by Andrew Hess
“What? What about spending the morning together?” It was an abrupt change almost as if we switched roles.
“If you stay here, it’s only going to be because we argued about it. Physically, you’ll be here with me. But I know you. Mentally, you’ll be wondering what case you missed out on, how you would solve it, what another officer missed or overlooked.” He was right; again. It had only been ten months, but he knew me better than most of my friends and family.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Yeah, you’ll just have to make it up to me tonight.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “What did you have in mind?”
“You’ll see soon enough. You should go before I change my mind.” I gave him a brief peck on the lips and turned to my dresser. He patted my backside with a thwacking sound. Even through my towel, it stung. I stared at Matthew from the corner of my eyes. “Just giving you a preview of things to come.”
Great, nearly a year into the relationship and now I find out my boyfriend has a kinky side to him.
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It was a little after nine when I finally pulled up to the station. Most of the officers were out on patrol or working a case, so the station was pretty empty. I thought it would be easy to clock in and find out where I needed to go without the Lieutenant noticing. I was almost to my desk when the door to his office slammed against the wall. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the sound.
“Detective Ryan, my office; now!” I turned around immediately and found the Lieutenant standing in his doorway with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Damn could we go one day without him screaming my name? I mean damn, not everything is my fault. I threw my bag down on my desk and trotted into the Lieutenant’s office. “You wanted to see me?”
“Where the hell have you been?” He took one look at my disheveled appearance and shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” He sat down in his chair and wrote down an address. “Detective Johnson has been at Highland Fitness all morning. A worker found a sign on the steam room door saying it was out of order, but said it was still on. She opened the door and found one of the personal trainers in there. I need you to go down there and check it out.”
“But you said Rodney has been there all night. It’s his case.”
“I’m the boss. I say who gets what case. And right now I’m telling you to get down there and check it out.” He pushed the paper towards me. Reluctantly, I took it from him and trudged back to my desk. I was in the process of grabbing my things when Rodney entered the station.
“I was just coming to see you.” Rodney threw himself into his chair. His eyes had a fire burning in them and was directing it at me. “You okay partner?”
“I’ve been up for twenty-six hours, helped you search Ambrose’s house, catalogued the evidence we took from his place and processed another crime scene at a gym. So no, I’m not okay.”
“You said you wanted overtime, right?”
Rodney ignored my attempt at lightening the mood and changed the subject. “Why were you looking for me?”
“The Lieutenant wanted me to go to Highland Fitness and…”
“And what? He wanted you to take over my case?”
“He just wanted me to check it out and assist you with it.”
He slammed his massive hand on the desk. The loud noise had the officers that were still at the station looking up with concern. “This is my case Ali, not yours.”
“Whoa, calm down Rodney. I don’t want the case. I have enough to deal with thanks to the Ambrose investigation.”
Hearing me mention Ambrose’s name sent another wave of anger and hostility my way. “Sure throw that in my face too.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”
“Esposito threw me off the Ambrose case. Said it was too high profile for a new detective like me. He told me you and Thornton could handle things from here on out and would let me take over a few minor cases.” He chuckled to himself. “He’s treating me like I’m a damn rookie.”
“We’ll see about that one.” I stood up to march back into the Lieutenant’s office. Rodney’s sausage-like fingers coiled around my wrist.
“Don’t you dare,” he snarled. The look in his eyes was the same you’d get from a pit bull before they attack. “You go in there to argue with him and he’ll bust me down to patrol or a school crossing guard, or whatever he threatens you with.”
“Yeah, but he never acts on those threats.”
“With you doesn’t. You’re his favorite.”
That brought out a cackle of laughter from me. “Yeah right; next you’re gonna tell me I was elected president.”
“Then should I call you Madam President?” His eyes narrowed at me. His expression had not changed, nor did he flinch. “He chose you because of how much you fight for what you want. You fight for your victims. Well, this is my fight. I’ll deal with the Lieutenant.”
“Sure Rodney, no problem.” I dropped into my chair and stared at my computer. What the hell was I supposed to do until lunch? The Lieutenant wanted me to check out the crime scene. If I did, Rodney would keep thinking of me as a case thief. The only thing I could do was go round up what was left of my team to check out the videos.
Chapter 21-Claire
Claire’s toned tanned arm stretched over her head as the annoying alarm blared loudly next to her. A groan of displeasure escaped as she slammed her hand on the obnoxious device to silence it. The constant high pitched beeping continued which angered her more. Claire’s hand rose slightly before swatting at it, knocking the alarm to the floor. The cord ripped from the wall letting the room fill with the silence Claire desired. Despite disconnecting the alarm, the nagging noise remained inside Claire’s head.
She pulled back the sheets reluctantly and found herself clothed in her workout attire from the previous night. She remembered going to the gym to blow off some steam thanks to her new boss. Steam…Oh shit; Tyson. Images of Tyson coming on to her at the gym filled her head. She remembered how he saved her life and then brought her to the office to make sure she was all right. She remembered him handing her a water and then her switching her bottle with his when his back was turned.
