A YOUNG SUCCUBUS NAMED DELICIA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 28 – IN THE NAME OF THE LAW

 

08:29 (California Time)

Monday, May 28, 1973

Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) local headquarter Los Angeles, California

Janet Coleman was a bit nervous as she followed the head of the F.B.I. Los Angeles Division, Robert Brown, down the main corridor of the third floor of the F.B.I. local headquarters. At 24 years of age and with a law degree to her credit, Janet was the first female agent assigned to the Los Angeles Division and one of the first female agents in the F.B.I., the agency having accepted its first female trainee agents ever only last October. At 170 centimeters, she was fairly tall for a woman and was very fit, on top of being more than pretty, with brown hair falling to her shoulder blades and large black eyes. She also happened to be an intelligent and proud woman and was resolved to not let her male coworkers discount her or put her down during this first field assignment.

Brown finally opened a door marked ‘Vice Squad’ and invited Janet inside a large office furnished with a number of work desks and file cabinets, plus a conference table in one corner. The five men inside the office stopped speaking at once and stared at Janet when she stepped inside the office. Now feeling a bit like a fish in an aquarium, Janet stopped near the door as Brown spoke to the men with a cheerful tone.

‘’Good morning, guys! I brought you a gift today! Please welcome Special Agent

Janet Coleman, newly assigned to Los Angeles and fresh from Quantico51. She will be starting her work here with you.’’

The older man in the office, a solidly-built man in his mid thirties, came at once to Janet to shake hands with her.

‘’Welcome to the Vice Squad, Special Agent Coleman. I am Roger Fairfax, head of the squad.’’

‘’Pleased to know you, sir.’’

Brown then left the office, letting Fairfax free to present the other agents to Janet.

51 Quantico: Location of the F.B.I. training academy, in the state of Virginia.

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‘’Let me present to you your partners in this squad, Janet. First, my second in command, Bernard Schiffer, then Martin Prendergast, George Adams and Nathan Chomsky.’’

Janet shook hands with them while evaluating them visually. Bernard Schiffer was the archetype of the tall, blond Aryan man, while Martin Prendergast was a thin man that had a bit of a severe look to him. George Adams looked a bit overweight, while Nathan Chomsky clearly showed his Semitic bloodline, with brown skin, curly black hair and curved nose. Fairfax then had the whole group move to the conference table, where they sat down.

‘’Again, welcome to the Vice Squad, Janet. I am a rather informal boss and we all call each other by our first names here, unless we are facing the big boss of course. So, what are your qualifications, on top of a diploma and badge from Quantico? Tell us about you!’’

‘’Well, before joining the F.B.I., I got a law degree from Harvard, with a minor in Criminology. I am single and was born in Boston. I asked for Los Angeles as my first field posting because it has seen quite a lot of action since last year.’’

‘’You can say that again!’’ exclaimed George Adams, rolling his eyes. ‘’That little Mafia war between the Gambino and the Carmines sure kept the pot boiling for a while. Add to that the fact that the whole city has been on edge since last November, thanks to the weekly anonymous denunciations of the ‘Revealer’. I stopped counting the number of politicians, judges, lawyers, police officers and even priests who have either resigned, were jailed, disappeared or committed suicide. The last one to be accused this morning is a district judge.’’

‘’I saw that in this morning’s newspapers. I presume that the career of this judge is now in the shitters?’’

‘’If this would have been published last November, then he still would have had a chance to deny everything. However, now that multiple investigations have shown that all, and I say all the persons accused by the Revealer were indeed guilty of at least corruption or sexual impropriety, being accused by him now is like a career death sentence. Everybody around City Hall, L.A.P.D. and the Main Courthouse is now walking on eggs and trying to stay under the radar.’’

Janet couldn’t help smile in amusement as she mentally pictured that.

‘’So, you are saying that this vigilante has actually helped clean up Los Angeles?’’

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‘’Er, while I am normally no fan of vigilantes, I must recognize that this Revealer actually rid the city of a lot of garbage.’’

‘’And do we have any clue about who that ‘Revealer’ could be?’’ Roger Fairfax took on him to answer that question from Janet.

‘’None, despite the fact that many agencies and departments have done their best to find out. Hell, we even got the visit from a team of Holy Inquisitors from the Vatican last November, after a pedophile priest was the first to be denounced by the Revealer.’’

‘’Catholic Inquisitors came to Los Angeles?’’ exclaimed Janet, truly surprised.

‘’Yep! They could find nothing however, like all the others afterwards. One of them muttered to me in frustration that it had to be the work of the Devil.’’

‘’The Devil…’’ said Janet in a derisive tone. ‘’Count on Old Lucifer to be blamed for the failings of us mere humans. Did the revelations of this Revealer have any impact on the investigations done by this squad?’’

‘’How about a shattering one?’’ answered Bernard Schiffer, sarcasm clear in his voice. ‘’Over half of those denounced publicly were engaged in either pedophilia, sodomy, adultery, paying for prostitutes or call girls or abusing women in forced and illegal sadomasochistic games, or a varied combination of any of those. The other half fell into the corruption category. Believe me, getting one more agent for our squad was most welcomed.’’

‘’Damn right, Bernie!’’ said Roger Fairfax. ‘’Furthermore, getting a female agent like you, Janet, is a definite plus: with the kind of places we have to watch and investigate, a couple will attract much less attention than a pair of big men. It will also make things much simpler for us when time comes to search female suspects.’’ That did a lot to reassure Janet about her first field assignment. She had been afraid of being treated like a simple ornament meant to satisfy those who were clamoring for more equality in the agency, an ornament that could then be ignored at will and could be left in some dusty corner while the boys did their things. Her case was actually not much different in ways than that of the first black F.B.I. agents.

‘’So, what cases are we investigating right now?’’

Roger Fairfax nodded with approval at her use of the word ‘we’ and went to his desk to grab two files, bringing them back to the conference table and sitting down before passing the files to Janet.

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‘’We do have a few more cases which went cold and are kept on ice for the time being, but two cases still actively interest us at this moment. The first one concerns the sales and trafficking through state borders of pornographic material, meaning films and magazines.’’

As Janet opened the top file and started reading it, Roger continued on.

‘’A new, previously unknown pornographic film production studio based here in Los Angeles, has started flooding other states, including on the East Coast, with copies of pornographic films and magazines, some of them involving clearly illegal acts, like sodomy and what many now call ‘snuff’ material.’’

‘’Snuff material? What’s that?’’

‘’Well, you certainly can be excused for not knowing about that, since it is a recent trend in pornography and one very few people talk about. ‘Snuff films’ depict the violent sexual abuse of women or even girls against their consent, abuse which includes beatings, floggings, tortures and even death in some cases.’’ Janet frowned with both horror and disgust on hearing that.

‘’And there are persons who are ready to pay to see such garbage?’’

‘’Plenty, actually! One of the persons denounced by the Revealer two months ago was in fact a judge implicated in underground sadomasochistic games. He was found in possession of some of the films and magazines produced by that new porn studio. One of the problems with investigating ‘snuff’ activities is that they often involve rich and influential people, people who can afford the high prices asked for that kind of material. Those same rich people have in turn enough money to pay for top lawyers, while the high profits involved has attracted the organized crime to it.’’

‘’My God! Where will this moral rot stop?’’

‘’My thought exactly! This case may have recently taken a twist for the worse: two teenage girls who had disappeared in neighboring Mexico, plus another girl from the state of Nevada, were found dead in the last two weeks. Their bodies showed clear marks of torture. Films have been confiscated which showed those three unfortunate girls being tortured to death by masked men in snuff films produced by the porn studio that is interesting us. The fact that these films involved the kidnapping of those girls and their crossing of state lines makes this a clear federal case.’’

‘’Since we know where these girls came from, then I suppose that we know their full identities, right?’’

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‘’We do! Police advisories about the disappearance of those three girls had been posted as ‘missing persons’ by the Mexican Federal Police or by the Nevada State Police, respectively. You will find the details and pictures concerning those three girls in that file.’’

