Race With a Heart
Chapter 99: To Be in Martin’s Arms

Chapter 99: To Be in Martin’s Arms

The expression on the face of the girl Paul Denning was talking to was completely emotionless. He had the impression that, like her friend Margarita Evans, sitting in front of him Lucy had gone through a lot more than she should have in her young life.

But Lucy wanted to talk to him. Many policemen felt that Paul’s face was too gentle for the job, but he knew this gentleness opened people to him and loosened their tongues. His colleagues with the hard eyes of the predator were ideal for intimidating suspects. Denning was extracting testimony from victims and witnesses who, staring into his gentle eyes, felt safe enough to speak.

"After Rita’s mother went to jail for drugs, Rita ran away from her stepfather who wanted to replace her wife with her," Lucy said. "Rita decided that if some old pervert was going to fuck her, at least he should pay her for it and she ran away. Despite what she said, she never intended to be a whore. She became a stripper because she moved well and needed money. "

"But she started sleeping with men for money," Paul noted.

"Influenced by the owner of the strip bar. He promised money and threatened to dismiss her if she refused. "

Denning gritted his teeth. A typical story of a girl who has nowhere to run from her abusive home. How many more stories like this will he hear before he retires?

"Lucy, if you’re in a similar situation ..."

The girl shook her head.

"Rita was pretty. I am bland. I didn’t have a chance to work in this bar. I clean in the hospital. "

For a young girl, working as a cleaner was not the height of her dreams, but it was always better than making yourself a whore in some minor bar.

"Did Rita have a boyfriend?"

"No. She came here a month ago and hasn’t met anyone yet. "

"Are you sure? It is very important. "

"Completely."

"Did Rita say anything about the customers? Maybe she liked one of them especially, or on the contrary, she found someone particularly repulsive ...? "

His words provoked a reaction in the girl. She looked as if she remembered something.

"There was actually one," she announced. "One day, I think three weeks ago, she came and said the drivers had really strange requirements, but at least they were paying well. As she lay on her stomach, I asked if she was okay. She replied that the client ... came in from the back room, but thanks to that she found a gold mine. "

"You think she found a sponsor?"

"No, not really, because she never mentioned it again. But..."

"Yes?" Paul encouraged her.

"One day I got back early and saw her looking at something on the phone. Some movie. It’s normal to watch videos on the internet, but she reacted as if I caught her doing something bad. "

"You don’t know where her phone is? We couldn’t find it anywhere. "

"No I do not know. She always carried it with her. "

The victim’s phone or purse was not at the scene and they searched it thoroughly. The purse ended up in the bar where she worked. It turned out that she came to work that night, but no one saw her. There was no telephone, however. Either she left it in her purse and left it without it, or she lost it on the way, or the murderer took it. If option three was true, there may be evidence on the phone pointing to the guilty party.

"Can you give me her number?"

"Of course."

Lucy wrote the number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. She had a nice handwriting.

"My last question," Paul announced. "Why didn’t you report her missing?"

" I did not notice " the girl smiled strangely. "This week my shift turned out so badly that I would come back when she was gone and left before she came back. I wonder if when I disappear without a trace, no one will notice? "

Paul Denning asked the telecommunications company for a billing and SMS listing of a number that belonged to Margarita Evans, but was informed that they would not release the information without a court order. It was totally predictable, but it didn’t hurt to try. So he asked for a warrant and all they had to do about the billing was to wait.

The killer may have taken the phone, so they won’t have access to Rita’s photos, videos, or browser history, but at least the phone company will provide some trace for them. Maybe the girl talked to the murderer before her death? Maybe she made an appointment with him by phone?

Paul also tried to get CCTV footage, but as might be expected, there weren’t many places that opted for surveillance. Clients who wanted to take advantage of the pleasures of this district did not want to be filmed. After all, the wife could not easily obtain evidence of her husband’s betrayal, and the police could not so easily find those who were playing in the illegal casino.

