MYSTERY: Laying on the cross - ONE STEP AHEAD: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Crime Thriller) (ADDITIONAL BOOK INCLUDED ) (Suspense Thriller Mystery: Laying on the cross)

by James Tayler

  When he was sure in his own mind that Tina had been around Judy long enough to become comfortable with her, he suggested that she go help Jean for a while. Perhaps it was selfish, but he wanted a little time alone with Judy.

  As Tina disappeared, he turned to Judy and said, “You seem to have a way with kids.”

  “It’s a mutual thing, I guess. Hard to explain.”

  Clint Adam gazed at the curve at the nape of her neck. She showed a hint of discomfort under his scrutiny, which amused him. “Funny thing, mutuality between people….how some connect and others don’t.”

  Judy nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “What do you suppose accounts for it?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Experience, chemistry, biology. Who knows?”

  Adam suddenly asked, “Are you involved with anyone?”

  Judy blinked. “You mean romantically?”

  “Yeah. Is there anybody special in your life?”

  “No.”

  “That’s surprising. Somebody as attractive as you are….”

  “Is there a law that says the two things have to go together?” she asked a touch of cheekiness in her voice.

  He deliberately kept his tone light. “No, it was merely an observation.”

  It was her turn to question him. “Are you seeing someone?” she asked.

  “No. Not at the moment.”

  “Well, then?” she said, “That gives us something in common, doesn’t it?....Considering our relationship of employer-employee, I don’t see the significance.” She continued.

  He contemplated her, looking long and hard into her unyielding eyes. “Why is it that Tina gets on so well with you, where as I seem to fail so miserably? Is it because she’s a girl and four?”

  Judy shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t hate men, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “That isn’t what I was suggesting.”

  “Maybe you’re too used to women falling all over themselves to get to you, Clint.”

  “Ah.” He let out a long sigh, suddenly realizing what the problem was. “You’ve been making assumptions about me.”

  She shook her head. “I haven’t made any assumptions. You were the one who brought it up.”

  He noticed how defensive she sounded. As he sat back. He moved his arm to the back of the chair. His hand rested behind Judy’s head. He’d been aware of her neck and her bare back since he’d come there. Following an impulse, he brushed her nape with his fingertips.

  Judy shifted a little closer to him, saying with body language what she hadn’t put in words.

  “Were you an only child?” he asked after a minute of silence. Is that an impolite question too?”

  “My mother never married, and never had any other dalliances after my father, if that’s what you mean. How about you?”

  He stuck his tongue in his cheek. “No, I haven’t had any dalliances, either.”

  Judy’s cheek turned rosy before his eyes. “I meant, do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  He laughed. “No, I was an only child, too. And admit to being spoiled rotten until I was five or six.” His smile gleamed. “My critics say I’ve never recovered.”

  She laughed. “Are they wrong?”

  “What do you think?”

  She seemed to struggle a bit with her response. “You do seem to enjoy having your way. Our erotic encounter the other night goes to prove the point.”

  “Do you get the feeling that we seem to talk past each other?” he questioned her.

  “You surely aren’t accusing me of being too subtle,” she replied brightly.

  Adam scowled, annoyed that she refused to have a serious conversation with him. “I wasn’t thinking so much about the way you talk, as what you choose to say.”

  “For instance?”

  “Your old man was a problem for you, wasn’t he?”

  Judy didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she sighed. What was it about Clint Adam that made him seem to want to come at her from all sides? She felt as though she was constantly under attack. It seemed as if he was either teasing her, touching her, or probing her intelligence at every opportunity.

  Discussing her father was not something she had any special desire to do. She decided to tell Clint so. “Could we choose another subject to talk about?”

  Sitting silently, the tension between them growing. The mention of her father had brought an unexpected wave of emotion, and Judy felt her eyes begin to mist. She avoided looking at Clint, hoping it would quickly pass.