Roger Fairfax then gave a couple of minutes to Janet, so that she could read quickly through the file in question. Janet was shaking her head in disgust as she put down that file.

‘’How could anyone do this to human beings?’’

‘’Humans are by definition animals, Janet,’’ said gravely her new boss, ‘’and some humans are truly animals in the worse sense of the word. We at the Vice Squad often have to deal with what you could only call human monsters. You will definitely have to keep your emotions in check at times in this line of work. It goes without saying that this case file about this porn studio and the sadistic murder of those girls is our top priority. In comparison, our other case is downright benign. It is a request to check on the legality of the activities of a local strip club, the PUSSYCAT CABARET, in Santa Monica. Normally, the F.B.I. would not get involved in it, leaving this to the local police, but the owner happens to be a cousin of the late Nick Durante and, after the gang war between Durante and the Carmines, the Gambino family has sent a new representative from New York, Vincenzo Gambino, to take charge of Durante’s assets. It happens that Vincenzo Gambino seems to be a frequent visitor of that club. Our job, on top of checking on that PUSSYCAT CABARET, will be to use the occasion to discreetly spy on this Vincenzo.’’

‘’That could be a dangerous job, Roger: The Mafia doesn’t treat gently those found spying on it.’’

‘’Then, we will have to be cautious, don’t we?’’ replied philosophically his squad leader. ‘’You and Bernard will mostly take care of the PUSSYCAT CABARET file, while I concentrate with the others on the porn studio and snuff murder case. You and Bernard will however help us from time to time with the latter case, since investigating the cabaret should not take you too long. Any questions?’’

‘’Uh, yes! I was under the impression that only men, and not couples or lone women, would be interested in going to a strip club.’’

‘’That would be true of most strip clubs, those catering to the low or medium classes, but the rich and powerful often want to parade around with a girl at their side to prove their manhood, even if they are married and that girl they are holding is not their

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wife. The PUSSYCAT CABARET is widely acknowledged around Los Angeles to be a classy establishment, with some truly gifted entertainers working there. Read the file on the cabaret case and discuss it with Bernard, then go have a good four-hour nap after lunch.’’

‘’A four-hour nap, just after lunch?’’ asked Janet, surprised. Roger Fairfax grinned with malice at her astonishment.

‘’You heard me well, Janet. We at the Vice Squad tend to be night owls, with most of our work done at night. Your first visit to the PUSSYCAT CABARET will be tonight, that is once you will have looked through a few porno magazines and viewed a few films as well.’’

19:50 (California Time)

F.B.I. surveillance car, parked near the PUSSYCAT CABARET Santa Monica, California

‘’Quite a lot of limousines and chauffeur-driven luxury cars showing up and dropping customers at that cabaret. The customers themselves don’t seem to be poor either.’’

Bernard Schiffer smiled at Janet’s comment as they watched people pass in front of the PUSSYCAT CABARET or go inside it. They had been doing that now for the last two hours or so, waiting for a particular person to show up.

‘’Don’t forget that this is a high-end joint, Janet. Well, if Vincenzo Gambino doesn’t show up soon, I think that we will have to go in and start looking around…discreetly of course.’’

‘’You know, Bernie, this feels nearly pointless to me.’’ said Janet Coleman, some frustration showing in her voice. ‘’This luxury club doesn’t seem to be the kind of place where true criminal activities would be conducted, certainly not when it is full of so-called respectable citizens. Yes, puritans would call it a den of sin, but strip dancing isn’t even considered a crime federally, as long as customers don’t pay to have sex acts done on them. Previous surveillance reports didn’t notice any suspicious activities around it, like unexplained deliveries and frequent goings in and out of the cabaret and none of the known employees have criminal records. Even the owner, if you discount the fact that he was a cousin of Nick Durante, is clean and is said by everyone to be a nice guy.’’

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‘’I realize all that, Janet,’’ replied calmly Schiffer, ‘’but we still have to check if this cabaret is hiding something else. Also, one big reason we are here is to spy on Vincenzo Gambino. Even if he doesn’t do anything here but simply watch the dancers, he may still lead us afterwards to some other place that could be of interest to us.’’

‘’Alright, Bernie, I understand. Maybe I am too eager to see action on my first real field assignment.’’

Schiffer gave her an amused glance then: he could understand her too well from his own past experience.

‘’Be careful what you wish for: you may get it, Janet.’’

They then fell silent, until Schiffer’s trained eyes noticed a big black Cadillac sedan slowing down as it approached the entrance of the cabaret.

‘’Bingo! I see Gambino’s car! We’re in luck tonight.’’

Her heart accelerating, Janet also recognized the mobster’s car from its license plate. Raising the still camera she had held in her lap; she took pictures of Gambino as he stepped out of the Cadillac with two bodyguards and a young woman wearing an elegant dress. The high sensitivity film loaded in the camera, along with the illumination from the street lights and store fronts made the use of a flash unnecessary.

‘’He’s got two muscle men covering him, plus has a young woman that I don’t recognize accompanying him.’’

‘’Okay, let’s wait a couple of minutes, then we will enter the club. Remember: you are the friend of Maxwell Brown, a well-to-do lawyer, meaning me.’’

‘’I remember…Max!’’

‘’Good! Look and act inside like you are here for fun, instead of for work. The bureau has provided us with enough pocket cash for that.’’

Waiting for Gambino and his group to be inside, the two agents waited another minute, then stepped out of their car and locked it before walking hand in hand towards the entrance of the cabaret. Bernard actually wore a good quality suit, while Janet wore a nice cocktail gown and a set of faked but nice-looking jewels. They were about to get to the door of the cabaret when Janet slowed down and stopped, forcing her companion to stop as well. She then spoke to him in a near whisper, turning half around as if to kiss him briefly.

‘’The girl on that poster, the one named ‘Mélanie’: I could swear that she was featured in one of the magazines I viewed this morning.’’

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‘’One of the hardcore ones?’’

‘’No, one of the actually legal soft porn ones seized along the others. It was still made by the same producer, though.’’

‘’We will check her out later. Now, let’s go in before we attract undue attention.’’ Bernard then gallantly opened the door for Janet, who went in first and was greeted at once by both a big doorman and a young female hostess who smiled to her and Bernard.

‘’Welcome to the PUSSYCAT, lady and gentleman! We have an entrance cover charge of five dollars per person, but it comes with a chip good for a free drink.’’

‘’No problem, miss!’’ replied Bernard, taking out of one pocket an impressively thick wad of dollars and giving a ten-dollar bill to the woman, plus an extra five dollars as a tip. The woman thanked him and gave him two chips marked with the logo of the cabaret. The two agents then walked past the cloakroom and towards the main lounge, finally entering a big room with elevated ceiling and a stage with a walkway in the back. The room was semi-dark and the sixty or so customers already present were watching a young blonde stripper performing on the walkway. Locating first the table where Vincenzo Gambino was sitting, Bernard chose an empty table some distance and to the back of Gambino’s table, in order not to attract his attention while they watched him. Helping first Janet to sit, Bernard then sat and signaled to one of the scantily dressed waitresses circulating around the tables. Once the girl was at their table, he gave her the two marked chips and ordered drinks for him and Janet. The two F.B.I. agents then discreetly looked around the lounge while keeping an eye on Gambino, talking between them in very low voices.

‘’The place certainly looks very classy from the inside, Max.’’

‘’It is! This is no cheap truckers’ stop. Let’s see if the girls are also of top quality.’’

Janet didn’t reply to that and pasted a fake smile on her lips as she watched with Bernard the strip show. The girl was actually a fairly good dancer and she was certainly pretty and sexy, she conceded to herself. Their orders came quickly, allowing them to make a show of raising their glasses to each other. Two minutes later, the girl on the stage completed her strip and, recuperating her pieces of clothing, disappeared behind the curtains of the stage, applauded by the customers. Two waitresses then circulated quickly around the tables with small wicker baskets to collect the customers’ tips for the dancing girl, something that made Bernard nod.

