by Andrew Hess
“We need to talk.” I closed the door and sat down next to Detective Thornton telling him everything. He was just as shocked as I was.
“You still think it was that girl from the club?”
“I think that’s our best lead.”
Thornton laughed. “Ali, she’s our only lead, and we still don’t have a name or a physical description of her other than her dark hair.”
He was right. The description of the woman at the club was so vague that it could be any woman that was a brunette or had black hair. “I just wish we knew why. Why was this woman attacking men? And why did she target these men specifically?”
“I looked through most of the videos. I didn’t see anything unusual apart from Ambrose and his sick sexual exploits. None of the women that we identified from the videos had any kind of record. I have a list of names that we can check out if you’d like.”
“Let’s hand it off to Rodney and his team to check out. We’ll have them run extensive background checks on them. Maybe they can turn up something.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Let’s pull up the video feed from the bar while we look at Ambrose’s collection again. Maybe seeing them side by side might help us identify our suspect.”
“You sure you want to do that? It’s going to take all day, maybe even all night.” Typically the thought of spending that much time with Detective Thornton would make my stomach turn. But today was different.
I didn’t want to go home. I had nothing but my sister to come home to. And I didn’t want to work side by side with Rodney. He could read the look on my face and would ask too many questions. It would be too much of a distraction, and that wasn’t something we could afford to have.
“Yeah, let’s get started.”
Chapter 25-Claire
Claire spent most of her day working out of her office while occasionally checking on her patients. One could say she was hiding out. Avoidance was a better term. Claire knew in a few short hours her boss would be taking her out for a “platonic dinner” or his version of a “business dinner.” It was bad enough she would be forced to spend hours with him that night, but did everything possible not to interact with him at work.
Sheila knocked on the door and poked her head inside the office. “It’s almost time to head out. You got any big plans for tonight?” Claire didn’t want to tell Sheila about the dinner date with Dr. DeMarco. Any promotion she would receive would forever be tainted if anyone found out about her going out with him. There was also the possibility of the dinner falling into her plan B, and that wouldn’t be good for her either.
“Um yeah, I have something going on tonight.”
Sheila’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Really? What are they? Who are they with?” The barrage of questions were being flung at her with Claire doing her best to dodge each one.
“I’m meeting someone for dinner, and it’s none of your business.”
“Like hell it’s not. Is it a guy?” She paused and thought about the conversation they shared several days ago. “Is it the guy from the other night?”
“No, it’s definitely not the guy from the other night.” Claire’s lips twitched a half smile at the thought of Tyson Lee lying on the slab at the morgue.
“Come on; tell me. I’m your friend. I need to know.”
“All you need to know right now is that it’s none of your business.” Claire shuffled a few files on her desk and grabbed her purse. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” She pushed past Sheila and exited her office.
Claire’s heart beat faster with every step she took. It was getting just as bad as it did the morning after she killed Blake Ambrose. She was sweaty, her heart was racing, and could hardly catch her breath. All the symptoms pointed towards a panic attack. But identifying what was happening didn’t seem to make things better. Claire needed to calm herself before she did something stupid and reckless.
Claire hurried home and checked her calendar. There was a meeting scheduled for the night and would surely end before her supposed date. It had been a while since Claire attended a meeting, but the notion was calling out to her, drawing her in. She had always felt a sense of peace when she went to one. Maybe that would get her through the night. After showering and picking out something nice to wear, Claire jumped back into her car and took off.
A half hour later, Claire parked her car and walked into the crowded building. There were more people there than usual, but that was because there were several meetings taking place. There were defensive driving courses, AA meetings, self-help seminars, and small market business meetings. Claire found the room in which her meeting would take place. The familiar rows of metal chairs lined the tiled floor with a wooden podium facing out toward them. A small cluster of regulars huddled around the table in the corner where the coffee and stale cookies sat.
Claire took her seat in the middle row. She wasn’t dressed like she usually did. She purposely wanted to stand out to the presenter, to make him know she was there.
“All right everyone; please take your seats,” a man called from the back of the room. Mr. Lewis was standing there in his designer suit looking devilishly handsome.
He strutted to the front of the room, hung his jacket on one of the chairs and addressed the crowd. He began his typical speech about his past where he felt like a loser outcast in high school. He moved away for college and decided to reinvent himself. It was such a routine for him to run through that he could recite the speech word for word without ever having to think about it, and he did. Mr. Lewis’s eyes scanned the crowd, settling his eyes on Claire. A smile warmed his face as he admired the beauty that held his attention. His eyes traveled up her legs that were nicely tanned and glistened from the lotion she put on. There was a slit up the front giving him a better look from his podium. His eyes continued to travel up her body to the tight green button down blouse that clung to her chest. There were a few buttons missing from the top and salivated at the sight of her cleavage.
Claire knew she had his attention and he had hers. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Every word, every sound was drowned out as she stared at the man she wanted to be with.
