by Melissa Seal
Dani went to the office the next morning and found Derrick sitting at Lexie’s desk. She was happy to see him again because they worked well together. Derrick was a retired Army Sergeant that worked in military intelligence, so the two of them had plenty to talk about. Derrick was married with twins, a boy and a girl. He was head over heels in love with his wife, and Dani had met her the first day she was partnered with Derrick. They had met Lucy and the twins for lunch at the park. The twins were five years old and full of energy. Dani enjoyed watching them run around and play while their parents watched them. She wanted that one day, but she wasn’t sure it was in the cards for her. Derrick went to get coffee when the captain called Dani to tell them they had a case and needed to get down to Waterside immediately. She grabbed her new temporary partner and left.
They arrived on scene to find the body of fifty-five-year-old William Watson. It appeared that Watson had jumped from a hotel near the water but did not make it in the water. It was an apparent suicide but to Dani and Derrick something didn’t seem right. They began their investigation, and within a few hours they had solved the case. Mr. Watson was a gambling addict and had borrowed twenty-five thousand dollars from a bad man named Louie Cantrell. Several witnesses placed Cantrell in Watson’s hotel room minutes before he jumped or was pushed. The detectives waited for the warrant before they arrested Cantrell. Dani told Derrick that something felt “off” about the case, it was too easy. He chocked it up to great police work, called it day, and went home to his wife and kids. Dani stayed at the station trying to figure out why she had a weird feeling about the case. After two hours of staring at a blank screen, she hadn’t figured anything out. She called Lexie to check on her and Chris. She missed talking to Lexie and being around her every day, but she knew she needed to get used it if Lexie was going to try to make it work with Chris.
Lexie waited patiently for Chris to wake up. Many hours later she was still waiting, no matter what I am doing, my mind always drifts back to Dani. Why can’t I get this girl out of my head? No matter what I try, nothing works! Chris opened his eyes while Dr. Andrews checked on him. The doctor was surprised, because he wasn’t sure if he was going to wake up at all. Chris was confused, but he recognized Lexie and was pleased she was there. Although, he didn’t know where there was. Lexie hugged and kissed him gently. She was careful not to hurt him, but she wanted to be near him. Dr. Andrews gave Chris something for his pain and told Lexie he would probably sleep for the rest of the night. She went out to grab some coffee and air when her phone rang. She answered right away when she saw Dani’s number. Her voice was full of joy when she said hello and so was Dani’s. The two women knew they would never be anything more than friends and work partners, but their feelings hadn’t changed. Feelings that powerful don’t go away overnight.
“How is Chris doing, and how are you holding up?”
“He finally woke up, but he is still fragile and confused.”
“I am happy that he’s awake and even happier that I was able to talk to you, but I have to get back to work.”
They were both blissful when they hung up, remembering their walk on the beach that ended in that breath taking first kiss. Walking back into Chris’s room, Lexie saw him sitting up in bed and smiling. It was a miracle, and Lexie was silently thanking God for bringing her husband back to her.
The next few weeks were tough for Dani and Lexie. Lexie had been going stir crazy in the hospital, and now that Chris has been released, she had cabin fever. Lexie missed working, and she hated sitting around her house all day. She was pleased with Chris’ recovery and that they were together, but it wasn’t enough. On the contrary, Dani had been working twenty-four seven trying to keep her witnesses alive. She and Derrick had uncovered three witnesses who agreed to testify against Cantrell but keeping them alive long enough to testify had become problematic. So far, there had been two unsuccessful attempts on a witness. The trial started the following week. It was going to be a long weekend thwarting any future attacks.
