by Andrew Hess
“That, was a nice evening with the District Attorney who also happens to be the prosecutor for Rodney’s trial.”
“So what were you gonna do, sleep with him until he drops the case? Or were you just trying to get him to tell you his strategy so you could leak it to the defense?”
“Neither. While you were off being an asshole, Esposito and I did some actual police work and uncovered an alternate theory based on blood spatter and bullet trajectory. Dr. Woo came to the D.A.’s office with me to present our findings.”
“So now you conduct presentations at dinners?”
“For your information, Richard asked me out and I said yes. I wasn’t going to sleep with him, unlike you did with some random whore.”
“You have no right to talk about my sex life, Ali.”
“And neither do you. So if you’re done, I’d like to go inside and finish packing my stuff for my move.”
“No, I’m not done.” He held out his hand, showing me the flash drive he had hidden in his pocket. “I ran into Dr. Woo a few hours ago. He asked me to give you this. Said you might need it.”
“What’s on it?”
“Damned if I know. He just said it was important to get that to you or Rodney.”
“And you decided it was best to stalk my house instead of delivering it to Rodney yourself?”
“I had my reasons.”
I ripped the flash drive from his hands. “If you got something to say, you better say it now before I walk through that door.” I waited for him to say something, only silence filled the air. I took another step towards the door.
“Okay fine,” he snapped. “I thought about what you said earlier and I wanted to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For forgetting to lock my door; for letting your sister walk in on me; fuck for bringing that girl home in the first place.”
“It’s okay if you want to screw around, James.”
“No, it’s not. I was pissed off and drunk for the last few nights. I know that’s no excuse.”
“You don’t need an excuse. We’re not dating.”
“Damn it, Ali. You know I want there to be more between us. I’ve been trying my best to give you some space, but I can’t stop thinking about you, not since the first day we met.”
“How do you expect me to believe any of that when you take home some random girl you met at the bar?”
“I’ve been miserable without you at the house. Ask Amanda, she’ll tell you. I’ve been going out every night trying to drink you out of my mind. To be honest, I don’t even remember meeting that girl. Waking up next to her was the first memory I have of her.”
“Is that all? Is that all you have to say to me?”
I saw him mulling over his words in his head. “Yeah, I think.”
“Good, because now I’m going to have my say.” I cracked my knuckles to illustrate the severity of how I felt. “You came into my life acting like this cocky, arrogant prick, and expected me to fall in line just like every other woman. I got news for you pal, I’m nothing like any of them.” I saw him open his mouth to speak, but cut him off. “You were a pain in the ass to work with, but I dealt with it. Then my boyfriend died, and you were the nicest guy to Amanda and me. The hardest part of grieving was knowing I had an amazing guy waiting for me to get over my loss. The only thing that helped was working the case. So I threw my everything into it, despite you trying to get me to walk away from it.”
“Ali, I never wanted you to walk away from it. I only wanted you to take a breather.”
“I did what I needed to find myself again, only to find the person I hoped was waiting for me had moved on to some other bitch.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“I wanted to beat the hell out of whoever that woman was, but now I want to channel my anger in a different way.”
I grabbed James by the shirt with my left hand while my right fist clenched. I pulled back to hit him, but stopped at the last second. I pulled him closer, and smashed my lips against his. We stood there locked in a wild passionate embrace. Our tongues wrestling each other for complete domination.
“What the hell was that?” he asked while take a deep breath.
“Something I’ve wanted to do for a while.” I pulled him towards the door. My fingers worked the buttons on his shirt as we entered the house.
He had a fistful of my hair as he arched my head back. His tongue seductively toyed with my neck working me into a frenzy.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
I nodded while grabbing his hand. “Come on; the bedroom is down the hall.” I took another step before I felt the pull on my arm. I looked back and saw a hunger in James’ eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He scooped me into his arms, smothering my lips with his own. Marching down the hall, he entered my bedroom and gently placed me on the mattress. He savored every moment as he slowly unbuttoned my shirt.
“You are gorgeous, Ali.”
With his shirt open, I could see his chiseled chest and six pack abs. My fingers softly traced over his muscles. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
He smiled in reply. “I want you to know this isn’t a one-time thing for me. I want you, Ali. I want us to be together.”
I didn’t know how to respond. I couldn’t express the words to say I wanted the same thing. Deep down I could feel the struggle, the internal war I fought between my feelings for James and Matthew. So I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled his body on top of me.
“Just shut up and make love to me.”
Chapter 27-Ali
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the front door and ringing the bell. My wild hair pooled around my head as it lay comfortably on James’ bare chest. I didn’t want to get up, but it didn’t sound like the person at the door was leaving any time soon. Tearing myself away from the bed, I realized the curtains were missing from the windows, and I was standing butt naked in the middle of the bedroom. Dropping to my knees, I searched the floor for my clothes from the night before.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to find something to wear. Someone’s at the door and I packed all my blinds and curtains yesterday.”
