Tainted Bodies

by Sarah Robinson

  He leaned against the door for a few more moments but he didn’t have anything more to say. He knew that it was too late, he had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him. Derrick rubbed his hands across his face, trying to push away the threat of tears, and then headed back down the hallway towards the stairs.

  Kate was still inside the door and had heard every word that Derrick had said. She could hear his pain and she knew the remorse he spoke of was real, and worse yet, she knew that she still loved him. She was angry with herself for still feeling that way after he had hurt her so badly, betrayed her to the very core of their relationship. But the fact of the matter still remained that she loved him. More than that, she was still in love with him. And now he was walking away and she didn’t know if he would ever come back.

  Kate quickly unlocked the multiple locks she had recently installed on her door and swung it open, stepping out into the hall. She saw Derrick down at the end of the hall walking away and she froze, just looking at his back. She opened her mouth but nothing came out, she didn’t know what to say.

  As Derrick got to the end of the hallway and was about to turn around the bend to get to the stairs, he looked back one last time. He didn’t know why, he just wanted to remember her or maybe he sensed her, but he was still shocked when he looked back and there she was. She was standing in the hallway, one foot still inside her door, and she was just looking at him. He turned to face her completely but didn’t walk towards her because she wasn’t saying anything and he didn’t know what to do. The duo stared at each other for a few moments, both of them unsure of what to do and of what they wanted.

  “Derrick.” Kate said, breaking the silence. He began moving back down the hallway towards her, taking it as a sign of acceptance and willingness to talk to him. Kate didn’t move towards him, her legs felt weak and she was afraid that if she let go of her door post she might collapse. It only took Derrick a few seconds to make it back to her and he came to a stop about six inches away from her, wondering what his next move should be.

  “Kate.” He said simply, looking at her in earnest. Her face still had some lacerations and bruises but she looked more like herself again, and she was still beautiful to him. Her eyes were shiny due to tears welling up, threatening to spill. Her hair was just as beautiful as he always remembered it, trailing down her shoulders. She was wearing tight black leggings underneath a long, royal blue t-shirt that showed off her figure wonderfully. Derrick’s jacket hugged his bulging biceps and his shirt clearly showed his well defined pectoral muscles.

  Kate placed her left hand gently on his chest and then tugged at his jacket slightly, pulling him into her apartment and then closing the door behind them.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Derrick woke up with a start and looked around, unsure of where he was and trying to see in the dark. It only took him a few moments to remember that he was at Kate’s apartment in her bed and it was the middle of the night. He wasn’t sure what had woken him, maybe a dream or a sound? He felt uneasy though, like something was off.

  He saw that Kate was still fast asleep next to him. She was laying on her side facing away from him and the sheet was draped over her hip, leaving the rest of her bare body exposed. Her pale skin glistened in the dark as he took in the curves of her waist and shoulders and then the softness of her neck as her hair landed on the pillow behind her.

  She was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen and he couldn’t believe that she was giving him a second chance. After she let him into her apartment, the couple didn’t say much. The moment she kissed him, he had felt like he was home, like everything had fallen back into place and things were the way that they should be. He had wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground in his excitement to be near her again.

  When the two pulled apart, Kate led him to her bedroom and they rekindled their detoured romance. The experience had been different than it was before. Kate was hesitant at first and there was clearly a nervousness but he was gentle and soft and the act became an expression of emotion instead of a physical tryst. While they weren’t able to fully engage in one another due to doctor’s orders and Kate still healing, they had reconnected in a way that words wouldn’t have been able to do.

  Derrick gently reached out and ran his fingers from the top of her shoulder down to her waist where the sheet was draped. He touched the sheet and wondered why she had such childish sheets on her bed. He had certainly never seen them before. Now that he noticed it, he realized that her comforter also was different and looked rather old and more suited for a young girl rather than an adult. Derrick wondered if he should ask her about it, but then thought again. She deserved to do whatever she wanted and he wasn’t about to question that.

  Derrick was leaning up on his elbows in bed wide awake and he still didn’t know why but something in his stomach felt off. He decided to get up and go to the bathroom, maybe he had eaten something wrong. He carefully slid off of the bed, taking care to not disturb Kate and wake her up. Derrick headed to the bathroom down the hallway but he paused, thinking he saw something in the shadows.

  The living room was at the end of the short hallway and there was some sort of movement in the shadows cast from over there. He slowly approached the living room entrance, looking down at the wood floors where he saw the unmistakable shape of a person in the shadows. He quieted his breathing and tried to calm himself down, his heartbeat was pounding.

  Somebody was in the apartment.

  Derrick looked down at himself, he was naked except for a pair of boxers. Not exactly a threatening look. He didn’t have any weapons or anything to defend himself and Kate except the advantage of surprise. He steadied himself and mentally prepared himself for a fight and with one swift move he sprinted into the living room. Derrick looked around and spun around but saw nothing. He looked anywhere a person could hide and saw nothing. He went into the kitchen and checked there, all clear. He checked the bathroom, still all clear.

