Detecting Envy: An Erotic Detective Novel: Sin Book 2

by Mikey Lee

  Seth looked up, and there’s Ashley. She’s dressed in a skirt and blouse with her suit jacket unbuttoned and hanging off her gun holster. Seth looked down and noticed that she’s packing a .45 cal. Compact 1911.

  “Good morning Lane.” Ashley said.

  “Well, good morning to you. What happened to you?” Seth asked.

  “The Captain reassigned me.”

  “Oh good for you… where too? If you don’t mind me asking?” Seth asked.

  “To you.” Ashely said, handing over a blank, new case file.

  Seth glanced at the case file and then looked up over Ashley’s shoulder, gazing into his office. Detective Moore was sitting on the edge of Seth’s desk. Seth leaned a bit more to the left and looked down. Sitting in front of his desk was a young woman who was crying.

  “I’ll get us some coffee and I’ll meet you in your office.” Ashley said, passing over the case file.

  3

  Seth stood outside the glass window of his office and got Detective Moore’s attention. With a head nod, the universal male acknowledgement symbol, Seth motioned for Moore to join him outside of the office. Moore quickly excused himself from the victim to meet Seth.

  Seth tapped the new case file against his knuckles, “Hey buddy, whatcha got so far?”

  “Oh man, dude…You got yourself a hottie.” Detective Moore said in a smirky manner.

  With his eyes squinting and one eyebrow raised, Seth’s face gave off the ‘what the fuck is wrong with you look’

  Detective Moore continued on, knowing that Seth doesn’t want to hear that shit. “Ok, so, her name is Kathy Wilson, and she’s 25 years old.”

  “What else?” Seth glanced his eyes up to Moore’s face.

  “That’s….uhh, that’s about it. That’s all the info I gathered so far.” Detective Moore said buffing his chest out and rolling his shoulders back.

  Ashley carefully walked up, trying to not to spill or splash Seth’s coffee prior to handing it off to him. “Watch out Lane, it’s hot.”

  “Thank yoooou…” Seth said, taking control of the cup and blowing the steam away as he slurped up his first sip.

  Detective Moore’s eyes bounced up and down Ashley’s body, like he was watching a vertical tennis match, before making inappropriate hand motions simulating the the curves of Ashley’s body. “Damn girl, where the hell have you been hiding that rack?!” His eyes fixated directly on her boobs. “Looks like we’ve been missing this view this whole time.”

  Shifting her weight and pointing a finger in his face, Ashley replied, “Are you really that big of an asshole?” Before rolling her eyes. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  Still sipping on the coffee, Seth again squinted his eyes and slightly shook his head. “For real, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Not waiting for an answer, Seth started to walk off to his office motioning for Ashley to follow.

  “I’m just sayin’, Lane, we need to talk to the Captain about these vests we’re issued. All that cleavage was in hibernation this whole time.” Detective Moore shouted out as they walked away. Ashley discreetly gave him the finger over her shoulder as they made their way to the interview.

  Seth flung open his office door holding it for Ashley to enter first. Coming in behind her he closes the door softly, making sure the door is fully closed.

  “Ms. Wilson, hello, my name is Detective Seth Lane,” Seth said, reaching out to shake her hand.

  He looked down at their hands joining and noticed her sleeve covering her wrist and forearm was covered in tears.

  “And this …” Seth started to say.

  “I’m Officer Ashley Hart.” Ashley’s said following the handshake.

  After all this damn time… Hart, that’s what the hell her last name is. Seth took a fast mental note of that information. Looking down at Ms. Wilson, Seth could tell that she was trying to hold in the waterworks and that she wasn’t fully finished crying. He reached in the middle shelf of his desk, grabbing a box of tissues and slid them across the desk.

  “Ms. Wilson, whenever you’re ready.” Seth said, his tone soft and caring. “Why don’t we start by telling me about yourself.”

  Her face became adorable as she frowned and quickly attempted to hide it. “Like what?” she asked.

