Flawlessly Executed (Dark Horse Guardians Book 3)

by Armstrong, Ava

  The music was good, but not outstanding. Hawk wasn’t even paying attention to it. He just let Abby lean against him and he felt her hot breath on his neck. It was a slow dance, she liked the song, and she pressed her feminine form against him. He no longer could mind his manners. His body was reacting to hers as nature took its course.

  He tried to think of something else, like the baseball game he’d watched on television a few nights ago. But that distraction wasn’t going to work. He pulled Abby’s perfect body into his and moved his lips to her ear and lightly kissed her earlobe. Hawk heard her sigh with pleasure and all that was male in him went into overdrive.

  ~ Abby ~

  As she slow danced with Hawk, Abby felt a shiver go through her. She was thinking of the look Lara Keegan had in the garden earlier, the look of envy and spite. Abby was dancing with Lara’s knight in shining armor and he was responding to her. Hawk’s strong arms pulled her tightly and she sensed he was aroused. No, she knew he was. As soon as the song ended, Abby hauled him to the table for another drink. Then the pace picked up. Abby, now tipsy, twirled around Hawk on the dance floor. Abby realized he wasn’t much of a dancer, but it didn’t matter. This was a night to have fun and Abby wanted to play with Hawk as a cat would with a mouse.

  By midnight, the crowd was getting rowdy. Several men made overt passes at her, but Abby was used to that and she waved them away and scowled. She noticed Hawk wasn’t keeping up with her drinking-wise. He was still nursing the one beer, which was probably flat by now.

  Hawk leaned in and his eyes sparkled with mischief, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” Those words were exactly what Abby wanted to hear. Hawk insisted on driving but Abby argued with him. But when he kissed her, she gave in and let him take the wheel. She had a bottle of water in the car and drank half of it. But she wanted one more drink of scotch and she put her lips on the bottle and slurped another ounce or two.

  Hawk slid into the driver’s seat and she handed him the keys. They were off like a rocket heading back to her place. Abby knew Hawk had never met anyone like her before and she had plans for him tonight.

  After cruising for fifteen minutes Abby squealed, I have to pee! Pull over here, quick, please!” Hawk pulled over on a dark wooded stretch of road as she slipped off her jeans and stepped outside. In a few seconds, she hopped back into the car and he turned the Subaru back onto the road. Abby was giggling while he drove and when he glanced at her he realized she was naked from the waist down. She could tell by his face he was a bit surprised. But Hawk kept his eyes on the road and she knew he was speechless. She thought it was sweet that he was so shy. She took his hand and placed it on her thigh.

  “How about a little fun?” she whispered. She sensed he was intrigued by the look in his eyes.

  ~ Hawk ~

  Hawk was now wondering what would happen next. This was a wild ride. He had a half-naked woman sitting next to him begging him to touch her. He put his hand on Abby’s thigh as she instructed and she tilted her head back and laughed.

  “Don’t be so shy!” She giggled.

  “Let’s pull over and do this.” Hawk timidly suggested, “ I can’t concentrate while we’re moving at forty miles an hour. For God’s sake, Abby.”

  Abby moved her hand on top of his and guided it to the inner part of her thigh. He couldn’t stop the response his body was having. To say he was aroused would be an understatement. Hawk took a deep breath in an attempt to control his wildly beating heart, but that didn’t help matters much.

  He was mesmerized by Abby and what she was doing. The vehicle was dark inside except for the light coming in from street lights or the occasional well-lit business. He allowed himself to glance down a few times and observed Abby’s perfect legs. They were long and lean and she seductively invited him, arching her back and opening her thighs.

  “Come on, Hawk. Have a little fun!” She urged him to let his hand relax and she placed his clumsy hand in a warm wet spot. A shot of adrenaline surged through Hawk as he heard her exhale a hot breath of pleasure. He now had one thing on his mind and he was overcome with raw physical desire.

  Hawk was thankful to pull into the driveway of the pink Victorian and wondered how he’d get her inside. Where did she put her pants? He parked her Subaru out back and just as he stepped out of the vehicle he felt an incredible sensation of pain searing through the center of his body. Starting in his back, it felt like a hot sharp object pierced through his upper abdomen with great force. It knocked him forward. A sound like a muffled firecracker preceded it. Struggling to breathe, Hawk fell to his knees. He didn’t know if he could speak, he couldn’t seem to take a breath.

