The Season of Sin (Peace In The Storm Publishing Presents)

by Stacy-Deanne

  “Oh I bet.”

  “Billy tried to rape her!” He hit the counter. “Where’s your compassion? You can’t understand that she had to do all she could to protect herself? For god sakes you’re a cop and a woman.”

  “Please listen. I’m not trying to be a bitch and I know you’re enamored with her and wanna believe her…”

  “I’m not enamored with her.”

  “Well you like her admit it. And I don’t want you to end up regretting that. She is hiding something.”

  “You got proof of that?”

  “No.”

  “Then don’t bring it up again unless you do.”

  He left the kitchen.

  A few nights later Brianna paced around Steven’s living room. Mr. Curtis, Billy’s father had come to Albany for answers about his son’s death. Brianna had taken it as an opportunity to question the man about Billy and the people he hung around. Steven didn’t know what he found harder to digest, the overcooked meatball or Brianna’s determination to “expose” Zoë. She went on about some friend of Billy’s that his father mentioned and how he might be able to settle the mystery about Billy and Zoë’s relationship.

  Not that he believed there was a mystery.

  She might have wanted answers but he knew why she really pushed the issue. Bullshit if she wasn’t jealous. And she couldn’t deny it.

  God I want her so bad.

  “Well?” She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.

  He twirled his fork in the spaghetti. “Well what?”

  “You’re mad I spoke to Mr. Curtis aren’t you?”

  He moved his naked toes in the carpet. “I don’t see what this has to do with Zoë.”

  “Mr. Curtis says it’s all a lie. He says Billy wouldn’t stalk or harass anyone.”

  “Of course he would. He’s the guy’s father.”

  “Steven.” She sat on the couch. “You know you have questions about Billy and Zoë too. Things just aren’t adding up. What hold is it that Zoë has on you? It’s like anything I say about her, you’d dispute it.”

  “That’s because you’re targeting her and it’s not fair.”

  “And why am I targeting her since you know so much?”

  “Come on, Bree.” He slurped pasta. “You’re gonna pretend you’re not at all jealous of her?”

  “Okay I am.” She put her arm on the back of the couch. “I’m only human, Steven.”

  “At least you admit it. But why are you jealous?”

  “Huh?”

  “You heard me.” He scraped his fork on the plate.

  “Steven.” She cringed. “Don’t do that.”

  “I forgot how much this pisses you off.” He did it again.

  “Don’t.” She took his fork.

  “Tell me why you’re jealous.”

  “You’re a bastard.” She twirled the fork. “I’m jealous of how you look at her. How your eyes light up whenever someone says her name.”

  “Bree.”

  “Jealous of the way you held her after the shooting. Should I go on or is that enough embarrassment for you?”

  He took her hand. “I just had to hear it.”

  “It’s true isn’t it? You have genuine feelings for Zoë don’t you? Not just infatuation or lust either. Am I right?”

  “You listen to me.” He curled his leg underneath him. “I’ve never felt for another woman the way I feel about you.” He pressed his nose to hers. “I’m so in love with you, Bree. You know I am.”

  “She’s so beautiful though.”

  He touched her face. “Not as beautiful as you. I could never care about Zoë the way I feel about you.”

  “Steven.” She put her finger on his lips when he tried to kiss her. “I’m going to Chicago to talk to Billy’s friend. I think it’s the only way to find out the truth.”

  “There’s nothing to find out.” He cleaned his fork and continued eating.

  “Steven.”

  “Okay so what if it turns out she knew Billy a little more than she says? Why is that our business?”

  She scooted closer to him. “The point isn’t what she lied about, but why she lied in the first place. I see it in your face that you don’t completely buy her story anymore.”

  “I admit I would like to know more about her. But it feels like we’re sneaking if we go asking questions behind her back.”

  “I doubt she’ll be honest if we asked her to her face. If so she would have been from the beginning.” She tugged on his T-shirt. “Think you could take a picture of her on your cell and send it to me? I want a picture to take to Chicago.”

