Thankless in Death

“If I could afford it, I’d spend
hours
in here. I wouldn’t be able to walk out without loading up—especially if one of the servers started priming me. I couldn’t resist.”
    “Huh.”
    “The music’s all pumping, the lighting’s bold. Sexy energy. Lots of it. All these products just saying how mag you’d look if you bought them. All these totally iced servers—male and female—telling you the same. Drop a couple thousand, and walk out a whole new you, a better you.”
    “And people buy that?”
    “I’m buying it right now, and arguing with myself. I could get the lip dye. I’m not spending anything on travel for Thanksgiving. I have enough lip dye. But I don’t have
this
fabo, uptown, new lip dye. It costs too much. It’s a personal appearance investment. I—”
    “Got it. Shut up. Go push the manager on those discs,” she ordered as Marsella came trotting back with a tablet.
    “Malachi Golde! That’s his name. I remembered after I got some water, calmed down.”
    “No, it’s not his name, but that’s the name he gave you?”
    “Yes. I asked him, for the morph, and that’s what he said. We keep them for a week, in case the customer comes back, wants something else, or says something didn’t work.” She tapped her way through. “See! See! Here he is. We have to take an as-is shot, and this is as is.”
    “Yeah.” Eve looked into Reinhold’s smug, smiling eyes. “That’s as is. Show me the morph.”
    Marsella tapped again, turned the tablet. “If used properly and to full potential, he’d come out about like this. They’re not a hundred percent, but it gives a good representation.”
    “I bet.” Eve studied the newly blond, blue-eyed, bronzed and pierced Reinhold.
    “He bought the styling kit, but he was really vague on how he’d style the do. So I just had to go with the as-is do, new color and lights.”
    “This is good, this is excellent. I need you to send it to me at this code, and I need a hard copy now.”
    “Oh, sure. I can send right from the tab, but I have to look for the print. It’ll take a minute.”
    “Make it happen. You did good, Marsella.”
    “Thanks.” She smiled wanly. “It’s my first murderer.”
    “Let’s keep it that way. And get me that—what was it—Pink Pop, Popped-Up Pink—that lip dye.”
    “Popping Pink, by La Femme? It’s mag, totally, but I have to be honest. It’s not really your color. Now the Blooming Poppy or the—”
    “Not for me.” Eve dug for credits. “How much?”
    “Sixty-two dollars.”
    “You’re shitting me.”
    Marsella’s face fell into apology. “No. It’s a really excellent product, honestly, and lasts all day. It’s waterproof, smudge-proof, has conditioners, and—”
    “Fine, fine.” Considering the cost, Eve dug out a credit card. “Put it on this.”
    “Of course. It really does well with the Rose Petal liner.”
    “Don’t push it, Marsella. Just the lip crap and the hard copy. And make it quick.”
    Marsella swiped the card on the tablet, turned it so Eve could sign. “I’ll have the picture and the product right back to you. Two minutes,” she promised, and dashed—no wobbling now—away.
    Taking a moment, Eve glanced around, thumbs in front pockets. No, she didn’t see the lure. What she saw were countless products that given half a chance the Terrifying Trina would smear, brush, paint, rub, and coat all over her face, hair, and body.
    That alone was enough to make her want to get the hell out.
    “Got the discs.” Peabody held them up and she strode back to Eve. “The manager got really cooperative when it turned out he got his stuff in here. Anything we need, want, anything she can do. Total CYA.”
    “Works for me. I’ve seen the morph, and Marsella’s sending it to my PPC, making a hard copy.”
    “We can have it out to the media, on screen inside ten minutes.”
    “No.” Eve shook her head. “He sees it, he changes again—and he’ll be a lot more careful about it next time. Now we know what he looks like
now
—potentially anyway. We keep it in house, away from the media, until circumstances call for the spread.”
    “I have everything.” Marsella came back with a pink and black leopard print bag, offered it to Eve. “The morph’s in the white envelope, the product’s in the small bag. I threw in some samples, you really should at least try the Blooming Poppy.”
    “Thanks. If you remember anything else, contact me.”
    “I will. And believe me, I’m