  On his knees, he looked up at Abby as he clutched his abdomen. He looked down and touched the blood pulsing out of his chest, “Oh God, Abby, I’ve been shot!” Breathing became difficult and extremely painful. He dropped face down onto the gravel driveway.

  ~ Duncan Norris ~

  Dressed in black and holding a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver in his hand, Duncan Norris was pleased he was such a good shot. The handsome man getting out of Abby’s car wasn’t moving. Norris scrambled quickly to secure Abby, who was obviously drunk.

  “What the hell is going on?” Abby cried out. Norris handcuffed her and stuffed a bandana in her mouth. He kicked the large man on the ground who had ceased moving. It was imperative to leave the area immediately. He pulled Abby with great force into his Lexus SUV parked behind the garage. He bound her feet and put the seatbelt on her. Before leaving, he took the .38 and put it into the hands of the dead man and fired another shot into his chest, leaving the gun in his hands.

  “You’re going for a ride with me, baby.” Norris hissed and he slammed the door. Abby looked terrified, but he took great pleasure in frightening her. Norris smiled to himself; the man who controlled her entire life, Ben Keegan, was lying on the ground with a bullet through his lungs. That second shot hit his heart. He was certainly dead and Abby would be rid of the obsession she had with him. Abigail Roth was now his, totally and completely.

  The Lexus sped out the driveway and headed for the highway in the general direction of Boston. Abby was squirming and crying and nearly wiggled out of the seatbelt. Norris kept his eyes on her and realized she wouldn’t stop fighting. At 2:00 AM, he pulled into a nearly deserted rest stop, found the needle in the console and plunged it into her arm. Within five minutes Abby stopped struggling. She was a limp rag doll. He capped the Rohypnol syringe and put it into his bag and continued driving.

  When he arrived at his residence and place of business, he parked in the alley and entered from the side entrance into his dwelling. He made sure his security camera was off for a few hours. Abby was out cold and half naked. He carried her body to the bedroom and placed her on the king-sized bed.

  He was already excited but viewing her sprawled on his bed like that was tempting. He moved onto the bed and slipped her shirt off and caressed her lovely breasts. Then quickly unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants. He placed a pillow beneath Abby’s bottom and got to the business at hand. He imagined she was a sleeping beauty and he was her prince. He had done this many times before, so it was familiar to him.

  He took his time enjoying the pleasures of Abby’s beautiful body. When she woke, he would tell her that Ben Keegan had an unfortunate mishap. He shot himself by accident and died. He knew she’d cry for a while, but then she would be his. He knew once Keegan was out of her mind she would feel safe and happy with him. He was the only man that ever loved her. She had to realize that by now.

  ~ Abby ~

  Abby had a throbbing headache when she woke and was incredibly thirsty. She had no idea what time it was but she recognized the bedroom. How did she get here? She was tied to the bed and struggled to break free, but the leather straps were snug against her wrists and ankles. The bandana was stuffed in her mouth and another one tied around it. She yelled and screamed but to no end. The sounds she made were muffled groans.

  At that moment, she
vaguely remembered slow dancing with Hawk but couldn’t remember him dropping her off at home. And, how did she get here? Duncan’s bedroom. The door opened and Duncan was standing in the doorway and his voice was filled with anger,

  “Quiet. Or, you know what I’ll have to do. I’ll make you stop screaming.” Duncan snarled. He chewed on his cigar as his thick body waddled around the bed slowly. Abby felt panicky as his eyes rested on her. “You are lovely, baby. And, you are mine, now. Totally mine.”

  Abby squirmed and her eyes begged. Warning her again, he slipped off the bandana that was gagging her. She blurted, “Get me free, Duncan. You’ve had your fun. Let me go.”

  Duncan leaned in close to her face, “Ben Keegan is dead. It was an accident. He shot himself with his own gun and bled to death in your driveway. I got you out of there so you wouldn’t be implicated. I saved you, Abby.”

