Dangerous & Deadly- The Nick Myers Series

by Tanya R. Taylor

  Lisa began to feel smothered in Netta’s bosom. “Ah, Netta…” she slowly pulled away. “I was just about to get up and take a shower when you walked in.”

  “Oh, sure. I’m sorry, honey. I am so happy that you are all right! Your mama would turn over in her grave if anything were to happen to you.” Netta ironed the front of her skirt with her hands. “Well, I’ll get breakfast started now, then.”

  At breakfast, Lisa was the center of attention. Victor and Tim wore their concern on their faces.

  “Enjoying it, Lise?” Tim asked, as Lisa bit into a hash brown.

  “Yes, it’s great,” she answered. Looking at them, she chewed more slowly, then said, “Trust me, guys. I feel great - really.”

  “I’m glad,” Victor smiled, gently squeezing her hand.

  Just then, the phone rang and Lisa got up to answer it.

  “Oh, that reminds me, Lise,” Victor started. “Someone named David called for you last night right after you left for the party.”

  Lisa resorted to a slower pace.

  “Said he was a friend from school. Sounds very mature. What grade is he in?”

  “Tenth, Dad. He is very mature for his age,” Lisa stated. “I guess he needed a little help with some research he’s been doing.”

  Though her father had picked up on David’s maturity, Lisa was convinced that David had disguised his voice to sound somewhat younger. “Hello,” she answered quietly, sensing him there.

  “How are you, baby?” His voice sounded heavenly to her.

  “I’m good,” Lisa replied. “And you?”

  “Not so good. I can’t get to see you.”

  “But we’ll be able to meet one day this week, won’t we?” She was hopeful.

  “Maybe. Mom’s already griping about going back to the nursing home,” he said.

  “So, what’re you going to do if she doesn’t want to go back?”

  “She has to go back,” David affirmed. “I haven’t figured out how I’m going to convince her yet, but it’s been too difficult for me these past few weeks keeping a close watch on her and everything.” He sighed. “Anyway, enough about me. How was the party?”

  “Oh... it was okay, but you’ll never guess what happened afterwards,” Lisa offered, leaving him room for thought.

  “Yeah, I'm listening.”

  “Well, I was walking home after the party...”

  “You were walking home at night - by yourself?” He interjected.

  “It didn’t start out that way, David. My friend, Kelly, and I walked together up until the time she had to turn off to go home. We had initially planned to let Kelly’s mom pick us up at ten, but we thought about it and told her we’d catch a lift with someone else,” she explained.

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “Because no one was leaving the party when we were ready. And besides, we both live just down the road from Sally’s house.”

  “Okay. So, back to what happened afterwards…” he said.

  Lisa filled him in.

  “Killed him?” David exclaimed, loudly.

  “Yeah. All I saw was when he snuck up behind that guy and plunged the knife into his back.”

  “Excuse my language, Lisa, but if that dead son of a bitch had raped you and gotten away, I would’ve hunted him down and killed him myself,” David barked.

  “You would’ve done that for me?”

  “I would do anything for you, Lisa - anything at all,” he said. “I’m so happy you’re safe. That’s what matters. Look, I have to get breakfast going, so I’ll call you back later on, okay?”

  “You cook?” Lisa asked smiling.

  “Sure. My mom taught me years ago.”

  Lisa felt herself falling ever so deeply in love with the stranger. “I can’t wait 'til we meet,” she declared earnestly. “I want to hold you in my arms and....”

  “Make love to me?” He canvassed.

  Lisa chuckled loud enough that it alerted the attention of the others in the adjacent room. Victor and Tim looked at each other, mostly pleased that after what Lisa had been through just hours earlier, she was still able to find something to laugh about. After an exchange of kisses, the love-birds painfully parted.

  * * * *

  Nick and Lou sat together reviewing notes concerning the night before. “This description Lisa Emerson gave you…” Nick rested his partially eaten doughnut on the plate, “…almost matches the very description Joe-Boy gave me of the man he claimed he saw with Clare Moore the night she disappeared.”

