Private Detective: BENNINGTON P.I.: A thrilling four-novel political murder mystery private detective series...

by D. W. Ulsterman

  Turning his back to Kat, Arman left the congressman’s home.

  “Hello Kat. Did you have fun tonight?”

  Kat said nothing, her eyes returning to the floor, her body tensing as she heard the congressman rising from his chair to sit next to her on the couch.

  “I asked you a question Kat. Did you have fun tonight?”

  Kat nodded her head, her mind screaming for her to stop being afraid. To stand up to this old man and make him fear her.

  “That’s good. A young woman should have time to have fun, don’t you think?”

  The congressman’s voice spoke in an odd hissing whisper. There was no kindness in his words, each one conveying his underlying rage.

  “I was told you were dancing with a woman tonight. Is that so?”

  Kat again nodded.

  “And did you like that Kat? Dancing with a woman? Rubbing up against her body?”

  Kat sat frozen, her instincts screaming for her to get up and run from the room.

  Congressman Latner’s left hand came to rest on her right arm, where it remained there, squeezing it softly.

  “I’d like to see that Kat.”

  Kat’s eyes peeked to her right, as she wondered what the congressman was talking about.

  “I said I’d like to see that Kat.”

  Finally Kat spoke.

  “See what?”

  The congressman’s hand tightened on her forearm. Though she couldn’t see his smile, Kat sensed it.

  “You enjoying yourself…with another woman. You might not know Kat, but I have been a strong proponent of the gay and lesbian community since coming to Congress. I’ve sponsored bills, marched in parades, attended multiple fundraisers. In fact, I was among the first Democrats in Congress to push for a national gay marriage amendment. Not that I don’t have much personal regard for faggots you know. Two men doing that mess…seems unnatural. That’s off the record of course. I’m confiding in you here Kat, not for you to share with others.

  But two women, well, what’s not to like about that? Two beautiful women…that does seem far more natural, don’t you think? At least, it certainly seems you felt that way earlier tonight, right?”

  Kat shrugged her shoulders, still confused over what the congressman was doing. Was it some kind of trap? Was he about to punish her for going out? For dancing with another woman?

  “Daneeka, please come in here!”

  A short, athletically built black woman no more than a few years older than Kat, entered the living room wearing just a blue sweatshirt and white underwear. Her dark hair was cut short, barely above the scalp. She had a round face, very large, expressive brown eyes, flawless brown skin, and a wide, full lipped mouth.

  “Say hello to your new toy Kat. It’s what you want, right? To be with a woman? So just be with her, and then you get to go home. That sound ok?”

  The congressman rose from his place next to Kat and walked over to Daneeka, grabbing her by the hand and moving the young black woman back to where Kat remained seated.

  “Oh, now this is just beautiful! This is a real political hat trick here! We have an immigrant, sitting next to a minority, about to engage in some lesbian love making! Who says Congressman Joseph Latner isn’t up on the hot button issues?”

  Daneeka looked at Kat, sensing how tense the young Russian was.

  “Hi, Kat. You’re very pretty.”

  Kat knew Daneeka was trying to let her know everything would be ok. Both women were prostitutes, well versed in the eccentricities of human sexuality, and this was far from the first time a client had asked them to engage in sex with another woman. In fact, some of those clients were female members of Congress.

  What Daneeka didn’t know though, was that the congressman was a barely functioning sociopath, teetering on the brink of absolute madness.

  “Give her a kiss Daneeka.”

  Daneeka looked at the congressman and then back at Kat.

  “Is that ok?”

  Kat, fearing any resistance would infuriate the congressman, simply nodded.

  Daneeka’s full lips briefly touched Kat’s mouth once, and then twice.

  “C’mon now! I want to see some passion! Like you had earlier this evening Kat! Right? Show me how it was for you earlier tonight!”

  Kat shifted on the couch and stared back at Congressman Latner, knowing her sexuality was her power, and likely the only thing that could keep her safe enough to leave this place without another beating. If the damn congressman wanted a show, fine. She’d give him a show. Enough of a show that he might be willing to leave her alone for a while.

  Just long enough to allow her time to see him dead.

  29.

  Colin had been knocking on Frank Bennington’s apartment door for several minutes when he decided to simply try the handle.

  The door pushed open easily, revealing darkness in the main living area, with a dim light coming from down the hallway leading to the bedroom.

  “Frank – you here?”

  There was no response. Colin repeated the question, though this time more loudly.

  “Frank – you here?”

  The quiet hum of the kitchen refrigerator was the only sound inside of the apartment. Colin stepped inside, turned on the ceiling light just above the entrance area, and then closed the door behind him.

  Bennington’s wallet sat atop the small breakfast counter in the kitchen, indicating he had to be home.

  Probably sleeping off whatever he was up to tonight.

