Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy)

by Judy Hagemann

  “You had an opportunity and a good vantage point to see everything going on at the bar, so did you notice anyone in particular who may be the perp?”

  “No one appeared suspicious to me. What about the swarm of people around you?”

  “No, nothing, which means we aren’t any closer than before. Do you have any other suggestions?”

  “I just think we need to interview all the vics and see if O’Donnell’s is the common thread for each and every one of the rapes. Let’s start hitting the phones.”

  At the end of the day they had reached all but two of the vics. Their common thread of O’Donnell’s was cut to pieces. The first two vics had never set foot in O’Donnell’s, and vics four, six, and seven had never even heard of it. The only ones that could be placed in O’Donnell’s were vic three, five and now number ten.

  “What are we missing?” Brock said aloud.

  “I don’t know, but there has to be a different connection—we just haven’t found it yet.”

  “We have a good start on the whiteboard, but there are still a lot of holes to fill in. Let’s call it a day. Neither one of us got much sleep last night, and we need a fresh start tomorrow with clear heads.” He said as he placed his hand on Holly’s shoulder.

  Holly felt her body tingle at just that simple touch as memories of what he did to her last night flooded her.

  “Cavanaugh?”

  “Mmmhmm?”

  “You okay?”

  “Yes, sorry—I guess I am really tired.”

  “Let’s get out of here then. Do you need me to follow you home?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary. See you in the morning.”

  When Holly arrived at home Charlie attacked her feet. “Hey buddy, did you miss your mommy?” She said as she picked him up. He instantly began to purr. “I need a shower and I am really tired, so you are going to have to entertain yourself—sorry.” She said as she put him back down and headed for the bathroom. Standing under the spray of the shower, her mind wandered back to her conversation with Brock and how her body responded to his touch. She was torn between doing the right thing and keeping their relationship as is—just co-workers, and his suggestion of friends with benefits. If what he did to her was just a “taste” of what she could experience with him, then she wanted the whole damn meal! “NO!” She shouted out loud. “Impossible! You are sleep deprived and need to get some sleep so that you are thinking with a clear head.” As if saying it out loud and having her ears hear the words would help.

  Brock walked into his bedroom and stared at his bed picturing Holly laying there with her eyes closed from last night. He smiled at the memory of her up against the wall and how she smelled and felt on his fingertips. How she trembled as he traced a path down her neck with his tongue. She would definitely be a good fit for him he thought to himself. He just had to convince her of it. Brock thought that he had suggested the perfect solution for her, friends with benefits, but so far she hadn’t agreed to it. Maybe he needed to change his tactics. Maybe he needed to give her what she thinks she wants. “Yes, that is exactly what you are going to do! Give her what she thinks she wants.” He said aloud.

  Brock walked into his office the next morning whistling carrying two cups of coffee to find Holly at the whiteboard. “Good morning Cavanaugh!”

  Holly spun around to make sure that she really heard Brock’s voice, because she had never heard him whistle—in fact he was always so gruff in the mornings since she started working with him. “Morning Detective McClellan, you seem to be in a good mood this morning. You must have really slept well!”

  “Here’s a cup of coffee—just the way you like it. Now, what have we got so far? I see you have been logging information on the white board.”

  “There are a couple of things that all the vics have in common. First of all they all are college students. Secondly, they all live in an apartment—which is pretty common of college students, so I don’t really think that that will be anything significant, but I wanted it down on the board anyways.”

  “Good so far, anything else?”

  “Some of the vics had roommates and others didn’t, so again I don’t think it will have a lot of significance to us but it’s logged anyway.”

  Brock stared at the board. “What are we still missing? “Why would only three of the vics have a tie to O’Donnell’s while none of the rest do?”

  “So, did you sleep well last night?” Holly asked.

  “Let’s focus on the case here Detective Cavanaugh.” Brock replied trying to keep the conversation on work.

  “What the hell?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What is going on here?” She demanded.

  “We are supposed to be trying to solve a serial rapist case.”

  “No! What is going on with you? Why are you being so impersonal all of a sudden?” Holly demanded.

  “I believe I am complying with what you wanted from the start Detective Cavanaugh.”

  “Oh, no you don’t! You are up to something.” She argued.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t pull that crap on me. You come in here this morning whistling. I have worked here for two full weeks and not once did you come in to the office whistling. Furthermore, you come in bringing me a hot cup of coffee ‘just the way I like it’ and now you are all business and don’t care to discuss anything personal. The man that walked through that door this morning is NOT anyone I recognize.” She said pointing to the door.

  “Okay. Are you ready to get back to the board?” Brock continued.

  “NO! We are not getting back to that board until this is settled.” She said as she walked right up to him and poked him in the chest with eyes blazing. “I don’t know what your game is, but I am not buying it. Just two short nights ago you (poking him in the chest again) wanted nothing more than to strip me naked and get hot and sweaty. Believe me a few more minutes of that taste you gave me and we would have had the whole damn meal. Then, this morning you come in here and you are all business as if that night didn’t happen at all, and there is nothing personal between us, and a business only working relationship is what we have. Is that what you are telling me?”