James laughed as he proudly stood on the bed, posing while he stood fully erect. “I think the view is better up here.”
“James, get down. The neighbors will see you.”
“So what? You’re moving today.”
Shit, the movers! Crawling on my hands and knees, I found my bra and underwear first, throwing them on as my pants and shirt were easier to find. Stumbling through the house, I made it to the front door just as the movers were walking back to the truck. “Wait,” I shouted while fastening the last button that covered my cleavage.
They turned and saw me working on my shirt. Their smiles clearly displayed their knowledge of why I was late getting to the door. I could already feel them undressing me with their eyes. Luckily, James appeared behind me as they approached the door.
“Morning gentlemen,” he said while greeting the movers. We stepped aside and let them in.
“Everything’s out here except for the furniture. Those were left in the bedrooms.” They nodded along with everything I said, but I knew they weren’t listening. Their minds were either set on doing things their way, or they were thinking of what happened in the house while they were at the front door.
As the movers began to move the boxes and furniture to the truck, I felt a hand slide onto my hip. Pivoting my body, I stumbled into James.
“Hey, I have to go check on a few things for work. Text me the address of the new place and I’ll come by to help you unpack tonight.”
“Okay, but I wanna get caught up on those other cases.” He gave me a disapproving look. “You need me on those cases, and I need to know everything about them. It’s the only way we’re going to catch this guy.”
“I’ll talk to my lieutenant today about bringing you in for the briefing
tomorrow. For now, just take the day to focus on the move. It’ll be good for you.”
“If I had to take a day away from these cases, I’d rather spend it like we did last night.”
He pulled me in for a long passionate kiss that almost made me drop to my knees. “Later, baby. I promise to take good care of you tonight.”
I could see the movers eying me up after James left. Wanting to send them a message, I placed my belt around my waist, ensuring the badge and glock were prominently displayed. Once they saw the badge, they moved a bit faster.
A few hours later, I got in my car and led the truck to my old house in Highland. Amanda was sitting on the porch waiting for me to get there.
“You seem like you’re in a better mood,” she said as I walked up to the front door.
“Thanks. My day had a surprising upswing to it.”
Amanda had plastered a fake smile on her face as if she were afraid to tell me something. “Well, I hate to bring you down from your good mood, but James never came home last night.”
“Oh,” I replied.
“You need to do something about it. Talk to him; tell him how you feel before you lose your chance.”
“I don’t think I need to.” I watched Amanda stop as she looked to beg me to listen to her. “I know exactly where he was last night.”
“Where?” she asked.
“He was with me at the other house.”
“What was he doing there?”
“I don’t think you really want to know.”
“Ugh gross, Ali.” She shook her head while sticking out her tongue. “I really didn’t need to know that.”
“You asked.”
After letting her try to shake the mental images from her mind, Amanda decided to open up her line of questioning again. “So what does this make you guys? Are you a couple?”
“We want to be with each other, but I think we need to discuss the whole thing a little more.”
“I hope by discussing you mean talk, otherwise I’m crashing at whatever house you’re not staying in tonight.”
“That just means we can be extra loud.”
The movers strolled by as I made the last comment. Of course they did. They had a knack of walking by or interrupting embarrassing moments all day, but I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of knowing it bothered me. Instead, I bossed them around, telling them where to place the furniture and boxes.
I waited until the movers were just about finished before calling Rodney to set up a meeting. “Hey partner, can you talk?” I asked in a low voice as I entered my bedroom.
“I’ve got all the time in the world right now. What’s up?”
“I think I found some evidence that might help your defense.”
“Why not show it to the D.A. and get me cleared?”
“I did, but just in case it doesn’t work, I wanted to make sure you and your attorney have access to the same info. Maybe you can build a defense from it.”
“Okay, what do ya got?”
“Esposito and I had a team of analysts survey the crime scene. I had them look into a few things and had them run simulations on how the crime scene could have happened. It negated the possibilities of several theories including the initial one of you firing your weapon while falling to the ground.”
“And you have proof of this?”
“Dr. Woo presented it to the D.A. yesterday. He is having his people check the validity of the simulation. He said he would get back to me with his decision. In the meantime, Dr. Woo gave me a copy of the data on a flash drive. It’s yours if you want it.”
“Okay, let me call my lawyer and arrange a meeting.”
“Sure, but let’s meet at his office.”
“You got it, Ali. I’ll text you the time and place.”
I walked back to the living room and found boxes piled next to the couches. Everything else was put in place. The end tables, chairs, ottoman, coffee table, and entertainment center was set up the exact way I had it when I previously lived there.
“How did they…”
“I remember your house, Ali,” Amanda said. “I told them where to put everything and the way you wanted it set up.”
I placed my arm around her shoulder. “You’re the best little sister I could’ve asked for.”
