited to her club. I simply never have because we have plenty to keep us occupied, and we also value our quiet nights in.”
“I think the real reason you’ve never responded to any of her invitations is because something about her makes you uneasy. I know I’ve never been her number-one fan whenever we’ve crossed paths in Hellfire or elsewhere. She has an unpleasant vibe, no matter how much she smiles and plays nice.”
Vanessa nodded. “Suppose you’re right. I also suppose I should be flattered that she has reached out before.”
“Shedidcome to my last birthday party.”
“Did she? I forgot I even invited her.”
“You didn’t. She barely came across our threshold. I only saw her because she was with someone you had invited and she came as the plus one.”
Vanessa turned off her computer monitor and grunted in dissatisfaction. “I don’t like it one bit. Not the police getting involved, not Candace… this could be dangerous.”
“We’ve known dangerous situations before.”
“Not like this, though. When we last…” Vanessa didn’t like bringing it up. Whenever she thought of the terrifying night when she was holed up in her safe room, waiting for her killer to get her, she fought back the urge to bother her therapist. Because the last thing Vanessa ever wanted was to be a bother to somebody else. One of the reasons she spoiled Mitch so much was because she knew that any danger her partner had been in was because of someone’s past.It’s my fault. Everything is.Vanessa would make up for it for the rest of her life.
Mitch brought her out of her intrusive thoughts. “Do you forget who I am? Nobody hurts you on my watch.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about, my pet.” Vanessa extended her hand to the woman sitting on her windowsill. Her fingers were pruned from the pool, but the rest of her skin was as soft as ever. “It’s you. The threat against me before had nothing to do with you. This time? They’re asking us to go undercover into a sex club. You’re the vulnerable one in that situation.”
“Nothing fazes me. You know this.”
“Maybe it fazes me.”
Mitch studied her partner as if she had said something novel. “Seeing me around others has never bothered you before.”
“None of those people were known to have possibly committed one of the most heinous crimes possible.”
“We don’t know if what the police say is true. Wouldn’t you want to see a fellow woman from the scene exonerated from such terrible accusations?”
“I suppose.”
Mitch hopped off the windowsill. “I’m going to take a shower. See you in half an hour.”
“That’s it?” Vanessa’s voice followed her out of the office. Mitch removed her beach towel and pulled her wet bikini top over her head. Such a sight would have been illegal in Vanessa’s house. “You’re going to jet out of here like that?”
