FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel

by R. J. Belle

  He walked over to the side of the bed, leaned down and kissed my forehead. He picked up a plush, red blanket from the floor on the side of the bed and placed it over me, tucking it in against my body on the sides. With a finger, he pushed wild strands of hair away from my eyes, and the side of my face. He leaned over again, close to my ear and said, "You did good, Kali. You are such a good girl. You made me very happy." Then he stood up, moved the ottoman near the bed, stood up on it and unscrewed the hook from the ceiling, the chains falling onto the bed above my head. He pulled the chain towards him and placed all of it into the duffle bag. He walked over near the top of the bed and unscrewed the other hook and placed it into the bag, along with the object from the night stand. He pulled a white plastic tub from the duffle bag, opened it and put a finger inside, pulling out what appeared to be some type of putty. He pushed some of it into the small hole in the wall near the top of the bed, then standing back up on the ottoman, he pushed some putty into the larger hole in the ceiling. All of his movements were controlled and normal, as if this were something he did every day. It was a bizarre task to watch him perform. He put the white tub back into the duffle bag, zipped it closed, and started towards the hotel room door. He looked back over his shoulder at me. I thought he was going to say something, but he didn't. He looked away, walked out the door and pulled it closed behind him.

  I lay there awake for an hour, thinking, and crying. I fell asleep filled with a strange type of anxiety I had not experienced before. I didn't know what I felt. I didn't understand what we had done. I didn't understand any of it. I felt the kind of empty that I saw in Nate's eyes.

  Kali closed the journal, held it in her lap and stared straight ahead at the tan shower curtain. She stood up, undressed and started the shower, getting in and turning the water up as hot as she could stand it. She stood there in the shower, crying, wishing she could wash Nate off of her, off of her body, her heart and her soul. She heard a knock on the bathroom door, and shut the water off quickly.

  "Are you okay, beautiful?" Andrew asked from the other side of the door.

  "I'm good. I'll be out in a minute," she answered, pulling the curtain open, and grabbing a towel to drape around herself.

  Kali opened the bathroom door and made her way back to her bedroom. She found Andrew sitting on the edge of the bed.

  "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

  "Yes," she said, as she walked over and sat down next to him on her bed.

  He rubbed his eyes and pulled his legs up on the bed, lying down. He gently pulled her down next to him, scooting in as close as he could get next to her. Kali reached down and pulled the covers over the both of them and allowed herself to succumb to his gentleness, the security she felt lying in his arms. She willed her mind to get lost in that feeling. To put Nate out of her mind and let this glorious feeling, lying next to him, take over.

  CHAPTER 27

  The sun was shining brightly through the worn, gabardine drapes. Sutton hadn't made it to bed until after 3am and had slept through his 5am alarm. He opened one eye, shot straight up and snatched his cell phone off the makeshift nightstand next to his old, creaky bed.

  "Shit!" he said aloud.

  Already an hour behind, he jumped out of bed, darted into the kitchen, pushed the start button on his coffee pot and rushed through a lukewarm shower. After getting ready for work in less than ten minutes, he poured himself a mug of bold morning blend for the road and headed to the station. During the drive, he ruminated over the text strands between Nate Warner and various women that he had read through into the early hours of the morning. Just when he thought he had Nate Warner summed up, and figured he was close to fitting that piece into the puzzle, he was thrown off.

  There were hundreds of text messages between Laura Carmichael and Nate Warner. Initially the messages had been initiated by Nate but after several weeks the text messages went both ways in near equal amounts. A large bulk of them had to do with meeting places and times, and rarely did they schedule to meet at Nate's house. It was most often a hotel in Coronado. The rest of the text messages were sexual in nature and increasingly warped. Towards the end, there were a series of deviant requests made by Nate and promises to comply with the unusual requests by Laura, her replies becoming exceedingly submissive and less and less resistant to what was being asked of her. The very last text involving Laura's phone number was one made by her number to Nate's number asking if they could have a serious talk before the sexual encounter began at their next meeting. That message was sent on December 21, early in the morning, and there was no reply from Nate and no mention of the location where or date when they were to meet. The last time Laura's number was recorded in conjunction with Nate's number was the day she had been presumed murdered, at 9:53 a.m. The medical examiner's office estimated her time of death at between 11 p.m. on the 24th and 1 a.m. on the 25th of December.

