FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel

by R. J. Belle

  "Don't act like an ass, detective, I know why you're here, and so do you," Olivia said, stepping away from the entryway and motioning for him to enter.

  He sat down on a frayed, material couch, with a hideous floral print, and Olivia took a seat on the matching ottoman opposite him. Her face revealed signs of stress, and she had dropped some weight since the photograph in his coat pocket had been taken. Even though the photo was only a few years old, Olivia appeared to have aged at least fifteen years in the last two. She looked awful, worn out, beat down. The girl looked broken. The look on her face reminded him of the look on Ms. Hanson's face when she had left him at the coffee house.

  "Why do you think I'm here, Olivia?" Sutton asked.

  She tilted her head, like a dog does when it hears a high-pitched sound, "You're here because of Nate Warner."

  "Nate Warner?" Sutton asked.

  "Detective, please don't treat me like I'm stupid. You got a question, ask me, and if you don't have any questions, then leave," Olivia said, looking Sutton directly in the eyes. As she studied his face, she was taken with his pale blue eyes and recognized a kindness behind them that she doubted many people noticed. A warm fatherly like energy radiated from him and even through his tough exterior, she could feel it.

  "Fair enough, Ms. Foster, how do you know Nate Warner?"

  "That's a complicated question, perhaps you should ask another," Olivia said, clearly unafraid to take charge.

  "Okay, do you know Kali Hanson?" Sutton asked, playing the game Olivia was asking him to play. Her gaze moved away from his eyes, and fixed on the floor as soon as Kali's name left his mouth. He could tell the question hit a nerve, and he intended to continue hitting it until he found out what part of the web Olivia was stuck in.

  "Yes, I used to work with her," Olivia said, still looking at the floor.

  "At the facility? San Diego Orthopaedic Specialists?" Sutton asked.

  "Yes, but I'm sure you already know that."

  "I do. Can you tell me what your relationship was with Ms. Hanson?" Sutton asked.

  "A work relationship," Olivia said.

  "Were you friends?" Sutton asked, gearing up to rapid fire some questions at her until he had her where he wanted her.

  "Yes," Olivia said.

  "So, you had a relationship beyond being co-workers?"

  "No."

  "Olivia, you just said you were friends. Yes, you were friends, or no, you were not. Which is it?" He asked, his tone becoming caustic.

  "Yes, we were friends, but not outside of work," Olivia said, looking up at him, her eyes pleading for leniency.

  "Were you jealous of Ms. Hanson?" Sutton asked.

  "No!" she shouted. Rising from the ottoman, she walked into the small kitchen area and poured herself a glass of water. From the kitchen area, she looked at Sutton, as if daring him to ask another question.

  "Is there a reason that question upset you, Ms. Foster?" Sutton asked, calmly.

  "No."

  "Did you have any intentions of hurting Ms. Hanson?"

  "What? Why are you asking me these questions? Did something happen to Kali?" Olivia asked.

  "Do you think something happened to Kali?" Sutton asked, thrown off track by her question. He usually knew what was coming when he was in control of an interview. He didn't expect that, at all.

  "I don't know," Olivia said.

  "But you think something may have happened to her? You think she was in danger?" Sutton asked.

  "I don't know."

  "I think you do, Ms. Foster, tell me why you think Kali may have been in danger," Sutton said.

  "I think she trusted people she shouldn't have trusted," Olivia said, turning away and walking back into the kitchen area.

  "People? By people you are referring to Nate Warner?" Sutton asked.

  "Yes."

  "And?" Sutton asked.

  "Other people."

  "Olivia, please come back in here and sit down," Sutton said, knowing he needed to back off some and assuage her emotions.

  Looking at him, she put her bottom lip out and blew air straight up, blowing a few stray ringlets away from her eyes, as she made her way back to the ottoman.

  "Thank you. I can tell that you are upset; you obviously care a great deal for Kali Hanson, would that be an accurate assumption on my part?" He asked, as gently as possible, trying to keep her from shutting down.

  "Yes," she said.

  "And you don't think she should have placed her trust in Nate Warner?" Sutton asked.