  “Hey Frank, I need to talk to you about the congressman!”

  Colin recalled reading stories where a room or place was described as being quiet – too quiet. He was getting that same feeling at that moment inside Frank Bennington’s apartment. Something felt off.

  He walked slowly down the short hallway toward the bedroom, his ears straining to pick up any sounds. When he reached the door, he knocked briefly and waited for a response.

  None came.

  “Frank, it’s Colin. I need to talk to you.”

  The sound of something heavy moving came from beyond the bedroom door, followed by Bennington’s familiar voice.

  “Come on in O’Shea. I think I might have died for a bit, but I’m back in the saddle again.”

  Colin assumed Bennington was making a joke, but upon turning on the room’s ceiling light, the image of a completely nude Frank Bennington struggling to pick himself up from the floor presented an image of a man who very much looked like he had just “died for a bit.”

  “Frank, what happened to you? Are you ok?”

  Colin stepped quickly to help Frank to his feet, noting the man’s skin was cold to the touch and his lips had a faint, bluish tinge to them. It also appeared Bennington had urinated all over the bed.

  “Ok might be stretching it O’Shea, but I ain’t dead.”

  The political operative’s words had a distinct slurring to them, though not enough to hamper their understanding.

  “There’s a robe in the bathroom. You mind getting it for me? Nobody should have to look at this body in any kind of light.”

  By the time Colin returned from the bathroom, Bennington was shivering uncontrollably. He needed help putting the robe on, his hands finding it difficult to grasp the cloth.

  “Go in the kitchen and get me a glass of water.”

  The slurring persisted, and Colin sensed Bennington was having greater difficulty breathing.

  Having returned with the water, Colin found Bennington rummaging in the top of his dresser drawer, eventually withdrawing a prescription bottle.

  “Need you to open this for me Colin. Make sure it says diazepam on it. It’s basically Valium. I need two pills.”

  Bennington placed the bottle in Colin’s right hand, and then sat down on top of the bed, his body going from shivers to something approaching full on convulsions.

  “I should be calling 911 Frank. You’re getting worse.”

  Frank Bennington lifted his head to look at Colin, his eyes cle
aring for a moment as his voice issued a very stern directive.

  “If you don’t get me those pills, I could be dead long before the ambulance gets here. Now open the damn bottle Colin, or watch me die right in front of you. My heart feels like its ripping through my goddamn chest! The Valium will bring it down.”

  Colin opened the bottle and handed two pills to Bennington, who in turn chewed them up in his mouth.

  “Water.”

  Bennington’s severely shaking hands gripped the water glass and emptied half of it, a sizeable portion running down the sides of his mouth as he did so.

  “Just let me lay down now. Give me…give me twenty minutes. Be right as rain in about twenty minutes.”

  Colin removed his cell phone from his pocket.

  “I’m calling 9-11.”

  Frank Bennington reached out his right hand and knocked the cell phone from Colin.

  “No medics! No tests. Got to keep our chances of hooking up with the Mendez campaign safe. Don’t need the congressman’s chief of staff…just give me twenty minutes. I’m fine.”

  Colin picked his phone up from the carpeted floor and then watched as Bennington closed his eyes and smiled.

  “See, feeling better already. Just need to rest here a little. How about you go run me a bath O’Shea? Make sure the water is real hot. I like a hot bath. Clears my head.”

  Hardly any of the earlier slur remained in Bennington’s speech. His color was improved, and the trembling had lessened considerably.

  Colin paused next to Frank’s bed and then made his way slowly toward the bathroom, looking back at the nearly asleep Bennington. What had already been a night that included the seeming abduction of a young Russian prostitute who Colin found himself having increasingly strong feelings for, was now finishing up with him preparing a bath for the political operative who had brought Colin O’Shea to Washington D.C. in the first place - the same political operative who appeared to have just suffered some kind of drug overdose.

  I’m sure as shit not in Ohio anymore…

  30.

  Kat gently pushed Daneeka onto her back, as both women, now undressed, lay atop Congressman Latner’s bed. The large, well furnished room was lit by a single Tiffany bedside lamp, creating just enough light for the congressman’s eyes to follow the women’s movements from his position across the room where he sat in a dark, leather bound chair, his right leg crossed over his left, and both hands folded and sitting atop the congressman’s right knee.

  Kat paused as she knelt just below Daneeka, turning her head to look back at Congressman Latner. She offered the congressman the slightest of smiles, her large eyes glinting in the soft glow of the lamp’s light. Congressman Latner returned Kat’s smile with his own, though his eyes held no emotion. They simply stared back, unblinking, waiting for Kat to continue.