  Seth took a deep breath in, ready to give the same speech he’s done time and time again. There was a somewhat short uncomfortable pause before Ashley spoke up, pulling her chair in closer to Kathy. “Ms. Wilson, you see, Detective Lane doesn’t really operate like your normal detective.” Ashley said, while glancing up at Seth. “Let me tell you, I’ve had the pleasure of watching him in action. He’s way more of a cut to the chase kinda guy.”

  Trying to hold back some tears Kathy reached across the table and grabbed a tissue, “Well, where do we start?” She asked, wiping the moisture off her cheeks.

  “Why don’t we start off with, what do you do? Are you a student?” Seth said, making eye contact. His eyes shone with concern and a bit of determination.

  Mesmerized by those eyes, brown with the absolute perfect amount of hazel tint, Kathy shook her head to break out of the trance. “Ummm, no. No. I’m not a student. I work over at the Arena.”

  “The Arena?” Seth said. “You were at the fight last night?”

  “Mmmhmm. Yeah, I work there. I’m part of the staff that manages the green rooms for the fighters.” She said.

  Ashley crinkled her eyebrows, “What’s the green room?”

  Kathy turned her head making direct eye contact with Ashley, “The green room is where the fighters get ready. They get dressed and put their gloves on.” Her voice got softer, “Some of them take time to pray.”

  Ashley’s head nodded slightly up and down.

  Kathy continued, with her voice back to her normal volume, “Some of them get all hyped up, listening to music or whatnot. Each of them has their own ways for prepping for their fights I guess.”

  “So what is it that you do for them?” Seth asked.

  “Oh, well… you see, each of the fighters are different, some of them only want Fiji Water in their rooms. This one boxer I prepped for wanted a bowl of only red M&M’s if he won, and if he lost, I had to make sure there was a bowl of brown M&M’s. So there I am separating M&M’s into bowls.”

  “Interesting. Do you like your job?” Seth looked down at her nails, taking note that her nails on both hands were perfect. The French tip nail polish was completely in line. No chipping or ragged edges. Taking a quick look further, there were no signs of defensive marks on her hands, or bruises anywhere he could see. Seth began to write some notes down while listening to Kathy continue to talk about preparing the green rooms for the fighters. Fuck that…that job sounds horrible. Seth thought to himself.

  “Oh yeah, I love my job. I get to meet all kinds of famous people. We’ve had some really big named comedians, musicians, and some other athletes there, and I get to meet them.” Kathy said.

  “Nice, I bet that’s really fun for you.” Seth commented.

  “Oh my God… how rude of me.” Ashley burst out. “Can I get you anything? Would you like some coffee or water, juice or something?”

  “No no, I’m ok” Kathy said.

  “Ms. Wilson, when ever you’re ready, can you tell me about what happened?” Seth said. His voice always carried a sort of charisma to it that made people listen and do what was asked.

  “Well that’s the thing, I really don’t remember.” She said, looking puzzled. Her eyes bounced back and forth from left to right as her head tilted toward the ground.

  “Why don’t you tell me what you do remember first. And we can both try to figure it out together.” Seth’s caring voice traveled through the air and up Ashley’s spine, making her squirm.

  “Can you just call me Kathy, please, I’m only 25… Ms. Wilson just makes me feel old or something.”

  Ashley glanced over and noticed that Kathy was blushing a bit.

  “All I can remember, is waking up in my apartme
nt and having my pants pulled off of me. My panties were ripped down the middle and… “

  Seth’s smooth voice took over, “No, no. Let’s start from the beginning. First of all, who do you think it was that did this to you?”

  Kathy looked down at the floor, watching the front of her shoes tap together. “It was… Ben Franklin.” She whispered.

  “Ben Franklin?” Seth’s voice grew. “You mean, Ben ‘The Lightning’ Franklin? The heavy weight boxing champion?”

  “Yeah…” Kathy said, following up with a nod.

  “Ok, then.” Seth’s eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Why do you think he’s the one?”

