FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel

by R. J. Belle

  "Olivia, I need you to listen to me now," Sutton said forcing himself to be calm and nurturing, wanting to bring her to San Diego of her own free will.

  "Nate Warner murdered that woman, and he left no evidence that we could tie him to. I also think he has done something to Kali Hanson. She went missing last night. You are all we have, Olivia. I can tell that it bothers you, the fact that you couldn't help that woman. But, you can help now. You can help to save Kali, and you can help us get Nate Warner off the streets for good so he can't ever hurt another woman," Sutton said.

  "I don't want to go back to San Diego, he knows I saw him that night, detective." Olivia's voice trembled and her body began to shake again.

  "He won't hurt you, I promise you that. We will put you up in a motel, and I will have round the clock protection detail for you. You will be safe, Olivia, I promise." Pleading his case wasn't something he was used to doing, but he needed her. Besides, he didn't have time to screw around getting a material witness warrant, and he didn't trust that she wouldn't run again before he could do so.

  "Okay," she said.

  "Okay?" Sutton asked, puzzled yet again, by the young lady.

  "Yes, I will come, but I'm holding you to your word, and I'm trusting that you will protect me." Olivia stood and stretched her arms up towards the ceiling as if relieved to be free of a two year old, burdensome secret.

  "Thank you, Olivia. You want to get some things together, and take care of whatever you need to on your end? I'm not sure how long I will need you to stay in San Diego. If you have a job here, you probably want to let them know that you'll be gone for a while." Sutton was eager to get his partner on the phone. He urged her gently, "I'll be back in an hour to pick you up; is that enough time for you to do what you need to do?" he asked.

  "An hour is plenty, detective." Smiling at him and walking behind him as he headed for the front door of her apartment she touched his arm with her fingertips, "And detective, thank you." As Sutton turned around, she hugged him.

  Sutton stood there, unsure what the appropriate response was. He elected to hug her back, allowing her ample room to breathe, but his embrace was firm enough to let her know that he cared, that he could sympathize with the feeling of being alone in this world.

  CHAPTER 39

  Pulling into the driveway at Nate's house, Andrew could feel his pulse quicken. He parked, got out of the rental car leaving the driver's door open and sprinted to Nate's front door and began banging loudly on the security screen. He backed away from the door and listened for any movement from inside. It was quiet, too quiet. Going window to window, he peered in each one, holding his hands up to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun so he could see inside. Nothing. No movement, no Nate. As he was walking back towards the front door, he heard the woman from the house next door calling out, asking him what he was doing.

  "I'm looking for Nate Warner, your neighbor, have you seen him today?" Andrew asked, no small talk, and no niceties this time.

  "No, I haven't seen hide nor tail of him since yesterday morning. What happened? Did one of those women finally stab his cheating ass?" the woman snapped, stunning Andrew with her brash admission of her true feelings for her neighbor.

  "I don't think so. I just need to ask him a few questions. If I give you my number, can you please call me straight away, when you see him again?" Andrew asked.

  "I suppose I could do that for you, handsome," the woman said, ogling unabashedly.

  He handed over his number and walked back to the rental, picking up the phone to call Ryan as soon as he had the door closed behind him.

  Ryan was driving up the I5, on his way to Kali's Carlsbad condo when his cell phone began ringing again.

  "Bradley," he said, clicking on his headset and answering the call.

  "It's Andrew, have you made it to her house yet?"

  "I'm ten minutes away, what's up?" Ryan asked.

  "I just left Nate Warner's house, his neighbor said she hasn't seen him since yesterday."

  "Crap, Kali wouldn't be reckless enough to meet him somewhere, would she?" Ryan asked.

  "I don't think so. If he has her, he has her against her will," Andrew said as he slammed his fist down hard on the steering wheel, certain that he was right about that.

  "I'll call you back after I check her place out. I have to go, Sutton's calling." Ryan stabbed at the button to switch calls. "Hey, what did you find out from-"

  "Ryan, where are you right now?" Ryan could hear desperation in his voice.

