“Bad, Julius,” she said. “I can’t believe it…I’m still in shock.”
He rubbed her shoulder, and tried to think of something reassuring to say.
“None of it makes any sense,” she said. “How could someone here have…?”
“I don‘t know,” said Julius. “It makes me wonder if there isn’t another possibility.”
Dana looked at him seriously, as though she had latched onto his words.
“Julius, I checked Allison’s gun,” she said. “It hasn’t been fired. Or at least, if it has, someone replaced the shell.”
It took a moment for the significance of what she had just said to sink in for Julius. His mouth opened, and he felt his eyes become wide as he realized what he’d forgotten.
“I have to go, Dana!” he shouted as he bolted off. “I will let you know if I find out anything!”
She yelled something after him, but in his rush, he couldn’t make it out.
Julius headed down the hall, around the corner, and into the men’s locker room. He tore open locker 42, looking for the pistol that he had left in there, and saw nothing. A chill went down his spine, and he slowly shut the locker door and slid down to the floor, confused and unnerved.
This was on him. He had provided the killer, whoever it was, with exactly what was necessary for them to make their move. Julius looked around the room, and then through the locker room, knowing that there was no way he could have missed it the first time, but checking anyway.
How could someone have found it so fast, he wondered. And what did this mean in the grand scheme of things? Did one of the women on the island still have his gun on them? Was it something he had to take into account in how he went about his investigation?
Julius shook his head, trying to clear his mind and body of the intense emotions that were rushing over him. He still had a job to do, and now more than ever, it was on him to see it through. He needed to start questioning people immediately, and find the person responsible for Allison’s death before they could strike again.
CHAPTER 17
There was no set destination for Julius to head to next. No blueprint for how to properly investigate a murder existed in his head, and as such, he ended up wandering through the bottom floor of the hotel, ending up in the kitchen.
Jess was pulling the last of the dishes from breakfast out of one of the dishwashers and storing them away. She didn’t acknowledge Julius as he came in, and he leaned against the counter for a while, not sure of what to say.
“The room is clean,” Jess said, cutting through the silence. “We didn’t find much evidence, in the end. Then again, it’s not like any of us can take fingerprints or analyze strands of hair.”
“Is somebody being called in from the mainland?” asked Julius. “I mean, from the states. They must have authority over what happens here, right?”
Jess wiped her hands on a dish rag and finally turned to face him.
“Granos Island is technically a sovereign state,” she said. “Just without any ruler, or law to speak of.”
“What about the President though? Doesn’t she have somewhat of a vested interest in keeping this place safe?”
Jess smiled dryly and crossed her legs, leaning back against the sink.
“She has her hands full at the moment. The country is on the verge of a revolt.” Jess looked at him seriously. “And besides, the more people she sends out here, the more attention it ends up getting. What she wants more than anything is for all of us to just stay quiet, and hidden. It’s just as important to her that you don’t end up in the hands of another country as it is for you to be alive.”
Julius was surprised by the bluntness of her response, but he tried not to show it. He walked over to one of the fridges and opened, finding it full of nothing but condiments, but still acting interested in its contents.
“So where is everyone usually, during the day?” he asked.
“Maya is at the airstrip, Anna is somewhere around the hotel, the doctor is in her lab, and I’m right here,” she said. “I don’t know where Dana is, and your mom is not my responsibility.”
Julius nodded his head. Jess had a sharp personality, but he found it refreshing when compared to some of the other women he had found himself dealing with.
“Thanks,” he said. He left the kitchen, and headed outside. Julius felt like he trusted Maya the most out of all the girls on the island, and decided to go see her first. He started down the road towards the airstrip, with the wind blowing softly at his back.
He hadn’t realized just how long of a walk it actually was. Granos Island seemed tiny, and it was in the grand scale of things, but its seclusion made it seem as though everything moved more slowly, including his own legs.
It didn’t make sense to him that Allison was dead. She had been such a quiet, unassuming woman. Julius had barely spoken more than a sentence to her in the short time that he’d known her, and it seemed strange to him that a killer would target her, of all people.
She must have discovered something. Maybe whatever it was ended up being the catalyst of her own undoing. Julius remembered how the room had looked, almost as though a tornado had made its way through it, and he couldn’t help but picture her last few moments.
He had walked far enough at this point that the hotel could no longer be seen over his shoulder, and the trees on either side of the road suddenly seemed tall and imposing. The island was still a mystery to him, unspoiled and fertile, with the kinds of natural mysteries and questions that are so rare in the modern day world.
The airstrip finally loomed ahead of him. It looked big from a distance, but as he walked up, it seemed to shrink in perspective, and become something that he could comprehend, something that made sense on such a tiny, remote outpost.
The air control building was large enough to hold a decently sized jet, but still somehow seemed small, and almost shack like in appearance. He walked up, headed inside, and was greeted by a stuffy and suffocating silence. Maya was turned away from him, crouched low and fiddling with what looked like an old set of electronic controls.
“Hey,” said Julius. “What have you got, there?”
