Ryan smirked.
“I’m never going back. And I’m keeping the computer. Fuck’m.”
Ryan hung up.
I let myself out, locked Josh’s bungalow, and headed for home. No red pickup trucks or dirty SUVs appeared in my mirror, but every vehicle was suspect. The Dan Wesson rode shotgun.
16
I phoned Joe Pike as I worked my way across Hollywood.
“This thing’s heating up. Two guys in an SUV tried to run me down.”
“Get the plate?”
“It was covered. You free tomorrow?”
“I’m anxious to meet them.”
“Come early tonight. I’ll fill you in before Lucy and Ben arrive.”
“Lucy asked me to take Ben after dinner.”
“She did?”
“So you can talk.”
“About what?”
“Didn’t say.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“No.”
Typical.
I picked up skirt steak, chicken thighs, and handmade nixtamal tortillas from a Mexican market on Franklin. The women at the little market made the tortillas in the traditional way, and made them to order. I ordered two dozen and watched them shape and pat the masa dough into taco-sized tortillas and flip them onto a hot comal. They didn’t use a tortilla press or a rolling pin. They worked the dough by hand the way they’d seen their grandmothers and great-grandmothers do it back in Cozumel, and they made the best tortillas I’ve eaten.
I stopped for salad stuff and veggies at a market closer to home and pulled into my carport a few minutes later. Nobody tried to kill me on the way.
The salad and veggies went in the fridge, then I set to work prepping the skirt steak and chicken. Skirt steak was my fave for carne asada. Thighs were great for tacos because they stayed moist. The prep work didn’t take long.
I skinned and trimmed the thighs, then laid them out on a sheet of foil. I seasoned them with chili powder, garlic powder, a little oregano, and salt. When the seasoning looked good, I dropped the pieces into a plastic bag, added a little olive oil and a couple of squeezes of lime, sealed the bag, massaged it to bring everything together, and tucked the bag in the fridge. I cleaned up the chicken gunk, laid out a fresh piece of foil, and repeated the prep with the beef. When the beef and chicken were marinating, I went out onto the deck and prepped the grill. When the grill was good to go, I showered, dressed, and returned to the living room with my laptop. I brought up the In Your Face website.
Skylar’s original appearance on In Your Face bore their typical snappy episode title.
#29: WANNA GET PAID FOR NASTY SEX?: PREPARE TO BE SCREWED!
Josh gets the hot and heavy down low from Skylar Lawless, Jasmine Juggs, and superstud Mario Root!
The extras available for the episode were minimal. Behind the Scenes led to a few photos of Josh, Skylar, and the other guests in his tiny studio. Curriculum Vitae listed their video credits, and Raw Talent led to nude PR shots and stills from their videos.
I clicked back to the podcast page, carried the laptop into the kitchen, and listened to the interview while I washed and sliced the vegetables. Portrait of the detective at work.
Despite the episode’s outlandish title, Josh was neither salacious nor vulgar. He introduced each actor, asked funny warm-up questions, and guided the conversation into the serious topics of their working conditions, health concerns, and security. The performers shared stories about being misled, lied to, or cheated, and how they had supplemented their fluctuating incomes. Jasmine earned more as an exotic dancer than she earned making porn, but the celebrity she derived from Triple X videos allowed her to demand higher rates as a dancer. She viewed porn as advertising. Skylar had begun as a dancer, but hated the night-to-night grind. Mario confessed he had worked as an escort during lulls in his career, and Jasmine and Skylar admitted they and many of the girls they knew had also worked as paid escorts. Josh followed up.
Josh: I wanna make sure the audience understands. Escorting means outcall, right? Somebody pays to have sex with you.
Jasmine: （laughing） Guys’ll pay just to be seen with these titties, and if they want more, I’m down! You want the ass, bring on the cash!
Josh: How’s that work?
Mario: You never had sex? You stick your weenie in’m.
（laughter）
Josh: Seriously. Wait. I’d be scared. You go to a house or hotel alone. You’re meeting a total stranger who could be a psycho killer. I’d be terrified. Isn’t it dangerous?
Jasmine: Tell me about it!
Skylar: Yeah, kinda, so you need a safety.