by D J Small
Eliza pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned quietly. Whatever entity had decided it was a good idea for them to talk about her dating life was going to get hurt.
When her dad continued, the name he said caused a blanket of silence to fall over the dining room. “Claudia.”
Eliza dropped her hand and looked at him. Of all her exes for him to mention, Claudia’s name should never have crossed his mind. Their breakup—and their whole relationship—had done a spectacular number on her. If she was honest, it still did to this day, three years later. She bit her bottom lip and continued to stare at her dad. This conversation would end in one way—her leaving. However, before she stormed out of the house, she wanted to know why her father still thought Claudia had been good for her.
Once she had taken a drink from her glass of lemonade, she asked, “Why, Pop? Is it because you enjoy seeing me a broken mess? Because that’s all Claudia was really good at, turning me into one.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, and lying. And since you still, still, continue to bring her up to this day, it proves how good a liar she was—she was even able to pull one over on you.” Eliza snorted softly and shook her head. “Someone will have to give her an award for being the best liar around.”
“Watch your tone with me,” her dad warned. “Maybe I don’t know all that went on between the two—”
“You knew everything, Pop!” Eliza interjected. “She manipulated me, and almost caused me to quit my job because she felt neglected and thought I worked too much. Let’s not even mention the depression she caused by twisting my head around so bad.” She pressed her lips into a firm line as she tried to get her emotions under control. When she didn’t feel like she was going to explode on her father, Eliza stood up and added, “You got played by a sociopath, Pop, and if you believe that she was what was best for me, I’m afraid to know what you may think of the person I might eventually settle down with.”
With that, Eliza turned and walked out of the dining room. Her mom called for her, but her anger and pain were too great, so she ignored her and walked out of the house. The front door slammed shut behind her, and she drew in several deep breaths as she stood on the front porch. She may have been pissed at her dad for bringing up Claudia to begin with, but a lot of her response had been driven by the self-hatred she still harbored about their relationship. It had been toxic, and Eliza should have run away the moment she saw the first red flag, but Claudia had been clever, and had known exactly what to say and do to manipulate her.
With a slight shake of her head, Eliza tried to get rid of the thoughts of her ex-girlfriend. She would probably go to the gym and push herself to the point of exhaustion in order to rid herself of the memories and emotions fully. Several minutes went by as Eliza went back and forth between staying or leaving.
The front door opened behind her, and Big Ollie said, “Shit, you’re still here.” When Eliza didn’t say anything, he moved to stand next to her. “I wish he would stop bringing her up too. All he saw was the good, Lizzy.”
“I told him everything else too,” Eliza said sharply.
Big Ollie sighed. “I know you did, but you know how Pop is. He’s old school and thinks relationships have bad patches, instead of being completely bad. I think he thinks you gave up when things got hard.”
Eliza turned her head so fast she felt a sharp pain in her neck. “Are you serious?”
Big Ollie held up his hands. “I think. I mean, why else would he keep bringing her up?”
Eliza stared at her brother. There was logic in his explanation, but it still sounded stupid. She turned her attention back to the street, unwilling to entertain the line of conversation any further.
After a while, Big Ollie said, “There’s this chick at my office; super-hot, with an amazing body. I could hook you up with her.”
Her brother offering to set her up with someone at his job was beyond embarrassing. All of Eliza’s brothers had questionable judgement when it came to women. She conveniently ignored the fact that she also had the same terrible judgement when it came to women—hell, with anyone she attempted to date.
“You’re married. Why are you looking at other women?”
Big Ollie let out an indignant snort. “I’m married, not dead. When you’ve got a woman that comes into work every day wearing clothes that show off her assets in such an alluring manner, you can’t help but to look.”
Eliza closed her eyes and shook her head. Despite herself, she started chuckling. It turned into full blown laughter when Big Ollie joined her.
“I’m going to tell Kristen,” she threatened as she eyed him out of the corner of her eye. “She says she’s not giving you anymore kids.”
