Free Lust, Money & Murder by Mike Wells

through all the criminal databases but came up with zilch. She was sure that Ronald Eskew was an alias the man had only used for his sleazy Rising Star Modeling Agency scam.
    Elaine wished she could travel back in time to the day she confronted Ronald Eskew in his office. If only she had thought to pick up something with his fingerprints on it. Of course, at that moment, she could not have known what was about to happen to her, and to her father.
    She began doing detailed searches of all the modeling agencies that had been started in the year following the closure—or disappearance— of Rising Star. There were over 50 agencies that had started during that time in the USA. One by one, she began painstakingly investigating them.
     
    * * *
    One day when Elaine and Bill were working together in his office, going over the details of a new bank check fraud case, Bill suddenly grabbed her and kissed her.
    “Stop it,” she said, struggling against him. He pushed her back on his desk and hungrily pressed his mouth against hers. She could feel his erection pressing against her thigh. Before she knew it, his hand went under her skirt, his fingers rubbing her vulva.
    “Bill!” she gasped, roughly pushing him away.
    He backed off, breathing hard.
    “This is not acceptable . Do you understand?”
    He blinked, wiping his mouth. “I understand.”
    “You do?”
    “Yes. You may go back to your office.”
     
    * * *
    When Elaine went home that day, she had a bad feeling about what had taken place. She didn’t sleep at all that night. The next morning, she went to a downtown cafe and had breakfast, dreading the thought of confronting him again. Things would be awkward, at best.
    When she got to the office, he was already there. She passed his door.
    “Good morning, Elaine,” he said evenly.
    “Good morning,” she said, backtracking.
    He was sitting at his desk, his arms crossed.
    With a warm smile on his face, he said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
    “Excuse me?”
    His face was red, but not with embarrassment. “Do you think the law enforcement computers are here for your personal amusement?”
    He tapped on a printout on his desk. “Would you mind telling me who Ronald Eskew is?”
    “Bill...I asked you if it was all right for me to work on my own cases, and you said it was.”
    “Did I?”
    “Yes. The first day I was here. You said...” Now she noticed another look in his eye.
    “Abuse of law enforcement databases is a serious violation of your security clearance. I could fire you for that.”
    Elaine swallowed. So this is how Bill Saunders dealt with his bruised male ego. She remembered Luna’s words. You’ll end up working for at least one first-class asshole, maybe more.
    “Bill,” she said, willing herself to stay calm, “please don’t fire me. I won’t use the databases anymore.” She decided it was better to put herself at his mercy than to confront him about the real reason he was doing this.
    He gazed at her for a moment with obvious resentment. “Well, you’ve been doing a halfway decent job here. What I’m going to do is recommend a transfer.”
    Elaine was taken aback. “A transfer? To where?”
    “You’ll find out soon enough. I’ll put in the request this morning.” He picked up his pen and cut his gaze from her. “That will be all.”
     
    * * *
    Elaine was furious, in a quandary about what to do. She was tempted to fly to Washington and file a formal sexual harassment complaint, but she thought the better of it—doing that so early in her career would probably just get her known as a troublemaker. Nobody would want her then. Besides, she had no proof of anything, including Bill’s permission to use the confidential databases. It would come down to her word against his.
    She tried to tell herself that a transfer was a good thing. Just about anywhere was better than Great Falls, Montana.
     

CHAPTER 1.10
     
    “ Bulgaria ?” Elaine said, staring at the confidential