KILLER DATE (SCANDALS) Read Online Free Page A

trying not to get in our way and yet anxious to help.
    “Anything that seems out of place or gives us a lead on where she might have gone,” I answered as I studied the tray of tattoo equipment next to the old reconditioned barber’s chair and a rolling storage unit that had a drawer full of individually packaged sterile needles and several shelves of different colored inks.  It was a small, but impressive set up.
    “She only did tattoos?”  Dallas asked.
    Both Jenny and I turned to look at him.
    “Yeah…why?”
    Dallas held up an instruction manual.  “She has a Picosecond pulse laser…it’s used to remove tattoos.” 
    Jenny studied the manual.  “It looks expensive.”
    “Yeah…according to this receipt, $2,695.35,” Dallas added.  “We studied these in one of our labs…it has a pulse width about 100 times shorter than the older nanosecond technology, so tattoos can be more effectively removed with fewer treatments.  She must have made a pretty good profit on the tats to afford this.”
    Jenny breathed out a whoosh of air as she shook her head.  “I didn’t know she made anywhere close to that.  I thought she was struggling just to cover the rent on this place.  Her car was from one of those buy here, pay here joints, and she was barely able to make payments on that.”
    I pulled out my cell phone and speed-dialed Liberty.  She was the youngest of my new siblings and had been sidelined by a broken leg, so she helped out with the research.  “Hey…we’ll be back in about an hour or so.  Can you pull together all the Texas laws needed for laser tattoo removal?  Yeah…licensing, inspections, everything.  We need to know what’s required for Angela to do tattoo removal…and pay special attention to any parts of the law that may be optional.  Yeah, thanks.”
    “I don’t understand any of this.  Other than letting her practice on me when she was starting out,” Jenny said, holding out her wrist with its Lucky Charms tattoo that I had already noticed, “I’ve never really taken this seriously.  And I know nothing about lasers.  Definitely not a topic for my pre-school classes.”
    “They use a lot of laser effects on the shows in Vegas.  And as for tattoos, I have a few myself.”  I held my right arm next to hers so she could see the tattoo of Houdini’s name with a red padlock, hanging open from the “O”.  I tried to lighten the moment with a playful suggestion, “Maybe we can compare tattoos sometimes.”  I was surprised by how anxiously I was awaiting her answer.
    Before she could respond, Dallas called out, “Hey, Reno.”  His voice was muffled as he leaned into a partially-opened desk drawer.  “Can you look under this desk and see what’s making this drawer stick.  I think there’s something caught in the track...”
    “Sure, old man,” I teased.  Dallas was actually almost two years younger than me, but he acted like he was much older.  I crossed the short distance to the desk and got down on my knees after checking out the floor.  My leather pants were expensive…and a little too hot for an Austin summer.  Note to self…go shopping for a more practical wardrobe since I wasn’t going to be near a stage any time soon. 
    The room was surprisingly clean for such an old building.  You’d think that would be a requirement in a facility where tattoos and removals were being performed, but all the tattoo parlors I’d been in hadn’t been particularly sanitary.  I leaned down and tried to look under the desk.  “Is there a flashlight around here?”
    Jenny shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I haven’t seen one.”
    “There’s not one in the desk,” Dallas added.
    “Great.  It looks like there’s something white, but I can’t tell what it is.”   I twisted my arm until I could get my hand up under the drawer.  I felt around on the rough wood until my fingers touched paper.  I tried to wiggle it out, but it was firmly stuck.