Whatever Tyson put in the drink was strong enough to make him admit he wanted Claire and made him pass out moments later. She couldn’t imagine what was going through his head when she lured him into the steam room, even more so when she hit him in the groin and left him there to die.
Oh my god; was he dead? Did I kill him? Claire grabbed the remote from her bedside table and turned on the news. The two newscasters were recapping their top stories.
The female anchor looked straight into the camera and had a small digital window open with a chalked image of a person lying on the ground. The headline read Death by Gym. “In Highland New York, a man was found by one of his co-workers locked inside a steam room. Sources say he was one of the personal trainers that worked there and had been working late. He died at the scene. The official cause of death has yet to be confirmed.”
He was dead. Tyson Lee was dead. It may have been briefly mentioned on the news, but it was confirmed nonetheless. Claire sat on her bed with her mouth hung open. Shock wasn’t even the word to describe what Claire was feeling, nothing could. The news confirmed her kill. She was a murderer no matter how much she tried to justify it, and she did, at least in her mind. He tried to drug me. He tried to get me alone and attack me. Who knows how many other women he did this to? Any remorse Claire had for her actions quickly evaporated. She took a deep breath and carried on with her morning routine as if nothing happened.
As Claire drove into work, she thought about the men she killed. Ambrose and Tyson. They had total disregard for women. Both showed how much they cared for the ones they wanted to sleep with by drugging them. Claire knew there were more like them out there and that it was nearly impossibl
e to stop it from happening. But she stopped them. She stopped two of them. She made sure neither could ever hurt another woman again.
Her ideas were spiraling out of control. Claire gripped the steering wheel. Her eyes narrowed while she pressed harder on the gas. “They all need to die,” she whispered violently.
Once Claire entered the hospital, she rushed to her office and wrote out prescriptions for several types of medications, all of which were normal every day pills like blood pressure medication and blood thinners. The hospital pharmacist didn’t even bat an eye when she handed him the papers. He filled them without question like he did anytime Claire sent down or handed him a prescription. Why would he? She was the most liked and most trusted doctor in that hospital.
Claire’s plan was happening faster than she thought. She managed to get her hands on her preferred weapon of choice, pills to render her victims unconscious or kill them swiftly without anyone knowing she had anything to do with their deaths. All she needed now was a victim and a plan of attack.
The bottles were placed in her lab coat pockets hoping they wouldn’t rattle around while she walked back to her office. Nurses stopped her in the hall to say hello or waved to her from their desks. She was almost home free. A few more feet and Claire would be back in her office and able to hide the pills in her desk drawer or in her bag.
“Good morning Claire,” Dr. DeMarco said with a grin that told her he wasn’t done with her yet.
“Morning,” she replied while trying to hurry past him.
He stepped in front of her. “What’s your schedule like? I was hoping you could show me around and introduce me to some of the staff.”
“Sorry, I’m a bit busy today.” She tried to get around him, but he continued to block Claire from getting away from him.
“How about tomorrow?” Dr. DeMarco put his hands on Claire’s arms and gently rubbed her shoulders. “Give me a chance Claire. I’m not a bad guy. I just want to get to know you and the staff a little better.”
Claire’s whole arm was filled with goosebumps. The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end. She shook herself free from his grasp and eyed him suspiciously. “Meet me at my office by one tomorrow. I’ll take you around and introduce you to the staff.”
The corners of his lips curled. Dr. DeMarco seemed satisfied by Claire’s response. “I’ll see you then.” He gave a feint wink and walked off leaving Claire with a sense a repulsion in her the pit of her stomach.
There was something about Ron DeMarco that was not sitting well with Claire. Something was unsettling by the way he looked at her, the way he talked to her, and the way he tried to touch her. Just the thought of it had bile rising in Claire’s throat. She needed to know more about Dr. DeMarco; who he was, where he came from, and why he seemed so familiar.
“Morning Claire,” Sheila said with a welcoming smile.
“Morning.” Claire entered her office and placed the pills in her desk drawer. She poked her head outside to see Sheila again. “You mind coming in here for a minute?”
Sheila happily obliged. “What’s up?”
“Where were you last night?”
“Unsure of the reason behind the question, Sheila shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “The same place I always am. I was home. Why? What’s up?”
“No reason, but I was with you last night if anyone asks.”
“Who’s going to ask? Wait, why do you need me to cover for you?”
Claire shook her head and grabbed Sheila’s hands. “It’s a long story and can’t get into it right now. Just cover for me if anyone asks?”
Sheila didn’t know what to do, but chose to side with her friend. “Sure Claire, I got you. But you owe me a story and it better involve a hot guy.” Claire raised her eyebrows and patted Sheila’s hands. “It does, doesn’t it?” Claire refused to say another word. “I can’t wait to hear this story.”
