The Woman They Kept Read Online Free PDF Page A

Not very sporting of you,
mister, making me fight for it with the others,” Sammy said.
He was young, maybe seven or eight, but his eyes already had a hard
glint in them. He gripped at his crutches like they were a weapon
and though his legs were twisted he held his chin high.
    Gideon pulled out another coin,
this one gold. “I've got one just for you if you answer me a
few questions. Do you know where the red light district is?”
    Sammy brightened and reached for
the coin. “There's lots of red lights everywhere around here.
Now, gimme the coin.”
    Gideon pulled it back. “That's
not what I mean. Do you know a place in town where women stand
around without many clothes on?”
    He reached again for the coin.
“I know that one too. Down that way. My mom works down
there, but I can't visit, she says it's not a place for kids.”
He stuck his chin up at Gideon and bit on the coin. “I been
there though. It's a funny place, they just stand around in
windows. How's that work? I don't get it.”
    Gideon patted the child on the
back. The rest of the crowd of children were coming again, ready to
swarm him. Some already had their hands cupped. “Hide that
thing, Sammy,” Gideon said and then he walked away.
    It didn't take him long to find
where Sammy was talking about. Elsinore was only a few miles north
to south, and soon he saw the red neon lights and windows with women
standing in them. He had to stop in front of one of the windows.
The woman who had asked for more food from the fat driver of the
caravan, Krissen, stood behind it. There was a bruise just starting
to fade around her neck, but she gave him a halfhearted smile and
pulled her panties to one side. He walked away.
    As he passed one of the windows
it opened up and a voice called out. “Hey you,” the
girl shouted. Gideon turned to her. “Let me show you what I
have to offer.” Her skin was very tan, she was slender yet
full breasted, her arms thin and spider-webbed with black lines.
Gideon pulled out his photograph.
    “ Have you seen this
woman?”
    She brushed a string of brown
hair behind her ear and sniffled, her nose red. “She looks
expensive, was she really that good?” The woman had the
irritating habit of grinding and clacking her teeth together.
    Gideon snatched the photograph
from her. “She's the woman I love.”
    The woman in the window cocked
an eyebrow at him. “I could be the woman you love tonight.”
She brought his hand to her mouth and sucked on his finger, her
mouth was hot and wet. Gideon pulled away.
    “ She's nothing like you.”
    “ How long have you been
looking for her?”
    Gideon hesitated before
answering. It was a question he had been avoiding with himself.
“Months,” he finally said.
    The woman smiled
sympathetically, her eyes crinkling in the corners and her face
softening. She guided his hand to her breast. “She may not
have been a woman like me, but before I got seasoned I wasn't a
woman like me either. I was a woman like her. Now I'm like me, and
I'd bet your last dollar that she's like me now too. So let me be
the woman you love tonight, save yourself the time and the
heartbreak.”
    Gideon reacted before thinking,
his hand shooting out and slapping her across the face. “Rolanda
is NOT like you,” he said. The woman smiled at him, holding
her bottom lip as a man came out from behind her and she stepped
aside.
    “ Paul, this man hurt me.
Break his fingers.”
    Paul was a large and extremely
pale man who was built like a transport vehicle. Gideon found
himself being lifted by one arm up to Paul's face, which was
surprisingly devoid of emotion. He almost looked bored. Paul threw
him out into the street and stepped down after him.
    “ I swear,” he said,
stomping a mammoth boot down onto Gideon's left hand. “This
bitch gets more men riled up than any I've had.” Paul dragged
up Gideon and punched him in the face, two quick staccato punches,
one to each eye, before kicking the legs out from under him