  The text conversations between Nate Warner and Ms. Hanson spanning the three-month period of records that Sutton subpoenaed, were twisted, at best. It seemed the two had a love affair that bordered on sadistic, at least on Nate's end it appeared that way. One thing that was consistent in Nate Warner's interactions with not only Laura Carmichael and Ms. Hanson, but with multiple females he had corresponded with over that time period, was that being the one in control was a requirement for him. He used intimidation tactics and withheld affection in order to control the responses and presumably the behaviors of all of the women identified through his phone records.

  Although Sutton was more unclear now, after reading through thousands of text message conversations, than he was before as to how Nate was involved with Laura Carmichael or Olivia Foster, he was fairly certain that Nate Warner was a psychopath and unquestionably capable of murder. Sutton had forwarded a copy of the phone records and text transcripts to the profiler that drafted the suspect profile for the Carmichael case to see if the profiler could offer any further insight. Mostly he wanted to know if the profiler felt the author of those text transcripts fit the profile of the probable perpetrator. But, he already knew the answer to that question.

  Sutton caught the elevator up to the third floor. As he passed Ryan's desk he noticed a DMV records printout. He picked it up, and took it with him to his own desk. The printout was all the information on NewWay Auto Sales, the current registered owner of the vehicle that had previously belonged to Olivia Foster. Opening up the Carmichael case file, he tucked the report into the left hand jacket and skimmed through the phone records report until he found Kali Hanson's cellular phone number. It was time to set up a meeting with this woman, he thought. Before he spent anymore time trying to track down Olivia Foster, he wanted to see what light Kali Hanson could shed on the activity at Nate's home on the night of December 24. With all of the apparent and alleged comings and goings that night, someone had to know something. And, if Laura Carmichael had indeed been with Nate that night, there was a good chance that one of these other two women knew about it.

  Checking his watch to make sure it wasn't too early, Sutton picked up his desk phone and dialed Kali Hanson's number.

  "Hello." Kali answered.

  "Good morning Ms. Hanson, this is Detective Paul Sutton with the San Diego Police Department, Cold Case Unit. I believe that you may know why I am calling you, would that be an accurate assumption on my part?"

  "Not exactly, but I believe this probably has to do with my previous boyfriend, Nate Warner?"

  "Yes, ma'am, it does. I would like to set up a time to talk in person. Are you free sometime today? I can come to you." Sutton said.

  "Today works. Is your office downtown, Detective?"

  "Yes, ma'am, on Pacific Avenue. You know the area?"

  "I do. Can we meet at Words By The Cup, in Seaside Village?" Kali asked.

  "Two o'clock?" Sutton asked.

  "Sure, see you then. Oh, and detective?"

  "Yes?"

  "What do you look like? I don't know who I should be looking for." Kali said.

/>   "You will know me when you see me, ma'am. Trust me. And, I have your photograph, so I will keep an eye out for a very pretty, dark-haired lady." Sutton said, making himself blush with the blatant flirtation he uttered.

  "Okay detective, I look forward to our talk." Kali said, giggling softly as she pushed end on her iPhone.

  Looking at her calendar and realizing she didn't have any more patients scheduled for the day, she decided to try to get together with Meg before her appointment with Sutton. Opening up her last text session with Meg, she shot a quick text to see if her best friend was available.

  Hi sweets - you free for an early lunch?

  Meg's response came quickly.

  Hi K!! Yes:) When and where?

  How about d'Asia? You home? I can leave now.

  Yay! I'm on the island. Meet you there in 30?

  Perfect. See you soon!

