by Adan Ramie
"We can't do this," Ruby said, her lips still pressed lightly against Lee's mouth.
Lee stole another kiss. "Really?" Where her hot breath blew across Ruby's pale skin, goosebumps popped up, and Ruby shivered again.
Ruby tried to nod her head, but Lee kissed her again, and the two stumbled into the car without saying another word. Lee pulled the door closed and hit the button to lock the car. She jerked the lever on the seat and it fell back onto the backseat; she toggled a button, and the seat moved back further, so there was ample room between her and the steering wheel.
Lee settled back and pulled Ruby on top of her, her leg between Ruby's as her hands slid over Ruby's slim body. The smell of Ruby's hair and skin so close clouded Lee's brain more than the alcohol pumping through her system. The crush of their mouths together wasn't soft and sweet, but desperate, as if the two could push themselves together to become one.
As they kissed, Lee fumbled with the pearly buttons on Ruby's blouse, eager to feel the delicate skin under her fingertips. Ruby rocked herself back and forth on Lee's thigh, eyes rolled back, as her hands pushed Lee's shirt up to expose flesh crisscrossed with scars. Lee unfastened the last button on Ruby's shirt, and Ruby shrugged it off, then reached behind her to unhook her bra. Lee moaned.
"Are you all right?" Ruby stopped to search Lee's face, her own full of concern. Lee’s heart thumped harder.
"You are so beautiful.” She tried to pull Ruby down for another kiss, but Ruby pulled her up instead, and slipped the damp t-shirt off her body. She bit her lip and her eyes traced over the details of Lee's bare skin before pressing back down, her hands curled in Lee's wild hair.
Lee groaned, her hands on Ruby's hips, and pulled her closer to grind her leg between Ruby's thighs harder; Ruby let out another deep moan, her head tossed back. One of Ruby's hands wandered from Lee's hair down her neck and shoulder to cup Lee's breast. Like a bolt of lightning, a shock raced through Lee's body and a cry of pleasure escaped her mouth.
Her hands slid down Ruby's back and under her jeans to slip her thumbs under the waistband of Ruby's lace underwear. Ruby twisted her hips and jerked on the button of her jeans, then pulled them halfway down with one hand. She moved away from Lee only long enough to kick the jeans from her body.
Ruby pushed Lee's hand between them, down her stomach and between her legs. Lee sucked in a sharp breath as her fingers slipped past the flimsy underwear and inside. Ruby rocked against her, eyes rolled back to show only white, and Lee's free hand found Ruby's breast. She caressed the soft flesh gently, reveling in the milky white skin of the woman on top of her.
As the fervor of Ruby's rocking increased, so did the quickness of their breathing, and the chill, winter air seemed to be sucked out of the car by their hot breath. Lee looked at Ruby through the madness of her need for release, and watched the cold, white skin turn pink with desire. Ruby threw her head back, lost in her own intense pleasure.
Lee could feel the pressure mount. Ruby moaned loudly, her muscles tightening around Lee's fingers, her writhing furious and feverish, until finally Lee felt Ruby release years of pent up aggression, anxiety and frustration. The feeling of her clenching, her moans in Lee's ear, and their bodies pressed so closely together that she couldn't discern one from another - it exploded all at once in Lee's head, and she let go, too.
CHAPTER 20
"I can't stop thinking that we're going to get in trouble," Ruby said. She stared out at the calm, glass-smooth water of the lake by which they sat. "Or that someone is going to find us."
They spent the hours leading up to their wake-up call in the bed as each desperately fought the hangovers that stalked them from hours in the club and their resulting dehydration. When the call came, they had groggily gotten dressed, packed up, and gone back to the car. They drove long hours and stopped only in drive-thrus and gas station bathrooms until nightfall, when Ruby convinced Lee to stop and admire the water.
Lee kissed the back of Ruby's head and draped her arm across Ruby's stomach. "Stop worrying so much." Her voice lowered, and she laid her cheek against Ruby's chest. "We have managed to get halfway across the country without being caught. No one is looking for us now."
