Deja Vu

Detective Luis Sanguida is going incognito tonight.

What if he's recognized by some lowlife criminal he has confronted in the interrogation room? Luis thinks that a place like Club Eros is probably crawling with pimps, scam artists, and drug dealers. He feels a little more comfortable hidden behind wrap-around shades and a black, two-day-old stubble. That way he might blend in with the crowd.

He's surprised to see gorgeous women in sexy clothing accompanied by wealthy men arriving in expensive cars. It looks more like a society event than a sex club. The detective shows the Gold VIP pass which Contessa gave him at the police station, and is ushered inside by a half-naked escort who leads him to the bar.

"He's a Gold Pass," she tells the bartender, then smiles at Luis. "Everything is on the house."

Sanguida looks for Contessa, but there isn't anyone he recognizes in the glitzy room- just people who look like movie stars and millionaires, not criminals. People are all talking loudly at the same time, the excitement in their voices suggesting anticipation of some coming spectacle.

He finishes his first glass of champagne and is on another one when a gong sounds. A pair of gilded doors swing open. An attractive woman- braless in a sheer blouse- beckons the crowd inside, where another one dressed the same way leads them to plush seats arranged around three sides of a low stage. Luis' VIP pass gives him front row centre, right beside the low stage.

When everyone is assembled, the house lights go down, and a throbbing Brazilian beat booms through the powerful sound system. A beautiful mulatto dressed for Brazilian Carnival shimmies onstage and shakes her curvy body in time with the music. She wears a feathered mask, and a jeweled bikini, with some sort of filmy train reaching almost to her towering heels.

Luis knows it isn't Contessa and hopes he hasn't come on the wrong night.

Bit by bit, the energetic dancer doffs everything but her mask and shoes, leaving her totally exposed to her rapt audience. Her big breasts are capped by taut nipples pierced with shining metal loops of jewelry. She drops to her knees on the floor right in front of Luis.

Now the performer is moaning, pretending to be aroused. The excited audience is so distracted they hardly notice two men bringing a leather divan onstage. They position it just behind the kneeling dancer, and when her extended sexual tease is done, she uses it to come back up to her feet. The woman bows while the audience cheers her lewd performance, waiting for more of the heated action.

A second dancer suddenly appears and sways up beside the naked exhibitionist. She wears the same Carnival costume, with a mask and big heels. They hug, then kiss, before separating enough to dance to the sexy Latin rhythm pouring through the room.

Gradually the original dancer strips the second, until she too wears only a mask and shoes. Her body is magnificent, toned and tanned, with luscious breasts. Luis recognizes that it's Contessa, and her intensity tells him that she's probably on Ecstasy tonight- just like she said.

They French kiss some more as the music changes to a slower, more erotic beat. Contessa takes the mulatto's face in her hands and devours her lips. At the same time, the other woman caresses Contessa's chest with one hand, while exploring her sex with the other.

There's a roar of approval from the rapt audience as the two women shamelessly make hot lesbian love.

"Love her body!" one woman calls out, followed by others.

"Fuck her!" watchers urge. "Give it to her!"

So, the performers do just that. Before long, Contessa and her female partner are stretched out in a soixante-neuf position, lapping one another. They writhe on the divan, making sure that their cries of pleasure drown out the sensuous jazz which now provides the background for their unabashed public sex.

This is what all the beautiful people came to see tonight. Their private fantasies are being acted out in living colour only a few metres away. It's like sitting in on a porn movie in the making. No, this is more like directing a porn flick, because the performers are doing everything that the crowd calls for. Nothing is private here. Everything is on display.

The exhibitionists are acting out their own fantasies too, driving each other closer and closer to orgasm. Is it real or faked? They're so convincing that it's too hard to tell. Their chests heave as breath comes hard while their fingers work faster and deeper, probing every erotic spot.

Finally, after a long time feasting on succulent female flesh, both peak together, before slumping back to the divan.

Thunderous applause follows their bows as they exit the stage.

****

Contessa had spotted Detective Sanguida before the show, and asked one of the escorts to bring him to the changeroom as soon as her performance was finished.

