We dressed hurriedly in the same clothes we had worn to have dinner with the Waites the night before. With the exception of Laura's dress everything was strewn around the room where we had removed them to play restraint.
I had only heard Laura's part of the telephone conversation. She had told the caller, Rachel, to calm down and call 911. But apparently Mollie had said not to call the emergency service. Laura had to convince Rachel that she would not get into trouble. Laura had to demand that she make the call.
I had never seen Laura nervous. She asked me to hurry and to slow down in the same sentence. It was nearly 3 A.M. and there was no traffic on the roads but it took us twenty-five minutes to cover the fourteen miles because I refused to exceed the speed limits. Chief Slocum had warned me that if I got stopped in his town there would be no favors from him.
Laura used the time on the road to put on her stockings and brush her hair. As an afterthought she removed the ring and handed it to me. She had removed the ring from the chain while we were with Mr. Waite and had worn it while we played restraint. I put the ring in my inside jacket pocket.
"Let me out, I'll walk," Laura said, scooting across the car seat for a farewell kiss as we approached the corner where we usually parted.
"Bull shit!" I said as I rounded the corner. In addition to the fire department ambulance there was a police car and two other cars parked in front of the brothel. Laura did not argue with me when I parked in back of the police car and got out to go inside with her.
The house was in turmoil. Laura glanced in the direction of six men seated in the crowded waiting room and headed down the narrow hall. She looked back to see me following and took my hand.
I recognized Ralph and Kelley as we entered the first room on the left where Mollie was the center attraction. There were too many people packed in the small room. I had met Ralph a few weeks before when we were painting the brothel. Kelley was the girl Laura had sent to our house to do Mary Ann for me.
Two policemen were standing in one corner of the room. Kelley and three other girls in scanty dress were huddled around Mollie. Ralph and the two firemen were urging Mollie to let them take her to the hospital.
Laura surveyed the room and took charge. Looking at the policemen, she smiled and said, "Thank you for coming. I'm glad you're here." They didn't acknowledge her but she was already tapping one of the girls on the shoulder. "Rachel, go out and see if you can do some business. If none of those gentlemen want you, tell all of them to leave."
"Can you boys help us with that? I don't want them there when we wheel her out." The cops nodded and followed Rachel.
"You're not going to wheel me anyplace," Mollie's voice was weak and halting but there was passion behind her statement.
"Ralph, please return to your station and be ready to turn those gentlemen over," Laura said to him before turning to me.
"Honey, there's a bottle and glasses in the hall closet. Will you go out and play bartender? Keep the gentlemen busy, please." Her look was serious, almost frightened but she paused a moment to purse her lips and pinch my chin.
I followed Ralph out of the room. Laura was giving instructions to the other three girls.
The two cops had taken their places near the door in the crowded front room where Rachel was offering her services, first to one and then another. The men were eyeing the police skeptically but the third man she spoke to stood up. She took his hand and led him down the hall to her room. I found the bottle of whiskey and offered drinks to the five guys. Three of them let me pour a drink for them. The forth said he would take a drink after he got some pussy.
When the next girl appeared, the guy who said he would take a drink later was the first to stand. I winked at the two policemen as the couple left the room together. They grinned back.
Another girl came into the room. "Hi, I'm Teresa. Who wants to fuck?" One of the remaining men stood up and handed me his empty glass. "I do," he said.
"Hi Randy," Kelley said as she entered the room. She came close and I gave her a hug.
"See what you missed," she laughed, bending to show me her bottom. The transformation from the timid kid that Laura had sent to our house to do Mary Ann for me was incredible. She was now a mischievous little trollop with a pocket full of confidence.
"You're looking good, Mary Ann," I said. All three of the remaining men were standing.
It was a good thing the policemen were there. The three guys almost came to blows over who would get Kelley. We gave her the option of choosing which one she would take to her room. I poured the two losers another drink just as the cart with Mollie strapped to it was being wheeled through the room.
Laura came to me. "I'm going with her. That's the only way we could get her to go," she informed me.
"Tess, you're not leaving us," one of the waiting men said. He seemed to know her.
"I'm afraid I have to go with my friend," Laura said to the man, "we'll see you next time."
"Aw Tess, we drove a long way to see you. These other girls don't stack up next to you."
Laura laughed the bawdy harsh laugh I had heard her use in the hotel bar one night over two years before. She grinned shamelessly at the man. He rose as if he was going to approach her.
Laura took me by the arm and guided me to the two policemen. "Thank you boys, Chief Slocum is going to hear what a big help you've been to us tonight." The man had stopped and was watching us.
Turning to me, Laura touched my cheek with her small hand. "I hate to ask but will you stick around and see to it that everyone clears out?"
As I agreed to stay Laura kissed me, long and intense.
"Wow, he must be your old man," the man standing in the middle of the room said.
"That's right Sully, he's my old man," Laura said as she strolled to the door, lavishly swinging her hips.
The two policemen said that if there was nothing more they could do they would be on their way. We watched from the door as the ambulance pulled away. Walking on air because Laura had said that I was her old man, I told the two police officers that I could manage and thanked them once more for what they had done for us.
I watched the operation from the hallway entrance. Ralph would knock on a door and the couple would appear shortly after. When the room was occupied again he would watch from his hide-away station. When the door opened he would take long strides to collect the money from the outstretched arm.
Three of the four working girls took two guys each to their rooms and Rachel coaxed one more to her room before we closed for the night. The men all wanted Kelley. I couldn't blame them. She really looked hot and her saucy personality gave her an edge on the docile disposition of the other girls.
Ralph motioned for me during a lull in the action. He had made a pot of coffee. "We don't usually let them drink in here. We're not licensed for liquor and those cops saw you pouring drinks. Give all these guys a cup of hot black coffee and make sure the drivers are sober when they leave."