Maya rose to her feet, wiped her hands off one her shorts, and then turned towards him.
“It’s a computer from an old plane that I found in the junk storage here,” she said. “Nothing too exciting, I’ve been fiddling with it for weeks.”
Her eyes seemed to gleam at him, and Julius couldn’t resist smiling. Maya was the type of girl that was totally content to just play around with whatever she could get her hands on, finding something that fit her own interests within any task presented to her.
“I’m here on business, rather than just for fun,” he said. The words seemed to strike on the air in a much more somber tone than he had intended.
“I know…” Maya replied. “And I understand. Someone has to try to get to the bottom of this, and who better than you? It would be a pretty strange coincidence if the last man alive was also up to no good.”
Julius laughed, and walked across the hangar. The emptiness of the room seemed a little lonely to him, and each step he took seemed to echo off into the distance.
“How long have you known everyone here?” he asked. “I’ll be honest, I don’t have a suspect right now, and none of it really makes sense to me.”
“Julius, I don’t know…” replied Maya. “And I’m not saying that just to protect anyone! I haven’t been here as long as either Anna or Jess, but I know that they wouldn’t do it!”
He looked at her with a soft expression, feeling almost like he’d been cast into the role of an aggressive police detective.
“Look, doesn’t it make more sense for the killer to be someone who just got here?” asked Maya. “The three of us were working on the island back before the old owner gave it up. It’s not like anything has changed, and we discovered that you were coming less than a day before you actually got here.”
It made sense, Julius had to
admit. In his mind, it was hard for to suspect Maya or any of the other island girls. The idea of them killing anybody, let alone a trained and armed body guard, just seemed outlandish.
“You just might be right,” said Julius. “But I have to keep asking questions. It’s not because I have suspicions, but something one of you three might know or saw could very well hold the key to getting to the bottom of this. Did anything suspicious happen last night that you can remember? Anything at all?”
Maya shook her head.
“No, it was a normal night,” she said. “I barely even remember anything being out of the ordinary, other than having new people in the hotel.”
She turned away from him and walked over to another item in the junk pile, a huge airplane axel with two conjoined sets of wheels on either side of it. Maya spun one of them around, and then picked up a cloth and brought it through the crack in between them.
“Anyway, I’ll help you out however that I can,” she said. “It’s in all our best interests to get this situation calmed down. And Julius…I trust that you know what you’re doing, but please be careful! Promise me!”
Maya twisted as though to look at him, but seemed to catch her hand on something within the tread of the wheel. She pushed forward, and then turned again, but her arm remained totally stuck.
“Uh, are you okay?” asked Julius. “Do you…need a hand?”
He couldn’t help smiling at his own joke. Maya just glared at him.
“Very funny,” she said. “Do you want to give me a little help, here?”
Julius walked over to Maya, feeling the weight of her beauty descend upon him as he got close. He could smell her perfume, a deep, tropical scent that he found intoxicating.
“Go ahead, just grab me and pull.” Maya’s voice seemed quieter, and almost charged with electricity.
Julius reached out, wrapping his hands around her waist, and then he began to pull. She was stuck quite rightly, and he slowly increased the amount of force he was using, afraid of hurting the petite girl.
“Harder,” whispered Maya. “Come on, really give it all you’ve got.”
His reservation began to melt away at the urging of the pretty girl. Julius got closer to Maya, letting himself push up against the back of her. She was soft, and he could feel her toned buns rubbing flat against his crotch.
“Alright, here goes nothing,” said Julius.
He put all of the energy he had into freeing Maya. The physical exertion caused him to grunt slightly, which rather than find embarrassing, Maya let out a small squeal in response.
“Good!” she said. “Pull again, harder this time.”
Julius leaned off for a moment to catch his breath, and then pulled the girl back again. This time as her butt made contact with his rapidly growing cock, he couldn’t help savor the feeling. Thoughts began to flood his mind, and he realized that if he didn’t free her quick, the two of them might have a situation on their hands.
“I can get it,” said Julius. “Just…hang in there!”
This time as he moved backwards, his hands slipped up from Maya’s waist and came to rest on her chest, or more precisely, her breasts. They felt nice, soft, well-formed and not too large, but having them underneath his palms only served to torture Julius even further. His hips wanted to push forward and mash his dick against her, and it took all of his willpower to keep leaning back.
And then suddenly, she was free, and the two of them were tumbling through the air. They landed on the hard concrete floor of the hanger, with Maya having somehow turned around in mid drop and fallen on top of him, straddling his lower body. The hard lump was directly underneath her, and impossible to ignore.
“Whoa,” whispered Maya. “That was pretty hard…”
“Yeah, it was,” he replied.
Neither of them said anything for a moment. Julius wanted to grab her hips. He wanted to grind her crotch against his cock, and feel her tits again, and kiss her with the lust he felt. He wanted, more than anything, to make a move. But he was afraid to.
“Julius,” said Maya. “Thank you.”
