The Devil Behind the Badge by Rick Jervis

Author:Rick Jervis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-06-13T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

NEWS OF CLAUDINE’S DEATH DROPPED ON SAN BERNARDO AVENUE like an anvil. Even before law enforcement had publicly identified her as the “second body” found on State Highway 255, Claudine’s name had rippled through the cell phones and Facebook messages of her fellow sex workers and friends along the avenue. The theory of Melissa’s temper somehow leading to her death no longer held. It was now evident that someone out there was targeting the sex workers of San Bernardo. Some of the women retreated home to their families for a while to lie low. Others huddled in motel rooms and abandoned lots, sharing intel on clients and pocketknives. San Bernardo Avenue, once humming with illicit activity, grew quiet as church on Sunday.

On the evening of Friday, September 14, a group of sex workers gathered in room 138 at the Siesta Motel. Some cried; others asked about the whereabouts of other women they hadn’t seen for a few days, wondering if they, too, had been targeted. The group didn’t emerge for more than two days. “They were really scared,” motel manager Rose Ortiz remembered later.

Still others returned to work. The threat of a killer loomed over the avenue, but even stronger in some women was the menace of a painful heroin withdrawal. Berto and Iris, the couple from the Relax Inn who often let sex workers sleep on their hotel room floor, counseled some of them to travel in groups and check out any cars before getting into them.

Less than twenty-four hours after Claudine’s murder, some of the women on the avenue, including Janelle, Chelly, and Erika Peña, were back out on the street, looking for a quick score.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.