Never Trust a Stranger

by Mary Monroe

  “Will Ann get here soon? I need to take a bathroom break,” I said quickly and in a dry tone. I didn’t even try to hide my impatience.

  “She’s on her way, but I’ll cover the register so you can go rest yourself for a while.” Mrs. Cottright glanced at her watch again. “Just be back in ten minutes because by then I’ll have a full bladder, and you know when a woman reaches my age every organ in her body has a life of its own.”

  When I got to the restroom, I whipped my cell phone out of my pocket. Instead of texting Calvin, I called him. My heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice.

  “Hello, Lola.”

  I didn’t know if it was my imagination or what, but his voice sounded even sexier than before. A warm tingle ran up my spine. I had to cough to clear my throat and my head. I told myself , If this man is half as good with his dick as he was on Tuesday, I’m going to die of ecstasy. “Um, I’m sorry I didn’t respond to the text you sent. I didn’t see it until I got to work this morning. And we’ve been so busy, this is my first break today.”

  “I hope we’re still on for Saturday. Two p.m. is a good time for me. I know the concierge, and he told me I could check in even earlier,” he said.

  “Yes, we are, and two is the best time for me.” I tried not to sound too excited. “Tuesday was nice, but I’ll be glad when Saturday gets here so we can really get to know one another. It’s been a long time . . . uh . . . coming.”

  “Coming? Pun intended, I hope.” Calvin laughed and I did too.

  “Well, it is what it is.” I suddenly felt so awkward, I didn’t know what to say next. I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Is there anything you want me to bring this time?”

  “Such as?”

  “One of my previous dates was a little on the kinky side,” I mumbled. “His screen name is ‘CrazyHorse.’” I hadn’t told Joan about my date with the freaky stockbroker from Tacoma, Washington. I knew if I ever did, she would tease me for days. I felt comfortable enough with Calvin to tell him though.

  “Hmmm. Kinky like handcuffs and, uh, other things along those lines?”

  “That and me spanking his naked ass with a wooden paddle for him being a bad boy by cheating on his wife with me. He didn’t want to take a chance on the security people searching his luggage at the airport and seeing his toys, so he gave me a list of things to pick up from an adult store to bring with me.”

  “You paddled the dude’s ass?”

  “Yes, I did. Right after I put the handcuffs on him. And I kid you not, it was hard for me to keep a straight face when he told me all the things he wanted me to do to him.”

  “No shit? Well, I’ve done some outlandish shit myself, but I’ve never tried any of that. I’m very broad-minded and flexible though. I want you to know that I’m open to almost anything.” Calvin stopped talking for a few seconds. Before I could speak again, he continued. “I’m getting excited right now.”

  “Me too,” I admitted.

  “I don’t know if phone sex is considered kinky, but I’m game if you are.”

  “Um, as tempting as that sounds, I’d better not. I’m in the employee restroom. The door is locked, but the walls are thin. My bosses are elderly, and if they wandered close enough and heard me in here moaning and groaning, they’d probably call the paramedics first and ask questions later.” We both laughed.

  Chapter 45

  Calvin

  BEFORE I DISCOVERED DISCREET ENCOUNTERS, I HAD HOOKED UP with a few other women that I’d met on other sites. But so far the only one I’d eliminated was that escort named Cherry. In her case, the list of potential suspects had to be a mile long. Since I’d been smart enough to use a fake name, my real name was not on that list.

  The media reported so much crime, it was hard to keep up with it. I read the newspaper every day and watched the TV news when I could. According to one recent report, the investigation into Adele “Miss Honey” Beaumont’s murder was “ongoing.” A homeless man had stumbled across her body in that alley the day after her doomed encounter with me.

  Just like I had predicted, her vicious pimp—who had already served time for brutalizing some of his other women—had been named as the prime suspect.

  * * *

  I made it to Sylvia’s house at exactly seven Friday evening. I enjoyed the lavish dinner she had cooked: turkey wings, corn bread dressing, mustard greens, mashed potatoes, and yams. For dessert, I enjoyed an hour of raw sex.