  “Well, after the fight last night he returned to the room. You see, the fight was supposed to be a full twelve rounds. Normally I’m never in the green room when the fighters are there. But, because the fight was only 3 rounds I wasn’t prepared and ready. So, I grabbed all the stuff to stock his room, and by the time I finished setting everything up he showed up.”

  “Did he say anything to you?” Seth asked.

  “Well, when he came into the green room and saw me, ummm… kinda bending over the table, he made a comment about my butt.” Kathy’s face turned bright red.

  “And then what?” Seth asked, looking up from his notes.

  “I kinda thought he was just being flirty. Then he mentioned that there was going to be a celebration party at his hotel suite… I know I shouldn’t have gone, but… I’ve never really hung out with any kind of celebrity before. I thought it would be kinda fun.” Kathy’s toes were still clicking together giving a soundtrack to her story. “So, I guess… I guess I kinda agreed to go.”

  “Did you drive over there yourself?” Seth asked, the gears in his head starting to turn.

  Her eyes, which were previously staring directly at the table, flicked up, “No, I rode in the limo with everyone else. I guess he was so excited about winning that he didn’t even touch any of the stuff I put out for him. One of the other guys that was with him just grabbed the duffle bag and then we all walked out together.”

  “So everyone walked out together and got in the limo?”

  “Mmm, yeah.”

  “Who was ‘everyone’? It was Franklin and who else was with you?” Seth re-adjusted the pen in his fingers.

  Kathy’s eyes rolled back and forth, shifting from the upper left corner of her eye socket to the upper right. “It was, I think, his coach, the towel slash water guy, his manager, and I think two bodyguards.”

  Nodding his head as he wrote the list of names down, Seth’s face slowly tilted up. Shadows raced across his face, and Ashley couldn’t help but stare. The urge to spring across the desk and kiss him shot down to her knees, but she stayed locked in her seat.

  “Was there anyone else? Was there any other females that joined y’all?” Seth questioned; his voice, soft and filled with bass.

  “Well, not until we were already in the limo.” She replied.

  “So,” Seth’s eyebrows lowered and his forehead absorbed a slight wrinkle. “There were already girls in the limo waiting?”

  “No, as we started to drive out of the arena…Franklin, he was standing up out of the sunroof, and he was yelling and screaming, in excitement and stuff. We drove by a group of girls walking to the car lot, and he yelled for them to join us. After a few minutes or so, they got in the limo with us.”

  “Did anything happen in the limo?” Seth held the pen in one hand and his cup of coffee in the other.

  “Not really. Just a bunch of exciting yelling, ‘I’m the best, I’m the best’ stuff. So then we got to the hotel and he boosted about himself all the way up to the room.” Kathy’s face started to show some nervousness. Using her other hand, she began to push pressure down on her thumb.

  “Kathy, darlin’… there’s nothing to be nervous about.” Seth said softly in an attempt to relax her. “What happened in the hotel room?”

  She took a deep breath in, followed with a long sigh. “Well, once we all entered the room I saw the towel guy pick up the hotel phone and asked for them to bring up a full bar with some really expensive alcohol. While he did that, the manager came over to all us girls and handed us a form to sign.”

  “A form? Was it a non-disclosure agreement?” Seth asked.

  “Yeah, I think that’s what he called it. He told us that this hotel room was like Las Vegas…what happens in here, stays in here. And that we weren’t allowed to say anything to anyone or we would be sued.”

  “We’re perfectly fine. The non-disclosure agreement is to protect the image of Franklin, but it does not protect him from the law and justice if he commits a crime.” Seth explained. “So, what happened after that?”

  “Ummm, not much, someone turned on music and it got really loud. I signed the paper and the manager took it.” She said. “It wasn’t that much time before the bar showed up and everyone started drinking.”

  “Did you drink?” Seth asked accusingly.

  “Ummm, yeah... the other girls and I kinda hopped over to the bar and we were the first ones in line.” Kathy was ashamed to admit. “But, Franklin, he walked up behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of champagne and lined up a bunch of glasses along the top of the bar and poured the champagne in the glasses… spilling half the bottle all over the floor and everywhere except in the glasses.”

  “Did you drink the champagne?” Seth’s eyebrow lifted.