  Lou carefully set his tea down. “You’re suggesting that the guy who saved Lisa’s life might be our guy?”

  “Remember, we’re not one hundred percent certain that the same guy Joe-Boy supposedly saw with Clare Moore is the serial-killer.”

  A thought suddenly struck Lou. “Hey, Lisa compared the killer’s size and weight to her father’s last night. It makes sense now.” He paused for a moment then went on. “After all, Emerson’s own daughter was unharmed. Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Nick?”

  “Uh huh, except Victor Emerson has short, blonde hair and this other guy’s hair is supposedly brown or black, medium length. Besides, Lisa couldn't tell for sure. Her father probably has a hell of an alibi anyway - just like always,” Nick surmised.

  “You’re probably right,” Lou returned. “But back to this hero guy: If we’re to even consider that he might be the serial-killer, why would he spare Lisa’s life?”

  Nick took another bite out of his doughnut. “What we need to do is get Lisa Emerson in here.”

  “Her father agreed to bring her in today,” Lou said. “It would be interesting to see what she comes up with.”

  Lisa looked through a book filled with mug shots of past offenders. However, no one matched the figure she saw of the man that saved her life, though several of them came close frame-wise. With such scanty information on her part, the detectives did not hold much of an expectation regarding her pin-pointing the alleged perpetrator. Nevertheless, she was able to provide a description for the sketch artist and subsequently a rendition was made based on that information.

  The sketch artist applied the finishing touches to the drawing and copies ultimately were made and disseminated among police officers and other law enforcement agencies in the state.

  EIGHTEEN

  “It's been a while, hasn't it?” Victor watched Mary Guillespe hug the children at the door. “I’m guilty of keeping them away from you two so long,” he said. “I know how you adore them.”

  “And you too!” Mary smiled, hugging him also. “We adore you too! Are you all hungry? There’s plenty of homemade cookies in the kitchen. I just made them,” she said cheerfully. “Oh, and if I knew you were coming, I would have prepared a special meal for all of you.”

  “That’s okay, Mare. We’re stuffed. We just grabbed a bite to eat on our way here,” Victor said.

  The Guillespe’s home sat close in proximity to the road. The entire property consisted of a little more than six acres, most of it extending outwards from the rear of the house. Harold and Mary, both in their seventies, had resided there for more than thirty years.

  “How is Betty?” Mary asked as they sat down together. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen her.”

  “She’s doing great,” Victor responded. “As a matter of fact, she sent her love. She wanted to come with us for the visit, but she and Joe had a previous engagement.”

  “Well, that’s all right. You just let her know that I sent my love.”

  The children had retreated to their special room the Guillespes had set up for them years earlier. It was a real arcade - twenty-five hundred square feet of interactive games and activities they could enjoy at their leisure. The Guillespes loved Tim and Lisa immensely and had unofficially adopted them as their very own grandchildren.

  “Help yourself to the homemade cookies in the kitchen, kids!” Mary yelled. “Would you like a few Victor? There must be a little room for a few.”

  “
Trust me, Mare. I barely have enough room left right now for water, but I’ll be glad to take some cookies when we’re leaving. ”

  “Okay, have it your way,” she sang.

  The light thump of footsteps descended the stairway. “What’s all the ruckus down here about?” Harold said on seeing them.

  “Hey, how’s the first two days of retirement, old man?” Victor embraced his long-time friend at the bottom of the stairs.

  “These two days have been the best days of my life,” Harold smiled widely, glancing at Mary.

  “See, I told you so,” Mary said to Victor. “All these years I’ve been nagging him to retire and he always complained. But now, as you can see, there’s been a complete change of heart. He’s more fun and he works me very hard,” she winked.

  Victor laughed loudly. “After retirement, I thought he’d barely have the energy left to move.”

