Ch.37Pursuit! (4)

#037

After another day of diligently slacking off with Jesse, Dexter headed to the prison parking lot.

Under the parking lot streetlight, he spotted Jimena fidgeting in front of his black Cruze. She looked like she was about to jump up and down in excitement over being released from her disciplinary action.

Dexter approached the grinning Jimena and snorted, “You’re going to split your mouth open like that.”

“Try being stuck in that underground office like me, Mr. Hughes. Not seeing the outside world makes you so restless.”

When Jimena responded to Dexter’s comment with an indignant tone, Dexter added his own appeal about his difficulties.

“I spend 12 hours a day looking at criminals and prison bars too, you know.”

“…Do you enjoy winning petty arguments with me?”

“Yes. Immensely.”

“Seriously? Unbelievable.”

“But you still have to come investigate with me, right?”

Jimena pushed out her lower lip and said, “I’m taking my own car.”

“Fine, whatever.”

As Dexter carefully observed Jimena’s sulky expression and promptly headed toward his pickup truck, Jimena shouted angrily.

“You’re really going to leave?!”

“Just getting my civilian clothes.”

Dexter pointed to the soft dress shirt and gray jeans on the passenger seat of his pickup truck.

“Last time I tried investigating in my uniform, it was uncomfortable.”

“…Ugh.”

“I’ll change quickly and be right back. No peeking.”

“You really never back down from a fight!”

“If you want to peek, I can open the window for you.”

“I’m not looking!!”

Dexter watched Jimena turn away with a huff, then quickly changed clothes in his pickup truck and came back out.

“Be honest, Ms. Hughes.”

“About what?”

“You meet with me because you enjoy teasing me, right?”

“Maybe half the reason?”

When Dexter got into Jimena’s car with an annoying expression, Jimena started the engine and said, “If only you weren’t so playful.”

“Don’t worry, that’s never going to change.”

“Tsk.”

Jimena clicked her tongue at Dexter’s response and drove off.

The weather was starting to get warmer, but the evening was cool as expected in the desert, so Dexter had the window open and was enjoying the view outside.

“It’s amazing that people live around these rocky mountains.”

“I know, right?”

“You’re not originally from Las Vegas, are you, Jimena?”

“I’m from Miami.”

Learning that she came from Miami near Cuba explained Jimena’s light tan complexion.

“Wow, that’s practically the southern edge of the country.”

“That’s why it’s hard to visit home. I should go see my parents sometime.”

“You should take a vacation.”

“I know. When I take time off, I definitely need to go home.”

Jimena glanced at Dexter as she spoke, but he was busy taking in the desolate rocky mountains.

Jimena gave Dexter a dissatisfied look before focusing on her driving.

Shortly after, the two arrived at a small town called “Calico Basin” near Red Rock Canyon.

This was reportedly where the two women, whose identities were still unknown, had been living.

“They obviously haven’t been living here permanently.”

“Apparently they gave the landlord crisp hundred-dollar bills. And with non-sequential serial numbers too.”

Bundles of bills with sequential serial numbers could be traced through commercial banks, meaning they had mixed money from Bank A and Bank B to make it difficult to track.

“They were thoroughly prepared.”

“Don’t you think your theory is becoming more and more plausible?”

“We’ll have to see about that.”

The two arrived at a modest house surrounded by a fence made of some unknown white flowering shrubs.

“It’s pretty nice for a rental.”

“It feels more like California than Nevada.”

As they entered the fence, they saw that the garden originally created by the homeowner was well-maintained and undamaged. The plants were well-watered, with no signs of withering.

“They lived here for almost two months, so the landlord couldn’t have maintained it—the women must have been taking care of it, right?”

“Hmm.”

Dexter nodded in agreement with Jimena’s observation and entered the house.

“The initial investigation is already complete, right?”

“Yes. They said they didn’t find anything significant.”

As soon as Dexter entered the house, he saw a living room with immaculate interior decorations that could have been featured in a design magazine.

“Hardly any dust, nothing out of place…”

“No wonder the investigation didn’t yield much.”

Jimena went to check the bathroom first, while Dexter entered what appeared to be the largest room.

Even in the largest room, nothing seemed particularly noteworthy. The only distinctive feature was the extremely thin, provocative clothing in the closet.

“Wearing things like these to seduce men, no wonder they fall head over heels.”

Dexter pulled out one of the garments hanging in the closet, a nearly see-through sleeveless shirt, and examined it.

Having found nothing special in the bathroom, Jimena entered the room where Dexter was and began rummaging through another dresser.

“Find anything on your end?”

“Th-these underwear are something else…”

Jimena lifted a colorful lace thong with two fingers as she searched through a drawer.

“H-how does anyone wear something like this?”

Seeing Jimena blush so intensely that she might have erythrophobia, Dexter approached her with his hands in his pockets.

“Come on, you’re not a child. You’re quite conservative, aren’t you?”

“B-but no matter how you look at it, this is a bit much…”

“Many women wear things like this for special occasions with their boyfriends.”

“R-really…?”

Despite Dexter’s explanation, Jimena still seemed confused as she put the underwear back in the drawer and cleared her throat.

“…Still, this is too much.”