  At the risk of opening another can of worms, may I ask a different question?” Clint asked.

  She looked at him apprehensively.

  “I’m curious,” he began. “Is it actors, or the movie industry in general you don’t like?”

  Judy folded her hands in her lap. “Clint, I don’t know how to answer that, except to say that my mother and I have very different feelings about both the movie business and the past….her relationship with my father and the circumstances in which I came into the world. Does that answer your question?”

  “I’m not an investigator, Judy.”

  She wasn’t sure what he was implying, but she took it as a provocation. “I don’t see what my family background has to do with anything. Anyway, I consider it a private matter.”

  “I withdraw the comment, then.” He said.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m curious, though. What do you know about me, Judy? About who I really am?”

  She was momentarily taken aback. “I haven’t made it my business to know anything about you, except what’s relevant to the job.”

  Adam leaned closer to her, to make his point. “That’s all well and good, but we are getting into an area that is my business. You’ve made the point that all that matters in this arrangement is whether or not you can do the job. I grant you that’s key. But Tina’s security is a personal thing. Because of that, maybe I take a…..I don’t know….humanistic view of things. I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t want to be misunderstood.”

  She looked directly at him. “Do I misunderstand you, Clint?”

  He seemed to struggle with his answer. “I get a sense that you don’t know me. And that’s worse is, I think I’m a victim of your prejudices.”

  “That’s a pretty mean accusation.”

  Clint smiled at her, perhaps to soften his remark….or maybe it was just his instinct to charm that was at work. He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers, as though he had every right to do so. She kept her eyes on him, and didn’t move.

  The Other Side of the Coin.

  “I wasn’t born an actor,” he said, seemingly determined to have his say. “As a matter of fact, I never gave it much thought before getting into the business. I don’t know if you’ve heard the story, but I was in law school when I was ….discovered.” As he pronounced the word, he made quotation signs in the air with his fingers.

  “No, I hadn’t heard that.”

  “Yeah. It was my first year. Law seemed a good thing to do. I went into the grind thinking it was the best way to come out the other end of the pipeline with some change in my pants. The a director who also happened to be the father of a classmate of mine, saw me and asked if I’d ever thought about acting. I’d done a little in high school and college….more because it seemed like a good way to meet girls than for any great love of the stage….and took him up on his offer of a screen test.”

  “And the rest, as they say, is history?” she prompted, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

  “Well, yes. But the point I’m making is the director offered me a chance to make some easy money and have a little fun at the same time. I wasn’t an overnight success, but when the role of Grant came along, it was soon apparent I could become financially secure to the point that going back to law school would never be necessary.”

  “Clint, you don’t have to justify yourself to me.” Judy said.

  He reached out an
d lightly touched the edge of her jaw. “Maybe I want to.”

  Judy let his words sink in. She tried not to think about his touch, or the fact that he had begun toying with a loose tendril of her hair.

  “All right,” she said. “So you’re in it for a profit. I do what I do because I like it.”

  “Oh, I enjoy my work,” he corrected, moving still closer to her. “Don’t get me wrong. The benefits are fairly obvious, though the thrill wears thin after a while. And it can be tedious. But I am not Grant. I’m me. Only a few friends and colleagues in the business know that, and appreciate what that means. And frankly, I feel really frustrated when people like you refuse to see me for the person I am.”

  She moved a few inches closer to him. “Maybe that’s the price of fame.”

  “No. It’s why strangers react to me as they do, but it’s not reason enough for you to refuse to look beneath the surface.”

  It was the most serious comment he’d made, and Judy didn’t know what to make of it. A part of her wanted to ask him why it mattered, but another part of her was afraid of the answer.

  Clint Adam was unable to proceed any further with his narration of his acting career as Tina made her appearance again. “Pappa, Pappa, Jean says dinner is ready, now.”

  Adam patted Judy’s hand, as if to indicate he’d decided to let her withdraw her hand. Then turned toward the door and said to Tina, “I guess that means we have to come to the table, doesn’t it?”

