“That’s all you got out of that conversation?”
“Uh, no—I just thought that you look pretty good for not sleeping two nights in a row.”
“Thanks—I think. So, what do you notice about that picture?”
“I guess my eyes aren’t too focused this morning. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Right there,” she pointed out. “See that over in the corner?”
“What is it?” Brock asked.
“It looks like a book of matches.” Holly declared.
“So? Why is that significant?”
“Well for one, victim number three doesn’t smoke, and secondly it is in the report that the perp smelled of cigarettes and alcohol.”
“Is there a book of matches listed on the evidence log?”
“Unfortunately—no.”
“Then we need to interview victim number three right away. Nice job Cavanaugh!”
Not realizing how close Brock was to her, Holly stood up and bumped right into him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”
“No, don’t worry—I was too close. Let’s head over to victim number three’s apartment and see if we get lucky.”
“Get lucky?”
“I didn’t mean it like that! I only meant…”
Laughing, “I know what you meant—it’s just fun getting a reaction out of you, and you seemed grumpy when you got in this morning.”
“Not funny Cavanaugh. Let’s go.”
Brock knocked on the door of the apartment with Holly at his side as the door opened a crack. “Can I help you?”
“Detectives McClellan and Cavanaugh, ma’am—we are here to ask you a few questions regarding your case.”
“I already spoke with the police and I told them everything I know—it should be in the report.”
“Yes ma’am, we have read the report and we really need to discuss this inside if you don’t mind.”
“Can I see some I.D.?”
“If you would open the door, I would be happy to show you.”
“Can you hand it to me?”
Brock handed his badge through the crack in the door. Moments later, the door opened the rest of the way to reveal a woman in her early twenties, her eyes were hollow and she nervously rubbed her arms.
“We won’t take up much of your time, but we were recently assigned your case and while Detective Cavanaugh was going through your file she noticed something in a photo of where you struggled with the rapist.” Brock said as he handed the photo to her.
“What am I looking for?” She asked.
Brock stepped forward to point out the book of matches and she almost jumped out of her skin. “Cavanaugh, perhaps you can point it out?”
“I’m sorry—I just react without even realizing it when a man approaches me. That monster has ruined me—I can’t even be in public anymore. I am a prisoner of my own house while he is still out there doing this to other women.”
“I’m really sorry ma’am, and I can promise you that we won’t rest until we catch him.” Brock stated.
Detective Cavanaugh pointed to the picture “Right there in the corner, it appears to us that it is a matchbook. Do you smoke?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Do you remember having anyone over to your apartment the day of or a few days prior to your rape who was a smoker?”
“No, no one.”
“Do you remember seeing it? If you did, what might you have done with it?”
“After I was released from the hospital, I went to live with my sister for a couple of weeks—I just couldn’t come back here right away. After the police released my apartment, my sister came over and cleaned it for me. You will have to contact her—she may be able to remember it.”
“We will definitely contact her.” Handing her a notepad and pen, Detective Cavanaugh asked that she write down her contact information. They thanked her for her time and headed back to the precinct.
Holly called the number from her notepad and left a message. “I sure hope she calls back soon, this is the only lead we have at the moment.”
“Until then, we will continue to comb through the other files—who knows, maybe there is more to find.”
Brock looked at his watch at 5:15 and said, “Time to wrap it up for the weekend Cavanaugh.”
Holly noticed that Brock had checked his watch about every 10 minutes for the last hour. “Sure, no problem. You must have a date.” She declared.
“If you want to call it that.” Brock noticed a slight frown on Holly’s face, but it was so quick that he thought he was seeing things. “How about you? You and Charlie going to do anything special this weekend?”
“I don’t know—maybe we will go for a walk or rent a movie. He doesn’t like to socialize much.”
“Well, I gotta run—see you on Monday Cavanaugh.”
Brock arrived at the Double Deuce to find that Sam had already gotten them a table. He stopped at the bar and ordered a couple of beers before pulling up a chair and handing one to Sam.
“I am so glad you suggested this Brock—it has been a while since we have been here.”
“Yeah, and the last time wasn’t a good memory—it was the night Brooke was kidnapped.”
Scratching his chin Sam added, “I guess that’s right—maybe we should have gone somewhere else.”
“We’ll just have to make some new memories then I guess. Have you had a chance to check out the scenery yet?”
“I just got here myself and grabbed the table, so no.”
Sam barely got the word ‘no’ out when a blonde and a brunette walked up to their table. “Excuse us, but you two look like you could use some company. Do you mind if we sit down?”
Sam and Brock glanced at each other before Sam stood up and pulled out two chairs. “Here, have a seat.” He offered.
“Can we buy you a drink?” Brock offered.
“Sure, I guess you can buy us a beer. What is your name cowboy?” She asked looking at Sam.
“You can call me Sam, and this here is my brother Brock. What would your name be?” He asked looking at the blonde.