  “I already have one.”

  “Oh. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “Well we need one right?”

  “Wait, you’re gonna come with me?”

  “We’re partners right?” He wiped his mouth. “I just hope for one thing.”

  “What?”

  His mind reminisced about the softness of her tits and how her dark nipples tickled the roof of his mouth when he sucked them. He wanted to rip off her clothes, throw her down and suck her titties until he lost breath.

  “Steve? What were you going to say?”

  “I just hope that since you’re searching for honesty, you’ll finally be honest about the way you still feel about me.” He touched the zipper of her jeans. “You have any idea how much I want you right now?”

  “Oh yeah.” She got up. “I think I do.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Chicago, Illinois

  Steven and Brianna arrived at Billy’s friend, Kael Thompson’s place a few days later. This had been Steven’s fifth trip to Chicago but she’d never been. The springtime weather hadn’t hit Chicago yet so Brianna and Steven were back to turtlenecks and boots. Along with that came sinus problems and upper body cramps. Brianna’s sniffles started on the plane and by the time they hit Kael’s she couldn’t smell and could hardly hear.

  She should’ve stayed her ass at home.

  Kael took the spot on the couch next to his girlfriend, Antoinette. Steven handed Kael his phone with Zoë’s picture. Brianna breathed in the cinnamon smell of the hot toddy.

  She had leg cramps from the heat going on and off on the plane. She thought she’d have to chisel her coat off when she first got to Kael’s place. The fireplace seemed to burn everyone else up but hadn’t done much for her.

  Antoinette folded her legs Indian-style. “You warming up, Detective Morris?”

  “Not really. I guess it’s taking my body time to get use to this Chicago cold.” She pulled the blanket over her sweater. “I hadn’t realized how cold it still was here until we got ready to come.”

  “My family used to take vacations up here all the time,” Steven said. “So I knew it was gonna be cold this time of year. But I guess I’m use to it.”

  Antoinette got up and fixed her sweater. “I’m gonna turn the heat up for you, Detective Morris.”

  “Yeah warm her up and fry the rest of us huh?” Kael didn’t look away from Zoë’s picture.

  “She’s a guest and you’re not.” Antoinette’s socks caused her to slide a little across the hardwood floor. “Ooh.” She held onto the shelf by the thermostat.

  Steven blew into his cup. “You all right?”

  “Yeah.” She slid back to the couch. “I hate hardwood floors.”

  Steven blew into his hot toddy. “Is that the same woman Billy was with?”

  Kael nodded. “That’s Lisa Brewer or Zoë, or whoever you say she really is.”

  Brianna warmed up with that revelation.

  Kael studied the photo. “I know one thing. If Billy attacked her, she deserved it. He was too into her you know? Usually I’d say Billy wouldn’t have done what he did, but he wasn’t himself after meeting her. She’d changed him.”

  “Come on.” Steven sat back. “So Zoë supposedly corrupted Billy?”

  “What was their relationship like then?” Brianna put her feet in Steven’s lap. He looked at her
but stayed quiet.

  “Strange. I guess wild and maybe a little dangerous.” Kael stroked his goatee. “I didn’t like her from the beginning. Something wasn’t right. I told Billy to stay away from her but his dick was controlling him. She was after something. I knew it and I told Billy that. He thought she really liked him. She came to my bar, looking for a sucker and she found the perfect fool in Billy.”

  Brianna stirred her toddy. “What made you think she wanted something?”

  “I could tell she was trying to seduce him. She turned up the heat when Billy came around like she was trying to tempt him.”

  Steven twiddled his thumbs.

  “Billy was so gone he took it as flattery. All she wanted was information, nothing more. She’s a conniving bitch and you can’t trust anything she says. I’ve known women like that before and they’re always trouble. Billy didn’t listen and look how he ended up.”

  Steven’s face turned beet red. “Isn’t that an unfair judgment?”

