Victoria

by Laura Marie Henion

  The fact his breathing grew rapid and his heart raced, magnified the emotion and connection he felt to Tory. There were never any others. There would never be anyone but Victoria.

  "I love your body.” His hands roamed over her hips and backside, soaking in the sensation of jean covered, muscular flesh. Squeezing, he watched her reaction and knew they would soon be one.

  He watched her close her eyes, heard her gasp in pleasant surprise. Her delicate chin tilted up toward him and he captured it between his lips.

  Kissing her skin, making his way across her jaw to her neck, her scent drove him to voracious need. “I want these clothes off of you, right now.” His tone was insistent, he couldn't control the depth of his desire for her and there was no need to. They had always been close friends and lovers. There was no in-between, no uncharted emotion or connection, until this moment. Something so deep, a feeling so strong and alive, tugged at his heart and increased with each breath. He lifted her shirt. Victoria raised her arms. She appeared just as anxious as they helped one another remove their clothing, kissing in between, unable to keep their hands off one another. Buttons ripped from seams, denim seemed to vanish off their bodies as erotic growls murmured between lips filled with anticipation.

  Gazes filled with intense, provocative desire locked an instant before their naked bodies collided. Skin-to-skin, they each released a satisfied sigh. Kissing, grabbing one another, falling against the wall in the hallway, they fell deeper into the erotic moment as lovers are entitled to.

  Breathless and locked in the moment, Victoria was instantly ready for Steven. It appeared the deeper he kissed her, the harder she fell under his spell, the more she wanted him inside of her.

  Allowing his mouth full access to her flesh, she arched her hips toward him, rolled her head back, and tightened her grip on his shoulders as he continued to seduce her.

  As his lips and tongue rolled across, over, and in-between each feminine ridge, he sensed her squirming beneath him as tiny goose bumps covered her shoulders and arms.

  Cupping her breast, enjoying the fact it filled the palm of his hand and tasted as sweet as he remembered. His mouth covered as much as it could, unsuccessful in devouring all of her. Victoria's moans from the sensations Steven's mouth caused, filled the space between them as he felt her hands rub over his chest, across his scars.

  "Victoria...."

  "Oh, Steven, I want you. I'm ready.” She panted.

  Wanting her just as badly, needing to be inside her, he pulled her leg up against his hip, her response was accretive and inviting. She went a step further, instantly locking both her legs around Steven's hips, desire in control. “Right here, right now!” she demanded in a lover's growl, clenching her hips and thighs tighter against his flesh.

  Surrendering to her demands, he covered her mouth with his own, kissing her breathless.

  An instant later, moaning with determination to be deep inside of her, they simultaneously exhaled with pleasure as Steven entered.

  * * * *

  He held her there against the wall. His muscular body so strong and sexy, everything about him drove her libido, her spirit wild.

  Holding his head, rubbing her fingers across the small stubble of his military-style haircut while watching the tiny vein pulsate near the corner of his eye, gave her evidence of his intense emotion and desire with each thrust.

  That stern, military look indicating he was on a mission, had a purpose, made her shiver with a need for more. Watching his expression, feeling the intense epitome of emotion, as Steven gave all of himself to her, the flow of lust filled her core with an enormous need for infiltration by her Marine.

  He was her Marine, her man. She'd never love anyone more.

  The next moment, he caught her staring but before he could react, she placed her lips upon his neck, sucking hard. She heard Steven moan, then shake.

  * * * *

  The sensations were intense. His body felt weaker and weaker with every thrust, and he prayed his legs held out a little longer. His body dipped down a split second, his mouth against Victoria's as she gasped, worried only momentarily, they might fall to the floor. They giggled simultaneously. They just couldn't get enough of one another.

