by E. C. Towers
“Of course, he did.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“He's still infatuated with you. You're this mythical being now. You outsmarted him, escaping him, stealing from him; he was as impressed by that as he was pissed.”
She had a small smile on her face that didn't show in her eyes.
“It's been hard, to say the least, living up to you. But I know that's not your fault. It's my fault for putting up with it, for taking it. It's not like I can't leave. It's not like I had to marry him.”
As she spoke, Linda felt for her. This poor, lovely creature had gotten entangled with Derek just like she had 20 years ago. She knew the helplessness she felt, the want and the need to please him while simultaneously hating everything about his lifestyle.
“You can stay. It's a big enough house. We can just be civil to each other and overly-friendly when Derek's around, deal?”
“That's fine,” Linda nodded in agreement before turning back to her room, feeling defeated and confused as what to do next.
Deep down she knew that she couldn't stay here very long, no matter how much Dalila begrudgingly insisted.
The first few weeks went pretty smoothly. Derrick's schedule was so erratic that she barely saw him, and Dalila usually stayed inside the house for the most part. Linda went on daily walks to the nearby internet cafe to check the news and her email, as well as contact Hardie and Jessica through his video stream link that could not be traced to her phone. She reserved her cell phone calls for business only because she didn't want anyone to trace her personal phone calls to Hardie or Jessica just in case they started investigating her for Tim's death. They both told her that the police were aware Tim’s disappearance after his mother reported him missing two days after the incident. So far, his body had not been found. Linda felt a brief chill run through her veins at the news, but Hardie assured her that he was still probably at the bottom of the ocean somewhere.
Linda felt a tinge of sadness for Tim, despite how he had threatened their lives. Clearly, he was a troubled individual, and the police's lack of interest in him made her think this wasn’t the first time Tim had been overlooked.
She got updates about once a week through email or FaceTime, and so far, it had been quiet. Linda logged off the computer and rose to leave the cafe. As she headed for the door, she bumped into a gentleman who had been at the cubicle next to her, walking the opposite way.
“Oh, I'm so sorry,” she apologized and blushed a little as she found herself looking into two pools of the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
“No, no, I'm sorry,” he smiled at her, running his hand to settle his short, red hair.
She nodded and smiled, forcing herself to stop staring at him and sidestepped over to the right so he could pass. He smiled back at her as they both continued walking the opposite direction. Linda was caught off guard by her immediate physical attraction to this stranger; it reminded her of the sudden physical attraction she felt for Hardie. But she quickly forgot about the tall and handsome stranger from the internet café. Linda didn't have much luck with her lust-at-first-sight reflex, so she didn't even entertain it.
7
Jacob
There she was. He couldn't believe that after seven full days in Mexico, fighting several moments where he almost had given out, he found her here of all places: a local hole-in-the-wall Internet café. It was just wide enough for a narrow hallway and a line of computers in the middle, facing each other. Jacob noticed her as soon as she walked in the room, looking inconspicuous in jeans and a t-shirt with wrap-around sunglasses that seemed a little too young for her. Despite the average clothing, Linda still looked stunning. He had only seen Linda from afar in Driftwood Cove, where the local newspaper had pictured her christening a new restaurant or something very similarly PR. She was just the widow of a politician, but in Driftwood Cove, Linda was their personal Princess Diana and treated her as such.
Jacob was just getting ready to leave but ducked back into his cubicle as soon as he recognized her. He got back on the internet and pretended to be engrossed in an online article as her footsteps came closer to him, until finally sitting down two cubicles away. A half hour later, as she started to head out the door, he purposely got up at just the right time to 'accidentally' bump into her.
They exchanged apologies, and he could barely keep the tremble out of his voice as he mumbled an apology. He had finally found what he was looking for. Jacob pretended to walk the opposite direction from Linda before turning around and following her right as she turned the corner a few streets down. He traced her movement to a large home behind high walls, into which she let herself through the gate with a key. Now that he had found her and knew where she lived, it was time to follow through with the plan.
He waited at a corner market that was within eyesight of Linda's villa. He had eaten lunch there before finding her, contemplating what his next move would be. With her now within steps of him, he pondered the best course of action. Should he strike up a conversation with her? What if she blew him off? Certainly he wasn't the first man to try and strike up a conversation with her. She could be cynical and flippant, which would tie his hands. He couldn't just go with Plan B because Linda would take a good look at his face if he introduced himself. So here he was, sneaking in to question her about Tim.
Tim had been missing for at least three days when Jacob finally heard about it on the radio. He barely listened to the news or the radio in his car, so the volume was turned on low when he caught a brief whisper of his friend's name.”
“Missing man…..please call ….any information….Tim Orco...”
He wished he could fast forward or rewind live recordings. Tim Orco was more than just a friend; Jacob looked up to him. They had met the first time he had visited Driftwood Cove while on vacation, and he had bought weed from Tim at a party. After Jacob moved there, the man became his regular dealer, and in time they developed somewhat of a friendship. Tim would give him advice about his love life, which Jacob was worried about because here he was in his senior year of college, and he had only had sex a few times. He wanted to be a ladies man like Tim and have at least half the sexual experiences described to him by the man. His sex life had been impressive until his mom got sick, and he had to move into her house.
