Chapter 2

A Month Earlier

"Martinez, you again?" asked the weary cop as he munched a sandwich at his precinct desk. "Numbers again?"

"I swear, you got the wrong guy this time," fast talked the Latino. "I was only..."

"Yeah, yeah, well what have you got for me that'll keep you out of jail?"

Jimmy ran numbers and was a sometimes bag man for a local bookie, but he also was not above snitching to keep his behind out of the slammer. "Pedro Juarez. I hear you been looking for him."

"Yeah, he pimps young girls fresh off the boat. Sweet talks 'em into turning tricks for him. Next thing you know they're full time hookers. He looks good for boosting a Mercedes last month -- that is, if we can find him."

"I haven't actually seen him but I know where his sister stays and they're close man -- real close if you know what I mean," grinned the young Latino.

"And just where might that be?"

"I... I can't give you an address, but I can take you there. I was only there once and it was at night."

"But you can find it?"

"Yeah, man, I swear."

"Okay," said the detective, calling to his partner who was across the room, busy putting the moves on an attractive female officer. "Hey Bennie, come on. We got a line on Juarez."

"Right with ya," called back the taller partner, whispering something in the officer's ear which brought a wry smile to her face.

"This better be on the up and up."

"I swear," vowed Jimmy as the three left the squad room and headed for the police parking lot.

Thirty minutes later the three stood outside a dilapidated hotel in the seedier side of town.

"You sure?" asked the detective.

"This is it. Room 213. Can I go now?" asked the young man, not wishing to be seen with the police.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't ya? You take off and leave us pounding on the door of some bogus hotel room"

"No, man. I swear."

"You're gonna have to do more than that," said the detective, grabbing Jimmy by the arm and pushing him ahead of them as they entered the lobby. Like most of the hotels in this part of town, the "lobby" was nothing more than a glorified hallway with a wooden desk behind which sat a balding bespectacled prune of a man, a burning cigarette hanging from his mouth as he perused the daily racing form.

The detectives flashed their badges. "Got a Pedro or Tina Juarez registered?"

The man behind the desk sniffed disapprovingly but knew better than to defy authority.

"Nobody by those names."

"Guy's twenty-two, about my height, tattoo on his forearm of a dragon."

"Yeah, he and his girlfriend are in 213."

The detective motioned and the clerk handed him a spare key.

"See, I told you," said Jimmy. "Can I go now?"

"Wait here. If it checks out, you can beat it," replied the detective, motioning for his partner to join him in the elevator.

"Elevator's broken," offered the man behind the desk with a slight sneer.

The two policemen trudged up the stairs and were soon positioned outside the door of Juarez's room from where the unmistakable sounds of passion emanated.

The two detectives eyed each other and smiled.

Jimmy wasn't about to wait for the detectives. His information had been good so he knew he was off the hook, at least for the moment, but he certainly did not want to be here when they brought Juarez down. Juarez might be a small time crook but he could hire muscle the same as anyone else and Jimmy had no desire to be constantly looking over his shoulder.

He was just starting to leave when an absolute vision walked through the door. She was short, barely five feet, but her face was the most beautiful he had ever seen. Large expressive black eyes, high cheek bones and slightly pouting lips along with glistening black hair which hung to her tiny waist. Her breasts were full, especially considering her small stature, with sumptuous hips and curvaceous legs ending in trim ankles and diminutive feet. Her flawless tawny complexion told him she was Puerto Rican. He noted one other thing. There was hesitation, even fear in those beautiful eyes as she walked to the desk clerk.

"I... I was told to see Pedro Juarez. I was told he lives here."

"You want to see Juarez?" asked the clerk after eying her not once but twice. Jimmy didn't blame the guy, for she was a real beauty, but the ogling was making the girl nervous. Besides, that desk clerk would give anyone the willies.