Dexter watched Jimena glance at him before hurriedly moving elsewhere, and he giggled quietly where she couldn’t see him.

After about 30 minutes of searching, they still couldn’t find any evidence. The trash cans were completely empty, and there was nothing that looked important even in the large suitcases.

“It’s unusually clean for a house where two women lived, but there really isn’t anything special here.”

“Even the headquarters conducted a thorough investigation and found nothing… Wait, Mr. Hughes.”

“Yes?”

“What did you just say?”

Seeing that Jimena seemed to have realized something from his words, Dexter rolled his eyes around before answering.

“That there’s nothing special?”

“Before that!”

“That it’s unusually clean for a house where two women lived?”

“Two women!”

With those words, Jimena pointed her index finger at Dexter and immediately ran toward the bathroom, with Dexter following behind.

“There are toiletries, but something’s missing.”

“Missing?”

“Feminine hygiene products!”

When Dexter stared blankly, not understanding, Jimena elaborated.

“I didn’t see any pads or tampons in the bathroom cabinet! If two women lived here for almost two months, there’s no way there wouldn’t be feminine hygiene products in the bathroom cabinet!”

“Oh?”

Now that she mentioned it, it made sense.

This was a clue that male OSA agents or Dexter wouldn’t have noticed. And it significantly increased the possibility that the two women weren’t actually women but alien fugitives from the planet of succubi.

“And there are no razors either.”

Jimena said as she rummaged through the bathroom cabinet.

“Why razors?”

At Dexter’s casual question, Jimena paused, then glanced at him and said:

“Well, for shaving legs or underarms…”

“…Are you the shaving type, Jimena?”

Dexter mimicked shaving his leg with a razor as he asked, and Jimena promptly answered.

“I use laser… No, that’s not relevant!”

“Heh.”

Seeing Jimena’s face turning various shades of red and blue, Dexter barely suppressed his laughter and, pretending to be serious, pointed to the front door leading outside.

“I’ll check the mailbox.”

“…Stop laughing, seriously.”

“Hey, who’s laughing?”

“You are, you!”

As Jimena approached Dexter with clenched fists and huffing, Dexter quickly walked outside.

When Dexter reached the gray mailbox and opened it, he found an electricity bill notice and a white envelope with a name written on it.

Since the letter had been delivered today, it seemed the OSA agents hadn’t discovered it yet. While the electricity bill statement was nothing special, the sender’s name on the white envelope was a bit unusual.

“DAVN Adult Entertainment Expo?”

There was a recipient address, but below the address, instead of a name, it only said “To the Subscriber.”

Moreover, the initials DAVN seemed familiar from somewhere.

“DAVN. DAVN… Ah!”

It was the title of an adult magazine that a foster brother had hidden under his bed when Dexter was young.

“I wonder how he’s doing now?”

For Dexter, he was a grateful brother who had introduced him to adult content early.

Though not his biological brother, Dexter remembered the brother who had treated him well, and without hesitation, he opened the envelope to check inside.

Inside was just one glossy promotional flyer featuring a half-naked woman in a provocative pose, lying on velvet fabric and beckoning with her hand.

Although no one was around, Dexter still glanced around before lowering his gaze to read the short text below.

“We invite you fans to the DAVN Adult Entertainment Expo, the world’s largest adult culture expo, located at the Sands Expo… The date is… today?”

Most of the participants listed were actors and broadcasters who appeared in adult films or pornographic works.

Dexter didn’t think this flyer had arrived by coincidence.

“Just the fact that it says ‘To the Subscriber’ means those women subscribed to it… They must have subscribed because they were planning to attend this expo, or at least had an interest in it.”

The Sands Expo was also the name of a convention center near the Las Vegas Strip. It would be a bit of a distance from here, but the two women might have been waiting around the convention center beforehand.

“This definitely feels like they were targeting something.”

When Dexter went back inside the house, Jimena was taking pictures with the bathroom cabinet open.

“Jimena, take a look at this for a moment.”

When Dexter handed the flyer to Jimena, she took it without suspicion and started reading, then was startled.

“What is this! Why are you showing me something like this?”

“It was in the mailbox. It was inside an envelope addressed to ‘To the Subscriber.'”

Jimena, who initially thought Dexter was playing another prank, stared intently at the flyer and said:

“So those women must have subscribed… Oh, the date is today?”

“That’s why we need to go to this expo.”

“What?”

Jimena was clearly making a face that said she didn’t want to go.

“We have to go for the investigation.”

“No, but this is a bit… And with you, Mr. Hughes…”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Anyway, it’s just… Do we really have to go there?”

“Don’t you want to catch those women, or rather, aliens?”

“We do need to catch them, but…”

After hesitating, Jimena sighed deeply and looked at Dexter.

“I guess… we have to go?”

“Of course we do.”

Jimena walked weakly toward her car with a tearful expression and said:

“Let’s go, we…”

“Why do you look like you’re about to die? It’s just a new experience.”

“I don’t want to do this…”

“Come on, this is an investigation. An investigation. Let’s go quickly. You brought the equipment, right?”

“Yes…”

Unlike the gloomy Jimena, Dexter was smiling so widely that the corners of his mouth were practically stabbing his cheeks.

“Come on, let’s go!”