“Matt, do you think it's someone we know? Someone from Lincoln?” My mind began compiling a list of suspects but none of them fit.
“I don't know but we will find the bastard.” His voice was hard, and I could hear the determination in it. While I had all the confidence in the world in him, this was dangerous, and I worried about him.
“I hope so,” I replied in the most encouraging voice I could muster.
“I think you and the kids should come stay with me until we find the sick bastard.” I wasn't surprised he wanted the kids and me at his house. In all honesty, he'd been trying very hard to get the kids and me back, but I just couldn't do it.
“That's sweet, Matt, but my property borders my parents’ property, remember? Plus my dad taught me how to handle a gun. The kids and I are fine. I can take care of us.”
“Sunshine, maybe you're not putting it together but both women are women whom I've been linked to.” His voice wavered, and I knew it was hard for him to say that to me. We typically didn't discuss his affair with Keely.
“You think this has something to do with you?”
“I don't know but I can't ignore that fact and you shouldn't either. Their deaths are probably totally coincidental but we can't be sure. Please just come stay with me. I promise not to push anything and I'll keep my hands to myself. I'd just feel better if you and the kids were with me.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Matt, and I know you're concerned but the kids and I are safe. I have to get to work. You good here with the kids?” He sighed deeply in defeat.
“Yeah, we're fine.”
“I get off at ten. I'll pick them up a little after.” I stood and kissed my sleeping angel. “Elijah,” I called to my rambunctious little boy. For the first time since Matt arrived, Elijah spotted his dad and came running. “Daddy,” he yelled gleefully before running into his daddy’s arms.
“Hey, buddy. Ready to come hang out with me while Mommy works?” Our son smiled big. He loved hanging out with Matt and I was thankful Matt was such a good father.
“Come give me a hug.” I squeezed Elijah tight. “Be good for Daddy. I love you,” I said and kissed his head.
“I'm always a good boy. Bye, Mommy,” my little man said, his little nose crinkled when he smiled.
“Bye, baby. See you later, Matt. Have fun with the kids.”
“Always do,” he responded and kissed my cheek. To anyone that may have been watching we probably looked like a happy family, and we were, just not your typical family.
Chapter Two
Four months earlier
Amanda had been an accident. She was never on his radar as a victim, he actually liked the girl. She was the daughter of one of his oldest friends and even though she sometimes ran with the wrong crowd she was a good girl. It was really about timing. Wrong place, definitely wrong fucking time.
He was in marketing so most of his business was done outside of Lincoln. It wasn’t unusual for him to spend entire weekends in the city on business. When he needed a weekend away to quiet his beast, his wife never doubted that he was away for work. He'd sometimes travel as far as California to find his next girl. He only had one night though when Amanda met her tragic end. He had to get back for a family BBQ, and it had been so long since he'd felt the power of death at his own hands. The last girl was left in the redwoods in Northern California nearly six months ago. He was getting anxious. He needed a kill. He told his wife he had a client that couldn’t wait before he swore to her that he'd be home the next day and kissed her goodbye.
He had a hard time believing it was her when he saw her hanging out in the dingy Northeast Portland strip club. What the hell was she doing there? Before he could make a quick exit, she saw him. He'd been standing there with his mouth hung open like a damn fool when she spotted him near the back of the club. Their eyes met, and he could see she was just as surprised to see him in such a seedy place as he was to see her. He thought about running, but he sat down to have a drink first instead. He watched her dance and decided she was good at it.
She wore her blond hair in a ponytail high up on her head. The tail of her hair hung nearly to her ass crack and was the silkiest mane he thought he'd ever seen. She had a truck load of makeup on her face, including crimson lips and dark smoky eyes. She'd been transformed from sweet, cute little Amanda to a fucking sex goddess. He was stunned by her. Her body slid up and down that pole with precision, fluidity and strength. When she pulled her top off to reveal her perky tits, he felt his cock harden, and he knew she'd be his victim. It almost made him ill to know it was her, but it was like she chose him, he didn't choose her.
He sat mesmerized by her as she worked the pole and slithered on the floor like a serpent out for the blood of a man. How ironic was it that it was a man who was out for the serpent's blood? When she finally finished her set, she bent down to pick up her top and gave him a wink before leaving the stage. Had she performed just for him? He thought it was likely, but he was typically a man who imagined the world revolved around him.
A few minutes passed when he saw her sauntering over to him, dripping with sweat and sex appeal. She flashed him a smile before grabbing a beer and sitting across from him. “Hey, what are you doing here? This isn't the kind of place I would expect to see you in?” She asked, never breaking eye contact.
“I could say the same thing about you, Amanda. Does your father know you're here?” He questioned, trying to sound like the voice of authority. Trying to hide the fact that he wanted to stick his dick inside of her. Trying to hide the fact that if he did that, he'd have to kill her. She gave him a hard glare before taking a long sip from her beer bottle and licking her crimson lips.
“I'm of age, sir, so what I do is none of my daddy's concern. Does your wife know where you are?” She countered.