  "I'm on my way to Kali Hanson's condo."

  "We have him, Ry, we have the bastard," Sutton said, barely able to contain himself. "Secure an arrest warrant and pick the bastard up. I am catching a flight back in a few hours. And Ryan, I'm not coming alone, I have an eye witness."

  "Eye witness to what?" Ryan asked.

  "To the murder of Laura Carmichael, partner. Olivia Foster witnessed Nate dumping Laura Carmichael's body on the beach," Sutton said, his fingers gripping the steering wheel of the compact rental car so tight his knuckles were turning white.

  "What! Holy fuck! You have got to be kidding me!"

  "I'm dead serious, get the warrant and pick him up," Sutton spat his words out in a huff, "and call me back when you locate Kali Hanson."

  CHAPTER 40

  When Meg pulled into the small visitor parking area at Kali's condo complex, she saw Kali's SUV parked in its assigned parking space and she took a deep breath, relieved. She was sure her best friend was safe in bed sleeping off the emotional roller coaster she'd ridden the day before. Knowing how difficult it was for Kali to tell her the whole story about her relationship with Nate Warner and how nervous she was about her meeting with Detective Sutton, she probably didn't get a wink of sleep the night before. This was the first time in a long time that she didn't have a key to Kali's house. In the chaos of her moving, and Meg's first race, she had forgotten to get a copy.

  Meg walked up the steps and when she reached Kali's door, she began knocking loudly hoping to wake Kali from her sleep.

  Ryan watched a woman walk up to Kali's unit from his car parked in the lot below. He got out and quickly made his way to Kali's unit, "Excuse me, who are you?" Ryan asked, upon finding her banging on Kali's front door.

  Meg spun around to find herself face to face with a middle aged, good-looking man.

  "Who am I?" Meg snapped, "Who are you?"

  Ryan pulled out his badge, "Detective Bradley, SDPD, what are you doing here?"

  "I'm here to check on my best friend, Kali Hanson."

  "That makes two of us," Ryan said, shaking off the woman's arrogant tone as he stepped in front of her and banged his closed fist against the door several times.

  "She's asleep," Meg said, matter-of-factly.

  "Are you sure?"

  "I'm sure." Meg said, as snotty as possible.

  Ryan turned and began to walk away, back to the parking area.

  "Wait," Meg called out, "can you get in to the unit?"

  "If she's asleep and won't answer her door, I need to request permission to enter her condo." Ryan stated then turned to retrieve his phone from the Crown Vic.

  "Detective," Meg called out, again, "what if she's not asleep?"

  "You said she was."

  "I think she is, her SUV is parked in her parking space, but it's not like her to miss work, or sleep through this racket," she said, significantly softening her tone.

  "Let me see what I can do," he said, and went down to his car leaving Meg at the locked front door, alone with her piss poor attitude.

  Ryan picked up the phone to call his unit and get the okay to gain entry to Kali Hanson's condo when he saw the big guy getting out of a car parked a few spaces away. Ryan opened his door, "Andrew!" he shouted.

  Andrew walked over to Ryan's car, "Well, she here? Her vehicle's here," he said.

  "She isn't answering. I'm calling the unit now to see if I have the go ahead to enter the premises."

  "Are you kidding?"
Andrew snarled starting to sprint towards Kali's condo.

  Ryan called out again, but he was already halfway to the front door.

  When Andrew reached Kali's unit, he saw a woman standing by the door, "Move," he barked. He stepped back away from the door as far as he could, then bolted straight towards it, leading with his broad shoulder, and as he collided he concentrated all his force on the lock bursting through it. Wood splinters flew in every direction and an ear-splitting bang filled the air as the door exploded back, banging against the wall behind it.

