The Naughty Box (9 books in 1 box set)

by Davis, SJ

  Lena chewed her fingernails while she waited for him to return. The minutes ticked by slowly. After an interminable hour, Stan returned to the office. He closed the door and took his seat opposite her. “It was a saw,” he said, without preamble.

  “Excuse me?” Lena’s stomach lurched ominously.

  “Jake Morris used a handsaw to dismember Annie Janson. The boys found it on the far side of the landfill in another plastic bag. It has Jake’s name burned into the grip and it’s covered with blood and hairs. They’re dusting it for prints right now, just to be sure.” He raised his eyebrows as she lowered her face to her hands. “How do you feel about Jake Morris now, Lena? Still think he’s innocent?”

  “I…I…” Lena stood abruptly, upsetting a jar of pens in her haste. “I have to go, Stan. I’ve got things to do up at camp.”

  “Sure you do, Lena.” He tapped his pen against the desk absently as she fumbled with the door handle. “In the wake of what we’ve found, maybe you’ll want to re-think that bullshit you’ve been spreading around about Annie Janson and a mysterious stranger, too. Your story’s starting to smell just about as bad as…well, you know.”

  She turned the knob and pushed it open, fighting back nausea. “I have to go,” she repeated. “If you need me, I’ll be up on Breakneck Ridge.”

  Stan stood. One arm shot out to block her exit. “Don’t worry,” he said. “If I need to question you, I know exactly where to find you. Oh! And Lena?”

  She hesitated, one foot on the threshold as she looked back. “What?”

  Stan Spaulding’s lips curled into a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but don’t leave the county, okay?”

  Chapter 31

  “What’s the matter, Selene?” Odin leaned toward her, studying her face with ill-concealed concern. “You’ve barely said a word since you got home. Did something happen? Did the police make any progress?”

  “No…nothing,” she murmured, cradling her head in her hands.

  “I can see that ‘nothing’ means ‘something’.” He lifted her chin and brushed her hair from her eyes. “Let me make you a drink. When it feels right, you’ll tell me, yes?”

  Lena pushed his hand away and closed her eyes.

  “Well,” he said, standing, “I’ll make you that drink anyway.”

  He went to the kitchen and poured a healthy slug of scotch into a glass. “Tell me,” he said when he returned. “I’m here only to listen. I promise not to judge.”

  She opened her eyes and sighed. Odin hovered above her, his eyes crinkled with worry. “They’ve found the tool that Annie’s murderer used to dismember her with,” she whispered. “Jake’s been arrested.”

  “But this is terrible news, Lena,” he said, taking her face between his hands. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  “They must have found some solid evidence if they’ve formally accused him.”

  “They say that he beat her to death, and then dismembered her,” Lena said, shivering. “They found his hand saw in the landfill with her body and her belongings. It was covered with hair and blood.”

  Odin shook his head. “How horrible.”

  “That’s not the worst of it,” she said. “I’m pretty sure Stan Spaulding thinks I helped him.”

  “No.”

  Odin embraced her. Shaking, she melted against him, grateful for the comfort of his warm solid body.

  “You’re wrong, Selene,” he said. “Relax…they’ll find that they’ve made a mistake. Jake will be released and this whole thing will blow over. Don’t worry,” he added, “they’ll find the person who is truly responsible.”

  “Do you really think so?” She gazed at him intently, desperately wanting his words to be true.

  Odin shrugged. “If he didn’t do it, then he’ll be found innocent. It’s that simple, is it not?”

  She sighed and pulled away. “No, Odin, it’s not. Right now everything points to Jake having killed Annie. His fingerprints are all over the plastic bags and all over the saw that was used to cut her apart.”

  “Isn’t that circumstantial?”

  She collapsed into a chair and closed her eyes. “They say they have a motive, as well.”

  “Motive?”

  “Jilted lover, one too many times. Jealousy, rage, and alcohol...” She rubbed her fingers against her forehead. “Jake has a history.”

  Odin poured her another finger of scotch. Lena downed it in one swallow.

  “Maybe he did kill Annie,” he said, slowly. “Did you ever consider that?”

  She clutched her arms across her chest as the cool September air stole the heat from her body, shivering while Odin wrapped her in a blanket and added logs to the woodstove.

  “He couldn’t have killed her, Odin,” she said. “Jake loved Annie with all his heart. He always has, ever since high school.”

  He turned to her and shrugged. “Love can force people to act in strange ways.”

  “Not Jake,” she insisted as her tears began again.

  “Shhh, now,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “Shhh. It will be okay.” He lifted her chin and kissed her. “Trust me, it will all work out.”

  She shook her head.

  “Let it go, Lena. Come, it’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

  She let him lead her up the stairs. In the dark of her bedroom, he undressed her slowly.

  “Not yet,” he said, lying beside her as she reached for him. “First, tell me about your friend. Your grief is still strong. Talking about it will help you heal.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered. “It’s too soon.”

  “Have I steered you wrong yet?” He stroked her hair. “Trust me, it will help.”

