‘Over there,’ Hunter said, pointing to the stairs. ‘That’s gotta be the VIP area.’

Garcia nodded and frowned as he noticed the two pro-wrestler look-alike bouncers standing guard at the bottom of the stairs. Hunter’s eyes searched the upper level for D-King. The file they’d picked up from the District Attorney’s office had everything they needed to know about the famous dealer, including several photographs. It didn’t take long for Hunter to spot him seated comfortably accompanied by four women.

‘I got him, last table on the right,’ Hunter said, pointing to the VIP area.

They negotiated their way through the dancing crowd fighting off bumps and pushes from the mobbed floor. An attractive brunette placed both of her arms around Hunter’s neck as he walked past her.

‘Umm, I love a man with muscles,’ she said, pulling him closer. ‘And you’ve got beautiful blue eyes. Dance with me, gorgeous.’ Her lips found his and she kissed him passionately, spinning him around in a half-moon twist.

It took Hunter a few seconds to pull his lips free from hers. Even through the flashing lights Hunter noticed her dilated pupils.

‘I’ll dance with you in a sec, babe. I have to go find the bathroom.’ He gave her the first excuse he could think of.

‘Bathroom? Would you like some company?’ Her eyes had moved down to his groin.

Hunter gave the brunette a confident smile. ‘Not this time, babe.’

‘Faggot,’ she hissed as he walked away leaving her to look for her next prey.

‘She looks nice… classy,’ Garcia commented. ‘Maybe you could come back later and share a Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall with her.’

Hunter ignored his partner’s sarcasm as they approached the steps that led to the exclusive upper level and the two bouncers standing guard.

‘Sorry, gentlemen, this is for VIPs only, out of bounds,’ one of them said, looking down at the two detectives.

‘It’s OK, we’re VIPs,’ Garcia said producing his badge and waiting for Hunter to do the same.

‘Gentlemen, you can’t just use your badges to push your way into places,’ the taller of the two musclemen said, keeping his eyes fixed on Garcia.

‘Do we look like we’re here for our own entertainment?’ Hunter cut in. Both bouncers shifted their stare in his direction. ‘We’re here to see someone,’ he continued.

‘And who would that be?’

‘We’re here to see Mister NoneOfYourDamnBusiness. Now step aside or I’ll have you for obstruction of justice.’ Hunter’s voice was threatening and firm. Without waiting for the bouncers to move out of his way, Hunter stepped in-between them and muscled his way through, Garcia following his lead.

Jerome had been watching the whole scene from the table closest to the top of the stairs. As the two detectives stepped onto the VIP upper level Jerome got up to obstruct their path.

‘Can I help you?’

‘What the fuck? This guy has more security than the President of the United States,’ Hunter said, turning to face Garcia before locking eyes with Jerome. ‘No, you can’t help me, gigantore, I need to talk to your boss,’ Hunter said, pointing to D-King’s table.

Without moving, Jerome studied both men in front of him.

‘OK, we can do this here in the cosiness of this VIP lounge or we can take this damn circus all the way back to the station and have a real party. Your call, big man.’

Jerome kept his eyes on both men for a few more seconds before turning to face D-King who was beginning to show interest. He gave Jerome a quick nod.

‘Excuse me, girls, it looks like I have some business to attend to – why don’t you go dance for a little bit?’ D-King said to the four stunning girls that shared his table. They got up, each one giving Hunter and Garcia a sexy wink followed by an inviting smile as they walked past them. Garcia’s face seemed to light up with each smile, his eyes following the girls.

‘If you like any of them, maybe I can put in a good word for you,’ D-King said with a broad smile, showing gleaming white teeth. Hunter noticed he had a small diamond inserted into his top left incisor.

‘What? Oh no, no. It’s not like that,’ Garcia said, looking uncomfortable.

‘Of course not. Please have a seat. Champagne?’ D-King offered, pointing to the bottle resting inside the ice bucket.

‘Not for us, thank you.’

‘OK, how may I help you then?’

D-King was a very handsome African American man. Only thirty-one years of age, five foot nine with a carefully shaved head. His hazel eyes were striking and his face was formed by strong, but well-defined lines. He was wearing a dark-colored viscose suit with a white silk shirt, its two top buttons undone, revealing a couple of thick gold chains.

‘I’m Detective Hunter and this is Detective Garcia,’ Hunter said with his badge in hand.

D-King didn’t get up and made no attempt to shake their hands. Jerome had moved to his boss’s side.

Hunter and Garcia sat facing D-King with their backs to the dance floor. There was no need for small talk. Hunter retrieved the computer portrait from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of them.

‘Do you know who this woman is?’

D-King lowered his eyes to the picture and studied it for a few seconds without picking it up. ‘Not a man for preliminaries are you, Detective Hunter? I like that.’

Hunter’s steady expression remained unchanged.

‘This is a computer image,’ D-King said a little surprised.

‘Yeah!’

‘And why is that?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t help you.’ The reply came almost immediately.

The two detectives exchanged a quick look. ‘Look Mr Preston, this is extremely important…’

‘Sister Joan used to call me Mr Preston in lower school’ – D-King raised his right hand interrupting Hunter before he had a chance to finish his sentence – ‘you can call me D-King.’

Hunter didn’t like being interrupted. ‘As I was saying, this is a very important matter.’

‘I’m sure it is, but let me tell you how this works. If you want me to help you, you’ve gotta give me something, baby. I’m a businessman, I have no time for bullshit and you won’t get no freebies here.’

Hunter didn’t like negotiating, especially not with people like D-King, but he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. He’d observed D-King and Jerome’s reaction while their eyes analyzed the picture on the table. He knew they’d recognized her. If he wanted them to help him, he needed to play ball.

‘She’s dead. She’s been killed in a very horrific way and her face…’ Hunter searched for the appropriate word. ‘Is unrecognizable. We had to use a special program to hypothesize what she looked like.’

D-King kept his stare on Hunter for a while longer before reaching for the picture. He considered it for a few more seconds. Hunter had no doubt D-King had recognized the woman in the picture, but there was something else. Some hidden emotion.

‘What makes you think I’d know this woman?’

Hunter knew what he was trying to do. ‘Listen, P-Diddy…’

‘D-King…’

‘Whatever. I’m not interested in you or in what you do. Whatever illegal business you conduct, I’m sure the law will catch up with you soon enough, but today is not that day. You might not believe this, but you aren’t a suspect in this investigation. The person who killed her killed again yesterday, and he’ll keep on killing until we stop him. Her identity could give us a clue as to who this monster is. If she is one of your girls…’

‘One of my girls?’ D-King interrupted Hunter once again. He wasn’t about to admit to being a sex merchant.

‘You wanna play dumb, go right ahead, but at this point in time I couldn’t give a shit if you were the biggest pimp in the world, I’m not after you. We’re Homicide, not Narc.’

D-King placed the picture back on the table. ‘Nice speech, Detective.’

Hunter took a deep breath. His stare was still fixed on the man sitting in front of him.