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‘’Smart move, those waitresses passing around and collecting the dancers’ tips: it prevents any physical contact between the customers and the dancers that could be construed by undercover police agents as breaking the local indecencies laws.’’

‘’It also makes the female customers feel more comfortable about being here: no half-naked girl within reach of one’s boyfriend.’’ added Janet, making Bernard smile.

‘’There’s that too. The owner seems to be doing his best to keep the police away.’’

After a five-minute interlude, during which a small band played a piece of soft jazz music, an invisible announcer then spoke up through a ceiling loudspeaker.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have been waiting for has finally arrived. Please applaud the magnificent, talented Mélanie d’Amour, from Paris!’’

‘’That’s the girl on the poster outside!’’ Reminded Janet to Bernard, who watched with renewed attention the stage as a young redhead woman appeared from the back of the curtains, dancing onto the stage. She was dressed in a private college uniform and was moving to the music of an instrumental piece that Janet recognized at once.

‘’Ravel’s Bolero? She certainly has more taste than your average stripper.’’ As Bernard watched on, increasingly mesmerized by the girl’s beauty and fantastic body, the stripper progressively shed her uniform to the music, eventually revealing high leather boots and black leather shorts and bra. She then grabbed a whip from her school backpack and made it crack as the music changed to the tune of Ennio Morricone’s theme from the movie ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’. Dancing at an accelerated pace and cracking her whip at intervals in coordination with the musical theme, Mélanie d’Amour removed her bra, uncovering big, firm breasts which made Bernard salivate with desire. She then removed her leather shorts as well, ending up with only her high boots and a tiny G-string, plus her whip. She made a show of crouching near the edge of the stage facing Vincenzo Gambino’s table, staring into his eyes with an inviting smile while briefly rubbing her whip against her groin. The mobster apparently loved that but the dancer then wiggled one index, chiding him before getting back up and cracking her whip one last time before withdrawing behind the curtains under the enthusiastic applauses of the customers. Mélanie then briefly came back to bow to the crowd, acknowledging the applauses, and to pick up her pieces of clothing. Bernard, thoroughly aroused by now, glanced at Janet then.

‘’Definitely a class act compared to your average stripper. What do you think?’’

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‘’She was indeed good. More importantly, she definitely got Gambino’s

attention.’’

At that moment, one of the two waitresses circulating around with a basket for the tips stopped at their table, prompting Bernard in dropping a ten-dollar bill in the already half-full basket. Janet smiled on seeing that.

‘’This Mélanie certainly endeared herself to you, Max. You’re quite generous with your tip.’’

‘’Hey, I’m supposed to be a well-to-do lawyer, remember? An extra ten-dollar expense on the bureau’s budget won’t break the bank.’’ countered Bernard, also smiling.

Gambino ended up staying in the cabaret for another hour, long enough to watch a second strip dance by Mélanie d’Amour, before apparently calling it a night and leaving with his girlfriend and his two bodyguards. Bernard and Janet waited a few seconds afterwards, then left as well, hurrying to their parked car to be in time to follow Gambino’s Cadillac. Their chase however ended shortly afterwards, when Gambino’s car entered the walled grounds of a luxurious mansion in nearby Bel-Air.

‘’Rats! This is Gambino’s official residence.’’ said Bernard in a frustrated tone as he watched the Cadillac drop Gambino’s group in front of the main entrance of the mansion. ‘’We won’t learn anything about his possible hidden locations tonight.’’

‘’What about returning to the PUSSYCAT CABARET and waiting there for that Mélanie to come out at closing time?’’ proposed Janet. ‘’I would like to ask her a few questions about where she had photos taken of her for that magazine made by the ‘Sex Kittens Studios’.’’

‘’A good idea, Janet. I’m on my way.’’

Less than fifteen minutes later, they were parking back in their original spot in view of the cabaret’s entrance. The two agents had to wait until past midnight before the first employees started coming out after closing time. They quickly identified Mélanie d’Amour when she exited the cabaret with a suitcase in her left hand and started walking down the sidewalk, coming in their direction. Apparently, she did not have a car and didn’t try to hail down a taxi, walking at a brisk pace instead. On Bernard’s signal, Janet opened her door and stepped out of the car, cutting Mélanie’s path and forcing her to stop a few paces short of Janet, who flashed her badge.

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‘’Federal Bureau of Investigations! We would have a few questions for you, Miss d’Amour.’’

‘’About what?’’ asked the stripper, instantly suspicious. ‘’Strip dancing is not a crime in California if you follow the rules, and I do follow them.’’

‘’Don’t worry, miss: we are not after you. You however may possibly be able to provide some information that could help resolve the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three teenage girls.’’

‘’Then, if that’s the case, I will be happy to help you as much as I can.’’

‘’Thank you, Miss d’Amour. Please take place on the back seat of my car: it will make for a more discreet conversation.’’

Mélanie d’Amour/Jennifer Woods sat in the car without further ado, then smirked as she eyed the two federal agents looking at her.

‘’So, the F.B.I. is finally using female agents. How progressive! So, what can I do for you?’’

‘’Did you recently pause nude for a magazine produced by the Sex Kittens Studios, Miss d’Amour?’’ asked Bernard, getting an immediate, spontaneous answer.

‘’Yes! What about it? I believe that the pictures taken of me were perfectly within the law.’’

‘’They were indeed, Miss d’Amour. However, the Sex Kittens Studios also produced other magazines and films which featured much harder pornographic scenes, including the torture and murder on camera of three teenage girls who had been kidnapped from outside California. We were hoping that you could tell us about the hidden location of the production facilities of the Sex Kittens Studios.’’ Janet, like Bernard, saw the dancer’s jaws tighten at the mention of the tortured and murdered girls, while a flash of anger appeared in her green eyes.

‘’I personally did not see such things happen where I had my photos taken, but I could not in all frankness tell you exactly where my photos were taken: me and the other girls who responded to the same kind of anonymous letter as me were picked up at a given street corner by a small delivery van and then brought to an improvised studio inside what appeared to be some old, abandoned property. Once we were finished, we were driven back to our original point by the same van, which had no windows for its rear section.’’

‘’Could you at least guess in which approximate area that property was, miss?’’

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‘’Yes, to a point. From the direction of the Sun at the time I was able to look briefly through a window, plus the limited view I had, I would say that it had to be in the hills north of Santa Monica. I am sorry if I can’t be more precise than that, but I am relatively new to Los Angeles and still don’t know the area in detail.’’

‘’That is still helpful to us, miss.’’ replied politely Janet. ‘’What could you tell us about that van and on how you were contacted?’’

‘’That it was a dark green Dodge delivery van. Its license plate was however a fake one, I believe.’’

‘’Oh? How so?’’

‘’Its numbers and letters had no relief and were simply painted on. It was a bit crude but it was good enough from some distance. As for how I was contacted, I received a letter addressed to me at the PUSSYCAT Cabaret, with an offer to earn extra money with a short photo session. All the other girls who were with me were also professional or part-time strippers and were contacted the same way at their work places. In the letter, I was told to send a reply to a given post office box if I was interested, which I did. One of the girls told me that it was the second time that she was contacted that way, but that she had to respond to a different post office box than the first time.’’

‘’Damn! These bastards certainly did everything to cover their tracks. By the way, I suppose that Mélanie d’Amour is only a show name, right?’’

‘’Correct! My real name is Jennifer Woods, but I really lived for many years in Paris and returned from France only last year. Those murdered girls, why were they tortured?’’

‘’Apparently, someone at the Sex Kittens Studios used them to make what is called ‘snuff films’, where girls are shown being tortured to death in front of cameras. Believe it or not, but many sick men are ready to pay a lot of money to view such films.’’ Jennifer gave Janet a sober look at those words.

