The Love Killers Read Online Free PDF Page A

out?
    Definite action like the old days was the only way.
    Margaret Lawrence Brown had been dead two weeks, and the trouble had stopped. With no one to guide them, no leader to turn to, the hookers were quiet. It was almost as if the killing of Margaret had killed their fighting spirit. Fuck ’em. Goddamn whores.
    Slowly, girls who had disappeared, taken other jobs, came drifting back. They seemed oblivious to the beatings and humiliations they faced. They seemed once more defeated.
    Enzio was in a buoyant mood. He called up a furrier friend and ordered a full-length chinchilla coat for Mary Ann. It arrived within hours, and they celebrated on it. Mary Ann was not quite sure what they were celebrating, but she was a willing partner in anything Enzio wished to do.
    â€˜You are my great big Italian lover,’ she purred, knowing that he loved praise. ‘My big,
big
man.’
    â€˜And you are one hot, juicy little broad,’ he replied laughingly. ‘My favorite tasty slice of lasagna!’
    He liked to look at her, the curvy body, big breasts, silky skin, and pouty mouth. It would be quite a while before he grew tired of this one.
    Oh, yeah, Enzio Bassalino knew a good piece of ass when it came his way.

CHAPTER SIX
    Lola was not the girl’s real name. She was thin and scruffy, with city-smoke eyes, and clothes that announced her as the hooker she was. She bit her nails all the time, hungry, addictive little nibbles. Her arms told the story of a heavy drug habit. She was nineteen years old.
    Lola had been beaten up. Not badly, a few bruises around her body, cigarette burns on her legs and arms. Just enough to make her aware there was more to come.
    She knew all about it. She had known about it before it happened. Lola lived with Charlie Mailer, and Charlie was one of Tony’s boys. Charlie had pulled the hit on Margaret Lawrence Brown.
    Lola scurried down the street. It was the first time she’d been out since it happened, the first time she’d dared.
    She wore a short skirt, summer lace-up boots, and a tight sweater. Her hair was untidily long, and her eyes were decorated with spiky eyelashes.
    Charlie had kicked her out of bed—‘Get out and earn something, then maybe we’ll catch a movie. An’ listen, bitch—don’t you come back with less than a coupla hundred, or I’ll fuckin’ burn your dumb ass.’
    She’d been huddled in bed for two weeks, and Charlie hadn’t minded. Flushed with his own success, he was out celebrating. Tony was pleased with him. Tony wanted him around. And Tony was one of the big guys.
    Lola knew Charlie was ready to dump her. He was moving up, and he didn’t want her hanging on.
    She didn’t care. She knew what she had to do.
    A man stopped her, pulling her roughly by the arm. She jerked herself free. ‘Not tonight,’ she muttered feverishly. ‘This girl ain’t workin’ tonight.’
    She hurried on, occasionally glancing behind her, making sure she wasn’t followed.
    There was a torn piece of newspaper clutched in her hand, with an address circled in red. Stopping for a moment, she peered at it.
    â€˜Where ya goin’, girlie?’ A passing drunk rolled toward her.
    â€˜Piss off,’ she snapped sharply, hurrying on her way.
    When at last she found the circled address she hesitated before going inside. For a while she hovered on the sidewalk, gazing up at the apartment building, thinking about Susie, her little sister. And then suddenly she spat angrily on the pavement and without further ado marched right in.
    â€˜I’m here to see… uh… Cass Long,’ she told the doorman.
    He looked her over, pursed his lips, and indicated the reception desk.
    Behind the desk sat a grizzled old man with a sour expression.
    â€˜Cass Long,’ she said.
    â€˜She expectin’ ya?’
    Lola shook her head. ‘No. You’d better tell her it’s urgent.’
    Leaning