Deception

"Come on Max, you'll get over it."

* * *

The endless day of paperwork finally ended and I found myself wondering what I'd do on Wednesday night. It was my custom to go to Bailey's and I wasn't about to break tradition just because I got kicked in the ass the last time I was there. You have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and get back into the game I told myself. It's not quite as easy as that but that's the idea. I donned the uniform -- tight fitting black v-neck tee and jeans. I made haste out of room at the Royal Palms and into the warm embrace of Bailey's.

There was an afternoon thunderstorm, and puddles of standing water dotted the pavement around Bailey's. Though the sun was down, the air was still hot and steamy. Even with only a thin tee, I was starting to feel sweaty from the moment I got out of my Civic. I could hear music coming through the front door and felt a rush of cold air when I opened it. A rock cover band was warming up in the corner. That was new. Maddy was going upscale.

I took a peek inside first. No DaVanna or Courtney. That was a good start to the night, although my memories of being jilted awakened like a slumbering beast. "Drink," my brain told me. "Drink now."

I made a beeline to the bar, finding Maddy joking with a couple of the regulars. She lifted her eyes when she saw me and shouted over the thumping beat of the music.

"Max!"

She dashed up to me and gave me a big hug.

"You look like you needed that," she said as she let go of me. She knew when I needed a hug, and I needed one desperately.

She rubbed her hands together. "I've been saving something for you."

She knew me well enough to change the subject before I could start complaining about Courtney.

Her diversionary tactic worked.

"What is it?" I naturally asked.

"Surprise."

She disappeared behind the bar and sorted through a number of boxes on the floor.

"Here it is," she said, setting a gold embossed box on the bar. It was some fancy single malt scotch. I can't remember the name but I can remember the number. It was 18. Eighteen years in a wood cask made for a silky smooth beverage. She poured me a dram of the liquid gold in a tumbler and presented it to me on a "Bailey's" napkin.

"Only the best for you Max."

I took a sip. It was ambrosia. This was a whiskey you sipped instead of drinking.

"Maddy, you spoil me," I chided her.

"Not as much as I'd like to," she fired back. I'd done more than my share of favors for her, and those good deeds were never forgotten.

"Nicky's coming tonight," she announced, leaning on the bar on her elbows.

That news cheered me up. It'd be fun to hang out with Nicky and Maddy all night. We could laugh and talk about all the shit we did in high school. It would definitely take my mind off Courtney.

As we were talking a large party streamed through the front door.

"Duty calls," Maddy announced, leaving me. I wasn't in the mood to mix and mingle so I decided to enjoy my single malt scotch by myself until her return. I could see her at the other end of the bar enjoying easy banter with the newly arrived group. I kept my seat watched her. She could turn on her personality when she needed to. There was laughing already. Maddy was reaching for something off the top shelf. There must have been ten or fifteen of them. Straight from the convention center. I spotted at least three name tags on dresses.

I was getting near the bottom of my glass and it became clear Maddy wasn't coming back anytime soon. The convention was big business for Maddy. I finished my drink and then had a sudden urge for a cigarette. That's just what I needed.

I surrendered my barstool and sauntered over to the emergency exit of the bar. The exit went out into a narrow alley between Bailey's and the law offices behind them. It was well lighted and a perfect place to enjoy a cigarette. The automatic closing mechanism pulled the door shut behind me with a reassuring click. The door was locked on the outside but it didn't concern me as Maddy had given me a key.

There were a handful of butts on the ground, probably mine. It was still hot and muggy outside, making me breathe hard to suck in the humid air. I fumbled through my clutch purse (I'm not much of a purse person, but this was one of the occasions I'd bring one). I found a crushed half a pack of cigarettes and a disposable lighter. I managed to wrest a cigarette out of the package and lit it as it dangled from my lip. I took a long and satisfying first drag, blowing a billowing cloud of smoke straight upwards towards the sky.

I took another puff and cursed at myself yet again. Why did I ever bring Courtney and DaVanna together? Anyone could have predicted that disaster would happen. I was scolding myself when I heard the door open and then shut. A very well-dressed and startled woman, stared at the door, realizing she may have just been locked out.

"Uh oh," she said when she heard the door click shut. She tried the door handle. It didn't budge.