  Steven was amazed at the way Victoria made him feel, what she did to his body, his mind, and his soul. He needed to get her to the bedroom, but he couldn't stop, didn't want to stop. The misty, deep sparkle in her eyes, like some wild tigress hungry for what he could give her turned him on. With each thrust, he wanted, needed, more and more, and Victoria cheered him on, whispering softly against his skin as only a lover could as she expressed the pleasure he brought her.

  Over and over again, waves of heat collided deep with them. He could feel her body's response as they moved deeper and deeper in sync. With each thrust, the need to reach further, deeper kept building and building. His body and mind teetered on whether he could die from such intense pleasure or explode in some indefinable, incomprehensible combustion.

  This was it. He couldn't hold out any longer. She drove him wild.

  "Victoria,” he growled then exploded inside her.

  "Ohh, Steven...."

  Hugging her close, they savored the moment.

  "Tory, you're incredible ... that was incredible.” He was out of breath as their bodies melted to the plush carpeting on the floor.

  Neither gave it a second thought as their legs entwined, their breathing calmed, holding one another until they were ready to move.

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  Chapter 10

  Detective Don Phelps still sat at his desk in the River Point Police Department. Only a few other police officers hung around and everyone seemed to be talking in a whisper. The rest of the place swarmed with FBI agents and investigators from the DA's Office. A lot of people were worried.

  Don wasn't one of them and was proud of it. He never was one to take a bribe or fall for any of the broken promises that came along with turning the other cheek or not doing his job. He was a cop through and through, and he felt the majority of the men and women he worked with were just as proud to be in their positions and just as unwilling to jeopardize their reputation.

  Rumors flew around about local board members and only a few police officers. The word was that Ronnie Chappa was one of them—he had been on the take.

  If this were true, then it validated Don's belief that being corrupt wasn't worth it. He was a bit surprised at the kid because he had shown potential to be a good detective some day.

  The other rumor made Don smile and that was Danny Mardullo's daughter, Victoria, was working undercover for the agents. She had put on a hell of show; she even fooled him. Danny would have been proud. Then he thought about Tod Kafrey and knew the guy was probably pissed off right now.

  Tod had a thing for Victoria, and he would surely show concern for her safety. He was also the lead investigator on her father's case and hadn't found with any leads whatsoever. It wasn't Tod's fault. Don had seen the file on Danny's murder. The crime scene was botched right from the get go. Then he recalled Ronnie Chappa's name on the list. Everyone who was present at a crime scene had to log in, Ronnie Chappa was there.

  The kid's name was on the lists taken at each crime scene. Don wondered what was going on. What if the kid was hired by the killer to foul up the crime scenes, contaminate evidence, and destroy any possibility of clues being left behind? It made sense when he thought about it.

  When a person committed murder, took someone's life as brutally as Danny's was, as well as the others, he or she was liable to leave something. If the crime scene was contaminated, footprints smudged, other things removed, or evidence gathered at the scene became contaminated during delivery to the lab or at the lab, for that matter, then the investigation was botched. Nothing could hold up in a court of law and there was no solid direction for the detectives to take.

  Don figured Collins had paid off Chappa, but there was no way Collins had it in him to commit murder. There h
ad to be someone else involved. He wondered if the FBI agents had seen the list from Danny's crime scene. The agents seemed to be aware of a hell of a lot more than the police were, but it couldn't hurt to point it out. His gut told him not to ignore the information. He made up his mind and headed down the hallway.

  * * * *

  Creek Valley, New York

  "Hey, Lucas, what do we have?” Detective Willie Shay entered the motel room. He was shocked at the horrific scene. He had been working homicide in Creek Valley, New York for fifteen years, and in the past few of those years, the homicides had gotten pretty bad. This one, however, cut the cake. He had never seen anything like it and it instantly gave him an uneasy feeling.

  "Incredible, isn't it, Willie? She was a pretty girl, in her twenties. I don't care if we find out she was a ‘pros’ selling her body for money. No one deserves to die like this.” Lucas stood to the side of the doorway letting the forensics team take care of their business.

