I had been on the case for nine months now and wasn’t any closer to catching her as I was the day I started. Every time I thought I would get close, she’d just scamper away and turn up in another city in another state. I was on the trail of the Black Widow. Since I left the police to go private I haven’t had a case I couldn’t close. Working for the Vegas PD, I was bound by laws, regulations, and politics. On my own I could take a few short cuts. My client was Steve Salvadore. He got himself into a little trouble last year while on vacation in Atlantic City. He’s in a bar one night and runs into this hot looking babe. The have a few drinks, have a few laughs, and she lures him up to her room. One minute he’s making out with her, thinking he’s gonna score, and the next he wakes up tied to the bed. This is where it gets really weird. She used this drugged lipstick to knock him out and then covered the poor sap with lipstick marks that needed a special remover to wash off. She then takes his cash, credit cards, ATM codes, and goes out and racks up about eighteen grand and withdraws a bunch of cash out of his bank. He has no choice but to agree with her because she threatens to leave him there without the remover and then threatens to kill him with this black poison lipstick if he squeals on her. When I heard the story I thought he was crazy. Then I saw the remnants of some of the lipstick marks he didn’t have quite enough remover to get off. He got most of it off, but ran out and still has some kiss prints on his legs and thighs. He’s tried everything. Been to doctors, specialists. Turns out there’s nothing out there that will touch the stuff. His whole life has been screwed by this bitch. Wife left him. Seems she didn’t like his new shade of lipstick. Going through a messy divorce. So he hired me. I’m to track her down, get more remover, and shut her down. A friend of mine at the Vegas PD did a composite sketch of her. I’ve circulated it out all over the place. Must have chatted with every bartended in Vegas, Atlantic City, New York, and LA. I had been coming up empty until one day my cell phone rang. It was a Vegas number. I opened up my flip phone, “This is Frank Malone.” “Still looking for that black haired beauty Frank?”, a mans voice came through the phone. “Yeah, who’s this?”, I asked. “Chris Harris from the MGM Grand. I work in the bar here and think I may have seen your girl. Still offering the reward?” “I am.”, I replied. “When did you see her?”, I asked. “I was on my lunch break and chatting with one of the girls at the front desk and this really sexy looking babe comes up and checks in. Real mysterious looking, but hot! She signed in about 15 minutes ago under the name Johanna Black. I’m telling ya Frank this has to be her. Looked just like the sketch you gave me.” “Ok, Chris. I’m heading over there now. Try and find out what rooms she’s in for me, but don’t talk to her. My client doesn’t want her to know he’s trying to find her, and I don’t want to scare her off.”, I said. Chris replied, “Ok. Sounds good. I’ll be in the bar tonight, I’m pulling a double. Don’t forget the cash Frank.” “If this is her, you get the cash. Just keep an eye out for me and call me if you have anything new.”, I answered and hung up. I shut my computer off and stood up from my desk. I looked at the sketch on the wall and wondered if the woman Chris had seen was really her. If it was, she’d come right to me. He knew that if she’d been hitting Atlantic City, Vegas would be a spot she would try too. I was about an hour away from the MGM Grand. I walked up the steps from office in the basement to the living room of my house. It was small, but with no wife or kids I didn’t need a big place. I opened the door to my closet and took my 9mm from the shelf and checked the clip. I slipped it into my jacket and grabbed my keys. I started my Crown Vic and made my way down to the strip. I opened up my flip phone and dialed Steve’s number. This was the first solid tip on the Widow I had in months so I thought I’d better call my client. “This is Steve.”, he answered. “Steve. Frank Malone. I wanted to call you and give you an update.”, I said. “Hey Frank. You find the bitch?”, he asked me. “Solid lead Steve. Contact of mine at the MGM Grand in Vegas saw a woman matching the skecth check in a little while ago. Swears it’s her. I’m on my way now to check things out.” “If it’s her - you catch her. Make her give you more of that remover. That whore has ruined my life.”, he ordered. “I’ll keep you informed of what’s going on.”, I assured him. “If I think it’s her I’ll move in. I gotta go. I’m just now arriving. I’ll talk to you soon.”, I hung up. I pulled in and parked at the MGM. I