  Abby stopped breathing for a moment as she tried to process what Duncan Norris just said. Her memory flashed. Last thing she remembered before Duncan tackled her was Hawk getting out of her car, stumbling and falling to his knees. He cried out to her, but she couldn’t remember what he said. She must have blacked out. She had no recollection of what happened in the few minutes before she was speeding on the turnpike bound and gagged in Duncan’s Lexus.

  Clenching her teeth, Abby inhaled slowly in an attempt to stop her heart from racing, “What are you talking about? I wasn’t with Ben Keegan.”

  ~ Doctor Duncan Norris ~

  “What? That wasn’t Keegan?” He reeled around almost unable to comprehend what she just said. “He looked like the guy in the photos.” Sweating profusely, his mind raced. What now? He killed the wrong guy. Abby was the only witness. Pacing the floor, he glanced at her naked form bound to the bed, pondering his next move. “Who was the guy?”

  Abby’s face contorted with fear, “His name was Grant Hawkins. I was on a date with him. He was a landscaper.”

  Duncan’s mind was spinning. The man looked like Ben Keegan in the car and when he got out he was tall and rugged. He was sure it was him.

  Now he was sure of nothing except Ben Keegan was alive and well and he murdered an innocent man in the driveway of Abby’s condo. The gun he used was an untraceable throw down and he fired an extra shot when he put it into the dead man’s hand so there’d be powder residue. Abby had been seen with the landscaper guy. Maybe she could take the fall. He knew one thing for certain: he would not be connected to the murder unless there was a witness.

  Duncan Norris made his decision. He would play the fun sex game with Abby that they had done so many times in the past. He found his belt and moved toward the bed. Her eyes were wide and alert, filled with fear.

  “Relax, my dear. I need a little bit of stress relief….you know what I mean?” He knew she was going to scream, so he placed a few strips of duct tape over her lovely lips. It was difficult to do. He wanted so very much to kiss her. But this time, there wouldn’t be any of that. He dropped his pants to the floor and his squat body struggled atop her. He watched and enjoyed her writhing beneath him and slipped the belt around her neck. It was difficult to manage but he made love to her as she struggled; her squirming intensified his pleasure. As he ended his enjoyment he pulled the belt snugly and her face became distorted for a minute or two. She had a lot of fight in her, he mused.

  He waited until she had no pulse, a full five minutes, before he loosened the belt and took her limp body off the bed. As he paused to gaze at the most beautiful woman in the world, he had a pang of sorrow. This wasn’t what he had planned, but now he couldn’t stop the course he had chosen.

  Wearing gloves, he wrapped Abby in a clean sheet that didn’t bear his DNA, then realized he had just placed a large amount of DNA inside of her. He figured that would degrade along with her body as long as it wasn’t immediately found. He stuffed her slim body into a large suitcase with wheels and brought her to the Lexus. It would be a long drive to the marshland, but there was little traffic on Sunday at daybreak.

  ~ Lara ~

  It was 9:00 AM and Hawk hadn’t called her yet. That wasn’t like him. The image of Hawk with Abby flashed through her mind. She imagined Hawk was in bed with her, doing God knows what. Lara made a fried egg and toast and listened to music. She glanced at the clock, and debated with herself whether or not to go to the bungalow to see Hawk.

  She fed the crust of her toast to Einstein, even though Ben would have chastised her for doing so. She took the dog for a long walk on the beach and returned. It was now nearly 10:30 in the morning. If Abby had stayed overnight with Hawk, she’d be gone by now, Lara reasoned. Maybe she wasn’t even there. Perhaps Hawk wasn’t as enthralled with Abby as her mother and Rusty assumed. He was a smart guy. It was possible he could see through her.

  After dressing, Lara hopped into the Mercedes and drove to the bungalow. She had a knot in her stomach thinking he could be in there with Abby, naked. But she had to know. It was gnawing at her. She had to warn him about Abby and her precarious past.

  As she approached the bungalow Lara spotted the police cruiser in front of it. And two police officers were standing on the porch. They were just coming out of the building. Frantically, Lara ran to them. “What happened? Was there a break-in or something?”

  The younger officer glanced at the older one and said, “No ma’am. Do you know the guy that lived here?”