  “Yes.” He responded staring at Holly.

  “Bullshit!” She shouted.

  “Now look who’s ten.”

  Holly glared at Brock and gave him a shove. He lost his balance as he fell into his chair. “Ten huh? Tell me Detective McClellan, does a ten year old do this?” Holly proceeded to pull the shades and lock the door before walking back over to Brock and straddling his lap. She grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt and leaned in to kiss him. He immediately responded and deepened the kiss as he groped her ass and pulled her body towards his erection. Holly ended the kiss and started to get up when Brock pulled her back down and held on to her.

  He looked her in the eye and asked “Holly? What do you want? Tell me—just tell me what you want.”

  After a brief pause, Holly looked up at Brock with half lidded eyes, “Is the friends with benefits offer still on the table?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Is that what you want?” Brock asked her.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “I want you to be certain—there will be no going back.”

  “How will it work?” Holly replied.

  “We make our own rules—I have never done this before. Are you on any form of birth control?”

  “Yes, I have an implant.”

  “Good—I hate condoms—you lose spontaneity. We should both get tested.” He suggested.

  “I got tested after I found out that my ex was cheating on me—even though it was with my best friend, I couldn’t possibly know for sure that he wasn’t with other people too, and I didn’t want any more surprises from him. I haven’t been with anyone since.”

  “I will go to a walk in clinic this afternoon and have the results in a couple of days. Do you have any other concerns?”

&
nbsp; “Where will we—ummm—Where will we have sex?” Holly barely whispered.

  Laughing, “You are putting too much thought into it. It will happen when and where it happens—period. So I need an answer, are you certain that this is what you want?” He asked again.

  Holly looked directly into Brock’s eyes. “Yes, I am certain.”

  “Then there is only one thing left...let’s seal it with a kiss.” He said before pulling her close and capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

  Brock pulled out an enlarged map of the city and put pushpins at the location of each rape. When he stepped back to look at it he was able to notice that the rapes that occurred with the vics who had been to O’Donnell’s were in a five mile radius of the bar. “Cavanaugh.”

  “Yes?”

  “Come take a look at this and tell me what you see.”

  Holly put down her file and walked over to the map. “It appears as though the rapes occur in clusters. Different areas, but in clusters. Why would that be?”

  “It tells me that our rapist has connections to each of these areas, but what the hell is it?”

  “Well, there are college campuses in the vicinity of each of these clusters, so it is obvious that he targets colleges.”

  “Right—but there has to be another connection. Let’s pull out a calendar and see if there is a pattern of which day of the week the rapes occur in these areas. It’s a long shot, but we have to try.”

  “I’ll get right on it.”

  “Call me if something jumps out at you. I need to get to the clinic before it closes. I’ll see you Monday morning.” He said as he walked out the door.

  “No problem—see you on Monday.” Holly replied.

  Holly was disappointed as she watched Brock walk out the door. “What the hell do you expect?” She said out loud. “Did you expect a hug and a kiss?” Yes—she thought to herself. After she had time to process her feelings, Holly decided that she was acting as if she and Brock were in a relationship now. Her expectations were those of a couple. She and Brock were not a couple. That was not part of the deal. The ‘deal’ was that they were going to be friends with benefits not together as a couple because she had made that point loud and clear to him. Was she making it loud and clear to convince herself—to protect her own heart?

  Brock got in his car and headed to the clinic smiling. His plan to let Holly have what she thought she needed couldn’t have worked out any better. It took her all of five minutes to change her mind. This was going to be interesting to say the least—for each of them. He had heard of the concept before, but never in a million years did he ever think that he would suggest one—let alone agree to one. He would have to take a poll at Sunday’s poker game to see if any of the guys did anything this crazy.

  After charting the days of the week that all of the rapes occurred, the only pattern Holly noticed was that eight out of ten of them occurred over the weekend, but on Saturday and Sundays—never Fridays. Only two of them had occurred during the week, but they didn’t occur on the same day, so that wasn’t any help. Holly looked at her watch and noticed that it was after seven. “Time to get home myself.” Within five minutes she had locked up the files and was in her car headed home—alone.

  Well not exactly alone—Charlie would be there to greet her and want attention. “Great! Now I am reduced to looking forward to coming home to a damn cat!” She said to the air in the car. Now that she thought about it…‌this whole situation was Charlie’s fault! Charlie had been the one who had jumped up on Brock’s lap. The cat who hated all of the men she ever knew up until now. He started this whole damn thing. If only he had stayed hidden away in the bedroom, then Brock would have never have seen the cat let alone ask his damn name and discover the truth about him. She had the perfect wall built up with Brock believing that she actually was living with a man and that stupid cat had to ruin it. In one short week her life had gone from easy to a hot mess and now a decision had been made to throw more complications into the mix. The only bright side to the whole situation was that she just knew that she was going to experience some of the best sex of her life, which also made her nervous as hell. “Damn—I need to get off of this emotional roller coaster. I am going to drive myself crazy!”