She didn't see me at first. I was leaning against the wall and watching in amusement as she focused on the unyielding gray metal door.

"Oh!" she let out when she finally saw me in the shadows. I guess I should've announced myself.

"Sorry," I said belatedly. She had to be new around here because all the regulars knew the door was locked and that Maddy would raise holy hell if you propped the door open because it was a code violation.

The woman quickly composed herself and then looked at me expectantly.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to get back in, would you?"

She was in an expensive looking dress. The name tag that was still stuck on it said "Leah." She looked to be late thirties, very well put together with just the right hair and make-up for a corporate "C" suite executive. Her long dark hair was up in a French twist, and I immediately tried to imagine what she would look like with her hair down. Her eyes were wide. I felt like a spider that trapped a fly in her web.

"I would," I said to her, trying to control my rising emotion.

"That would be lovely."

She waited for me to open it but I made no move to do so. I was only halfway through my cigarette and not ready to go back in. Besides, she clearly had come out for a reason and I knew what it was.

"Did you want a cigarette, Leah?," I asked her.

"How did you . . . ," she started, and then stopped when she realized she'd forgotten to take off her name tag. She peeled it off, giving me a sheepish smile.

"Sure. I seemed to have left mine back in the bar along with my brain."

Lovely and self-deprecating. She already scored two points in my book.

I had two left in the pack. I handed her one. I admired her red nail polish. She put the cigarette in her mouth and waited for me to light it. I did, and she never took her eyes off me until she finished her first puff. Her smoke curled around me. I could see her red lipstick on the filter as she held it between her fingers. I couldn't help but notice she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

"So, you with the convention?" I asked. It was obvious she was, but it was an easy way to get the conversation started. She relaxed immediately.

"I am. I came with that large group. The convention's about nutritional supplements and healthy living. I saw that you ducked out and I figured it was someplace I could smoke." She talked fast, showing her nervousness.

"Seems a bit of a contradiction," I said calmly, pointing to her lit cigarette.

I got a smile. "You've got me there. It's one of the few vices I've lived with since I was a teenager. It's a nasty habit."

"I'm in your boat. It's a love/hate relationship. I've tried quitting more times than I can count, just like an old girlfriend that I invite back in." I must have been thinking about Courtney when I said it.

She took a long drag and let it out. "But nothing beats it, does it?"

"Not at a time like this."

"It's muggy out here," she said. I could see that her perfectly coiffed hair was drooping a bit.

"Why don't we go back inside?" I asked.

"Except the door's locked."

"Not if I have a key." I fished the key out of my purse and held it up like a prize.

"Bravo," she said, giving me light applause.

"And now for my next act . . . ". I use the key to unlock and door and held it open for her. We stepped back into air conditioned comfort and the noise of the bar and stood against the back wall to contemplate our options.

"You're full of surprises," she said, leaning against the wall with her shoulders. She didn't seem to be anxious to go anyplace.

"You don't know the half of it," I said both warning her and laying out a tasty bit of chum. She bit.

"Would it be worth my while to find out?" she asked. She was openly flirting with me. I sensed this was where we'd be.

"Depends what you're looking for." I gave her the opening to take this further.

"I'm not sure. All I was looking for was a cigarette."

She chose to delay her decision to go home with me, if just for a minute.

"Did you want to rejoin your group?" I offered, giving her a graceful way out. I could see there were still a dozen or more woman from the convention crowded near the bar as Maddy held court.

Leah made no move towards them. "No. I've spent all day with them."

"That means you'll have a drink with me."

"I guess it does, if you'll tell me your name."

"Sorry, my name is Max . . . Max Pemberton."

"That's an unusual name."

"It's short for Maxine."

"So I gather."

"My last name is McArdle."

"Nice to meet you Leah McArdle."

"Nice to meet you Max Pemberton."

"How about over there?" I asked.

I pointed through a thicket of women to a booth in the back with a "Reserved" sign on it.

"Looks like it's taken," she observed.

"It's reserved for me."

"Oh."

She followed me towards the booth and cozied into the bench seat. It was a nice plush booth that impressed her.

I picked up the paper "Reserved" sign and crumpled it into a ball.

"My, my, it's almost as if you own the place."

"I don't, but my best friend Maddy over there does."