I heard someone walking up the porch and turned to see the movers were on their way back in. “That’s the last of it,” one of the men said.
I paid them for their time and gave them each a tip. Once they were gone I plopped down on the couch, feeling relieved to be back in my home. The opportunity to revel in the comfort quickly dissipated with the buzzing of my cell. Rodney was calling, which meant he spoke with his attorney.
“Hey, Rodney. Are we all set?”
“Not quite. My lawyer can’t do tonight. He offered to meet first thing in the morning at his office.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” I replied. Although, in my head I was questioning why Rodney’s lawyer wasn’t jumping at the chance to get evidence that could exonerate his client. “Hey, we just finished moving our stuff back. You should come over for some pizza.”
“Moved your stuff where? You’re not staying with James?”
“I moved back to my old house in Highland.”
“Ali, that’s not a smart idea. If you’re right about this guy, you’re a sitting duck. He’ll know where to find you.”
“He finds me no matter where I live. It’s about time I get my life back to normal and take the fight to him.”
“Well, if you need any help, you know who to call.”
“I take it you’re not coming over for dinner then.”
“Not tonight. I promised Mia we would go out as a family.”
Time with the family was what Rodney needed. He spent too much time worrying about cases and criminals, and doing what was needed to make money to support his family. After saying goodnight to Rodney, I heard a knock on my door. The opening revealed a tall man carrying two large boxes.
“What the hell?”
“Did someone call for a dashingly handsome mover?” James said as he entered the house and placed the boxes off to the side.
“I did, but you need to go back. They sent the wrong model. I asked for dashingly handsome, not an arrogant pretty boy.”
“Hmm, maybe I should leave then.”
“Get your ass over here,” I commanded.
“Gladly.” He placed his hands on my waist and pulled me to his chest. Our lips were inches from each other when I heard Amanda let out a cough.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” she said.
“Why? I thought we were gonna order pizza.”
“Not if I have to watch you two acting like that all night. I’ll be throwing up all night.”
I shook my head with the desire to gross my sister out a little more. “Sit down and help unpack. We’ll get pizza and eat in a bit.” Amanda shot us both a look that asked if we could behave ourselves. “I promise; nothing will happen tonight.” I leaned into James and whispered, “at least not while she’s awake.”
Chapter 28-PM
The meeting between Rebecca Reynolds and Stacey Reed went off without a hitch. They met at the prison where Dr. Cain finally told the attorneys what she knew about the man known as the Puppet Master, at least that’s what he assumed she was talking about. Access had been restricted to all officers other than the guards escorting Claire to a room for the meeting.
The closest the Puppet Master got was the main desk. When asked why he was there, the Puppet Master said he was there to have lunch with an old friend. That’s when they informed him the lunch would have to wait, but wouldn’t give any reason why.
Walking back out to his car, the Puppet Master sat and waited for one of the attorneys to emerge. It took an hour and a half before the doors opened.
“I’m guessing someone was a little chatter-box today,” he whispered to himself as the tall woman with short blond hair walked across the parking lot in
her pantsuit.
He wanted to put an end to her before she had a chance to do anything with the information Claire may have given her. But that would require a bit of planning to ensure he wasn’t fingered for her homicide. Rebecca was a different story. He already tested the water by breaking into her house and drugging her. The first night was a test, but the second and third nights were for his pure enjoyment. He kept close watch on her to make sure she wasn’t growing suspicious of waking up not remembering anything from the night before. Apparently her drinking provided the perfect explanation for her confusion.
He watched Ms. Reed’s car back out of the parking lot and onto the street. His opportunity to follow her was slipping through his fingers, but he had something better in mind. Ms. Reynolds had outlived her usefulness, and it was time to dispose of another liability.
He waited for Rebecca to walk out the prison doors, strutting around in a pair of six inch heels while trying to present herself in a professional manner. She ditched her typical short skirt and low cut top for a knee length pencil skirt and matching blazer. Once she was safely in her car, the Puppet Master started his engine. He pulled onto the street, making sure to keep a safe distance from Rebecca’s car.
He watched her stop at the liquor store first. Knowing the cameras would pick him up, the Puppet Master waited in his car on the side of the building. It didn’t take Rebecca long to return with three plastic bags filled with bottles.
“More wine,” he said with a smile. “That addiction will be the death of you. I’ll make sure of it.”
The next stop on the road home was the grocery store. After spending more than a week following Rebecca, the Puppet Master knew her routines, cooking was never part of them. She was always the one getting Chinese takeout, getting salads from diners and fast food restaurants. To see her shopping was confusing.
“Did she see me following her?”
He debated going inside to see what she was up to, but wondered if it was a ploy to lose him in the grocery store. The frustration of not knowing was sucking the air right out of him. The panic of his plan going wrong seemed imminent. The decision had to be made. He threw open the driver’s side door and stormed through the parking lot.
