The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) π
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βHey, baby doll,β he says as the call connects. Heβs in bed, too, with the white pillows around his head. I can only see his head and shoulders, but the neckline of his green camo T-shirt is visible. Maybe I can convince him to take it off so I can drool over his chest.
βHi, sir. Good timing. I just got home from spending my day in the mall police pokey.β
He grins. βThought you were going to call me if you got busted.β
βIβm just kidding. Nothing bad happened, and I found lots of cute jammies.β
βDid you? Are you wearing them now?β
βNo.β I turn the phone so he can see below my neck.
He grunts. βYouβre killing me. Where are your pajamas?β
βIn my luggage. I donβt want to be packing at the last minute. I might forget something.β
βUh-huh. Likely story. You can sleep nude if you want, baby, but pull the covers up over you now.β
I pout into the phone. βBoo.β
βNo arguing. Pull the covers up. Youβre too tempting, all naked and needy, and I promised myself not to play with you until youβre back in my bed.β
My pout deepens.
βStop pouting. It doesnβt work on me. I want you back in my bed as soon as possible. This way you have lots of incentive, donβt you, baby doll?β
βYes, sir,β I say resentfully, but I pull up the covers and angle the phone at my face again. βI wasnβt going to miss the train. Not for anything.β
βGood.β He yawns and stretches, tucking his arm behind his head. βHave you picked out a story for tonight?β
I nod. βThe Three Apples.β The second story I read to my mother today. I want to read it to Logan to overwrite that sad memory. βBefore I read it, would you tell me about your day? We have time before bed, donβt we?β
Logan lifts a dark eyebrow. βSure. Why?β
βUm.β I work my lower lip between my teeth. βCommunication?β
βCommunication, baby doll. Tell me what youβre thinking.β
βIβm just a little worried that youβre not getting anything out of this. Itβs been all about me. A littleβs supposed to take care of her Daddy, too.β
βMmm, good communication, sweetheart. For the record, Iβm getting everything I want out of this so far, and I promise to tell you if that changes. But since one of the many things to come out of my five hours of phone calls with the Pink Pearl people today was a complete waiver for you, we can talk about my day. Itβs not very nice, though. You sure you want to hear about it before bed?β
I read horror novels before bed. Although this is real life and thatβs fiction, if Joe Hill and Nancy Collins donβt keep me awake, whatever heβs been doing shouldnβt, either. βIβm okay with dark and ugly, sir.β
Loganβs mouth twitches. βYouβd have to be, to be with me.β
Heβs anything but dark and ugly. Iβm still not sure whether Loganβs handsome, but heβs the most beautiful man Iβve ever met. βIf I was there, Iβd ask to kiss your jaw.β I look straight into the phone so he knows Iβm serious, and stroke the edge of the phone case, wishing it were his skin. βYouβre so beautiful, Daddy.β
βThank you, baby doll, but I think we need to get you some glasses before we get on the boat. Really thick ones.β
I have twenty-twenty vision, but I can play along. βYes, sir, Iβll get right on that.β
βMmm.β He scratches his jaw, which is as heavily stubbled as the day we met. βThe calls today were mostly with the cruise lineβs in-house security and HR people, as well as their staff doctor. Theyβve hired me to investigate a death on their Mexican Sunset cruise. A poor bastard named Bill Black.β
βOh, no,β I say softly. βHe died while he was on the cruise?β
βThe night he got back.β Logan rubs his chin before he continues. βThe coronerβs verdict on Black was heart failure, but the widow didnβt buy it and she had a private lab run tests. First tests showed a bacteria that can cause food poisoning, and Mrs. Black filed suit against the cruise line for negligence. Her lawyerβs demanding the company disclose any other food poisoning victims. The cruise people contacted everyone who has complained about food poisoning in the past six months, and had private blood tests done. The staff doctor explained the tests for an hour, and I barely followed any of it, but the really bad news is that it looks like Black and four others took a sex enhancement drug while they were on the ship.β
βLike Viagra?β
βMore like ecstasy, only this stuff causes serious organ damage. Bill Black had a dodgy ticker. The huprin-methylenedioxypyrovalerone pushed him right over the edge into heart failure.β
βWha-whatβs it called?β
Logan grunts. βDonβt make me say it again, baby doll. The doctor says the street name is βbrick,β because it makes you hard as one.β
βIs it illegal?β
βItβs being criminalized. Itβs very new. The doctor says heβs just seeing warnings about it. But the tests confirmed that all the victims took the drug while they were on the cruise. Three separate cruises. Thatβs really bad news. One cruise, it could be a passenger that snuck the drugs on board. Three cruises, that smells like an inside job.β
βYou mean, itβs being sold on the ship?β
βMmm-hmm. Thatβs why theyβve brought me in. The company Veep who hired me is afraid their own security people are in on it. Their ships go into Mexico all the time, which is a big source of cocaine and heroin, so they have serious security on these ships. All passenger bags are scanned and screened coming and going. But according to the staff doctor, thereβs no question the passengers took the drug during the cruise. Evidently this stuff can be detected in your hair even months later. Hair grows at a certain rate,
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