  “Yeah, why?” Kathy questioned.

  “Was the bottle of champagne already opened or did he open it in front of y’all?”

  “I… I don’t really remember…” her eyes twisted around like she was deep in thought.

  “Kathy, I kinda need you to think about this. From what I’ve gather thus far, you don’t remember anything that took place at the end of the night. You had just left work. At this point you haven’t had anything to drink… and now there’s some champagne in the mix.” Seth said still attempting to connect with her using his caring, calm and soothing voice.

  Ashley looked up at Seth, “I don’t get it? What does it matter if the bottle was opened or not?”

  Seth’s eyes bounced from Kathy and Ashley. “Ok…” Seth blinked his eyes a couple of times. “Champagne is the best way to mask some drugs and makes it easy to dissolve. Something like a roofie; a.k.a. the date rape drug. This may be the reason why you don’t remember anything at the end of the night.”

  Both Ashley and Kathy nod. “I see.” Ashley mouthed.

  Seth continued, “Now Kathy, darlin’… can you remember if the bottle was opened prior to him pouring the glasses? Or did you hear and or see the pop of the bottle?”

  “I remember now. He opened it. I remember he used a towel or something to cover the cork, but his hand was actually under the towel, so… its possible. He may have done something to it. And, yeah, I did drink a glass. Everyone said that it was really expensive stuff, but I didn’t really care for it. I guess I’ve got cheap taste.” Kathy looked chagrined.

  “So, ok… after all that, what happened?” Seth asked while writing down some notes.

  Seth took a big sip of his coffee while Kathy continued to talk, “Well, not much else went on. Franklin boosted about how great he was and that no one could beat him. We all sat around and drank some more, a couple of girls started dancing with each other. And… later on, Franklin kinda started to get all touchy feely. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable, which wasn’t terrible until he started to really grope on me, grabbing my butt and whatnot.”

  Seth looked up, “Did he say anything to you?”

  “He asked me if I wanted to join him in his bedroom.”

  “Did you?” Seth’s tone was non-judgmental and calm.

  “No.” Kathy answered quickly, “As a matter a fact… it seemed to really make him mad. He started calling me names. Calling me a trick and a slut. That’s when I got upset and started to cry. I ran out of the hotel room, and before I could make it to the elevators, the manager guy was right behind me. He was trying to calm me d
own and kept telling me about the paper I signed. He kept telling me over and over that I can’t talk about anything that happened. Then he walked me out, got me a cab, and I went home.”

  Hmmm. Ok then, if nothing happened, and she went home alone in a cab… why the fuck is she here in my office?

  “Kathy, darlin’, at what point did you get attacked?”

  “That’s just it. I’m not really sure. I remember getting in the cab. And I remember driving away from the the hotel, but after that, I have no idea. All I know is that I woke up this morning on my couch, and my pants were ripped and torn off, kinda hanging around my knees, and my panties were pulled to the side. Down by the crotch area...it was coated with…” She cleared her throat, “It was clear to me what had happened.”

  4

  He finished up with the standard questions: her address, phone numbers, and other more detailed information about everything she remembered before ending the interview. Seth then gathered up all the notes and tossed them in the case file.

  “Good enough for me, darlin’. Here’s what’s going to happen now. Ashley here is going to drive you down the to hospital. Are you ok with doing what’s called a rape kit? And while you’re down there, I want you to get a drug test done. We need to find out if you were drugged last night.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine… I can do all that.” Kathy said.

  “Great,” Seth shifted his attention to Ashley, “After you’re done at the hospital, I need you to gather the clothes that Kathy wore last night.”

  “Got it.” Ashely said, finally starting to show some confidence.

  Seth and his gorgeous smile turned back to Kathy, “Darlin’, don’t you worry. We’ll bring the guy to justice in no time.”

  Seth walked Kathy and Ashley to the front doors and waved them off. Making an about-face, he bee lined to the Captain’s office.

  Two quick knocks on the door and Seth walked in. “Hey Capt., I’ve got a tricky one.”