  They found the young woman brutally murdered, tied to the frame, gagged, stabbed multiple times, and her face slashed. She had wads of paper shoved in her mouth, possibly down her throat, and Willie tried to figure out what the hell that was all about.

  Willie carefully walked around the small motel room. There was no sign of a struggle, and the bathroom looked hardly used. It was a bit on the dirty side and he leaned into the room, noticing the empty box that sat in the garbage pail. He leaned in closer, noting it was one of those permanent hair dyes. The kind you find in a pharmacy, a popular brand. He read the color description ‘Hazelnut.'

  He called back toward Lucas who now stood near the body.

  "Hey, Lucas, does she look like her hair was just dyed, any staining around the hairline?” Willie asked, recalling how his lovely wife of twenty years, Margaret, had begun coloring her hair the moment it started turning gray. He came home from work one night and she had just finished using one of the hair kits; he laughed at the stains of dye around her hairline. She looked pretty funny, but after she washed it all out, the color looked good, and it was instant, just like the box in the garbage said.

  Lucas put on his rubber gloves and looked closely at the victim's scalp as Willie joined him.

  "Hey, Willie, it looks like she did, how the hell did you guess that?” Lucas asked.

  "I had a little help. Let's see if we can get any fingerprints off the box in the bathroom. Furthermore, I want to check out any calls made from this room in the past forty-eight hours. Question as many people around this place and the neighborhood as possible,” Willie stated.

  Lucas gave him a funny look. He knew what Lucas was thinking, that the neighborhood was bad, most wouldn't give a cop the time of day.

  "Just try your best, Lucas. Hopefully, someone noticed any companion with this girl. As soon as we identify her, we'll check her employment status and take it from there. I still don't get the stuffed papers in her mouth, though.” Willie stared at the victim's body.

  The photographer from the forensics team just finished taking the pictures in the bathroom, so now they could remove and bag the evidence without contamination.

  He overheard the detectives talking and couldn't help but comment.

  "If it was dirt in her mouth, I'd say there was a good possibility she was killed by the same guy who's loose in River Point"

  "What are you talking about?” Willie asked and the photographer explained about Danny Mardullo's murder, as well as Linda Delaney and Ronnie Chappa.

  "It couldn't be him, though. The FBI has been on Bret Collins’ trail for a while. They had him and Danny Mardullo's daughter under surveillance,” Lucas stated. His cousin, Angie, was married to Danny Mardullo's cousin, Jake.

  "They haven't proved Bret Collins is the killer. Maybe he had help?” The photographer continued his work.

  Willie found all the information to be very interesting and he would follow every possible lead no matter how small.

  * * * *

  Bret Collins sat in the metal chair. His hands shook and he sweated profusely. It felt like he had been there for hours and the agents weren't giving up. They bombarded him with questions. They knew the answers already, he could tell, and he couldn't even complete his own.

  They knew so much. He wasn't going to get out of this one. He was as good as dead. If he told them about the killer, they wouldn't be able to protect him. If he admitted to their charges, he'd go to prison. He'd never survive prison.

  Forget about any possibility of a political career, maybe he could still hold on to Victoria. She would be his Saving Grace. She would come through for him, give him the alibi he needed to be sure the murder charges couldn't stick. Damn it! How could he have been so stupid? He was losing it. He was exhausted and his head spun.

  * * * *

  Outside the interrogation room, Colt just finished looking into the information he had received from Detective Don Phelps. It was midnight and they were all exhausted. Bret Collins was stronger under interrogation than they'd expected, but he would falter soon. They waited to tell him about Victoria Mardullo. They wanted to be sure the other charges on him would stick and hold him in jail without bail. Some of the others involved, just began to rat Collins out and signed statements.

  Warren wanted to be sure that Victoria was safe, especially if Collins was the killer they were after.

  Colt spoke to Warren about the information they had as well and the possibility that Victoria was right and the real killer was still out there.

  "So what do you want to do?” Warren asked Colt.