“Okay!” he said with so much sarcasm that a small laugh came out with the word.
Eliza chuckled and shook her head again. This seemed like a fight that he would lose, but who knew? Kristen also came from a big family, so she might change her mind.
He nudged her arm with his elbow. “You heading out?”
Eliza felt marginally better, but not by much. She sighed. “Nah. Mom made a Boston cream cake.” Even though going back inside wasn’t something she wanted to do at the moment, the dessert was a terrible weakness of hers, and she couldn’t pass it up.
Big Ollie chuckled and laid his hand on her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. “Good. And hey, who knows, maybe one of those licensed companions might help you out.”
He snickered at his own dramatic emphasis on the words, and Eliza elbowed him in the gut. “You’re an asshole.”
“And you’re going to turn into my spinster sister.”
“What about Lisa?” Eliza asked, offended that he hadn’t called her one.
Big Ollie smiled at her. “She’s all right. Amir has the ring; he’s just waiting on her.”
“Crap. If she gets married before I can even get in a relationship, I am definitely screwed,” Eliza said, annoyed that Lisa was just one step away from getting married. The two of them were constantly competing against one another. It wasn’t an unfriendly competition, but they were always trying to one-up each other. Eliza figured it was either due to a sister thing, or their competitive natures; perhaps a mixture of both.
Big Ollie laughed. “We’ve still got a while; she isn’t mentally prepared yet. Don’t say anything about the ring though. She’ll leave Amir in a heartbeat if she finds out about it.”
“I won’t say a word,” Eliza promised. It was one she made for Amir’s sake. He was a good guy who truly loved her sister—which was no easy feat, considering how stubborn Lisa was.
“Come on,” Big Ollie said throwing an arm around her shoulders and turning her toward the door. “Let’s go get some dessert. I’ll have Little Ollie show you his cool trick.”
“His cool trick?” Eliza repeated, wary of what her older brother may have taught her nephew.
Big Ollie chuckled. “Yeah, little guy has been fighting a nasty cold. He’s gotten a lot better, but his nose is still stuffy. The other day after blowing it, he made a snot bubble and thought it was the coolest thing.”
“Gross.”
Big Ollie laughed as he opened the door. “He’s a two-year-old boy. They are gross.”
As they walked into the house, he yelled, “Ollie, come show Aunt Lizzy your cool trick!”
“Oliver, if you don’t stop encouraging our son to be a gross person, I’m going to hurt you,” Kristen said from the dining room.
Big Ollie laughed, and Eliza chuckled along with him. It would only be a matter of time before Kristen killed him for something stupid. Eliza just hoped she would hold out for another two years so she could win the family pool on how long it would be.
4
To Eliza, there was no bigger crime than being forced to take a day off, but she had been ordered to take one when Captain Espinoza had called her first thing that morning telling her not to come in. She had said something about too much overtime and becoming a liability, along with some other reasons that Eliza c
ouldn’t be bothered with. She was certain the order had come from someone higher up on the chain. Captain Espinoza didn’t care about how many hours they put in as long as they didn’t make the precinct look bad.
By twelve o’clock, Eliza had gone to the gym, cleaned her apartment, and gotten groceries for the week. By one, she was desperate for anything that would keep her busy, so she had gone to her parents’ house hoping her dad would put her to work. However, two hours into listening to her mom complain about the neighbors and talk about something going on with Charlie’s kids, she had received a call requesting that she report to the scene of another murder. Clearly someone had forgotten to tell dispatch that she was off, but Eliza wasn’t complaining.
Almost twenty minutes after receiving the call, Eliza arrived at the address dispatch had given her, parking behind one of the squad cars that was already at the scene. She got out of her vehicle and headed towards the building. The officer manning the main entrance let her in after she had shown her badge, telling her what floor the apartment was on.