Lexie went to the station to see how everything was going. Dani had already filled her in on the Cantrell case. It troubled Lexie that Dani was so happy working with Derrick. She knew she had to let her go and not being jealous was the first step. She hoped that by the time she came back to work her feelings for Dani would be gone, and they could go back to being partners because she missed Dani. Things with Chris had improved since his accident. Lexie was almost grateful for the accident. Chris had changed a great deal since they left New York. She had been convinced he would never again be the man she married. He was resembling his old self more daily. Upon exiting the elevator, she encountered Dani and Derrick laughing at the vending machine. A twinge of jealousy shot through her, but she brushed it off and walked toward them. Dani was glad to see Lexie, and she introduced her to Derrick. The three detectives chitchatted for a few minutes then talked about the Cantrell case. The captain walked in as Lexie was leaving. He was excited to see her.
“Are you back to work now?”
“I will be back in a few days, hopefully. Chris has a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday of next week, and if all goes well, he should not need me home all the time, and I will be back to work. I am so ready to come back too, I am not cut out to a be a housewife, it is way too much work!”
Driving home, Lexie called Chris to see if he needed anything while she was out, but he didn’t answer the phone. She assumed he was taking a nap or in the shower. She made one stop at the grocery store. When she got home, Chris was making lunch for the two of them. He felt invigorated after three weeks of recovery coupled with Lexie waiting on him hand and foot. They were content with their current situation. Chris was making grilled cheese, one of Lexie’s favorite foods.
Chris handed Lexie her sandwich, “Hey babe, I have to go back to Florida to finish up a few things. I promise I will be back as soon as I can, and then I will never leave you again. I want to pack up my apartment and tie up some loose ends, so we can start over here.”
The next day, Lexie drove Chris to the airport, kissed him goodbye, then she went to the station. She was anxious to get back to work and Dani. She had called Captain Harris the night before to let him know she would be coming back. Harris was looking forward to having his best detective back on the job. Lexie hoped to see Dani when she arrived, but Dani and her partner were guarding their witness, Randy Wilcox.
Lexie had been in the office a few minutes when the phone rang. It was a call to a crime scene a few blocks away. Lexie arrived at a local mini mart where everyone inside was dead. A witness outside told Lexie that she had run into the mini mart to grab a bottle of water. Seconds later, three guys burst in with guns and started yelling at the cashier to empty the register. The cashier produced a gun from behind the counter and started shooting. The robbers shot back, but the cashier was able to hit all three before he was fatally shot. Lexie drove the witness back to the station. Her first case back was an open and shut case tied up nicely with a bow from the brave witness, Carla Beecham. After work, Lexie went home, took a hot bath, made some dinner, and wondered what her husband was doing in Florida.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Chris landed in Tampa and caught a cab to his apartment where he found Jane Williams barely alive and unable to move, let alone make one last phone call. Chris had abducted Jane the night before Lexie left him in Florida. Once he realized Lexie was gone, he moved Jane from the dingy motel where he was keeping her, to his house in Florida and rented a car to drive Virginia. He intended to get home to Lexie and smooth things over with her before going back to torture and kill poor Jane.
Chris had not hurt the young woman before he left. He left her with food and water that was just within her reach. He did not want her to die before he was able to get back. He never dreamed it would take him three weeks to get back to Jane. She had run out of food and water a few days before he returned. She had a nasty infection from the rusty hand cuffs, and she had been sitting in her own waste for weeks. She lon
ged for this nightmare to be over. When Chris went to move her, she tried to fight him off. This resulted in her hitting her head which killed her instantly. She was free. Chris quickly wrapped Jane’s wasted body in plastic and cleaned up the apartment. Once the apartment was clean enough, he put the body in the trunk of his car and drove to the Everglades. There he dumped the body and hoped the alligators would eat the evidence. He was anxious to kill again. Jane’s death did not scratch his itch. He never got to hear the tormented, horrified voices of Jane’s loved ones. He was hungry to inflict that pain, and he was determined to abduct his next victim today. He didn’t have much time before Lexie would be asking when he was coming home. He had better make this kill a good one! Chris knew he had to do something about the apartment, so he called a friend who worked at a homeless shelter, and he offered his apartment to the shelter to use. He knew they would see it as an act of kindness, but to Chris it was a way to get more people’s DNA and fingerprints all over the apartment to cover his crime.