  "No, I don't think she should have trusted Nate or Meg," she said, looking him in the eyes again.

  "Meg? You are referring to Megan James?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you know Megan James?" Sutton asked.

  "Yes."

  "You know Megan through Kali Hanson?" Sutton asked.

  "Not exactly," Olivia said, returning her gaze to the floor.

  "Exactly how did you come to know Megan James?" Sutton asked.

  "We are...we're related," she said.

  "Related, ma'am?" Sutton asked, completely taken aback. He hadn't found any connection between Olivia Foster and Megan James when he searched Olivia's background.

  "Yes," she said, her voice growing softer.

  "I'm sorry, Olivia, I was not aware that you had familial connections in San Diego."

  "Well detective, I do," Olivia said with a defensive tone.

  "How are you related to Megan James?" Sutton asked.

  "She's my sister."

  "Your sister?" Sutton asked, completely confused, his mind racing, trying to think faster than all the new facts he was being fed.

  "Yes, my sister, does that surprise you detective?" Olivia asked.

  "Yes ma'am, I was under the impression that Megan James was an only child."

  "She isn't." Olivia said, her voice cracking as tears filled her big, blue eyes.

  "You are her biological sister?" Sutton asked.

  "We have the same father, so yes, I am her biological sister."

  Sutton sank back into the couch, ran his hand through his hair, and fought hard at resisting the urge to pace the floor of the small apartment.

  "Have you had a relationship with Mr. James since birth?" Sutton asked.

  "No, I have never had a relationship with my father."

  "I apologize for my ignorance, Ms. Foster, but I'm having a hard time following the trail here. Your last name isn't James, you don't have a relationship with the father you have in common with Megan James, and you don't believe Kali Hanson should have trusted Megan James. Do you have a good relationship with Megan?" Sutton asked.

  Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, took a deep breath in, looked up at the ceiling, and then back at Sutton, "Detective, you want to know the story, you can't connect the dots, and you want me to fill you in, right?

  So, here goes - Mr. James cheated on his wife, with my mother, and when my mother told him of her pregnancy, he offered her money to keep it quiet. My mother was in a bad financial position at that time in her life, so she gladly accepted. I had a good life, detective. My mother was amazing, she did her best, she loved me, and I wanted for nothing as a child. I lost my mother to cancer when I was in college, and during the process of settling my mother's affairs, I found correspondence between my mother and Mr. James. After reading that correspondence, I put two and two together. I tried to put it behind me, let it go. It was made clear in the letters Mr. James sent my mother that he wanted nothing to do with me. But there came a time that I just had to know. I had to know why he hated me so much, but I needed to find out. I contacted him by phone and he agreed to meet with me. I was thrilled, but the day we met, he arrived with an attorney and the bastard offered me money to go away. When I said no he threatened me, he threatened my life detective.

  By the time I reached out to Mr. James, I had already done research on not only him, but also his company, and his family - the family that he actually claims. I learned that I had a sister, Meg. I began to
research Meg and, in doing so, I learned that she resided in San Diego, and worked as a horse trainer for our father's business. I thought if I moved to San Diego and figured out a way to get close to Meg, that I could make her like me, that we could become friends, and if we became friends I thought eventually our father would have to accept me, that he would be forced to allow me to be a part of the James family.

  I moved to San Diego, and I started working for Dr. Tessa Drake. During an event that we hosted for rehabilitation specialists, Tessa Drake and I met Kali Hanson who was, at the time, entertaining the idea of moving on to a better career opportunity. Tessa loved Kali's background and wanted to extend her an offer. Tessa had me research Kali Hanson prior to drafting the employment offer, and in doing so, what do you think I stumbled upon, detective?"

  Sutton could barely form a coherent word, lost in the story he was being told, and dumbfounded by the complexity of it all, "Megan James. You found out that Kali and Megan were close," he said.

  "Yes, I found out that Kali Hanson and Meg were best friends. Tessa extended the offer, Kali came to work at the facility, and I was ecstatic believing I finally had my way in. I befriended Kali, met Meg, and within a few months, I went to Meg directly and told her everything. And what do you think happened next, detective?" Olivia asked.

