Lloyd laughed.
“Maybe I’ll think of something to take care of that issue on the way back to your house,” he said. “But it won’t be here in the bank parking lot.”
Sonya snickered, sitting back in her seat.
“I’ll be a good girl as long as I can,” she said with a serious, innocent expression on her face.
He laughed again and shook his head. With a turn of the key, he started the car and they were off. A smile stayed on his lips as he drove—he couldn’t believe it had been that easy to rob Jennings blind. He knew the old bastard deserved it—and that most of the money was what Jennings had stolen and they were just taking it back—so the payback theft felt like a huge victory.
“Do you think we left enough for him not to notice?” Sonya asked, looking at Lloyd. “We still have to work with him for days…”
“Yes,” he said, “we left plenty. I don’t think he’ll notice until he goes to pay Butch and doesn’t have a million dollars to throw around anymore. Oh, what was in the safe deposit box?”
“Thanks for reminding me,” she said, opening her purse to dig inside. “The safe deposit box was a very small one, which was probably why they didn’t give me too much of a hard time about not having a key—not like they knew what the contents were anyway. I did have to scream and almost burst into tears, saying there was something of my beloved dead grandmother’s in there. I also started dialing my phone like I was going to call my lawyer, and they finally let me in, since I knew all the account information and answered every other damn question they threw at me.”
“See!” Lloyd exclaimed. “I told you all that studying on the way there would pay off—why do you think I printed so much of that damn information out and put it in the file?”
She nodded, still digging in her purse.
“Ah, here it is!” she announced, pulling a small ring box out of her purse.
“A ring?” Lloyd asked, looking skeptical.
“Not just any ring,” she said, opening the box to show it to him. “There’s a certificate too, saying that the diamonds are all real.”
Lloyd frowned at the piece of jewelry held within the dark velvet box, and took it from Sonya so he could hold it where he could look at it and drive at the same time. The setting was of various colored stones in a rose formation with the petals spread open and leaves around the flower.
“Those don’t look like diamonds, I mean…they’re all different colors.”
Sonya laughed. “Diamonds come in various shades—some of the colored ones are very rare, so this ring is probably worth a lot of money.”
“You said there was a certificate?” he asked, handing the ring back. “Does it say how much the ring is worth?”
She shook her head “no.”
“There’s nothing about an appraisal for insurance value either,” she said, and sighed. “Either he has that information or he never had it appraised.”
“Strikes me as custom made,” he said, frowning. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Me neither.” She closed the box after looking at the ring again, and slipped it back into her purse. “I suppose we could get someone to look at it, see how much it’s worth, and sell it.”
“Maybe…” Lloyd said. “I have a better idea though.”
“Oh,” she asked, and turned her head to look at him. “What’s that?”
“Well, I haven’t gotten you an engagement ring yet…” he said, and winked at her suggestively.
“Really?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, really,” Lloyd said. “You deserve something rare and beautiful.”
She didn’t reply, so he glanced over at her and saw that she was grinning broadly and staring at him with love in her eyes.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too,” she replied. “Now I’m even hornier.”
Lloyd laughed. “Do you want me to find a hotel?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly. “Can I wear the ring while we fuck?”
“Sure,” he said, “since you can’t wear it again until all this crap is over. You might as well enjoy it for a little while.”
He took the next exit off the highway and made his way to a hotel. They checked in and spent the rest of the afternoon doing anything and everything pleasurable they could think of to each other while Sonya wore nothing but the ring and a smile.
***
It was almost midday before McCoy and Croce had all the warrants they needed. During their wait, he’d brought her completely up to speed with the investigation. He managed to tell her what had happened to his brother without getting too emotional, which pleased him. She’d expressed her sympathies and he could tell she understood what drove him to pursue the case with fervor. It was personal.
As they went over case after case that had little to link them, she also realized how much work he’d put into the investigation. If it hadn’t been personal, she knew he wouldn’t have pursued it as hard as he had and that the cases would have been added to the mountain of cold cases that went unsolved every year.
As soon as the warrants were official, they headed out. They’d mapped out a route that would save them time and help them visit as many hospitals as possible that day.
They left the FBI office with optimistic enthusiasm.
***
Roger grunted as he and Butch carried one of the large generators into the new building they were going to be using for their makeshift harvest center. Honestly, he liked the new building better; it wasn’t visible from any of the nearby roads and someone would have to know it was there before they could ever find it. He’d asked Jennings how he’d found it, since it was so far from everything else. Apparently the site had been recommended by Peter, who’d lived in the area for a short while when he was younger.
One of the main perks of the new seclusion was that they didn’t have to carry everything down into the basement of the ancient, decaying, brick and wood building, because no one would see the lights when they were on in the middle of the night. They could also dispose of any of the body parts they didn’t use and the victim’s identification in the woods surrounding the place.
Finally reaching the spot where they wanted the generator, the two strong men set it down, both sighing with relief as they stood.
“I won’t have to work out for a month after this,” Roger joked, half-smiling.
