Lucifer's Woman

by K. J. Dahlen

  “Do you think if Michael has worked this area he’s worked others as well?” Demon asked his uncle. “We know he’s buried nine bodies here, but could there be other places he’s killed and buried more bodies?”

  Charlie swore. “Damn it, you had to bring that possibility, up didn’t you?” Charlie ran his fingers through his hair while he contemplated Demon’s question. Nodding he remarked, “Yeah, I suppose he could have other areas he’s worked. Maybe that’s why up to this date, he’s never been caught. He might move around enough that he doesn’t kill more than once, then he moves on to another place and kills there as well.” He turned to Jessie. “Did you read the entire journal he left?”

  Jessie turned and nodded. “Actually, he left three journals. I only read the one and believe me that was enough. My grandmother’s farm is over by Colten’s Edge. I came here to find out if what I read was true or not. I was praying it wasn’t but now, those prayers are gone. I haven’t gotten around to reading the other journals yet and now, I’m not sure I want to.”

  “Will you turn them over to us so the police can read them?”

  Jessie stared at him for a moment then turned her face to Lucifer. When he wouldn’t tell her what to do, she looked at the other faces in the room. They were all blank as well. She turned back to Charlie. “I’ll tell you what Sheriff, I’ll bring the journals here and I’ll let you have a copy of the pages but I’m keeping the original journals until these men can no longer be put in danger from what’s written in them. They had nothing to do with Michael or these murders and I won’t put their lives on the line for something they didn’t do. I just won’t do that.”

  “I’m not looking to put anyone here in any danger,” Charlie protested.

  “I realize that, but other law enforcement could put these men in jail and I won’t let that happen. As long as I have the original books it won’t happen,” Jessie insisted.

  “And what happens if the FBI seizes them anyway?” Charlie asked.

  “They can’t take what isn’t here to take, now can they?” Jessie asked. “I’ll hand over a copy, but I’ll keep the actual books. I’ll bury them if I have to, but all anyone is getting will be a copy until Michael or whoever this guy really is, is in custody.” Shrugging she added, “Take it, or leave it.”

  “They could and might arrest you to get the books anyway.” Charlie tried to reason with her.

  “Then they would get nothing. I’ll take my story to the media and blow this wide open pointing out the fact that these men might live here but that they had nothing to do with these murders,” Jessie informed him coldly. “I will not give up or give in to bullies. I never have nor will I ever.”

  “Charlie,” Demon warned his uncle.

  Charlie held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not trying anything here. I’ll work from copies. I’m just saying the feds might want the originals to work from.” He scooped up the stack of pages from the table and began walking toward the door. Half way there, he turned and looked directly at Jessie. “If you remember anything else, you call me ok? When you have the rest of the pages ready, give me a heads up. I’ll wait to call in my friend until I have the whole thing. In the meantime, I can look up some things and see what else I can find out about this guy.”

  “You won’t care if we do the same will you?” Lucifer asked as he folded his massive arms across his chest.

  Charlie just glared at the other man. “Not at all, but if you find something, please let me know. Right now, we’re gonna need all the info we can get our hands on.”

  “As long as we’re working together on this thing and not against each other, we’ll cooperate,” Lucifer assured him. “The moment I think otherwise, is the moment we will cease to get along.”

  Charlie heard the other man’s warning loud and clear. He nodded in acknowledgement.

  *

  When the door shut after Charlie, no one said a word for a long few minutes.

  Then Demon remarked to no one in particular, “Well that was a whole lot of fun.”

  “Didn’t know you were looking for fun out of this mess.” Lucifer growled. He was beginning to get testy about this whole affair, it was like the walls were closing in on him again, and he didn’t like that feeling.

  Jessie reached out and laid her hand on his arm. She didn’t have to say anything just her touch brought down his stress level. Lucifer exhaled then looked over at his second in command. “Sorry, this whole situation has me on edge.”

  Demon shrugged and glanced at Jessie’s hand on his arm. “No worries Captain, it has us all on edge.” Raising his eyes to Jessie he asked, “Why did you say what you did when my uncle asked about turning over the original journals?”

  Jessie looked him in the eye. “I won’t put any of you in jail for something you didn’t do. Not even to save my own hide. When I was just a kid, my father told me that you have to stand up for yourself because no one else will. If I turn over those journals, the FBI can use them against you or they can easily disappear and the blame will stop when you all are arrested and put in jail for something you didn’t do. That wouldn’t be right and I won’t have any part of it.”

  “But you don’t even know us.” Jinx scorned. “Why would you care so much about a group of guys you don’t even know?”

  Jessie turned to him and the others. “I may not know you but that doesn’t matter, if I don’t stand up for what I know is right then I fail. I fail my dad and I fail myself and that’s something I will never do.” With that said, she turned and walked down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Lucifer and shut the door quietly behind her.

  Lucifer looked at him men and the corner of his mouth quirked upward. “She’s got conviction, I’ll give her that much.”

  Jinx snorted. “Yeah, she’s got spunk. We’ll just have to wait and see how well she carries it through. Been disappointed before by people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.”

