Stone's Mistake

by Adrian J. Smith

  She realized she really didn’t know anything about Morgan. She hadn’t learned her last name, or where she lived other than Chicago, or her friend’s name. She was at a loss of where to even begin a search. Frustrated, Lollie grabbed her coffee after finishing her pretzel and wandered through the mall. She stopped in a small jewelry store and looked through the different earrings and necklaces.

  The woman behind the counter was cute. It was a chain store, nothing fancy, but the woman looked competent enough. Lollie sauntered over and smiled. “I was wondering if you had anything with sapphires in them. I absolutely love sapphires.”

  “We do, was there something more specifically you were looking for? Rings, necklaces, earrings?”

  “Do you have a matching set?”

  “We have a couple. Let me get them for you to look at.”

  Lollie waited while the slim brunette moved away from her. Her ass was plump, and her curves stood out sharply as she walked. Her waist was very small. Lollie licked her lips as she came back. This time, Lollie read the woman’s name tag. Nadia. Smirking, Lollie lowered her gaze down to the jewelry Nadia presented her.

  “Oh, this is beautiful.”

  “It’s one of my favorites,” Nadia whispered like it was a secret.

  “I can see why. It’d match your eyes.” Lollie fingered it gently. “May I try it on?”

  “Certainly.”

  Nadia pulled the jewelry from the box and handed it over so Lollie could put it on. Lollie clasped the necklace around her and then held up one of the earrings. She grinned at Nadia. “I think it’s perfect. I just moved here last week, and I’m starting this new job in the next few days. I’m a nervous wreck, so I thought I’d splurge on myself to make me feel a little better.”

  “This piece is perfect for you, I think. It brings out the highlights in your hair.”

  Lollie’s stomach warmed. “I’ll take it. Say, do you know where there’s a good place to buy some clothes around here? I need something a bit more professional. It’s my first real job, where I’m actually in charge of something.”

  “That’s exciting. You can check the stores down that way. There’s a few of them that probably have what you’re looking for.”

  “Thanks! You’ve been so helpful.” Lollie fingered the credit card and bit her lip. She knew she could be found by it, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed the connection, needed to make the purchase to get Nadia’s attention. The rest of their interaction was cold, and Lollie shook herself of it. She could find someone else, someone warmer who was more into her.

  It didn’t take her long before she wandered into another small store, very much the opposite of what Nadia’s had been. This one had all things leather, t-shirts with slogans painted across the front, all kinds of rings for piercings, and little odds and ends. The lighting in there was subdued, and the woman at the counter was the complete opposite of Nadia. Her hair was dyed black with a splash of red and purple on the tips. It was cut so it spiked up sideways on her head, and when Lollie made eye contact with her, she knew she had her mark.

  Lollie strolled right up to the counter. “Not to be too forward, but do you know where there are any good gay bars in this town? I just moved here, and I need to find my people.”

  She snorted. “I’m Mandy, by the way, and yes, I know where the good gay bars are. What’d you move here for?”

  “Work. But I literally don’t know anyone here. It sucks. I need friends. So, here goes, I’m Lollie, and I just moved here from Seattle.” Lollie added in a pout. She knew she looked out of place in the shop, but she couldn’t help it. She was drawn to Mandy and her tight pleather pants, nose ring, and dark, almost-black eyes.

  “I think I could help you with that.”

  It didn’t take much enticing. Her shift was ending anyway, and Lollie waited around until it was over. Lollie walked with Mandy away from the store, but Mandy stopped with a grin on her face. She was much younger than Lollie would normally go for, but something in her gaze spoke volumes of wisdom. Mandy grabbed Lollie’s hand and leaned in to her ear.

  “Do you really want to go to a bar or are you just looking for a quickie and thought that’d be a good place to find one?”

  Lollie grinned and leaned away from Mandy so they could stare each other in the face. “A bit of both, honestly.”

  “I like an honest woman.”

  “Then I am here to serve.” Lollie curtsied a little.

  Mandy growled. “I also like a femme.”

  “Sounds like a match then.”

  “Come here.”

  Mandy dragged Lollie by her wrist in the opposite direction they had been going. She pushed open the door to the restroom. Bathroom sex she had done before, and it had not been the best experience in the world. When Mandy pushed open the handicap stall and shoved Lollie against the wall, Lollie knew she was going to like it this time. Mandy had that edge to her, the speed, the roughness Samantha had, but the dark quality she had always longed for in a mate.

  “You first,” Mandy whispered harshly into Lollie’s ear. “Then me.”

  “Okay.”

  Mandy was already undoing the button on Lollie’s jeans, shoving them a little bit down her hips. She kissed Lollie’s neck, nipping and biting her way up and down to the tops of her breasts before moving up again. Never once did she press a kiss to Lollie’s mouth. Her hand slithered between Lollie’s legs, and Lollie helped move her pants down even farther to give Mandy easier access.

  Her body heated with pleasure. Just like with her last girlfriend, though, every time she closed her eyes, she pictured Morgan at the helm of making her feel pleasure, not whoever stood in front of her. Lollie ignored Mandy and focused on Morgan. She’d dreamed of her, masturbated to memories of her, thought about what they’d do next time they met. Before she knew it, she was hitting her high and falling over her orgasm.