  “We need to make love more often. You almost wore me out,” she whimpered as she lay in my arms in her bed.

  Even though Sylvia had cried out in pain and begged me to be more gentle, I had pumped into her like it was going out of style. She had “complained” about my lovemaking before, so this was nothing new to me. Sometimes I got aggressive in bed, but I couldn’t help myself. My rage had become so profound I had to take it out on somebody. Besides, rough sex turned me on, especially after my last conversation with Lola. I couldn’t wait to get her into bed again. Instead of strangling, shooting, or beating the bitch, fucking her to death was another possibility. Just thinking about that excited me.

  “Sylvia, baby, sometimes when I’m with you, I get so caught up in the moment I get carried away. I’m so sorry,” I apologized.

  “Don’t worry about it, Calvin. I know you missed me as much as I missed you. Before you go on your next run, we should get together every night. That way, when you get back in town you won’t be so energetic.”

  “That’s cool, baby.”

  “Why don’t we get up and go to your place so you can pick up a few clothes and stay with me the whole weekend? Or I can pack a bag and go home with you and stay until you go out on your next run. My new neighbors, Jose and Rosa Garcia, are hosting a cookout tomorrow afternoon at one to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. I don’t want to go alone, and I’ve told them so much about you, they’re dying to meet you. Jose also served in Afghanistan, so I’m sure you two will get along like old friends.”

  “I’d love to meet Jose and Rosa, but at one in the afternoon? That’s kind of early in the day for me to party with people I don’t even know.”

  I eased Sylvia out of my arms and sat up. The only light was coming from the screen of the muted TV facing the bed, so the room was pretty dim. I was glad because I didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on her face.

  “We don’t have to be there that early. I doubt if it’ll start on time anyway.” Sylvia paused and chuckled. “You know Mexicans are as bad as we are when it comes to doing things on time. I’m sure it’d be okay if we got there around two, or even later.”

  “I wish they’d planned it for later in the day. Besides, I have plans for tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Aw, Calvin, come on!” Sylvia hollered. She sat bolt upright with her face so close to mine I could feel her hot breath on my cheek. “Baby, you just got home a few days ago. I thought you’d want to spend as much time with me as possible.”

  “I do, honey, and I will. But I promised my boy Rudy that I’d go fishing with him and a couple of our buddies tomorrow. I cancelled on him last month because I had to go to Chicago. Now he’s really looking forward to me going out on the water with him on that fancy new boat he just spent a fortune on.”

  “You know, going out on the open water on a fancy new boat sounds like a lot of fun. Would you do me a favor and ask Rudy if it’s okay for me to tag along? I don’t really want to go to the Garcias’ cookout anyway.”

  “Sweetheart, there won’t be any other women on board. Besides that, we’re going to be drinking, talking a lot of male bullshit—that might offend you—and doing a lot of other shit you would not enjoy. Remember how you almost fainted when I tried to show you how to bait a fishhook the last time I took you fishing?”

  “Yeah. I’ll never forget that.”

  “And you were so prissy, you complained the whole time about having to hide behind a bush to use the bathroom.”

  “Ewww! I damn sure remember that. That was
not a pleasant experience. Oh well. I’ll keep my prissy ass off Rudy’s boat. Are you going to be gone the whole afternoon?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “What time do you think you’ll be home?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “If it’s not too late, maybe you can still come to the party. I’d hate for you to spend all that time on a boat with a bunch of musty, beer-guzzling men. After all you’ve been through lately, you need as much tender loving care as you can get.”

  * * *

  In less than twelve hours, the next phase of my plan would take place. In addition to getting all the sex I could on our next (and possibly our last) date, I hoped to find out enough about Lola so that I could proceed with the final phase of my plan in a timely manner.

