Authors: Bill Pronzini
Vixen (22 page)
But Jake and I could not just stand there and wait for the police. I wish we had. It would have been better for both of us if we hadn't let Beckett's last words send us back into that bloody bathroom.
We stood looking down at what was left of Cory Beckett. One fold of the yellow robe, I noticed then, had been draped over the other, the belt untied. I could not quite bring myself to reach down and open the robe. It was Runyon, after a few seconds, who did that.
It takes a lot to shock men who have been in law enforcement as long as we have. Beckett's incest revelation had rocked us some, but what we saw revealed now, the reason why Cory had always worn clothing that covered her to the neck, was like a body blow. Runyon was not given to emotional outbursts; his whispered “Christ!” was a measure of how affected he was. All I could do was stand there gaping in silence.
Cory Beckett, femme fatale. The incestuous relationship with her brother was one of the new and terrible twists she'd brought to the role. This was the other, and in a way it was worse, much worse.
She was tattooed.
One single massive tattoo, the entire front of her torso used as a canvas to portray a scene out of Dante's Inferno.
In intricate detail the upthrust breasts had been turned into a pair of erupting volcanoes, the nipples so violently colored they resembled volcanic cores. And spilling down over both globes, down over her belly to meet at her shaved pubis and disappear into the hollow between her legs, was a trail of molten fire.
It was the kind of voluntary sexual mutilation that could drive some men wild with lust, make them easier to manipulate and control.
And easier to destroy.
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Bill Pronzini
has been nominated for, or won, every prize offered to crime-fiction writers, including the 2008 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. It is no wonder that the
Detroit Free Press
said of him: “It's always nice to see masters at work. Pronzini's clear style seamlessly weaves [story lines] together, turning them into a quick, compelling read.” He lives and writes in California with his wife, crime novelist Marcia Muller. You can sign up for email updates
here
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“NAMELESS DETECTIVE” MYSTERIES BY
BILL PRONZINI
Scenarios
(collection)
Spook
Bleeders
Crazybone
Boobytrap
Illusions
Sentinels
Spadework
(collection)
Hardcase
Demons
Epitaphs
Quarry
Breakdown
Jackpot
Shackles
Deadfall
Bones
Double
(with Marcia Muller)
Nightshades
Quicksilver
Casefile
(collection)
Bindlestiff
Dragonfire
Scattershot
Hoodwink
Labyrinth
Twospot
(with Collin Wilcox)
Blowback
Undercurrent
The Vanished
The Snatch
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Contents
“Nameless Detective” Mysteries by Bill Pronzini
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
VIXEN: A NAMELESS DETECTIVE NOVEL
Copyright © 2015 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust
A different, much shorter version of this novel appeared as a Cemetery Dance limited edition in 2012 under the title
Femme
.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Drive Communications, New York
Cover images © 2015 Shutterstock
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
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®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-3568-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-2523-9 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466825239
First Edition: June 2015