Private Affair(74)

“They tied each of us to one of the beds, and they started doing stuff to us. And one of them got too rough. He had his hands around Pammy’s throat, choking her. And he did it too hard.” She said the last part with a little sob. “He choked her to death while he was fucking her.”

Olivia gasped. Max reached for her hand.

“How did you get away?” he asked.

“The one who strangled her was upset. Not because he had killed her, but because he thought he was going to get caught. He told the other guy he had to help get rid of the evidence. He said she was just a whore and nobody would be looking for her. They wrapped her in the bedspread and took her outside, and they left me tied to the bed.”

She stopped and gave Olivia a pleading look. “And I knew that if they came back and I was still there, they were going to kill me, too, because I was a witness. So I struggled and I tugged like a mad woman, and I got one hand free, then the other. They had said they’d pay us big, and they’d left five hundred dollars beside the TV. I pulled on my clothes, took the money, and climbed out the bathroom window. Then I ran like the devil to a truck stop. I got a trucker to give me a ride back into the city, and I hid out. My friends helped me keep under cover, and I stayed out of sight for a long time. I think those boys was looking for me. But nobody told where I was, even when one of them waved money around.”

“So a lot of people knew about it?” Max said.

“Yes. But nobody told,” she said again, and lapsed into another coughing fit.

“Like the gunshot at the party,” Olivia whispered when the room was quiet again.

“What?” Julie asked.

“Somebody shot off a gun at the party where they started out,” Olivia said. “The party broke up, and that’s why they came into town.”

“Just my luck.” She laughed and started to cough again.

“You’re wearing her out,” Marge said in a stern voice, then turned to Julie. “You need to lie down again, honey.”

“No, it’s okay. Resting ain’t gonna do me much good, and we both know it.”

Marge sat on the side of the bed and took Julie’s hand.

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Olivia asked.

“You think they’d believe the word of a whore over two fine upstanding kids from the suburbs?” she answered. “Besides, I didn’t even know who they was.”

Max wanted to say there would have been DNA evidence in the room, but there was no point in going back over it now. It was in the past, and nobody was going to convict Troy. Or was it Tommy Larson?

“Can you tell us what they looked like?” he asked.

“Like I said, they were both young. Good bodies. Dark hair.”

“Anything that would identify them?”

“I didn’t think so. And all I wanted was to get myself out of there.” She started coughing again. “For all the good that did. Look at me now. I never had a good life after that. I was always looking over my shoulder. I should have got out of town, but where would I have gone? The only friends I knew were here, and they were good to me.” She looked at Marge. “They’re still good to me.”

“You just rest up, honey,” Marge said, then looked at the visitors. “I think you’ve asked her enough questions.”

“I’m sorry. Just a few more,” Max said. “Can you tell me if there was anything special about that night? About the date, maybe.”

Max’s breath was shallow as he waited to see if she’d give him the clue he wanted to hear.

“The date,” she mused, and her expression changed. “One of them told us it was Cinco de Mayo.”

Olivia and Max exchanged glances.

Julie was still speaking. “And we didn’t know what that meant. They told us it was May fifth, a big celebration day in Mexico. Does that help?”

“Yes it does,” Max said.

When Marge gave them a pointed look, they stepped into the hall.

“Is this your home?” Max asked.

“Yes. And I take in friends who need a place to stay.”

Max dug out his wallet again and pulled out five hundred dollar bills. “This isn’t much, but I hope it will help,” he said.

“Thank you. Yes it does,” the other woman said, then added, “I should have told you, you can’t talk about Julie or about this house. I could get busted for operating a nursing home without a license. Julie isn’t the only sick woman here.”

“We understand,” Max said.

When Julie started coughing again, Max said, “Go back in. There’s one more thing I need to ask her, but it will take me a minute to set it up.”