Midnight Kisses (Midnight Series) (12 page)

Lulu flinched and pulled her hand out of her current customer’s pants when the front door was pushed open and Frank entered, together with an ashen-faced woman. Without taking a further look or stopping, Frank pushed the woman directly up the stairs.

“Hey, what the hell? Keep doing what you’re doing!” the man hissed, grabbing at Lulu’s hand.

“Listen, sweetie,” she breathed a kiss on his lips. “You could do me a favor. It’s blonde Lulu’s birthday today, and she hasn’t had a mighty cock such as yours in a long time. Why don’t you go show her who’s boss. In return, I’ll do you for free on your birthday,” she chirped and pushed her tongue into his ear.

“For free?”

“Sure, sweetie, as long and as often as you like.”

Then she motioned for blonde Lulu to take over her customer and, grabbing a bottle of whisky and two glasses on the way, hurried up the stairs. In passing, she could overhear: “It’s your birthday? How about you blow out my candle
 . . . 
”

“Birthday? Sure, whatever you say, honey, whatever you say.”

It had taken Danielle a moment to get over her shock, but now she forced herself to get her nervousness under control and search for a way out. She clutched the dolphin painting against her chest and awkwardly stumbled up the staircase. Just one look at the two scantily-clad ladies was enough for her to realize where she was. Had Matthew, too, been ordered up this staircase with a pistol pressed into his back, or had he come here of his own accord? Never in her life would she have guessed that Frank Foster, the one who had always been so kind and ready to help, might have had something to do with Matt’s death.

“In there!” he commanded gruffly, grabbing Danielle by the arm and yanking her back before kicking open the door and shoving her inside.

“What the
 . . . 
?”

A man with a face like a boxer—crooked nose, bulging eyebrows, the neck of a bull—brought his fist down on the desk and jumped up.

Quickly, he traversed the room, pulling Frank in by the top of his shirt, and slammed the door shut behind him.

Danielle twitched as he continued scolding the new arrival. His voice was ear-piercing.

“Have you completely lost your mind, Frank? Why are you bringing a wench here?”

Frank broke away and ran his fingers through his hair.

“You wanted clues, Lou? I brought you the answer to all of your questions! And to top it all off
 . . . 
” he yanked the painting from Danielle’s hands, “
 . . . 
the
Venus de Lavinium
!”

The man named Lou came closer, suddenly interested. His anger had disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by pure greed as he reached out for the painting. Frank stood there, beaming with pride and smiling a satisfied smile.

“How do you know it’s the
Venus
?” Lou inquired, running his fingers over the paint.

“I don’t know, but Lady Langston did. I was trailing her, and to be honest, I was more than a little surprised to see her heading straight for Audrey’s museum. She seemed to know exactly what she was looking for, and when she saw this painting she started crying,” Frank reported.

Lou came closer, inspecting Danielle as if she were one of those questionable exhibits in the museum. After a few moments, he took the gun from Frank, only to then aim it at Danielle.

“Lady Langston, I see. Your husband told me much about you. Such a shame he had to leave us so soon, and he seemed in such great health, don’t you think? Tell me, dear, is this the
Venus
?”

Danielle’s palms were sweaty, and no matter how much she racked her brain, she was trapped. There was no doubt in her mind that the man in front of her was Matt’s murderer. What did he want from her? Would he kill her if he thought he had found the portrait? Should she lead him to believe he was holding the
Venus
in his hands, or should she tell him the truth? She didn’t know the answer to these questions, and so she preferred to say nothing. Which turned out to be a mistake because Lou raised his hand and slapped her square across the face.

Danielle tripped and stumbled against Frank’s chest, who pushed her back against Lou, with Lou twisting her arm behind her back and pressing the pistol against her temple.

“Open your mouth, you slut! How do you know it’s this painting?”

The door opened, and a red-haired prostitute entered. This gave Danielle a moment to breathe, because Lou pushed her back against Frank and grabbed the redhead instead.

“What do you want? Get out of here, or I’ll
 . . . 
”

She wiggled the bottle of whisky in front of his face and wrested free of his grip. The delicate fabric of her gown gaped open and revealed more than it covered.

“They can hear you all the way downstairs. I thought a little drink to calm the nerves wouldn’t do any harm.”

She poured whisky into the two glasses and thrust them into Lou’s and Frank’s hands. Danielle was shocked at how shamelessly the woman strutted around, despite her nakedness. At the same time, she was relieved that the whisky really did defuse the situation. The redhead sat down on the edge of the desk, legs spread wide open, and inspected the painting she had taken from Lou in exchange for the whisky.

Danielle noticed the mesmerized look on Frank’s face as he stared at the silky red triangle between the woman’s thighs. His grip around her arm loosened as he finished his whisky, but Danielle’s circumstance was only marginally improved. Lou was still aiming the pistol at her.

“So, wench, is that fish there the
Venus
, or is it not?”

“It’s a dolphin, not a fish,” Danielle tried to play for time. She had come to the conclusion that, whatever she would tell Lou, he would not allow her to live either way.

“I don’t give a shit!” he shouted, guzzling down his whisky.

Danielle straightened up to her full, considerable height.

“But it does matter! You wouldn’t recognize the
Venus
underneath, even if she were naked and standing right in front of you!”

The whore giggled, and Lou planted himself menacingly in front of Danielle. She hurried to continue her story.

“According to mythology, the dolphin is a symbol that is often associated with Venus. Didn’t you know?”