"I know," Ruby whispered, and rubbed her fingers across Lee's hands. "I just need some closure. You know?"
Lee nodded, and clasped her hands over Ruby's thin fingers. "We will get our closure one day. For now, we just need to enjoy being free of the abuse, the pain, and the threats."
Ruby closed her eyes, safe in Lee's embrace, and tried to keep her thoughts away from the puddles of blood left pooling beneath more than one body. She told herself that it was self-defense, and no one in the world would blame a woman in danger for defending herself.
"Besides," Lee said, her voice softening with sleep, "there's nothing we can do about it. What's done is done. Sometimes you have to stay the course until another sign forces you to change directions."
Ruby pretended she didn't hear her, and soon Lee's breath came steadily and deeply. She was asleep. Ruby stared out past the water at the thicket of eternally green trees, and wondered what was happening back in her big house, and if anyone suspected yet that she had been party to the attempted murder of her husband, and had run away with the woman who had plunged the knife into his back. She doubted the second part, but the first certainly sounded like a textbook leap - not difficult for any civilian or police officer to make.
"I can't change how I feel," she whispered.
LEE SLUNK THROUGH THE lobby of the quaint apartment building, her eyes on the tidy carpet. She raised her eyes as she reached the elevator and pushed the arrow pointing up. She leaned her weight and the heft of her backpack on one leg, hooked her thumbs in her pockets, and tapped a beat on her jeans with her fingertips.
"Evening, stranger," a woman's voice rasped from beside her. She jumped and the woman chuckled. "I'm sorry, stud. I didn't mean to scare you."
Lee flicked her eyes to the side and took in the sight. The woman was tall, at least a foot taller than her, with long, muscular legs wrapped in navy yoga pants. She wore a white tank top and sports bra, with a thin, gray hooded jacket on top that did little to conceal her chest. Lee bit her lip and met the woman's eyes.
"What brings you here?" The woman took a step toward her.
Lee swallowed through a dry patch in her throat and licked her lips. "House-sitting for friends." She glanced back at the elevator as its doors opened. "After you."
The woman walked in first, turned as Lee joined her, and pushed the button for the sixth floor. The doors closed and the woman eyed Lee. Lee pretended not to notice for a few floors, then turned her head to look the woman in the face.
"It's awfully nice of you to housesit for your friends. Do they live on the sixth floor?"
Lee's mouth twisted into a crooked grin. "No. I thought I would invite myself to your apartment for a drink." Lee stepped closer to her, close enough that she could smell the mixture of deodorant, sweat, and hormones that the stranger projected, and looked up at her through a fringe of freshly cut and straightened hair.
The attractive stranger stepped closer and pushed the hair out of her eyes. Lee's tongue darted out again to moisten dry lips, and the girl caught it with her mouth. She pushed Lee against the side of the elevator, and Lee wrapped her arms around her waist and drove her tongue deep into the warm, moist confines of her mouth.
A ding signaled that they had reached the sixth floor, and the two tumbled out, nearly falling over in a tangle of body parts. Lee pulled away, breathless, and the woman fought with her gym bag for her keys, and led Lee down the hallway to the third apartment on the left. She unlocked the door and pulled Lee by the collar of her shirt into the apartment. Lee closed the door with her foot and dropped her bag before the woman could latch on to her again.
The woman slid onto the sofa and pulled Lee between her splayed legs. "I want you so much."
Lee ran her hands up the woman's sides and pulled off her shirt, then her
bra, in quick succession. She stopped for a moment to take in the sight of this strange woman lying half naked underneath her, at the dark skin flushed with wanton blood pumping through her veins, and let out a little groan.
The woman moaned back, then cried out as Lee made her way down from her mouth to the vivid, throbbing center of her. She bucked as Lee's fingers slid inside her, and her tongue danced just above, driving her in waves into ecstasy.
Sated, the stranger fell back against her couch cushions. Lee stood, topless, and walked over to her backpack. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, which she held up for the woman to see.
"Mind if I smoke?"