  “Unless you want everything to get cold.”

  Scooting to the edge of the chair, Adam tweaked Judy’s chin. “That’s our first rule around here. Never let anything turn cold.”

  After dinner Judy was curious to find out more about the threat to the little girl, but she did not know how to get the necessary information from Adam. With a hot cup of coffee in hand she slowly strolled down toward the garden followed by Adam.

  Adam caught up with Judy and put his arm around her shoulders in a casual, friendly way. He did it so naturally, so passionately, that it was hard to take offence.

  “What do you think” he asked. “Will we be able to keep my darling daughter out of harm’s way?”

  “I don’t see why not. We’re not dealing with the mafia, after all.”

  “Barbara’s pretty dangerous, Judy….even to me.”

  His voice was very low and serious. And she was absolutely sure that he wasn’t acting.

  “Who is this woman Barbra? What’s the story with her, anyway? The newspaper accounts have been kind of vague.”

  He let out a long sigh. “She’s a crazy woman, that’s the only way to describe her. She’s been obsessed with me for a couple of years now….from when my show first went on air. And she has a knack for tracking me down.” He laughed squeezing the tip of her shoulder.

  “She manages to pop up at the most unexpected times and places. The worst ….apart from her last attempt to kidnap Tina….I was once in a location shooting a movie, when I returned to my hotel I found Barbara sitting in a chair in my room naked. I guess she expected me to make love with her. But, to be honest, it scared the shit out of me. Imagine…walking in and finding her waiting!”

  “What does she look like?”

  “Fairly attractive. She’s a redhead. About my age, mid-thirties.” He grinned. “She’s well endowed. I can attest to that.”

  “What did she do?”

  “She knew that my wife and I were divorced, she wanted to get married. I thought maybe she was on drugs, but then again that maybe the way she is. I just don’t know.” He took a deep breath. “There were other incidents too. The police concluded she’s nuts, but apparently sharp enough to evade arrest.”

  “And they haven’t been able to determine her identity?” Judy asked.

  “No. Barbara…the way she refers to herself….is all I know. If I could find out who she is I’d have her arrested, get a restraining order, whatever. Unfortunately she is wily. Slips away as easily as she slips in. I didn’t get upset until she got hold of my unlisted number and called me at home, threatening harm to Tina if I wouldn’t marry her. Even then, I wasn’t dead worried…. Not until her attempt at the supermarket.”

  “You’re sure it’s the same woman?”

  “The description matched perfectly. Barbara, I’m afraid, has upped the stakes.”

  Adam stroked Judy’s bare shoulder. She looked at him, trying to decide what he intended by the affection, but he seemed to be doing it unconsciously. He was gazing out at nothing, apparently oblivious. Innocent or not, she was very much aware of his hand on her flesh. She trembled and moved closer.

  Adam took her face in his hands, then, and lowered his mouth to hers. And she let him kiss her, dumbly, willingly. It didn’t seem to matter that she didn’t really want it, until he reached under her dress to feel her between her smooth thighs.

  She tried to draw away from him. Adam kissed her with a tenderness that impelled her, drawing her deeper into his game. Gently he gathered her body against his. Her breasts pressed against his chest as her lips parted, permitting the kiss to deepen.

  His tongue slid along her teeth and gently probed her mouth. All the reasons for her reluctance slipped from her mind as easily as she had slipped into his arms. In seconds, the only reality was his embrace.

  By then, she had let go , She was in a free –fall, helpless to stop, unwilling to even try. His affection, his lipe sucked her deeper and deeper.

  When his mouth finally separated from hers, it lingered for a moment, touching her lips, brushing them with his warm breath. Judy luxuriated in the sensation for a long while, aware not only of his kisses, but of his body so forcefully possessing hers.

  Finally she opened her her eyes to see him, to try to understand what had happened. She could feel his chest rising against her, his arms holding her close.