I pointed to Maddy at the far end of the bar. She turned her head to look. I admired her dress and how she filled it.

"That explains the key," she said, displaying her powers of deduction.

"That explains a lot of stuff," I said, like the booth that was always reserved for me.

"She's fun," said Leah. She must have chatted with Maddy before she came out into the alley.

"So am I," I said, not wanting to be left out of this conversation.

"So I noticed," she said, dancing with me in our little seduction duet.

She made a point of crossing her legs. The tip of her shoe brushed against my ankle.

"So Max, what is it that you do?"

"I'm a detective with the Cincinnati police." Sometimes when I'm getting to know someone, this bit of information makes them flee. I was gauging her reaction.

"Of course," she said, nonplussed. "You figured me out in the two minutes we were in the alley. And that's why Maddy trusts you with the key."

"Right on both counts," I confirmed to her.

She leaned forward a bit. She gave me a sexy smile.

"OK smarty pants. Tell me who you think I am."

"You really want to know?" I asked her. I was always painfully honest. Love it or leave it.

"Yes, I do," she said, challenging me.

"You're a highly self-confident and successful businesswoman who is insecure in interpersonal relationships. You're recently divorced and you love dogs."

"You got all of that in two minutes?" she asked me, incredulous.

"I'm a detective. Did I get it right?" I asked her, confident that I did.

"Spot on," she said, impressed. "So tell me how you deduced all this."

"You dress and hold yourself with confidence, but once you saw me you were flustered. I saw the imprint of a ring on your finger, but no ring."

"And the dog?"

"You have dog fur sticking to the bottom of your dress."

She looked down and brushed a few stray white hairs off the hem of her dress.

"Well done Max."

"It's what I do."

"What else do you do?" she asked.

"Depends which way you swing," I told her.

"Your way," she answered.

"Then we should go to my place and I'll show you."

"Do you live close? I live out in New Baltimore."

"I live in a cheesy motel room in the West End that's one step above a whorehouse."

"My my, we'll be slumming it."

I reached across and touched her diamond studded gold bracelet. It was probably a year's salary for me.

"We can get a drink first," I suggested, not wanting to rush her.

"I think your other idea was better."

"You're OK with a motel? It's sounds so cheap, and you're not."

"I am with you."

"Cheap or OK?"

"Take it any way you want Max."

This was moving dangerously fast. I'd just been dropped and barely had time to rebound. Decision time. You must know which way I went. Sex always wins.

"OK. Did you drive?" I asked.

"No. I left my car at home."

"We can catch an Uber," I offered.

"Let me grab my things. I'll meet you in a minute." She went off to her friends, presumably to say goodbye, and I went to see Maddy.

* * *

Maddy tore herself away from the group to talk to me.

"So you found somebody?" Her eyes travelled over to Leah, who was talking to a couple of the women she came with.

"I wasn't looking, honest," I said.

"Right Max. She seems a little out of your league."

"I'd say a lot."

"Why you?"

"I think she's bored. I'm the new shiny object."

"Max, you undersell yourself."

"I'm not so shiny."

"You know what I mean."

"Not really."

"Get out of here Max. Have a good time. Forget about Courtney."

Chapter Four

Slumming it with Leah

Bailey's was in a historic residential neighborhood. There was a pleasant golden glow from the old fashioned street lights. We stood at the curb in front of the bar on the grassy boulevard waiting for our ride to arrive. Her stiletto heels started sinking into the recently watered grass. She lost her balance and I caught her.

"Oops!" she shouted as she fell into my arms. I got my arms under hers and broke her fall. She was looking up at me, doe eyed.

"I'm clumsy," she said, trying to stand up but not being successful. I propped her up enough so I could kiss her. Suddenly we were caught in a kiss and the mood suddenly changed from playful and anxious to serious and desperate.

"I have a confession to make," Leah told me.

"What's that?"

"I didn't go out into the alley for a smoke. I went out there to follow you."

"Stalking me?"

"I wouldn't put it that way."

"How would you put it?"

She looked around, and seeing no one, she cupped my breast. "I'd put it here, like this."

I drew her closer and whispered in her ear, not moving her hand. She had a nasty side, but no one out nasties Max. "I'll show you some things I've learned in the gutter."