  "Kali!" Andrew shouted, while running towards her bedroom in the back of the condo. He knew as soon as he crossed the bedroom doorway that she wasn't there. The bed was made, and her work clothes were draped across the footboard of the bed. He quickly headed back out to the front room and scanning side to side saw her iPhone sitting on top of the bar, plugged into its charger. A green tote bag was also sitting on the bar. Nothing was out of place; Andrew dumped the tote bag onto the tiled bar and found Kali's wallet, some patient files, and a black journal. Taking a seat on one of the tall stools at the bar Andrew opened the journal and began flipping through pages. He stopped at a page that was written the day after he spent the night in Kali's bed. He could feel his face growing warm reading through the tale of her emotions surrounding that night, and him. He felt like an intruder, stealing a part of something that was not offered for his eyes to see.

  "What are you doing and who the hell are you?" Meg asked her tone accusatory.

  Slamming the journal closed, Andrew looked up and responded to the question, "I'm just trying to see if something in here can lead us to where she is, and I'm the man in love with her - not that it's any if your damn business."

  "That's personal," Meg barked, yanking the journal from his hands and placing it in her red Coach purse, "and anything that has to do with Kali is my business!"

  Andrew stood, rolled his eyes at her and went back into the bedroom where he found Ryan looking through the nightstand and pulling out multiple black journals. He was placing them on top of the bed, one at a time, after looking through the first few pages of each.

  "She kept a daily journal," Ryan said, looking up at Andrew, "if we can find the current one, we may be able to track her down."

  "Meg has it, and it's not going to tell us anything. Ryan, she didn't leave willingly, she didn't take anything with her. Not her phone or her purse, damn man, her house keys are on the bar in the kitchen. Who would leave their house, without their house keys?" Andrew growled his anger building. He had to find her and hanging out here, snooping in her private thoughts, wasn't going to facilitate that.

  "Call me if anything comes up," Andrew said, as he stomped out, passing Meg along the way without giving her a second glance, and when he reached the broken door, she called out to him.

  "Where are you going Colonel?" she asked.

  "I'm going to find her."

  "Where are you going to look?"

  "I don't know yet, but I won't stop until I find her," he said, and left with no further explanation.

  Ryan went running after Andrew and caught up just as Andrew folded his massive body into the compact rental, "Where are you headed to man?"

  "I have no fucking idea, but I'm not just gonna sit here."

  "Damnit Andrew don't cause any more trouble, pulling stunts like the one you just pulled isn't going to do anything but take manpower away from the search for Kali. If you love her, if you truly give a shit - stay out of it and let us do our jobs," Ryan said, agitated and frustrated with Andrew's lack of regard for procedure. But Andrew had already slammed the car door shut and put it in drive. He was a loose cannon that neither Ryan nor Sutton was going to be able to contain.

  Meg pulled her cell phone out and dialed Nate's number. It went straight to voicemail, so she sent him a text message.

  Where are you?

  Is Kali with you?

  Please call me

  Meg sat on the stool next to the bar looking at the display on her phone, hoping that Nate would respond, but no response came. Before she left, she scrolled through Kali's iPhone, there were two numbers she wanted from Kali's call log. Praying she was wrong, but knowing she wasn't, Meg entered the two numbers into her own phone, just in case.

  CHAPTER 41

  She tried to stretch out her arms, but it felt as if they were in a bucket of concrete. She was stuck like a fly in a spider's web, able to buzz a bit, but unable to free herself completely no matter how vigorously she buzzed about. Her body was stiff, sore, and hot in so many places she couldn't tell how many or where. The pain was acute and wide-spread. Continuing to try to move was useless; every minute twitch of her body brought more pain.

