V Is for Vengeance

Pinky was right about her tush.
    When we reached the kitchen, I whispered, “You look great.”
    “Thanks,” she whispered back.
    “Why are we whispering?”
    She held up a finger and wagged it, like I wasn’t supposed to ask. She grabbed a pen and a copy of the newspaper and wrote a note in the margin that said, “Bugged.”
    Under her breath, she said, “You must be looking for Pinky. What’s he done now?”
    “He’s pissed off a cop named Len Priddy, which is not a good idea.”
    “Oh, him,” she murmured. “He stopped by a while ago and I said Pinky’d gone to see you.”
    I closed my eyes, suppressing a shriek. No wonder Len had showed up. He’d already spied on Pinky at my office that morning and now she’d steered him right back.
    “What’s the matter?” she asked.
    “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You know anything about the photographs he stole?”
    She blinked. “Photographs?”
    I waited, hoping she’d cough up what she knew. “Dodie, you gotta trust me. So far, I’m operating in the dark. I can’t help him unless I know what’s going on.”
    “Promise you won’t tell.”
    I wanted to roll my eyes. Instead, I crossed my heart with my index finger, swearing fealty for life.
    She put a hand across her mouth to shield what she said lest someone looking on from a distance might be skilled in reading lips. As we were indoors, I didn’t see the necessity. I was forced to lean close to hear her since she was already whispering. “There were pictures of me. Mug shots from that time I was picked up for soliciting. Also, the mug shots and police reports from the drunk and disorderly arrest. That cop knows I work for Glorious Womanhood, and if my regional manager finds out I’ve been in jail, I’ll lose my job. She’s already pissed off that I’m beating her sales.”
    “Len’s blackmailing you?”
    “Not exactly. He’s using the photographs to keep Pinky in line, making sure he reports all the talk on the street.”
    “Pinky’s a confidential informant?”
    “I suppose. Anyway, he’s destroyed all the stuff on me, so he says Len can go screw himself.”
    “Unless Len uses his computer to call up your criminal history and print it out again.”
    “Oh.”
    “That aside, I still don’t get it. From what Pinky told me, there was a second set of photographs he thought he could use to get himself out of trouble. You know the story there?”
    “I do, but he doesn’t know I know so you have to promise you won’t ever let on.”
    “I’m already under oath here,” I said.
    She wagged a finger at me again and then opened the back door and pulled me out onto the porch. “He borrowed money from a loan shark named Lorenzo Dante and payment’s come due.”
    “How much?” Her paranoia was contagious and I couldn’t bring myself to use a normal tone of voice.
    “Two thousand dollars. He’s been trying to get the money together, but no luck. He sold his car and pawned the Rolex that came into his possession from an unnamed source. He also hocked my engagement ring, but then got cold feet.”
    I thought back to our first meeting, remembering the band of white on his wrist where he’d once worn his watch. It dawned on me then his car hadn’t been in the repair shop at all. By the time he came to me for help, he’d already sold it.
    She looked at me anxiously. “I don’t suppose you could lend him the money. He’d pay you back.” She paused and then, in the interest of full disclosure, added, “Eventually.” She had the good grace to blush.
    I was offended she’d try dinging me for the bucks, but it’s tough to convey outrage when you’re whispering. “He already owes me two hundred and twenty-five bucks, which is how he got your engagement ring out of hock.”
    She squinted at me in disbelief. “He took two hundred dollars for a ring worth three grand?”
    “Let’s not worry about that now. What makes the second set of pictures so valuable?”
    “I’m not sure. I do know that cop wants to get his hands on ’em.”
    “Tell me about it,” I said drily. “Where’s Pinky now?”
    “He said it was better if I didn’t know. He said if you came around looking for him you’d figure it out.”
    “Oh, great. Did he say anything else?”
    “Not a word.”
    I thought about it briefly but couldn’t think how else to quiz her on the subject of Pinky’s whereabouts. “I think it’d be smart if you laid low yourself. You have a place you can go?”
    She