Pinups and Possibilities Read Online Free PDF Page A

if I could convince him my body wasn’t ready to hit the streets, it was only postponing the inevitable.
    Cohen owned me, just like he owned every other person in his little empire. I didn’t know about the others, but with me, it wasn’t just because of the money he invested in my care.
    I still heard his voice, telling me what I’d done, every time I closed my eyes. I still smelled the fire and the gasoline. I saw the picture of the charred cars and the shapeless form that made me choke.
    From my spot on the floor, I met his eyes, wondering if I’d ever learn to project the coldness he seemed so capable of exuding. I considered the possibility that he had always lacked the most of basic of human emotions, and pushed down an urge to vomit.
    “What do you need me to do?” I asked.
    He smiled, and it didn’t quite touch his eyes. “Someone owes me some money. Quite a bit, in fact. I want you to track him down and bring him to me. Do you think you can handle that?”
    That was it? I had been expecting something far shadier. Tracking someone, I could do. It was what I had done, before the accident that dropped me on Cohen’s doorstep.
    Failed cop turned rookie PI turned…whatever it was this man wanted me to be now. It was perfect, in some sick way.
    I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
    “Painter,” Cohen said then. “I expect you to use whatever means necessary to bring the client to me. If he has a family, threaten them. If he doesn’t cooperate…”
    I nodded curtly, not wanting to hear what might come next.
    Part of me knew I should turn myself in to the police. Accepting what was coming my way was the right thing to do.
    I couldn’t do it, though.
    I couldn’t bring myself to add further disgrace onto my father’s name. His reputation on the force had been legendary, and even in death, he was considered a hero. I’d brought him enough shame while he was alive. He’d never gotten over the embarrassment of my inability to pass the entrance exams for the force. I didn’t need to make it worse now.
    I went back to my workout, using the pain to punish myself for what I’d done, and for what this other man was going to make me do in exchange for my life.
    I rolled over in my hotel bed, shaking off sleep and the memory.
    The sweet scent of the woman’s hair filled my nose, and another, far more pleasant, memory flooded my mind. Long legs wrapped around me. My hands tangled in a mess of silky, near-to-black hair. The softness of her, curled up beside me.
    I wanted that again.
    I knew she was gone, though, before I even started to reach across the bed for her, but I did it anyway. When my hand met the balled up sheets, disappointment made me ache again, this time in a surprisingly emotional way. This discomfort was so different than what I normally felt that it was almost foreign to me. This pain was a satisfying one that left me wanting more for the first time in a long time.Why had she run off so quickly? It had been a long time since I’d last taken a woman to bed, but I was sure the enjoyment hadn’t been one-sided.
    I forced my feet to the floor.
    It’s better that she left, anyway . You don’t want to feel obligated to give her an explanation before you run back to Cohen. That’s the last kind of complication you need.
    I glanced at the bedside clock and was startled to find out it was already noon. I jumped from the bed and prepared to call the front desk to arrange for a cab to take me back to my car. As I dialled, I slid open the room-darkening curtain. My brow furrowed. There, in the middle of the parking lot, was my Mustang. I yanked my pants from the floor and shook them. A few coins rattled and my wallet dropped to the floor. No keys.
    “Front desk!” The clerk’s too-cheery voice jerked my attention away from the fact that I’d been robbed, or not really robbed.
    “Do you have my keys?” I demanded.
    “Sir?”
    “My goddamned keys. Do you have them?”
    “One of