Read Miss Callaghan Comes To Grief for Free Online

“Migod, you're cute!” she said. “Gee! I'll give you a good time for this.”
    The bill disappeared into the top of her stocking, and she hurriedly stripped down to her suspender−belt.
    She said, coming round the bed, “Come on, darlin', come on.”
    He said, “Don't be in such a hurry. Put on a wrap or somethin'. I want to talk to you.”
    He saw her go a little limp. “Aw, come on, darlin'. We can talk afterwards.”
    “No.”

    She hesitated, then, shrugging, crossed the room and took a dark red silk wrap off the door−peg.
    Raven, sitting in the chair, looked at her indifferently. He noticed she had a little roll of fat above her hip bones, and he thought her buttocks looked ridiculous framed in the soiled suspender−girdle. A dame had got to be good just wearing a girdle, stockings and shoes. This whore wasn't so hot.
    She put the wrap on and wandered over to the bed. “You've got to be quick, darlin',” she said. “I can't keep you here all night.”
    Raven shook his head. “I shan't stay all night,” he said. “Who's underneath?”pointing to the floor.
    “No one. All offices,” she said. “I keep telling you no one'll disturb you.” Then a thought crossed her mind.
    “Say, the bulls aren't looking for you, are they?”
    A thin smile came to Raven's lips. “Not yet, they ain't,” he returned.
    There was a long silence. His cold, wolfish face, his hooded eyes, made her very uneasy. She'd kicked around with plenty of toughs and hoods in her time, but this guy was different. She felt suddenly scared of him, and horribly alone. He just sat there, gripping the arms of the chair, watching her indifferently.
    She felt a little sick. “Hell!” she thought. “What a dumb thing to have told him I'm alone!”
    He said, “You belong to Mendetta's bunch, don't you?”
    Her eyes opened very wide. She didn't expect anything like that. “Mendetta? I've never heard of him,” she said hastily.
    “No?” Raven crossed his leg. “You surprise me. Mendetta runs all this territory, including the whores.”
    “Don't call me that,” she snapped. “If you're goin' to be funny, you better beat it.”
    “Mendetta's a big shot around here. He runs everything. He makes plenty of dough, but he ain't goin' to last. Do you hear, baby? He ain't goin' to last.”
    She looked over at the door. “Can't you lay off this crap? I don't know what you're talkin' about. I'm tired. I gotta get some sleep. Let's get this over, an' then you beat it.”
    Raven nodded. “Don't work yourself into a lather, sister. Get on the bed. We're goin' to get some sleep right now.”
    She dug up a false smile. “That's fine, darlin'. I don't know anythin' about this Mendetta guy.” She went over to the door. Her heart was beating wildly, and she kept her eyes averted so that he shouldn't see her panic.
    He said in a chilly voice: “I said get on the bed.”
    She put her hand on the door−knob. “I'll be right back,” she said hurriedly. “I'll be right back.”
    Before she could open the door, he had left the chair, shoved her away from the door, slammed and locked it. He took the key out of the lock and dropped it into his pocket.
    The look on his face terrified her, but she tried to bluff. “Get out of the way an' unlock the door,” she said weakly.
    He thrust out his hand and sent her sprawling over the bed. He leant against the door. “When I tell you to do a thingyou do it.”
    She struggled to a sitting position. “Unlock that door, you big bastard,” she said. “Get out of here. Go on, take your dough and beat it.” She flipped the twenty−dollar bill from the top of her stocking and threw it at him.
    Raven bent slowly and picked it up. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. She saw the look in his face. She saw he was going to kill her. The blank, set look in his eyes paralysed her. She could only thrust out her arms. “No... don't!” she cried. “You're not todo you hear?... No!... Keep