“Do you like sweets Sam? Because my name is Candy and I can be really sweet.”
Brock wanted to take back the offer because he just about threw up in his mouth on that comment. He hated to ask, but went ahead anyway, “And your name would be?” looking towards the brunette.
“My name is Bridget and I just know that we can go all night trying to build a bridge if you think that you have that much stamina.”
Brock had had enough, he pulled out his badge and informed the ladies that they needed to take a walk.
“What the hell bro?” Sam shouted.
“They acted like a pair of hookers—we don’t need that shit.”
“Why the hell did you suggest this if all you are going to do is scare the women away?”
“I needed to get out—I thought you did too.”
“Well as wired as you are bro, you need to go over and apologize to Bridget so that you can get laid, because you sure as hell need to let off some of that steam you got going on.”
“That’s not gonna happen.”
“What is going on with you man? This really isn’t like you—comments like that from the ladies never bothered you before—hell, I’ve heard some of the lines you used on the ladies in the past. Is that a mirror in your pants? Cause I can sure see myself in ’em. Spill the beans or I am calling Luke to see what the hell is going on with you.”
“There is nothing to tell and maybe this was a mistake.” He said as he got up and threw a $10.00 bill on the table. “I’m going home.”
Brock hopped in his car and headed home. Somewhere along the way, he found himself driving to Holly’s house and not his. He pulled into her driveway and shut the engine off looking towards the house. There was a light on in what appeared to be a living room, but he couldn’t tell if anyone was in there since the blinds were drawn. Several times he reached for the door handle to get out and several t
imes he stopped himself. What the hell was he doing here? He had no idea what he would even say to her if he did go to the door. It would have to be something about the case—yeah, he would go to the door and ask her about the case. Before his mind was able to stop him, he was out of his car standing in front of the door while his finger was ringing the doorbell.
Holly heard the doorbell and wondered who the heck was at her house—she wasn’t expecting anyone. When she opened the door and Brock was standing there she about fell over.
Brock noticed the shocked look on Holly’s face as he said “Cavanaugh.” and walked right in past her.
“Come on in why don’t you! Make yourself comfortable! Oh, by the way—What the hell are you doing here?” She asked as he plopped down in a chair and grabbed the remote.
“I just wanted to discuss the case with you.”
“I thought you had a date? It didn’t go so well I take it.”
“I never said that I had a date. What I said was “You could call it that. You could call it anything you want to really—doesn’t matter to me!”
“Well that makes a hell of a lot of sense. Since you are here and you have made yourself comfortable, would you like a beer or something?”
“Depends on what the something is you’re offering.” He said with a grin.
Holly glared at him and said, “I’ll be right back with a beer.”
Brock watched Holly as she walked out of the room and suddenly a cat jumped up in his lap. “Well hello there big fella! What’s your name?” The cat rubbed his head on Brock’s hand as if he was telling him to pet him. “You want me to pet you huh? Do you like your belly rubbed too?” As if on cue, the cat lay down in his lap and rolled on his back and began to purr.
Holly froze in the doorway. How could Charlie betray her like this? Brock looked up “Hey are you gonna stand there all night and let my beer get warm or do I get to drink it?”
It took all she could muster, but Holly walked into the room and over to where Brock was sitting to hand him the beer.
“You said you wanted to talk about the case, so did you think of something and that’s why you are here? Wait a minute—how did you know where I even lived?”
Brock stared at Holly before bringing the bottle of beer up to his lips for a drink. “What’s the name of your cat?”
Before she could stop herself, “His name is Charlie.”
Brock started choking on his beer causing Charlie to jump off of his lap and run for cover. When he was able to stop gagging and speak, he whispered, “The cat is Charlie? The Charlie that you live with? The Charlie that you were going to take on a walk and watch a movie with this weekend?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Holly slumped down into the couch wishing that she could take back that tidbit of information. She never in a million years expected Charlie to betray her like that. He used to be such a good judge of character too. He must have had too much catnip—yeah, that was it. Mental note to self—keep any and all catnip away from Charlie the traitor cat.
“Well? I am waiting for an answer.”
Holly murmured, “Yes.” as quietly as she possibly could.
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe I heard that.” Brock said leaning forward in the chair with determination.
“Yes, damn it! My cat’s name is Charlie—there—did you hear me this time?”
“Holy shit!” Brock said as he began to laugh.
“What the hell is so damn funny?”
That set Brock off even more, he couldn’t stop himself and his side started to hurt from laughing so hard.
Holly stood and stomped over to the front door. “Get out!” She screamed. When he didn’t move, she shouted again. “Get the hell out of my house right now!”
He still didn’t move but he did stop laughing. He just stared at her in disbelief. Then all of a sudden the devil in him took over and he said, “Make me.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I said make me.”
“Oh, you don’t want to go there buster.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No. It was a warning and if you were smart, you would heed it.”