  As Kali put her iPhone in her green tote bag, she noticed that she had an old journal at the bottom of it. Pulling out the black, leather bound journal, she opened it to the middle and noted the date, September 20, 2009. Another entry from what, at that time, was a series of twisted weekends with Nate that always left her feeling the same; lost, ashamed, and lonely. Closing the journal, not wanting to re-live anymore painful memories, she opened her bottom, right-hand side desk drawer, and placed the journal inside under a stack of magazines. She made a silent promise to herself to never read another entry from her time with Nate Warner. That chapter in her life was over, she was moving on. But first, she had to come clean with Meg.

  Keeping so much from Meg had allowed too much space between them. Frowning down at the desk drawer that now held the journal, Kali felt that twinge of guilt, again, at leaving her best friend in the dark. Meg had held her through the many long, first nights after the break-up. She had been Kali's comforter, her buffer from the deepest parts of the pain. Yet Kali had kept the details a secret, not allowing Meg to be the confidant that she had always been in previous years. It was time to end that, time to spill it. Besides, Kali was nervous about her meeting with Sutton and truly desired Meg's input. Meg would have no idea how to advise her on such a meeting because she had absolutely no clue what Nate Warner was truly all about. Not the real Nate Warner - the demon behind the mask. The only Nate Warner that Meg knew was the Mr. Wonderful, the champion, the hero, who had, in a moment of weakness, succumbed to the flirtations of a bimbo posing as Kali's friend. And, that was enough for Meg to draw her line in the sand and declare war against both Nate and Olivia. She needed to admit her own part in that relationship to Meg. If for no other reason, to have Meg tell her that she wasn't completely lost, and that her broken pieces would eventually heal. Meg would surely understand; she would see that Kali had been swept away by the charming exterior. Knowing who Kali was on the inside, Meg would understand that it was a temporary lapse in judgment that had caused Kali to give in to Nate's desires, not a jump into the deep end of sexual extremes forever.

  As she made her way to the island, Kali rolled the windows down and let the cool wind blow through her hair. She had a feeling that after her lunch with Meg and her meeting with the detective, she would have a large weight lifted from her shoulders, as well as her troubled mind. Wanting to put some focus on getting to know Andrew better, she was looking forward to coming to terms with her past and putting it where it belonged - in her rear view mirror.

  Meg parked on a side street near d'Asia, looked at her reflection in the mirror of her Benz SLK. She applied a thick coat of satin, burgundy gloss to her plump lips, smacked them together and put the tube of gloss back in her purse. Getting out of her car, she looked around the street to see if Kali had arrived yet. She saw no sign of Kali's SUV, and decided to go grab a table for the two of them in the restaurant. She was sitting at a table in the back, near the bar when she saw Kali walk in the front door. Meg stared at her friend as she made her way back to the table. Kali was a true, natural beauty, she thought. So innocent and with such a pure heart. Kali didn't look at friendships, work relationships or connections as rungs of a ladder, the only purpose in any of the associations being how far up they could take you. Meg was momentarily ashamed that she couldn't be more like Kali. The sincerity of their relationship was the one safe outlet Meg still had to find comfort from the other part of the world she lived within. With Kali, there was never any pressure, no expectations, and no ulterior motives. Meg valued that connection more than any other connection she had.

  Kali arrived at the table, reaching out and embracing Meg in a huge hug that lasted for longer than usual. She released her friend from the fierce embrace and sat down on the stool right next to her.

  "I missed you, how have you been?" Kali asked.

  "I've been great, K. How have you been? You okay?"

  "Yes, I'm better than okay," Kali said, her smile growing wider as she lifted her face and looked at Meg. "Andrew has been amazing, and I think I have finally let go of the past."

  "And by the past you mean Nate Warner?" Meg asked, her tone slightly icy when speaking Nate's name.

  "Yes."

  "Good, I've been waiting almost two years to hear you say that."

