Authors: Faye Kellerman
“If I don’t have your word, there’s no point to any of this.”
“Don’t confess a murder to me, Chris.”
“Who me?” He grinned. “Your word?”
Decker nodded.
Donatti said, “I’m only doing this so you won’t yank your chain. I’ve got the girl. That means you can concentrate on the
whack. If the cops told you that I did it, they’re lying. I don’t know anything about it. If I find something out, I’ll pass
it along.”
He stood up, but Decker didn’t. “What do you mean, you’ve
got
the girl?”
“Just that. I’ve got the girl. I’ve had her since Friday. She’s safe. That’s all you have to know.”
“What about her parents—”
“When I say you can’t tell anyone, I mean you can’t tell anyone. I thought that was understood.”
“They’re frantic with worry.”
“I’m sure they are. But they’re still included under
no one,
Decker!”
Silence.
Decker’s head was awhirl with options. “She’s fifteen, Donatti.”
“I know that.” He smiled. “That’s why you can’t tell anyone. I could go to prison. Having been in prison, I know that I don’t
like it. It’s getting late—”
“You have other girls?”
Donatti stared at him. “You’re asking a lot of questions, Decker. The answers may put you in conflict. That won’t do either
of us any good.”
“How many girls do you have, Donatti?”
Chris didn’t answer.
Decker needed Donatti’s trust to get information. He made a calculated choice. “It stays between you and me, I swear.”
Donatti sat back down and poured himself another drink. “Twenty at the moment. If I wanted, I could have a hundred. Most of
them are sixteen plus, but I have a few who are younger.”
“Boys?”
“Yeah, I got some faggots, too. Like the birdies you saw helping me out. Those two were over eighteen, but not when I first
met them. No straight boys: I used to take them in… nothing but problems. They’d pester the girls and get into dogfights with
me over the alpha spot. You can imagine who won out. Pains in the ass— all of them.”
“You pimp them.”
Donatti looked up at the ceiling. “Pimp is a very loaded word, Decker. I do them favors. In return, they do me favors. Matter
of fact, they’re
so
grateful to me that they can’t
wait
to do me favors. The way I look at it, I’m the final railway stop, a last-ditch effort to save their asses from the real
cold characters. Sometimes I even buy them from the bad boys if they look good enough. I have places where I let them dry
out. I give them food, a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, and drugs if they need it. About twenty-five percent
leave after a few days, another twenty-five leave after a week. Usually, if they stay more than two weeks, I’ve got ’em hooked.”
“Hooked?”
“No, not on drugs…on
me
. I’ve got them convinced that they can’t survive without my protection.” Donatti spoke patiently. “I’m practical, Decker.
I don’t overwork the racehorse. The last thing I want is for them to be wasted sexually. I want them fresh and sassy-looking.
A healthy-looking young nasty girl spreading her legs is a turn-on. A sexually abused waif cowering in the corner isn’t.”
“You use them for your magazine.”
“That’s the whole purpose, Decker. To get young pussy for my various enterprises. But to do that, I first gotta get them to
eighteen. Ideally, I’d like to keep them without having to farm out their services, but right now I have a cash-flow problem
because I’m on my own. See, with the Family, if you want something, there’s always money, but no savings plan. When Joey ran
out, he simply took
what he needed from whoever had it. Me? I’m looking for the long term.”
“Lots of adult magazines in the racks, Donatti.”
“Not to mention the videos and the interactive displays on the Internet. Which is why I’m going for the niche market. Not
the hipsters, Decker, like in
GQ
or
Esquire
. Or the losers who gawk at silicone boobs in
Playboy
or
Penthouse
. Can
you
—as an older married straight male—relate to any of that shit?”
“I don’t buy those magazines, Donatti.”
“Because they don’t talk to you, Lieutenant. Who do I talk to? Committed married men in complacent but dull marriages. Those
who don’t want to throw away everything by having a sleazy affair, but their sex lives have gone to seed. They’re a beleaguered
lot. Maybe not in your case, Decker, but lots of middle-class guys can use a little empowering. Having been trapped in a hideous
marriage for three and a half years, I know what I’m doing. I know all about the Internet and the Web pages and the self-directed
on-line porno sites— I’ve got plans for those, too—but in the end, it’s inconvenient to take a laptop into the can to whack
off. The wife might suspect something.”
