Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

along.
    With each conversation they had, Holly felt more comfortable about confiding in her. It had been a long time since she had had a best friend that she could talk to that way, and although April was free with her advice, Holly never felt as though she was being treated like a patient.
    "April? It's Holly. I hope I didn't wake you."
    "Oh no," April replied with a smile in her voice. "I'm an early riser. Is everything all right?"
    "Yes. No. I'm not sure. Can I talk something out with you?" She heard April murmur to someone who must have been in the room with her.
    "Actually, it would be a bit difficult for me at the moment. Could I call your office later today?"
    Holly chewed on her lower lip as she imagined Evelyn or Philip overhearing her conversation. "I don't think that would be a good idea. It's about the two—"
    "This really is a bad time," April interrupted sternly, enunciating her words with exaggeration. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you come up here this weekend for that long visit we talked about? It's only about a two-hour drive. You can come up on Saturday morning and stay overnight."
    Holly hated having to put it off that much longer, but it was clear that April was reluctant to discuss the situation over the phone. She accepted April's invitation and wrote down the directions to her home in Newark, Delaware.
    As soon as she hung up, her thoughts went to how she would explain her absence to Philip. She had lied to him about visiting April last weekend and now she would be going there legitimately. At least this time she wouldn't have to give him a phone number with transposed digits so that he couldn't possibly call to check on her. All she had to do was convince him that April wasn't like the other women in the group.
    * * *
    When his editor called back, it was to inform David that he had an appointment at the Miami headquarters of the FBI. Not knowing whether D'Angelo would have him followed, David walked partway, changed cabs once and direction twice. As soon as he gave his name to the guard, he was taken to an office where Senior Agent Quick and two of his underlings awaited him. All three were of medium height and weight, had medium-brown, regulation-cut hair and wore navy-blue suits and ties, white shirts and brown wing-tipped brogues. They made a point of having him sit before they would. It took considerable restraint for David not to voice any of the sarcastic quips that came to mind.
    Living up to his name, Quick wasted no time on preliminaries. "Washington has confirmed your identity and the fact that you're looking into a story. But I gather you weren't expecting this. Who put you on to D'Angelo?"
    "How did you manage to get to him?" Number Two asked less casually.
    "Why are you so certain it's a genuine snuff film and not a good fake?" Number Three demanded.
    The questions went on, with David answering as concisely as possible, except on the matter of his informant. He refused to divulge more than that some hooker in some bar had given him a lead. Before leaving the hotel room, he had trimmed the photo of Nikki Farris to cut Cinnamon out.
    Finally convinced David had told them all he could, or would, at this point, Quick moved them to the next stage. "Normally, we would set it up so an agent could take your place for the buy."
    "Fuck that." David let them absorb his refusal before explaining. "The strip search should give you some indication of how careful D'Angelo is being. There's no excuse in the world that would convince him to accept a substitute for me. He'd know something was up. And his orders were that I come alone, so you can forget assigning me a guide dog too."
    Quick gnawed on the end of his pencil but he agreed with David. "We've been trying to get something substantial on D'Angelo for a long time. His file is overflowing with penny-ante shit but this could be the break we've been waiting for to really nail him. Besides the snuff film, we'd like to get our hands on a variety of the other stuff he's peddling, especially kiddie-porn. That goes over with a jury better than a prostitute getting herself killed."
    Quick turned to his two colleagues. "We're going to have to bring in Miami's homicide people on this one. The murder isn't our jurisdiction, just the pornography." He returned his attention to David with a frown. "The only thing I hate more than getting a civilian involved in a case is having a loose-lipped reporter underfoot."
    David bristled. Everyone knew a