Jacob still didn't believe it until he got home that day and saw a picture of Tim staring back at him from the television set. He kept a close watch on the news to see if anyone had found him. He wanted to stop by Tim's mother's to see how she was doing, but the police had been there searching the house for any clues as to Tim's disappearance. The interest quickly faded as they figured out just what kind of person Tim was. He was just missing, and until they could come up with a good lead, there was not much else they could do. He didn't understand why there was no mention of Linda. Surely they had found something about Linda in Tim's room since he had been so obsessed with her. Jacob noted that she had recently left Driftwood Cove to parts unknown. He shook his head in disgust at the blatant apathy for Tim from the local police.
So he set out to do his own research about Linda, finally happening upon one of Linda's assistant, Molly, while playing pool with her friends. Jacob sidled up and struck up a conversation. Sure, he was no Tim Orco, yet, but Jacob embraced his awkwardness and a slight resemblance to Prince Harry and played them up so in a way that most women had found irresistible. Molly was no exception.
“So what do you do for a living?” Jacob asked nonchalantly.
“I'm an assistant, actually.”
Molly smiled as she accepted her drink from the bartender. She raised her glass in a gesture of thanks to Jacob, who’d ordered the refresh, before taking a big swig.
“You gotta stop buying drinks,” she laughed, clearly tipsy and clearly loving the flirty way it made her feel.
It didn’t hurt that found him so cute. She wasn't normally into redheads, but Jacob had such an ease about him that it made him ridiculously attractive to her.
>
The drinks continued to flow, and the space between them grew closer and their conversation took on a slightly more serious and sexier tone.
“What's your wildest sexual fantasy?” Jacob smiled.
He couldn't wait to take her home. As Molly talked, he had a hard time focusing on the conversation as his eyes were drawn to her ample cleavage, just inches away from his chest. It looked soft, warm and inviting as it rose up and down while she spoke. His hand were on her waist and he moved them a little closer to her tummy and inched his way up until the flat of his thumb was just underneath the swell of her breast.
Without missing a beat, Molly inched closer to him and let her chest lightly pressed against his. The conversation stopped as Jacob leaned in and kissed Molly, playfully sucking at the bottom of her lip as he pulled away and then returned his lips again. She let Jacob lead while taking in the sensation of his tongue, dancing around in her mouth, the heat and the hardness of which that pressed against her urgently. She had never wanted anyone so badly.
“Come home with me,” she whispered to Jacob in between kisses.
When they got into her car, he took full advantage of her body while she drove, kissing her neck as he played with her breasts. He put his hand between her legs and up her skirt to grope her. They nearly missed a parked car when she shuddered as he pushed his finger inside her and gently fondled her clit with his thumb.
They made it to her apartment door where she frantically fumbled for her key, feeling Jacob spooned her from behind, making sure that she felt his hard member pressed on the small of her back. As soon as they closed and locked the door firmly behind them, they kissed and pawed at each other. Molly led him to her bedroom and sat him down on her bed before she undressed in front of him. She stared into his eyes as she slowly took off her dress, taking off one strap then the other and letting it fall to the floor. Molly stepped out of her dress and walked in between Jacob's legs, making sure her breasts were in his face.
He grabbed her waist and ran his hand downwards, dragging her lacey purple panties down to the floor. Jacob grabbed her ass and buried his face in between her legs, kissing and licking her wetness, savoring the fleshy softness of her vagina. Molly moaned and held on to his muscular shoulders, rubbing them and feeling the tightness of his muscles as he continued to work on her down below.
Jacob pulled away as if to get a breather, and stood to make sure she was watching as he unzipped his pants and let his hard cock spring up to escaped the confines of his jeans. He rubbed and stroked it slowly as she watched and played with herself in kind. She had a neat and trimmed bush, so he got to see her fingers as she rubbed her clit between them. Jacob's breathing became labored as he stroked and tightened his grip on his penis. It slipped into his fist easily with his pre-cum providing more than ample lube. He groaned, close to letting go. Molly knelt in between her legs and raised her face to him as the orgasm burst from Jacob warmly on her lips.
The urgency barely paused for either of them, and Jacob was hard again in only a few minutes as she licked up every drop. He managed to fuck Molly nice and good from behind, putting himself completely into her tight, slippery vagina. It was insanely wet, engulfing his cock entirely. It didn't take long until he was cumming all over her ass.
As luck would have it, Molly's after-sex habit of choice wasn't a cigarette, but rather talking. The woman was always overly energized after sex, as if it wasn't his penis he was shoving into her but batteries so she could yak, yak, yak the night away. He struggled to stay awake during these times. In the middle of all her mindless chatter, she would offer up important information about Linda, a subject he casually brought up almost every time after the sex was done. Molly hadn't noticed as she divulged information on Linda's whereabouts in Mexico.
“Mexico? That's weird,” Jacob responded, stretching out on the bed, basking in the after-sex calm, trying not to sound like he was barely interested in the subject as he baited her.
