“I’m already there. Just hearing your voice lately does that to me.”
“Good. Unzip your pants and run your hand up and down your shaft—imagine that it is my hand. I am running my thumb over the head and I can feel a drop of moisture. Can you feel it too?”
“Yes.”
“I am pulling your cock free from the restraints of your underwear. Now get some lotion or oil and put some on the palm of your hand. Tell me when you are ready.”
“I’m ready.”
“Run a finger up and down your shaft lightly—imagine that it is my tongue. You taste so good and I love your musky scent. Now I want you to grab hold with your hand and pump it up and down over your cock—it’s really my mouth covering you and my tongue swirling over the head. Take your other hand and cup your balls—it’s my hand caressing them. I can feel the heat and tightness. You’re close aren’t you?”
“Oh God Holly—I’m coming.”
Holly smiled as she heard his deep moaning through the phone knowing that she had been a part of something so private. “I can’t wait until I am able to do that in person baby.”
“It better be pretty damn soon, I don’t know how much more I can take without you here.”
Their conversation turned to work and the case when all of a sudden a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Holly just happened to be looking towards the window at that moment and screamed when she saw a dark figure standing outside looking in at her.
“Holly? Are you okay? Is something wrong?”
The sky lit up again, but this time when she looked towards the window she didn’t see anything. “No, nothing is wrong. I just thought I saw someone outside the window looking in.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No—Don’t!”
“Holly, if there is someone there, it could be our perp. I’m coming over.”
“No! I am sure that it was just my imagination. Really—I’m fine. The storm has me jumpy that’s all—I guess it could also have something to do with this new book that I am reading. I am fine and Julie will be home in an hour or so anyway.”
“Are you sure? I could be there in fifteen minutes.” He offered again.
“I am positive. I’m going to head to bed anyway—I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Holly, I love you.”
“I love you too baby.”
Holly realized that this was the first time since the incident at Luke’s that he had said those words to her again and it warmed her clear to her soul.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The rest of the week passed and Holly was still no closer to catching the rapist. She began second guessing her idea to go undercover. The only thing that was happening was the fact that she and Brock were being kept apart and it was starting to get to her. Julie was planning on going out one last time on Saturday and it was going to be their last chance. Why wasn’t he taking the bait? Was he on to them? Had he moved on to somewhere else? Question after question flooded her mind to the point it was causing her to have a headache. That and the fact that she was tired of being ‘holed up’ in the tiny apartment. Her house wasn’t very big, but she relished the freedom that it provided her.
Brock was pacing like a caged animal. He was torn between wanting the rapist to attack so they could arrest him and put him away for a very long time and just wanting this undercover operation to be over so that he and Holly could be together. It wasn’t that he was worried about Holly being able to defend herself—he wasn’t. He had been on the receiving end of her self-defense skills on a couple of occasions. The one that actually brought a smile to his face was when she took him down with a low leg sweep and handcuffed him to her at Luke’s house. He was also being somewhat selfish in wanting this to be over—he wanted Holly’s warm body next to his. He couldn’t complain as the phone sex has been working, but there was nothing like flesh and bone in his arms.
Luke had called Brock to see if he wanted to come over for a cookout and was told that Sam would be there as he had the night off. Brock wasn’t in the mood to go, but the apartment where Holly was staying was five minutes closer from Luke’s house than his own. He knew that if and when things went down, every minute would be precious and he didn’t want to waste any time if Holly needed him.
Holly spent the day cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. She didn’t think that there was an inch that she hadn’t touched and some areas she had actually cleaned twice. She was never nervous, but today she was jumpy. Every time her phone rang, she about jumped out of her skin and it seemed that her hearing was supercharged. The washing machine would start the spin cycle and she would jump. “Holly, you need to calm down.” She told herself.
She was putting clean sheets on the bed as she heard Julie come home. She quickly finished making the bed as she wanted to do a ‘run through’ on tonight before she left for the bars. Julie was in the kitchen pouring a glass of lemonade when Holly entered the room. “Hey…are you ready for tonight?” Julie asked.
“I have to be—it’s our last chance to catch this guy. We don’t even know if any of this worked enough to draw him out.”
“Well, we do know that he hasn’t raped anyone in the past two weeks and he is due.”
“That will hopefully work in our favor. I have been doing some profiling the last couple of weeks and have made a list of things that we do know about the perp. Would you take a look at it and see if you have come across anyone that might come close to fitting the profile?”
“Absolutely, that would really be a huge help. I’ll do anything I can.” Julie agreed.
After Julie left, Holly went around and locked all the doors and windows pulling all the shades for added measures. She grabbed her book and a glass of tea before sinking into the couch and piling pillows around her. Daylight quickly turned into darkness and she found that she was really having a hard time concentrating on her book. She decided to put in a workout DVD to release some of her stress through exercise. After an hour, she was worn out and needing a shower as sweat covered her entire body including her scalp.
