Free AtHerCommand by Marcia James Page A

had
cared for Jason.
    He wasn’t surprised. Jason had been the best friend he’d
ever had and a great partner. He’d been a wisecracking babe magnet but Dalton
had trusted Jason with his life many times and found his trust well-placed.
God, he missed him.
    Dropping the remote into his lap, Dalton picked up a cold,
leftover slice of the pizza that had been his dinner hours before. Despite the
fact the meat toppings appeared to be petrified and the vegetables resembled a
dried flower arrangement, he took a bite and washed it down with warm beer. He
was too lost in thought to care much about his taste buds or his stomach
lining.
    Having watched the interrogation video several times, Dalton
was convinced Tori’d had nothing to do with his partner’s murder. She’d been
genuinely upset by his death. And her surprised reaction to the news Jason had
been investigating the employment of underage runaways at the club had been
very believable. If Tori had been acting, she deserved an Oscar.
    Dalton lifted the remote and pushed the play button. The TV
picture jumped to life as the pretty blonde answered a question about the
club’s staff.
    “All the employees I’ve met at the club are over eighteen.
Most of them are young, college-age, but definitely adults.” Tori stopped and
seemed to be scanning some mental files. “It’s possible runaways are involved
in some of the private parties the clients throw.”
    “Private parties?” Captain Bennett’s voice rumbled from
off-camera.
    “The clients can arrange hot tub or mattress room parties,”
the girl explained. “The mattress rooms are just what they sound like, large
rooms where the floors are covered with mattresses for the swingers.”
    “And who picks the guest lists for these parties?” the
captain questioned.
    “The club’s manager Clyde Salvi will either hire party girls
or the clients will bring their own guests.” Tori used her hands in a natural
manner as she spoke and never avoided eye contact or blinked nervously. “I
haven’t been to any of the parties so I can’t tell you about the girls who join
in.”
    Dalton used the remote to fast-forward the interrogation
tape for several minutes. The high-pitched squeal of the video’s accelerated
voices didn’t faze Chi, who perched like an Egyptian cat god on top of the
television. When Dalton neared the end of the tape, he hit the play button to
watch Tori’s final words again.
    “I’ve given notice at the club,” the girl said. “I’m moving
back to Pennsylvania to look after my mom who’s getting pretty frail.”
    “Before you leave, we’ll need her name, address and phone
number in case we have to reach you,” Captain Bennett’s disembodied voice
explained.
    “Sure,” Tori said. “I want Jason’s killer caught.” Her voice
rose in volume and she trembled. “We became friends. I know he wasn’t a junkie.
Somebody shot Jason full of drugs and threw him in the river. I want that
person to pay.”
    As Dalton watched, the girl looked down and two tears fell
onto her tightly clasped hands. Then the screen went black. With a sigh, he
rewound the video and slipped it into its envelope to return to Suzi in the
morning.
    Jason’s journal lay on a side table. Dalton reached for the
leather-bound book, which now bristled with yellow sticky notes. Dalton had
marked every page even slightly pertinent to the case. He turned now to a
passage about the club’s swinger parties and reread what Jason had written.
    For an additional fee, the club’s swinging clients can
hold parties in the mattress, theme or hot tub rooms. I’d bet my right nut
Clyde Salvi “recruits” teenage runaways as talent for these orgies. Now if I
could find just one of these kids willing to talk.
    Dalton had seen surveillance photos of the club’s manager.
Salvi was grim and intimidating—a knee-breaker with dead eyes. No wonder none
of the runaway girls or boys wanted to talk. Captain Bennett had cops visiting
shelters