Ladycop

                                 Chapter 2

     Karla Sinclair was busy writing a report when the call to
the Lieutenant's office interrupted her. A moment of panic hit
her as she tried to think of anything she may have done wrong.
She was sure she hadn't bent any rules lately. Jumping to her
feet, she walked gingerly toward his office at the far end of the
room. Of course, every eye in the squad room followed her because
watching her walk across a room was enough to drive a lot of men
a little insane. She was truly the origin of the saying, poetry
in motion.
     Karla was more than just good looking, she was a knock out
in the words of several of her fellow officers. She was also the
best damn plainclothes cop in the city. No one yet had ever
suspected her of being the long arm of the law. She was the
perfect weapon in the fight against drugs and prostitution. The
vice and narcotics bureau was especially delighted with her
abilities. However, there were other factions throughout the
department with other ideas concerning her. 

     As she entered the Lieutenant's office, she glanced around
to see two plainclothes dicks huddling in the far corner. She
felt a flash of discomfort as she recognized the department's so
called heart throb, at least in the opinion of her other female
counterparts anyway. She wondered what Jim Devlin from homicide
was hanging around the narc bureau for.
     "Sinclair, you been reading the papers lately?" she heard
the lieutenant growl.
     "Yes sir, I try to keep up on current events."
     "Good, then you probably been reading about the whacko out
there that's been killing young women?"
    She wasn't dumb, it only took her a second or two before she
began to figure what might be taking place. "No, can't say as I
have," she stammered dumbly.
     "Well, you're about to. Devlin and Chilton here need some
help. Someone threw your name at them, you game?"
     "Why would they want me?" she asked. "My rumor mill says the
homicide bureau considers me a woman of low character and the
department hooker."
     "Thats what they say, but we need some bait to catch a
killer."
     She whirled around and looked into Devlin's eyes. They were
steel gray and cold, she felt a shiver run up her spine as he
stared back at her. "Now why didn't I think of that?" she blurted
back at him. "Why else would you need me. You don't need my help,
you just need my looks to draw in one of your sick, perverted
weirdos."
     "You wanna hear the story or just make smart comments?" he
said.
     She felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. "Look,
buddy, I'm not the one looking for a pidgeon, remember? You came
over here so don't act so high and mighty."
     The lieutenant jumped up and walked around the desk. "All
right you two, let's knock off the crap. Karla, take these two
out to your desk. Listen to their story before you make up your
mind, okay? Downtown is leaning on us to give them anything they
need"
     "All right, Lieutenant, come on, guess it doesn't hurt to
listen."

     Devlin pulled up a chair and focused those gray eyes on her
again. "Look, I know some of those assholes downtown give you a
bad rap. I'm not into it and I don't really give a shit. I'm just
trying to catch a killer and I'm sorry if you take it
personally."
     "Why wouldn't I take it personally and you are a part of it.
You said it yourself, you don't give a shit. In my book if you
don't care what they say then you must condone it. You think I
don't know whats taking place? Every hot rock asshole down there
has tried to get in bed with me. When they can't make it they
start spreading stories. I've heard em all and don't tell me you
haven't."
     "Okay, I've heard em. But you've got to admit, I haven't
tried to get in your bed."
     "Only because you haven't had any occasion to get up this
way."
     "You're wrong, Sinclair. Anyway, for what its worth, I'm
sorry about whats been going on. There are those who think you're
one of the best in your trade, you know?"
     "You don't say? I hadn't heard that one before," she said. 
     "You really haven't been reading the paper lately?" he
asked.
     "Yeah, I've read the papers. You've got a serial killer on
the loose and he likes attractive women."
     "That's the one," he grunted. "His latest victim is a woman
named Marlene McNeely. We found her body early this morning. She
was a looker from the word go, just the kind he goes for. The
puzzle palace decided to see if we had someone with those
attributes and they came up with your name."
     "So what makes you think he's going to find me? Its a big
city out there."
     "We know that, we're grasping at straws in a way but this
guy is different. He likes dancers or aerobic fanatics, women
with great bodies. This is his third one in the last month in the
dancer category. This one happened to be a member of the ballet
and the daughter of one of the Nob Hill group. He's pretty broken
up and starting to swing his weight around."
     "Figures!" she spat out. "Its fine when the low class girls
get it, but God help us if its one of the rich ones."
     Devlin didn't say anything for a second or two, then he
leaned forward in the chair. "Look, I didn't have anything to do
with this. They pulled your file in personnel and gave it to us.
I wanna catch this guy as bad as the next guy, but using you
undercover isn't my idea of the way to go about it. You'd have a
higher than average chance of getting yourself killed, and
believe me, this guy makes it nasty before he does them."
     She felt a chill run down her spine again. "Nasty how?" she
asked.
     "Real nasty. He's a sex freak and a sadist with an appetite
for rape and pain. The McNeely girl was beat to hell, raped and
mutilated, then killed by having her throat slit."
     "Shit!" she blurted. "Its always gotta be a sick bastard
with some kind of a quirk. Whatever happened to the old fashioned
Jack the Ripper type"
     "The world's changin, Sinclair, they're gettin sicker by the
minute out there. I'd really hate to see him get his hands on
you. I hope you turn us down."     
     "You knew I wouldn't turn the assignment down before you
even got here. It's no secret around the marble palace that my
sister was killed by one of these sick pukes. How could I turn it
down?"
     "I'm sorry, I didn't know. My boss only told me that you'd
take it no matter what."
     "Yeah, well, he was right. Where do we start?"
     