Decker looked away and shook his head. “You’ve done some marketing research, Chris?”
“We’re living in sophisticated times. I’m in the experimental stage right now, from the advice columns to impregnating the
pages with the right aromas. There is a load of money to be made doing young meat legally. By the time I reach thirty, I want
to own half of Harlem. So yeah, my girls do me favors, but I’m not ruthless. And that’s the God’s honest truth because if
I wanted to, I could work my bitches day in and day out, twenty-four/seven. After September eleventh, more than a few New
Yorkers had midlife crises: guys who saw those mother-fuckers crash into the WTC and felt that the end was at hand. But they
survived along with their cocks, and getting pussy, especially fresh young twat, placed high on the to-do list.”
“Funny, Donatti,” Decker snarled. “I saw heroes, not degenerates.”
“We all see what we’re searching for,” Donatti countered. “And what I know is demand is high right now. In this economy, a
quick
lay is still a cheap thrill. So maybe my girls are doing me a few more favors than usual, but slavery is illegal in this country.
None of my girls are forced.”
“That depends on your definition of forced.”
“The kids are free to leave. But if they leave, they can’t come back. If they feel equipped to take on that big bad world
out there… well, more power to them.”
“Nothing a little intimidation won’t take care of.”
“It is a scary world out there, Decker. If some of my stories make them a little cautious, I can live with that.”
Decker smoothed his mustache. “And you’re not worried about loose lips?”
“My kids don’t talk. So far, I’ve got a one-hundred-percent compliance rate because I’m very persuasive.”
“And if they did talk?”
Donatti shook his head ever so slightly. “Don’t go there.”
Decker exhaled heavily and turned away. Abruptly, he slammed his fist down on the table.
“I know,” Donatti said. “You want to beat the shit out of me. You want to pound my good-looking, arrogant, motherfucking head
into a bloody pulp, and lop my oversize cock off because I’m in the driver’s seat. There was a time when the tables were turned,
and I felt the way you’re feeling now. But we’re both adults now. You’ve got to swallow, Decker, just like I swallowed for
eight years. If you were honest with yourself, you’d realize that I’m being big about this. You ruined my life.”
Decker’s laugh was mirthless. “You recovered pretty quickly, Chris.”
“You don’t know
dick
.” Donatti turned ugly. “I had my
uncle
convinced. I had
her
convinced. I could have
owned
her—body and soul—if you hadn’t fucked it up.”
“Women aren’t chattel anymore, Donatti.”
“That’s what you think,” Donatti spat back. “I was this close!” He pinched off an area between his index finger and his thumb.
Then he sat back and sighed. “You know how it is… always obsessed with the one who got away. And I was obsessed with her to
begin with.”
“You’re better off,” Decker said.
“You mean,
she’s
better off.” Donatti took a gulp of scotch. “Fuck the past. I’m a big boy. So I don’t own her. But I’m sure as hell
renting
her. And believe me, I’ve got her on a long-term lease. Besides, Terry isn’t the issue here. So forget about Terry. You’ve
got other problems. At the moment,
your
problem is camped out with me and very happy to be there.”
Decker felt his blood pressure rise, and that wasn’t doing anyone any good. “She’s in one piece?”
“Absolutely.”
“What’s her mental condition?”
“Very agitated. I found her that way. Right now, she won’t talk about it. That’s okay. I don’t need to know details.”
“What are you doing with her?”
“Just letting her chill. I don’t pimp, but if I did, I wouldn’t ever send anyone out like that. Way too unstable.”
“So you’re just letting her have free room and board, and asking nothing in return?”
“That about sums it up. Could be she’ll chill for a day or two, and I’ll never see her again. That’s a chance I always take.
The other possibility is, she’ll want to do me favors. I stay in touch with all my girls, Decker. They’re out there on the
streets—some selling their butts at their own risk, some are even working legit jobs. They’re my eyes and ears. They keep
me connected to what’s going on because they’re very grateful to me.”
“Scared of you?”
“Same thing.”
“She’s safe?”
“Yes, Shayndie is safe.”
Saying her name. Showing Decker that he was legit. His eyes bore into Donatti’s. “You screwing her, Donatti?”
