“Wrong motherfucker,” she countered. “I’m not Lila—I’m Amber.”
Amber pulled out her knife. She was kind of excited. She had never had one that was still so aware when she killed him. But there was no way she was going to sleep with this one first, like she had with the others. Sure, the others had been pigs too. But at least they had been tolerable pigs. Not like the one laying before her, his package shrinking in fright. This guy was the King Swine.
“What? Who? What?” Carl sputtered wide eyed as he backed away from her, eyes glued to the shimmering blade held in Amber’s grasp.
“You were going to use Lila like you use all other women. She has been hurt enough in her life, you miserable prick. No woman should ever be controlled. No woman should ever be the victim. Never again. I will never let a man hurt another woman ever again,” Amber told him menacingly as she walked towards him.
“Lila, please,” he said pleadingly. “It’s me, Carl, your boss.”
“You’re not going to be the boss of anyone anymore!” Amber screamed. She brought the knife up and stabbed him in the chest. He tried to back away from her, but he couldn’t get up. His feet kept losing their grip on the plush carpet.
Carl screamed in absolute horror, choking on his own blood. “Lila, please! I promise!”
“I have heard promises from men like you before,” Amber said. “And they never mean it. They all say the same thing, right before they use and abuse you.”
She sprung on top of him, taking the knife out and plunging it back down deep into the man’s shriveling heart. He struggled underneath her, but the drugs on top of the alcohol were beginning to affect him. Carl tried to grab her arms, but his coordination no longer existed. Amber continued to stab him, punctuating each stab with a “Never Again!” until he breathed no more. He lay in a puddle of blood with Amber on top of him. She sat there straddling him, breathing hard. She had blood spatter over her body and face. She never expected killing him would be such hard work. It was a lot easier when they were already passed out.
She continued to sit there for a minute, trying to decide if she should take anything. She wasn’t sure that she wanted anything from him, but she also felt like he owed her something. Amber tried to think what he prided the most. And then she knew. She also knew that it was a statement for her to take it too.
She got off of him and looked at the man’s bloody body. She wasn’t interested in his chest, especially considering that she had already mutilated it thoroughly. She wanted something he would miss more. She peered down and studied his manhood. Not bad considering the state of its owner. She leaned down and stroked it softly. She would teach him a lesson.
Amber pulled his member up, debating where she wanted to cut. She decided that she wanted the whole thing. She began to cut at the base, making sure the scrotum became detached as well.
“Just because you have one of these does not make you superior,” Amber said as she cut away. “Let’s see how tough you are now that you don’t have one.”
She cut and ripped until there was nothing left on him but a big hole where his maleness once was. In the process, she accidentally cut the artery in his leg and blood was spurting everywhere.
“Yeah, big guy,” Amber laughed, humorously waving Carl’s detached penis in the air. “What are you now? Now you and I are the same. No wait, I am still alive.”
She looked down at the dismembered member in her hand and smiled. No man needed control just because he had a dick. Carl would never have control of anyone ever again.
Amber thought for a minute about what she had done. She had broken a rule of not killing anyone from the area, but her life had seemed to have taken a turn lately. She knew that she couldn’t let this predator of women roam free. She was in control of her life again, after losing control yesterday. This had been exactly what she needed.
The power flowed through her and she began to feel flush. She looked down on her body and saw the blood all over. Yes, she was in control and no one would ever take it away from her again. She set Carl’s penis on the floor and began to rub the blood on her body. She loved the way that it felt on her skin; its warm ooze blanketing her like fine silk.
The familiar wave overtook her and her hands found their way to the space between her legs. She began to orgasm as her one hand rubbed her clit and her other hand continued to rub the blood on her body.
“It’s for you Lila,” Amber moaned. “I did it to protect you. All for you … ”
TWENTY-ONE
David sat at his desk in the station alone. Friday had been a nothing day, his mind drifting back to the woman that he had been with the night before. She was so full of life and it made him feel so alive. It bugged him that he didn’t know anything about her. He didn’t know her phone number; he didn’t know where she lived. Hell, he didn’t even know her last name. Maybe she was Italian after all.
He banged his hand on the desk in frustration. It wasn’t like him to have sex with a stranger. It was even more unlike him to be so overwhelmed with the thought of a woman. He had been captivated by her and he knew that he had to find her again. He had spent the whole weekend looking for her.
He had gone to countless bars and clubs. He had talked to all the bartenders. They all knew Amber, but no one seemed to know anything about her. They all said the same thing, “She’ll show up again sooner or later.” But he hadn’t seen her that weekend. And it irritated him. He wanted to smell her again, to hear her voice, to feel her skin. Yeah, he had it bad for her.
Joe walked in. “Earth to Tinkerbell. You planning on working today?”
“Fuck you Patrano,” David answered listlessly. “I guess so.”
“What’s gotten into you man?” Joe asked concerned.
“Nothing,” David said shortly.
“Look,” Joe said. “You and I have been partners for a while, and I’ve gotten to know you pretty good. And I know that you’re in a mood right now, so tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Sorry,” David said. “I can’t get my mind off of her, Joe. I have never been this weird about a girl before. But I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Man you need to get laid more often,” Joe teased.