     Late the next afternoon she sat at a desk in the homicide
bureau. It seemed like every cop in the bureau heard she was in
the building. It was a continuous train of them as they came by
one by one to sneak a peek or ask if she'd changed her mind about
a dinner date. The briefings had taken nearly all day and now she
had nothing more to do except familiarize herself with the case
histories of this animal. It wasn't pleasant to wade through. He
was a real pervert, there was no doubt about it. His victims had
all been subjected to various forms of torture. There was
evidence of nipple and breast torture along with several other
highly painful procedures and all the victims had vaginal
tearing. It was uncertain whether from an overly large penis or
some kind of instrument. The semen amounts found inside the women
removed all doubt as to whether they had been raped. She didn't
like the idea of being used for bait even the tiniest bit, but
there didn't seem to be any other way. Trembling slightly at the
prospects of being this assholes next victim, she finished with
the files and turned to find Devlin standing behind, a look of
worry etched into his face. 
     "You look kind of odd," she said.
     "I'm worried. I'm worried that this guy just might find
you."
     "That's the whole idea isn't it?"
     "Yeah, but it just sits wrong in my gut."
     "Give me a little credit, I can take care of myself. I've
been working undercover assignments for nearly a year now."
     "Bustin kids for coke and grass. You haven't tackled a real 
asshole like this one yet."
     "Well, maybe we'll get lucky. Time will tell won't it?"
     "Yeah, time will tell. Meanwhile, we've got you a place set
up to get you started. He's taken two victims from the Moulin
Rouge up on North Beach. We figure he might just return to find
another one."
     "Whoa, wait a minute. If you think I'm turning myself into a
nudie cutie so all you pukes can take a look, you're nuts. I
don't know shit about topless dancing and I sure as hell don't
plan on starting now."
     "But we were counting on him seeing you there. I'm sure
that's the way he operates. Gets himself all hot and bothered
then snatches the one he likes best, outside in the alley where
its dark and deserted."
     "I think you're wrong. He picked two women from up there but
don't you think he's going to be a little more careful about
trying it again a third time?"
     "I don't know," he said in exasperation. "I don't know what
else to suggest. Maybe you're right."
     "Jesus," she spat out. "I'm not in favor of dancing on North
Beach. You got any other suggestions?"
     "Sorry, Sinclair, unless you think he might try the ballet
again. That could have been just a fluke or he might really be
interested in ballet, who's to say?"
     "Well, he's sure as hell not going to see much of me if I
have to dance in the ballet. He'll be dead of old age before I
learn how to pull that off. I guess we're stuck with the North
Beach idea much as I hate it."
     
     A few hours later, Karla stood with Devlin inside the office
of the manager at the Moulin Rouge. "You had any experience at
this stuff, lady?" he asked her.
     "Sure! I moonlight a lot as a naked dancer in North Beach,"
she spit at him.
     "Easy, lady, easy. This is your idea not mine. Its not going
to work very well unless you have some idea what you're doing up
there." 
     "All right, where do we start then?"

