Excerpt from ROUGH CUT
by Tara McKenney

A short ride across town and I was back at my place. I paid the cabbie and looked around to see if anyone was watching my stoop. Feeling confident I was alone, I placed the key in the front door and let it slam behind me. A tenant yelled, “Quiet!”

As I climbed the rickety stairs to my room, I saw a pair of high heels and long legs lingering before my door. They belonged to Veronica Hale, who had changed from her nightclub gown and was in a navy blue dress that didn't forget to hug her curves. She leaned over the railing.

“Thank God you're here,” she said.

“Now that's the kind of welcome home I like. How did you find me?” I asked reaching the landing.

“Let's just say I'm resourceful,” she said with a smile that would melt most men.

I shook my head in disagreement. I couldn’t afford her vagueness.

“I flirted with one of your partners at the office.”

I didn’t tell my partners where I stayed. You could never be too careful. Walter was the only one I trusted with that information, and I never doubted his loyalty. Even with the persuasion of a sexy young woman.

“Wanna try that again?”

She pouted. “I bribed a kid off the street to track you from your office,” she said. “You're not so hard to find.”

This was the last thing I wanted to hear. If I found the kid who had ratted me out, I’d give him a thorough beating, or hire him.

I wasn't used to having a dame at my doorstep waiting for me. I held the door open as she looked behind to make sure no one else was in the hallway. I let her in and moved some newspapers out of the way so she could sit in the only chair I had to offer. She clutched a small red hand bag in her lap. I hoped it wasn't holding a gun.

“Drink?” I asked.

“No thanks, sugar.”

I placed a used glass on the counter before I remembered I was out of scotch. I sat facing her on the edge of the bed.

“Smoke?” I held out a pack of cigarettes in her direction. It held just one. I hoped she would decline.

“No.” She sat across from me watching as I lit the cigarette.

Her skin was flawless. The v-neck of her dress showed just enough cleavage.

“You’ve been at this a long time,” I said. There was no denying it. There was a lack of innocence in her eyes, not to mention her body.

“Longer than I can remember.”

The cigarette tasted dry in my mouth without a drink. “You seem awful young to have a past.”

“My past is something you don’t need to worry about, doll.”

With that, I stopped my observations and let her take the lead. I waited for her to speak. After several moments, she did.

“You're in danger,” she said.

“With you? Maybe a little taken, but not in danger.”

She began to speak faster as if she would be cut off before she was finished.

“I overheard Johnny talking to his boys. He thinks Redgrave told you where the diamond is.”

I looked back at her in silence and let her squirm, knowing what her next question would be.

“Has he?” she asked, pretending she wasn’t interested in whether I told her or not.

“It's hard to talk to a dead man.” I said, blowing smoke.

“You mean?” Her eyes widened.

“Redgrave choked on lead earlier tonight. He's taking his final ride right now to the morgue. Don't tell me you didn't know.”

“Why no, I…” She dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Come off it. You’re here trying to figure out what I know.”

“That's not true.” She sat forward in the chair. Her knuckles turned white, wrapping even tighter around her purse.

“You're a singer, not an actress, remember?”

She had to come clean and she resented it. "All right," she said. “I knew.” Her voice rose in defiance. “So what?”

“So did Johnny give the order?”

She avoided the question. “You better leave town. He’ll kill you if he thinks you know something.”

“I'm not going anywhere until I find out where the diamond is.” Unsure of her motives, I asked, “What about Johnny? Aren't you his girl? What gives for you to double cross him for me?”

She stood up and raised her voice in annoyance. “I came here to warn you. Not for the third degree.”

“That comes with being the messenger. I can't trust anybody with an alliance to the bad guy. Time for you to leave.”

I took her by the arm and led her to the door. As I opened it, she turned around, her face close enough to mine to feel her breath. The fight had left her and was replaced with a seductive calmness.

“Are you leaving town?” she asked in a whisper, her eyes heavy with lust.

“I don't run. I've got a job to do,” I said, still gripping her arm. I felt the softness of her polished skin. I could have made love to her for days on end. Then again, I was old enough to be her father, or maybe an older brother.

She leaned in closer, her full lips inches away from my own, her breasts pushed against my chest. Right and wrong took hold of me and there was no going back. “Don’t even try it, kid,” I said.

She raised her hand and slapped my face before fleeing downstairs. I held my stinging cheek as I watched her leave. The front door clicked behind her. I knew where she was headed.