The last time they saw each other, they had been out on a date. He had taken her out to dinner to a nice restaurant and offered to bring her back to his house to talk over some coffee. But Claire assumed this meant he wanted more of a physical relationship with her and that was something she wasn’t ready for. Claire told him she had a great time, but that this was as far as she was willing to let this go. Defeated, Mr. Lewis told her to call him when she changed her mind.
That was the last time Claire had gone to a meeting. She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing him and facing the humiliation she’d felt for saying no to the one guy that was absolutely gorgeous and wanted her for more than just sex. At the time, Claire couldn’t see herself being with anyone at all. She was too broken inside. Now, she was the one in control and she was ready to claim what was rightfully hers.
As the meeting concluded, Claire straightened herself up and strutted towards Mr. Lewis. “Fancy seeing you here,” he said with a self-assured smile. His eyes took in Claire’s new appearance. “You look amazing.”
“Oh, this old thing? It was just something I had, you know, lying around.” She took a step back to admire how sexy he looked in his suit. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Her words were catching Mr. Lewis off guard. He wasn’t used to Claire acting like that. It was thrilling to see her oozing with confidence. It was like he was talking to a completely different person.
“So what brings you down to the meeting tonight?”
“You.” The hunger in her eyes indicated he was the object of her desire. “I came down here for you.”
“I’m guessing you changed your mind about us.”
Claire grabbed Mr. Lewis by the tie and pulled him closer. She smashed her lips against his and slipped her tongue inside. The move surprised him, but he enjoyed e
very minute of it.
Claire broke the kiss and let go of his tie. “Pick me up tomorrow at my house for dinner. Let’s say seven.” His head bobbed up and down as he watched the satisfied smirk spread across Claire’s face. She turned on her heel and strutted away letting Mr. Lewis stare at her perfectly sculptured body sway from side to side.
*************************************************************
Claire returned home with minutes to spare. Dr. DeMarco was scheduled to pick her up from her house at any moment. Her heels clicked against the pavement while hurrying up to the front door. Two beams of light illuminated the siding, startling her. She could hear the car door open and watched as a shadowed image of a five foot eight, clean shaven, fit hunk of a man approached. The lights dimmed allowing Claire to see who was in her driveway. DeMarco looked stylish in his black suit, blue dress shirt and gold tie. He was out to impress Claire and was off to an outstanding start.
He held out a large bouquet of flowers. “This is for you.”
For the first time since they met, Claire didn’t have chills when she saw Ron DeMarco. She was filled with warmth as she smiled and graciously accepted the flowers. “They’re beautiful; thank you.” She unlocked her door and hurried inside to set them on the counter. She rushed back to find her date waiting patiently for her return. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I wanted to.” He bit his lip shedding his arrogance. “I wanted you to know that I’m not a bad guy. Consider it part of my apology.” He stuck out his arm in a gentlemanly way.
Claire blushed and took his arm. “You have a lot to make up for.”
“I plan on it.”
They arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes later. Dr. DeMarco had been on his best behavior. In fact, he was being a complete gentleman which was the opposite of what Claire had expected. She expected him to be hitting on her, degrading her with his eyes as he thought of her as nothing more than a sexual conquest.
They sat at the table. Tension was at an all-time low. The waiter hovered over them as he took their orders vowing to put them in immediately and would return with their drinks. But Dr. DeMarco stopped the waiter before he left.
“Can we get a bottle of wine for the table?”
“Sure thing,” the waiter replied as he slipped a wine list from the pile of menus. DeMarco pointed to the one he wanted.
“You didn’t have to do that Dr. DeMarco,” Claire said.
“Please, call me Ron. And I wanted to. I haven’t had a chance to celebrate my promotion yet and I couldn’t think of a better way to do so than with a vibrant beauty like yourself.” He took Claire’s hand gently. “You do look incredible tonight.”
Claire’s cheeks flushed with a rosy pink color. She was flattered by his words and let her guard falter some more. “I thought this wasn’t supposed to be a date.”
“This is whatever you want it to be Claire.” The waiter interrupted them by bringing over a bucket full of ice and the bottle of red wine Dr. DeMarco ordered. The waiter poured a glass for each of them before departing with a slight bow. Ron raised his glass in a toast fashion. “To me not being an asshole and to you forgiving me for acting like such a fool.”
Claire smiled and raised her glass. “To your promotion and to putting the past behind us.” They clinked glasses and sipped their wine. Claire licked her lips. “Oh my god, that’s amazing.”
“I thought you might like it.” Ron inched closer to Claire. His eyes were fixated on hers. His fingers walked towards her thigh touching the silky smoothness that was exposed from the slit in her skirt.
She jumped, startled by the unexpected groping. Her wine spilled over the top of her glass and landed on her skirt. “Shit, that’s going to stain.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ron said flatly while using his napkin to dab at the spot. “I think club soda helps get it out.”
Claire took the napkin from Ron and brushed his hands away. She took her eyes off of him for one minute, but apparently that was too trusting. Dr. DeMarco moved a hand to his pocket and squirted something into Claire’s wine glass, never letting her see his true intentions.