Despite the lack of cameras, Denning continued walking around asking questions while showing the girl’s picture. Maybe someone saw her with a man? Someone should start talking.

"I saw her with a few different men," confirmed a receptionist at one of the motels. The woman had her youth and glory years behind her, if she had any glory years at all. "Customers like customers" shrugged. "I didn’t notice anything unusual."

It seemed as if they had no trace at the moment and had to wait for the billings to get some sort of touch.

Steve was free at last! He himself did not know how he managed to sneak out of the airport unnoticed, where he was under the constant care of Karl Walton and Jack Lambert. These two conspired against him and have strode almost one step away since he was released from the hospital. Steve saw this as not only unnecessary overprotection, but also a violation of personal freedom, as it felt as if he was constantly under dog’s supervision.

Of course, neither Jack nor Karl had any bad intentions, and they did it all out of concern, but everything should have its limits.

The reason for their overprotection was, of course, an accident on the track. Steve was sent to the hospital where his every bone was x-rayed and no fractures lesions were found, but the doctor, apparently ’blowing on the cold’, said Paxton should be under close scrutiny over the next few days in case there were any disturbing symptoms. He had no fractures or cracks, no bruised organs, but the brain was a very delicate organ, and although the driver’s head was protected by a helmet and there was no impact on that part of the body from the very centrifuge he passed through, he could have dizziness and nausea or he even may lose consciousness.

Oh, yeah, Steve was definitely dizzy and nauseous and close to fainting when he had to endure the annoying overprotection of his colleagues. While he still understood and was able to tolerate Karl, they had been best friends for years, after all, Jack’s concern was so irritating that Paxton felt the urge to murder him!

Yes, yes, Steve knew Lambert had no bad intentions, but the unwanted attention and care was just stalking!

This care was all the more unwanted as Paxton had his own plans to spend time after his return from departure. All the time, all its hours, minutes and seconds, without even the slightest delay. So he had to lose the two sheepdogs guarding him and go exactly where he wanted to be, which was Martin’s arms.

Steve spoke to him many times after the accident. Martin really worried, even more than Karl and Jack, but Martin’s worry was not unpleasant for Paxton, and the thought that the young mechanic would be watching over him personally made him dizzy as well, but he was happy this time.

In one of these conversations, Martin admitted that he had told his work colleagues that he was dating Steve. He was worried that the driver would be angry about it, but that was not the case. Paxton just laughed and asked if he could kiss him publicly when they met at the garage then. Martin informed him that his boldness didn’t go that far, so he was to be decent. The driver sighed. Well, not everything is available at once.

Since every moment without Martin was irretrievably lost, Steve quickly grabbed a taxi and gave the address of the auto repair shop where the mechanic worked. The hour was so early that Paxton sincerely hoped that Martin’s younger friends would still be in school and that neither of them would think of playing truant. Steve really wanted very, very much to be in Martin’s arms. He wanted to surprise him with his appearance.

Steve unpacked his luggage from the cab and put it smugly at the entrance. He looked around and was pleased to see that the mechanics’ voices weren’t heard, only the radio was playing a song softly. Martin was not in sight, but Teddy was in the office. After the operation his eyesight improved visibly and the old man noticed the visitor entering. He even recognized him because he smiled kindly.

Steve quickly put a finger to his lips to let him know that he wanted to surprise Martin.

Teddy thumbed Paxton to where Martin was (behind the raised hood of a black old convertible). He got up and announced quite loudly:

"We have so little traffic I think I’ll take a nap. The boys shouldn’t be here for another hour. Can you do it alone? "

"Sure!" the young mechanic exclaimed briskly.

"Great! So here I go! "

Teddy was gone, and Steve was deeply grateful to the old man’s wisdom and generosity at that moment. Steve and Martin had an hour to each other!

Quietly, almost tiptoeing, Paxton came up behind Martin and embraced him with a broad smile.

"Mar ... Ouch !!!"

Steve had no idea how or when it happened, but he knew he was suddenly overwhelmed on the floor.