Finders Keepers Losers Die by Carolyn Scott Page A

here?"
    Barry leaned in close and leered. I recoiled
and took a step back, banging into the desk. He rubbed his palm
along my bare arm leaving behind a trail of goosebumps. "Wouldn't
have been as much fun then, would it?" he said.
    What he meant was, I wouldn't have gone into
a small room with only one exit with a creep like Barry Grimes if I
didn't think I was getting something out of it. He must have tried
it before. Shit .
    "Well, thanks for your help," I said, edging
toward the door. "Gotta go now." I turned and walked fast. I
reached the door but he grabbed my arm and jerked me round, hard,
slamming the door shut. He hustled me backward against it.
    He wasn't a big man but he was bigger than
me. And a lot stronger. I wouldn't be able to fight him off so I
didn't try.
    "I'll help you out some more, Gorgeous. I
got some moves to make girls like you beg." He pressed his body
into mine and licked my neck.
    Eeewww . I tried not to breathe but
the smell of stale cigarettes and sweat was so potent it
infiltrated my nostrils anyway.
    I turned my head away and tried to wriggle
out of his grip but I couldn't move. "I have some powerful friends
at my agency," I said, desperately trying to think of something
clever to frighten him off. "If you so much as lick me again, they
won't like it." I sucked at threatening. Truth was, my heart pumped
so hard I had trouble thinking over the noise. I tried to calm
down, but breathing was near impossible because of his stench and
my fear.
    Barry zoomed in for another lick and I
braced myself. "Mmm, you taste good," he murmured against my
neck.
    That's it! Enough with the licking! "What are you, a fucking dog?" I shoved at him but that only seemed
to appeal to his sick sense of humor.
    "You're a fun one. I love when they fight
back."
    The implication that other women had endured
the same treatment, and possibly more, sent my stomach into major
turmoil. It had calmed down since the morning's hangover but
suddenly it gurgled, then churned and rose and—
    I threw up all over Barry Grimes.
    "Fucking stupid cow!" He leapt back, arms
akimbo and looked down at the mess dripping off him from chest to
toe.
    I ran out the door and jumped into my Civic.
I drove all the way home on autopilot and had another shower. When
skin flaked off my neck, I finally felt clean, but the shaking
didn't stop. I put on my bra and underwear and made myself a salad
sandwich in the kitchen. But I couldn't eat it. The smell of Barry
Grimes remained with me, spoiling my appetite.
    I hadn't factored in my personal safety when
I took on Roberta's case. Will and Carl never got attacked on the
job, so I'd figured being a P.I. was just a matter of asking a
bunch of people a bunch of questions and putting the pieces of the
puzzle together to find out whodunit.
    Then again, being a woman was an automatic
disadvantage. People like Barry Grimes weren't used to being
interrogated by women, so he reacted aggressively to cover his own
inadequacies, or guilt.
    Maybe I could take some self-defense
classes. Maybe Carl could teach me a thing or two. He used to box
in his younger days. I wasn't sure about Will. I doubt he'd ever
swung a punch in his life. Then again, he'd been a cop, so he must
know something about defending himself.
    I found myself wondering what Dad would do.
That made me think about what Mom said about his involvement in
putting Scarletti away. What was it that Dad couldn't put to
rest? Whatever it was, I felt sure that finding Roberta's jewelry
would help me solve the twelve-year-old mystery.
    After lunch I sat back and thought about
whom to question next. On top of my list was Mad Max and the other
associates I'd seen Lou with at The Grotto, but after my
confrontation with Grimes, I wasn't sure I had the energy for
another icky situation. Maybe on Sunday in a very public place,
like the café across the road from the police station.
    Avoiding all the scary people in Lou's life
left only one other person. Lou's mother.
    I