  It was a good thing I knew how extensive her dating habits were. From what she’d told me, and from the club’s reviews, she had been with numerous other club members—some more than once. There would be a very long list of suspects when she disappeared. Even if my name came up and some busybody cop questioned me, I had my impressive record as a marine with an honorable discharge to fall back on. I had never been arrested and I had no history of violence. Nobody would suspect me of harming somebody, especially a woman.

  Chapter 46

  Joan

  THE WEATHER IN PHOENIX WAS VERY MELLOW, BUT I DIDN’T LEAVE the hotel to do any shopping or sightseeing like I had considered before the trip. I purchased a key chain and a coffee mug for Lola in the hotel gift shop, but I couldn’t buy anyone else souvenirs that were obviously from Phoenix, because I didn’t want them to know where I’d been. I did buy a huge, generic box of chocolate candy for my greedy cousin, Too Sweet, to go along with the two hundred bucks she’d charged me to keep an eye on Junior until Reed got home.

  I’d brought my laptop with me so I could keep up my online activity. I was pleased to see that DrFeelGood had sent me a message a couple of hours after I left California. He wanted to schedule a date for next month. I e-mailed him back and told him to let me know which dates he had in mind. I also reminded him that I was still thinking about his offer to perform free cosmetic surgery on me. I just didn’t know how I was going to get away from Reed long enough without a hassle. Going away on my own for just a few days was one thing, but a couple of weeks was another. Somehow I was going to go to Palm Beach and let DrFeelGood redo my face and body!

  I was pleased to see that a new club member had also left a message in my club in-box. Bryce O’Grady introduced himself, commented on the rave reviews about me, and requested a date. His screen name was “Suck&Blow.” Like one of my previous partners, he was also a computer guru from Bar Harbor, Maine. He had an important meeting to attend in Silicon Valley in a couple of weeks. On his profile page he’d posted a picture of himself in a tuxedo. Not only did he look prosperous, he was quite handsome in a Vin Diesel kind of way. Even though my mighty big plate had so much on it already, I made a note to e-mail Bryce back in a day or so.

  The only other e-mail I had received since I left home was from a ritzy prep school guidance counselor in Boise, Idaho. His screen name was “TrickyDick.” He told me that looking at my picture had really turned him on, but he didn’t want to get together with me in person. His request was too weird for words. He was very straightforward about how he was interested only in having either phone sex or a date by Skype while he masturbated. He was so homely and overweight, I would never hook up with him in a hotel, even if he changed his mind and wanted to meet me in person. Instead of ignoring him, like so many other women he’d complained about, I e-mailed him back and told him I wasn’t interested. And I was nice enough not to tell him why.

  To help kill some of the time I had to spend on my own, I worked out in the hotel fitness center and visited the bar a couple of times. Several men traveling alone attempted to pick me up in both places, but I declined. Even though my actions the last couple of years were not much different from those of a whore—an unpaid whore—I didn’t want strangers to treat me like one.

  Each time I returned to the luxurious suite I watched on-demand movies and game shows on the massive flat-screen TV. When I got tired of that, I read boring publications like the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, which John had left in the room. Waiting for him to return was hard. But when he did, we made up for it. We had sex every way imaginable, even with him sitting on the commode with me in his lap.

  Our last night together, he left the room around ten. But not before asking me again if I wanted to leave Reed and move to Phoenix. This time I didn’t say no. Instead I told him, “Let me think about it for a while.”

  “Joan, I care about you. But I’m not such a young man anymore. I want to enjoy the good years I have left, and there is no woman I’d rather spend that time with more than you. Besides, there is no reason why you should stay with a man who makes you so miserable.”

  John and I had discussed a lot of things since the first time we got together. He had told me more than once how unhappy he was in his marriage. There were several reasons why he stayed with a woman he no longer loved. The youngest of his three children was still in high school. Another reason was because Mrs. Walden’s health was so fragile. She had lupus, diabetes, and conditions I had never even heard of. She cried when they watched sad movies, fainted at the sight of blood, and couldn’t wear perfume because it made her sneeze. And she was from a very prominent and wealthy family. They supported a lot of worthy causes by donating thousands of dollars at a pop. Her father socialized with some powerful media representatives who could ruin John’s name if he created a scandal by leaving his sickly wife.

