"Hello?"
Phaedra waved a hand in front of my face.
I hadn't realized she'd been talking. She looked into my eyes as though she thought I was becoming unhinged.
"Focus for Christ's sake, girl."
"Sorry."
Downstairs, a floorboard creaked. We both fell silent as we listened to padded footsteps come out from one of the bedrooms before ambling down the stairs toward the kitchen. Phaedra stepped out of her room and peered over the side of the balcony before tangling her bony fingers into my shirt sleeve. She pulled me into her room with a force I didn’t know she possessed.
"You don't tell anyone about this, you hear me."
"When do I ever tell anyone about anything?"
She nodded, aware I was her number one girl. I always knew how to find the money and I always kept a secret.
"Girls like Roberta could never keep their mouths shut," she said. "That's why they ended up dead."
Roberta and the others… They'd all washed up on the beach and there was always the flickering thought at the back of my mind that I'd be next, but so far my luck hadn't run out and I hoped it would stay that way.
"Okay," she said through gritted teeth, her jaw pulled so taught I could see the wiry muscles of her face. "This is what you're going to do. You're going to go down to that basement and gather the others. Okay?"
My face paled.
"I hate the basement," I whimpered. "It's so dark and cold down there."
"Well just be grateful it's them living down there and not you."
She had a point.
"Okay, I'll gather the others, but then what?"
At last, she let go of my arm and I felt the blood return to my fingers. She thought for a minute, her eyes darting all over the room.
"Fuck," she said and I reeled back shocked.
Somehow hearing a curse word come from her mouth gave it the full impact, made it sound a thousand times more aggressive than it should have.
"You don't think she's been taken to the cops, do you?"
I thought about it but didn't see how that was possible. The cops were always so obvious with undercover agents as conspicuous as Waldo at a nudist camp. They always thought they were so slick and sophisticated but you could spot them a mile off. They all had the same walk, the same brisk but bumbling mannerisms.
"No," I said as I held onto Phaedra's shoulder. "I don't think she's been taken to the cops. I don't think they have anything to do with this."
She pursed her lips and glanced out the window as though she was hoping the little girl would come skipping down the street any moment now, her frail nightgown soaked in the rain and her blonde hair wet and smoothed down over her tiny head. As I watched the weather, it dawned on me how truly small she was and she was out there somewhere in the freezing city with a man I was pining for. Who knew what he was doing with her. In the pit of my stomach was a growing darkness that told me we'd never see her again.
"Do you think Bosworth's involved?"
The name took me aback.
"That fucking doctor?" I snarled. "Doubt it."
Although I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about him. He was always snooping around, always so close to us. He was smart as hell too and no matter how much I suspected him in something, I could never place what his intentions were, could never identify what he knew or what he wanted with us. He'd always remained a mystery to me and it was infuriating. I hated him as much as I wanted him.
With us both staring out the window at the heavy rain, we watched as the flickering street lamp seemed to fade into the storm. It was a cold and dangerous night, no place for a child.
“Maybe she’d be safer away from us,” I said, more to myself than to Phaedra.
She said nothing but I could feel her stare boring into the side of my face.
Chapter Two
Detective Berger
Dana worked in the human resources department on the third floor and had never said more than three words to me before. However today she seemed particularly chatty, flirty even.
"Had a long day?" she asked, eyeing up my crumpled suit.
"Pretty fucking long, yeah."
She smiled and I noticed her cherry red lipstick piled on thick so that it looked like jelly. I wondered what it tasted like.
Her eyes were moving over me but I couldn't tell what she was thinking until they rested on my left hand. We both looked down at the same time to see the untanned line of my phantom wedding band.
"I didn't know you were on the market again," she said.
"You mean word hasn't got around?" I joked.
She smiled again, her button nose wrinkling up as she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear.
"You don't fancy a coffee break, do you?"
Is she thinking what I think she's thinking?
She giggled and shifted her weight from hip to hip, her pendulous though spectacularly pert breasts bobbing slightly. Raising her eyebrows, she bit down on her lower lip.
"So?"
The elevator pinged as it opened its doors onto the fourth floor. A balding man from admin entered with his briefcase tucked under his arm and his orange hair swept over his balding head. He stood in between us and looked straight ahead but I could still see her reflection in the mirrored wall. Her smile remained glued on her face, that expectant look of lust still in her eyes.
She slid her hand inside her shirt for a moment and motioned to flick her nipple. Then she pulled herhand back out and leaned against the wall in time for the man beside her to nod his head politely.
"It's such a nice day outside, isn't it?"
"Very nice," she replied and watched him step out onto the next floor before slinking up to me. "So? How about it? You, me, and a nice quiet spot for half an hour."