  “I knew better though,” Mary went on. “When you’ve lived with a man for fifty-two years, you tend to know exactly what he needs to get those old batteries charged up again.”

  “All right. You two had enough fun yet?” Harold walked over to the bar.

  “I’ll leave you two at it and see what the kids are up to,” Mary said.

  Harold retrieved a bottle of Dom Perignon and two glasses from the shelf. “Let’s sit outside, Son. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Victor said, following Harold to the patio and chuckling inside as the old man muttered on ahead of him.

  “You’re using your favorite wine glasses?” Victor asked, sliding out a chair as Harold poured the wine. “This time, it’s for your retirement, right?”

  “That and also to a fresh start in life for both of us,” Harold replied, raising his glass for a toast.

  “I remember the last time we used these. It was September 30, 2005 when we hit the eighty million dollar mark that year,” Victor said.

  Harold beamed. “Yes, I remember it all so well - just like it was yesterday. We celebrated at the office, then later sat around this old house chatting for hours and sipping champagne. That truly was the last time I used these glasses and only God knows if I’ll ever have another opportunity again. Mare purchased these when I was about to have my first meeting with the senior V.P. of Luvinches.” Harold held the glass and shook the wine slightly. “That meeting with Sam O'Donald Luvinche was the stepping stone of my career. I always said these glasses brought me luck that day.”

  Victor smiled as he had heard the story countless times before. “So everything’s even better now, huh?” He took another sip of wine.

  “Absolutely fabulous!” Harold replied. “I hadn’t uttered a lying word in there about being glad to be home full-time. Besides, I’m relieved to be able to retire without any qualms whatsoever. It’s truly because of old Mare in there.” He leaned forward. “Don’t go telling her this, but she’s the reason I feel as good as I do today. When we first got married, it didn’t take me long to realize that I had made the right choice. She was more than just the sweetest, kindest, most loving human being I had ever met, but my whole world revolved around her amidst the hustle and bustle of trying to earn a decent living.”

  “She is certainly one of a kind,” Victor asserted. “You’re really lucky to have her.”

  “You know, when she and I first met, she was this little well-to-do dame who had everything she needed and wanted, and I was a young, striving businessman who had just finished university on a scholarship program. My parents couldn’t afford to pay my tuition or anything remotely associated with attaining higher education. We were pretty poor, you see.” He sat back again and crossed his legs. “I’ll never forget the day I finally mustered up the courage to meet Mare's father after we had been secretly dating for about three months. I never forgot the look he gave me as he descended the stairway of his house. He never even said hello; just walked right by me like I wasn’t there. Like I was nothing. Next thing I knew, he calmly asked Mare to show me out.”

  Victor was stunned. Harold had not shared that part of his life with him before.

  “Well, after that,” Harold continued, “he tried to persuade Mare to never see me again, but she downright refused. So he gave her an ultimatum which was to either leave me and get on with her life, or continue seeing me and lose her entire inheritance. Well, the rest is history,” he threw up a victorious hand. “Mare’s father never thought I was good enough to be with her. As far as he was concerned, I came from the wrong side of the tracks. But in just a few short years, I showed him different. I gave Mare the kind of life she had always been accustomed to – even better. Sure, we struggled to get by for the first few years of marriage, but I was determined to succeed for my sweet Mare. I made sure she didn’t have to work a day in her life even before I made it big.”

  “You never told me this before,” Victor said.

  “Yeah, well, I thought I did, but enough about me. How is everything with you and the children,” Harold asked, adding more wine to his glass.

  “Something terrible happened just yesterday, as a matter of fact,” Victor set his glass down. “Lisa was attacked.”

  “Lisa? Your Lisa?” Harold was visibly shocked.

  Victor nodded. “She was walking home last night from a party a short distance from our house, when this guy, attacked her and tried to rape her.”

  “What?”

  “Someone stopped him before he could,” Victor went on. “In fact, the guy that stopped him, killed him right there on the spot.”

  Harold was flabbergasted.

