“Look at that vulture,” Emily muttered to Isabel. “I think she’s salivating.”
She accepted the cash with a grin, stuck it in the drawer, and locked it. “This way, mister.”
From the monitor, Peter could be seen following close on her heels down the same hallway Colin had taken. She opened the door to a different room, one more plushly appointed.
“Looks like she knew Peter had more money than I did.” Colin hunched forward, resting his forearms over his knees. “This should be good.”
From the camera’s view, the screen showed the massage table again in the center of the room, but the chair was an upholstered overstuffed one sitting next to a queen-sized bed covered in a high-quality comforter set. A tri-fold screen with gold shirred silk fabric stood in the corner as a place for the customers to disrobe, with hooks on the wall to hang their clothes.
“You can undress there,” the woman said, directing him to the tri-fold screen. “There are fluffy towels on the table if you like to cover yourself. Your masseuse will be in shortly. Enjoy.” She backed out of the room and pulled the door shut.
“Let’s see if he’ll be as deft as you were with the towel,” Emily kidded.
“Peter,” Ellis spoke into the mic, “nonchalantly take a gander around the room for anything that could be a video camera.”
Peter grabbed a white towel off the table and stepped behind the screen, slinging part of the towel over the top of it. As he took off his jacket, shirt and tie, he casually glanced around the room, as well as behind him and up on the ceiling. He took his glasses off and the monitor showed the camera swinging haphazardly. “I’m putting the mic near my mouth, lowering my head,” he whispered. “Video camera above the door, watching me.”
“Then you’ll need to be careful what you say to us or you could blow the whole thing,” Ellis said.
He stuck his glasses back on his face and pulled his shoes and pants off.
“Don’t look down at your feet, man,” Colin advised.
“Why? Oh.” The monitor screen showed the camera suddenly swing up to the top ridge of the tri-fold and higher. “Thanks,” he whispered. “I can hear those giggles.” Peter wrapped the towel around his midsection, then set his glasses on the night table between the chair and the bed, facing the massage table and the door.
“Perfect view,” Ellis said.
With one smooth motion, he mounted the table.
“Good job, Peter,” Isabel teased.
He loosened the towel under him so it laid flat over his backside.
There was a soft knock at the door and a young woman’s voice asked if he was ready.
“Show time,” Ellis announced.
“Come in.”
The young Asian woman entered, dressed in a similarly seductive uniform to the one that worked on Colin.
“That’s her,” Emily exclaimed. “That’s the girl from the hotel.”
“You’re sure?” Ellis asked.
“Yes, absolutely sure.”
“You know what to do, MacKenzie,” Ellis said.
“Good evening. Are you ready to begin?” the masseuse asked in her heavy accent.
“Oh, yeah. I’m so knotted up I feel like a pretzel.”
“What is pretzel?”
“A piece of bread that’s all tied up in knots.”
“Oh, yes,” she replied, unconvincingly.
She poured a layer of oil over him and began massaging his back and shoulders, working up to his neck and head. “That feel good?”
“No, no. I cannot say,” she uttered firmly, “but Peter is a nice name.” She continued to massage his back, then switched to his feet, working her way up his legs.
“Your hands are fantastic. How can I ask for you next time I come if I don’t know your name?”
“No, sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Does that feel good?”
“Like heaven.”
“You want I do your bottom?” she asked, patting it lightly. “I do good job.”
“Uh, no, I have no knots there.”
“Okay, you turn over and I do front.”
Emily’s head jerked to Colin and she raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what Peter would do next.
Colin grinned at her and patted her leg. They had talked about this. He had to go farther than Colin did and he had to make it believable.
“Oh, my,” Isabel muttered under her breath.
The girl raised the towel just enough for him to roll over beneath it before she laid it back down on him. She worked his arms and his chest muscles.
“We’re watching you,” Ellis reminded Peter.
She once again massaged his feet, working her way up