"Dana! I had no idea you were such a keen girl."
The doors opened on the eighth floor and there were people waiting to come in while I lingered between the doors.
"I can be very keen," she said and I felt the blood rush south.
"I like the sound of that," I said and gestured for her to follow me.
As she followed me into my office, I made sure not to look too excited. Once inside, I jammed the chair up beneath the door handle and closed the blinds.
"Don't worry. No one has to know," she said, already unbuttoning her blouse.
If only I knew she was like this a long time ago, long hours at the station would have flown by in a breeze.
Perching on the edge of my desk, I unzipped my pants and she dropped to her knees.
"I always wanted to see how big you were," she whispered, crawling toward me like a cat.
She was obviously no stranger to doing this. If anything it looked like she practiced her deliberate slinking movements and feline facial expressions. Even the timed flutter of her lashes looked rehearsed but I wasn't complaining. She was doing all the right things and she knew it.
I was rock hard before her hot breath touched the tip of my cock and as she pulled me free from my boxer shorts, I sprung out ready, solid and desperate to be sucked. She looked up at my face and held my gaze as she elongated her tongue, grazing the head to taste the sweetness that was already dripping out.
"Hmmm," she purred. "You taste good."
I thought I was going to explode right there but clenched my eyes shut and flung my head back, trying to at least last long enough to feel the inside of her mouth. With her nails digging into my thighs, she swallowed me up until I was pressing the back of her throat and I felt the juicy heat of her saliva.
"Urgh... Jesus fucking Christ."
I felt myself begin to shudder already and just when I thought I couldn't take any more, she pulled herself off at the critical moment and left me hanging there, feeling as though I was on the brink of passing out. Cupping my testicles, she massaged them gently and kissed them until they burned, her red lipstick covering them like berry scented blood. All the while she worked her hand up and down the shaft with her eyes st
ill fixed on mine and that delicious smile still spread across her face like she was honored to be on her knees for me.
"Dana..." I said. "Dana, Dana, Dana. Who would have known?"
I was lost in her eyes when I heard a knock on the door.
"Detective Berger?" the young, nervous voice of a rookie cop asked.
I ignored him and looked back down, curling my fingers around the edge of my desk as my knuckles turned white and my thighs began to go weak.
"Detective Berger?" he said again, this time his voice breaking like a child's.
"Fuck! What is it?"
He rattled the handle to open the door but was blocked by the chair.
"You're needed in interview room three," he said.
My erection disappeared in an instant and I pushed Dana away as I zipped up my pants.
"Fuck! I'm sorry sweetheart."
I helped her to her feet and kissed her.
"Come back soon?"
She smiled and slipped her hands around my waist to hug me before turning on her heel.
I opened the door for her but before she could step out, the cop was blustering his way inside all pink faced and youthfully enthusiastic.
"Detective I'm sorry to bother you but the chief sent me up to get you. It's the girl you brought in last night. She's saying some real wacko stuff."
Thinking about the poor kid made my stomach drop. All she'd done so far was cry and look around like a startled calf on the way to the slaughterhouse.
"She's talking?" I asked as I followed him down to the interview room.
"Yeah but you're gonna wish she wasn’t after hearing what she's been saying."
Chapter Three
Etta
When I opened my eyes, the first word that came into my head was murderer. Usually, that would have been a bad thing but in the moment, as I looked over his princely features as he slept, it didn't seem like such a bad word. When it was related to him it made me think he was a great protector like a soldier fighting for the last remaining shreds of innocence that were clinging to our streets.
I knew what he was doing was wrong, but I also knew it was right... in a way. He was serving justice in his own manner and after what I saw last night, I don't think I could have thought of a more efficient way. Some things are just so hideous and monstrous that jail is too kind.
Still, Icouldn’t believe that all the girls I'd seen that had washed up on the beach were his victims. Their photographs were constantly on the news and with all of them having extensive rapsheets, the press had decided to use their unflattering mugshots. Now everyone wondered what happened to the unfortunate girls from the grizzly end of town who each had their own miserable stories to tell.
Many people were now vocalizing their thoughts with many social rights groups talking about them being victims of gendered violence, poor girls who were down on their luck and turning up dead because of social inequality. But I knew otherwise. They weren't being preyed upon. If anything, they were the predators.
Rolling over, I ran my hand down Lincoln's chest and felt the rise and fall of each breath. He stirred beneath my touch and stretched out. A few seconds later, his alarm clock sounded and he reached over me to slam it off.
"Morning beautiful," he said as kissed me.
"Hmmmm... Good morning."
