by WL Knightly
“Are you aware that Mrs. Stone killed herself a week ago?”
“Yes, I’d heard. It was a shame. She was a lovely woman, and I know her husband loved her very much.”
“So much he needed the company of other women. I mean, I know if I loved a man who claimed to love me back, I’d have to be a fool to think he could ever commit to me if he had another woman on the side.”
“I wasn’t on the side, Mrs. McNamara. I was right smack in the middle of it. Kari Lynn enjoyed me as much as I enjoyed her, and she knew that there was no way I’d be interested in taking her husband.”
“Well, it’s too bad neither of them is around to agree with you.” Her stare was icy, and Darek was disgusted by how nasty she was being, knowing full well it had more to do with him than anything about the case. “Did you see Seth the night of his murder?”
“I was with him just before,” said Raven.
Lizzy shook her head. “Yet, you didn’t come forward with any information that could be helpful?”
“I called in an anonymous report. A man I saw in the elevator. I guess you didn’t think it was important enough to follow up on.”
“Did Darek follow up on it?”
“Detective Blake did encourage me to call in the report, but considering our own personal relationship, he didn’t want me to come forward publicly. He knew that it would only put me in more danger.”
“Detective Blake?” Lizzy asked with a laugh. “Is that what you call him at home? I mean, why be so formal when we both know you’re living with him?”
Raven glanced up at Darek with daggers in her eyes. “I guess it really bothers you, doesn’t it?” asked Raven. “But don’t worry, honey. I don’t mind sharing.” Raven wasn’t going to let Lizzy intimidate her.
Darek cleared his throat before Lizzy could open her mouth and interjected. “If there isn’t anything else, you can let her go.”
“Fine, but at least now, she’s a part of this investigation like she should have been all along. I don’t know what you two were thinking, trying to keep this off the record, but despite whatever affair the two of you have going, I will not have any stone left unturned in this case. And as for sharing, he’s all yours, honey.” She turned and glowered at him, and he pinched his temples with thumb and middle finger as his anger and disappointment grew.
“Is that all?” asked Raven, still not seeming like she was impressed much with either of them.
“You’re free to go,” said Lizzy. “Officer, show Ms. Bishop out and bring in our next appointment.
As she got to her feet, she walked to the door. “See you tonight.” She licked her upper lip and gave him a wink, and Darek took a deep breath and shook his head.
Once she was gone, he turned to Lizzy. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“You knew she was the one who called and reported that lead, and you said nothing! What else have you kept from me in this case, Darek?! Did you fuck me to distract me? Is there more to it?”
She was going down a path that he knew he was going to have to steer her away from. He didn’t need her looking into other things in his past or what he was doing on the side.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want her to be the next one on the fucking chopping block. I care about her, okay? She’s a friend. Why do you think she’s staying with me?”
“So you can fuck her every night and morning is my guess, but what do I know? I’m just the girl you used before her.” Her chest heaved with anger, and as much as he was angry with her, he still cared. He really did love her, but it was so fucked it was beyond repair.
It might be over, but he was going to make sure she knew. “That’s not fair. I was falling in love with you, and you know it. This only got screwed up because we didn’t know what to do with our feelings.”
“I know what to do with mine, and apparently, ignoring yours for the comforts of another is the way you handle yours.” She turned away, and Darek growled in frustration as the door opened.
The officer stuck his head in. “Do you need a minute, or can I show him in?”
“For fuck’s sake, show him in!” Lizzy snapped.
Darek nodded, prompting the man to do as he was told. He stepped out and then opened the door wider for their guest.
The man who walked in was every bit the aging rock star, with long, dyed black hair and enough leather and smeared eyeliner to make him look even paler than he was. His shirt had a goat skull with an inverted pentagram, and he had three sixes tattooed on his neck like they’d been stamped there.
“Hello,” said Lizzy, her chest still heaving. “I’m Special Agent McNamara, and this is Detective Darek Blake.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for coming, Mister—I’m sorry, is your last name really Death?”
“Legally since nineteen eighty-eight.” Darek realized this was the man from Ken Sin’s old band, The Cock Clowns. “You can call me Danny if Mr. Death is too much for you.”
“Danny Death,” she said to Darek. “Thank you. I read a bit of your blog the other day when we arrested your former bassist Ken Sin.”
“Yeah, I heard about that,” said Danny. “It doesn’t surprise me, honestly. The guy is nothing but an attention whore.” Darek couldn’t miss the guy’s accent, and while it was sort of formal sounding, like British, it was too exaggerated to be authentic and faded in and out enough to tell on itself.
Lizzy jotted down a few notes and then paused her pen to look at him. “Have you ever known him to be violent?”
Danny shrugged. “Other than a few temper tantrums, you mean? No. He’s an egotistical asshole, but otherwise harmless in my opinion. He always wanted to put on some crazy act, though. You know, like stage stunts?”
“What exactly were the stunts?” Darek wanted to know just on sheer curiosity alone.
The man glanced at Lizzy and hesitated.
Darek pressed on. “Go on; we’ve probably seen and heard far worse.”