‘’Oh, I know very well what men are capable of, miss. I don’t mind simple pornography and do make a living out of it, but I will never condone tortures and killings. I will tell you what: I will contact you the moment I obtain more information about that hidden studio and snuff business. I will just need your telephone number to be able to do that.’’

‘’That’s easy enough to give you, miss.’’ said Bernard, taking a calling card from a pocket and giving it to Jennifer, who quickly eyed it before putting it in her purse. ‘’In return, we would need your present address and, if you have a telephone, your number.’’

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Jennifer shook her head at once at those words.

‘’No! You will have to have some confidence in me, mister. Besides, you know where I work. Don’t worry, I will contact you if I find anything about this snuff business. Can I go now?’’

Bernard thought only for a moment before nodding his head.

‘’Yes, you may, miss. Thank you for your cooperation and, please, don’t mention this conversation to anyone else.’’

‘’Do you think that I am stupid or crazy? I know too well what happens to snitches who are in the wrong kind of business.’’

On those words, Jennifer stepped out of the car with her suitcase and walked away, disappearing after turning a nearby corner. Janet then looked at Bernard.

‘’Do you think that she will really help us, Bernie?’’

‘’Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.’’

11:48 (California Time)

Thursday, May 31, 1973

Vice Squad Section, F.B.I. Los Angeles offices

Janet tensed up when she saw the expression on Roger Fairfax’s face as he was coming back from a meeting with other squad leaders. Fairfax then gestured for his five agents to pay attention to him.

‘’Listen up, people! I got some bad news which may concern us. Two more girls have just been reported as kidnapped, this time from the area of Glendale. The girls were respectively twelve and nine years old. A boy aged eleven was also kidnapped the same day in the same area. We have no firm clues about the perpetrators, but the modus operandi was similar in both cases.’’

Janet’s blood froze when she thought about the implications of this.

‘’My God! Don’t tell me that these bastards from the Sexy Kittens Studios are now possibly going into producing pedophilia, on top of snuff films.’’

‘’As much as I hate to say it, that is a distinct possibility, Janet. More than a few people would pay big money for child pornography. Since I doubt that those bastards will release alive witnesses to such a traffic, then we can only fear the worse for those poor kids.’’

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Janet had to close her eyes, revolted by the thought of seeing three innocent children being possibly abused and killed. Bernard Schiffer, whose desk sat opposite that of Janet, swallowed hard before asking a question to his squad leader.

‘’Do we have clues, any clues, which could help us find those kids quickly, Roger?’’

‘’The only thing we have is one witness report about a white dodge delivery van speeding away from the area where the two little girls were abducted. That’s all!’’

‘’Shit! That ain’t much indeed. There must be hundreds of such Dodge delivery vans around Los Angeles.’’

‘’Make it a couple of thousands, Bernie.’’ Said Roger glumly. ‘’If we don’t…’’ The ringing of the telephone on Bernard’s desk interrupted him. Nearly jumping on his telephone, Bernard picked the receiver and answered, doing his best to control his voice and tone.

‘’F.B.I., Special Agent Schiffer...’’

Janet saw her partner suddenly tense up before quickly grabbing a pen and a notepad, writing frantically notes as he answered his correspondent.

‘’…The bus stop at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 26th Street, in Santa Monica, you said?... When?... Got that! Thanks a lot, Mélanie! We will owe you.’’ Janet was smiling with anticipation as Bernard put down his telephone receiver.

‘’Mélanie answered a new job offer from the Sex Kittens Studios?’’

‘’It seems so, Janet.’’ replied Bernard before looking at Roger Fairfax. ‘’The stripper we met at the PUSSYCAT CABARET and who posed already for nude pictures for the Sex Kittens Studios just answered a second job offer from those bastards. She is to be picked up by a white van this Saturday morning at seven, at the bus stop on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 26th Street, in Santa Monica. With luck, we will be able to follow that van and find where these bastards produce their films…and maybe also find there those kidnapped kids.’’

‘’God, I hope so! Okay, we can’t afford to screw up this opportunity, guys. We will go in three cars in order to alternate the trail vehicle behind that van. I will also get some backup from the Missing Persons Squad. Drop everything else in the meantime.’’

 

07:04 (California Time)

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Saturday, June 2, 1973

F.B.I. surveillance car, 26th Street, Santa Monica

‘’There’s the white van!’’ nearly shouted Janet, due to her nervousness. She and Bernard Schiffer had been waiting in their car, parked a good hundred meters from the bus stop where Jennifer Woods and two more young women were waiting, for a good fifteen minutes now. Two more cars from the Vice Squad, along with two cars from the Missing Persons Squad and one unmarked police van transporting eight heavily armed agents, were waiting further away, out of sight and ready to follow their instructions by radio. There was even a police helicopter ready to lift off and assist with the pursuit. Janet and Bernard watched on as the delivery van stopped briefly at the bus stop, time for one man to open the rear door from the inside and help the three waiting women to get in before closing back the door. The van then started rolling again, turning on Wilshire Boulevard and heading towards the San Diego Freeway. Starting his engine and putting his car in gear, Bernard then started following the van from a respectable distance as Janet spoke in the microphone of their car radio.

‘’All cars, this is Tail One! The suspect van has picked up three passengers at the predetermined location and is now rolling east on Wilshire Boulevard. Plate number is FC3 448 and the make is a white Dodge delivery van… The van is now passing the corner of 28th Street, still rolling on Wilshire Boulevard…’’

Inside the white Dodge van, Jennifer felt anxious, but not for herself. She had seen the newspaper articles about the three missing children and had concluded that their kidnapping was probably linked to this business of illegal porn production. Child kidnappings were still rare around this country and having three of them in the same area the same day smelled of child trafficking of some sort. The fact that it had happened nearly the same day that she had been contacted to do more films from a secret location only reinforced her suspicions. From the little she had seen of the filming location on her first visit there, she knew that there was a basement level made of concrete, which would be ideal for kidnappers to hold prisoners out of sight and out of earshot. Hopefully, the F.B.I. would not screw up the tailing of the van and would be able to intervene quickly in order to invest the place and arrest those porn producers before any innocents could get hurt. If not, Jennifer was resolved to act herself, albeit as discreetly as possible in order not to reveal to others her powers…or her true nature.

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Bernard and Janet had been tailing the white van for a few minutes now and were rolling northward on the San Diego Freeway, staying a good hundred meters behind the van, when Bernard grumbled to himself.

‘’These guys are going abnormally slow for some reason: I don’t like this. It is as if they are expecting a trail and are trying to identify it. I’m going to ask car number two to take the relay from us.’’

As he was reaching for the radio’s microphone, a big four door sedan that had been behind them changed lane and accelerated, as if to pass them. However, it slowed down once side by side with the F.B.I. car. A quick glance at the sedan made Janet shout a warning to Bernard.

‘’I SEE GUNS!’’

Her warning came too late: the two men occupying the right-side seats of the sedan fired their submachine guns through their opened windows, peppering the F.B.I. car with bullets. Bernard screamed with pain as three bullets hit him in quick succession: one in his left leg, another through his left ribs and the last one in his back, penetrating at a sharp angle and piercing both of his lungs. Despite his pain and being about to faint, Bernard managed somehow to keep partial control of his vehicle, grunting a few urgent words to Janet, who was still intact by some miracle.

‘’Wheel…take it, Janet.’’