“Weird, why do you think it's weird?” Molly predictably asked.
“Well, this is just my opinion, but she seems like a pretty high-class chick. You would think she would go to like... what's that place actors vacation at? San Tropies?”
“I think you mean San Tropez, right?”
"I don't know. You tell me."
He manufactured a yawn and closed his eyes as if the conversation was boring him to sleep.
“Yeah, I supposed, but there's a rumor that she went off to see her old boyfriend who lives there.” Molly blurted this out with no inhibitions and continued, “But I don't believe it because I don't think Linda is a one guy kind of girl. I mean, she has her pick of men, from what they look like to how many. She could get whatever she wanted, so why would Linda go all the way to Mexico for something she's already had before?”
“I don't know, babe...” Jacob answered, giving her an obligatory, albeit short answer, making sure not to cut into her stream of word vomit stream about Linda.
After a few weeks, Jacob knew everything there was to know about Linda. From her financial status of having more money than God, her mom and dad's name, her favorite restaurants, and the many wild and crazy orgies she had on a weekly basis. It was as if Linda had a clichéd bad/good version of herself. She was an influential member of the community, but also a kinky voyeuristic sex goddess who probably killed her husband and his friend. At least, that’s what Jacob suspected.
He could get rich selling Linda's story to Dateline alone, but that wasn't the reason Jacob used Molly to learn more about Linda. His friend and mentor, Tim, was missing, and Jacob could not shake off the feeling that Linda was somehow involved in his disappearance. After getting all the information he could possibly listen to from Molly in regards to Linda, he lied about being unable to commit so he could gently break it off with her. It didn't turn out so well, as Molly stomped away from him after slapping him hard in the face. The bitch left the print of her huge hand on his mug, prompting a little laughter and teasing from the ladies at the baggage check-in, when he dropped off two suitcases for his flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He was going to find Tim with Linda, or he would make her confess to what she did to Tim.
But Tim was nowhere to be found, and Jacob stood there wondering what to do next. He had found her, but now what? Deep down he never thought he would get this far. When Jacob arrived, he gave himself a week to solve it, and now on the day before he had to leave she finally made an appearance.
And what an appearance she made. He was taken aback by her beauty. Jacob had seen her before from afar and didn't think she was anything worth Tim’s feelings for her. Sure, she had orgies, but he had heard around town that all she did was watch. Where was the fun in that? What Jacob saw as a turn-off, Tim saw as a turn-on. A challenge he had taken, a mountain he had to climb and stick his pole in.
But after coming face to face with her, he immediately understood. She was almost old enough to be his mother, though she definitely didn't look it. Nothing about Linda was motherly or old; in fact, it was quite the opposite. She looked vibrant, and the air around her crackled with a powerful sexual energy. The very reason he had come to Mexico was to make an appearance, but his plans for justice disappeared. Jacob followed her back to her house only because he didn't want to lose her again.
He walked past the house and made a left at the next block. He circled around the house through the back streets for a while until it started to get dark. Jacob's new plan was that he was going to get inside both the house and Linda.
Jacob approached the front gate that she had entered through, slipping in a nail file that he had used on more than one occasion to do this very job, and the gate popped open easily. He winced as the gate's hinges loudly shrieked while swinging open. He held his breath and closed his eyes, anticipating footsteps running toward him. After a couple minutes of silence, Jacob peeked around the entrance and confirmed that no one inside to notice that the gate was open. He stepped inside and closed the gate door behind him slowly
to lessen the rusting moan squeak. Jacob walked cautiously towards the front lawn. There was a lounge chair to his left with a wet towel on top of it, but no one was there. He hurriedly walked past the lawn and into the shadows of the front stoop. He inched around towards the back of the house and found a guest house that overlooked the pool.
8
Found
“You know, we have a driver you can use,” Dalila muttered under her breath, covering the sun from her eyes as Linda walked past her towards the guesthouse.
Linda paused and took in the spectacular view that was Dalila laid out by the pool, glistening in the sun, wearing a red two-piece bikini that barely fit her. Her bottoms were so low it was practically obscene, and the two flimsy triangles that made up her top just barely covered her nipples.
“That's okay. It's not that far. Plus, I like to walk,” Linda answered as gently as she could.
“Suit yourself,” she mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes.
Linda poured herself a glass of wine as soon as she got inside. She couldn't get the image of Dalila in that bikini out of her head. She briefly pondered donning a bathing suit herself to join her at the pool. It was clear that Dalila wasn't fond of her, but something in her gut told her that a lot of it was just an act. On the few occasions Derek would invite her over for dinner, she caught Dalila staring then looking away when she met her eyes. Linda decided she would join her after another glass of wine. Was she drinking too much? Perhaps. She promised herself this was the last glass she would have today. After finishing, she walked out to the pool but Dalila had already gone inside.
* * *
There she was.
Jacob hid behind one of the bushes in the back and watched as Linda lay on the lounger in a see-through white cover-up over her white bikini, a big hat, and sunglasses. He stepped out of the bushes and walked closer, following the smell of her coconut sunscreen.
