Chapter 1

I was a private investigator. I've had my own agency for the last twelve years. I started out as a police office and let them teach me the ropes. Then after a couple of years I decided to become my own boss. I usually only took one or two cases at a time depending on what I needed to do. I made a great living at it and made my own hours.

I was thirty-eight years old and had been divorced for a year. I was only married for less than six months. I dated a lot of women in my life. I never had any trouble finding dates. A decent looking male, financially stable and a good future; that is what a lot of women were looking for! My ex-wife was close to my age; a nice looking woman who was a pretty good sex partner. We dated on and off for about a year when she convinced me to take her to Las Vegas and we were married. I don't know why I did it. I liked Margaret well enough but I can't really say I loved her. I guess I decided it was about time to settle down.

We moved into my condo. It had all the trimmings: pool, sauna, hot tub, fireplace. It was a really nice place. Margaret lived in an apartment and was a beautician working in a small establishment. I know she wanted to have her own salon. That was probably why she wanted to get married; for me to buy it for her.

After about a month I did buy her that little business. It was a nice four chair salon. She hired two friends of hers and she of course was the owner. I didn't pay much attention to her business but I guess she was doing well.

One Saturday she said, "I've got a couple of appointments and will be home later then usual."

I told her, "Fine. I have a case I'm working on and will be gone most of the day myself."

I was a few blocks from her salon and had to take a piss. I figured I'd stop by her place and use the restroom. When I got there, the sign in the window said closed. I figured she was done early and went home. That was alright because I had my own key so I unlocked the door and headed for the restroom when I heard sounds coming from the office. I knew what the sounds were, being a private investigator. What I didn't know was who was in the office. I slowly walked up to the door. I felt the door knob and could tell it wasn't locked. I took out my gun that I always wore in my belt behind my back. I quickly opened the door and there was my wife of a few months with her skirt up to her waist and sitting on the lap of a very hard cock.

I know I startled them. Margaret screamed and yelled "Dan!" - that was me. It was all she could get out before her lover pushed her off his hard cock. He was about to get up off her couch when I pistol whipped him one time, bruising and scratching his cheek.

I said to him, "Get up and get the fuck out. The next time I see you, you'll be a dead man.

He was pulling up his pants and scurrying out the door as fast as he could move.

Margaret was crying and said, "It wasn't what it seemed."

I told her, "Shut the fuck up. You're supposed to be my wife and you were fucking another man. That's what it looked like and that's what it was. Our marriage is over. You've got two hours to go to the condo and get your things. You can leave your key on the kitchen table. If your stuff is still in my condo when I get home, it will be thrown out onto the pavement." Then I turned around and walked out.

I stopped by my buddy's house. He was a lawyer and I knew he didn't work Saturdays. He answered the door and invited me in. I told him I wanted a divorce as soon as possible because I caught Margaret fucking a guy not fifteen minutes ago in the salon.

I mentioned that she could have her damn salon. That's probably why she married me anyway. I had no use for it. It was all she was getting. If she wanted to fight the settlement, so be it, I had a prenuptial agreement and she would lose the salon if she fought the divorce.

Roger, my lawyer, called my house. Margaret was there packing her things and according to Roger crying while she talked. He told her about the agreement and she said she would agree to it. He could send any communications to the salon. She didn't know where she was going to live yet.

The divorce flew through which I figured it would. Roger said he found out the guy she was with was her old boyfriend before me. They had gotten back together after the divorce. That was the last I saw of either one of them.

I was the single guy again which was alright with me. I was working on another cheating wife case and had to stay at the Ramada Inn. I was keeping tabs on my client's wife. It was a pretty standard case where she tells her husband she had to take a trip with her boss and of course they had a joint room at the motel. I had found out which room they were in and set up two surveillance cameras in the room. I had a lot of friends out there in businesses such as the motel employees and paid them well. So all I had to do was wait till the next morning and retrieve my tapes.

As I was sitting at a booth in the lounge having a drink, a young beautiful lady dressed like a hooker came up to me and asked if I wanted some company. I couldn't believe someone this nice had to hustle her ass. As I was about to say, "No, thanks, honey," the manager came up to her to tell her there was no solicitation allowed in this establishment.

I quickly stood up and asked, "Where have you been? You're a half hour late."

The manager quickly apologized and walked away. I don't think he believed me but who cares. I asked the young lady to sit down. I could tell she was extremely nervous.

She first thanked me for protecting her the way I did. She was new at this and wasn't sure exactly what to do.

I sat back and asked her name. She said, "Dolly, Dolly Wison..."