Despite the bullets still raking their car, Janet reacted swiftly, an adrenaline surge flowing through her body and partially negating the paralyzing fear that was gripping her. Grabbing the steering wheel, she did her best to keep the car on the road while pulling hard on the hand brake. While her braking saved her from the rain of bullets, the engine took a number of hits and smoke came out from under the hood, while the front right tire blew up. The car swerved violently and started heading for the shallow ditch running along the freeway as the attackers’ car sped away. Janet managed somehow to keep enough control to avoid going into the ditch, with their car finally rolling to a stop on the side of the road after long seconds. Her first worry once stopped was to check on Bernard, who was now slumped over the steering wheel and was unconscious. Checking frantically for a pulse, she found an erratic and weakening one. Grabbing next the radio’s microphone, she was about to call for help when she saw the two bullet holes in the now shattered transceiver. Throwing down the useless microphone, she quickly stepped out of the car and ran to the driver’s door, throwing it open and bending over

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Bernard to give him what little first aid she could. The savage horn blow of a heavy truck warned her in time to press her legs against the car, just before a big tractor trailer truck smashed into the opened driver’s door, ripping it off and making the car pivot on the spot a full 180 degrees, with Janet desperately holding on to the steering wheel. Thankfully, no other vehicle hit their car after that. Her legs nearly giving up on her and with her heart beating frantically, Janet fought the panic that was about to overcome her and concentrated back on helping Bernard. That was when she realized that her partner had stopped breathing. Checking his pulse again, she felt a mix a discouragement and rage when she found none.

‘’BASTARDS! YOU BASTARDS! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!’’ She then slumped down with her back against the car, sitting down on the dirt and grass of the roadside as tears and sobs raked her. She was still sitting on the ground and crying when the car carrying Roger Fairfax and Nathan Chomsky stopped in front of the wrecked car, with the two F.B.I. agents then running out. Roger took the time to check Bernard first before joining Nathan by Janet’s side. Crouching in front of her, he gently grabbed her shoulders to get her attention.

‘’Janet… Janet, what happened?’’

‘’A…a big blue Buick sedan overcame us and two men inside fired submachine guns at us, hitting Bernie. I managed to keep enough control of the car to make it stop, but couldn’t save Bernie. Our radio was hit, so I could not call for help. Those bastards expected the van to be followed and laid a trap for us.’’

Roger felt bitterness on hearing that: somebody had to have warned those criminals about their operation. However, he could swear that it couldn’t be someone at the F.B.I.: he trusted completely every member of his team and of his division. The leak must have been at the level of the L.A.P.D., with which they had to coordinate the use of a surveillance helicopter.

‘’It’s alright, Janet. You could not possibly do anything to prevent all this. I will call an ambulance for you: you were pretty shaken up and…’’

‘’NO!’’ Replied at once Janet in a fierce tone as she snapped up her head to look at him, fury on her face. ‘’I want to get the bastards who did this!’’ Roger took only a couple of seconds to take a decision then, finally nodding his head.

‘’Very well, Janet. If you feel up to it, then you will continue the chase in my car. Let me call first a patrol car of the State Highway Patrol, so that someone could take care of Bernie’s body.’’

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As Roger ran back to his car, Janet got back up, helped by Nathan, then gave a last sad look at the dead Bernard.

‘’Goodbye, Bernie! I swear that I will get those bastards for you.’’ She then went to the car’s trunk, opening it and grabbing one of the two Remington pump action 12-gauge shotguns stored inside, plus a box of cartridges. She had finished loading the shotgun and was pocketing spare cartridges when a state patrol car stopped behind the wrecked vehicle. Roger, who had run back to Janet and Nathan, took a few seconds to quickly brief the highway patrolman, then signaled his two agents to go back to his car with him.

‘’Let’s go! I asked the police helicopter on standby to lift off at once and try to locate that damn delivery van. With some luck, we will able to find those bastards.’’ Running to the car with her shotgun in her hands, Janet jumped in the rear seat, closing her door as Nathan engaged the gears and rolled back on the highway. The driver gave a quick glance at Roger, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

‘’Do you think that this stripper who alerted us did so to help those bastards set that ambush?’’

‘’No! If she was in league with those kidnappers, the smart thing to do then would have been not to call us at all, simply informing the kidnappers and allowing them that way to move to another, safer location. No sane band of criminals would purposely kill cops if they could avoid it. The leak had to be an internal one, possibly from within the L.A.P.D., with which we had to coordinate this operation. Rather, I am now afraid that this poor Jennifer Woods may be going to pay dearly for having warned us.’’

07:55 (California Time)

Abandoned building at the end of Sky Valley Road Mandeville Canyon, south of the Encino Reservoir

The van finally came to a stop after some kind of garage door had been opened and the van had rolled slowly inside. Jennifer was already up from her bench seat, with the two other strippers getting up as well, when the rear doors were opened wide, revealing the inside of a large parking garage. Four men were waiting behind the van, all pointing either pistols or submachine guns at the three women. Jennifer was not really surprised at their hostile attitudes: even if she could not see what happened outside of the van while it rolled, she had heard a muffled fusillade behind the van as

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they were still on the highway and had deduced that something very wrong had happened. One of the men, whom she had met the first time that she had come here to pause nude, waved his pistol at her.

‘’Get out of the van, Miss d’Amour. You too, girls.’’

‘’What’s happening?’’ asked one of the two other strippers, alarmed. ‘’Why the guns?’’

‘’What happened is that one of you apparently snitched to the police about our operation here. Since only one of you has ever come here before, I thus believe that the good Miss d’Amour will have some explaining to do. Now, stop talking and get out!’’ Now tense and expecting the worst, Jennifer climbed down from the van, followed by the two other young women. The apparent leader of the criminals, a big man with a bald head and multiple tattoos on his arms, stepped forward to grab none too gently Jennifer’s left arm, pulling her aside from the two other girls. He then pointed the other girls to one of his men.

‘’Craig, bring those two to the photo studio and tell Jim to start photographing them. In the meantime, I will be having a little conversation with Miss d’Amour.’’ The mean grins that these last words brought to the gunmen said it all to Jennifer about what kind of conversation she was going to face. While the man named Craig guided the two other strippers towards the upper floor photo studio where she had once posed before, Jennifer was pushed towards a corner of the garage where a concrete staircase led down to the basement level. Sandwiched between two gunmen, she thought frantically about her possible options as she went down the stairs. Any way she saw it, those men were not going to let her go alive after this. Even if she could somehow convince them that she had not called the police, they were probably going to kill her anyway in order to eliminate any possible risk to their operation.

Once down at the basement level, a gunman opened a steel-reinforced door and led her inside a second corridor made of concrete, with a series of doors along both sides. The doors had big locking bolts on the outside, making their use quite obvious. She was however not thrown inside one of the cells, instead being brought to a large, windowless room at the end of the corridor. Three men were waiting inside that room, near a camera mounted on a tripod. There were powerful floodlights installed in two corners of the room, pointed at an area in the middle. What was in that area made Jennifer tense up even further. She had seen a similar setup before, at the age of

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fourteen in 1941, when she had liberated a young French woman from a German Gestapo interrogation room in Paris. A sturdy chair stood in the center of the space, while an assortment of steel hooks and chains hung from steel rings and pulleys solidly fixed to the ceiling. A set of car batteries and a hand-cranked dynamo rested on a table by one side, with electrical wires attached to them. A collection of whips, pliers and knives was also in evidence, along with a welding lamp. Jennifer was already toying with the idea of simply roasting the six men in the room without further ado when her eyes caught the shapes of two girls in a back corner. The girls were however not the children recently kidnapped, as they were both in their late teens and had definite Latino traits, plus had brownish skins. ‘Probably Mexican girls’, thought Jennifer. One of the girls was either sleeping or was unconscious, while the other was cowering in her corner. Both were naked, bruised and battered and were chained to the wall. Jennifer’s idea of killing herself the gunmen went out of the window at that moment, as she would have to kill the two girls after using her demonic powers, if she wanted her secret to be kept. A normal Succubus would not have hesitated to do just that, but she was not your normal, standard Succubus. ‘Just one that is too nice for her own good’ she thought to herself. On a signal from the tattooed bald man, two of the gunmen grabbed Jennifer’s clothes and started brutally ripping them off her.

‘’Hey, what the hell do you think that you are doing?’’

‘’Preparing you for questioning, my dear Miss d’Amour. You won’t need them anymore anyway.’’

Jennifer was soon totally naked, attracting leery looks from her captors.

‘’Well, well, that’s what I call an appetizing prize! Look at those tits!’’ said one of the gunmen while fondling her left breast.