Luke handed Brock a beer as he walked out onto the back patio. “No thanks.” Brock said.
“What? No beer tonight?” Luke replied somewhat confused.
“I want a clear head tonight, so no alcohol.”
“Do you think that he will strike tonight?”
“I don’t know.” He said as he ran his hands through his hair. “I need this to be over. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Who’s driving you crazy now bro?” Sam asked as he walked out onto the patio with Brooke.
“This damn serial rapist. This weekend is the last chance to catch him with Holly undercover as the Cap only gave her two weeks to run the op.”
Brooke touched his arm, “If he comes anywhere near Holly, he will definitely pay for it. That girl can hold her own with the best of them. He will wish he had never met her when she is through with him.”
Brock weakly smiled up at Brooke, “Thanks for the vote of confidence. How are you feeling by the way? You have less than a month to go, right?”
Brooke smiled and rubbed her belly, “Yep! I am due October 22nd, but I don’t think this little girl will wait that long.”
Luke slammed the grill lid shut, “Don’t you mean boy?”
Sam and Brock began to laugh at their banter. “Don’t you guys know that there are ways to find out the sex of the baby before it arrives?” Sam asked.
“Of course we do, but we want to be surprised.” Brooke declared.
Luke put his arm around Brooke and kissed the top of her head lovingly as he rubbed her baby bump. Brock felt a twinge of jealousy tugging at his heart as he watched them interact with each other—this is what he wanted, and he realized that he wanted it with Holly. Being apart these past two weeks only made him realize it more and more.
“Come on guys—enough of that crap.” Sam teased.
“I can’t wait until the day I get to say that about you.” Luke said as he kisse
d his wife again.
“Never gonna happen—I like playing the field way too much.”
“Never is a long time Sam.” Brooke pointed out.
“You’re with me on this one aren’t you Brock?” Sam asked needing someone to agree with him.
When Sam didn’t get a response, he looked over at him and noticed that Brock seemed to be preoccupied with something and must not have heard him. Sam slugged him in the arm, “Hey, where were you just now? You totally ignored me.”
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“I just made the comment that you and me—we’re confirmed bachelors and this marriage stuff isn’t for us.”
Again, he didn’t get a response out of Brock. “Did you hear me this time?” He prodded.
“Yeah, I heard you, but I just don’t think I agree with you anymore.”
“What? When did this happen? Who is it?”
“It’s Holly. I need to go—I need to go to Holly.”
“Isn’t she still undercover on the rape case?” Luke asked.
“Yes, but I need to head over there.” He said as he headed out the door.
While sitting in the bar with Jackie and her friends, Julie spotted the guy she had seen a few nights ago—he was one of the bartenders. “Hey Jackie—do you see that bartender over there?”
“The one on the right?”
“Yeah—I saw him a couple nights ago at The Doo Dive. He was just leaving.”
“That’s Todd—he works a few bars in the area. He fills in when needed—usually only a couple of hours at a time.”
“So does he work at The Doo Dive?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he does. He also works at The Brew Hogg.
“You called him Todd? How well do you know him? Do you know his last name?”
“I don’t, but he is a really nice guy though. Always asking if we live in a good neighborhood and how we are doing, telling us you can never really trust everyone you meet.”
When Julie looked towards the bar—he was gone. She quickly stood up and scanned through the crowd but didn’t find him. Looking back to Jackie, “I need you to think really hard Jackie—do you ever remember telling Todd where you lived and that you had a roommate?”
“I could have. He’s a bartender—everyone talks to him.”
“Shit—I have to go.” Julie said as she got up quickly to leave.
“What’s going on?” Just as the words came out of her mouth, she got a panicked look on her face as her hand covered her mouth. “Oh my God, do you think Todd is the rapist?”
“Yes—I do, and I don’t see him anymore. He must have left. Stay here—do not leave until you hear from me. Do you understand?”
As Julie ran out of the bar, she called Holly and it went straight to voicemail. “Holly—it’s Julie, I think I know who the rapist is and I think he may be headed your way. Please call me as soon as you get this message.”
As soon as she hung up, she dialed dispatch to be patched through to Brock. “Detective McClellan.”
“Brock—it’s Julie—Julie Harris.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I know who the rapist is and I think he is headed to the apartment.”
“I just got in my car and I am ten minutes away. Did you call Holly?”
“Yes—it went straight to voicemail.”
Holly stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her as she stood in front of the mirror looking at her reflection. She reached for the hairdryer turning it on high and running a brush through it to speed up the drying process. Once she was satisfied that she wouldn’t wake up in the morning with bed head, she dropped the towel and put on her pajamas. Just when she was ready to open the bathroom door, she swore she heard something. She froze and held her breath as she tried to see if she would hear it again. After what seemed like an eternity, she let out her breath and said, “Boy are you being paranoid or what?”