  Lucifer stared at him for a moment and there was a look in his eyes they’d never seen before. “Ok, we got a place to start, now we have to dig up whatever info we can find on the players,” Lucifer told his men. Looking over at Stinger he said, “You dig up whatever you can find on this Michael. If he’s real, he’s got to be out there somewhere. I know it’s not enough information to start with but it’s all we got right now. Read through the pages of the journals we got and see if there’s something in there you can use to dig up information with.” He paused then added another request, “See what you can find on the name Jordan Tate as well. Hell, I don’t know just find us something.” He glanced down the hallway at the door to his bedroom.

  “But Lucifer, Jordan Tate is a cop,” Demon reminded him.

  “I know that, but Jessie knew that name from somewhere. He wasn’t a patient of hers or she would have remembered. I’d like to know more about the man. Put some of the men on watch tonight for what’s left of the night anyway. The rest of you get some sleep. There will be guard duty until this over. If that bastard comes back, I want to know it. I don’t want any more surprises or to wake up tomorrow morning with my throat slit.”

  “I can activate all the cameras on the property,” Stinger told them. “They’re motion activated so if someone is out there, we’ll catch him on camera.”

  Lucifer nodded, then turned and walked down the hall to join Jessie.

  Demon turned the rest of the guys standing there. Shaking his head, he said, “You heard the man, four men on roving patrol while the rest of us get some sleep. We’ll switch out every four hours.”

  The men broke up and went their own way.

  *

  A couple of hours later, Jessie sat straight up in bed. She gasped loudly and woke up Lucifer.

  He woke up instantly with a growl. “What the fuck is wrong now?”

  Jessie turned to him and whispered, “I know where I saw the name Jordan Tate.”

  Lucifer sat up. “Where?’

  “He rented a room at my grandmother’s hou
se,” she whispered in dread. “I saw his name in a ledger she kept of the people who rented from her.”

  “Fucking hell.” Lucifer swore. Running his hands through his long hair, he stared at her. “Are you sure that’s where you know the name from?”

  Jessie nodded without making a sound.

  Lucifer glared at her for a moment then got out of bed. Dressed in just his boxers, he wrenched open his door slamming it against the wall. Disappearing down the hall, he pounded on another door.

  Jessie could hear a muted conversation then the other door closed, and Lucifer came back to his own room. She watched him carefully as he closed the door and came back to bed.

  Crawling in beside her, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. Laying down, she found her head on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat echoing in her ear. Her hand began stroking the hair on his chest and after a few minutes, her own heart slowed from the pounding rhythm of fear she was experiencing. Her fear was fading quickly in his arms. Breathing heavily, she took in his scent and more of her fear faded. In its place was something else, something much more basic.

  Lucifer’s finger traced circles on her shoulders and slipped down her back. Jessie arched her back a bit making his hand slip even lower. It came to rest on the curve of her ass.

  Lucifer froze and held his breath. “You’re playing with fire woman,” he whispered in her ear.

  Jessie groaned. “God, I hope so,” she whispered back.

  “Tell me what’s going on in your head.”

  Turning her eyes to him, he could see the tears making their way down her face. “I don’t want to die, not now. Not when I just found you.”

  Lucifer grabbed her chin lifting her face to his. “He won’t get close enough to breathe the air you breathe. I’ll kill him first. I’ll kill him before I’d let anything happen to you.”

  She leaned closer to him and began nibbling on his jaw. Making her way to his lips she whispered, “Take me, take me now and don’t be gentle. I don’t want gentle. I want you.”

  Lucifer caught the edge of her shirt and rather than pull it over her head he ripped it in half. He leaned over her, found her breasts and nibbled on her nipples hard enough for Jessie to gasp. He tore her panties out of the way and thrusted two fingers deep inside her.

  His free hand went to his boxers and he tore them down over his ass and kicked them out of his way. Then he kneed her legs open and without another word, thrust deep inside her.

  Jessie went to scream but Lucifer put his hand over her mouth as he rammed his cock inside her. His lips latched onto her neck and he suckled and bit it hard enough to leave a mark.

  He pounded her good, but she gave as good as she got. He couldn’t stop now, if he wanted to. He knew on some level his intrusion might be hurting her, but he also couldn’t stop now if his life depended on it. He was driven to wild extremes when it came to this woman, he didn’t know if he was coming or going. Both maybe.

  They moved in a rhythm as old as time. His hands were at her hips and his fingers dug deep into her flesh. He might be leaving bruises, but he would kiss them later. He felt no control over what they were doing.

  Turning her head, she bit his shoulder as she came hard.

  Lucifer felt her bite as she exploded beneath him and that’s all it took for him to follow her. He bellowed his release and his cum shot out filling her. He felt his hot cum bathe them both after stream after stream left his body. Finally, he felt depleted and he tried to move off her, but she wouldn’t let him go. Lucifer flopped down on his back taking her with him.

  Jessie was sprawled on top of him, her legs caught under his thighs, but she didn’t seem to care. His cock was still inside her and that didn’t bother her either. She just didn’t let him go.