  It suddenly occurred to her that she’d done all the things she’d cautioned herself not to do. She’d let herself be swept away. Judy couldn’t even say for sure why it was wrong, but her fear, her past experience, assured her that it was.

  Having brought herself back to earth, she gently extricated herself from his arms. With a little distance between them, and safely beyond his magnetic range. She was able to summon a rush of indignity over what had happened.

  “No, Clint, not now. Maybe later after dinner in my room.” She said turning abruptly, she started for the house. But Clint grabbed her wrist.

  “Don’t!” she protested pulling away.

  “Stay please,” he said, his tone falling just short of a command but they fell on deaf ears.

  The Erotic Confrontation.

  After was over, as usual they took a stroll in the garden before retiring to bed. Adam spoke quietly, in almost a whisper. “Why did you reject my advances?”

  “I didn’t, on the contrary I invited you to my room after dinner. Clint, sex isn’t why I’m here. And if it’s what you have in mind, them I’m going to have to comply once and then leave.’

  “You knew I was going to kiss you,” he said, his gaze probing hers. You didn’t try to stop me. I’m sorry if you changed your mind, but I don’t apologize for it. My intentions weren’t bad.”

  “Your intentions don’t matter. I don’t want this kind of relationship beyond tonight, simply because I keep losing my head when I am in your arms.”

  He stared at her for a long time, neither acknowledging nor refuting what she’d said.

  “If you don’t like my way of doing things and you’d like my resignation,” she said “I understand.”

  “No. To the contrary, you’ve got to stay, I don’t want Tina and Jean alone when I am not at home.

  “Okay. I’ll stay, then, now let’s go back to the house…..I’ll expect you in my room soon after I freshen up, so please don’t keep me waiting.”

  Judy had changed into her college T-shirt which she always slept in, and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed. The goose bumps on her arms hadn’t gone away, though it had been an hour since
Clint had left. His kiss still affected her….there was no denying that. How silky-smooth he’d been. How easily she’d fallen. Judy rolled over and pounded her fist into the pillow. How could she have been so stupid.

  She was more upset with herself than with Clint. Worse, she was embarrassed. Just then she noticed Clint entering her room and closing the door behind him.

  Seated on the comfortable soft sofa Clint watched Judy busying herself with a bottle of wine and glasses. Judy bent down to place the bottle and glasses on the low table in front of Clint. In doing so she inadvertently exposed the cleavage of her breasts, as she was dressed in a low-neck lined T-shirt. Clint was eying her breasts like a hungry hawk.

  Judy noticed this as she straightened herself. “Hey! That’s not fair; you are gaping at my apples as if you are going to pounce on them.” She teased him.

  “Oh, Judy, pardon me, but your apples are so rounded and beautiful, I just can’t stop admiring them, they are so beautiful like something out of this world.” Clint complimented her.

  Judy felt that it was quite a long time since she had a little fun of her own. On impulse, she felt like teasing her employer. “Want to feel them?” she said sitting down by his side, taking his hands and placing them on her breasts. Clint was rather take aback and reluctant at first, but as Judy drew closer to him he started to fondle them very gently.

  “I don’t know if what we are doing is correct?..... What if your housekeeper comes in and finds us in a rather embarrassing situation?” Judy questioned Clint.

  “Oh, don’t worry, my housekeeper doesn’t go snooping around at night,” Clint said and noticed he was was getting a hard-on.

  Judy slipped out of her T-shirt slowly, then her bra and threw them aside. When she began to unzip her pajama pants, Clint realized that she meant business. Okay, he could do anything she could do! And it did seem the place was getting warmer now than he’d thought.

  In spite of his challenge, they undressed slowly, sneaking quick glances at each other. He’d never had any particular curiosity about Judy’s body, although he’d covertly noticed whenever they met, his curiosity had grown. Pretending to have trouble with his shoe laces he crouched down and peered at her sideways.