“I doubt it. He once masturbated on a dead cat that someone dragged in from the alley, and he wanted to do mock sacrifices and mutilations. His antics were horrendous, even for us, and when we wanted to get away from the whole Black Metal genre, he wanted to pull us back in with some crazy shit. The rest of us just wanted to play our music, and we were sick of all the fake blood fucking up our equipment quite frankly.”
“So, he liked the shock value?” Darek had a feeling the man was doing it all for the show.
Danny chuckled. “That’s the thing. It didn’t shock anyone. It was bloody disgusting, and people were getting turned off. We asked him to leave the band, and he insisted we’d get nowhere without him.”
“Have you ever known him to be a follower of the zodiac?” Lizzy scribbled on her pad where Darek couldn’t read it.
“No, in fact, he called it fake bullshit from what I remember. He said that it was amazing to him how many people could believe in that garbage. That it was all so vague and general that it could pertain to anyone.” His breath rattled from his chest as he laughed. “He’s not a killer, that one. He’s up to something, some kind of stunt. You can mark my words.”
“Thank you, Danny. We’ll be in touch.”
With that, they said their goodbyes, and the man left the room. Darek got to his feet and stood between Lizzy and the door. “What do you make of that?” He didn’t see how she could still think the man was anything more than a nut looking for more attention, but he didn’t care if it held out.
“He’s most likely hoping to put on a show. To get attention as we thought. There have been people who turn themselves in just to be a media sensation.”
“I say we pull the man’s health records and see if this is some attempt at a last hurrah.”
“Terminal illness? That’s your theory?” She laughed it off.
Darek shook his head. They were back to it. No trust and no tolerance. “Stranger things have happened.”
With that, he turned and headed out of the room.
Chapter
20
Corey
It had been a long Monday in his small, makeshift bedroom, and he was glad that he’d put in some time with his regular day job, if only to get a little bit of normalcy back in his life.
He also had to admit that most of his reason for being alone in the room was because he didn’t want to face Brandy, who he hadn’t seen since she’d cuffed him to the bed. He didn’t know how he felt about that. He’d nearly convinced himself that he was in love with her, but even if he was, he should probably let those feelings go.
He knew that if it was true and the killer was gone, he could finally move on to a peaceful life and not be worried about hiding or looking over his shoulder. The only people who knew wouldn’t sell him out, knowing that he could do the same to them over Emily Johnson’s death eleven years earlier.
He didn’t know where he wanted to go, but he’d seen enough of the world in the past few days to know that Phoenix wasn’t where he wanted to go back to. He’d made himself a decent life there, with few friends and the occasional girl now and then, but other than his ex-fiancé, he hadn’t allowed himself to meet people or get too wrapped up in social scenes. He did enjoy nights out at the club, but even that proved lonely more times than he cared to admit. It only reminded him of being that lonely kid.
He decided he’d do as Bay asked and check in with Darek, so he dialed his number, but before he could hit send, he heard a soft knock at his door. He got up off the mattress to go to the door. Something told him it was Brandy before he ever opened it, and sure enough, he found her standing there in a yellow dress and sandals, looking like a ray of sunshine.
“Hi.” She let out a long breath like she’d been holding it for some time. “I hoped we could talk.”
“Come on in.” He stepped back, and when she came in, he closed the door behind her. He walked past her and situated himself where he’d been on the bed. “Have a seat.” He gestured to the foot of the bed, and her only other option was to stand or pull up a dusty box.
“Thanks.” She smoothed down her dress and took the end of the bed. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. It’s just, I am loyal to Justin because he took me in and he saved my life.”
“I understand that. Believe me, I do. I just wish you’d been able to talk to me about it.” Corey never wanted her to feel like she couldn’t talk to him about anything.
She gave a short laugh. “About you killing someone? Yeah, that’s so easy. Besides, I was a little scared.”
“I get it. I guess I should have expected that.” He moved closer. “You don’t seem scared now.”
She shook her head. “I talked to Justin, and he explained that it was self-defense. I trust that it was what you had to do.”
“Still, though, it’s horrible. I mean, I don’t know what’s going to become of me and my life if this gets out.”
“It won’t from me, okay? Trust me. You won’t have anything to worry about.” She looked down at the floor and then met his eyes. “You know when I said that we had a lot more in common than you knew, it was after I overheard your conversation. I know what it’s like to be in your shoes.”
“You can’t trust me. You’re a good person, and trouble seems to find me no matter where I go.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t tell you the truth about me and my ex. It wasn’t Justin who took care of him. And when I did that, I was so scared and had nowhere to go that I hid out in the store. I slept in the tent for three nights until Justin found me. I couldn’t go back to the place we were staying because he was there, and I just knew someone had found him, but they hadn’t. Justin took care of the rest, so I don’t know where he put him. I don’t want to know.” She took a deep breath. “So, when I say I understand, I really do. I’ve been looking over my shoulder for a while now.”
Corey wanted to grab hold of her and never let go, so he pulled her into his lap and held her. “He hurt you.”