‘’Yeah, maybe we should have some fun with her before questioning her. What do you think, boss?’’ said another gunman, making the bald man shake his head.

‘’We don’t have time for that: we need to know as quickly as possible who she contacted and what she knows exactly about us. Tie her up and suspend her!’’ Two of the gunmen then grabbed solidly Jennifer’s wrists, so that a third one could tie them together with a thick rope. The rope binding her wrists was next hooked to a chain passing through a pulley fixed to the ceiling, with two men then pulling on the chain and making her rise off the floor. Attaching the chain to a wall hook, the men tied two ropes to her ankles and, pulling hard on the ropes first, attached them to loops fixed to the floor.

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Now spread-eagled and suspended naked a good foot above the floor, Jennifer could only glare at the bald man.

‘’You bastards! What the hell do you expect to achieve this way?’’

‘’For one, getting answers from you. Next, it will give us an opportunity to produce a nice film that some will pay a fortune to get a copy of. Third, you will serve as an object lesson on what happens to someone that doesn’t obey us. Willie, go get the kids!’’

Rage flared inside Jennifer as one gunman walked out of the torture chamber.

‘’Children? You would expose children to this? What kind of monster are you?’’ The bald man, not smiling anymore, took five quick steps and viciously punched her left breast, making her shout with pain. He then pulled hard on her hair as he nearly spat in her face.

‘’Listen, bitch! The only thing I want to hear from you is answers, that and screams of pain. You can however make it quick for you if you tell me what you know about us and to whom you told it.’’

‘’Fuck you, asshole!’’

That earned Jennifer a right hook to her cheek that made her head snap around. The bald man then went to grab a long leather bullwhip before approaching her again, a mean smile on his lips.

‘’I think that I will enjoy this a lot. George, get ready to start filming.’’ The bald man took out of a pocket a ski mask and covered his face with it before taking position behind Jennifer and to one side.

‘’You can start filming now, George.’’

The first lash of the whip, with its tip twisting around her torso and hitting her right breast, made Jennifer cringe with pain. However, what the men couldn’t know was that she was much tougher than a normal human being and also more resistant to damage: while still painful, being flogged was a bearable experience for her. The bald man administered twenty lashes to her back, not sparing his strength, before stopping for a moment and going to face her.

‘’So, ready to talk, bitch?’’

The answer he got was a ball of spit in one eye. Swearing loudly while wiping the spit away, he was about to resume his flogging of Jennifer when the gunman he had sent out came back with three young children, two girls and one boy, all around the age of ten. The three children were also totally naked and looked scared while trying to cover their

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genitals with their hands as best they could. The bald man went to them and grabbed the oldest girl by her hair, forcing her to look directly at Jennifer.

‘’Look carefully, kids, and learn what it will cost you if you don’t do as we tell you. Willie, chain them to the wall, so that they can enjoy the show in full.’’

‘’Yes boss!’’

As the gunman, helped by two other men, backed the three children against one wall and then raised their hands above their heads to attach them to manacles, the bald man took position to the front and side of Jennifer.

‘’If you think that lashes to your back were painful, wait until I fondle your tits with my whip.’’

Raising his bullwhip, the man started lashing Jennifer’s chest with savage strength, obviously enjoying his work. Jennifer managed not to scream with pain, but she certainly felt the blows. However, the longer she made this go on, the more time it would give the F.B.I. to possibly find her and rescue her and the other captives. She thus stoically endured the whipping and refrained from using her powers for the moment.

The bald man went at it for a good ten minutes, delivering over eighty lashes to Jennifer’s breasts before stopping, sweating heavily. By now, Jennifer’s breasts were covered with red whip marks.

‘’You are one incredibly tough girl, I will give you that, but this is only a foretaste. Willie, get the electrodes!’’

‘’Where do you want them connected, boss?’’

‘’Let’s try her nipples first.’’

Going to Jennifer while holding the ends of two wires, the said Willie used the metallic alligator clips at the end of the wires to clip one to each of her nipples, then retreated to the table supporting the dynamo and car batteries. On the order of the bald man, he turned a dial, sending electricity through Jennifer’s breasts and torso. They saw her contort with spasms while grimacing with pain, but they didn’t realize that she was actually faking it: Demons were naturally immune to damage from a number of things, one of them being electricity. Willie was sending the fifth long jolt into Jennifer when the noise of a muffled firefight suddenly came from upstairs. Alarmed, the bald man grabbed the pistol at his belt and shouted orders to the five other men present in the torture chamber.

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‘’THE POLICE MUST HAVE FOUND THIS PLACE! GO UPSTAIRS AND GET RID OF THEM!’’

The five men, all well armed, ran out of the room at once, leaving the bald man alone with Jennifer and the five other captives. Jennifer couldn’t help taunt him then.

‘’You really think that your men will be able to repel a full-blown police assault? You are decidedly as stupid as you are mean!’’

‘’SHUT UP, BITCH! MY MEN ARE ALL EX-SOLDIERS WITH COMBAT EXPERIENCE. THEY WILL MAKE MINCEMEAT OUT OF THOSE COPS.’’

‘’The only thing you have proven so far is that you could torture naked and unarmed prisoners, you piece of shit!’’

Enraged by her taunts, the man pointed his pistol at Jennifer and fired repeatedly at her from a distance of less than ten feet. Incredibly enough for him and for the captives watching this, none of his bullets seemed to connect, with Jennifer bursting out in derisive laughter.

‘’You, a combat-experienced soldier? You can’t shoot worth dick, asshole!’’ Throwing down his now empty pistol, the bald man pushed a scream of rage and charged her with both of his hands held forward.

‘’I’M GOING TO BREAK THAT PRETTY LITTLE NECK OF YOURS!’’ Bending her leg muscles at that moment, Jennifer snapped the ropes tying her ankles in a display of herculean strength, then raised both of her legs up and forward, in time to catch the charging man by his neck in a scissor’s grip between her legs. Twisting violently her body left, then right while still suspended from the ceiling, she snapped the man’s neck like a simple twig, watched with disbelief by the five other captives. Letting the dead man crumble to the floor, Jennifer then pulled herself up, unhooking her tied wrists and dropping on her feet to the floor. Grabbing next one of the knives which were part of the panoply of torture instruments, she slammed its tip in the wooden table, then used the stuck blade to cut her ties. Making a sign to the two Mexican girls and to the three children to stay quiet, she went to the dead bald man and, retrieving his pistol, took his spare ammunition clips out of his pockets, inserting a fresh clip in the weapon and chambering a round. She had a mean smile as she left the torture chamber, still naked but with a loaded pistol in her hand.

‘’Let’s see now how brave those bastards really are when confronted with an armed opponent.’’

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Concentrating for a moment, she cast on herself an ‘Ethereal Jaunt’ spell and became both invisible and insubstantial. Now being like an immaterial ghost, she floated up and passed through the concrete ceiling of the basement, on her way to the ground floor.

Outside of the building, Janet Coleman had to duck again behind a parked car after firing her shotgun, in order to avoid a burst of automatic fire. She and the other policemen around her were now pinned down by a continuous rain of bullets, while two of the tactical squad policemen lay still on the ground, wounded or dead. She looked at Roger Fairfax, who was using the same car as her for cover, and shouted over the din of the firefight.

‘’THESE BASTARDS HAVE CRAZY FIREPOWER! WE WILL NEED

REINFORCEMENTS, LOTS OF IT!’’

‘’I ALREADY CALLED IN FOR THAT. WE SHOULD GET ANOTHER TACTICAL SQUAD IN ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES.’’

‘’FIFTEEN MINUTES? THE HOSTAGES WILL PROBABLY BE DEAD BY THEN.’’

‘’THAT’S THE BEST WE CAN DO FOR THE TIME BEING, JANET: NO SENSE IN RISKING OUR PEOPLE IN A SENSELESS CHARGE AGAINST THAT BARRAGE OF BULLETS.’’

