Ray scanned the circle of windows looking down on the pool, certain the entire town was watching and had heard what she said. At first, he could only stare, giving her a look a father would give a child. He grabbed her arm. "To your room, now...fast!" She led the way up the steps to her second floor room.

The motel room was dimly lit, heavy drapes drawn. She blocked his hand, when he reached for the light switch. "Don't spoil the mood." She tossed her sunglasses on the nightstand, kicked off her sandals, let her hair fall loose and got onto the bed. She adjusted the bikini and leaned back casually against a mound of pillows. "I liked your dimly lighted bedroom when we made love at your place last weekend. Very romantic."

"I didn't have a lamp." He leaned against the desk, away from the bed. That was as close as he dared. Was she wild enough to kill a second man? "Now call the police!"

"Don't shout. I'm sorry now I killed him, but it's not as if anyone knows I did it. Nobody even knows I was there."

"Well everyone knows I was here. You had us down there chitchatting about your bikini. Call them now." In a high-pitched voice he said, "Yes, Officer, that's the man who was sitting by the pool with the bikini murderer."

"No! I don't want to get involved."

"A bit late for that, Loraine."

"What I meant was they don't know I'm involved."

"Did you give a second thought to getting me involved? I can't believe this. Of course, they're going to catch you. You didn't kill a stranger, you knew this guy. You'd be a suspect in any case. Just as I'm now a suspect because I know you. Know you? Hell, I slept with you." He thought about that for a second, then said aloud, "I slept with a murderer."

"Do you have to use that word? Well, what do you want?"

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"I want the clock turned back. I haven't been here, you haven't seen me, nobody has seen me and I haven't been out of my apartment all morning." He wanted to shake her by the shoulders. "And I want you to put on some clothes."

"In a minute, I'm still a little warm."

"So, what happened?"

"Well, Tammy Jerrold is my girlfriend, and Sonny Barner is one of her men friends. She's popular, if you get my drift. When I went to Tammy's place, Norma Martin was already there. Norma's her best friend, after me of course. We saw Tammy and felt so sad for her. You should have seen her. Norma told her to let it go. She and Tammy are truly a pair, shuffling men back and forth. However, I couldn't stand it. Men shouldn't do that. I was mad."




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