The six-story building was an older one located on Sixth Street and was one of the ones that had been recently renovated—an attempt at giving the aging neighborhood a facelift—and turned into extravagant apartments. Eliza didn’t think the building looked any different, considering all the news that had surrounded the project.
She stepped into the lobby and scanned the open area, taking in the security measures that were in place. Two cameras were directly pointed at the main entrance, four were mounted in each of corner of the lobby, and the last camera was trained on the short corridor that led to the elevators. A small security desk sat off to the right of the entrance, and Eliza noticed a telephonic access system installed into the left wall next to the building’s main entrance. The tight security measures were enough to deter someone from walking in off the street and killing a tenant, so Eliza started to wonder if her victim had known their killer.
She took the stairs up to the second floor of the building. The sight of officers meandering further down the hall greeted Eliza when she reached the second floor, telling her where she needed to be. As she approached the group of law enforcement personnel, Eliza spotted Jenna Lewis from the crime scene team, and the stoic line on her face transformed into a huge smile.
“It must be my birthday,” she said as she drew closer to the other woman.
Jenna returned the smile, and her sharp blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “Detective Miller, nice to see you today. Billy’s already inside.”
Eliza took the shoe coverings Jenna had retrieved from her kit and offered to her. “So officious,” she teased as she put the coverings over her shoes. “Did you see the note I left you the other day?”
Jenna smirked, and a grin broke out on Eliza’s face.
The two of them were engaged in a long back-and-forth dance of flirtation that teetered between hot on some days and ice cold on others. The unpredictable nature of their interactions didn’t bother Eliza. She enjoyed flirting; it was everything that happened after flirting that made her skittish.
Staring into Jenna’s clear, focused eyes, Eliza knew today would be an ice day for them, which was a shame. Jenna’s playful teases would have been a welcome distraction.
Jenna chuckled, and after Eliza had the shoe coverings on, she tossed a pair of latex gloves at her. “Come on, Detective.”
They entered the apartment, and Eliza saw Billy standing by one of the bedroom doors. She glowered at him when he didn’t move. The expression worsened as Jenna started to give her the rundown.
“Victim is a thirty-three-year-old, Simon Barton. Cause of death is strangulation via rope. Upon a preliminary sweep of the dwelling, we located a cell phone, tablet, and a laptop, which have been sent over to the technology team. Appointment and client books were found in a dresser drawer inside Mr. Barton’s room, which is over there.” Jenna pointed to a door off to their right.
Frustrated that another sex worker had been killed, Eliza frowned as she began to think about the other room that Billy stood outside of, curious to know what was inside it.
“Mr. Barton was discovered this morning when one of his clients came over for a scheduled appointment,” Jenna continued.
“Do we have a name?”
Jenna nodded. “Billy has it. He questioned the man when he first arrived. When Mr. Barton didn’t respond to the intercom pages, the security guard let his client into the building. He lied and said he was Mr. Barton’s boyfriend. When his knocks went unanswered, the guard called the building supervisor, and the three of them found the body. 911 was called minutes later.”
Eliza nodded as she ordered the chain of events in her mind. She would get the more pertinent details from Billy after she chewed him out for making Jenna brief her, which he was supposed to be doing. “Did you do a preliminary assessment on the victim?”
Jenna sighed. “He’s been dead for a while, Eliza. He was stiff when I collected fingerprints and hair samples. There are no signs of abuse or trauma besides the obvious rope burns around his neck, and there are no defensive wounds. I’ve taken samples from under his nails to see if that will give us anything.”
“Okay,” Eliza said, expelling the word on a deep exhale. She glanced at Billy. “What is he doing?”
Jenna chuckled. “The body’s still in there.” Her demeanor shifted, and she quietly said, “I got your note.”
Eliza cocked an eyebrow. Apparently today wasn’t an ice day, but it wasn’t going to be a good one either if the silent apology in Jenna’s eyes was anything to go by.