The woman sat up and pulled her crossed legs to her chest. "If you’ll share.”
Lee walked over and tapped out two cigarettes; she handed one to her spontaneous lover, and lit the end. Satisfied the woman was handled, she lit her own and drew the smoke deeply into her lungs, the unfamiliar flavor of gym bunny on her lips.
"Do you do this a lot?" The woman grabbed an ash tray from the coffee table and balanced it between them on a cushion that had seen better days.
"No," Lee said. "I was in a pretty serious relationship." She watched the smoke billow up above them in languid waves.
"What happened?" the woman asked, her lip curving into a pout.
"I screwed it all up." Lee stubbed out her cigarette and pushed to her feet. "Where's your bathroom?"
"The door on the right," the woman said as Lee pulled her shirt back on, then walked back over to the door and grabbed her backpack. "Are you leaving?" she asked, fear and loneliness creeping into her deep voice.
"I'm on my period," Lee lied.
"No wonder you kept your pants on.”
In the bathroom, Lee leaned against the locked door and muffled a sob with one hand. She dropped her backpack, turned on the tap and splashed cold water on her face until her tears receded. She stared at herself in the mirror, and all she saw was a hollow shell of a person, not fit for human company. As she dried her hands and face, she made the decision to leave. She tossed on her shirt, opened the window, and peered down below it. The fire escape greeted her, and she groaned in relief. She slipped her feet out just as the woman called out to her.
Sharp, rusted metal punctured her hand and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. The taste of blood in her mouth, she skulked across and down three floors before she stopped. She spotted a heavy-duty air conditioning unit, climbed up on the railing and reached out, but the smooth metal slid across the very tips of her fingers. She put her legs down on a two-inch-wide strip of metal on the outside of the fire escape; her hands held her steady against the weight of her heavy bag.
She spat blood and it fell three floors onto the concrete with an inaudible splat. Her eyes lingered on the spot, invisible in the darkness, and wondered how big of a splash she would make if she sailed off the side of the building. She focused her eyes back on the air conditioner, gulped down a deep breath, loosened her grip on the railing and jumped.
LEE BOLTED ONTO HER feet from the mossy grass in front of the lake at the sound of the scream that ripped from her throat. Ruby crawled backwards on her hands away from the noise, wakened from her own deep sleep. Their eyes met, and they fell into heaps where they landed.
“Christ, you scared the hell out of me,” Ruby said. She dusted her hands on her slacks and left trails of moist earth on the smooth fabric.
Lee pushed her hands through her hair, and dropped her forehead onto her knees. “I’m sorry. I had a nightmare.”
Ruby stood and bridged the gap, then squatted down in front of her. She laid her hands-on Lee’s shaky shoulders, and Lee glanced up at her through hair tangled with grass and leaves. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lee mumbled into her jeans. She wiped her eyes on her knees and wrapped her arms more tightly around her shins.
Ruby chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment, then sat down and crossed her legs in front of Lee. She slid her hands down from Lee’s shoulders to her forearms, and laid her own forehead on Lee’s crossed hands. “I’m not going anywhere. When you want to talk, I’ll be here to listen.”
CHAPTER 21
Truman Isles stepped back from the door to let them come in, then turned to walk back into the house with a considerable limp. Cal followed him, and Harry took up the rear. She unlocked the holster of her gun, wary of the giant on his own turf but not sure why. She peeked through each open door and into all the hallways as she passed them. Everything was pristine—except for the smell.
"I'm glad you're here," Truman said. He edged down into a recliner with a grimace, then indicated that they should each take a seat on the sofa in front of him. "You can finally get this thing out of my house."
Harry stopped mid-sit and gawked at him. "What thing?"
"The body, of course." The voice, throaty and deep but definitely feminine, came from the kitchen doorway. Harry turned to watch as the woman walked in with a black metal teapot to join the china set on the coffee table. "Would you like some tea, officers?"
She was slight of frame, like a dancer, but the fabric of her pants suit stretched taut across her hips. Her black hair was short, and coiffed to the side of her head like a 1930’s starlet. Her bright eyes had the smoky makeup to match.