  Kat turned her attention back to the beautiful young black woman, who in turn, appeared more than ready to be the recipient of Kat’s well practiced talents. The two women moved as one on the bed, each delivering gentle exploratory gifts to the other. Within minutes, both of them were lost in their own pleasures, almost entirely forgetting the presence of the congressman in the room.

  Their ears and mouths were filled with the sounds and tastes of their mutual satisfactions - the soft skin, the full lips, their feminine embrace absent the more clumsy, overly aggressive, and all too often brief, male example.

  For nearly an hour Kat and Daneeka explored each other, the pace of their lovemaking a slow, steady assault on one another’s desires. What began as a task demanded of them by the congressman, turned into an experience both women found themselves giving themselves gratefully over to.

  Kat’s own pleasured delirium was finally interrupted by the presence of the congressman, still fully clothed, standing at the right side of the bed looking down at Daneeka’s face contorting in ecstasy as Kat moved below her.

  The Russian noted again the absence of any emotion in the congressman’s eyes as he stared down at Daneeka, the same faint smile that was on his face earlier having returned.

  That smile suddenly disappeared, replaced by an animalistic snarl, the congressman’s eyes no longer devoid of emotion, but instead consumed by a ravenous rage. Both of his large hands reached out and grasped Daneeka by the throat, his thumbs pressing deeply into the flesh of her neck.

  “Eunice.”

  The word was hissed between the congressman’s clenched teeth as Daneeka gasped for breath, her hands clawing at Congressman Latner’s wrists and forearms.

  “Just die Eunice! Just die!”

  Kat knew the name. The congressman had mentioned his wife just a few times. From a wealthy family, she remained living back in the congressman’s home state of Ohio.

  “She’s not Eunice! Stop hurting her!”

  Whatever madness had taken hold of the congressman, intensified at the sound of Kat’s voice. Daneeka’s eyes began to roll back into her head as her hands fell to her side, the fingers curling into claws. The black woman’s legs began twitching as her body went into the throes of near-death oxygen depletion.

  Kat jumped onto the back of Congressman Joseph Latner, her nails clawing at his face, his eyes, wherever they could find a target. The congressman released his grip on Daneeka’s throat, roaring his fury at having been interrupted.

  “Little bitch!”

  Kat’s body was thrown against the left wall of the bedroom, hitting it hard enough the sheetrock broke apart where she struck it. The Russian felt her breath knocked from her as her body fell roughly against the floor. She could see the tip of the congressman’s dark leather shoe as it launched itself toward her face, where it smashed into her nose, snapping her head back violently as two of her front teeth flew from her mouth to land on the floor next to her.

  And then the room went completely dark.

  Kat awoke to find herself propped up on pillows in the congressman’s bed, the light of morning shining through the large bedroom windows.

  “Well good morning beautiful.”

  Kat’s hands went to her mouth, felt the space where two of her teeth once resided.

  “Yeah, things got a little weird last night. That black girl went crazy on you. Took all my strength to pull her off. She must have been on drugs or something. If I hadn’t been here, she might have killed you.”

  Kat’s mind was a cascading flow of images. The time with Daneeka, and then the congressman’s madness.

  “Shhhh, don’t try to figure it out. You can’t figure out things like that. She went crazy, that’s all. You just rest. I’ll let Ivanka know you’re staying over today. I’ve already set up an appointment with my personal dentist to fix what the black bitch did to your teeth. Everything will be just fine.”

  Congressman Latner leaned down from where he stood over Kat and kissed her gently on the forehead. His eyes now reflected what appeared to be genuine warmth and concern over Kat’s condition, without a hint of the madness from the previous night.

  “Now I want you to take this. It’ll help you rest.”

  Kat was too weak to fight, her head flashing painfully with the slightest movement, her jaw throbbing as she lifted her head just enough to accept the water and whatever pills the congressman dropped into her mouth.

  “That’s it, swallow them down. They’ll make you feel better. Now just lie back and get some rest and I’ll be back later to check on how you’re doing.”

  The congressman leaned down again, this time kissing Kat fully on the mouth, his tongue hungrily probing the still bleeding holes of her missing teeth.

  Whatever Congressman Latner gave Kat to sleep, it worked. She did not wake again for nearly five hours. Upon waking, she found the blinds had been drawn in the bedroom, leaving her to lie in near complete darkness. When Kat went to move her hands, she found them, along with her feet, bound tightly to a bedpost, and her mouth covered in duct tape.

  Outside the congressman’s bedroom windows, the world of Washington D.C. lurched toward th
e conclusion of another day. For Katalina Brezhnev, yet another nightmare had just begun.

  31.

  Colin O”Shea looked back at Frank Bennington with a mix of horrified, grudging, respect. Despite having awoken from some version of a drug induced coma, Bennington was now, just an hour later, happily whistling to himself as he tied his shoes at the end of the same bed he had passed out upon earlier that night.