checked the safety on my Glock again and secured it under my jacket. I made my way through the lobby and over to the bar. I saw Chris behind the bar serving up drinks. I made my way over and caught his attention. He looked up at me and gave me a nod as he finished pouring a drink. He looked over my shoulder and nodded again. I turned and looked behind me and scanned the room. Across the lounge was the woman he had called me about sitting at a table chatting with a guy. I moved to the bar and took a seat so I could observe. Chris finished and approached me. “You see her?”, Chris asked. “I do. Don’t stare. Look at me.”, I said. “Frank that looks just like the girl in the picture you gave me. Don’t you think?”, Chris asked. “It could be. But my client doesn’t want her to know we’re trying to find her so keep it cool. Who’s the guy with her?”, I asked. “He sat down and bought her a drink a little while ago. Been flirting over there ever since.”, he answered. “Good job Chris. Once I find out this is who I’ve been looking for you’ll get your reward.”, I said. “Ok. Don’t forget. I have to get back to work now. I’ll check in with you later.”, Chris headed back behind the bar and back to serving drinks. I watched the two of them chat for about an hour. She was gorgeous. She was about 26. Maybe 5’8”. She was dressed in a classic little black dress. Long, jet black hair. Beautiful face. Could have been a model. Great curves. Black high heels. Bright pink lips. Chris was right. She was hot. And, she did look just like the picture. I studied her every move. The two of them were having a good time. He was about 40. Italian. Tan. Nice suit. Couple of gold chains and possibly wearing a Rolex. There chatting continued and then I saw them lean in close together. They kissed. When they were done she sat back in her chair and wiped the corners of her mouth. They continued to talk for a few more minutes and then the guy got up and staggered his way to the restroom. While he was gone I moved to the other side of the lounge at sat down at a nearby table with my drink. I was sitting behind her a couple tables away. She reached for her purse and pulled out a compact and a tube of lipstick. She opened the compact and raised it. She popped the top off a tube of lipstick and slowly applied it to her lips. It was a bright pink color that screamed, kiss me. She layered it on multiple times and then put the cap back on and checked her work in the mirror. She then pulled out a long tube of lipgloss and untwisted the cap. She pulled out the applicator and glided it across her bottom lip and then the top. As she did her lips glistened in the light. This had to be her. She was getting ready to make her move. He returned a minute later and before he could sit down she stood and whispered something into his ear. She took him by the hand and they walked over to the bar. They ordered a couple more drinks and then made there way out into the lobby. I rushed over to Chris and interrupted his work. “Chris! How did that guy pay?”, I asked. “Room charge.”, he answered. “Quick! Tell me what room!”, I asked. “1404”, he looked down at the receipt. I made my way out of the bar and into the lobby. They were no where to be found. I quickly made my way to the elevators and pressed the call button. The doors slid open and I stepped inside. I pushed the button for the fourteenth floor and anxiously watched the numbers light above the door. The doors opened and I peeked outside the elevator to the left and to the right. No sign of them. I moved down the hall to 1404 and put my back to the wall on one side of the door. I put my ear to the door but couldn’t hear a thing. I looked down at the do not disturb sign on the door and slowly and quietly turned the knob. Locked. Shit! Were they in their? Was this the right room? What if they went to her room? I walked down the hall to the beverage machine. I put in a dollar and got a soda. I was going to have to wait and watch. To think I had come so close and I might be blowing it. Two hours had gone by. A few people had come and gone, but no movement from 1404. I heard the sound of a door opening from down the hall and watched. It was her! She stepped out of the room and closed the door checking to make sure it was locked. She made her way down the hall and approached me at the beverage machine on her way to the elevator. She looked up and made eye contact with me. She smiled with her bright pinks lips and walked past me. I pulled out my 9mm from my jacket and held it down at my side. I walked up quickly behind her and put the barrel of the gun against her back and grabbed her shoulder. She froze in place, “Don’t move Widow.” She slowly turned her head to look