26 Beauties

Prologue

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Prologue

TINA BARNES TURNED the key to the BMW X3. All she got was a series of clicks. “Awfffuck the Bavarian Motor Works!” She slapped the steering wheel. This was not the first time the goddamn Beamer had left her stranded. The car belonged to Sal Touri, her boss at The Brass Ring Gentlemen’s Club. She’d made sure she gave him plenty of incentive to keep letting her borrow the car. She tried the key again with the same result, then called the club. “Hey, it’s Tina,” she said to the woman who answered the phone.

“Who?”
“Cheyenne.” Yet another fake name.
“Your shift just started. You better be calling me from the club’s parking lot.”
“Car trouble. I’m working on it now.” Tina knew that would shut down the manager. Everyone in the club knew that Sal was sweet on her and had loaned her one of his cars. She didn’t worry about saying anything else to the manager.

Despite trying to keep a low profile, Tina knew there was one thing she couldn’t hide: She was a beautiful woman.

Tina was almost thirty, but most men thought she was much, much younger. It was her face. She’d never smoked, and she tried to eat right. She’d gotten by on her looks for a long time and planned to cash in on them for a long time to come.

She was just under six feet tall and slender, with long blonde hair. She smiled, remembering how Grandma Jane used to brush her hair every night. It had felt so nice. She missed Grandma Jane. But she didn’t miss anyone else from Muskogee, Oklahoma. And certainly no one from Oklahoma City, where she’d spent nine months in witness protection.

Her name wasn’t even really Tina. But she had to keep the name as long as she was still using the ID the state police had issued her, after she’d snitched on the biggest meth operation in the Midwest. She would continue to call herself Tina until the ID was useless. Which could be any day now, if the state police found out she’d skipped town over three weeks ago and was now living in California.

What a goddamn joke. State cops were strict and worried about everything.

Now she had a car and a job that brought in a couple grand on Friday and Saturday nights alone. She chose to stay at this shitty hotel near Golden Gate Park. There were no questions, no IDs, and no trail to lead to her. It was perfect.

Even though the whole situation was a pain in the ass, it still beat the hell out of witness protection in Oklahoma City. She didn’t care how dangerous the meth heads were; she couldn’t have stayed in WITSEC for even another thirty seconds. Luckily, she’d known Sal Touri from back when she worked at a club in Muskogee. He’d left Oklahoma to find his fortune — and avoid a possible indictment — and now he was part owner of The Brass Ring in San Francisco.

And Tina had Sal under control like he was her puppy.

When she leaned over to look in her purse on the passenger seat, the necklace with her real name, Audrey, written out in 14 karat gold, slipped out of her top. Her grandma had given her the necklace when she turned fourteen. It was risky to wear something related to her real identity, but it was the last thing she had that reminded her of Grandma Jane.

Tina turned the key again. The same clicks as before. She heard something, then noticed a tall guy leaning on a nearby white Range Rover and observing her.

He started walking toward the car. “I think it’s just a loose battery cable. I have a little experience with BMWs,” he said. He had a casual gait and held something in his left hand, some kind of inhaler. Like an asthma inhaler. She also noticed that he had a really nice smile.   Tina yelled through the closed window, “Can you check for me?” She didn’t lower the window or unlock the door. She wasn’t stupid. This was San Francisco.

But she pulled the handle to pop the hood. She waited as the man fiddled with something and called out, “Try it again.”
Just the clicks. Then Tina heard the man say, “Uh-oh.”

That didn’t sound good. Tina threw caution to the wind and opened the door. She walked around to where the guy stood, leaning under the open hood. She peered over his shoulder at the engine. She didn’t know why she wanted a look, because she didn’t understand how engines worked.

Tina asked, “So, what’s wrong?”
The man smiled. “I’m not sure. That’s why I said uh-oh.” He looked Tina up and down. “Where do you need to go?”
Sheepishly, Tina said, “Do you know The Brass Ring?”
“I do. I can see why you’d be one of their stars.” He paused and rubbed his chin. Then he said, “I could put you in touch with someone for a better job.”
“I doubt that.”
The man stepped away from the car and smiled. “C’mon. I can drive you.”
“Nope. I’m waiting here for” — Tina paused slightly, then came up with — “my boyfriend.”

“I figured the car wasn’t yours. The “Show Me Your Boobs” bumper sticker kinda gave it away. You sure you don’t need a ride?” Tina shook her head. When the man reached up and touched her arm, she jerked it away and, without thinking, kicked him hard in the leg. It was an instinctual move remembered from middle school tae kwon do class. But her platform shoes affected her form. The man raised his hand with the asthma inhaler and sprayed something into her face that burned. It wasn’t an inhaler. What-ever it was made her eyes sting like someone had thrown acid at her. She had to close her eyes just to ease the horrible sensation. Tina felt panic rise in her throat. Her face felt like it was melting. She turned toward a clump of trees that bordered the park and started to run. She knew she was already breathing hard, but she couldn’t risk stopping. The man was still chasing her. She felt a measure of relief as she reached the park. But there was no one around and the man was still behind her.

Then things got much worse.