  All I had told him about my marriage was that I had fallen out of love with my controlling husband, I was extremely miserable, and I wanted a divorce. I still didn’t want to discuss Reed’s fascination with suicide with too many people. Lola was the only person I had discussed it with in the past few months.

  “Joan, I have to stay in my marriage, but you don’t. Get out now while you’re still young,” John insisted. “Is your son the only reason you stay with what’s-his-face?”

  “Yes!” I said quickly. “Maybe in a few years when Junior finishes high school, he’ll be able to deal with a divorce.”

  “I see.” John paused and let out a loud breath. “I’ll be attending several business meetings in California in the next few months. I hope you’ll find a way to spend most of my free time with me.”

  “Honey, I will,” I assured him, nodding my head so hard my neck hurt.

  * * *

  I actually cried when I left the hotel to go to the airport on Sunday morning in the same town car with the same chauffeur. The airport was so crowded and hectic there were no seats available at my gate, so I had to stand. I thought that was bad enough until they announced that my flight was going to be delayed by forty-five minutes.

  After a trip to the restroom, I made a beeline for the nearest bar. Right after I placed my order for a Bloody Mary, I pulled out my cell phone and called up Lola to see if she could give me a ride home from the airport. Picking up a rental car was out of the question. I couldn’t use the credit card I had borrowed from her because I’d have to show some form of identification. And I didn’t want to use my credit card because it would leave a paper trail that Reed might stumble upon, and I’d have a lot of explaining to do. Especially since I’d planted that Greyhound bus ticket receipt for his benefit. I was anxious to talk to Lola anyway to see if she had met up with Calvin on Tuesday. My call went straight to voice mail, so I took a cab home.

  I walked into my living room a few minutes after eleven a.m. I was surprised and pleased to see that Reed was nowhere in sight. I immediately called Too Sweet to let her know I had returned so she could bring Junior home, but he wanted to stay a few more hours. Since I was alone, and tired and sore as hell, I decided to take a brief nap.

  Reed came home a few minutes before noon. I was still lying on the bed when he entered the bedroom, belching, farting, and hum
ming our favorite Beyoncé tune, “Halo.”

  “Hey baby! You’re home!” he slurred. He stumbled over to the bed and plopped down on my side. He started kissing up and down my neck, even though I was playing possum.

  “Baby, wake up and let me love you before my damn dick falls off!” he hollered. I could hear him unzipping his pants. “Joan, wake up, wake up, wake the fuck up!” He pinched my cheek and smacked my butt so hard, I flinched. By the time I opened my eyes, he was completely naked. He sat on the side of the bed, slid his clammy hand under my dress, and started tugging on my panties. The expression of a sex-crazed madman was on his face.

  “I . . . hello, honey,” I whimpered. “I missed you.” John had sexed me so thoroughly, my body was still tingling. Just the thought of the few quick and clumsy humps I was about to get from Reed now literally reduced me to tears.

  “I know you’re glad to be home, but don’t cry, honey. I’m with you now, and I’m going to give you what you want,” Reed muttered. He began to caress my shoulder, but I kept crying. “I’m going to take real good care of this sweet little pussy!” he growled. When he pinched the lips of my vagina, I experienced a full-body spasm and started shaking like a leaf.

  “Reed, I—”

  “Shhh!” He cut me off so abruptly and mounted me so fast, I couldn’t even resist. “Just look at you! Your body is twitching so hard you can’t wait to get this good dick!” The last thing I wanted to do was have sex with him while I was still sore from my workout with John. But Reed was determined to get what he wanted. I didn’t want to get raped again, so I decided to just lie there and count the seconds that it would take for him to satisfy himself. He ripped my panties off and flung them across the room, where they landed on top of my computer. “I know you’ve missed my good loving, but don’t worry. I’m about to make up for it.”

  I was still crying when he finished a minute later.