Brock grinned at her, took another swig of his beer, “Bring it on.”
Holly slammed the door and made a bee line towards Brock. She grabbed the beer out of his hand and set it on the coffee table before walking behind the chair where she began to pinch the nerve in his shoulder. Brock shot out of the chair and when he reached for her, the next thing he knew he was face down on the floor and she was sitting on him with his hand behind his back cranking on it. “What the fuck!” He screamed.
“Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
“Let me up.”
“Only if you agree to leave.”
“No.” He no sooner got the word out of his mouth and she was putting more pressure on his arm.
“Don’t make me hurt you.”
“Yeah right—I could get out of this if I wanted to, I just don’t hurt women.”
“So far, I haven’t seen any proof of that.”
Brock spotted Charlie out of the corner of his eye watching them. “Come here Charlie—help a guy out.”
“He won’t help you—he doesn’t like men.”
The next thing she knew, Charlie was glaring at her and growling.
“You could have fooled me! It’s not me he is growling at.”
Holly released Brock’s arm as she swatted at Charlie. “Go away you traitor—no more special treats from me!”
With his arm released, Brock was able to grab Holly by the waist and reverse the position. Now he was sitting on top of her with his knees on each side of her hips and her hands above her head. “Get off of me!”
“Make me.”
“Really? What are you—ten years old?”
“No, but I can be if you want me to be.”
“No thank you—I have had my fill of men who acted like they were ten.”
“So you are more into men who act like men then?”
“Yeah, and I don’t currently know of any. Have any suggestions?”
“Where did you learn that move? I don’t recall that in any police training camp.”
“Oh—the move where one minute you were sitting in a chair and the next minute you were face planted on the floor with your arm behind your back?”
Brock grinned at her, “Yeah that would be the move.”
“Stop grinning at me.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I can’t concentrate when you look that damn good.” ‘Oh hell.’ she said to herself. She really needed to work on that part about keeping her mouth shut until her brain had time to process what came out of it.
“You think I look good huh?
“Too good.”
“Too good? I didn’t know there was such thing.”
“Well there is. Now can you get off of me—I can’t breathe.” Holly said trying to catch some air.
“Let me help you with that.” he said as he leaned down and gently brushed her lips with his while he watched her reaction.
Holly froze as she watched Brock lean in and lightly kiss her lips. This was not happening she told herself—it can’t be happening. The next thing she knew he was deepening the kiss and she felt his tongue trace her bottom lip. Just like the cat, her body betrayed her and she responded by opening her mouth hungrily as her tongue began searching for his.
Brock lost himself in that kiss. She tasted so sweet and she took just as much as she gave. He instantly became hard and felt a need to touch her bare skin. Once he released her hands, they wrapped around him and pulled him in tighter to her. He reached down and ran his hand under the hem of her t-shirt. Her skin was so soft to the touch and he wanted to experience so much more of her. He broke the kiss and sat up grabbing the bottom of her t-shirt to pull it over her head when she grabbed his hands and stopped him.
“Brock, we can’t do this.” She said breathlessly.
“Why not
? I know you want to.”
“That doesn’t make it right. We work together—we can never be anything more than that. We can’t do this.”
“Fine—I will approve a transfer for you.”
“No!” She shouted as she scrambled out from under him. “I have worked too damn hard to become a detective and I am not going to throw it away for anyone.”
“So, after what we just shared, you can honestly say that you can go back as if it never happened?”
“I didn’t say it was going to be easy, but that is exactly what we have to do. You have to promise me that it won’t happen again.”
“No. I can’t pretend that what we just shared wasn’t something special and that we shouldn’t pursue what it could become.”
“Then you had better try because there will never be anything between us.”
“I don’t believe that, and if you think you can forget about it like it was yesterday’s news, then you are a pretty good actress. Here’s a newsflash for you—I am not going to let you forget it. I will be in your thoughts and dreams 24/7—you can count on it.”
Brock walked to the door, opened it and without another word, walked out and shut the door behind him. Holly collapsed onto the couch and began to cry. Charlie climbed into her lap and began to purr. “I hate you. Do you know what you have done?” Charlie looked up at her and meowed before he nestled into her lap.
Monday morning Brock walked into his office to find it empty. He expected to see Holly hard at it going through the files. He sat down and began to go through a file, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Holly and the fact that she wasn’t at work yet. He got up and headed to the break room to get a cup of coffee, looking up every few seconds thinking he would catch a glimpse of her arriving. Back in his office he sat down again to go through the next file, but he kept checking his watch every five minutes. At 10:00am she still wasn’t there. “Where the hell are you Holly?” He asked out loud. He decided that he would ask the Captain if he heard from her, so he got up and headed to his office. He impatiently waited outside of his office as he was on the telephone. When the call ended the Captain waived him in.
“What can I help you with Detective?”
“I was wondering if you heard from Detective Cavanaugh today.”
Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy) Page 3