     She found out before the sun had began to settle over the
Golden Gate. The proprietor called in one of the ladies of the
show, known as Midnight to the patrons, and together they had
taken her to a part of the theater being used for just such
instances. There were a couple of other girls on a small stage in
various stages of undress, all trying to follow the music of an
ancient and old jukebox.
     "Okay," Midnight said. "Let's see what you can do."
     "You mean, just get up there and take off all my clothes?"
     "Well, that's up to you. You can start by doing a little
dancing. If you get by that part of it, then you can start taking
off your clothes."
     "Shit!" Karla grunted.
     Karla slowly took the two steps onto the wooden platform and
began to move to the music. At first she felt self conscious but
then she began to get into the beat and found out she could still
do a fair job of shaking and twisting.
     "Hey, girl," Midnight called out. "You're doing damn good
for a beginner. Where'd you learn to dance?"
     "I wasn't always in this business. Four years of college and
I did a lot of dating."
     "Yeah, with a body like that I can see how that might
happen. Take your blouse off, lets see if that has any effect."
     Karla kept with the beat of the music as she slowly
unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged it off her shoulders. She
danced her way to the edge of the stage and dropped it on the
floor. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Devlin enter the back
of the room and stopped in her tracks. "Oh, no! No way. The bra
stays on as long as he's in the room."
     Devlin walked down in front and looked up at her. "Havin a
problem, Sinclair. Whatta ya gonna do when the whole damn room's
full of people?
     "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," she spat at him.
"Give me a couple days, I'll work into it. Now get your ass outta
here."
     "Okay, have it your way. I'll check with you tomorrow. Good
luck."
     He made his way out the way he came in and Karla began
dancing again still wearing her skirt and bra. She knew she had
to start someplace but it felt a whole lot different than when
she was in the high school locker room. The other girls in the
room had left the platform and were now sitting down front
watching her dance. "Come on, Karla," Midnight called out. "Might
as well get it over with. "Let's see what you've got."
     Karla took a deep breath and unhooked her bra. Then she
deliberately turned her back to them and threw it toward her
blouse. She felt frozen for a second as her nipples stiffened in
the cool air. Then like  a person jumping into a frigid swimming
pool, she let out her breath and turned. She felt a sudden glow
as she heard the girls out front whistle softly and begin to
applaud. "Way to go, Karla, way to go. Jesus, if I only had a set
like that."
     Karla chuckled to herself at hearing Midnight lamenting. It
wasn't so bad now. Dancing with her breasts bare wasn't so bad
after all. Doing it in front of an audience though, that was
going to be something else.

     Three nights later she got to find out. Midnight had worked
with her until she could pass as one of the girls without any
trouble. They even came up with a good stage name for her,
Velvet. Now, standing in the wings waiting for her music and
introduction, she felt her heart sitting so deep in her throat
she could hardly breathe. Of course, Devlin and half the
department was sitting out front to see her debacle. She felt
anger and contempt at the bastards trekking down here to see her
in her worst moment of humiliation. However, as her music began
and she heard the announcer in the background, Midnight appeared
next to her and gave her a reassuring hug. With a final good
luck, she felt Midnight's hand shove her gently out of the
curtains. Then it was too late.
     Loud applause struck her ears as she began to move in rythem
with the music. She couldn't tell if it were for real or just
catcalls from her fellow personnel. For the next ten minutes she
performed just the way Midnight had taught her and when she
finally bared her breasts, the applause was thunderous. Giving a
big sigh of relief, it was over. She had made it and it had been
more of a lift than even she realized it could be. Suddenly she
found that dancing nearly naked on a stage in front of a roomful
of men had had a strange and different effect on her. A feeling
of elation seemed to grip her as she danced off the stage and
into the dressing room. It was like a euphoric high as she sat in
front of the mirror watching a tiny trickle of sweat slithering
down between her sharply pointed breasts. It suddenly dawned on
her what she was feeling and shock jolted her back to reality.
She was turned on and couldn't understand why. Dancing naked with
a bunch of leering men watching had made her hot and she didn't
like it. Not one bit.  
     A soft knock at the door snapped her out of the despair.
Wrapping a large kimono around herself she opened the door to the
tiny room. Devlin stood on the other side. This time there was no
smiles or laughter. He looked grim as a matter of fact. "What is
it?" she asked.
     "I just wanted to . . . well, I just had to . . . Damnit. I
couldn't help telling you how absolutely great you just did out
there. I feel ashamed for the first time in my life. I just
wanted to apologize for the way I've been treating you, that's
all."
     She smiled at him and then pursed her lips. "Okay, Devlin.
It was probably pretty hard for you to say. Apology accepted. Now
then, you wanna come in or just stand out here in the hall?"
     "Ah, well . . . no. I better be on my way. That is, we gotta
remember what the hell we're doing here. We're after a killer if
I'm not mistaken."
     "Okay, right you are. I've got two more shows. We'll just
have to play it by ear for a few days and see if anything
develops."

                          Watch for Chapter 3