  Mandy licked her fingers and undid the zipper of her pleather pants, shoved them down to her ankles. She leaned against the wall to the stall, opened her knees and stared at Lollie. “It’s my turn.”

  With a deep breath, Lollie slid down to her knees and pressed her mouth to Mandy’s center. Her scent was so different than Morgan’s. Where Mandy was spicy, Morgan had been sweet. Where Mandy was rough, Morgan had been caring. There had always been a sense of danger with Morgan, but it was subtle. With Mandy, it was overt. They were having sex in a public bathroom.

  Mandy gripped her head hard, tugging, and Lollie shoved her tongue inside Mandy’s body. She’d make her come, and she’d seduce her again and again and again just to get Morgan out of her head. She had to. She had to stop obsessing over the woman who very well could have been the one, but who had tried to kill her. And Mandy had to last longer than her last girlfriend, because that had been the shortest relationship Lollie had ever had.

  When Mandy came, she wasn’t quiet. Her voice echoed in the tiled bathroom like a gun that had gone off. Lollie gritted her teeth and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she stood up. She wanted to kiss Mandy, wanted to know how different it would be to kissing Morgan. She pressed her hand against Mandy’s neck, keeping her still as she covered her mouth with her own. Their tongues slipped together, Mandy’s knees buckled, and Lollie held her up. Mandy tightened her fingers sharply around Lollie’s wrist. Lollie let her go with a grin.

  “That was good.” Mandy pecked Lollie’s lips once and fixed her pants.

  Lollie mimed her, fixing her own jeans. Once they looked decent enough but still tousled and aroused, Mandy opened the door to the stall and walked out. “Let’s go do it again.”

  “Sure. Give me your address, and I’ll meet you at your place.”

  Mandy bit her lip as she thought but then nodded. They split up when they made it outside. Lollie walked to her car with Mandy’s address in her phone. She turned on her GPS as soon as she got to the car, but since she had her phone in hand, she had to make the call. Morgan had been on her mind too much.

 
Dialing, she let it ring. Morgan picked up on the third one. She didn’t say a word. Lollie listened to her breathing, a calm coming over her. Lollie looked around the half-filled parking lot of the mall. She rested her head, not quite sure what to say.

  “You there?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Morgan answered, her voice wavering. “I’m here.”

  “Where are you?”

  There was a pause. Hesitation. “M—my apartment.”

  “Chicago.”

  “Yes.”

  Lollie glanced down at her nails, wishing she was in the same room as Morgan, wishing they could see each other face to face, that she could see what Morgan was thinking. She answered with the first thing that came to her mind. “I really liked Chicago.”

  “Why do you keep calling?” Morgan asked, her voice a little stronger than before.

  Letting out a breath, Lollie closed her eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  “Since you tried to kill me?”

  “Since we broke up. I was with a woman today, and the entire time, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Your taste, your smell, the little noise you make every time you come.”

  Morgan snorted. “That’s precious.”

  “What?” Anger surged in Lollie’s chest.

  “You can’t stop thinking about the one who got away. You missed your chance to kill me, so now you can’t stop thinking about me, have become obsessed with me. I’ve got news for you. I don’t think about you. Ever.”

  “Don’t make me mad,” Lollie warned. “I do bad things when I’m mad.”

  “You do bad things when you’re happy. I don’t think you know what it is you feel. You’re neurotic. You’re manipulative. You have no idea what is right and what is wrong.”

  “Yes, I do!” Lollie practically shouted into the phone. Her jaw clenched. “I do know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

  “Then tell me, Lollie. Did we really break up from a relationship? Or is that all in your head?”

  “We broke up.”

  Morgan let out a breath. “No. We didn’t break up. We weren’t in a relationship to begin with. We were having sex, good sex, but that was it. Nothing more.”

  “Is there another woman?”

  “What?”

  “Is there another woman? Are you seeing someone else? Is it that woman who called you so early in the morning? You fucking her?”

  “What would make you ask that?”

  “Why else would you leave me?”

  “I didn’t leave you. Lollie, I did not leave you. There was nothing to leave. Look, we can go round and round in this conversation if we want, but we’ll never come to the same conclusion.”

  “You’re right.” Lollie pursed her lips. “It’s time for me to move on.”

  “Wait…what does that mean?”

  “It means I’ve found someone else.”

  “Lollie—”

  “I’ll see you never.” Lollie hung up the phone and tossed it into the seat next to her. Fuming, she took a deep breath and pulled out of the parking spot. She headed straight for Mandy’s address. If Morgan wanted nothing to do with her, then she would focus on someone who did have attention turned toward her. Someone who cared about her, loved her even. If Morgan was going to have such a cold heart, then she would find someone else who did love her and whom she could love back.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hanging up the phone, Morgan’s heart rate pounded. She was beyond glad Pax wasn’t with her, that she was in the room they’d been given by the Missoula Police Department to work in for the brief time they were going to be there all by herself. No one had heard that conversation, and yet, Morgan wasn’t sure she could keep it hidden much longer. Bile roiled in her belly, and she wanted to let it all out.

