by Dawn Dugle
"Not after we trek through that," I pointed to the trail. You could barely see it from where we parked. Trees and vines created a canopy that plunged the path into shadow. Today's weather was warm for winter in Florida, about 65 degrees. I was already hot and left my jacket in the backseat. I grabbed two bottles of water and passed one to my partner. "Let's get going."
It took us about 45 minutes to hike back to the coordinates, and Elliot Acevedo was waiting for us when we arrived. I met Elliot at a Florida Department of Law Enforcement conference a few years ago. The very first thing I noticed about him was his kind face. Hazel eyes that were perfect with his long brown hair that he always wore in a ponytail. Couple that with the John Lennon-type glasses, you'd swear he was a poet, not a park ranger. One night after too many tequila shots, we tried to take our friendship to the next level, but I just couldn't work it up for him. And the feeling was mutual.
"Wysdom!" Elliot rushed towards me and gripped me in a tight bear hug. "Long time no see!"
"Back atcha El! You remember Bodie?" The two men fist bumped and nodded at each other.
"The site is right back this way," Elliot pointed to another trail flanked by yellow caution tape and we followed him five hundred yards through thick forest. "Whoever did this really had to know his way around the area. That's why I called. This is not an area that gets random hikers or campers through here."
I looked around. We were a good three miles off the road, with another five hundred yard hike on top of that. Elliot was right, this was so out of the way we never would have found it on our own. "How did your guys find it?"
"We didn't," Elliot said. "There are some scientists in the area studying the habitat of the Florida panther and they came across the site. They were worried it would mess with their research, so they called it in."
We walked between two live oaks that were probably saplings when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. The branches of a live oak don't grow in straight lines, and the older a tree, the more the branches grow in waves. These trees had branches that dipped down into the ground, then grew back up toward the sky. On the higher branches, Spanish Moss dripped down, giving the whole area a very spooky feeling. Between the moss and the branches, you would be hard-pressed to find this site from the nearby hiking trail.
The live oaks stood sentinel to a clearing. And because these trees had leaves year-round, it also provided cover for what happened inside. In the middle of the clearing was a charred area from the illegal campfire. Bodie and I edged closer and pulled on latex gloves. We started at the center, where the fire had been.
He pointed at a blackened ball of sorts that was sitting where the fire started. "What is that?"
I reached down, touched it, then picked it up. "Feels like plastic."
We both looked at each other, and I put down the ball. Bodie and I fanned out and started working in concentric circles away from the fire. I didn't see blood or a burned palette knife or any evidence that this was the site of the murder. I called the discovery into Tripp. He was sending a forensics team to gather evidence.
I went back to the charred area and turned in a slow circle. The clearing was about a hundred yards across, at most, and was surrounded by thick forest on all sides, not just the live oaks the way we came in.
There was only one trail to this area, and so much time had passed since the night of the murder, trying to get footprints with all the thick underbrush would be tough. It was set far back from the road, there's no way you could lure a murder victim out here in the middle of the night. This had to be the evidence disposal site.
I thought I heard a faint rushing noise and asked everyone to be quiet. "Elliot. What's that sound?"
"That's Flamingo Cove Spring," he pointed through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing.
"Take me there."
Elliot walked ahead of me and knocked down the underbrush so I could have a better path to walk. About two hundred yards away from the scene was a waterway that wasn't big enough to be called a river. And the water was crystal clear.
"This spring is popular for kayaking and canoeing," Elliot pointed to the water. "People love floating alongside the manatees."
Indeed three of the huge mammals were lazily swimming in the perpetually 72 degree water. Manatees were often sighted in the fresh water springs around the area, and were gentle giants. They'd come right up to your canoe and let you pet them or scratch their snouts.
I looked from the spring, back the way we came and could see the clearing through the trees. "If someone was looking for a clearing like that, he or she could have easily found it while kayaking or canoeing."