Janet had to agree with Roger on that. Waiting for another burst to rake again the car she was using as cover, she then popped her torso up, her shotgun leveled and pointed, and fired a slug at an upper floor window where she knew that one shooter was firing at her. She was rewarded by seeing the silhouette behind the window frame throw its hands in the air while falling backward.

‘’One bastard less!’’ she muttered to herself while ducking back behind the car. The firefight went on for a couple minutes before the fire from the inside of the building apparently started to slowly die down, making Roger grin.

‘’THEY MUST BE RUNNING OUT OF AMMUNITION! JANET, COVER ME: I’M GOING FOR THE ENTRANCE DOOR.’’

Sprinting in a mad dash to the main door of the large house, Roger managed to get to the door intact, sticking his back against the wall to the left of the door. Janet was next to dash forward, joining him as the enemy fire was distinctly slackening.

‘’Well done, Janet! Your shotgun is loaded with slugs?’’

‘’Yes!’’

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‘’Then, shoot off the lock on that door!’’

Janet did so, ripping the whole door handle at the same time. Throwing his whole weight behind it, Roger then slammed his left shoulder against the door, opening it wide, before rushing in with his shotgun pointed. To his surprise, the first criminal he encountered lay dead besides the end corner of the corridor leading from the entrance.

‘’What the hell? This man was shot from behind, from close by in fact.’’

‘’Are these assholes turning on each other now?’’ asked Janet, equally dumbfounded.

‘’Don’t know! However, I will take any advantage we can gain. Let’s clean the ground level methodically.’’

Soon joined inside by more policemen and with the firing now being intermittent, they cautiously explored the rooms and garage on the ground level. What they found was a total of four dead gunmen, all shot in the back from close range. That made Roger Fairfax scratch his head in wonderment.

‘’These guys seemed to have been taken completely by surprise, as if someone sneaked on them in their back while they were busy firing at us. Who could have done that?’’

‘’Maybe one of the persons held captive by these bastards.’’ suggested Janet, making Roger nod his head slowly.

‘’That’s the only thing that would make sense. Okay, let’s go clean the upper floor. Martin, you take four men with you and go clean the basement level.’’

‘’Got it!’’

In a once luxurious office on the upper floor, a pot-bellied man with graying hair stopped shoving documents, piles of cash and rolls of films in his leather briefcase when he saw a tall, naked woman armed with a pistol slowly enter, her weapon pointed at him and pure hatred visible on her face. He immediately threw up his hands in the air as he faced her, bordering on panic.

‘’Please don’t shoot! I’m not armed!’’

‘’We’ll see about that. Don’t move!’’

Walking slowly to the man, Jennifer pressed the muzzle of her pistol under his chin, then searched him quickly. She gave him a mean smile when she found a snub-nose revolver holstered in the small of his back, confiscating it.

‘’Not armed, hey? And what were you putting in that briefcase?’’

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‘’Incriminating documents, rolls of films that I could sell. Look, they are all yours, along with what I have here in cash, if you let me go.’’

Jennifer glared at him, her face a mere few inches away from his sweating face.

‘’Your men tortured me, on top of torturing those two Mexican girls and humiliating three young children, and you expect me to let you go like this?’’ Her expression then changed completely, with her smiling to the scared man while she pressed her naked breasts against his chest.

‘’I tell you what: I will send you away in exchange for a kiss.’’

‘’A…a kiss? Uh, okay!’’

With the muzzle of her pistol still pressed under his chin, Jennifer then kissed the man, opening her mouth full and inserting her tongue inside his mouth. The surprised man, not believing his luck, went with her kiss, with his hands coming up to fondle her breasts. Jennifer’s eyes then became fiery red balls as she sent the man a telepathic message while still kissing him.

‘’May you rot in Hell for eternity!’’

She then sucked the man’s soul out, killing him nearly instantly. However, instead of swallowing and eating it to gain its energy, she spat the soul out in the air and spoke in Infernal.

‘’COME TAKE THIS SOUL, OH LUCIFER, AS IT RIGHTLY BELONGS TO YOU!’’

A small colorful vortex appeared nearly at once above her head. The floating soul was next sucked inside the vortex, which then disappeared, leaving Jennifer alone with the dead man she still held in her arms. Grabbing the snub-nose revolver taken on the man, she put it in his dead right hand and pressed his fingers around its butt, raising the hand and revolver to the man’s right temple before pressing the trigger. The shot went clean through the man’s brain, splattering gore and blood against a nearby wall. Only then did she let go the dead man, who crumpled on the floor, the revolver still in his right hand. She gave him a last hateful look before turning around and calmly walking out of the office. She was about to get to the wide staircase leading to the ground level when Roger Fairfax and Janet Coleman appeared at the top of the stairs, having run up with their weapons pointed. Jennifer immediately froze in order to avoid an accidental shooting, but kept her pistol in one hand, pointed at the floor.

‘’You can relax, my friends: all those bastards on the upper floor are dead.’’

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As the two F.B.I. agents looked at her with utter bemusement, she handed her pistol to Roger, butt first.

‘’I was able to free myself when your assault made those bastards rush out of the basement. I took that pistol from one bastard I killed downstairs in the room where I was being tortured, then was able to take the other bastards in the back one by one, while they were busy shooting at you. I just found what seems to have been their boss, back in that office: he committed suicide.’’

Janet looked down at her breasts, noting the red welts from whip lashes, then looked back at her with a sad expression.

‘’I am sorry if we couldn’t arrive sooner, Miss Woods: we were ambushed on the highway while following the van transporting you. My partner was killed in that ambush.’’

‘’I am sorry to hear that, miss. By the way, you will find in the basement two Mexican teenage girls and the three young children recently kidnapped. They had to watch while I was tortured. The two strippers who came with me are on this floor, safe and sound.’’

‘’My men should be delivering them by now, miss.’’ replied Roger, who had lowered his weapon and was looking at her with more than just a little incredulity. ‘’May I ask where you learned to shoot and fight like this?’’

‘’In France! I had a friend who was in the French Foreign Legion and who taught me how to shoot. What’s next now?’’

‘’We make sure that none of these bastards is still hiding, then this will become one giant crime scene. I’m afraid that I will have to ask you to accompany us later on, in order to make a complete deposition about what happened to you.’’

‘’I have no problem with that, mister.’’

Roger, keeping only with difficulty his eyes off her splendid naked body, took his vest off and handed it to her.

‘’Here! You should not go around naked like that, Miss Woods.’’ That earned him an amused smile from Jennifer.

‘’Why? I earn a living by stripping in front of men…and I like it.’’ Putting the vest on, she giggled when she saw that it left her hairless groin area and hips uncovered.

‘’Well, it seems that I still can flash the best part of me to your men. Take back your vest: I will go see in the photo studio if there are some spare clothes there. They had some the first time I came here.’’

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As she walked away with a sexy gait, Roger exchanged a befuddled look with Janet.

‘’Well, that’s one wily stripper if I ever saw one.’’

15:16 (California Time)

F.B.I. offices, downtown Los Angeles

‘’…That gang was a truly vicious and dangerous one, sir, and delved in many things apart from hard pornography, human trafficking and kidnapping. We found important stocks of illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives in that building, some stolen from the U.S. Army, plus a stash of cocaine and marijuana. The gunmen who were killed were all Vietnam War veterans who had turned sour after returning from Southeast Asia. Those men were however only the muscles, sir. Their leader, who committed suicide before we could capture him, was a certain Carlo Ponti and was linked to the Gambino crime family of New York. We found in his office a mass of evidence which shows that the snuff films were being produced for the benefit of a select but also very wealthy clientele all across the United States and even overseas. We are still analyzing that evidence but we already have enough to charge some very powerful people around the country. This affair is truly going to cause a bang, sir. Unfortunately, as you know already, this came at a steep price for us: on top of Schiffer being killed, Prendergast was wounded, albeit not seriously. Two men of the L.A.P.D. Tactical Squad were also killed, plus another wounded. Those bastards in that building had some fearsome firepower at their disposal, including M-16 assault rifles stolen from the U.S. Army. If not for the courageous and timely intervention of Miss Woods, we could have lost many more people in that fight.’’