  Derrick walked back into the living room, puzzled, and wondering what it was that he had seen because no one except Kate and himself were in this apartment. Derrick walked over to the living room windows to close the blinds when he saw a small light out on the fire escape. He squinted his eyes and focused and realized that it was a cigarette, recently snuffed out and still smoking, on the fire escape railing.

  He stepped back from the window and looked around. If someone had been standing on the fire escape, their shadow would have been cast into the apartment. That was the shadow that he had seen. Someone had been there. Someone had been standing on that fire escape, looking into Kate’s apartment. Derrick didn’t know where it came from but he felt an inexplicable sense of rage flame through him, like he had never experienced before. He was a calm person, he didn’t normally get angry, and he was never known to be violent. But right now, only violent thoughts were clamoring their way through his head. This couldn’t be a coincidence that less than a week after Kate’s attack, there is someone on her fire escape.

  Impossible, Derrick thought. He walked back to the windows and looked at the alarms and locks on it. Kate must have put those there recently because he didn’t remember them before. There were two windows in the living room and so he double checked the locks and alarms on both and then drew the blinds closed. He then went to the kitchen and checked the lock and alarm on that window as well. Lastly, he double checked the front door to ensure that all four locks on the door were bolted. Nothing was out of place and nothing was unlocked. The visitor had not entered the apartment but he had sat outside on the fire escape long enough to smoke a cigarette and that made Derrick angrier than he had ever been before.

  He quietly walked back into the bedroom and saw that Kate was still fast asleep in bed, undisturbed. She was oblivious to what had just happened and Derrick stood over the bed contemplating if he should tell her. He certainly wasn’t going to wake her up and tell her now, but should he tell her in the morning? He was at a loss for
what the right thing to do was.

  Derrick walked around the bed and climbed back in next to her, pulling the sheets up over himself and then the comforter. Kate stirred in her sleep and turned over to face him. She found him in her sleep and rested her head on his shoulder, her arm laying over his chest and the rest of her body pressed up against his side. He couldn’t help smiling as he looked down at her warm and soft body cuddling up against him. He gently pushed the hair off her face, revealing her long neck and her chest pressed up against his side.

  Revealing her face also revealed the remaining bruises and cuts trying to heal on her cheek. He gently touched one of the bruises with his index finger and her face scrunched up in her sleep slightly. He couldn’t tell her about what he had seen. She had been hurt enough and the evidence was all over her face. He wasn’t going to be the one to add more pain to what she was already experienced, but he wasn’t going to ignore what had happened either. He had already made the mistake of abandoning her once before, he was not going to do that again. He wrapped his arm tighter around her as she slept and closed his eyes. As he fell back asleep, he vowed to himself that he was going to do everything he could to protect her for the rest of his life.

  ~~~~

  Morning came quickly, much to Kate’s dismay, as her alarm clock rang from her nightstand. She reached over and hit the snooze button, buying herself a little more time under the covers. She turned back over and found herself looking right into Derrick’s eyes.

  “Morning, beautiful.” He said in his soft, husky voice. He smiled at her as they looked at each other, laying on their pillows. She smiled back and pulled the covers up higher over her bare shoulders, trying to keep the chill out. Derrick pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, then he gave her a long kiss. She smiled and opened her eyes as he pulled away.

  “It’s great waking up next to you again, baby.” Derrick said to her, smiling and feeling like he was back where he belonged.

  “It’s perfect.” She whispered, smiling back at him.

  “Unfortunately, I have to go to work.” Derrick sighed, Kate groaned.

  “I don’t want you to go.” She said whining, holding him closer. His skin smelled delicious and felt perfect against her, she just wanted to stay here and be surrounded by him for as long as possible.

  “I know, I wish we could. But it’s Friday so I will have the whole weekend free and we can spend the entire time together.” He kissed her again.

  “I have to go to the police station by nine to meet with the detectives anyway, so I guess it’s best.” Kate sighed as she pulled away and sat up, getting ready to start her day.

  “The police station? Do you want me to go with you?” Derrick sat up and asked her, concern in his voice.

  “No, Derrick, you have to work. It’s not a big deal. I will be fine.” She said as she pulled on a shirt and brushed her hair in the mirror in her bedroom. Derrick stood up and pulled on his clothes as well. Then he came up behind her and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her back to lean against him. He kissed her neck softly and she smiled, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the sensation.

  “Are you sure you are okay going alone?” He asked her again. She turned her head to the side to look up at him and he leaned down and kissed her again.

  “I will be okay, but thank you.” She said to him.

  “Thanks for what?” He looked at her puzzled.

  “For being here for me. I really needed you.” She turned around and hugged her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He hugged her back, feeling a sting of guilt coming up in his chest at the thought of how he had not been there for her for so many days, how he had betrayed her and let her down, and how he had turned his back on her in her biggest moment of need.

  Kate wasn’t thinking that though, because she was just grateful that he was there. She knew when she heard him through the door last night that he was honestly remorseful and that he knew that he had made a mistake. She knew that they would need to talk about it at some point but she had enough on her mind thinking about going to the police station that she wasn’t about to add additional stressors on top of that. Kate walked Derrick to the door and gave him a kiss goodbye.

  “I love you, Kate.” Derrick said as he squeezed her hand.

  “I love you too, Derrick.” Kate smiled and raised herself up on her tippy toes to kiss him again. He smiled at her and then left. Kate securely locked all of the locks on the front door behind him and then headed back to her bedroom to get ready. After about thirty minutes, she was dressed and ready to go to the police station so she picked up her purse and keys and started to open her door.

  Just as she was opening the last lock, she realized that she left the photograph in her nightstand. She paused, unsure of what to do. She didn’t want anyone to see that picture, but how was she going to help the police catch her attacker if she wasn’t honest about everything that happened and if she didn’t give them all the evidence possible.

  Kate sighed, she knew what the right thing to do was even though it wasn’t what she wanted to do. She closed the front door and slowly walked back to her bedroom and opened her nightstand, pulling out the Bible where she had hidden her photograph. She decided not to open the Bible, but instead tucked the entire thing in her purse. She wasn’t ready to open it yet. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, trying to remind herself of what a wonderful night she had just had with Derrick. She hoped that she would be able to do this.