“Yes but I can’t get you to lay still enough,” David countered.
“Well your hands are cold,” Joe complained. “But seriously man, I have never seen you this moody.”
“Yeah, there’s something about her Joe,” David said. “I need to find her. Make sure what we had the other night wasn’t just a fluke.”
“Well then, you’ll find her,” Joe said compassionately. “Keep looking, she’s bound to show up somewhere. But remember, she may not feel the same way you do.”
“I know,” David wailed miserably. “And that would seriously suck. I just wish I could find her again.”
“Who knows, maybe you’ll end up arresting her for something.”
“God, I can only hope,” David said, then sighed. “I’m not that lucky, though.”
“Well I got some good news,” Joe said. “There was a murder over on Washington Street. May or may not be related to the Harvester case. Captain wants us to go over and see if we can figure anything out.”
“He didn’t give it to Rosetti?” David asked.
“Nope, he asked for us,” Joe said happily.
“Wow, I wonder why?”
“Rumor has it Rosetti doesn’t blow as good as you. How would I know? You want this case or not?” Joe queried.
“Of course I want it,” David said as he shrugged into his jacket. “Maybe it’ll help me get my mind off of her.”
“Dude you’re seriously fucked up. Do you know that?” Joe asked.
“Well,” David replied, “you are my partner. What else would you expect?”
Joe playfully punched David in the arm and the two guys laughed as they walked down the hall to go out to their car. It didn’t take long to drive to the street of posh houses. David was struck at how ostentatious these
homes were. He knew that he would never have anything this fancy on a cop’s salary. But they weren’t his taste anyway. He was a little more mellow.
They pulled up to a house that had a BMW out in the driveway and made their way through the menagerie of cops and staff to the front door. They flashed their badges at the patrol guy at the front door and then headed on in. As usual, there were cops milling around and the medical examiner was taking pictures and samples. Joe and David saw the bloody pulp of the victim and what was missing from him. David felt the sudden urge to cross his legs. Instead he looked for the officer that was the first one on the scene.
“What’s the story, morning glory?” he asked.
“Male. Caucasian. Age 42. Name of Carl Olberman,” the young cop answered.
“THE Carl Olberman?” David asked.
“Yes, the very one,” the rookie was pleased to answer. “When he didn’t come in for work this morning, his secretary came over to see if he was ok. She found him like this.”
“Hmm, thanks,” David told him as he walked over to the medical examiner.
“Hey Padre,” he said. “What have you found?”
“Nothing too exciting,” the ME answered. “Same shit different vic.”
“Time of death?”
“Sometime Friday night or Saturday morning.”
“Cause of death?” David queried.
“Looks like stabbing,” The ME answered. “But I am going to run a toxicology report just the same.”
“Any vaginal fluid?” David asked
“Doesn’t appear to be any,” the ME answered, “but then again, his whoo hoo is missing.”
David had to bit his tongue to keep from laughing at the medical examiner. Here was this doctor with glasses looking very scientific and official using the word whoo hoo.
“Is that the only body part missing?” he asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“Yeah,” the ME said as he continued to take pictures.
“Looks like the work of the Harvester Killer to a degree doesn’t it?”
“It does resemble it,” The ME agreed. “But the Harvester Killer isn’t normally this messy. Normally the cuts on the Harvester’s victims are a little more uniform. This one looks as if he was stabbed viciously in the chest and then had his whoo hoo cut off. Most of her other victims have slow methodical chest stabs and missing body pieces. I’ll see what the tox report pulls up and let you know.”
“Thanks Padre,” David said, still trying to keep a straight face at the use of the word whoo hoo, and then went off to find Joe. “The medical examiner is going to give us a full report after he has run the blood. But there are no obvious marks or fingerprints on the victim, besides the missing penis.”
“Hmm,” Joe said. “You think it’s the work of the Harvester Killer?”
“I don’t know,” David said. “It’s similar yet different. Normally her victims are from out of town. And this one was slashed viciously before she cut off his body piece. So I don’t know. Someone get the captain on the phone and have him send out a patrolman to see where Carl Olberman may have gone this weekend. And, let’s you and I go down to his office and interview the staff. Maybe one of them knows who he was going to be with Friday.”
“Probably Kelly,” Joe suggested.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“That may be. But I’m a hungry asshole. Let’s go get some bacon.”
TWENTY-TWO
Lila woke up Monday morning with her head still pounding from being knocked out a few days before. It wasn’t like a traditional headache, but more of a dull throb on the side of her skull. Lila had woken up late Friday night safely tucked into her bed. She wondered what the hell had gotten into Amber. Why did her roommate hit her over the head? She knew that there was going to be questions once the girl came home.