She slowly climbed off him, getting back up to her feet with the reluctance of somebody being forced to be responsible in a situation where they wanted to let loose. Julius looked at her for a moment, and then also stood up.
“Yeah,” he said, a little disappointed. “Anytime.”
Maya just smiled at him, and then turned back to the junk in the hanger. Julius took the hint and made his way back outside, and back towards the hotel.
CHAPTER 18
The trip back seemed to go by faster than the trip out. The sun was crossing the sky, slowly and steadily, and Julius assumed that it was around noon as he made his way back into the hotel. Standing by the elevator in the lobby was his mom, and she ran over to hug him as he approached.
“Honey, where have you been all day?” asked Laura. She pulled him into a tight embrace, and Julius responded in kind.
“I’m just helping out in any way I can, mom,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”
“That’s all I know how to do!” cried his mom. She pulled back slightly and cradled his cheek in her palm, looking him up and down. Julius was surprised by the effect her gaze had on him, and also by the fact that her eyes seemed to stop and linger on his package as they scanned.
“Mom, relax. I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself.”
Laura brought her face in close to her son’s. If it had been any other woman, Julius would have expected a kiss on the lips, and for a moment, it seemed like that’s what she was going for. But his mom shifted at the last second and kissed his cheek, running one of her hands across his upper chest in a manner that seemed almost illicit in contrast.
“I know you can,” she said. “But we should be trying to forget about this, and enjoy the day if we can. Come on, sweetie, let’s go upstairs and watch a movie together.”
Julius shook his head.
“I can’t, I’m sorry, but I have to keep asking questions,” he said. “It’s for the sake of everyone.”
“Are you sure, Julius? I don’t mind taking care of you again, if you need it…”
His mom slid her hand down, across his stomach and waist, and let it come to a rest on his crotch. Even before it made contact, Julius felt an erection springing forth down below. It was incredibly tempting, but he pushed his mom back slightly and held firm.
“Let’s just meet up later, mom,” he said, walking past her and towards the back of the lobby. “Sorry!”
Laura seemed a little dejected, but made no movement to follow. Julius walked fast, in part to get to the next person he needed to interview, and in part to get away from the strange temptation that was his mother currently seemed to pose in his life.
Julius could already see her through the clear glass double door leading out to one of the hotel’s side areas. Anna was lying on one of the pool chairs in a tiny bikini that seemed to be almost unnaturally eye catching. She was also wearing a pair of black sunglasses, and had her hair tied back into a casual pony tail.
“Hey there,” he said, walking over. “Mind if we talk?”
Anna sat up and looked at him over the brim of her glasses. She smiled, and then patted the chair next to her.
“Julius, baby, of course not,” she said. “Have a seat.”
He sat down next to her, and Anna giggled and crossed her legs. She tugged at the tight fabric of the tiny bikini top she was wearing, causing her boobs to move slightly, and making Julius feel even more drawn in by her.
“Anna, you know why I’m here,” he said. “I have to talk to you about what happened to Allison.”
“I figured as much,” she said, turning towards him. “But we can’t talk out here.”
“Why not?” asked Julius.
“Just trust me, we can’t,” said Anna. “Why don’t you come up to my room, and we can have a nice, long chat?”
The way she had stressed the last couple of words had been impossible for Ju
lius to miss. Anna had a very open, suggestive look in her eyes, and he felt himself almost being pulled towards her as though she was magnetic.
Anna reached over and put her arm on his leg. Julius felt his cock throbbing with desire. He wanted this woman, and though there was a voice in the back of his head screaming for him to be cautious, and suspicious, he felt his resolve wavering.
“Okay,” he said. “I don’t see the harm in that. But you have to tell me everything that you know.”
“Of course,” said Anna. “Follow me.”
Instead of leading him back inside the hotel, she slipped on a pair of sandals and skipped off towards the back wall of the building. Julius jogged after her, and when he rounded the corner, he saw that she was running up a fire escape that connected a window from each of the rooms.
“Hurry up, Julius,” she yelled. “You might have all day, but I still have work to do!”
He started making his way up. The metal stairs went up the entire 10 stories of the building, and he found himself feeling almost like it was a hotel for ghosts as he went by empty window after empty window.
“I thought you slept down on one of the lower levels.” Anna had stopped outside a window on the seventh floor.
“I change my room every couple of days.” She answered him as though there was nothing unusual about the act in the slightest, and then slid the unlocked window open and stepped through it. Julius followed her, feeling kind of like he was stepping into a different world.
There were notebooks and drawings scattered all across the room. Each one seemed to contain a miniature masterpiece, with portraits, landscapes, abstract color designs, and everything in between.
“Are these…all yours?” asked Julius.
“You bet!” said Anna. “This is what I do when I get bored.”
Julius looked around one last time, and then focused back in on why he was there.
“Anna, I need you to tell me if you know anything.” he asked. “Or just even if there’s anything strange that you might have seen, or heard last night?”
Last Man Alive: Complete And Uncut (Taboo Erotica) Page 8