‘’And where is presently this Miss Woods, Roger?’’ asked Robert Brown, who had been scribbling notes while Roger Fairfax was briefing him on the morning affair.

‘’Filling a written deposition, sir. Janet Coleman is with her in my squad office. I have to say that Jennifer Woods has been both very cooperative and very helpful up to now.’’

‘’And the other captives, especially the three kids, how are they doing?’’

‘’The kids are with their parents here and are being gently interviewed, with a social worker and a psychologist present. They should be able to leave within half an hour. As for the two Mexican girls, we were able to ascertain that they were kidnapped in Mexico, then smuggled across the border in a truck, along with six other Mexican girls.

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Unfortunately, those other six girls were separated earlier from the two girls we found and are now missing. My guess is that they are going to be forced into prostitution by whoever has them now.’’

‘’Decidedly, that gang was a real crime fest! Having taken it down is going to do some definite good.’’

Roger nodded in agreement at that before speaking further to his superior.

‘’Sir, I have a request about Miss Woods. In view of the number of important and powerful people implicated in this case, many of which are still at large, and considering her primary role in taking out that gang, her identity should be kept secret, for her own safety. The medias should not learn about the help she gave us during our assault of the gang’s hideout and she should be mentioned only as a simple victim whom we freed. The Gambino crime family just lost a very lucrative source of revenues and Miss Woods happens to work for a strip club that has connections with the Gambino. If they ever learn that she was the one who tipped us, her skin won’t be worth much, sir.’’

‘’Hmm, I would tend to agree with you on that, but what about the kidnapped kids? They supposedly saw her kill at least one gang member, on top of seeing her being tortured.’’

‘’Janet Coleman already spoke to the kids and their parents and asked them not to divulge any detail of this affair to the press. They accepted to go along with that, sir.’’

‘’That’s good! About Miss Woods, how severe are her wounds from these tortures?’’

Roger hesitated then, not sure what to say.

‘’Uh, you will probably have some problem believing that, sir, but she refused all medical assistance, saying that her wounds are superficial. I did saw her while she was still naked and I have to recognize that her wounds did not bleed: it seems that her tormentor went relatively easy on her, possibly reserving something worse for later.’’

‘’Well, she is an adult American citizen and we can’t force her to get medical treatment. She will be able to go once she has completed her deposition, but make her understand that she will have to testify later in court, when we catch some of the customers of that gang and put them on trial.’’

‘’I will pass the word, sir.’’

‘’Good! You may go, Roger, and thank again your team and Miss Woods on my behalf.’’

‘’Will do, sir.’’

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Gathering his notes and the case file he had brought with him, Roger then walked out of the office of the senior F.B.I. regional commander and returned to his squad’s office. There, he found Janet Coleman as she was making Jennifer Woods sign her completed deposition.

‘’So, Miss Woods, all done with your deposition?’’

‘’Yes, and also anxious to go home and rest a bit, mister. Janet told me that I will probably have to testify in court at a later date. I am ready to do that, but will my identity be made public or could I stay anonymous?’’

‘’Public, no! However, we won’t be able to withhold your name from the lawyers of whoever we will charge next in this affair. The customers of that gang we took down with your help have deep pockets and can afford the best lawyers in the country. If things get too dicey for you, however, we could put you in our witness protection program and provide you a new identity.’’

‘’Hell no!’’ replied at once Jennifer, her tone definitive. ‘’I have studies to complete and I want to be able to live openly, not as a hidden recluse. I can take care of myself, mister.’’

Roger, like Janet, eyed somberly Jennifer for a moment: he wasn’t sure that she fully understood the potential danger she was in because of this affair, but she certainly came across as a brave and tough woman.

‘’Very well, Miss Woods. Since you are finished with your deposition, Janet will now drive you to your home. We will contact you if and when we will need you to testify in court.’’

‘’Then be warned that you will probably hit an answering machine when you will call me: due to my university studies and my evening job at the PUSSYCAT CABARET, I am rarely at my apartment, except for sleeping. However, if you leave a message, I will be able to return your call within a day.’’

‘’That will be fine with me, Miss Woods.’’ said Roger before extending his right hand. ‘’On behalf of the F.B.I. and of myself, I wish to thank you again for your help in this affair.’’

‘’It was my pleasure, mister.’’ replied Jennifer, getting up and shaking his hand. Janet also got up and grabbed the keys to one of the squad cars.

‘’If you will follow me, Jennifer, I will drive you home.’’

‘’Is that really necessary? I could simply take the bus.’’

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‘’I would prefer that you would not use public transit for the time being, Jennifer, for your own safety.’’

Jennifer shrugged and gave up, following Janet out of the squad office and down to the basement garage of the F.B.I. building. They took place in an unmarked car, with Janet sitting at the wheel, and drove out into the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Janet already had the address given by Jennifer but, being new to Los Angeles, used Jennifer’s indications to get to her home, finally parking in front of a rather decrepit-looking apartment building near Chinatown. Janet frowned on examining the four-storey brick building.

‘’You couldn’t afford something better than this, Jennifer?’’

‘’Not until I finish my university studies and get a full-time job. University tuitions don’t exactly come cheap. My job at the PUSSYCAT pays well, but I also spend a lot on my work wardrobe. You should see the price of fine lingerie these days.’’

‘’Well, let me accompany you to your apartment.’’

‘’Is that necessary?’’

‘’Why do you ask? Do you have something to hide, Jennifer?’’ said Janet, meaning it as a joke. Jennifer didn’t reply to that and opened her car door to step out on the sidewalk. Delicia really had an apartment here, a tiny, inexpensive one that she kept as a legitimate address for her two alternate identities as Jennifer Woods and Sylvia Thorn. Walking with Janet to the entrance of the building, she used her key to unlock the main door and entered a rather dirty, small and poorly lit lobby with mailboxes along one wall and a wooden staircase facing the entrance. There was no elevator.

‘’My apartment is on the fourth floor.’’ explained Jennifer before starting to climb the stairs, followed by Janet. They crossed paths with three other tenants, two of them black, who were coming down the stairs and gave suspicious looks in passing to Janet. Jennifer finally unlocked a door on the fourth level and opened it, allowing Janet to see the inside of a small, two-room apartment furnished with old pieces of furniture. Jennifer described the place as she let Janet in.

‘’This apartment came furnished and has its own small bathroom, even though the plumbing is less than reliable. Since I eat mostly at the university or at restaurants near the cabaret, I didn’t need much in terms of a kitchen, so I make do with a toaster oven, a hot plate and a small refrigerator. The bedroom is to your left.’’ Janet looked around, embracing the old, well-worn furniture and the discolored wall tapestry. Despite being austere, she had to recognize that the apartment was kept very

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clean and orderly. Approaching a low table near the single, well-worn sofa of the living room, she discreetly checked the number on the telephone and answering machine sitting on the table: the number corresponded to the telephone number Jennifer had provided with her address. She went to glimpse at the inside of the bedroom, which contained an old brass-framed bed, noting the opened closet bulging with various dresses and outfits whose high quality contrasted with the rest of the apartment. Returning to the living room, Janet shook hands with Jennifer, then hugged her on an impulse.

‘’Thanks for your help, Jennifer. You are a brave girl indeed.’’

‘’But also a bad girl.’’ replied with a malicious grin the stripper. ‘’Are you sure that you don’t want to stay a bit and make yourself comfortable.’’ Janet made an apologetic smile at that, seeing where Jennifer was going.

‘’I’m sorry but no: I have more work to do at the office.’’

‘’Too bad! You can come any time, though, you or any of the guys of the squad.’’

‘’Jennifer, you are incorrigible!’’

‘’I know! That’s why I am called a bad girl.’’ replied Jennifer, smiling devilishly.