  “Baby,” he whispered. “I’m gonna break you, if you don’t let me loose.”

  “I don’t care. You make me feel safe and I don’t want to lose that feeling.”

  “You won’t, I promise,” he insisted. “But I don’t want you to get hurt either. I’m a big guy and I could hurt you without meaning too.”

  Jessie grumbled as she loosened her hold. Moving to lay beside him, her head found its place on his chest.

  His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he held her close to him. “Sleep now,” he whispered in her hair.

  She closed her eyes and fell asleep, but Lucifer didn’t.

  He laid awake staring into the darkness. His thoughts were as black as his soul and he vowed that nothing and no one would take this woman from him. Nothing or no one would hurt her while he still breathed. Lucifer vowed to crawl through the fires of hell to protect her and he’d been there before, so he knew he could win.

  This was a vow he would keep.

  Chapter Ten

  The sun was high in the sky before Jessie walked out of the bedroom to join the others in the main room.

  Lucifer was sitting at the table with Demon and Jinx when she got there.

  Lucifer looked up at her and smiled.

  The other two men just stared at him like they’d never seen him before.

  He pulled her down on his lap and nuzzled her neck.

  Demon cleared his throat and Jinx just gawked at the couple.

  Jessie blushed and tried to move away but Lucifer wouldn’t let her go. He nodded at Demon. “Tell her what your uncle said when he called.”

  Demon tightened his lips. “Why? It will only scare her.”

  “Tell her,” Lucifer insisted stubbornly. “She has the right to know.”

  Demon glared at his friend for a moment then turned to Jessie. “Charlie talked to a friend of his in the FBI when he left here last night, and his friend began checking other places for open cases with the same M.O. He called back about an hour ago and told Charlie he’s possibly found three other places in different areas of the nation that have such cases.”

  Jessie gasped. “Three other places?”

  Demon nodded. “Omaha, Butte, Montana and Wenatchee, Washington. They are still checking details. So right now, these places are only places of interest. A number of women have gone missing from those areas over the years with no explanation. Now that doesn’t mean anything yet but Charlie is hoping the other journals might connect the dots and lead them to the graves of the missing women. There was no reason to connect the cases as they are all in separate states but once he began looking into it, he thinks he might have found the connection.”

  “And what was the common factor in all the cases?” she whispered.

  “The common factor was the grave sites themselves. Michael always left something as a monument or a shrine to his victims,” Demon explained. “Like the bench for Michelle, the police are looking for more of his other victims being left in natural settings as well,” he exhaled. “So far in those three places, they’ve found seven more possible graves sites over the last few years and they feel as if they’ll find even more. They just had nothing to connect the graves with each other or anything else. At least three bodies have already been recovered but they think there could be more out there. Now that they think it’s all the work of one man they’re anxious to tie it altogether.” He paused and finally told her the rest of his bomb, “Charlie said his friend Mitchell is coming out here later today or tomorrow to interview you about the journals.”

  Jessie didn’t know what to think anymore. She doubted they would ever be able to find all his victims, he might not know how many women he’s killed over the years. She wished she’d never found those damn journals to begin with now. She glanced up at Lucifer. “What have I done?” Then Demon’s last few words became clear and she began to panic. “No, he can’t come here. I can’t talk to anyone else. Michael might be watching this place. If he sees the police or the FBI coming here, he’ll know right where to come to find me. I have to get out of here!”

  As she struggled to get away from Lucifer, he tightened his hold on her. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

  She turned her
head to stare at the man holding her. Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave here. I only just found you, but I can’t put you and your men in this kind of trouble. Or in this situation. Not only have you caught the eyes of the law, but you could become the focus of a serial killer. If Michael thinks you all know about him, he could take you out one by one to keep his secret.”

  “My men know and understand that risk,” Lucifer insisted.

  “But this isn’t a war zone,” she argued. “This is the one place they call home. Home should be a safe haven not somewhere were you don’t know what or who might be waiting just around to the corner to kill you.” She hung her head.

  “My men are soldiers they’ve been trained by the best. They know how to protect themselves and each other in any situation.”

  She raised her hand to cup his cheek. “Oh baby, I know they are, but Michael is something they’re not. He’s a stone-cold killer deep down in his soul. You and your men are trained by the best, but Michael never needed training. His own words tell you the kind of man he is. He kills for the enjoyment of watching the life force drain from a person. He won’t be stopped until someone else watches his life force drain from his body. He has a sickness that won’t let him stop killing. His first kill was his best because for him it was something he’d never done before and he’s looking for that kind of high with each and every kill after that one and it’s something he’ll never capture again.”

  “How do you know all this shit?” Jinx asked disgustedly.

  “I’ve read interviews with different serial killers as part of the physic classes. It’s well documented that their brains aren’t wired like everyone else’s. Science can’t explain it but this crazy wiring is found in all of them. The normal person wouldn’t think about killing another human being but serial killers that’s all they do think about. In many cases, they like to hunt for their next victim and in many other cases, they stalk the victim they choose until they reach a point they consider as no return. It’s at that point they have to take their life. There’s just something in their brains that compel them to do it.”