behind her and caught a glimpse of me, “I’m sorry. Do we know each other? Widow?” “I know who you are. Now let’s go back to the room.”, I turned her around and took her purse from her. I walked her back down the hall and to the room door. “So you’re a cop?”, she asked slyly. “Shut up and don’t make a sound.”, I ordered. I opened up her purse and took the room key out and unlocked the door. I motioned her to go in ahead of me at gunpoint. We walked inside the room and she stood up against the wall. I closed the door behind me and secured it. I walked further into the room and was in awe of what I saw. There on the bed was her latest victim. He was lying naked on the bed asleep. His wrists had been bound to each side of the bed posts. His face and body were covered in red lipstick kisses. His lips were smudged in the same bright pink lipstick that she was wearing now. I moved to his side and checked his pulse and breathing while keeping my gun trained on the Widow. He was alive but breathing really shallow. I looked at her in wonder, “Why do you do this?” “Because I can.”, she said in defiance. “You’re one sick twisted bitch.”, I said. I moved over to her and led her into the bathroom. I took some cuffs out from behind my back and raised her arms up over the shower bar and handcuffed her. As I did she moved her face towards mine and opened her pink lips and leaned towards me. I quickly bent backwards and took a step back. She stood up straight and smiled failing at her attempt to lock lips with me. I had her. “I love to play with handcuffs.”, she said. “As you can see, I’m way into bondage.”, she said. I put her purse on the counter of the bathroom and looked inside. It was full of makeup. Lipsticks, glosses, mascaras, blushes, powders, and nail polishes. There were also a bunch of little pill bottles, perfume bottles, and cigarette case. I searched her wallet for some form of ID but there was none. I found a bunch of cash and credit cards that probably belonged to the poor guy in the next room. “Before you take me downtown why don’t you take off these cuffs and we can have a little fun?”, she asked. I walked back over to her. I grab her by the waist and ran my hands up her stomach and over her tits. I slide my hands up her arms and touched her hands that were cuffed above her outstretched arms. She squints her eyes in pleasure and puckers her glittery pink lips. “Kiss me….”, she asks. I reach over to the towel bar and remove a washcloth. I wipe her lipstick from her lips as she tries to pull away. She shakes her head in defiance, “You mother fucker. Now your dead.”, she said with a cold stare. “Listen honey. You’re not going to trick me. I know all about you.”, I toss the lipstick covered washcloth in the tub and grab her chin. “Not so dangerous now are you?”, I rub my finger over her bare pale lips. “If you know who I am that means someone broke the rules. And once I’ve taken care of you, I’ll have to go take care of them.”, she said as she studied me. “So you’re not a cop? You’re a PI..”, she said. “Very intuitive.”, I replied. “Not really. Somebody hired you. Gave you a description of me. Somehow you tracked me down. Now, before your luck changes listen up. I can make you a very rich man. Whatever this guy is paying you, I’ll triple. I’ll pay you in cash and we go our separate ways. It can be that easy.”, she proposed. I walked over to her purse and showed her the contents, “Which one of these is the remover?” “The red glass bottle.”, she answered. “So all this guy has to do is use this stuff and he can wipe the lipstick off?”, I asked. “Yep. It’s the only stuff that will take it off.”, she answered. I left her in the bathroom and walked into the bedroom. I tapped the guy on the cheek but he wasn’t waking up. I took his shirt and sprayed some of the remover on his arm and wiped away the lipstick. It worked. I returned to the bathroom, “How much of this stuff do you have?” “Uh-oh. Someone ran out didn’t they? That’s why they hired you. They need more remover. That will be the least of their worries when I get my hands on them.”, she smiled. I walk over to her and grab her throat, “Do you have more or not?” “Yes…”,she gasped through my grip. “I have an apartment nearby with more.” I let go of her throat and opened up my cell phone. I hit the redial button and connect with Mr. Salvatore, “Steve. You’ll never guess who I’m with right now.” “You got her?”, Steve asked. “I have her. She had just trapped another guy the same way she got you.”, I replied. “Does she have the remover?”, he asked. “She does, but I’m gonna leave it here with this guy. She’s got more at an apartment nearby.”, I told him. “Fine. Just watch your back and get more of that