Itsy Bitsy Spider
By Michael Bracken, first published in Tough
A hired thug and private eye meets his match in a young woman pretending to be a victim in need of saving. He realizes too late she's far more dangerous than the man she asks him to find.
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Plot Summary
Private investigator Moe Ron meets his most interesting client yet when seductive college student Mona Peterson appears in his office. She needs his help - her English professor forced her to sleep with him, but didn't raise her grade as promised. Moe Ron, instantly infatuated, threatens the professor involved and returns to his other work - primarily, tracking down debtors for a bonds seller alongside a tattoo artist named Millie. They catch a cross-dressing debtor and return to work. When Moe Ron walks into his office, he finds Mona Peterson once again at his desk. This time, she needs somewhere to stay for the holidays - she can't go home, and she hasn't gotten her trust fund allowance for the month. He reluctantly agrees to give her the spare room, but Mona has other ideas. She seduces Moe Ron and they sleep together. Mona slowly intertwines herself with Moe Ron's life. She steals his spare key and lets herself into his house as she pleases, even accompanying him as he and Millie once again pursue the same cross-dressing debtor. One day, a man comes to Moe Ron's office and threatens him to never contact Mona again - on order of her father. He and Mona drive away in a stretch limo, leaving Moe Ron to deal with the fallout of the debtor he rounded up, who hangs himself rather than be sent to prison.