102 Playing Dirty

(I'm sitting here watching two spiders outside my window fight for the same prey. It's creepily entertaining and very distracting. The bigger one is winning, but the little one isn't giving up.--- ah, the big one just made off with the silk-wrapped bug. The smaller one is just hanging out on the the thread, staring forlornly at its lost meal.)

102
Playing Dirty

John

The following night, I plan to meet Dianna at another bar. I see her walk in and order a drink. Once the drink is obtained, she casually walks over to where I'm leaning against the bar.

Her hungry eyes rake over me as she says, "Hello, stranger."

I nod my head in her direction, "Madam."

We're quiet for a few moments while she sips from her drink.

"Should we go someplace a little more private?" I ask as I see a particularly creepy individual sit down next to her.

"We shall, but later." She must know I'm thinking about the man next to her when she says quietly to me, "We have nothing to worry about from him." She smiles wickedly.

Her eyebrows suddenly raise in surprise and she looks very closely at me. Just as quickly as the look of surprise shows up, though, it's gone.

"Penny for your thoughts." I ask as I lean in close.

She looks up at me, startled I'm so close for a second, but then she smiles that same wicked smile back at me and says, "Wouldn't you like to know."

I don't like her cryptic tone. I'm wary now. I decide to play my rookie part out in an impetuous way.

"I came here tonight because you said you'd help me!" I say harshly.

"Oh, relax... Link." There's only the slightest of pauses before she says my "name", but I catch it anyway. "Let's just sit here and enjoy a few drinks before we get down to business. Sit down. Have a drink."

"I've got better things to do than just sit around at bars having drinks. I did that last night. I won't rest until I find this guy. Especially now that I think I'm going to get a little much-needed help." I argue.

A knowing grin spreads across her face.

(The bartender is hilarious. He just wouldn't stop smiling!)

"My, my. Pushy tonight, aren't we?" she says, her voice sultry. 

I allow her to direct my chin with her finger only so much before I jerk away angrily. She smiles, finishes and pays for her drink, and turns to me.

"Let's continue this conversation at my place, shall we?" she suggests.

I follow her out of the bar, and discover she lives in the building across the street.

"Right this way!" she says as she lithely springs from the elevator and practically dances down the hall to her apartment. I start to wonder what is making her so happy.

She heads over to her coffee maker as I say, "I'd like to apologize for my rudeness in the bar. I'm just getting a little anxious that this guy is going to get away with it."

"Oh! No harm done!" she brightly says to the coffee maker. "I understand where you're coming from, remember?"

"Alright. You said you needed a favor. Do I get to hear what it is now?" I ask, cutting right to the chase now.

"Hm." she says before taking a sip of her coffee. "Well, like I said, I know who did it. He did it right in front of me. At a party where a pizza guy ungraciously walked over us."

Danger.

"Who did it?" I ask, hoping to steer away from the 'pizza guy'.

"My EX boyfriend. Ungrateful bastard."

The shock on my face is real as I say, "Why would he want to kill her?"

"One thing at a time, .. Link." she says.

There it is. The subtle pause.

"Okay then, but do I get to hear the story?" I ask, trying to make it look like I'm trying to be patient.

"Oh, sometimes I really do miss him." she says then gets quiet for a minute. "I thought he meant it when he said I was the only girl for him. Boy, was I wrong."

"He was sleeping with your friend?" I guess.

She shakes her head no. "Mm Mm." she says quickly. "No, she had a thing for another man. Personally, I don't know what she saw in him, but as they're both dead now, I may never know."

"Then why kill her?" I ask, getting confused.

"She knew too much. And it was all my fault." she says sadly. She suddenly sits up a little straighter. "My, that coffee and drink from earlier just went right through me. Excuse me a moment." She gets up and heads to her restroom.

I'm a little suspicious by the way she said she needed to use the restroom. It felt fake.

She takes longer than I expect her to in the bathroom, so I use that opportunity to have a quick look around her place. I don't find anything out of the ordinary. I didn't expect it to be obvious anyway, but this pad actually looks a little too sparse for someone as high up in crime as this woman purports to be. Maybe this isn't even her place.

"I'm going to make this real easy for you... John." she says and my head pops to look at her. She's changed into some lingerie. I instinctively reach back to pull my weapon when she suddenly sits on my lap. It cannot be good for her to know my name.

"Now, now. None of that." she says as she gets the gun before I do.

How could I be so stupid? I think as she tosses the gun across the room. 

She pats me down, searching for other weapons. I have none. She finds none, but she then starts running her hands over my chest and belly with a smirk on her face.

"Alright. You win this round, Dianna Goodwin." I say.

"Yes. And at least I had the decency to use my real name." She pauses in raking her nails across me before she says, "I will give you this though; you had me fooled last night."

I've not a doubt in my mind I could throw her off of me if I had a mind to. However, I'm curious as to what her motives are right now. Other than the obvious that is. What is her reason to invite me back here if she knew who I was? I reach over and grab her wrists to stop her nails' exploration when I feel it's gone on long enough.

She laughs when she sees I've stopped her. "Oh, come now, John. We're friends, right?"

"I've no interest in being that friendly." She leans down to try to kiss me, and I have to hold both wrists in one hand in order to push her away from me. She manages to free her wrists and I decide this has gone on long enough. I put one hand on either side of her waist and lift her off of me.

"So. You've known who I am all evening. Then why am I here?" I ask.

She sighs. "I still want your help. I have a feeling we have a common enemy."

"Oh?" I say and make sure I'm between her and the gun laying on the floor a little way away.

"I'm not going to shoot you, John." she says suddenly, watching my movements.

"I know you're not, but I'd be stupid to leave the opportunity open."

"I'd be stupid to shoot the best opportunity for help to come my way."

"So you say we have a common enemy? That's curious. I wonder who you mean?" I say, hoping to get her to talk.

"If you're here for the reason I think you're here, then I'm right. And I have dirt on this person, or persons, as well." she says cryptically. 

"And what do I need to do to learn about the dirt from you?" I ask.

"All this talk of business is really getting boring." she suddenly says and reaches up a hand to caress my cheek.

I brush it off. "Then just think of me as all business then."

"It's that Elena isn't it? That meek little hispanic girl?"

"Of course." I say simply. No sense in hiding it.

"I'm hurt now." she says with a pathetic pout.

"Why is it all the good men are taken?" she says wistfully as she throws her arms around my neck. 


"Just lucky I guess." I say heartlessly.


She pulls back to glare at me a little.

Feeling a little angry at myself for feeling guilty that I hurt a criminal's feelings I say, "But you're still hung up over you ex aren't you?"


"No, I hate him. I want him behind bars. Actually, I want him dead, but behind bars will satisfy me."


"And you want my help to see that done." I state.


"Precisely. And I have a hunch, maybe, that he's working with someone you're after."


"Oh?" I ask. "And just who might that be?"


"Uh uh, John. Not until I have your word I get immunity for this."


"I'm in no position to offer that to you, but if I'm back in the agency's good graces I'll do my best to see it done. That's the best I can offer." I watch as she considers her options.


"Okay. Then let me show you the dirt, or 'evidence' I guess you could call it." she walks away from me. I bend down to retrieve my pistol and put it back where it belongs. "It's in my bedroom drawer."

She opens a drawer and shows me a camera's memory card. Then she smiles and sticks it in her cleavage. The wicked grin is back when she moves to the bed.