  ~~~~

  The police station was bustling for nine o’clock in the morning on a Friday. Kate had expected it to be quiet and somewhat empty like her workplace on a Friday morning. The only person who ever was there on time on Friday was her Uncle Lenny’s assistant, Frank Bild. He was always there before anyone else and never dressed down for casual Friday. He loved to hold over people the fact that he was the president of the company’s executive assistant and more highly paid. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew he was better than they were. Kate avoided him at all costs because running into him was always a hit to her self-esteem.

  As she walked into the station, she shut the thoughts of work out of her mind because she wasn’t looking forward to going back there on Monday. She was worried about her coworkers questions and how she was going to answer them all. She didn’t know what they knew and she didn’t know what they would guess when they saw her. She was healing quickly but there were still signs of her struggle in the marks on her face. Makeup helped to hide the worst of it, but it was impossible to cover completely.

  “Miss Jackson!” A voice called Kate’s name and she looked around to see who was summoning her. She recognized a woman in a gray blazer and gray slacks walking over to her.

  “Hello,” Kate greeted Detective Snow, extending her hand. The detective smiled at her and shook her hand.

  “I am so glad that you came in. Let’s get started. Come on, I will show you to an interview room. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds, they are actually quite nice and only for the good guys.” The detective gave her a very warm smile and led her through some swinging doors into the main area of the precinct.

  The room was pretty large and there were desks everywhere in a grid pattern. They were pretty much all filled with paperwork and tired looking police officers and detectives flipping through the papers. Detective Snow led her through the maze of desks towards a back wall full of several doors and windows into smaller rooms. One of the desks that they passed had a man who looked familiar.

  “Kate, do you remember Detective McCraig? He is my partner so you will be working with him a bit.” Detective Snow told her as she waved to her partner. He nodded his head in their direction and then went back to the paperwork he was huddled over.

  “Don’t mind him, he isn’t exactly a social butterfly but he is a great detective.” She said to Kate after noting the dubious look on Kate’s face in regard to her partner. Kate just nodded, hoping that that was the truth. She certainly ha
dn’t gotten a warm and fuzzy feeling from Detective McCraig at the hospital and he wasn’t oozing hospitality now either.

  Detective Snow led her through one of the doors on the back wall and motioned towards the table in the center of the room. The room had a warm glow from it’s bright yellow lamps in two corner’s of the room. One wall was lined with bookshelves that looked like they had a lot of magazines and pamphlets on them. Most of the titles looked like self-help materials or informational guides and they all looked pretty dated.

  One wall had a long mirror that stretched across most of it, which Kate knew was probably one of those one-way mirrors. It made her shiver a bit to think that anyone could be watching her on the other side of that glass, even if the police were supposed to be the good guys. She liked to know what was going on and have a bit of control but everything about this room didn’t suggest that.

  The last wall, the one with the door that she had just entered through, had several motivational posters on it that were lined with dust and looked like they had been hanging there since the precinct was first constructed. The door she had come through had a small window in the top half of it but some blinds covered it and Detective Snow had tilted them closed after they entered the room, probably thinking that would make Kate feel better. However, the privacy felt a bit more like captivity and Kate couldn’t help but wish the blinds were open, or that even the entire door was left open.

  There was a wooden table in the center of the room that almost had a dining room feel to it, surrounded by four padded office chairs with arm rests. The middle of the table had a tissue box, a cup of pens, a little black electronic box that must have been a recorder, and some pads of papers. It was clear that this room was supposed to look and feel homey and more comfortable, but the façade wasn’t convincing and Kate immediately disliked being in there. She clutched her purse tighter to her, knowing that the Bible holding her photograph was safe inside. She wasn’t sure what the detective was going to ask her or how this was going to go and she still wasn’t even sure that she wanted to show that picture to Detective Snow.