  The pungent smell of alfalfa filled her nostrils, and she could see light coming through a crack in the stable wall behind her head, and in the distance she could hear horses. Though they were still in the same building, she thought they had moved to another area within it. The space where she lay, sprawled out, was larger than the cramped space she was in before she succumbed to the darkness again. The whip must have struck her right eye because she couldn't see out of it. The whole right side of her face was on fire and throbbing. Peering out at the empty space surrounding her, she searched for signs of Nate, but he was nowhere to be found. That should have granted her a small amount of relief, under the circumstances, but it didn't. She could feel him. She knew he was near; she always knew when he was near. Her heart was broken. It's ironic she thought, how two days ago the pain she felt still, even then, over what she thought had happened between them had been so powerful - the dominant emotion within her. The amount of angst she had then was equivalent to one grain of sand on the shore of a mile long beach compared to what she felt now. The tears that began to well in her eyes stung the swollen side, and the large, malignant lump in her throat threatened to cut off her airway. It crossed her mind that it would be simple to give up, let go and allow him to take her life. The allure of being numb, free from the weight of the profound sadness that filled her whole being, was a poignant one. But then she thought of her family, of Tessa, and of course, Andrew. Digging down deep inside of herself, she found a glimmer of bright light, and she clung to it with all the might she could muster. She began an inner dialogue with herself telling herself that she was going to make it through this; she had to be stronger than she had ever been before, and she had to be smart and think clearly, not emotionally. She had to forget about the existence that she dwelled within in this moment, in this reality, and replace it with something else, something different. An alternate reality that she could not only survive in but, one that she could thrive in. She wouldn't win this game any other way.

  The sound of crunching hay filled the empty building, followed by his voice, "Good morning, Kali. I trust you slept well?" his face revealed no expression, and the cold energy emitting from him urged Kali to steel herself for what was to come.

  "Yes," she said.

  "Yes, what?" he shouted.

  "Yes, Master," she said, the words having to force themselves from her mouth. She detested being expected to address him as such.

  "Good girl, you are remembering who you are, you are remembering who owns you, yes?" Nate asked.

  "Yes, Master," she said, forcing the thick lump in her throat to comply.

  "Are you wet, Kali?" he asked.

  "Not yet," she said, not wanting to get caught in a lie, but also not wishing to provoke him, not until her hands were free.

  "What would make you wet, Kali?"

  She thought for a moment about how to answer that question, while pleasing him, but also, protecting her body from anymore pain, "Your fingers, please."

  "My fingers where, Kali?" He bent down next to her and grabbed the back of her head by her hair and yanked her back, adding more pressure to her bound wrists. "We are not going to play this way today, Kali, you are going to start answering me correctly and completely, do you understand?"

  "Yes, Master," she said, her
voice sounding foreign to her ears, "you fingers deep inside my pussy, please."

  "Good girl," he said, as he plunged two fingers inside her.

  Kali cried out in pain, the area between her legs swollen and throbbing from the whipping she'd taken. His fingers and hand rubbing on the outside tender, bruised and swollen area was almost unbearable. She knew it could be infinitely worse, and she wanted to do everything possible to avoid that. Forcing herself to separate reality from the game, she moaned with pleasure, grinding herself against his hand and blacking out everything in her mind except for giving him what he was seeking, being his good girl, and acting as he desired her to act.

  "You are getting wet, Kali, you want more?" he said, whispering in a raspy voice, next to her ear.

  "Yes, Master, I want more, harder, please. Harder," she said, forcing her voice to come off as seductive, but passive, and her body language to respond open to any request he might make.

  He started to move his fingers into her deeper, faster and harder, hitting the aching area over and over until she finally won the battle over her mind, and her body grew numb to the pain. Kali continued to expel moans of pleasure, with increasing volume and frequency, forcing her body to be receptive to pleasure.

  Swiftly removing his large hand from between her legs, he raised it high above her head and in one fail swoop brought it down, slapping her face with such force, her head flew far to the side. The jarring motion brought the throbbing back and forced her arms down, the chains digging further into her wrists. Instinctively she screamed out. One hand came up smothering her swollen mouth, and his other hand yanked her head back; he put his face directly in front of hers, his eyes looking into her eyes, so close, she could feel his rapid breaths against her face.