  “Lisa was able to give the cops a brief description of him. They’re looking for him.”

  “For what? For killing the guy that could’ve scarred young Lisa’s life?” Harold snarled.

  “They say he might be a suspect in another case,” Victor explained. “Man, I don’t know, but for the last several weeks everything has been going haywire around me.”

  “I know how you feel, Son, but I’m sure that whatever you’re going through right now will turn around soon. That’s just the way life is. Sometimes you have really good days and other times, you feel like crawling under a rock. But take my advice: Don’t worry about it. It’ll all work out. Trust me – I’ve lived a thousand years, so I know what I’m talking about,” he said. “So how’s Lisa coping?”

  Victor settled into a more comfortable position. “You know Lisa - she’s tough. She has this special way of climbing over the mountains quicker than she’s able to slide down.”

  “Just like Molly was,” Harold remembered. “You couldn’t keep that girl still if you tied her to a tree.”

  “And I've never met anyone else like her,” Victor said.

  “You’re still tugging alone, huh?” Harold asked knowingly.

  Victor didn't respond.

  “I know she meant the world to you, Son, but a man needs a woman in his life. It's been two years since Molly passed; life has to go on. I know she’d want you to be happy.”

  “I’m just not ready for another relationship yet,” Victor replied.

  “If you say so. But keep in mind that no one's going to be Molly's exact match, so don't look for it. Can I offer you a little advice?” Harold asked.

  “Sure,” Victor replied.

  “Don't deprive yourself too long, Son. You can't afford to close off your heart to everyone because when the real craving sets in, you don’t want to wind up with just anyone.”

  “I got your point,” Victor nodded. He sipped his wine quietly for a while, reflecting on a past he wished he could have re-lived in the present.

  NINETEEN

  He was on the interstate the next morning when he got the call. It was Betty. She had caught a glimpse of some news footage concerning an alleged murder at the Guillespe residence.

  Victor bore down on the accelerator as he headed toward the next exit. His heart pounded heavily as a myriad of frightening thoughts consumed his mind. He pressed the speed-dial to connect with Harold�
��s cell phone. It rang several times, then disconnected. He tried the house next. Someone picked up – a voice he did not recognize.

  “Who is this?” Victor asked.

  “Who would you like to speak with?” The man’s voice had an Italian flare to it.

  “Harold or Mary Guillespe please.”

  “Who’s calling for them?” The person asked with slight insistence.

  “My name’s Victor. I’m a friend of theirs.”

  “I’m sorry, but there’s been an accident…”

  Horrified, Victor abruptly ended the call. His heart pounded more heavily as he sped toward the Guillespes’ home.

  Police officers and camera-men had inundated the scene. Victor pushed his way through the crowd of spectators before he was able to reach a police officer who had been guarding the front area.

  “I have to get in there!” He exclaimed. “Those people are my friends.”

  “Sorry, sir, but no one’s allowed beyond this point,” the officer replied sternly.

  “But I have to get through. I have to know what’s going on in there!” Victor pressed.

  The officer was unmoved, but Victor was determined. “Hey, who’s the detective in charge here?” He asked.

  “Detectives Myers and Riley. Why?” The officer probed.

  “Detective Riley! Detective Riley!” Victor cried, suddenly spotting Lou near the front door.

  Lou saw Victor being restrained by the officer and proceeded outside on the walkway. “It’s okay,” he shouted to his comrade.

  Victor rushed towards the house eager to get a look inside, passing the man who had seen to his advancement.

  “Hey, hey!” Lou shouted after him. “Wait a minute!”

  Victor ignored him; his thoughts were terrifying, even nauseating. As he hurried on, he felt his stomach churning and his throat closing tightly- the same feeling he had after being called to the morgue to identify Molly's body.

  Now restrained by officers at the door, as he peered inside the living room, he quickly spotted the lifeless bodies of his two dearest friends lying in a pool of blood. He jerked away and made it to the lawn just in time before the vomit escaped.