Frank’s sudden wheezing made everyone stop and turn. His face had gone pale, and his lips turned blue as he was clutching his chest.

“What’s going on?” Lou asked, pulling Danielle to the side, whereupon Frank sank to the floor and gasped for air.

“What have you done to him?” Lou yelled, and again his hand came down on Danielle’s face. This time, nobody was catching her, and she slammed hard against the wall.

“Nothing, I
 . . . 
” Danielle stammered. She tasted blood in her mouth, and her head was throbbing when Lou glowered over her.

“You bitch!” he hissed, yanking her up by her hair.

To Devlin, the carriage ride to
Lulu’s
seemed to take forever. Over and over, he checked his gun and wondered what he would do if he didn’t find Danielle.

She couldn’t come to harm! He would kill anyone and everyone who touched so much as a hair on her head, he swore to himself, and he knew deep down that he wouldn’t want to live if anything were to happen to her. In the short time since he had known her, she had turned his world upside down. He, who got bored so quickly with the pathetic little amusements that his inherited title granted him; he, who had bedded the most beautiful noble ladies of London, who never had to go without women or other physical pleasures—he now realized that there was something in his pathetic existence that made him feel complete. Something he had been missing all of his life. A person he didn’t just desire, who didn’t just spark his passions, but someone who fulfilled his dreams, who dominated his thoughts, and who in fact warmed his heart.

It had to have something to do with him being so close to the
Venus
, for it seemed as if he had fallen in love.

Danielle screamed in pain, and she kicked at the man with all her might, but his ice-cold eyes and the muzzle of the gun he was pushing into her chest made her freeze up. She was shaking, and if it weren’t for his holding on to her with an iron grip, she would not be able to stay on her feet.

Suddenly Lou staggered, pulling Danielle with him and down to the ground. Lulu, who had been watching the scene with a dispassionate expression on her face, jumped from the desk and helped Lou up on his feet. In so doing, she pried the pistol from his hand.

“Lou!” she called, and handed him his glass. “Here, take a sip! What’s going on?” She held the glass to his lips and poured the honey-colored liquid down his throat.

His eyes bulged, saliva oozed from the corners of his mouth, and his skin became waxen as he finally keeled over.

The whore got up and stared down at her pimp.

“Lou?” she asked, kicking him with the tip of her boot. “Lou, you croakin’?”

When his legs finally stopped twitching, she shrugged her shoulders and gathered her gown over her chest. The pistol was steady in her hand when she helped Danielle to her feet.

Danielle did not make the mistake of assuming that she was out of danger just yet.

Chapter 11

Sorry about your husband. I didn’t mean to kill him, but he was such a dope,” the redhead started blabbering away, as if the corpses of two men weren’t lying at her feet.

Danielle shrunk back against the wall. The woman, apparently, wasn’t expecting an answer, because she sat down on the edge of the desk once again, but this time she covered her body. She took the painting in her hand as if weighing it.

“It’s not really worth a life,” she admitted. “But on the other hand, it might be the only thing saving
my
life.”

She put the painting aside and looked at Danielle.

“The poison. I got it for myself. I didn’t want to be Lulu any longer. This sack of shit
 . . . 
” she spat at Lou, “
 . . . 
he’s not just taking our will and our bodies. No, he even takes away our names. Like we’re nothing! His toys, his merchandize!”

Danielle stopped trying to stand on her feet. Her head was hurting terribly, and her whole body was shaking. She allowed herself to slide down the wall with her back against it, and pulled up her knees.

“What’s your real name?” she asked the redhead.

“Inès,” she replied, and gave a small bow. “Do you know, your husband was the only person to ever ask me that?”

Danielle shook her head in disbelief. She didn’t really want to discuss her husband with a prostitute, but she needed to play for time.

“Then why did you kill him?”

The redhead contemplated that question. She took the whisky bottle and raised it to her lips. Danielle opened her eyes wide, and Inès laughed when she noticed the shocked expression on Danielle’s face.

“I put the poison in their glasses,” the whore explained and took another sip.

“You know, I didn’t want to keep on living—had already gotten hold of the poison—but then I didn’t have the courage to go through with it. The next day, I saw the scientist for the first time. He was adorable, sitting downstairs at the bar, all intimidated and scared and all. I thought: easy pickings, and so I went and talked to him. But he wasn’t there for us girls, he was there because he wanted to talk to Lou. He was so excited as he was telling me all this. He talked about the painting and how valuable it was. He told me that Lou and him had been trying to find the painting together. Apparently, Lou found the right museum, and your husband was to find the right painting.” She glanced over at the dolphin painting before she continued. “But Lou didn’t trust Langston, and so he paid Frank and the fat man to keep an eye on him. When your husband returned only a few weeks later, I could tell from his eyes that he had found the
Venus
. He was terribly nervous. Lou wasn’t around. So I saw my chance. I asked him upstairs and told him he could wait there for the boss. I thought he would perhaps tell me the truth if I let him have all of
this
, but he wasn’t interested.” Inès threw back her hair, and Danielle realized that being rejected was not something that happened to this woman often. “He asked me to put my clothes back on, and told me that since the
Venus
couldn’t take his affliction away, he wouldn’t ever know what to do with the most beautiful woman on earth. I asked him why the
Venus
couldn’t help him. He said he had decided not to reveal her secret for fear of destroying her during the attempt of uncovering her. That was why he was here. He wanted to tell Lou that he had changed his mind.”