After the distraction, Ron sat back in his chair and kept watch over Claire as she continued drinking her wine. Each sip brought a bigger smile to his face. Claire wondered what he was so happy about. After her second glass of wine, she was beginning to understand why.
“I think I need to slow down the drinking for a bit.”
Ron pulled his chair closer to Claire. His eyes were now predatory. The kindness that he showed earlier had disappeared. His hands were back on her legs rubbing them sensually. Claire bit her lip as she enjoyed the attention.
Ron grabbed the bottle of wine and poured Claire another glass despite her tongue tied objections. “Come on; help me finish the bottle.”
“You just wanna get me drunk.”
“Can you blame me?” Ron’s hands were sliding up her legs and rested under the slit of Claire’s skirt. “You’re so fucking beautiful.” Claire could feel the heat rising within her. “I knew I wanted you the moment we met.” His hands continued their journey under Claire’s skirt. “I knew when I first laid eyes on you last year that I had to have you.” Ron’s fingers were almost touching Claire’s underwear. If he had the chance, Ron would’ve taken her in front of everyone.
The bone chilling feeling returned. The memory of their first encounter flooded her thoughts. They met at a conference last year. He was with a pack of men that eyed up all the female doctors, secretly ranking them in their minds and whispered the numbers to the rest of the frat pack. She thought they were disgusting and wouldn’t give any of them the time of day. Her mind drifted into thoughts of the club that night with the same pack of guys. He was there when she went up to the bar for a drink. Again she tried to ignore him. That was the last clear memory she had from that night.
Refusing the urge to vomit, Claire pushed her chair away from the table and stood while grabbing her purse. Her legs were unsteady, but she knew this was her only chance to get away. “Excuse me; I need to freshen up a bit.” The room spun violently around her as she made her way through the sea of dining patrons. What the hell’s going on? Three glasses of wine never gets me this drunk. She knew something was wrong. Her hand hit the door to the women’s bathroom and barely pushed it open. Shit not again. Claire stumbled into an empty stall and collapsed to the floor. She was content with staying there for the rest of the night, but there was no telling what would happen to her. Without hesitation, Claire plunged two fingers down her throat. She heaved several times until a small amount of vomit escaped, but it wasn’t nearly enough. She knew her safety was in jeopardy unless she expelled the drug from her system. She shoved her fingers down her throat again.
The door to the women’s bathroom opened again. Another lady was looking to use the facilities, but the sound of dry heaving alerted her that someone was in trouble. She knocked on the stall door. “You okay Hon?”
“No, I need to get out of here.”
“Okay, let me get you some help. Is there someone you’re here with? Maybe I can have one of the waiters find them for you.”
“No, please, I don’t want him to see me like this.”
The woman exited the bathroom and called one of the servers over. She explained the situation to him before escorting him over to Claire.
“Ma’am, do you want us to call you a cab?”
“Yes, pleas.” She rattled off her address to the stranger, hoping she could trust him with her semi-conscious body. He did his best to keep Claire awake and helped her up to her feet when the cab arrived. “Come on; I’m going to help you outside.”
“I-don’t-wanna my date-see me.” Claire made no sense to the server. In his mind she was just some woman that got too drunk and was now wasting his time.
The man took off his jacket, placed it around Claire’s neck and tucked her head to his chest as he led her from the restaurant. The warm summer night air hit her as the
night sky and street lamps blurred together. The server escorted Claire to a waiting car and placed her gently in the backseat. He entered the driver’s side and placed the key in the ignition.
“Don’t worry Claire. I’ve got you. He won’t hurt you ever again. Together, we’ll make sure he never hurts anyone or touches another woman again.”
Chapter 26-Ali
The luminescent glow of the video room lit up the otherwise dark Tech Department. It was eleven o’clock, everyone had gone home for the night except for a few stragglers and me. I decided to stay, desperately searching for some connection; a suspect; anything that could turn up a potential suspect in the Ambrose murder. Each tape consisted of a sexual conquest that he may or may not have drugged. Comparing the pictures of his victims to the blurred image we pulled from Whiskey J’s security footage was a near impossible task.
The effects of spending fifteen hours cooped up in a room watching video after video of Ambrose bringing unsuspecting women to his play room had taken its toll on me. The dryness in my eyes made it harder to keep them open. Using my thumb and index finger, I pinched the bridge of my nose in hopes of staying awake just a little while longer. I glanced to my left and found my supposed partner passed out in a few chairs. Little snores interrupted his otherwise silent breathing pattern. He actually looked kind of cute that way.
I was on the verge of passing out too. My black pumps lay on the floor by the chair, my feet were propped up on the desk with the laptop resting on my legs and a cold Chinese food container in my hands. I had yet to turn up anything from the videos and had only a few left. There was no point in both of us sitting through them. I nudged Thornton with my foot. “Hey, wake up.”
“Five more minutes,” he replied in a sleepy voice. I kept pushing his leg with my foot until I kicked him in his thigh. “Ow, what the hell?” His large hands covered the spot I kicked at as his eyes darted my way. Apparently he was hit harder than I thought.