remover. And Frank…thank you.”, said Steve. I hung up the phone and looked at my prisoner. She stared back at me coldly. “Here is what’s going to happen. You’re going to untie you victim in the other room. Get all the permanent lipstick off him, and your going to take me to your apartment for more of that remover. If you try anything….”, I push the barrel of the gun hard into her forehead. I grab her purse, remover her cuffs, and take her into the other room. She uses the remover and a washcloth and wipes away at all the kiss marks on her victim. “Make sure you get them all.”, I ordered. She finishes cleaning him up and unties his wrists from the bed posts. “How long will be out for?”, I ask. “I’m surprised he hasn’t woken up yet. Probably will any minute. Would you like me to kiss him again?”, she asked. “Nice try.”, I answer. I take the guys credit cards and cash and put it on the nightstand next to his bed. “We’re going to go down to the lobby and out to my car. If you try anything, and I mean anything…I will shoot you in the fucking back.”, I look her in the eyes. We make our way down the lobby and out the doors to the parking lot. I reach for my keys and open the door to my Crown Vic. I place her in the back seat and get in the front. I start the car and light up a cigarette, “Your doing good. Now where’s your apartment?” “Give me a cigarette.”, she asked. “Where’s your fucking apartment?”, I turn and look back at her. “Give me a cigarette and I’ll tell you.”, she said sarcastically. I pull out my gun and point it at her face, “Tell me where your apartment is or you’ll be a stain on my back window.” “Head east on 34 and take the Woodhaven exit.”, she answered. “Now can I gave a cigarette?”, she asked. I opened up my box of cigarettes and held it up for her to reach. “Ugh, not on of those. In my purse.”, she asked. I grabbed up her purse and opened up her cigarette case and took one out. I handed it to her and flipped open my lighter. She leaned forward and lit her cigarette and sat back down in the seat. “I can’t believe I’ve finally been caught.”, she exhaled. The smoke from her cigarette had a sweet perfume smell to it. “How long have you been doing this?”, I asked. “A couple years now. Was doing really good till you came along.”, she said. “How the hell did you come up with this idea? I mean I was cop and never saw anything like that before.”, I looked at her. “I was a chemistry major in college and then got a job in the cosmetics industry when I graduated. I was in research and development. They wanted me to develop a long lasting lipstick that could be put on in the morning and last all day without touching it up. I accidentally created one that was permanent. It took me months to create a removing agent. Once I did, I made my presentation to the company president. I showed him the formula and my research and he loved it. Problem was that he loved me too. He was old and married and I told him no. He insisted. I told him that I was not going to be bullied into having an affair with him. One day he called me up to his office right before the end of the night. He kept me waiting for hours it was getting late and I was ready to leave and then he told me to come in. He gave a glass of champagne and told me that he could make me rich beyond my wildest dreams with my new creation. All I had to do was be his mistress and all my dreams would come true. Of course I told him no and we began to argue. He grabbed me and tore off my blouse. I was fighting with him, but suddenly I grew weak. I got light headed and dizzy. He had slipped me something in my champagne. He tore my clothes off of me and raped me there on his desk. I tried to scream, but I was too weak. He just had his way with me and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I woke up later that night and he told me that if I told anyone he would fire me. He said my permanent lipstick idea was stupid and to forget about it. He was just using my idea to get in my pants. He told me that he could pick up the phone, make one phone call, and make me disappear. I became enraged. All I could think about from that day on was getting my revenge. I worked day and night for months. Then one day I called him. I told him I had a change of heart and that I wanted to see him. We met at a motel late that night. I kissed him with a special lipstick I had created that had a high dose of Rhohypnol in it. Of course, I developed medication to protect me while I was wearing it. I loved seeing those black beady little eyes rolling up into his forehead. Afterwards, I tied him up and took all his credit cards and cash. But I still didn’t feel like I had hurt him enough. Not for what he did to me. I took my