“Nah… not yet. But if she stays with me long enough, I will.” Donatti stared back. “Sex promotes loyalty.”
“What do you do with the boys?”
“Like I said… sex promotes loyalty.” A sly smile played on Donatti’s lips. “Nervous about being around me, Lieutenant?”
Decker wagged his finger at Chris’s face.
Donatti laughed. “I do whatever I have to do to get the job done. None of it is thrilling. To my kids—girls and boys—sex is
lying on your back, squeezing your eyes shut, being real still, and letting Uncle George or Daddy do his thing. Between you
and these four walls, I’d much rather fuck your wife—”
Decker was on him before the kid knew what hit him. He slammed Donatti against the wall, using all his weight to keep him
pinned and helpless while he clamped his hands around his throat. He hissed, “We need to establish some ground rules, Chris.”
Then Decker heard the click, felt something hard pressed between his legs.
Donatti choked out, “Let… go…of… me!”
Decker tightened his hands around Chris’s throat. “So shoot me, you son of a bitch! Then what’ll you have? A big bloody mess
on your hands.” But he loosened his grip. “My wife is off-limits! Understand?”
The gun pressed harder against Decker’s groin. Donatti’s face was red from anger and lack of oxygen. “Let! Go!”
“Understand?”
Silence. The moments ticked away. Finally, Chris raised his hands up in the air, a double-action automatic in his left hand;
probably a Walther TPH.
Decker released him. “We’re doing business.” He backed away and sat back down. “Let’s not get personal.”
Donatti shook himself off, then rested the gun on Decker’s forehead. “Some men might consider that a compliment.”
“I don’t.” Decker was trying hard not to flinch. “We need to respect each other’s privacy.”
Donatti held the gun on him for another minute—a very long time for a loaded barrel to be pressed to your brain, but Decker
took comfort in knowing that a Walther has reliable safety features.
Eventually, Chris lowered the piece. He cleared his throat and downed some scotch. Then he began to pace like an animal—flushed
and red, his breathing rapid and punctuated. Decker felt his heart pounding against his chest, but he attempted to mask his
fury by
clutching his hands and keeping his expression flat. The both of them: two adrenalized bulls. The office stank like a gym.
Finally, Donatti placed the semiautomatic down on the tabletop and spoke in a guttural voice. “Don’t do that again. After
my father and Joey, I have no more tolerance for abuse.”
Decker held out his hands. “You behave, so will I.”
“Fuck only knows why I took that shit from you.”
“Because I’m not only Terry’s father figure, I’m yours as well. Sit down, Chris. It’s over. We’ll call it a draw.”
Chris tapped his foot, then sat back down. “Okay. You did your dance; I did mine. You should still thank me for sparing your
nuts.”
“Thank you.” It took Decker a few moments to catch his breath. “I’d like to see her. Shayndie.”
“You think I’m holding her against her will?”
That’s exactly what he’d been thinking. He didn’t trust Donatti, but he was all Decker had. “No, I believe you. But I’d still
like to see her.”
Donatti looked at him.
“No setup, Donatti. Just something to ease my worried head. Just you, the girl, and me. You have my word on that, too.”
“You want to ask her questions.”
“She’s a material witness to a murder. I could use a little help.”
Donatti said, “If you upset her, she’ll bolt. That won’t do either one of us any good.”
“Can we just play it by ear?”
“As long as I direct.”
“Whatever you want, big guy.”
Donatti ran his hands across the top of his shorn blond locks. “I suppose I could set it up.” He thought for a long time.
Then he took out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and gave it to Decker. “Meet me there tomorrow night, around eleven,
eleven-thirty. If I don’t show, I’m not jerking you around. It means I couldn’t risk it. Cops are all over the place now.
It’s hard to move without a cruiser on your ass.”
Decker looked at the address. “Where the hell is this?”
“You’re a detective. Figure it out! And don’t even think of putting a tail on me. The girl is safe right now. But if you make
her a liability, I’ll do what I need to do.” Donatti scratched his head. “Want a piece?”
Decker blinked. “You mean a gun?”
“Of course I mean a gun.” He slid the Walther over to Decker’s side of the table. “What did you think I meant? A piece of
ass? I can get you that, too, if you want.”