“I cared about him. Even though he hit me, I wanted things to be different, just like you and your friend. You don’t have to ever worry about me telling.”
“Thank you for trusting me with that.”
“Well, Justin told me how you feel about me. That you want to stay here. I hope you do.” She brushed the back of his hair and rested her head in the crook of his neck.
He couldn’t believe that of all the places he could have ended up, with all of the people in the world, he’d found her. He made up his mind right then and there that she was his soul mate, and they were meant to be. He brought his lips down to hers and kissed her with so much passion, he was overtaken with it. Then he pulled away, his mind reeling, even though he knew one thing for sure. “I think I’m falling for you.”
“Me too,” she said.
He slipped his fingers into the straps of her dress and pulled them down off her shoulders where he planted soft kisses. She cupped his face and stared into his eyes and then reached back to unzip it. As it fell forward, revealing her bare breasts, he moved to take his shirt off, and she helped before pulling the dress over her head and tossing it to the floor. When they had lost all of their clothes, they stretched out on the bed together and kissed some more to let the desire grow between them.
She ran her hand up his hard erection, gripping it to give it a stroke. She cupped his balls as he rubbed her mound and his fingers parted her folds and stroked her clit. She panted and moved against him, sliding down his body and resting between his legs to kiss and lick his cock.
“Fuck,” he whispered, as she took him into her mouth. “You’re so good at that.”
She didn’t let the praise distract her from her task, and she sucked him hard, flicking her tongue around his head, and just when he thought she was going to push him over the edge, she let up, pulling away in time to make his head spin.
“I’ve been hoping you’d stay. But I didn’t think I deserved someone like you. You could be anywhere, have anything, anyone.”
“I want you, Brandy. If I go anywhere, I’m taking you with me.” He pulled her up against him and rolled them over, sliding down her body to return the favor.
He hitched her legs up on his shoulders and feasted on her soft lips that were covered with her honey. She was already so wet for him, and he wanted to make her feel good just to show her how much he desired her.
He licked her from taint to clit and then farther still from her backside and up again. Then he brought his mouth against her, torturing her clit with relentless flicks and nibbles, finger-fucking her tight hole and hitting all the right spots to make her moan and whimper. He teased a little, edging her desire, and when she came, she soaked his hand and chin.
“Damn, you’re so wet.” He dragged his tongue against her to lap her juices. “I need to be inside you.” He rose up over her, gripping his rock-hard dick to center it between her legs, and he stroked her with it, slowly pulling his head through her honey, spreading it all around. Then he sank slowly into her, joining them together in not only passion but to seal the bond that they’d shared.
They would not only feed each other’s desires but keep each other’s secrets.
He thrust deep and continued, pounding her sweet hole for all it was worth. As she came, he looked into her eyes. “I want us to be together, Brandy. Be with me?”
“Yes,” she said with a breathy voice. “I want that too.” He knew it wasn’t just spoken in the moment. She really meant it, and now he knew for certain his life wasn’t ever going to be the same. He had her in his life, and he wasn’t going to let her go.
Chapter 21
Darek
By Tuesday morning, Darek had heard back from everyone he’d called with confirmation that they’d take time. With any luck, things would go smoothly, but as he contemplated what to do on his lunch break, there was something still pressing on him when it came to Corey and Alan. He still didn’t know exactly what happened, and in his gut, he knew it could only mean they’d be another man down at the meeting.
As he walked out of t
he office and to his car, he knew he had to try one more time to get one of them to answer, and if they didn’t, he’d try and get Bay to tell him who he’d spoken with. One way or another, he’d know the truth soon enough.
Feeling anxious, he dialed Alan’s number again and got nothing but a service disconnect recording. That wasn’t a good sign, and even though it could mean the man had disconnected his phone to be unreachable for what he’d done to Seth, he also may have failed to renew because he was lying dead somewhere.
Getting in touch with his family would only put Darek in the terrible position of having to explain himself and his connection to the man, and if Alan were dead, that was the last predicament Darek wanted to be in.
He decided to let it go and call Corey, and when he got to his car and shut himself inside, he sat there a moment before heading out and dialed his old friend’s number.
“Hello?” Corey’s voice surprised him because he didn’t think the man would answer. He’d been dodging his calls, and now Darek had a feeling he knew why.
He raked his hand through his hair and gritted his teeth. “Hey, where in hell have you been, man?”
“Around,” said Corey. “I’ve been on the road, but I was really just about to call you, but I figured you’d gone to lunch.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I was going to tell you that I’m in for the meeting and ask if you guys have figured out where. Since I’m on the road, I wanted to know which airport to get to.”
“Where are you now?”
“Around.”
Darek let out a breath of frustration and knew the man wasn’t going to tell him because he was a cop. “Corey, it’s me. I know you don’t want to talk to a cop about what happened, but since I’m actually a detective, I’ve already started to play out what happened between you and Alan in my head, and I have a feeling that he won’t be joining us. Besides, we share enough darkness between us that whatever you have to tell me isn’t going any further. I’m just as guilty as you.”
