The Bouncing Buns Gentleman's Club

Chapter 13

It was mid-morning when Beverly stepped out of the Z4 in front of the police station. The smile Dan put on her face a moment before covered the anxiety she felt as she walked into the station without a clue what to expect.

The station was just as she would have thought on a weekend, a veritable zoo. People were complaining, cursing, milling around, some in small groups, some perhaps conferring with lawyers. The place smelled of urine and vomit partially attributable to a drunken teenager in handcuffs who had not gotten to the restroom in time, wet himself and vomited in the entryway. The poor kid had assumed the fetal position and was being pulled to his feet by a police officer wearing rubber gloves.

Beverly spotted a policeman trying to direct people to various areas. The officer appeared to be overwhelmed by the chaos and Beverly sensed he was ready to either blow up or stroke out at any moment. He was an older man near retirement age, but not quite, and she suspected he was no longer physically able to handle life as a flatfoot. Struggling to avoid being blocked by the crowd, Beverly slowly made her way toward him.

As she got closer, she could see the name Redmond on his badge. Catching his eye, Beverly raised her voice to be heard over the noise in the room.

"Officer Redmond, my name is Doctor Anderson. I was asked to come here to see Agent Baker. Can you tell me where to find him?"

"He's down that hall," Redmond said pointing to his left. "On the right side, in the conference room, ma'am."

"Thank you, Officer Redmond." Beverly said as she proceeded toward the hall. This visit might cause a complete change in my life, she thought. Regardless of what happened, she could not conceive of it ever being quite the same again.

Beverly found the conference room about two thirds of the way down and on the right just as Redmond had said. The room's bright lighting diffused through several frosted glass panels, which allowed her to see only light and movement on the other side. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door causing a blurred figure rise from what appeared to be a table and walk toward her.

The door was opened by a rather tall, sandy haired man in his early forties. He was dressed in stereotypical government attire: the dark suit, white shirt, subdued tie, and black shoes. Aside from this, she found him to be an attractive man with a kind smile.

"Doctor Anderson?" He asked, as he stepped aside to allow her to enter.

"Yes. Are you Agent Baker?" If you are, she thought, you are a very good looking government man in spite of the boring clothes.

"That's right, doctor. Agent Tom Baker, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Please make yourself comfortable. Would you care for some coffee?" Damn attractive woman, he thought. Shame she's caught up in such a horrible mess.

"No thank you. I'm fine, just a little nervous. Can you tell me just what kind of trouble I've stepped into here?"

While pulling a chair out for Beverly to have a seat, Tom said, "let me make sure I understand everything first. CPS tells me you did an evaluation on the daughter of Barbie Martin. Her husband, Robert 'Bud' Turner, runs the Bouncing Buns Gentleman's Club. Is that right?"

"Yes. It was a rather long evaluation taking two sessions. Mr. Turner was there for the first, but not the second. As it turns out, I think that was a good thing. He would likely have gotten very upset with me had he been there."

"OK. The evaluation, which I understand they thought would be totally confidential, disclosed that her daughter, his stepdaughter, Dana Martin, had been and possibly still is the victim of significant neglect, sexual abuse, and possibly physical abuse as well. Is that correct, Doctor Anderson?"