There, she introduces him to her dance partner 'Electra' who, like her, wears only a robe- left open to cool off. Luis can feel the heat from their ripe bodies and stiffens with excitement.

"You enjoyed the show?" Electra comments, and he shakes his head enthusiastically.

"You'll like this even more, Luis. Come onto the sofa with us," Contessa orders.

"Let's get his clothes off first."

"Oh look... he's ready. Do you want to fuck us, Luis?... Good. Over there."

Sanguida is in a daze. Electra's hand strokes his engorged pole as she stands beside him while Contessa settles onto the sofa. Then Ms. Rosario pulls him down beside her, and thrusts her tongue between his unyielding lips. He mumbles his full co-operation.

Then Electra comes to her knees beside the sofa, where she continues to slowly pump his now-devoured rod. Her practiced oral skills bring Sanguida close to the edge very quickly. Worried that he might lose it and end the party too soon, he pushes her away.

"No more! Stop!"

She steps back and goes to her dressing table to take something out of the drawer. Alone with Contessa now, Luis slides between her spread legs missionary style. His rhythmic thrusts soon set her luscious body into motion.

Electra watches for a while, then says something to Contessa in Portuguese. She has a wicked idea and gets an agreeable nod from her friend. Luis' partner pushes him back, then scrambles onto all fours in front of him. He doesn't need to be told twice.

For the next half hour, the two sex pros bring Sanguida to the edge and back several times. The women's practiced performance could well have been acted out onstage! They use him until he hardly has the strength to continue. Finally, Contessa and Electra pump Luis hard, giving him the orgasm of a lifetime. It's almost an act of mercy on their part.

"Detective Luis," Contessa purrs as he rasps for breath. "Do I have to come to that dirty old police station anymore? Or could we talk here sometimes instead?"

"Yes!... Here. Right here," he babbles.

Contessa knows that she won't be going to jail with Sanguida on the case.

****

A couple of days later Jaguar and I are waiting for Contessa Rosario's second police interview to come on-screen. It's the follow-up which Detective Sanguida ordered her to appear for after he considered her first session about the death of lawyer Fernando Vila. Jag tells me that at her interview the detective asked for a ticket to her next Club Eros show, "for a friend."

Before things start, we talk about the fast-moving case of precious ancient treasures smuggled from Peru.

"I guess this whole thing is winding down now, eh Jag?" I comment to my old friend.

"Seems that way, though there are still so many unanswered questions."

"But at least the syndicate is finished. The three murders and the arrests. I saw on TV that Emile Urban, who was sourcing rare items at unsupervised digs, has been arrested. And the cops have taken in regional director Tereza Gonzalez for turning a blind eye to his excavations."

"Yes, Carlos, but what's bothering me are all the pieces at auction that didn't come from that region of Peru. Who was supplying that stuff? Inca, Chimu, Moche, Tiwanaku, all the other early civilizations. Most of the items pulled from that auction could not have come from Urban's dig in Nazca."

"What about that old couple in Cuzco? You bought cheap Inca pieces from them which GPS tracked to Portugal. And you saw better stuff in their back room...."

"Sure, but only Inca. Anyway, they've disappeared. Pulled out as soon as the auction of the Peruvian items was cancelled. Not a trace of them yet."

"So, are you thinking that pieces from northern and far southern Peru were coming from different sources, Jag? From other collectors or thieves?"

"Yes, and it could be from other professionals too. Marina and Elena will remember the time up north when we caught a for-profit archaeology business, Olympia Resources, with hidden Moche decapitator god pieces at their site. It would have been sold if we hadn't investigated. Maybe they went back for more? Similar artifacts were pulled from the auction." [Background: New Wife, Old Lover, Ancient Gods in the Loving Wives category.]

Jaguar continues.

"I won't rest 'til I can explain how such a variety of artifacts entered the chain to Belem and Sao Paulo. There might be another smuggling operation going on, completely separate from the one we brought down."

"Damn it, man! There's more?"

"That's my theory, Carlos. Imagine this: remnants of the old Shining Path terrorists raising money for the coming revolution by smuggling drugs and treasures. That's not even mentioning the money from the human trafficking I saw going on up along the border. They care nothing for Peru, only about getting money to buy more guns."