I said, "Now tell me your real name."

She raised her head and replied, "Peggy Sue Williams." Then she asked me if I wanted her services and, if not, she would have to leave. She said she needed to make some money.

I asked her if she had a pimp or was on drugs or something. She shouldn't be out trying to sell herself.

She had tears in her eyes, "I don't have any pimp and I've never taken drugs. I need the money for my daughter. So please, if you don't want anything let me go so I can make some money."

Now I was fascinated with this young girl. There's no way she should be selling herself. She was so timid she would be taken over by a pimp or end up dead. "Okay, Peggy Sue, how much for all night?"

She looked up at me startled. She had no idea what to charge. "Would you come up to my room for the night for three hundred dollars, Peggy?"

"Um, I guess so. What do I have to do for three hundred dollars?"

"Talk to me, Peggy. That's it. You just have to talk to me." I reached into my wallet and pulled out three one hundred dollar bills and set them on the table then stood up."

Peggy picked up the money and followed me to the elevator. We didn't talk at all until we got to my room. I unlocked the door and opened it for her to walk in. She looked nervous but went in. I followed and closed the door behind me. She slowly undid the top two buttons on her blouse.

I stopped her and said, "That isn't necessary. Please just sit down either on the bed or over on the couch.

She chose the couch and I pulled up a chair next to her. She looked at me and said, "I don't understand. You paid me three hundred dollars to come to your room. What is it that you want from me? Are you a cop?"

"I'm a private investigator, Peggy."

"Oh, my, God, are going to arrest me?"

"No, Peggy, I'm a private investigator, not a detective or a cop. I want to help you if you will let me. I was a cop at one time and if I was still one I would have had to arrest you tonight."

"I don't understand. Who are you and why would you want to help me?"

"Listen, Peggy, my name is Dan Gray. You can call me Dan or DG. You seem like you are having some problems and I for some reason am worried about you. If you'll talk to me I'll see if there is any way I can help you. I don't think you are a prostitute and don't think you really want to be one. You have to trust me and talk with me. Are you willing to do that?"

"I don't know why you want to help me. No one has ever helped me. They always wanted something in return. I just need to make some money to help my daughter. We've lost our insurance and she needs some medical help."

"Whoa, Peggy, back up a little. Let's begin with this prostitution gig. How long have you been at it? My guess is not very long."

Peggy burst out in tears. "This was my first night and you're my second trick. I need money for my daughter's medical expenses."

"I understand you needing the money for your daughter. I get that. I want to know about your first trick and why you approached me tonight."

"Well, I was on the corner like you see in the movies and a guy came by and asked if I would give him a hand job for twenty dollars so I said yes. He pulled around the corner and I masturbated him. He told me I looked more like the hotel type girls instead of a streetwalker so I decided to come inside the motel and look around. I saw you sitting by yourself and approached you. That's it."

"Damn, Peggy, you could have gotten arrested or beaten up or even killed. What were you thinking? Where would your daughter be then?" She started the crying again. I really felt sorry for her but simply giving her some money wasn't going to solve her problems.

"So, Peggy, you are saying this is the first and only time you prostituted yourself? You have to tell me the truth if I'm to help you. Tell me about yourself. I promise I won't judge you. I really want to see if I can't help in some way. Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me about your family and work your way up to the present?"

Peggy said it was the first and only time she tried being a hooker. Then she began her story about her life.

"When I was about seven years old, I was made a ward of the state. My parents, both mom and dad, were taken away by the police. My case worker told me they were cocaine dealers. I had no idea what that was. After all I was just a kid. When I got older different foster parents tried to explain it to me. To the best of my knowledge my parents went to prison. I have never heard from them since but one foster parent said that my dad was killed while in prison. I don't know if it's true or not."

"I went from one foster home to another. Some of the people were really nice and others treated me with disgust. I really don't know why. I guess they thought I was going to be a drug addict or something seeing my parents were. I did decent in school considering all the moving around I did. I never had many friends. Once their parents found out about my parents they told their kids not to hang out with me. It was really rough on me. I didn't do anything wrong. I guess it was called the sins of the parents or something.

"As I got older I tried to adjust to each family. I never got close to them because as soon as I did, I was shipped out to someone else. I didn't like the last family I was with when I was seventeen. I just had to stick it out till graduation. I met a boy at school named Tim Addy. I guess you could say he was my boyfriend. Right after graduation I turned eighteen and I ran away with Tim and we rented a trailer. I started at a community college and worked at a store. Tim got a job in a local factory. Then I got pregnant."