  “No.” Kael put his arm behind Antoinette. “She was looking to hook up with the first man who walked up to her and believe me she wasn’t looking just for company. A woman that beautiful doesn’t have to look for it. Okay I guess it’s fair to say Billy became a little crazy over her.”

  “Obsessed?” Steven raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s not how Lisa paints it out to be. He fell in love with her. I mean, I couldn’t believe he’d be that dumb but some women have that effect on men. When she came into the picture our friendship just went downhill.”

  “How?” Brianna asked.

  Kael held onto the couch. “Billy was like a brother to me, man.” Antoinette took his shivering hand. “We were always so close but when Lisa popped up that was all he cared about. It was like she put some spell on him. Billy didn’t do the right things all the time but he had a heart. He never would’ve done anything wrong if it hadn’t been for Lisa.”

  Antoinette laid her head on his shoulder.

  “Billy had a lot of women in his life. I mean he loved women. But he didn’t talk about anyone or look at anyone the way he did Lisa. He fell for her hard. They didn’t even know each other long before he got hooked on her.”

  “Hooked enough to stalk her?”

  “The point is even if he did stalk her or whatever, Lisa changed Billy into something he didn’t even know he’d become. Women can do that you know? They really can. I don’t care what she said about Billy. He wouldn’t have done anything to her unless she pushed him to. She was like his drug.”

  Steven lowered his head.

  “You okay?” Brianna asked Steven.

  “You said something about Billy in trouble.”

  “Billy owed some people a lot of money,” Kael said. “He was in the hole for thousands. He went to the old man but his daddy didn’t have that kind of money. Antoinette and I, well we put all our money into running the bar so we sure didn’t have it. But Lisa did. She had more than enough. About two months after they met, she came back to Chicago and offered him forty thousand dollars.”

  Brianna whistled.

  “Wait now.” Steven put his cup on the table beside the floral centerpiece. “Why would Zoë give Billy that much money?”

  “I don’t know but if Billy thinks I believe she did it just to be nice, he was crazy. They had something fishy going. People you hardly know don’t usually give you thousands of dollars. I asked him why she gave him the money and every time he answered it was a different reason. No telling what he did for that bitch.”

  “So how long did she know Billy?” Brianna asked.

  “Oh man it’s been at least a year and a half. And that shit she said about her just coming up here every so often is bullshit. Every time I looked around she was in Chicago. The more I saw her, the more suspicious I got.” He shook his head. “Anyway, Billy got the money, blew it and ran off. I guess that’s how he ended up in New York. Don’t ask me how he knew where she was but obviously he tracked her down.”

  Antoinette moved her long brown hair out of her cup. “Then the cops started harassing me and Kael.”

  Steven leaned up. “Cops?”

  “Yeah.” Antoinette sipped. “They came over here and to the bar. Asking us where Billy was after he left town. We told them we didn’t know and they told us to let them know if we hear from him. That wasn’t long before he got killed.”

  Brianna moved her feet from Steven’s lap. “Why did the police wanna talk to Billy?”

  “They felt he knew some information about this guy, Kenneth Brockman’s murder.”

  “Kenneth Brockman?” Steven gaped.

  “Yeah he was some guy who was killed,” Antoinette said. “He was shot. They think Billy knew something.”

  “Bree.” Steven batted his eyes.

  “Jim Klein.” Her hands trembled. “Holy shit.”

  “This has to be some mistake.”

  “I don’t think so, Steve.”

  Antoinette put her feet up. “Who’s Jim Klein?”

  Kael scooted up. “Does Brockman’s death mean something to you guys? What does this have to do with Lisa?”

  “Not sure.” Steven made a fist. “But I’m gonna find out.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Three Weeks Later

  Steven pretended to be asleep when Zoë’s cell rang that night. He peeked when she got out of the bed. She stood naked by his dresser with her back turned. She slipped on his shirt. When she looked his way, he closed his eyes.

  She told the person on the phone to hold on. Her finger brushed Steven’s lips and a light kiss followed.

  “What?” She spoke to the caller. “No. What do you want? I have nothing to say to you.” She sneaked out and closed the door.