  They’d been there for a day already, had been through the crime scene, seen the blood spatter everywhere. Just like before, a knife was missing from the set in the kitchen. She’d been stabbed seven times, which certainly was a break from the pattern but not completely, more like a modification. Morgan had wondered for a moment if she was saving the six for her, for whenever they met again, and Morgan knew they would meet again.

  Pax came into the room, and she jumped when he opened the door. “Jesus, Morgan, scared much?”

  “Shove it,” she muttered. “What do you have?”

  “Well, they found Chris’ phone and tracked down the numbers before we got here. They found one that was to a prepaid phone, and they’ve been tracking it. It just made a call.”

  The bile swirled like a hurricane. Morgan swallowed. “Oh?”

  “Yeah, she was on the call long enough to trace her. She’s in Bozeman. That’s three and a half hours south of here. We can make it in decent time. Weather is going to turn tomorrow with a storm coming in, and they said we’ll have a harder time driving it if we wait.”

  Morgan’s palms were sweaty. Her face clammy, and her ears buzzed obnoxiously. She had no idea what she would do when they figured it out, and they would figure it out. It was only a matter of time. They were so close to catching her. If only it could be held off for a few more hours or even a day if she were lucky. She knew she was toying with her job, walking the line of losing her badge, but she had to be the one to catch her. She wasn’t lying, but she was strongly omitting the truth, which in a way wasn’t much different.

  “Morgan?”

  She snapped her attention back to Pax.

  “You okay?”

  “Uh…yeah. I’m fine. Just…you know.” She waved up and down her body. “Still recovering.”

  He nodded. Morgan let out a breath that he took her excuse as valid. They gathered up their things and headed for their rental car. Pax convinced Morgan to drive, citing that she had more experience in the snow, which was a complete farce, but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed having the control of the vehicle.

  They were about halfway there when Morgan broached the topic of how to lure their killer out. If she really was in Bozeman, and they had that knowledge, then they could try and keep her from killing anyone else and instead focus her energy on Morgan herself. It was an insane idea, but it was one that might work, especially if Pax was there as backup.

  “We could put out a media release.”

  Pax turned from looking at the file in his lap and narrowed his gaze at her. “You want to put out a media release? That sounds very unlike you, Stone. What’s up?”

  “It’s just a thought. What if she’s already found someone and is basically waiting it out to kill them. She skipped from five stabs to seven. I’m the one in the middle, so I must be six. She might be obsessed, and if we do a media release, if I do a media release, it might refocus her attention on to me and save someone.”

  Pax grunted and shook his head. “Noble but stupid.”

  “Come on, you can see the logic in it.”

  “I can. It’s still stupid.”

  Morgan would have to convince him. If she could save a life, then she could end this. It was her fault Lollie was loose anyway and that even one more person had to die on her watch. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, let it happen again.

  “Think about it, really. It’s not that insane of an idea.”

  Pax let out a breath and closed the file in his lap, staring out the front windshield. Morgan kept her speed even, driving through the mountain pass as they made their way toward Bozeman. The Missoula detectives were going to let them know if there were any more calls from the phone, but they were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, so they could be missing vital information.

  “I won’t do it without Taylor’s approval.”

  Morgan rolled her eyes. “He was already pushing for a media release. I didn’t want to scare the whole world of lesbians into thinking someone was after them.”

  Pax chuckled. “Yeah, that’d be bad.”

  “But we don’t have to be that specific. I can get on local news, we don’t have to make it national yet. If I do it, she’ll see m
e, she’ll figure out for sure who I am, and then she’ll come find me.”

  “Are you sure of that?”

  “As sure as I can be.”

  Pax didn’t say anything for a good five minutes, and Morgan knew him well enough to know he was actually considering her thought process. If she could get Lollie back on the phone, she’d be able to steer her in a different direction hopefully. It felt like a shot in the dark, but Lollie’s psyche wasn’t fragile, and there was some weird connection she seemed to have with Morgan. If she was truly looking for love, she’d thought she found it. Morgan was willing to play the enticer to get the killer.

  “You know, Stone, here’s my hesitation.”

  “What?” She switched lanes to pass a lumber truck.

  Pax turned to look at her, and while she would have liked to make eye contact with him, she wasn’t moving her gaze from the road. “You, my friend, are lucky to be alive, whether you are willing to admit that fact or not.”

  It was like he stabbed her in the heart. Tears stung at her eyes, and Morgan knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold them back. When she risked a glance in his direction as she slid back into the right hand lane, a tear streaked down her cheek and fell into her lap. He was right. She was very lucky to be alive, and she had no answer for him, no come back, no way to rebut what he said.

  “I don’t want to lose you.” His voice was close to a whisper.

  Sometimes Morgan forgot just how close they were, just how long it had been since they’d met all those years ago at the academy. She had been with him longer than he’d been married. She’d been there for every big moment in his life, meeting Mel, asking her out, engagement, his first assignment, his first arrest, marriage, the twins, his first nationally known case. She was his partner through it all. If he were in the same position as she was, she knew she would feel the same. He was her brother, her best friend, through and through. She couldn’t live life without him.