"What body?" Cal asked, and stood like a restless dog. "We're not here about a body."
The woman gave Truman a pointed look. "I told you to call about the body," she said, and poured tea in each of the four cups. She walked around the coffee table and handed a cup of tea to Truman, then turned her to face Harry. "Would you like cream or sugar?"
Harry forced her mouth to close, but she couldn't force the squint out of her eyes. "What body?"
With pursed lips, the woman put down the tea service, then stood up. "In a civilized society, people take tea before they get on with the nasty business," she scolded, but gestured for Harry to follow her. She stopped beside Truman's chair and put a hand on his shoulder. "I asked you to call about this."
He shrugged her hand off and took a sip of tea. "I guess you got all the brains in this family," he said with a sneer.
She pinched him, then walked out of the room and down a hallway. "I'm sorry about my brother, Detectives. He's on pain medication for the stab wound."
"What stab wound?" Cal asked from behind them.
The woman looked over her shoulder. "The one given to him by his wife's lover, of course." She led them to a closed room, put her hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn it. She looked from Cal to Harry, her face impassive. "I must warn you, it is quite the mess."
She turned the knob, pushed open the door, and stepped back with her hand over her nose and mouth. She looked less upset than disgusted at the smell. Harry walked inside and up to the bed. The body had only recently begun to decompose, but the smell was overpowering. The woman pinched her nose between two prissy fingers.
"Who is it?" Cal asked.
"We have no idea," the woman said from under her hand. "Maybe Ruby knows."
“Your sister-in-law?” Cal guessed. The woman nodded agreement.
Harry pulled out her cell phone and called the precinct. After a few rings, she got Briggs on the phone, told her everything, and asked for a crew to gather evidence and take the body to the morgue. With her phone tucked away, Harry walked back out of the room and closed the door behind her.
"Can we...?" Harry asked, and indicated the hallway.
The woman led them back out into the sitting room. "Please, sit and have some tea?" she asked.
"Of course," Harry said, and sat down. She motioned for Cal to sit across from her. "No cream or sugar, thanks," she said, and took the cup.
"I'll have both," Cal announced.
"If you don't mind, we have some questions for you," Harry said. The woman turned to face her. "First, I never got your name."
The woman smiled as if she was about to tell them something that would change their lives. "My name is
Evangeline Isles, and I'm Truman's sister."
Harry jotted it down in her notebook, then looked back up at her. "And when did you first discover the body?"
"Oh, when was it, Truman?" She plucked a piece of lint from her pressed pants and flicked her gaze to the ceiling. "I guess it was two days ago. Really," she picked up her teacup and took a sip, then put it gently back on the saucer, "I didn't actually discover it until last night when we got back from the hospital."
"Why didn't you call the police then?" Cal asked.
Evangeline set him in her gaze. "Would you be thinking clearly if you had just found your brother lying in a pool of blood in his own home?"
Harry cleared her throat and scooted closer to Evangeline in her seat. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that," she said, and laid one hand on Evangeline's knee. "And we're going to do everything we can to figure out what happened here."
"I can tell you exactly what happened," Truman said from behind her. Harry let her hand drop and swiveled around to face him. "My wife invited some kind of street trash into our home. I was attacked and robbed. No telling what happened to the corpse in there," he said, and pointed with a thumb over his shoulder. He leaned forward with a grunt and dropped his teacup unceremoniously into its saucer with a clatter. His face was contorted into a pained and furious snarl as he pushed himself back into the chair. "The idiot girl went and got herself kidnapped, to add insult to injury."
"So, your wife is missing?" Harry flipped a few pages back in her notebook as Truman nodded. "Did you report that?"
He shrugged. Harry turned to Evangeline in hopes that at least one Isles was concerned for the safety of the abducted woman. Evangeline sipped her tea thoughtfully, then placed it back into its saucer and looked over to a picture on the mantelpiece. A smirking Truman stood beside his brightly smiling bride, one hand draped firmly over her in a gesture that was more possessive than protective.