"Sounds delicious," she said.

With perfect timing, the Uber driver showed up.

* * *

Leah's dress was slit up the side, so her entry into the car revealed the tops of her old fashioned nylons and the straps from her garter belt. She scooted into the back seat but made no effort to pull down her dress as it bunched up towards her waist. I got in next to her and she immediately leaned heavily against me.

"I really want you to touch me," she whispered.

Those words and her lips being so close to me sent a shiver up my spine. Her perfume was subtly seductive, like her.

"Royal Palms, is that right?" the driver asked me, looking into the back seat and reading the order off his phone. He seemed oblivious to the fact that there would shortly be hot sex in his car.

"That's right," I confirmed to him. Then I leaned forward and in a lower voice and said, "Now listen. It's only a ten dollar fare. There's a twenty dollar tip in it for you if you don't look in the rear view mirror. I'm a cop, and I've got eyes in the back of my head. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

I think he now understood what was about to happen and was OK with it.

"What did you mean?" Leah whispered to me. She had overheard every word but didn't get what I was talking about.

"It means that I can do this and he's not going to look in his rear view mirror to see it."

I pushed my hand under her skirt and pushed her legs apart enough so I could touch her panties. They were sopping wet, like mine. I pulled them to one side and ran my finger up and down her slit. She shuddered in my arms.

"Oh fuck," she muttered in my ear.

I wet two fingers with her pussy juice and worked them inside her while she wiggled her hips to help. I was quickly in all the way. I pressed up with my fingers and rubbed inside her.

"Oh God, that's so good," she said, loud enough for the driver to hear.

I didn't stop fucking her but I told her, "Leah, I paid him twenty bucks not to see. He can still hear."

Her eyes were heavily lidded. "I don't care," she said. That was fine for me. I didn't give a fuck if the driver could hear as long as he was cool with what was going on. It would make for a memorable evening for him, or so I hoped.

Her panties were getting in the way. I roughly jerked them down to her ankles, pulling them off over her heels.

"Are you going to undress me in here?" she said breathily. Her voice quivered.

I played with her pussy, spongy and wet, then pushed her head up against the window and kissed her while I made her cum. Her hips searched for my hand while I fucked her. Her staid exterior was only a façade. I uncovered the real Leah, both literally and figuratively.

"Max." This time my name came out as a gasp.

Her breaths were short and quick. Her body shook, like she was freezing cold, then stilled. She fell against me, in a blissful and sexually satisfied state, her head resting on my shoulder.

"Oh fuck that was good," she murmured into my ear. She licked off my fingers and then kissed me.

It was good timing. The Uber had just pulled into the parking lot of the Royal Palms. Leah pressed her face against the window to watch a couple having a loud argument on the second floor balcony not far from my room and a drug deal going down next to the ground floor ice machine. It was the same old same old to me but to Leah it represented danger. She was hesitant to get out of the car.

"It's fine," I assured her. "Everyone here knows me and knows I'm a cop. They'll leave us alone."

"Are you sure Max?" she asked, not so sure I was right.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Leah got out slowly, her body language telling me she was second guessing her decision to go home with me. I stuck my hand out, palm out and fingers up, to tell her "I've got this." She calmed down a bit. I had one matter to attend to, and got out, standing by the driver's side window. The driver rolled it down.

"I didn't look ma'am," he told me, anticipating my question.

"I know you didn't."

I went into my purse, pulled a twenty out of my wallet, and handed it to him.

"She's hot ma'am," he said as he rolled up his window.

"Uh huh," I acknowledged, tapping the top of the car's roof twice. Off he went, with Leah clutching her purse against her chest and standing there like a defenseless lamb depending on me to protect her from the coyotes.

* * *

The clothes Leah was wearing probably cost more than what most of the residents of the Royal Palms had in their bank account.

"What now Max?" Leah asked, expectantly.

"Room 204," I replied. "It'll be fine," I added, seeing she needed a bit more reassurance.

As we got to the room Leah's eyes noticed that the door to Room 204 had been kicked in several times. The door frame was slightly bent and it was obvious it'd been haphazardly repaired. The inside showed no better, with the stained carpeting and the threadbare furniture. Leah looked around and then pressed on the mattress, rolling her eyes.