  Luke was the first to arrive at Brock’s house for the monthly poker game with Sam arriving shortly afterward. Brock tossed them each a beer and told them to pull up a stool while he finished with the appetizers. Sam was the first to speak, “Have you gotten laid yet?”

  Brock had been leaning down to get a cookie sheet and bumped his head on the counter at Sam’s question. “Ow! Damn it Sam. Why do you have to ask me something like that?”

  Luke and Sam were both laughing. “Because that is what brothers do! So—have you?” Sam asked again.

  “If it is any of your business, which by the way it’s not—no.”

  “I think there is a prospect though from what Brooke was telling me.” Luke said.

  “No shit? Who is she?” Sam asked.

  “No one.” Brock offered.

  “I don’t know about that. Brooke said that you have a really pretty detective working on the latest case with you.”

  “So, that doesn’t mean anything.” Brock answered.

  “She said you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. If nothing has happened yet, it won’t be long before it does.” Luke said laughing.

  “Brooke needs to mind her own damn business.” Brock responded.

  “She happened to like Detective…‌what was her name?” Luke began.

  “Cavanaugh, Holly Cavanaugh.”

  “There you go! She liked Holly. She thought she would be the one woman to put you in your place.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Brock growled back.

  “Do you need to take something out of the oven? I think I smell something burning.” Sam said.

  “Damn it! See what you have done?” Brock said as he was pulling the tray out of the oven.

  Midway through the afternoon, Brock was getting antsy and he couldn’t concentrate on the game as his chips were dwindling to almost nothing and he still hadn’t brought up the topic of friends with benefits. He was torn—he just knew that his brothers would zero in on exactly who he was referring to if he asked.

  “Brock!” Sam said as he slugged him in the arm.

  “What?”

  “It’s your turn, are you in or out? The bet is one dollar.”

  “I’m out.” He said throwing his cards in the middle of the table. ‘It’s now or never.’ he thought to himself. “So have any of you guys come across anyone who had a friends with benefits relationship?”

  His question was met with silence as he watched Luke and Sam look at each other and back to him. Pete was the first to speak. “I’ve heard of it, but never had the pleasure of experiencing one. All the women I ever meet want the full blown relationship. You know, going out to dinner, dancing, movies, sleepovers, meeting the family—the whole ball of wax.”

  Joe chimed in next. “It sounds like a dream gig to me, but I have never heard of anyone who was able to pull it off.”

  “What do you mean ‘pull it off’?” Brock asked.

  “Well, for one, it’s a pretty blurry line. What if one of you wants more out of the relationship? Someone is going to end up getting burned. I’m no expert here by any means, but I would never want to do that.”

  “Are you considering that crap with Holly?” Luke asked.

  “I was just asking—out of curiosity is all.” Brock answered.

  “You are so full of crap bro. You are considering it or you wouldn’t have brought it up.” Sam accused.

  “Are you going to deal the next hand or are we finished for today?” Brock asked.

  Luke wasn’t going to let it drop. “You had better think long and hard on this bro, Holly sounds like a great gal and there is no way in hell that she would go for it anyway. Put that damn thought on the shelf. Why the hell wouldn’t you want to pursue a relationsh
ip with her anyway?”

  “Yeah.” Sam chimed in. “I’ve never met this Holly, but jeez you’re thirty-two years old—not twenty and I thought you wanted to find someone to spend the rest of your life with—not this college kid crap with only wanting a tumble between the sheets.”

  “She already agreed to it.” Brock blurted out.

  “What?” Screamed Sam and Luke at the same time.

  “Have you…‌?” Luke began before Brock interrupted him.

  “No.”

  “Don’t do it.” Sam suggested. “You really don’t want that bro.”

  “Who the hell’s bright idea was it anyway?” Luke asked.

  “Does it matter?” Brock responded.

  “Hell yes!” Luke responded. “If she did, it’s one thing, but if it was you bro—well, you need your ass kicked.”

  “I think our poker game is over. Everybody out!” Brock shouted as he pushed away from the table.

  “Damn it Brock—this is just getting good!” Pete complained.

  “Brock’s right—the game is over, you and Joe can leave.” Sam suggested.

  “Everybody out meant everybody out—including you and Luke.”

  “We need to stick around and knock some sense into you bro.” Sam challenged.

  “No, you both need to butt out. It’s none of your business.”

  Laughing “That’s where you are wrong bud—you were the one who brought it up which means that you made it our business. Now let’s talk this over before you take that leap and can’t turn back from it.” Luke said.

  “I’m done talking about it.”

  “Liar—we know you too well. You brought it up because you’re having second thoughts about this new arrangement and you need someone to confirm that it’s a good decision.” Sam stated.

  “That’s not true at all. This isn’t between the three of us—it’s between Holly and me. We are both consenting adults and that is what we agreed to.”

  “We are telling you that you need to seriously think this through. Hell, if all you wanted was the sex, you should have kept your badge in your pocket at the Double Deuce and taken—what was her name? Oh yeah—Bridget. You should have taken Bridget up on her offer.”