  Steven put on his pants and tiptoed into the hall. He leaned down on the stairs. Zoë slunk into the kitchen. “Why would you need to talk to me?” She turned on the light and stood by the food cabinet with her hand on her hip. “You’ve been acting like I don’t even exist for weeks.”

  She walked to the refrigerator with his shirt hugging her ass. Whether she was hiding something or not, he couldn’t ignore how much he wanted to throw her down and make her scream the way he had an hour ago.

  “Why I’m angry?” Zoë poured a glass of apple juice. “Oh jeez I can’t guess why.” She put the juice back in the refrigerator. “How about you betraying me and coming here when I specifically told you not to?” She got a stalk of celery out of the vegetable tray. “Uh-huh. Everything was fine until you showed up.” She got the cheese sauce from the cabinet and dipped her celery stick in it. “I just want you to leave. I can handle this.”

  Steven propped his arms on the railing.

  “You love me? Yeah I bet not as much as her huh?” Zoë chomped the celery stick. “You damn right I’m jealous.”

  Steven sat on the top step of the stairs.

  “Let’s just be honest okay? I can’t compare to her. I never did. I’ll always be second best!” She threw the celery in the sink. “Of course I love you. I wanted you to stay away so you wouldn’t get hurt.” She put the cheese sauce up. “You always say you wanna protect me, well I was trying to do that for you. She’ll never accept you in her life. Not the way you want her to.”

  Steven moved down two steps.

  “You know I miss you too. I wanted to come to your hotel but she’s always there.” She scratched her forehead. “Yeah I know. I’m sorry I spoke to you that way but I just don’t understand why you came to Albany. Yeah. I know.” She sniffled. “It’s been hard for me too.”

  Steven moved down another step.

  “The Daily Inn motel? Well you’re right, no one we know would see us there and we do need to talk.” She sucked the celery stalk. “I’m sorry I got angry. I’ll never love another man the way I love you.”

  Steven dug his fingernails into the railing.

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a little while. Bye.” Zoë clicked off.

  Steven ran to the bedroom, snatched off his pa
nts and hopped into bed.

  “Steve?” Zoë rushed in. “Steve?” She poked his chest.

  “Hmm?” He faked a yawn and stretched. “Is something wrong?”

  “No I just gotta go.”

  “Go? You gotta be kidding me.”

  “No something came up.” She kissed him. “I’m sorry. I was hoping I could stay over but I got something to do.”

  “Did I hear your phone or was I dreaming?”

  “It wasn’t anybody.”

  “Hey.” He pulled her on top of him. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She got her bra and panties off the floor. “I just gotta go. Can you understand that?” She threw his shirt on the dresser.

  “Yeah I guess.” He kicked under the covers.

  “Don’t pout.” She fastened her bra. “I’ll make it up to you.” She zipped her skintight black jeans. “I’ll give you a blowjob next time.”

  “And that would be different from any other time we meet, how?”

  She sat beside him with a slick smile. “Okay how about this? Next time I’ll let you do anything, anything you want to me in every possible position you can.” She sucked his nipple.

  He kissed her. “I’m gonna make sure you keep that promise.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “A woman as beautiful and sexy as you can ask me anything.” He pulled her hair back.

  Her fingers crawled down his chest. “How do you feel about me? I mean really?”

  “Uh, you know how I feel. I like you a lot. You know that right?”

  “Is it just for sex? Because this has been going on a while and I’d like to know.”

  “No.” He scratched his head. “It’s not just sex.”

  “Then how come you’ve never taken me out on a date? We just meet up for sex and it feels so cheap.”

  “You didn’t used to feel that way.”

  “Yeah but I do now.” She put her hands on his stomach and rested her head.

  “Umm I didn’t know you felt that way. You should’ve told me. I would’ve taken you out. Where do you want to go?”

  “I shouldn’t have to ask.”

  “Zoë what’s with the attitude? I’m not a damn mind reader. You have to tell me what you want.”