Butch laughed. “Me neither.”
They looked around at what they’d accomplished that day and felt pleased. All of the heavy items—like the generators—had been moved and placed in the chalk outlines Jennings had made before they’d gotten started.
“Doesn’t look like we’ll have much to do tomorrow,” Butch said. “Do you think we can call it a day?”
“I was just going to ask you the same thing,” Roger said, looking out a missing corner of a grime-covered window. “It’s getting dark, so we might as well stop for the day.”
“Great!” Butch exclaimed, clapping his hands once. “I could really use a beer. Want to join me?”
“Thanks, but I better not,” Roger said. “We have to be careful not to be seen together if we can help it.”
“I guess you’re right,” Butch said, and frowned. “What time do you want to get started tomorrow?”
“I’ll meet you at the old building around eight o’clock,” Roger said, picking up a couple of coiled extension cords from the floor and laying them on the generator, getting ready to go.
“In the morning?” Butch asked, joking around.
“Yes,” Roger said, “in the morning.”
They headed through the door they planned to use as the main entrance and exit, and closed it behind them. Roger secured it with a padlock to keep anyone who might happen by out of their newly claimed space. They’d spent the first couple of hours after their arrival earlier in the day securing the building before they’d unloaded anything out of the moving truck Jennings had rented. It had been meant for the family har
vest, but was coming in handy with the move of base as well.
“So…” Butch said as they were climbing into the moving truck, “…how serious are things between Lloyd and Sonya?”
Roger—who’d just shut his door and was about to slide the key into the ignition—froze and looked over at Butch.
“Who said there was anything between them?” he asked cautiously.
Fleetingly the memory of Jack’s questions and outbursts ran through his mind. He knew Butch sniffing around in Sonya and Lloyd’s relationship for any reason would end badly, as was evident by the picture Lloyd had sent Jennings of Jack’s mutilated body.
Butch smiled. “No one, but it’s the vibe I’ve picked up from them.”
“You’d have to talk to them,” Roger said, finally sliding the key in and starting the engine.
“They don’t seem to want to talk about it,” Butch said, watching Roger, sure he knew more than he was letting on.
“Then I guess it’s none of your business,” Roger said, still focused on driving.
“You’ve worked with them for a long time, haven’t you?” Butch asked, frowning and looking out the windshield, watching the woods go by as they bumped along the forgotten, cracked road that led to civilization.
“Not so much with Lloyd—a year or so—but I’ve worked with Sonya for a long time,” Roger answered flatly.
Knowing about Butch’s agenda to kill Lloyd, Roger was wondering where this line of questioning was going. He sincerely hoped Butch didn’t try to enlist him in the plot, because he didn’t know what Lloyd would want him to do. On one hand, the man could want him to go along with Butch so he had inside information on the murder plans and enlist him to help foil it, but on the other, he might see it as a betrayal. Everything that was going on was already stressing him to the limit and cracking his resolve. He was already a double agent, plotting on Jennings―he didn’t know if he could take on yet another deception act and be a co-plotter to Lloyd’s death.
“You ever been in a relationship with her?” Butch asked.
This wasn’t what Roger had expected and he frowned at the turn in a conversation he’d thought he’d mapped out.
“No,” he said slowly, cautiously, “we’ve never been in a ‘relationship.’”
“Why not?” Butch asked, looking at him funny. “You aren’t gay, are you?”
Roger laughed. “No, I’m not gay. I just don’t see her that way, and she doesn’t see me that way.”
Butch grunted and frowned.
“Are you sure you’re not gay?” he asked again. “She’s fucking hot and a wicked lover. You mean you never fucked her? Not even once?”
“No,” Roger said, shaking his head. “I’ve never had sex with Sonya. She’s like a sister to me.”
“You’re gay!” Butch announced.
“I am not,” Roger retorted, starting to get mad.
“Okay,” Butch said, raising his hands in surrender. “If you say so.”
Roger shook his head and once again focused on driving, but he couldn’t help but fantasize about ripping Butch out of the truck and beating the crap out of him for saying he was gay. He didn’t have issues with anyone being gay—his brother was—but he didn’t need someone who didn’t know him accusing him of being something he wasn’t. If he was gay, he’d admit to it.
They traveled the rest of the way in silence, Roger fuming over Butch’s ignorance and Butch laughing inside knowing he’d upset Roger.
“I’ve fucked her,” Butch announced proudly, watching for Roger’s reaction.
“Yeah, right,” Roger said, with a smirk.
“We were really tight years back,” Butch said, nodding. “Couldn’t keep her off me back then, or me off her for that matter.” He paused and laughed. “But she decided she didn’t want me anymore since I wouldn’t be her little boy toy puppet. Stupid bitch.”
Roger didn’t say anything, but inside his thoughts was spinning.
“Used to make her really hot to torture people who’d pissed her off,” Butch continued. “Until one time I got overly excited when it was my turn and killed a couple of them. They were a couple of young women who’d bullied her when she’d been in high school or something—hell, I don’t know, I was drunk, and so was she.” Butch shrugged.