He pulled back the covers to reveal our naked bodies and I rolled over onto him, feeling the warmth of his skin press up against me. He grew hard instantly and I pushed a hand down between us and guided him inside me. He let out a low groan as I pushed his length all the way in, inch by inch until I couldn't sink any lower.
Slowly, we reached a steady rhythm with my hands tangled in his hair and my face pushed down onto his chest. I liked to hear his heartbeat when we made love, quickening my movements along with his pulse.
"Slow down," he whispered in my ear and brushed the hair from my eyes.
Ignoring him, I moved faster.
"Woah, slow down!"
I moved even faster and sat back so he could see the full length and spectacle of my body. He reached up and grabbed my breasts, pinching my nipples hard until it hurt but I wanted it to hurteven more, wanted to feel the pain of all the blood and flesh being pressed in between his thumb and forefinger.
Riding him hard, I fucked him until the bed sounded like it would break apart with the springs beneath us groaning and struggling to keep up with us.
"Fuck!" he cried out and gripped my waist so tight I was sure it would bruise.
Clapping my own hands over his, I made him hold me tighter until his nails were digging into my skin causing purple semi circles around my waist where he broke the skin.
"Baby...baby..."
I heard my words float between us like I was hearing the voice of a stranger. He brought feelings out in me that I didn't know existed, encouraged a confidence that had remained hidden for years.
He thrust up inside me one last time with a roar and ejaculated hard. I fell back onto his legs as I rubbed a hand furiously between my lips and joined him, breathless and satisfied.
The early morning sun shone through the open window with a chilled breeze tickling our bodies. Every arch and dip of his muscles glistened as he gasped and I watched him for a long while, pressing my fingers into the beads of sweat that tumbled down his abdomen.
"I love you," I whispered without wondering whether he could hear me.
"I love you too," he replied and pulled me up to lie beside him.
As he cradled me, I buried myself in his arms and felt their strength.
"I'm expected to be at the hospital today," he said.
"Do you have to go?" I asked although I knew the answer.
"Always," he replied with a sigh. "But tonight is ours."
I knew full well he didn't have a romantic candle lit dinner planned but instead was going to show me the ropes as I joined his small yet fatal team.
"Tonight is ours," I repeated. "Will you show me around your laboratory? I mean, properly this time."
"Only if you promise not to scream."
We both laughed albeit nervously.
"I promise not to scream," I said. "Unless you want me to."
His lips twisted with a hint of mischief and he smiled that delectable wicked grin of his. He bopped me on the nose before jumping up and heading for the shower.
"Better get a move on," he said. "I'm taking over from Harold this morning and I'm assuming he had a stressful night."
As I listened to him turn on the shower and potter around the bathroom, I switched on the television and propped myself up against the pillows.
The news flickered on and the solemn newsreader, her face deadpan and somewhat jaded, relayed a story.
"The body of nineteen year old Isabel Danziger,or Jet as she was known to her friends, was discovered this morning in the Broadwood area of the city by..."
My skin turned cold.It felt as though my heart was being filled up with a lead balloon. Suddenly the gentle breeze through the window felt frigid.
"At this moment it is impossible to tell if her death is indeed related to the others and investigations are ongoing. Reporter, Antony Delaney is now on the scene."
The camera cut to him standing in the middle of an alleyway. Behind him, the forensic team scurried back and forth.
"Yes, Monica it's impossible to say right now what the specific cause of death was but we do know she was murdered. That much is clear."
My mind was desperate to hear what else he had to say but my body wouldn't let me. In one single jerking movement, I leaned off the edge of the bed, reached for the gold trashcan beneath the bedside cabinet and vomited into it. As I lifted my head and dragged the back of my hand across my mouth, Lincoln appeared in the doorway wrapping a towel around his waist.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes plagued with concern.
Before I could answer he saw the screen filled up with Jet’s face. His eyes widened and he took a step back.
"You were here la
st night," I cried. "I know you were!"
We watched in silence until the story came to a close and commercials began to run.
"It wasn't me," he finally said, turning to me in a daze.
We both stared at each other, stunned.
"If it wasn't you then who was it?"
Walking over to close the window, he lingered for a second in front of the balcony and looked out across the mountains.
"I don't know who it was," he said. "But I'm sure we'll find out."
About The Author
Brooke Kinsley has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She loves writing steamy, sexy stories with very strong guys who fall deeply in love with the women they flirt. Coffee and wine inspired her stories and she thinks every person should partake in! Brooke lives in Quebec, Canada with her boyfriend. When she's not crafting stories, she's probably playing with her two cats.
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Jewels and Panties (Book, Three): Sea Of Secrets Page 6