The day of the Cantrell trial finally arrived. Dani was eager to pass this witness on to the District Attorney’s office. It had been a lengthy week. After the witness testified, the two detectives set him up with the U.S. Marshalls who gave him a new identity and home. Cantrell was convicted on the murder charge and sent away for life. Case closed.
Lexie was waiting for Dani at the station when she came in the day after the trial. Her eyes lit up when she saw her.
Lexie wondered, “Did you miss me partner?”
Dani couldn’t wipe the grin off her face, and she felt her heart beating faster with every word Lexie said. It’s foolish for me to be feeling this way, but I really have no control of my emotions today. Derrick broke the tension when he came in to clean out his desk, so he could move back to the narcotics division. Dani hugged him. That made Lexie jealous, and she walked into the captain’s office and shut the door. What the hell, why is she hugging that guy? Dani was pleased that Lexie seemed bothered that she hugged Derrick. Dani and Derrick talked for a few minutes while he gathered his belongings.
He hugged her once more, “Don’t forget about game night at my house next week.”
“I wouldn’t miss it, beating you in every version of Trivial Pursuit is the highlight of my week.
Lexie was sitting at her desk when Derrick finally left.
“So, Danielle, what’s with all the hugging and game nights? Is there something going on with you two?”
Dani walked over to Lexie, bent down, and whispered, “I am very happy to have you back, I really missed you.”
The two ladies discussed everything that had happened over the past three weeks. Lexie invited Dani over for dinner after they left the office. Dani enthusiastically accepted and told Lexie she would pick up some wine and meet her in an hour.
An appetizing aroma greeted Dani when she arrived with a bottle of Lexie’s favorite wine. Lexie was blasting music and did not hear Dani knock. After a few knocks, Dani walked in to find Lexie dancing and cooking. This is the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Lexie noticed her standing there, but she didn’t stop dancing. Dani uncorked the wine, poured two glasses, then sat down to admire Lexie’s performance. Lexie’s phone rang, and the show was over. Dani took over cooking while Lexie stepped outside to finish her call. When she came back in the house, Lexie looked a little down.
“Is everything ok?”
Not wanting to ruin their evening, Lexie smiled, “Yes Danielle, everything is great, now let’s get this dinner going because I’m starving.”
The ladies finished cooking dinner and enjoyed their meal. After wining and dining, the detectives went to the living room to watch a movie. During the movie, they talked a lot and laughed even more. Time got away from them and before they knew it, it was three in the morning. They both had to be at work in less than four hours.
Lexie knew Dani had a long drive home, “I have an idea partner, since it is so late, maybe you should just spend the night. What do you think?”
“It is late, and I am drained. I think it is a great idea, but you have to promise to behave yourself.”
The older woman just smirked at her sweet, sexy younger partner and shook her head. Lexie gave Dani a long t-shirt to wear, and after turning off all the lights, she slipped in the bed next to her. Dani tried to ignore the heat between her and Lexie. She faced Lexie and put her arms around her, and they fell fast asleep. They were in the same position a few hours later, when the alarm clock sounded to let them know it was time to get up. Neither woman wanted to get up, but they knew they had to get to work.
CHAPTER NINE
Chris had been trolling the streets of Clearwater Beach for hours and had not found a suitable victim. He began to worry that he would not find a girl there, and he would have to go back to Norfolk to kill again. He hadn’t wanted to kill in Virginia again so soon, but it was not looking good for him in Florida. He almost gave up when he spotted his newest victim. Tiffany Decker appeared to be about seventeen years old. She was a stunning girl with curly brown hair, long legs, and most importantly, she was alone. Chris followed the girl until they were safely out of the public eye, and then he called to her from his car claiming to be lost. Once the unsuspecting girl got close enough to his car, Chris jumped out, grabbed her, and knocked her unconscious as he threw her in the backseat of his car. I need to get out of this area quick, and then I will stop and tie her up, she should be out for a while. When he felt it was safe to stop, he pulled over. He used zip ties to restrain the still unconscious girl.