“So, you two would torture people and it would turn her on?” Roger asked. “Then you would have sex? That was the extent of your relationship?”
Butch shrugged again. “Pretty much. She really freaked when I killed them. I don’t know why, but she wouldn’t see me anymore after that. Then she up and moved away—she’s changed a lot since then.”
Roger was confused. Everything Butch was saying didn’t match up with the Sonya he knew. The woman he knew was really crazy and sadistic, but had a heart under it all. He wondered if Lloyd knew about her past with Butch, because it was nothing even close to the vague hints he’d gotten from Sonya previously.
They didn’t say anything else for the rest of the ride, and when they arrived at the old building, Butch climbed out of the moving truck, waved, and took off in his truck.
Roger sat there with the truck idling for a long time. He still couldn’t picture Sonya and Butch together, doing the things he’d said. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get it out of his mind until he talked to her, so he texted her. When he didn’t receive an answer, he headed over to her house.
As he pulled onto her street, he saw Lloyd pull up to the curb in front of her house. He thought this was odd since he normally tried to hide his presence.
Sonya was out of the car and walking up her driveway when he pulled in. She turned to look at the truck with a frown and then noticed who was driving. She smiled and waved at Roger. When he didn’t do the same back, she frowned again.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as he cut the engine and got out.
“We need to talk,” he said, “about Butch.”
She frowned and nodded.
Lloyd turned off his car and got out to make his way up the driveway to see what they were talking about.
“What’s up?” he asked Roger.
“Oh, not much,” Roger said, still focused on Sonya. “We’re just going to have a nice long talk about Butch and his previous relationship with Sonya.”
“I don’t see why it matters,” she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. “It’s all in the past.”
Roger took a step closer to her, looking her in the eyes.
“Oh, it matters,” he snapped, “because what he told me doesn’t fit what I know about you and I need to know if you’ve been lying to me.”
“Calm down, Roger,” Lloyd said, trying to step between them. “Maybe we should do this another time, when you’re not so upset.”
Roger turned his attention to Lloyd.
“No, we’re going to talk about it now!” he almost screamed. “I’m tired of dancing around bullshit with everyone! I want the truth and you should hear it too, Lloyd.” He turned back to Sonya. “Can you do that? Can you tell us the truth? Or are you completely incapable of being honest with anyone?”
She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides.
“Come in. I’ll tell you what you want to know,” she said, and started walking toward the front door, digging her keys out of her purse. “I really don’t know why you need to know. But I’m eager to know what he told you that’s making you act like this.”
They followed her. Once she had the door open, they went inside and sat in her living room.
The men waited patiently for her to begin the tale of her past with Butch, both wanting to know how it might affect the future.
She took a deep breath and started speaking.
“Well, Butch and I were hired by this company to work together.” Sonya paused and looked down at her hands. “We would go to private parties and be the entertainment of sorts. I was just out of high school and needed money for college.”
“What kind of parties?” Lloyd asked gently, reaching over and taking one
of her hands in his. “What kind of entertainment?”
“Sex, bondage stuff,” Sonya said. “We would go to people’s homes and do what the people wanted us to do to them.”
“Like what?” Roger asked, frowning. What she was saying was nothing like what Butch had said.
She sighed. “I was trained to be a dominatrix, if that gives you any indication.” She paused and smirked at the surprised look on Roger’s face. “We tied people up, whipped them, and pretty much anything else they wanted us to do.”
“Butch said you would torture people who pissed you off and you would get excited and have sex…” Roger said, watching her.
“That’s kinda true,” she said, laughing and squeezing Lloyd’s hand. “Sometimes we would get really turned on during ‘the job’ and we’d end up having sex. We didn’t beat people who made us mad; it was all just work. Maybe he thought we had something more, but honestly, I was young and sexually adventurous at the time. I was trying to figure myself out and I admit I experimented quite a bit. I had a girlfriend too…did he tell you that?”
Lloyd snickered, but quickly tried to hide his amusement by covering his mouth with his hand when Sonya turned her head to look at him.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “Didn’t really surprise me, but it struck me as funny the way you said it.”
She stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Roger and continuing her story.
“He found out about my girlfriend and convinced me to invite her and her other lesbian friend to come to one of the parties,” she said. “They said yes, and we went to pick them up on our way. There was no party though. He’d made it up to get us all in one place. He took us to an abandoned building and we all started drinking. We accepted what he said when he told us the people who’d hired us had canceled at the last moment, but he still thought we should get together and have a good time.” She stopped, closed her eyes, and shook her head.
“It’s okay, babe,” Lloyd said, squeezing her hand a little tighter and wrapping one of his arms around her. He glared at Roger for putting her through this. Honestly, he wanted to know all the information too, but he didn’t want Sonya to suffer, and he could see that she was.
Nurse Blood (The Organ Harvester Series Book 1) Page 22