little pill and put on my black lipstick. I climbed on top of him as he started to wake up and began kissing him on the mouth. Slowly my black lipstick covered his lips. Eventually he had on more lipstick than I did. I wanted to make sure it worked so I uncapped it and started smearing it all over his mouth. He tried to struggle. All I could think about was that night he raped me. How dark it made me feel inside. Like my heart had turned black. Just like his lips. He began to choke. The soft tissues in his respiratory system started swelling from the venom in my lipstick. His eyes began to tear and bulge as he gasped for breath. I just kept applying over and over again until…..he stopped breathing. I killed him. And I had finally gotten my revenge. And then I realized something amazing…. I enjoyed it. The feeling of control. The rush. The ability to dominate a man and control his fate. That bastard deserved what he got………………….they all deserve what they get.” I looked at her using my rear view mirror. I saw a single tear run down her cheek. “You need help. What happened to you was wrong.”, I told her. She took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke out, “Sometimes bad things happen to good people…huh?” The aroma of her cigarette filled my car. I thought about what she had told me. Was it true? I had to keep my mind on the money and the mission. I watched the road and the yellow lines in the center of the road as they flew by. I rubbed my eyes that suddenly seemed very dry. I was getting a head ache. My prisoner leaned up from the back seat and slowly blew the smoke from her cigarette directly in my face. “You okay?”, she asked with a slight grin in her face. The sweet smell from the smoke was almost intoxicating. I realized it just then. It was her cigarette! I reached down and started to roll down the window. My eyes began to blur. She leaned up over the seat and grabbed the wheel. I reached for my gun and pull up. She grabs at it and the wheel at the same time. My gun goes out the window. The car swerves to the left and we cross into the oncoming traffic. My eyes grew more blurred as I tried to miss the cars. I slam on the breaks and the cars spins in circles and slams up against the curb of the city street. And then…. The first thing I realized is that I was standing up. But my feet weren’t on the ground. I was naked. My head was hunched over on my chest. I tried to lift it but it felt like it weighed a million pounds. The room was spinning. I opened my eyes to see myself in my own basement. There were ropes tied to the support beams from both sides of the room, almost like a spider web. My arms and legs were stretched out and pulled tight. I couldn’t move. I blinked my eyes and tried to focus. I was totally suspended off the ground and bound tightly in the ropes. I began to pull at the ropes, but they just barely made the other ropes swing. I squirmed back and forth. Just then I felt something on back. “Hello?”, I uttered. Just then a black gloved hand reached out from behind me and pulled against my chest. Then another from the other side. I felt someone breathing on my neck from behind me. “You know a spider knows she has someone trapped in her web when she feels it move.”, a whisper came from behind and into my ear. I felt a tongue slowly run from the back of my neck to my cheek. Long black hair draped over my shoulder as I felt a moist, wet, sticky kiss on my cheek. I turned to look but she was gone. Slowly she walked out from behind me. She turned and walked in front of me. Her shiny black boots came up to her mid thigh. She had on a shiny black corset and long black gloves. Her long, wavy black hair lay across her shoulders and down her back. Her pale white face set off the bright red lipstick on her lips. As I stared at her in disbelief I felt a warm sensation on my cheek where she had kissed me. It started to burn. The pain became unbearable and lasted a minute then began to dissipate. “Ugh… the pain!”, I screamed. “What have you done to me?”, I pulled at my ropes. “How long have I been out?”, I asked. “It’s been over a week. You don’t remember do you? Yeah…smoking can be hazardous to your health.”, she smiled as she took the top off a red tube of lipstick. She twisted the base and a bright red color rotated into view. She slowly applied it to her already red full lips. She moved towards me and climbed up onto the bottom rope and leaned against my naked body. “Let me bring you up to speed Frank.”, she looked into my eyes. “After the car came to a stop some people stopped to help. They wanted to call the police, but I said you had just had too much to drink. I went through your wallet and found your drivers license. I