But Lila had waited all weekend and Amber never showed up. Despite being pissed at her, Lila was starting to get a little worried about her roommate. It wasn’t like Amber to be gone so long. Then she thought about what Amber had done and was totally pissed again. Not only did she have a huge knot on her head, but she missed the first date that she had in forever. But then, Amber didn’t show up and Lila worried that she had become a victim of the Harvester Killer, or something. Lila tried not to think about Amber, but every time she moved her head, she was reminded of the bitchy thing that Amber had done to her. By the time Lila woke up Monday, her concern for Amber was stronger than her anger. She hoped the wild girl hadn’t gotten herself in trouble.
Lila got dressed and ready for work gingerly. Her head was still swimming. She had tried to call Carl all weekend, but he never answered. He was probably pissed at her for standing him up the other night. She knew that she had to go up and see him this morning and apologize for what happened. She hoped that he would understand and not be mad at her. Like always, Lila was the first one to arrive at the office and she went about her business in usual fashion.
At 9:00, she called up to Carl’s office. His secretary Janice answered the phone.
“Hey Janice, it’s Lila from downstairs,” she started. “Is Carl there this morning?”
“No,” the secretary answered. “He hasn’t come in yet and I am a little bit worried. He has a meeting at 9:30 and he is never this late for one.”
“That’s weird,” Lila agreed. “I tried calling him all weekend and he never answered his phone.”
“If he doesn’t show up soon, I think I am going to go over there to make sure he’s ok,” Janice said.
“Janice,” Lila said. “Will you let me know when you find him? I need to talk to him. It’s important.”
“I sure will Lila.” The secretary hung up the phone.
Lila sat in her chair thinking. Now she was worried about her roommate and her boss. She hated to not know what was going on, so she tried to busy her mind with other things. She knew that she would have to redo the work she was doing since she was having a hard time concentrating on anything.
One hour passed. No word from Carl’s secretary. Lila began to worry about her too. All the worrying made Lila’s head throb more and she got out some aspirin and took it to ease the tension. Two hours passed, and still no word. Lila couldn’t sit still anymore and began to pace the hallway. She knew that she was pissing off her coworkers, but she didn’t care.
She stood at the doorway of the office building looking out onto the sidewalk. She stood there for what seemed like an eternity as she aimlessly watched people on the street walk by. Deciding that she had done enough dazing, she dragged herself back to her office. She sat for a few minutes with her face in her hands. Then the phone rang.
“Lila,” the voice said, sobbing. “He’s gone. He’s gone.”
“Janice,” Lila said, “take a deep breath and slow down. I can’t understand you. What happened?”
“He’s gone Lila! He was stabbed.” The sobbing woman was almost hysterical.
“Oh my God!” Lila exclaimed. “What are you talking about Janice?”
“Carl … he’s gone.” The woman sobbed on the phone. “He isn’t breathing and there’s blood all over everywhere.”
“Janice, are you saying that Carl is dead?”
“Yes. I have never seen so much blood. Oh Lila … he’s gone.”
Lila felt the tears start to spill down her eyes. “What? How? Who? Who did it? Why?”
“I don’t know Lila,” Janice said. “I don’t know, Lila. The police are here now. I have … I have to get off the phone. I’ll call later. I’m so scared.”
“I know,” Lila agreed, tears now pouring down her own face. “I never got to say goodbye …” She trailed off in a fit of tears.
“I’ll call you later Lila.” Janice was still sobbing.
Lila numbly hung up the phone in disbelief. She had to find Amber and asked her what the hell happened this weekend. She hoped Amber had nothing to do with the death of Carl Olberman. And she also hoped that Amber wasn’t a victim either.
&nbs
p; TWENTY-THREE
David and Joe headed over to Olberman Holdings knowing that the rest of the day would be a series of mundane interviews. This was the part of the job that David dreaded. It was never fun interviewing friends and family members. He just knew that most of them would ask him what was going to happen to the company. He did perk up a little at the thought of getting a decent cup of coffee for a change. And he didn’t have to pound the pavement searching for the place where Olberman had dinner either. That was something to be thankful for.
When they arrived, the receptionist got them set up in one of the conference rooms. She told them she would gather all the employees down here to talk to them. David thanked the woman, and Joe checked out her ass. David gave him a look and Joe just shrugged.
One by one the employees of Olberman Holdings straggled in. Most of them thought of him being a good boss, having good company pay and benefits. None of them seemed to know much about his personal life other than what was in the society papers, but what they did gather was that Carl Olberman was a womanizer. It seemed as if he had run through the gamet of women in his office. But they knew that they had a good job and didn’t file any suit against him. He apparently left them alone after he had his way with them, as if nothing had ever happened.
At one lull, Joe turned to David, “How the hell do you suppose he got away with what he did without having a sexual harassment case against him?”
“It’s one of those mysteries we’ll never solve,” David answered. “It does suck, he uses all these women and they love him. I drop one druggie’s cup of coffee and IA is all over me. Doesn’t seem fair does it?”
“No it doesn’t,” Joe agreed. “Maybe we should start womanizing,” he said wiggling his eyebrows.
“Haha, I’ll let you do the womanizing,” David told him.
“You still thinking about that girl?”
“Yeah,” David admitted. “I still can’t get her out of my head. It’s almost terrifying to know what hold she has over me. And I don’t know anything about her.”
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