“I’m not trying to start anything with anyone.” Jenna said delicately. “I’m busy with work and other things, and it’s just a really hectic time for me right now. So, can we do a rain check on the coffee?”
The rejection—no matter how relieved Eliza was to hear it—still stung. She may have flirted with Jenna, but the pressure of going out on a date was nerve-wracking. Maintaining her brave front, Eliza pretended to be unaffected by the letdown. “Yeah, sure thing. I know how it goes.” She smiled. “I had to try though.”
Jenna gave her a small smile in return and said, “And I don’t hate you for doing so. It’s just bad timing.” Eliza nodded, and Jenna pointed over her shoulder. “I’m going to go check on those knuckleheads and make sure they didn’t mess up any of the samples I collected. I’ll get those books to you by the end of the day.”
“Thanks,” Eliza said before Jenna walked away. Drawing in a deep breath, she took a moment to shake off the dejected feeling that threatened to take her under. She could feel foolish and overanalyze why she had asked Jenna out in the first place later, but right now, she had another murder to solve.
As soon as her head was back in the game, she stalked over to Billy and snapped, “Jenna shouldn’t have been the one to update me.”
A sly smile formed on his face. “But it’s Jenna. I know you want to spend as much time around her as possible.”
Eliza walked into the room, ignoring his lame attempt at meddling in her non-existent love life. She came to an abrupt stop the moment she passed through the doorway, staring at the naked body of Simon Barton. Her mind immediately brought forth images of Angelique’s crime scene.
Unlike Angelique—who’d had a sheet covering her lower half, giving her a modicum of dignity in death—Simon’s body was fully exposed. Taking slow steps, Eliza walked further into the room, making a mental catalogue of everything inside it as she surveyed the moderately sized space.
She noticed straps hanging over the box-spring at the head and foot of the bed. Cuffs made from a soft, padded material were clipped to each end of the hanging straps. Eliza’s brow furrowed, but she moved her gaze to Simon. The deceased man was face-down and at a slight angle in the center of the bed, which had no blankets on it save the fitted sheet covering the mattress.
“Did the guard tell you if he came in anyone with last night?” Eliza asked as she moved around to the other side of the bed, stopping when
she saw a medium sized heavy-duty utility box sitting against the wall. She slipped on her gloves and bent down to open it while Billy spoke.
“He wasn’t on duty, but the security tapes from last night have been obtained and sent to the forensic team to be analyzed. I sent a couple of officers to the address of the guard that was on last night. The one that was manning the desk this morning did let me know that the main entrance isn’t the—What the hell is that?”
Examining the black leather hood in her hand, Eliza said, “I think it’s one of those sex hoods.” She glanced down, looking at the other items inside the utility box. There were a variety of sex toys and sexual torture devices inside it, and most of them were foreign to Eliza. The whips and cuffs she recognized easily, but everything else went beyond her sexual expertise. She dropped the hood back into the box and stood up. “I think the question we ask now is do we truly have a murder case, or did Simon and one of his clients have a little too much fun?” She looked at Billy. “The client who discovered him, what’d he say?”
Billy pressed his lips together. “Not much. He wouldn’t go into detail; all he would say was that he had an appointment.”
“Did you get his name?” Eliza asked as she looked around the room.
“Yeah, Jason Hughes. I got his contact info in case we need to shake him down.” He snapped his fingers. “Another thing—Jenna let me look at his books, and a couple of things stuck out.”
Eliza gestured for him to continue as she kept looking around.
“His appointment book is filled with gibberish. Like Angelique’s, it’s full of acronyms and abbreviations, but here’s where it gets interesting—the names listed in his client book belonged mostly to men. I spotted maybe two women in it.”
Eliza’s lips tightened as she mulled over Billy’s observation. The gender angle could be something, but it could also be nothing at all. Angelique’s client book also had more men than women, so it could be possible that their killer was male, but Eliza wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge on narrowing their suspect down to that gender yet.