Brock continued to call Holly’s phone in the chance that she would answer, but each time, it went straight to voicemail. “Holly damn it—answer your phone!” He didn’t want to arrive with lights and sirens in case the perp wasn’t in the apartment yet and he would end up scaring him off and they still wouldn’t have him. His heart was pounding in his chest and felt like it would explode at any minute with the adrenaline pumping through his body. He was weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac. He sure hoped that a fellow officer wouldn’t see him and pull him over—that was the last thing he needed.
Holly opened the bathroom door and looked down the hall—nothing. She headed to the front door to check to see if it was still locked—it was. Next she went to each of the windows and double checked them. When she found that everything was still locked, she finally let her guard down and headed to her bedroom. As soon as she walked into the bedroom, she was grabbed from behind. She instinctively screamed before a hand clamped over her mouth. “Keep quiet bitch and you won’t get hurt.”
Holly could feel the blade of a knife on her neck, so she nodded in compliance. In all of her training, she knew that she needed to be patient and wait for a window of opportunity to disarm her attacker. Right now wasn’t it—she could feel a trickle of blood run down her neck as he pressed the blade firmly against her skin all the while moving her towards the bed. The bedroom was pitch black, so Holly kept her eyes open to help her them adjust to the darkness quicker.
He began to tell her that if she cooperated with him, it would be over soon and she wouldn’t be hurt. “I’m going to blindfold you—I don’t want you to be able to identify me. It would be best if you don’t fight me. It didn’t turn out so well with the last girl.”
Holly wanted to get a confession out of him, “What last girl? What do you plan to do with me?”
“No talking—just do as I say and I will take what I want and leave.”
“Are you the guy I have been reading about in all the papers and heard news reports about on the TV?”
“Sorry—I don’t read newspapers and I don’t watch much TV. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You plan on raping me—don’t you? You’re the rapist that the police have been looking for.”
“It’s not rape if you don’t fight back. You know it could be enjoyable for you if you let it. I thought I told you to keep quiet.”
He set the knife down on the end table while tightening his grip on Holly as he pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. Holly knew that it was going to take two hands to tie the blindfold and that was going to be her opportunity to take him down. She also knew that he was smart, the end table was to his back and he could easily grab the knife again. She was going to get one chance, and in that one chance she needed to immobilize him.
Brock arrived at Holly’s apartment to find the door locked and all the lights off. He pounded on the door and didn’t get any response. He was ready to kick in the door when Julie showed up and used her key to open the door. They could hear a commotion in the bedroom. Brock didn’t think his feet could get him there fast enough as he ran with his gun drawn.
“Yeah, not gonna happen.” Were the last words Holly spoke before she took her opportunity and elbowed the perp in the solar plexus with all her strength. When he doubled over, she spun around and brought her knee up hard into his throat instantly dropping him to the floor face first. Holly picked up the knife and threw it across the room before she pulled open the drawer in the night stand and grabbed her handcuffs. She had them on the perp before he knew what hit him.
When Brock and Julie entered the bedroom, Holly was sitting on top of the rapist grinning at them, “We got him!”
“No sweetheart—you got him.” Brock said as he holstered his gun and pulled her into his arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I want her arrested!” The perp screamed and pointed as Brock was picking him up off of the floor.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to
speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?”
“Yes, but I want her arrested. She assaulted me!”
“You are under arrest for breaking and entering, assaulting a police officer, and once we get DNA from you I am sure I can add ten rapes and one murder to that.” Brock said as he was stood him in front of Officer Harris. “Is this him?”
“Yes—that’s the guy all right.”
“I didn’t assault a police officer and I didn’t do anything to this woman either.”
Holly walked in front of him and pulled out her badge, “Yes, you did asshole. Get this piece of crap out of here.”
Now that he saw Holly up close, Brock noticed the cut and dried blood on her neck. Instinctively he reached up to touch her, “You need to go to the hospital and get checked out.”
“I’m fine—really, it’s not deep. Let’s get down to the station and get this guy processed. I will need to fill out a report too.”
“Julie and I both tried calling you several times and it went straight to voicemail—I was thinking the worst.”
“I’m sorry—my phone died earlier today so I plugged it in to charge it and I must have forgotten to turn it back on.”
Brock wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight. Holly looked up into his eyes and whispered “You shouldn’t…”
Before she could finish her sentence, his lips had captured hers. Holly responded to his kiss, and felt a need to get even closer. Julie walked over to them and cleared her throat to let them know they were being watched. Brock ended the kiss, “We’ll finish this later—in private.”
They arrived at the precinct to find all the local news media waiting for them. “How did they hear so quickly?” Holly asked.
“I called Captain Lewiston to fill him in—he must have called the Mayor and it snowballed from there.”
All of a sudden there were several microphones shoved in Holly’s face and everyone was talking at once. “Were you the detective that went undercover to catch the serial rapist?”
Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy) Page 15