"Yep. All they'd have to do was put a pin for the location into their phones, then they could find it again by land," Elliot reasoned.
We walked back to the clearing to wait for the forensics team.
Where the hell had Claire Rousseau been murdered?
∞∞∞
Chapter Thirty
By the time I made it home, the sun was already past setting. My feet were hurting from the unexpected hike through the woods, I was tired and had passed "hangry" two hours ago.
My front door had a new lock on it, complete with fingerprint scanner. I suspected there would be similar locks on the door between the garage and the house and out to the lanai. I put my thumb on the screen, and what do you know? A green light flashed and I heard the lock disengage.
I stood there for a second, marveling at what just happened and decided I wasn't going to ask how my thumbprint ended up in my new high-tech security locks.
"Honey, I'm home," I shouted when I entered my house. I was immediately accosted by the most delicious aroma on the planet - olive oil, butter and garlic.
Total side note for the cologne and perfume executives out there: if you want to create a scent that will mean a "sure thing" in the bedroom, I think it starts with those three ingredients. Especially when they're being handled by a God Among Men.
Luke stood at the stove, sautéing something amazing and slightly turned as I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Now this is what I like to see. A man in my kitchen whipping up something for me."
He turned all the way around, put his hands on either side of my face, then pulled me into a kiss that should have set fire to my kitchen. I immediately forgot about food and wondered how long it would take me to get him out of his jeans and button-down top. I moaned and Luke pulled back, taking his very kissable lips with him. "Patience mi amor. Why don't you get comfortable, and come back in here for a glass of wine while I finish dinner?"
How can I argue with that? I trudged into my bedroom and changed into something more comfortable. And by "more comfortable" I mean yoga pants and a t-shirt. It's too early in the evening for me to wear lingerie. Not that I had very much to wear anyway.
I looked around my bedroom and spied some duffle bags that weren't there that morning. Inside were his clothes. Regular clothes, not his undercover super-secret-spy stuff that I know he had to have stashed somewhere else. Somewhere that hadn't gotten blown up or raided.
I picked a shirt out of his duffle bag and held it to my nose, smelling deeply. It had his unique brand of hot God Among Men maleness that he swears doesn't come from a bottle. I sighed. All it did was stoke the fire under my already blazing hormones.
Since I wasn't much of a clothes horse, I had plenty of room for his stuff. I pulled out his shirts and pants, hanging them up in the closet. I cleared two drawers in my dresser for his socks and boxer briefs, then tried not to envision him wearing said boxer briefs with nothing more than a smile. I was unsuccessful. Damn hormones.
His toiletries kit ended up in the bathroom. I'd let him unpack that himself.
I could have unpacked his clothes in the guest room, a.k.a. my office, but who are we kidding? If we're going to be shacking up for a bit, there's no sense making him walk into the other room on the pretense that he was staying there. Besides the guest room
didn't have an actual bed, just a futon that I've had since Jesus' rookie year. I like keeping it around for visitors. That way they wouldn't get too comfortable and want to stay longer than a night or two.
That's when I realized, I wanted Luke around for longer than that. A warm fluttery feeling hit me right in the chest, and I was smiling when I returned to the kitchen. A glass of wine was waiting for me on the island, right at my favorite spot.
I think this guy might be a keeper.
"What amazing masterpiece are you whipping out.. I mean UP for me tonight? Whipping UP" I nearly choked as I took a sip of my wine.
Luke gave me a devilish grin over his shoulder and said: "Eggplant Parmesan. There's a mixed green salad chilling in the fridge and for dessert, tres leches."
My mouth was watering and hanging open, all at the same time, which meant I was drooling on myself. "And you made all this from scratch?"
Luke nodded. "All except the salad. That's from a kit I got at the store."
"You're definitely a keeper," I laughed.
He turned around and fixed me with that smoldering gaze of his. "I know you're a keeper."
The spit had dried up in my mouth. When I went to say something, all that came out was something like "ack ack".
