hidden but she was still wearing her very tiny G-string. She also had on an elaborate bra, well, not really a bra but…something with lots of lift and sparkle.
Cinnamon smiled. “Two of you, hmm? Hope you paid Bobby extra for that.”
Bobby must be the bouncer they’d passed. Chloe made a quick note of his name.
Cinnamon pointed to the wooden chair beside her. “Who wants to sit first?” She winked. “One will sit and one will watch? That how you two like it?”
“I have no idea what he likes,” Chloe responded honestly. “But I can see the bruises beneath your makeup.” Now that Chloe was closer to the woman, she could see the blue and black marks on her neck. Someone had tried to strangle Cinnamon.
Cinnamon stopped smiling. “I don’t know where this is going, but let me tell you right now, I don’t like pain. I’m not into that, no matter how much you paid.”
“Good for you,” Chloe said instantly.
Cinnamon’s eyes were huge. Almost as huge as her impressive breasts. Her gaze jumped from Chloe to Joel. “Get your crazy girlfriend out of here.”
Joel took a step forward. “She is crazy…”
That label was old. And incorrect. There was no such thing as crazy. There were delusions, there was psychosis, there was—
“But she’s not my girlfriend.” He motioned to the chair. “Why don’t you sit down? We just want to ask you a few questions. Answer them, and we’ll be gone in a flash.”
Cinnamon—um, Coreen—sucked in a breath. “You more cops?”
“I’m definitely not a cop,” Joel assured her. “I simply have a few questions. I want to know—”
“Donnie was a sonofabitch. He liked hurting me. And I’m glad he’s dead, okay? Glad. So what if I didn’t go to help him when I heard him scream? He made me scream plenty of times, and I thought it was his turn for payback.”
Did Joel flinch at the word payback? Chloe thought he did.
“You.” Cinnamon pointed at Chloe. “You and the other uppity bitches always stare at me like I’m trash. You don’t believe a word I ever say.”
Ah, that would be why Cinnamon hadn’t wanted to talk to the female detective. “I don’t think you’re trash. I think you’re very limber and quite talented at your job.”
“Fuck off,” Cinnamon snarled at her. She stormed for the door.
Joel glared at Chloe. “You have zero people skills.”
Why did she need them? And hadn’t she just complimented Cinnamon? She’d meant the compliment. The dancer was very talented and deserved all the money she earned. Chloe wished she possessed the other woman’s agility and rhythm.
No matter. Time to get back on track and move things along before Cinnamon completely stopped talking. “Donnie was here last night.” Donnie Adams, the victim currently at the morgue. “He got rough with you, and Bobby taught him some manners.”
Cinnamon whirled toward her. “Bobby tell you that? He usually keeps his big mouth shut.”
He hadn’t needed to say a word, not when the proof had been on his hands. Hard to miss the bruises on his big knuckles. “He beat Donnie in the hallway outside.” She’d seen the blood stain. “Then…threw him out back?”
Cinnamon shrugged.
Ah, not talking to me. Chloe glanced at Joel.
She found him frowning at her. She stared at him, then jerked her head toward Cinnamon.
Joel cast a glance toward the exotic dancer. “You…ah, heard Donnie? You heard Donnie screaming out back?”
“Yeah.” She swallowed. “At first…um, I thought he was just mad at me. Screaming ’cause he was mad, you know. I was with Bobby when I heard the screams start. Bobby stormed away. Said not to let him back in because Donnie was just a drunk dick.” She swiped her hand over her cheek. “Then I…I realized he wasn’t just screaming because he was mad. He hurt.”
Chloe crept closer to Cinnamon. She caught a faint, sweet scent clinging to the other woman. She filed that scent away. “You liked for Donnie to hurt because he’d hurt you.”
“Yeah. Does that make me some kind of fucking bad person?”
“No.” Joel shook his head. “Not even close.”
Cinnamon straightened her shoulders. “When he stopped screaming, I eased open the door. Th-that was when I saw Donnie’s body.”
She’d just stumbled. Given a little stutter. Her gaze had jerked around the room, sliding away from Joel’s before returning.
Got you. Chloe tamped down on her excitement. “You saw the killer.”
“No!” Cinnamon’s eyes flared wide.
“Please don’t waste my time with lies.”
Cinnamon’s cheeks reddened.
“You saw the killer when you opened the door. He was still there.” She