  "I think we should let Collins know that he doesn't have an alibi and that Victoria Mardullo was working for us."

  "What if we can't prove that he was involved with the murders? What if he doesn't know who the killer is? Collins can get bail on any of the other corruption charges. He'll have his attorney in here so fast; we won't be able to keep him until morning."

  "So we let him go, keep him under surveillance, and see who he runs to."

  "Okay, let's do this."

  The two agents headed into the interrogation room, ready to break Collins.

  * * * *

  "So, Bret, where were you on the night of June 12, 2002, at seven?” Colt leaned back in his chair.

  This was it, Bret thought. He would never forget that day or how he felt knowing Danny Mardullo was about to die.

  "I don't know where I was or what day you're even talking about. I'd have to check a calendar. My calendar,” he quickly corrected himself.

  "What about this past May 26, 2003, or how about three nights ago on June 12, 2003?"

  "June 12, 2002 was the day Detective Danny Mardullo was murdered. You know the day, Bret. Stop playing games with us. Then there was May 26, 2003 when we found Linda Delaney murdered. Finally, three days ago, June 12, when we found your little buddy, Ronnie Chappa, murdered. Who were you with? Who can prove your whereabouts?” Colt continued with the questions and Bret just stared at him, wondering where to go with this. He needed to stall them, needed time to think.

  "I want my lawyer,” he demanded.

  Colt looked furious, but he seemed to play along. “If you want one, that's fine, but I just want you to know that we already know everything and how it went down. Do you want to waste precious time hiding behind your lawyer, or do you want to help us catch the real killer?"

  Bret was shocked. Did they really think there was someone else involved? Did he have a chance of getting out of this, or a lesser sentence? He held back his answer, his mind spinning.

  Colt just stared at Bret, looking like he tried to read his eyes, his body language.

  "We know you didn't actually kill these people, but that you know who did. So why not just start talking so no one else gets hurt. If you cooperate, maybe we can discuss lessening the charges. You need to cooperate, Bret. It's the only way we can help you."

  "I don't know what you're talking about. I had nothing to do with those murders you're talking about. I can prove I was nowhere near those peop
le at the time of their murders. Victoria Mardullo can vouch that I was with her the night Linda was killed and the night Ronnie Chappa was found."

  He was more scared of the killer than he was of the agents.

  "You weren't with her. You were with one of your bimbos who's into the kinky stuff as you are. Victoria Mardullo was working for us. She wore a wire the other night. Maybe you'd like to listen, in case you forgot.” Colt pressed play on the small recording device.

  Bret listened to the conversation. They had him.

  "Victoria's not going to help you, Bret. She wants her father's murderer caught and thrown behind bars. She's willing to testify that you tried to bribe her and her connections to get votes, to gain support, and who knows what else. Everything we have is pointing to you. Are you really willing to go down for someone else's crimes? Murder, three counts, you're getting the death penalty, man. No one takes killing cops lightly. No one! Then, of course, there's Linda Delaney, your own relative. She's your fucking cousin man ... that's sick! Your family will disown you. Her father will make sure you die."

  "I didn't do it! It wasn't me. Victoria knows me. She knows I didn't kill her father. Yes, we were enemies and maybe I did want him out of the picture, but I didn't kill him, or the others."

  "Victoria does believe you, and she believes you're covering for someone else, but if you're not willing to give that person up, then she'll be happy with us charging you with the murders instead. Either way, justice prevails."

  * * * *

  Colt and Warren watched Bret squirm. He struggled, but looked like he would break soon.

  "You've never been in prison, huh, Collins? A pretty boy like you who is definitely not the fighting kind, are you ready to play the submissive? It's going to be your permanent role, especially if you wind up ducking the death penalty somehow and get life instead."

  "I didn't do it. I swear."

  "Enough with that bullshit! You fucking know who did it. Now start fucking talking or that's it, you're going down for all of it!” Colt yelled.