  "I have no idea, but I have a gut feeling it didn't go as you had hoped," Sutton said.

  "No, detective, it didn't go as I had hoped it would. Megan James told me to never contact her again, that she didn't accept that I was her sister, and that if I pursued a relationship with her, or our father, she would make my life 'a living hell'. So I left her alone."

  Olivia stopped talking, her body twitching as she heaved silent sobs inside, holding it in as best she could. The pain radiating off of her body was palpable.

  "I'm sorry you had to go through-"

  "Don't be sorry, detective, I'm not a charity case, and I don't need your pity. The deeper I looked into the James', the uglier they became in my eyes. I feel fortunate that things worked out the way they did, fortunate that I didn't end up in the middle of that cluster-frick of a family. I knew eventually they would bury themselves in the holes they were digging. So, I sat back and watched them self destruct from the inside out, and I would be a liar if I said it didn't feel good to watch each of them suffer in their own ways. I enjoyed it. Immensely. And then, I was given another gift. I was given the opportunity to take away the only thing that Meg really loved, the only ally she had. Her best friend. And this is where your Nate Warner comes into play," she paused again, took several sips of water and studied the utter shock displayed on Sutton's face,

  "Nate Warner visited the facility, frequently, to see Kali. I got a bad vibe off him the first time I met him. He's evil and I felt it. His energy literally made me nauseous. I figured it was because he was a liar and womanizer, in the worst way. One afternoon Meg had come to the facility to bring Kali lunch, and when she was on her way out of the facility, Nate was on his way in. It was crystal clear to me that there was something between the two. I saw my opportunity to hurt Meg, just like she had hurt me. I knew if I could prove to Kali that Meg and Nate were having an affair, she would cut them both out of her life. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Ironic, isn't it?

  I hired a private investigator, and he confirmed what I already knew. I decided to watch them both squirm a bit before I presented the facts to Kali. My own brand of evil, funny how that happens to us, evil, I mean. I don't think most of us intend to become what we despise, but sometimes we become just that. They both had it coming and I wanted to catch them in the act, so I followed Meg one night..."

  Olivia stopped talking once again. This time her sobs were more intense. She suddenly jumped up, ran to the kitchen leaned over and began to vomit violently into the ceramic sink. Sutton went to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders. In the span of just two days, he had witnessed two different women broken by two different types of heartache, fall apart before his eyes.

  "Olivia, we can stop talking for a while. Come, sit on the couch," Sutton said, as he led her by the hand to the couch. She fell into the couch, and balled up in the fetal position. Sutton sat on the very edge of the couch and stroked her dark, curly hair admiring the lengths she had gone to in an effort to hide from her past, or her truth, he didn't know. But, she had definitely run away from something. He wanted to know the whole story, he needed to know, but he couldn't bear to let Olivia push herself any harder until she regained some sort of emotional stability. Her heaving and sobbing subsided, and Sutton watched her drift off to sleep. He decided to sit there for a while, let her rest, and figure out how in the hell all of this tied into Laura Carmichael's murder.

  CHAPTER 36

  The relentless pounding in her head was the first sensation she was aware of, followed by the poignant smell of alfalfa and something cold restraining her wrists. There was a warm stream of liquid running down her cheek. Tears, she thought. Her mind was so fuzzy. She shook her head, clumsily, as if trying to shake it into reality. Groggy, she felt groggy. Had she taken sleeping pills the night before, she wondered. Trying to open her eyes, nothing changed. It was so dark, the light - I need to reach the light, she thought. And then she heard his voice.

  "You're safe Kali," his voice soft, quiet. "I have you now, you are where you belong."

  Mind racing, she tried to speak, but no words came. Her mouth was unable to open, and the dark, so dark it was suffocating.