"So, this could go on forever! One thing, Jag. I won't get into anything connected to the Sendero Luminosa! I value my life too much to investigate those vicious bastards."

"This could run very deep. Maybe I'm just being too suspicious, but there's big money in ancient art. Let's see what turns up at international auctions by tracking their pre-sale catalogues, because I think the illegal trade will pick up again as soon as this investigation dies down."

"Hey, count me out of the next round if there is one. I want a nice, settled life with Elena now. No more dangerous excitement."

Suddenly, the computer screen comes to life.

"Carlos, there's Contessa and the detective now. The interview is starting. Do you remember her?"

"How can I forget, Jag? After watching her with that guy Fernando right in front of us!... Yeah, that's her, but she has some clothes on today," he jokes.

"Still looks hot.... Shhh."

"Hello Ms. Rosario. I'm glad to see that you came for your interview. I didn't want to send the police out to pick you up," Detective Sanguida begins in a relaxed way.

Luis wears a sly little smile that makes me think he got laid on Saturday night.

"No, you told me to come and here I am. What do you want to find out today, Luis?" Contessa replies with real familiarity.

Hmm.... I was right. She took him to her dressing room after the show, for sure.

"I have many questions about this whole situation with you and Roberto Gonzagos and Ferando Vila."

"Didn't we already cover that? I told you that I didn't do it. That Fernando overdosed with the drugs he got from JoJo Morrisette, his driver. What else is there?"

"I said that we'd be comparing your information to Gonzagos' police interview in Belem. He disagreed with you on some points."

"What! I told the truth."

"Well, you said he brought a bottle of liquor to the little threesome on the second weekend he visited Vilas. He claims it was you, that he didn't bring anything."

"OK, I might have got that wrong, but it seems like a little thing to me."

"A small thing, yes. But what if you actually brought more Ecstasy than you claim? You said a total of three tabs. If it was really six or even nine, you could have supplied the drugs that killed him. That difference in one number would put you in serious trouble."

"I swear it was three. What did Roberto say about it?"

"In his words, 'a few', so it obviously wasn't six or nine mollys."

"Good. Any other differences between what we said, Detective?" Contessa asks politely, shifting her legs apart enough to give Sanguida a good view.

"Another detail," he says slowly, distracted by the flash of white. "You said that he argued with your boss the second time he came to the office. Gonzagos claims that it was on the first visit there. He was angry about his stepfather's death and says he came to confront Vila, thinking that he might have had something to do with it."

"I didn't hear any of it, just their raised voices. Yes, I suppose their argument could have been on the first visit."

"Ms. Rosario, you need to get your facts straight. This is an important detail. Was the argument on the first visit or the second. Try to remember."

"Hmm... the first I guess, because on the second visit both of them were friendly afterward and the three of us had dinner together. I think Roberto really just came for me the second time."

"OK, that's what he said too."

Then Detective Sanguida doesn't say anything for a while as he reviews his notes.

I comment to Jaguar that the cop seems to be giving his suspect an easy ride, and my friend reminds me that she'd given him a ticket to her live sex show, with a backstage pass. It already seems to be paying benefits.

While she waits, Contessa shifts her body position again to ensure that he gets a good look at her long legs and full breasts. He notices, and lurid images of those legs wrapped around his body on Saturday night light up his brain. Finally the detective resumes.

"You know that Antonio Da Silva was killed too, and the murderer is still at large."

"Yes, but I can't tell you anything about it."

"Did DaSilva ever come to Sao Paulo to see your boss?"

"Yes, a few times."

"Did they meet at the office?"

"Yes."

"And go to the club after?"

"Yes."

"And back to the mansion for sex with you while Vila watched?"

"Every time. We never went out for dinner or anything else with him. The guy just wanted me! He was like an animal!"

"But Fernando told you to do it, right?"

"Yes."

"And you liked it?" the detective adds, enjoying this very sexual exchange.

"A little, at first. But he was so rough! Sometimes he grabbed my throat and that scared me. Fernando told him to stop a few times."

"Did he get angry with Da Silva?"

"A little."

"Enough to kill him?"

"Not for that. I think Fernando liked to see me used, but not bruised. He let Antonio go too far before stopping him."