"Speechless!" Luke laughed and turned back to the stove. "I love it!"
I watched as Luke gently sautéed the eggplant slices then placed it in a shallow baking dish, smothered the slices with cheese and tomato sauce, covered it with aluminum foil and slipped it into the oven.
"We've got about 20 minutes before dinner is ready," Luke said. "How should we pass the time?"
I didn't say a word as I eased off the stool and headed to where he stood next to the island. I grabbed his belt loops and pulled him closer to me. His hands slipped to the curve of my waist and then around to my back, pulling me to his chest. I tilted up my chin and he dipped his head, lightly brushing his lips along mine. He brushed kisses on each eyelid, then worked his way down my neck to my collar bone. I tried to move my hands away from his waist, but realized he had trapped my arms right where they were.
"No. No moving from you," Luke whispered in my ear, the hot breath sending electric shocks right down to my center. I moaned, and he straightened up while looking me in the eye. I could feel his arousal against my stomach, straining the zipper of his jeans.
Luke's mouth returned to mine with those soft, whispery kisses. I may not have been able to move my arms, but my hands were in the right neighborhood to unbutton and unzip his jeans. Luke groaned against my mouth as I reached into his jeans. I pulled his swollen shaft free, and circled it with my hand. His tongue forced my lips to part and he swept in with a heat and a claiming that left me so mindless that I almost forgot to breathe.
I gasped and pulled back, needing air and at the same time, desperate for more of him. Even though his eyes were half-closed in arousal, he had a feral look about him that made me think he might just go all caveman on me, throw me over his shoulder and ravage me in the bedroom. I would be all over that.
He reached up to cup my face and his tongue plunged into my mouth again with a blistering kiss that was unlike anything I have ever felt. I whimpered and my knees buckled. Luke reached down to catch my waist again. "Are you all right?"
I gave him my most wicked leer and led him over to a dining room chair. I unbuttoned his shirt and removed his jeans and underwear, then pointed to the chair.
"Sit." He did.
"Stay." He obeyed again and didn't ask me why I was ordering him around like a dog.
I walked over to the sink and grabbed a kitchen towel, then returned to where he was sitting, mostly naked. He was at full tilt. I smiled and bent over, pushing his knees apart, and dropped the towel in between his feet.
Kneeling on the towel, I reached out and slowly caressed the underside of his length with my open hand, first up then back down. He groaned as I cupped his sac and lowered my mouth onto, licking from the base to the tip, then swirling my tongue around the entire thing. I knew I wouldn't be able to take all of him into my mouth without embarrassing myself by choking, but there were a few tricks up my sleeve.
Let's see how low I could go.
Luke grabbed my shoulders as I started to move my mouth and hand together. Even with the extra coverage, I still couldn't take all of him. But he began breathing very heavy and sighing my name and other phrases in Spanish that I didn't understand. His reaction just turned me on more.
I increased my speed, and with each plunge, I tried taking him deeper. Luke sucked in a breath that hissed through his teeth. I could tell his release was imminent. In the past, this would be the time when I backed off and allowed the manly discharge to go anywhere else, but for some reason, I wanted to finish, for him. It would be a first for me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
I didn't get much time to think about it as he came hard. It wasn't what I expected, but I was pretty pleased with myself. Especially when I got a look at Luke's face.
His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed. "My god woman."
I smiled even bigger and sat back on my heels, looking at the completely spent look on his face. I did that and it was all I could do not to strut around the kitchen like the Wanton Sex Goddess that I was.
But first, I would have to get off the tile floor, which was bruising my knees. I placed my hands on his thighs for leverage, but was only halfway up when he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me down onto his lap.
"My god woman," he repeated, opening his eyes and leaning his forehead against mine. "That was fucking fantastic."