drove us home. It took me quite a lot of work, but I made this web here in your basement and tied you up in it. You were actually pretty cooperative, but you wouldn’t remember that from the amnesic effect of all the drugs you’ve been exposed to. You were very good. You just weren’t very talkative and I need some information from you.”, she climbed down. She opened up a portable DVD player in front of me and switched it on. The screen flickered and a picture came on the screen. It was Steve Salvatore. He was tied to a chair, naked in his house. “I found the number in your cell phone Frank.”, she said coldly. “I had to fulfill my promise.”, she stared into my eyes as I watched the screen. The camera had been recording from a tripod. Slowly she walks naked towards Steve bound to his chair. She straddles him and begins to fuck him. The audio was poor, but I could hear her talking to him. She told him, “I told you what would happen if you told anyone…” She moved up and down on his lap faster and faster. I could hear his moaning become muffled by her kissing him. She kissed him over and over again as she fucked him harder and harder. Suddenly she stands up and moves away from him and off camera. Steve sits there in his chair. There was black lipstick all over his mouth. He was breathing heavier and heavier. The chair shook as he squirmed in it. Suddenly he stopped and his head fell back. The camera shakes for a second then the screen turns black. “Oh my God! You killed him!”, he looked at her. “Only because I made a promise.”, she said. I pulled at my ropes and squirmed in her trap, “Please! Let me go!” “I will let you go my dear.”, she climbed back up and laid against me. “But first I need some information. There was someone at the MGM Grand who knew who I was. Your going to tell me who it was.”, she glared at me. “Why should I? So you can go kill him too? Like you’re going to kill me! Go to hell!”, I shouted. She took her gloved hand and grabbed my chin and stared deeply into my eyes, “You will tell me.” “Fuck you!”, I shouted. She took her hand and turned by head to one side and kissed me hard on the neck. She then stepped down off the bottom rope and reached for her lipstick. “Your going to make this very painful Frank…”, she said as she opened up the red tube and glided the bright red lipstick over her lips. I felt a burning sensation again. On my neck this time. The skin on my neck felt like it was on fire where she had kissed me. I screamed in pain. She finished applying her lipstick and climbed up again. “Tell me his name Frank…”, she moved her bright red lips close to mine. I twisted my head and turned away from her. She leaned down and kissed me on my chest and again stepped down from the rope. I looked down at the red kiss print on my chest. “What the hell is that stuff?”, I asked. “Just a little something I call Smoldering Red.” She smiled as she uncapped her lipstick and again layered it on to her lips. “You pretty much know what it does.”, she finished and recapped the tube. It started to burn again. The pain was incredible. My chest burned like hell where she had left her mark. “It takes a minute, but it reacts with the cells in your epidermis. Pretty much puts them into shock for a good minute or so. Remember the love lotion they came out with years ago that you rub on your skin and then blow on it and it gets warm. Take that and multiply it by say…a million.”, she climbed back up. “Please stop. I can’t take any more.”, I cried. “Sure baby.”, she wiped away my tear. “Just tell me his name and I promise I’ll put away the Smoldering Red lipstick forever.”, she leaned in close to my lips with hers. “I can’t!”, I screamed “I can’t tell you his name knowing you’ll kill him.”, I said. “I couldn’t live with it!”, I cried. “Let’s see.”, she smiled. “The first kiss was on your cheek. The next was on your neck. Then your chest. Do you see where things are heading Frank?”, she grinned. She stepped down off the rope and took my cock in her gloved hand. “Last chance Frank. Wanna tell me his name?”, she stroked me until I became hard. “Please! No! Please don’t!”, I begged as I became fully erect in her hand. “This is going to hurt Frank.”, she said calmly as she took my cock and slowly stroked it with her hand. She brought her bright red lipsticked lips to the head of my cock and licked the tip of it with her tongue. She opened her mouth at closed it over my cock leaving a bright red ring around the top of it. She then did it again and again down my shaft until there were three red rings. She stood up and opened up her lipstick again. I squirmed in her web and pulled against the ropes, but I was tied too tightly. “No!”, I screamed. The pain was unbearable. My cock began to burn from her lipstick. Tears rolled down my face. I was agony. “Do you want some more. I’m gonna cover your whole cock in Smoldering Red.”, she began applying it again. “No! Please!”, I begged. She took my cock in her hands started to open her mouth. “I’ll tell you! Chris…Chris Harris. He’s a bartender there. Now please stop!”, I begged again. She walked over to the desk and picked up the phone. She dialed some numbers and then spoke, “Yes hello. I was wondering, do you have a bartender there name Chris Harris? …uh huh. Is he working tomorrow night? Great. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and walked back over to me. The pain was finally subsiding. “Good boy Frank.”, she said confidently. “You should be rewarded.”, she smiled. She reached down with her gloved hand and began stroking me again. She brought her smoldering red lips to the tip of my cock and slowly slid them down and around my shaft. “No!”, I screamed as she slowly smeared the lipstick down my cock. She leaned back to examine her work and then began sucking on my cock harder and harder. She stroked me hard as she sucked faster and faster. It began to burn again. The pain. The agaony. She moved faster and faster as I pulled and twisted in my bonds but I was helpless. I felt my self come in her mouth. She sucked harder and harder. The pain was too much…. I passed out. I jumped as the cold water hit my face and opened my eyes to see her standing there in front of me. She dropped the empty glass to the floor. She was in white pants and a pink top. She had dyed her hair blonde and was wearing white sandals. Her make up was bright and innocent and she wore no lipstick. “How long have I been out?”, I asked. “Long enough for me to do a little shopping and color my hair. I have a date tonight. Think Chris will recognize me?”, she laughed as she walked over to her purse and cleaned up her things. What had I done? She was going to kill him. “So what happens now?”, I asked. She walked towards me holding something behind her back. She climbs up onto the bottom rope and opens up a black tube of lipstick. She twists the bottom and a shiny black lipstick emerges from the tube. She brings it to her lips and slowly paints them in front of me. She glides the lipstick back and forth several times over her top and bottom lips drenching them in the black glossy color. I new I was dead. She reached her hands up and placed one on each side of my cheek, “Aw Frank. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I almost feel bad for you. But, you would have killed me after I had given you the remover for Steve. You know it. You loose. I win.” I looked at her eyes and then at her lips as she slowly brought them close to mine. “Time to die Frank.”, she said coldly. “I’m not you old boss… neither is Chris…”, I utter under my breath. She leans back for a minute and looks at me puzzled. She closes her eyes tightly for a moment and then opens them slowly. She leans in towards me and kisses me softly. I can feel the lipstick stick to my lips. She leans back again and looks at my lips where she kissed them. “Goodbye Frank.”, she leans forward and kisses me again. Tenderly at first. Then harder and harder. I can feel the lipstick cover my mouth. She gets violent and smears it all over my lips back and forth. I feel a numbness in my throat. I try and pull away but her hands hold me firmly in place. It gets harder and harder to breath. I pull the air in through my nose as hard as I can as she continues kissing me. My muscles begin to weaken. I can’t breath. My head begins to swivel as she continues kissing me. Tenderly now. Softly. Then… She approached the door to the MGM Grand and saw her reflection in the glass. She opened the door and made her way across the lobby and to the front desk to check in. She paid in cash. Like always. Another false name on a registration card and the clerk slid her key across the counter, “Enjoy your stay Miss Malone.” She made her way across the lobby and into the lounge. She walked up to the bar and sat down near Chris as he polished some glasses down at the other end of the bar. She opened up her purse and took out her compact. She opened it and checked her lips. She reached into her purse and layered on another coat of bright pink lipstick followed by a touch of shimmering gloss. Chris walked down and placed a cocktail napkin in front of her and gazed at her. “Hi there. What can I get you?”, he smiled. “Whatever your specialty is…”, she smiled as she put away her lipgloss. “Ah… A woman who likes to live dangerously. I like that.”, he smiled and began picking up some bottles and mixing a drink. “You have no idea…”, she flirted back. The end???