"That must have been awful. Did he ever hurt you, Ms. Rosario?" Sanguida asks sympathetically.

"Some tiny marks. But I was afraid."

"This must be distressing to you, so let's talk about something else.... You worked in the office. What do you know about their business relationship?"

"Not much. Parcels would come from Manaus, and I was under strict orders not to open them."

"So you never saw what was inside them?"

"One came in tatters and I didn't know it was from Antonio. I opened it and there was an old woven blanket inside. Fernando hung it from the wall in his meeting room."

"He was smuggling old things in from Peru and selling them for big profits. Did you know that?"

"No. He was rich but I figured it was family money and his law office."

"No idea about the smuggling?"

"None. I swear."

"OK. Thank you, Ms. Rosario. That will be all for now."

She has a question as she gets up to leave.

"Luis, did 'your friend' enjoy my show the other night? Contessa asks in her sexiest voice.

"Yes, and thank you for the ticket, Ms. Rosario," the detective replies rather formally, considering they had rampant sex together in her dressing room. But, he's on duty now.

"We know each other well enough Luis, that you can call me Contessa. My close friends all do," she teases, before adding. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

He smiles broadly, but only nods before directing her out the door. Luis hopes to see her again, though not in the interview room.

****

Elena tells the rest of the story....

In the weeks and months after we came back from Portugal, Carlos and I grew closer and closer. We were together every chance we had, and never tired of one another.

What had started as mutual dislike while doing surveillance in Manaus blossomed into something that I'd begun to think would never happen to me. At forty-one years of age, I'd found love.

In the first weeks, I thought that Carlos was a pervert, the way he would watch Antonio having sex with his bar girls across the street in his office. I think he even filmed it sometimes, for what he called surveillance! I know he's a bit kinky, with some of the things we do together. But we love each other, so it excites both of us.

After we came home, I was determined to see my Carlos removed from the gritty world of private investigation. I worried that he'd be shot by some angry lover as he crept about to shoot damning photos of illicit romantic liaisons.

His hours were terrible too, often out late at night in Lima, not the safest place to be. And the work was sporadic, feast or famine, nothing predictable at all.

A confession here: When the Supervisor of Security at the National Museum retired, I used every bit of influence that I could muster to help Carlos win the position. His experiences in surveillance and his knowledge of security technology helped convince the museum director that he would be a good fit for the job.

My subtle flirting with Senor Amandez over coffee in his office probably didn't hurt either. Now my man and I work together at the same prestigious institution.

Interesting, isn't it, how all four of us are at the museum now, and all of them through my influence. I promoted Jaguar as the best candidate for Head of Acquisitions, even though he'd never worked in a museum before.

Then, the two of us brought Marina onboard as a part time docent for English language tours. Now Carlos is employed there too, every member of our little team.

Recently, we all spent a wonderful day in the heart of the city, exploring the early Spanish buildings there. The history and architecture, the art and sculpture is a common interest we all share.

I've been to the district many times, but there's always something more to notice. This time it was the knowing looks which sometimes passed between the three of them. It made me wonder if there was some secret from which they'd excluding me. I found out later that evening while Carlos and I sipped liquored coffees after a delicious meal.

"Something's going on, Carlos. I saw the three of you acting a bit different today. Tonight, you seem a little strange too. Is there a secret here that I'm not part of?" I accused gently.

"Yes, there is, but you are definitely part of it."

That was all he said before continuing to sip his coffee, all the while wearing a strange smile. I waited and waited until I couldn't wait any longer.

"Alright now. What the Hell. Out with it!" I said, raising my voice a bit.

"Out with it. Yes, I guess it is time for that."

Then he reached into his coat pocket to pull out a little cubic black velvet box. Now I knew!

"Elena. You and me forever. What do you say, my love?"

That night I felt like I was floating on air. We made love for hours, some of the sweetest, most tender moments between us ever. Afterward, I couldn't sleep, so I prodded Carlos to begin discussing the next step, our wedding plans. He didn't seem as excited as me, but I reminded myself that he'd been married before while I hadn't. Besides, it was late and he was falling asleep.

"I'll talk to Marina and Jaguar about standing up with us, OK Carlos?"