I couldn't stop smiling, even though my knees were complaining and reminding me that I wasn't 22 anymore. I'd probably have to take some Aleve later. Luke leaned in and kissed the smile right off my face, probing my mouth with that talented tongue of his. I was a little surprised and immediately forgot about my knee pain.
He-who-shall-not-be-named-that-I-was-once-married-to thought kissing me after oral sex was gross and even though I never finished like I did with Luke, he would want me to go brush my teeth and gargle with mouthwash, before anything else.
Did I mention we're no longer married?
Luke pulled back to look at me again and was about to say something when the timer on the oven dinged.
"Saved by the bell. Get yourself together, and I'll be right back." I hopped up. And by hopped up, I mean gently stood while using the table as a brace, making sure my tender knees were willing to work for me before I tried to make any sudden movements.
Luke didn't take his eyes off of me as he pulled up his pants and buttoned his shirt. After I tossed the dirty towel into the laundry room and washed my hands, I bustled around the kitchen; pulling dinner out of the oven, setting the table and bringing out the salad and wine.
When I sat down and looked over at him, his eyes still had that post-sex glaze and I wasn't sure if the grin would ever leave his face. There was that warm fluttering in the center of my chest again. This time it spread throughout my body - not a hot flash, but something more.
I did that to him. And there was a lot more I wanted to do with him, but I wasn't sure I could say anything about it just yet. I just smiled and started dishing up the eggplant.
Luke was sitting right next to me and reached out to grab my right hand. He brought it to his mouth and kissed the inside of my wrist. "That was incredible, mi amor. When dinner is over and I've recovered a little bit, I'm going to show you just how much I appreciate you."
I arched a brow, then leaned in to lightly kiss him. "Then you better eat up. I like how you show your appreciation.”
∞∞∞
After dinner and dessert, I was a little too stuffed to return to Wanton Sex Goddess Mode, and I think Luke could sense it. He wanted to show me the camera system that had been installed earlier in the day anyway. It was a top-of-the-line system, even better than the one he had installed at his house before it blew up.
"There are two cameras on the front do
or," Luke showed me the monitoring system that was now installed in the closet in my office. "You have two cameras outside the garage, one inside, three in the backyard and one at the beginning of your driveway."
I goggled at the extensive coverage of cameras around the cottage. I didn't have that much space to cover, but it looked like they covered everything. I was wrong.
Luke hit a few key strokes and turned to me with a devilish grin. "Now, this is the other system I wanted to show you."
I looked at the screen, and I could see rotating views of the street outside my house and throughout the neighborhood. "Did you wire my neighborhood?"
"Officially? No." Luke grinned.
"Unofficially?"
"But of course! I want to make sure you're safe. Your home system has its own rechargeable battery and satellite uplink. Even if they cut the power to the house, it will remain working for 12 hours. The system backs up every 15 minutes to the cloud. And if that fails to catch the bad guys..."
I sucked in a breath and he put his arm around my waist. "IF the bad guys return, mi amor, IF. If we fail to catch them on the home system, the unofficial neighborhood system is constantly being monitored by a friend."
"You have a friend who is constantly monitoring my neighborhood for suspicious vehicles and thugs?" I asked.
"Well, his company actually."
"His company."
"Yes. He has a security company that does off books work for the government. His company will not only be scanning the neighborhood, but they'll be monitoring the locks on all your doors, which as you already discovered are keyed to your fingerprints. And mine."
I shook my head and stared at him.
He gave me an innocent look. "What?"
"Nothing. What other gadgets did you get me from Spies 'R Us?"
"Oh yes!" Luke grabbed my hand and walked me into the living room, pointing to a new Echo Dot in the corner that I knew wasn't connected to Alexa. He punched the power button and it emitted that strange white noise like the one his sister had.
"You have your very own jammer in here and another one outside on the lanai. That one is waterproof. The inside jammer will spread out throughout the cottage and should cover every room, but just to be on the safe side, I'd move it into the room where you want to have a conversation that isn't overheard."