Tiffany woke up alone and terrified in the back seat of a strange car. She tried to piece together how she had gotten there, when she saw a man opening the door. She tried to scream, but it didn’t matter, there was no one around for miles, and her captor only laughed at her as she screamed. Chris had driven for hours while his victim was unconscious, and then when he felt he was far enough away, he stopped and rented a room at a sleazy motel off the interstate. He waited until nightfall before he took his newest toy to the motel and snuck her in through the back entrance while the desk clerk was on a smoke break. Chris liked to take his time when terrorizing and torturing his victims, but he felt rushed this time. It had taken him way too long to find Tiffany Decker, and he had to force the phone call a lot sooner than he normally would.
Chris called Lexie and got her voice mail. He left a message saying he loved her and should be home in a few days. Then, he went back inside the small, smelly, motel room where he handed the terrified girl a phone and told her to call her parents. Tiffany was confused, and for a minute, she thought she was going to be set free until Chris slapped her hard across the face and informed her that she would be saying exactly what he told her to say. Nothing more and nothing less. Chris handed Tiffany a piece of paper and told her to make the call. He further instructed that if she didn’t say exactly what was written, then he would not only kill her, but he would kill her parents first and make her watch. Tiffany slowly dialed her mom’s cell phone number and waited for her to answer.
Mrs. Decker had been calling Tiffany for hours and had agonized about her daughter when she didn’t come home from shopping. She had been gone for over twelve hours, and the Decker’s had already called the police but were told there was nothing they could do until she had been missing for forty-eight hours. Susan Decker answered the phone on the second ring and was delighted to hear her daughter’s voice until she heard the sheer terror in it. Susan screamed for her husband as she put the call on speaker which delighted Chris. He enjoyed inflicting as much pain as possible. He was delighted to have both parents on the phone. Tiffany read from the paper her captor had given her. Her parents listened in horror because they feared these were the last words, they would ever hear from their seventeen-year-old daughter. After Tiffany had told her parents everything Chris wanted, he took the phone away and smashed it into tiny pieces, so it couldn’t be tracked. Chris used chloroform to knock Tiffany out, he did not want to hit her in the head and ta
ke a chance of killing her. He had far more in store for the young woman. He had to move from the motel where she had made her last call in case the police were able to trace it. He threw his latest victim in the trunk of his car and headed for the South Carolina border. He knew he had to get out of Florida as soon as possible.
Lexie showered while Dani went home to get a change of clothes. All the way home, Dani wished she was in the shower with Lexie, watching the water slowly drip from her full breasts and cascade down her beautiful body. She knew that was never going to happen, so she got her head together and went home to change for work. Meanwhile, Lexie had the same fantasy about her shower and Dani, only she had a much harder time pulling herself out of the fantasy. She touched herself until the phone rang. That damn phone is killing me! Lexie jumped out of the shower to answer it. Captain Harris told Lexie to get to the station as quickly as she could and to call Dani and get her there, too.
Lexie hung up with the Captain and called Dani, who had just gotten in the shower.
When she answered the phone out of breath, Lexie probed, “What are you doing? Why are you breathing so hard?”
Dani smirked, “I was taking a shower, when the phone rang, I had to jump out and run to answer it. I still have shampoo in my hair.”
Lexie’s mind drifted off to being in the shower with Dani and running her fingers through the younger detective’s hair until Dani spoke and pulled Lexie out of her second fantasy of the day. “Why are you calling, is something wrong?” Lexie informed “Captain Harris wants us at the station ASAP.”
When she arrived at the station, Lexie waited outside for her partner so they could walk in together. She wasn’t sure why she was waiting for Dani, she just knew she wanted to be near her. Once Dani arrived, the two detectives rode the elevator to the third floor where the captain was waiting for them. They entered the captain’s office and were briefed on the kidnapping of seventeen-year old Tiffany Decker and the phone call she had made to her parents earlier that morning. The girl had gone missing in Clearwater Beach. Dani question, “is that close to Tampa where Chris is?”