“Touché,” was all he could reply with. She tapped his bottle with her own. “Cheers to us good Lincoln folks for hanging out in the fucking ass crack of Portland,” she said and laughed. “You wanna pay for a lap dance?” She asked. “I have to pay for books next semester so you'd really be helping me out. I'll make it worth the money. I promise. Oh, and I swear not to tell your wife.” How could he say no to her? He wanted to feel her close to him since he saw her selling her body on that stage.
“Yeah, of course. Who am I to deny a girl her education?” He winked at her and smiled. She was putty in his hands.
“Great. Let me tell Rick, my manager, then I'll show you to the private lap dance room.” She jumped up and ran over to the sleazy manager that lurked in the corner while watching his girls. He was slimy enough, but he seemed to be genuinely concerned about his female staff. Cared enough to have a giant man at both the front and back doors. He'd have to leave separately from her. There couldn't be a witness to them leaving together.
She was back before he could form a plan, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. She led him through the smoky club, weaving through the tables that surrounded the stage and bar. For such a dump, it was busy. He suspected it was due to the beautiful women dancing. He would have never guessed that the place actually had attractive women dancing. He'd fully expected to go in, find a crack whore, fuck her, kill her, and be on his merry way. Never judge a book by its cover or a strip club by its paint.
He followed Amanda down a dark hallway and through a thickly beaded entrance. The room was small and dimly lit. The walls alternated mirror and red velvet that matched the lounge style sofa that wrapped around the entire room. In the center of the room stood a mirrored table that reflected the gaudy chandelier hanging above it. He sat on the velvet sofa and watched as she moved to the CD player. She bent over so he could get a taste of what she had to offer, and it was quite an offer.
Amanda hit play and Def Leppard's, Love Bites poured through the room. The thick music weaved through the room as she began dancing slowly. Her back was to him before she turned and slowly moved toward the mirrored table. She stepped up onto it, fluidly, and continue
d to move her hips and ass in a sexy circular motion. Her seduction skills were on point. She ran her hands across her breasts and worked her way down to the top of her bikini before she bent down, her back straight, her legs spread wide. His imagination ran wild with curiosity as to what her thin strap of a bikini covered. Her eyes met his, and she winked while her tongue licked her crimson lips. Her legs closed and slowly straightened, but she remained bent at the waist while her hands reached behind her, undoing her top. When she stood straight up, she shimmied it off causing her tits to jiggle and his cock to stand at attention.
She stepped off the table and slithered over to him until she was on him, dancing in his lap. She used his shoulders and the couch for support. He silently cursed the spandex material that concealed her pussy. She continued grinding his crotch, and he was sure she felt his hard bulge. He tried not to touch her except the temptation was too great. His hands reached up to cup her tits and to his surprise, she didn't flinch away. Amanda continued grinding into him making his pants very uncomfortable. He wanted to taste her. Her mouth was so close to his ear, he could feel her warm breath on his neck causing his body to shudder. “I can feel your dick through your pants. I know you want me and to be honest, you're a fucking hot older man. I've never been with an older man before but I can't do it here, not without payment. See our time is almost up, but if I flip that switch right there a little light goes on outside the door telling my boss I'm making him some money.”
He looked up and saw the switch. His dick was growing painfully hard. He'd never paid for sex before, he always killed them first, but he couldn't kill her there. He also wouldn't be able to walk out of there without releasing the pressure growing in his balls. “Flip the switch,” he demanded and for the first time in a really long time, outside of Keely and his wife, he fucked a girl without intending to kill her mid-orgasm. How funny was it that she was Keely's best friend? He always thought Amanda was the best one, but she wasn't. She was a very bad girl indeed. She smiled at him before flipping the switch, and he quickly removed his pants allowing him some freedom.
She mounted him, sliding his dick slowly inside of her sweet cunt. She moved slowly at first allowing him to feel every inch of her warm, little cave. His mouth found her nipples and sucked, hard, while his fingers dug into her hips. She began moving faster, bouncing up and down on his shaft until he came harder than he ever had. He hadn't felt that kind of release in so long, not even with Keely. For a split second, he thought about not killing her. He could just come to the city and fuck her when the need arose. The thought was fleeting though. He'd been doing that with Keely for so long. He was getting older and pleasuring Keely and his wife was becoming a chore. He wouldn't be able to handle another woman. No, he'd fuck Amanda then kill her but damned if he wasn't going to enjoy himself first.
“I've never done this kind of thing before. I want you to know that. I'm not easy or a slut,” she'd told him when they finished. “I've been encouraged to flip that switch but I never could. I don't know what was different with you. Guess I felt safe with you. Anyway, I just wanted you to know I'm not some kind of whore,” she said and he saw shyness in her that he'd missed in the dimly lit club. He almost changed his mind, almost.