  "Meg, I need to tell you some things. I need you to just listen, please don't judge me. I would die if I lost you. It would kill me to think that you looked at me differently after what I'm about to tell you. But, I can't keep this from you any longer."

  "K! Are you serious right now? There's nothing that you could tell me that would make me judge you or look at you as anything different from the amazing, beautiful and kind woman that you are. I love you, you're my best friend."

  The waitress showed up at their table, interrupting the conversation that was just beginning. Kali felt a momentary sense of relief.

  After the two friends ordered, an unusual silence fell upon the small table, like a light rain shower before an impending storm.

  "K," Meg started, while taking one of Kali's soft, pale hands in hers, "please don't be afraid to open up to me."

  Kali pulled her hand free from Meg's grasp and began from the start. She told the story of falling for Nate, becoming completely lost in his magnetic personality, his charming ways, his above-average looks and feeling helpless to fight against the attraction she felt towards him. She laid out the series of events leading up to that 4th of July weekend at Sunset Bay, and explained the progression of sexual encounters up to that point. That 4th of July weekend was not her first indication that Nate did not have typical vanilla desires in the bedroom. There had been multiple occasions before that weekend that took Kali to places she had not previously ventured with partners prior to Nate. But, as she tried to explain to Meg, she didn't see it as anything so over the top that she would be expecting what was to begin over that July weekend at Sunset Bay.

  Kali then went on to recount in vivid detail the experiences that followed the 4th of July weekend. Telling of nights spent in secret shame, mornings of having to wear clothing to work that would cover the bruises Nate often inflicted on her body. And, all of the times she had neglected to attend Meg's functions for fear she would be able to see through the fragile veil Kali walked around wearing, just threads away from unraveling at any given moment - being completely and knowingly controlled by Nate, his desires, acting as he requested, when he requested, and never, ever questioning him. She tried to expand on her emotions during that time, how she stayed, and why she stayed. Admitting that she found herself highly attracted to the risk involved, to the not knowing what would come next, and the fact that Nate had taken her to new heights sexually. Ones she had never experienced before. She finally admitted that she felt as if she had become addicted, like an addict, and that was a shame she struggled to move past. Perhaps the hardest part to admit was that she had done nothing to try to kick the habit. There had come a turning point for her where she had wanted more - more pain, more of being controlled. Every. Single. Day. And, this is where the cracks began to surface. As she craved more, she had entirely lost her c
ontrol over that desire. She tried to define the point when she had begun testing Nate's requests, occasionally acting in a non-compliant manner in an attempt to receive harsher treatment from him. Unable to interpret her reasons for doing so, she had no way to articulate them to Meg. But, ultimately, being non-compliant was what led her to discover Olivia at Nate's house that night. She went over the entire night, everything that occurred, and every feeling associated with the moment she realized that she had been betrayed. She filled in all of the parts that had been omitted from the hours upon hours of discussion the two girls had before about that night and, in the days and weeks that had followed, Kali had tried to keep from falling under the dark wave that had threatened to drown her. Without skipping a beat, she then moved on to Sutton, the investigation, Andrew's part in what had become a distorted web of mystery that she doubted anyone would ever piece together.

  An hour went by before Kali ended her story. Once she fell silent for a few moments, Meg looked at her friend with saucer-sized blue eyes. Her mouth hung half opened and a piece of sushi pinched between bamboo chopsticks that had been raised half way to her mouth for the past ten minutes, sat suspended above her plate. She set her chopsticks down and took Kali's hand back in hers.

  "K, I am terribly sorry that you went through all of this, alone. I'm sorry that, for whatever reason, you felt that you couldn't trust me enough to tell me before now. I wish I had been there for you during that time. What can I do to help? Who is this detective? What does he want from you? Oh my gosh - do you think Nate had something to do with a murder? And what in the hell - Andrew's wife? Talk about a twisted mess." Meg said, firing questions at Kali in rapid succession. Then Meg placed her face into her hands and quietly gasped then looked back up at Kali, her eyes teary and full of concern.