Jamie slipped off the expensive dress and laid it on the bed.
"Now the underwear," Julie ordered.
Jamie seemed a little embarrassed that she was stripping in front of this other woman.
"Go on," Julie said. "It's not like I haven't seen my own body naked before."
Jamie nodded. Of course, she was right. When Julie looked at Jamie, she saw herself, not Jamie. She began to take off her bra, but then stopped. "Did you hear that? Is someone in the hall?"
"It's just your imagination," Julie said. "Sylvia is the only other person in the house. And she's more likely to be in the kitchen than up here."
Jamie nodded, then settled down a bit. She reached up and began to take off her bra again, but then stopped a second time. "You're sure you can't hear that? It's like something is creaking."
"Oh, please. Don't stop. I'm enjoying the show," a woman's voice suddenly said. Jamie and Julie turned and saw a portly Latino woman standing at the entrance to the bedroom. She was dressed as a maid (a maid without shoes). But what was really out of place about her was the leer on her face.
"Sylvia," Julie said. "What are you doing in here?"
"Getting some entertainment. Now go on, baby," the maid said. "Take it all off."
"Sylvia, what's wrong with you?" Julie asked.
"I don't think that's Sylvia," Jamie said.
"Your friend is right," the maid said. "My name's Danny and I'm about to have a little fun," she said, with another leer.
Julie and Jamie backed away from the maid.
Vic wasn't completely sure who took his stone, but those two fucking cops who bumped into him was a good enough place to start looking. He asked around the police station (thanks to the wishes he made, everyone was very helpful and didn't ask any annoying questions) and discovered the identities of the two cops. The bulging balding man was actually a woman named Danielle Chase and the young boy was actually a man named Kurt Maybourn. And they were both headed to John Wilson Penitentiary.
Vic hated the idea of going back to that place, but if that was the only way to get his stone back, then so be it.