Chapter 22-Ali
My morning was spent hanging out with the tech team doing my best to hide from the Lieutenant. A room was set up to view the videos that were collected from Ambrose’s house along with facial recognition equipment to help identify everyone in them. There was still hope that one of the tapes could turn up a solid lead or a potential suspect. It didn’t take them long to set up. I was ready to go, but seemed to be missing both of my partners.
I wondered if Rodney was on his way or if he had passed out at his desk. Then I thought about how long Rodney had been up for and started to worry about him driving anywhere. I reached for my phone, scrolled to his name, and called him.
He picked up by the third ring to my relief. “Hey partner. The techs just finished setting up. Where are you?”
“Esposito just sent me home. He said I put in too much time and can’t afford to give me that much overtime.”
“What about the Ambrose case? I thought that was supposed to be top priority for us.”
“Yeah, I tried to use that excuse too. He told me there are enough officers working that case. He needs me to rest up so if something else comes in, I can work on that instead.”
“So that’s it? You’re off the case just like that?”
“Looks that way.” He took a long pause. I could tell he was pissed about being taken off the Ambrose case. The Lieutenant had already tried throwing him off the case from this morning. Although for the life of me, I didn’t know why. All I knew was that he wanted me to look over the crime scene. “Where’d you go this morning,” Rodney asked.
“I’ve been hanging out with the tech team.”
“You’ve been with them all day?” His words sounded accusatory. I should’ve felt hurt from them, but I couldn’t blame him for being suspicious.
“I stepped out for coffee and some lunch, but I’ve been here for the most part.” I hoped telling him that would put him at ease. I’ve been mostly waiting for the techs to get all the equipment set up and for you and Thornton to show. Plus it kept me out of the Lieutenant’s crosshairs.” One of the techs knocked on the wall and signaled the first tape was ready to go. I gave him the thumbs up. “So I gotta ask, what’d you do to piss off the Lieutenant?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. One day he was promoting me. The next he’s taking me off cases. Ali, you gotta help me.” Oh now he wanted my help. Before he was looking like he wanted to throw something at me just for mentioning that I’d talk to the Lieutenant, and now he wanted me to intervene.
“I’ll see what I could do. For now, go home and get some sleep. You need it. I’ll go over the tapes and let you know what I find.”
“What about the Lieutenant?”
“Don’t worry; I’ll handle him.”
I hung up with Rodney knowing I would have to stick to my word and take on the Lieutenant. This time it would be on behalf of my partner instead of just the usual. As I turned to walk back to the room they were setting up my little viewing party, I spun and collided with Detective Thornton.
“Uh, sorry Detective,” he mumbled. He wasn’t acting like his usual self. Maybe he had a rough night last night. Maybe he was hung-over. Or maybe, just maybe, he was embarrassed by the voicemails he left me while he drowned himself in beer.
I let out a half smile to let him know I listened to his messages. “And hello to you too Detective.” I said the last part louder and more sarcastic so that the pounding in his head would intensify. It was mean I know, but I considered it payback for our first few encounters. “They’re ready for us inside.”
“Oh, I uh thanks.”
We entered the room without saying another word. Our seats were on opposite sides of the tech that operated the equipment while he started the first video.
“Should I get the popcorn,” the tech joked. The stilled silence of the room made the joke seem even worse than it sounded. He muttered an apology under his breath and clicked play.
At first there was nothing but an empty room. The bed was perfectly made just like we found it the day before. It took a few moments before anything happened. The
door opened and a petite blond woman stumbled into the room with her arm draped over the shoulder of an attractive older man. He helped her to the bed, practically dragging her there in the process. He faced her towards the camera recording them from the secret room. The woman’s eyes were almost completely closed, but that didn’t stop Ambrose. His lips smothered her neck working their way up and down. The woman did nothing to stop him. She stood there leaning into Ambrose as his fingers trailed down her arm. They gently slid under her shirt and raised it to the woman’s chest. He massaged her breasts while the woman moaned. It seemed like she was enjoying herself, but also looked like she was about to pass out.
He raised the shirt over the woman’s head and let her fall to the bed. Ambrose glanced over his shoulder at the camera, pulled a small remote from his pocket and smiled. The video switched to an overhead shot. The woman was on the bed with her eyes closed. Ambrose hovered over her, letting his finger nimbly walk up her stomach inching closer to the woman’s white bra.
“How much longer until you can confirm the woman’s identity,” I asked. Watching an amateur porno with a man I despised was not how I wanted to spend my day. My only hope was to pull up a clean image from the video and locate the person in our system.
The tech did a double take before typing something on his keyboard. A square popped up on his laptop as it examined the woman’s face. “It should only take another minute or two to scan the database.”
The video continued playing on the larger screen. Ambrose had already removed the woman’s pants and had his hand down her front. He was pulling down the zipper of his pants.
I took control over the remote. “Do we really have to keep watching this?” It was degrading to watch a woman that was either drugged or drunk have sex while unknowingly being recorded.
The tech’s eyes shifted to his computer screen and nodded. “We have a positive ID on the woman.” He printed out the information and handed it to me. He fetched the next tape but Thornton stopped him.
