Ch. I: Murder in 33-B
Joseph Masterson, Ph.D., was a professor of religious studies at a major university in Los Angeles. He was a trim, alert handsome man of forty-three with a thin moustache, sharp eyes and impeccably dressed. He flashed around big-time money and had quite the eye for the ladies. Which is why Las Vegas was his favorite place and he made it a point to visit every few months. Joseph was also one of the world's foremost collectors of ancient jade artifacts which was the most important reason he was in sin city this time.
Lilith was playing Blackjack at Joseph's favorite inn when he first saw her. He thought she was way out his league, and everybody else's for that matter. She was something beyond beautiful he thought. Very tall, long black shiny hair, green eyes, a strange beauty mark on her forehead and the face of a devilish angel. A goddess. Her red velvet mini-dress was so skin tight it looked like it was painted on. It had an open back with a multi-tipped wicked collar.
The lady was winning and seemed to have real skill at the game. Joseph was not doing well as usual. The Japanese fellow with him, Miyuki Huang, was doing much better. Neither of the two gentlemen could believe the language the lady was using. Lilith kept saying "Lick Me!" whenever she wanted a hit. She used terminology like "Ernest Hemingway becomes a man" and "Franklin's ace" and the dealer never blinked an eye. He seemed to comprehend her lingo perfectly.
Joseph took a break from the table when Lilith did, and he followed her into the lounge. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asked politely as she sat at a small table in the back.
"Please do, I like company. You didn't seem to be doing well at the table. My name is Lilith."
Joseph introduced himself and said, "No, I wasn't doing very well but you are an incredible player. Of course, you have a distinct advantage. Who can pay attention to cards when you are at the table?"
Lilith laughed and said, "Maybe, but it might help if you did things like play to seventeen when the dealer's up card is a seven or higher, play to twelve and stop when the dealer's card is a six or lower but higher than a three, and stuff like that."
They ordered a drink. "Yours would of course be a Bloody Mary," he joked.
Joseph was thoroughly impressed by Lilith's obvious intelligence and razor sharp wit. Very different than the coeds who frequented his classes he thought, but not much older. He was astounded by her knowledge of history, religion and scripture.
Joseph was not sure if she was actually flirting with him or just teasing and tantalizing him in a friendly way. He said to himself he had to keep her interest if he was going to get anywhere with this one.
"You know of course that Lilith was the first vampire and invented fellatio. Her goal in life was to suck the life force out of a man, his blood and his semen." That being said, Joseph paused, and Lilith roared in laughter. He took that as a cue to continue.
"Lilith was a parasitical predator who used her greatest weapons, her incredible beauty, her aura of sensuality and the skills taught her by supernatural beings to lure men into her snare." Joseph quoted passages from the bible, Isaiah 34:14 and elsewhere, to document his statements. He also said he had copies of Dead Sea Scroll fragments that clinched it.
"Oh, you are simply a shit! Not again! A chick who rides a Harley always gets stereotyped."
"You got a Harley?" he stammered. "Never been on one but I would love it."
"Yeah, right" but are you sure? "It's right outside. Let's go!" She picked up her cape on the way out. Actually it was a distressed brown long leather duster she had dyed green. Large front pockets, backslit with snaps, adjustable cuffs, leg straps and a removable cape.
Joseph couldn't back down now, it wouldn't be the manly thing to do, much to his chagrin.
"That's quite a bike," was all he could say when he saw the Fatboy, and that he said rather weakly.
"Yeah, I like it," Lilith responded nonchalantly. "1993 custom built Fatboy. S & S rods and pistons, Edelbrock hand ported heads, Sifton 141 cam, PM 4-piston rear caliper, Lepera bare bones solo seat with gel pak, Merch performance case, Truett & Osborn flywheels, S & S Super-E with thunderjet, Dyna 2000 ignition and single fire coils, Pro-1 billet forward controls, Avon Super Venoms. It's a cool bike. Actually, I have a '51 Panhead I like better. You saw 'Easy Rider' right?"
Joseph was speechless. Yes, he did see 'Easy Rider' but he didn't particularly want to be in the sequel. He put on one of the German army helmets with the Y-strap and she put on the other. Quite unusual he thought. All of this was unusual but he thought he best play along because he said to himself he would just die for one night with this woman.
Joseph definitely did not take well to Lilith's wheelies and leaning on the curves. He was holding on for dear life and not even in a sensual way.
"Those aren't life preservers," she yelled over her shoulder as Joseph kept squeezing her breasts in a death grip.
Lilith couldn't tell whatever it was Joseph had for lunch. It just looked like vomit to her. But she was quite sure the beetle juice would work better on an empty stomach, and because she had achieved her objective, she turned around and headed back to the hotel.
"You are definitely no biker!" she said to Joseph and chuckled. He was relieved the lady was not ticked off he had barfed on her green cape, which looked very expensive.
"The Dead Sea Scrolls?" she asked, her interest still piqued as they returned to the bar and ordered another drink.
"Yes, yes" he eagerly attempted to continue.
"Wait, wait" she interrupted him. Joseph didn't notice Lilith pull on the waist of her red velvet mini-dress to display even more cleavage. As he gazed down the front, he was not about to argue with anything she said.
Lilith knew he was looking and Joseph knew she knew. "Well, you squeezed the hell out of them when we on my bike, so I guess it's OK if you take a real good look." She broke out in laughter again. "Joseph, I said 'wait' before you start about the Dead Sea Scrolls because my left foot is itching like crazy, would you scratch it for me, please?"
He hit his head on the table on his eagerness to get under there and play with her tootsies and was glad she couldn't see his red face.