  Lara was breathless, “Yes, Grant Hawkins. Why are you asking me this?”

  The older officer responded, “There was an incident last night. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Mr. Hawkins is dead.” Lara fell to her knees. It felt like she had been punched in the gut. As the words sunk into her brain she started crying uncontrollably and could only think,..it has to be some sort of mistake.

  The younger officer helped her up. He curled his arm around her shoulders. Lara sat on the porch of the bungalow as the policemen told her what happened to Hawk.

  “His body was found in the driveway on Maple, he had just exited a Subaru, registered to…an Abigail Roth. There was an open bottle of alcohol in the car. We’re investigating this as a homicide.”

  “What?” Lara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What do you mean? Someone killed him? She stood up, “I’ve got to go there – now.”

  “I’d advise against that ma’am…the place is cordoned off. The body’s been taken to the morgue. I’ll bring you there to identify him. We have no next of kin to call.”

  As she slid into the cruiser with the officer he continued as if trying to console her, “Death was instantaneous. There were no witnesses that we’ve uncovered yet anyway. Do you know if Mr. Hawkins had any enemies? Anyone that would want to do him harm?”

  Lara had stopped crying as the cruiser pulled up to the morgue. The officer had a baby face, he couldn’t have been more than twenty something. She wondered how many times he had made this trip. How many dead bodies did he visit at the morgue?

  “I’m Officer Collins, ma’am.” He took her arm and steadied her as they entered the non-descript cinder-block building with polished concrete floors. He looked at his notes and pulled Lara into an examination room.

  Hawk’s body was covered with a white sheet and lying on a stainless steel table. Officer Collins spoke softly, “We gauged the time of death to be approximately 1:00 AM. Of course the coroner has yet to do a thorough exam. Do you know if he has any next of kin?” The officer gently pulled the sheet away from Hawk’s handsome young face. Tears stung Lara’s eyes, but she didn’t sob.

  “That’s him.” Lara choked back the tears, “He doesn’t have any family that I know of. He left home at an early age and made his own way.” The officer walked Abby back outside to his cruiser.

  “One more thing. The girl is gone. He was with a girl last night named Abigail Roth. Do you know this woman or where she might be?” the officer asked.

  “She’s gone?” Lara whispered, staring into Officer Collins’ eyes. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

 
“There’s no sign of her anywhere. She was definitely in the Subaru with him. We have witnesses.” Officer Collins informed her. “I’ll bring you back to your car now, ma’am. But, if you think of anything, let me know.” He handed her his card.

  “Will I be allowed to go into the bungalow where Mr. Hawkins lived?” Lara whispered.

  “I’ll check with the homicide guys. But, I don’t think it will be a problem. They might want a guy there while you go in. I hope you understand.”

  Lara nodded in compliance. “I understand. I won’t take anything. I just want answers as much as you do.” As the cruiser moved through traffic toward the bungalow, Officer Collins got on the radio and asked one of the homicide detectives to wait around. Collins opened the cruiser door and walked Lara to the porch, “This is Detective Thompson.” Lara weakly shook hands with the detective. Tall, with dark graying hair closely cropped, his black eyes held hers for a brief moment.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” Thompson said softly. “Come in. If there are any questions, I’ll do my best.”

  As she walked into the bungalow Lara saw her own image in the old Victorian mirror in the entry and turned away.

  “Is it all right if I touch anything?” She asked.

  The detective handed her a pair of latex gloves and she slipped them on. She noticed his keen eyes watching her as she walked though each room pausing to touch the few items Hawk owned.

  “Detective, would it be okay if I took some of his personal items?” She was holding Hawk’s shaving mug in her hands. The brush in the mug smelled like him. Lara remembered the first time she met him, he hadn’t shaved for a week maybe longer. He smelled like cow manure, and was ripe with perspiration ~ but she loved his mind.

  Detective Thompson was non-committal, “Tell you what. We’ll pack up some stuff in a box and if the Chief says it’s okay, then I’ll make sure you get it. So, go ahead and set some things aside. I understand. The homicide guys have already been through here and picked it clean. They dusted for prints. They found no evidence to help solve the case that I know of. But, it’s still early. We need to take every precaution.”