  "Settle down, baby. Why are you struggling? Do you know who I am?" He asked, as a low, ruthless laugh escaped his mouth, "Of course you know who I am. Don't try to answer, Kali, your mouth is taped shut, and I don't want you to hurt those beautiful lips. Once you calm down, and accept your current position, I will remove the tape. I want you to think about that for a few minutes, okay?" Nate asked, knowing it was a rhetorical question. He bent down, over her and rubbed the top of her head. She flinched and began squirming again. The ether seemed to have affected her in an adverse way. She was shivering uncontrollably, there were droplets of sweat forming on her forehead, and she felt clammy to the touch. He continued to rub the top of her head in an attempt to soothe her enough to calm her down and end her squirming. He wanted so badly to remove the duct tape from her mouth but he needed her still first. Reaching around the back of her head, he untied the blindfold he had put over her eyes earlier. As soon as the blindfold fell away, she blinked several times and he watched her dark eyes slowly grow large, like saucers, darting back and forth, between him and her surroundings. He wondered if she knew where she was. The flicker of recognition in her eyes told him that she did.

  She tugged at the chains that bound her wrists and kicked her feet wildly as he looked on becoming aroused at watching the useless struggle.

  "Shhh baby, don't struggle, you will only hurt your wrists. I need you to calm down, I need you to be a good girl," Nate said, as he stroked her hair, now free and splayed out in a wild mess about the hay lined stall she was lying in.

  Her body stilled and she closed her eyes tight, as if to turn off the scene displayed before her. When she opened her eyes again she looked at him, her face devoid of expression. He could tell she was aware, now, of what was happening. He could tell that she understood the gravity of her situation and even though she was trying, with all her might, to give a false appearance of serenity he could sense her unmitigated fear. Try as she might, she couldn't disguise that, and it made him hungry with desire.

  "You are going to do exactly as I request. You are going to remember your place, and if you resist, I will be forced to remind you. I have yet to punish you harshly, Kali, and I do not want to. But I will if you do not do as I request. Do you understand?" Nate asked his tone harsh, and matter-of-fact.

  Kali nodded her head yes, and as she did, the pounding returned, causing her to become dizzy and nauseous. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, the drops making their way across her face, disappearing into her hairline. The color of her f
ace had become a grayish tint; Nate knew he needed to remove the tape from her mouth. She heard a sound, a zipper perhaps, and she tried to position herself to see its origin. She strained but just couldn't lift her head high enough to get a clear view. Nate re-appeared into her field of vision and, in a swift motion, a knife sliced at her face. She shut her eyes tight, a moan coming from deep inside her, and then, air.

  Kali inhaled sharply, gasping, and tried to gobble in full breaths through her mouth. Nate had sliced a hole in the tape over her mouth, and she was momentarily grateful until the overpowering feel of dread returned. Trying to speak she moved her lips, the small portion that was free, but no words came. Nate looked down at her and raised a single, index finger to his lips, "shhhh," he whispered.

  He began lifting the edges of the tape from the side of her mouth and when he freed a corner, he pinched it between his thumb and index finger and yanked the entire piece of duct tape from her mouth. Kali let out a shrill scream and immediately, her mouth was covered, smothered by his large hand. Returning his finger to his mouth, he repeated his earlier warning, "shhhh."

  "I am going to take my hand off of your mouth, and you are going to be silent unless I request you to speak, do you understand, Kali?" Nate asked.

  "Yes," she said, barely audible, her voice a low whisper.

  Nate placed a hand over the front of her neck, squeezed tightly then released the pressure. His hand continued traveling down her body until it stopped, resting on her breast. She followed his hand with her eyes, trying to formulate a plan in her head. She knew she was in grave danger, but she also knew that she had a way of getting inside of Nate, deep inside, to the place that rendered him defenseless. She realized that her only hope of survival was to be able to play the part of the submissive, while gaining control of the situation. She shuddered. It was a game she hadn't played before, but the stakes were higher than ever, and she had to master it. There was no room for error.

  Looking up at her, Nate was turned on by her eyes, which fixed on him. The look on her face, he had seen it many times before; it made him long for more, long to take her to darker places, places no man had taken her before. His body tensed. A flash of anger went through him like a bolt of lightning, and he recalled that night, listening to another man touch her. He stood up swiftly, towering over her, she didn't see the whip in his hand until after it struck her with a loud crack; her face stung and her cheek became hot. A sharp pain followed the sound of the crack, and she screamed out involuntarily. Another crack followed, more pain, and another, and another...