She agreed to meet him later that night at a dingy motel where he carried out his ritual. He almost felt bad for her when she realized what was happening. The fear in her eyes was real because she was, in fact, innocent. She didn't have the evil running through her veins like the other women he killed. They were afraid, sure, but they also always looked aware, like they knew this day would come eventually. Not Amanda though. She was a good girl who happened to be doing a bad thing in hopes of earning college money. She was ashamed. That's why she chose a remote, seedy place where she wouldn't be seen.
When he wrapped his hands around her throat, her blue eyes widened, and she began to fight him. He wasn't a small man, and she was a tiny woman. It wasn't hard to hold her, pinned beneath him. As his ritual goes, he shot cum into her cunt while he squeezed her throat. When her body stilled so did his orgasm. He set about cleaning her up. He washed her body, head to toe, including the makeup she'd been wearing. He at least thought it best her father never knows about her secret stripper life. He cleaned her entire body, vagina included, inside and out with bleach. No DNA traces left on her body. He wrapped her in a plastic bag and carried her to his truck where she stayed until the next morning.
He woke before the sun and drove back towards home in Lincoln. Before he made it to there, he pulled over and dumped Amanda on the side of the road. He'd be home, ready for the day and for his family before the sun was above them. It had been a good night.
Chapter Three
I work the swing shift at Dana's, our local bar and grill. I've worked there since my eighteenth birthday, and I love it. Our crowd usually consists of Lincoln locals so it's a fun job for me. Tonight is an especially busy night. Word about Keely’s death has spread like wildfire, and all the town drinkers have congregated at Dana's. Shock is written on every face that walks through the door. The two women murdered garnered different feelings from many people in town. Keely's death was sad to hear, but in all honesty, it wasn't a huge surprise. With as many men as she slept with and the seedy bars she hung out in, everyone knew it was a matter of time if she didn't change her ways. Her murder brought Amanda's back into focus. Everyone had tried to move on though many still talked about it. The fact that two murders have now occurred in our little town and both women happened to have been best friends was startling to say the least.
The police may have pushed Amanda's murder aside, but the town hadn't. Amanda was a good girl and the town loved her. It was easy to look past her friendship with Keely because she wasn't like her. Even her rumored affair with Matt died down shortly after the rumor started. Everyone knew she wasn't that kind of girl. She'd had the same boyfriend for about a year, and she talked about him constantly. He lived in Portland, and she visited him as much as she could. Occasionally, he'd surprise her at Dana's, and it was clear they were in some kind of love or lust. She told me she was going into Portland to spend time with him the day she disappeared. He was the first suspect but was cleared immediately when he provided an airtight alibi, he was with another woman. What a real douche bag? Everyone hoped that now, with a second murder, the police would make it a priority to find the asshole who committed them. I know it's Matt's top priority.
“Oh, Sunny, did you hear about Keely?” I heard the voice behind me and knew before I turned that it belonged to my best girlfriend, Trish. I could pick her voice out in a room full of people. I'd known Trish since we were ten years old when her family moved to Lincoln from the city. The crime in the city was uncontrollable and Trish's older brother, Dade, had gotten into some trouble while they lived there. The Johnson's were the first black family to move to Lincoln and were the talk of the town for a while. It wasn't long until they earned their place though. Trish's dad was on the police force in the city and proved to be a valuable officer and a respected man on the Lincoln police force. Her mother was a stay at home mom and one of my favorite women in the world.
Dade found his way in life and now served under his father and beside Matt. Needless to say our families were very close, and I relied heavily on Trish for just about everything a girl needs her girlfriend for. I turned to see her espresso eyes were red from crying, and a look of fear had climbed onto her beautiful caramel skin and taken residence. I hated seeing her like that. Frightened. I hated seeing anyone like that actually, but especially Trish. I reached up and wrapped my arms around her neck. I had to stand on my tippy toes because she stood a good six inches taller than me.
“Matt told me earlier today,” I said and kissed her cheek before we released each other “Go have a seat. Beer?”
“Whiskey and diet Coke, with an extra shot of whiskey on the side,” she countered. Trish wasn't much of a drinker and usually stuck to beer, but it was an off night for everyone. Hell, I'd have a sho
t of whiskey if I wasn't at work. I checked on the rest of my tables before bringing Trish her drink and sitting beside her.
“You okay?” I asked my normally tough as nails friend.
“Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little shook up you know. How are you taking this? How's Matt taking it? Oh my God have you heard from her father? He must be a mess.” Her words were flying fast.
“Whoa, slow down Trish. Matt's okay. He's freaked out that we've now had two murders in Lincoln just months apart. I haven't heard from anyone else though. I just heard about it today from Matt. Word travels fast in this town doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does. Dade called me. I just can't believe it. I mean, I guess if it had happened to Keely first, I might not have been so shocked. I know that makes me a bitch and I'd never wish death on anyone but when you live life fast like she did, well shit happens right? But Amanda? She was a good girl. Had a shitty choice in friends but she wasn't like Keely. I thought this was a random act of violence and was all fucked up about it but now with Keely, what the fuck, Sunny? This could happen to any one of us!” She looked at me under heavily lashed eyes. She'd just said the words I'd been thinking all day.
You Are My Sunshine Page 2