  “I’m not ready.”

  “Trust me,” he insisted. His voice was soft; his lips brushed her forehead. “Tell me about Annie.”

  She sighed and gave in. “Annie and I became friends when we were five,” she began, her voice faltering. “We were in Mrs. Gardner’s kindergarten class together. From day one, we were inseparable.”

  “She had discerning taste,” he said as his lips brushed her neck. “You’re an excellent friend to have. Continue, please. I’m sorry. I’m listening.”

  Lena closed her eye as he pulled away. Her breathing steadied. “We did everything together. She signed up for swimming lessons, so I did too. I learned to ride a two-wheeler and I taught her how. In school, they had to put us into separate classrooms when we got older to keep us from passing notes all day.” She sighed. “Annie was like my right arm - I couldn’t function without her. We walked to school, spent every afternoon playing Monopoly or reading Seventeen Magazine, and did our homework, all of it, together. She even came with my family on our annual vacations to Montreal.”

  Odin’s fingers moved to her breasts. Her nipples tightened beneath his fingers. “Go on.”

  “We discovered sleep-overs in fifth grade,” she said. “Annie always came to my house.”

  “Why?”

  “Her dad liked to drink and booze made him mean. Annie was scared of him. Her mother was scared, too…too scared to do anything about it.”

  “Did he abuse her?”

  “I don’t know.” Lena rolled onto her back and gazed at the ceiling. “I asked her once or twice, but she wouldn’t talk about it.”

  “Go on.”

  Odin’s fingers moved to her hair. He twined his fingers around one long strand. Lena took a deep breath. She felt better, less shaky.

  “Where were we?”

  “The sleep-overs,” he prompted.

  “Oh yeah. We had sleepovers from fifth grade on. Annie would show up at my house after school on Friday and stay until Sunday night. My mom and dad said it felt like they had a second daughter.”

  “Every weekend?” he asked.

  She frowned. “Every weekend until we turned sixteen. Things changed after that.”

  “How, Selene? Why did things change?”

  Le
na shrugged. “We grew apart. Annie needed to go her own way for a while. I guess I did too.”

  “She stopped spending time with you.” Odin released her hair and propped himself on one elbow, watching her intently.

  “We stopped spending time with each other,” she corrected. “We went in different directions.”

  He nodded. “That happens to even the closest of friends.”

  “It didn’t last long,” she said quickly. “Just a couple of years. When I went away to college we realized how much we missed each other. We’d taken having each other around for granted, I suppose. Anyway, we started calling and writing and resumed our relationship.”

  “This…separation between you. How did it come about?”

  Lena fidgeted with the pillowcase. She felt heat rise to her face and knew she was blushing. “I can’t really remember. It was over something stupid I think.”

  Odin’s fingers touched her chin and turned her to face him. “I think you do remember. Why don’t you tell me?”

  She shook her head.

  “Was it because of a boy?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, too quickly.

  “Selene?”

  “I was jealous,” she admitted. “Jake Morris and I got close but it didn’t work out. Then he asked her out and I was jealous.”

  Odin’s hands found her breasts. She shuddered as he stroked them with his forefingers. “You were jealous of Annie?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  His eyes searched her face; she blushed deeper and shook her head.

  “No…that’s not true,” she said. “I was jealous, but not of Annie.”

  “Who were you jealous of, Selene? Tell me. It’s okay…I won’t judge.”

  “I…I...”

  “Tell me.”

  Odin’s voice was low, hypnotic. It wrapped around her and pulled her in. He stroked her hair and she sighed.

  “I wasn’t jealous of Annie,” she whispered.

  “Then, who?”

  His lips found her ear and then her neck. She gasped and rolled onto her back as he ran his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties.

  “It was Jake,” she admitted. “I was jealous of Jake.”

  Odin smiled. “I thought so. Tell me, Selene, what happened between the two of you that changed things? Not you and Jake…you and Annie.”

  “I can’t. You’ll think I’m…I can’t.”

  He pulled her closer. One hand rested on the curve of her hip. The other moved in a light circle over her skin. She felt her stomach tighten beneath his touch.

  “Tell me.”

  Lena closed her eyes. She swallowed. Her mouth was dry and gritty. “You know how I told you that Annie spent every weekend at my house?” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “Well…we had a routine, of sorts.”

  “Tell me.”

  She swallowed again as his hands moved to her thighs.

  “We’d do our homework on Friday afternoon. Then we’d have dinner. If it was summertime, we’d walk into town to get an ice cream cone at the stand. After that, we’d usually listen to music and read magazines or play Monopoly until it was time for bed. My parents weren’t like Annie’s…they let us have our space. They trusted us.”

  Odin’s hands moved to her buttocks. She stopped speaking as he kissed her.

  “Go on,” he said, his voice husky.

  “One day I was in their room. We had a school overnight and I need a suitcase. I pulled it out from under the bed and opened it up, but it wasn’t empty. It was filled with magazines…Hustler, Penthouse, Playboy, you name it. I don’t know what I was thinking… I reached into the middle of the stack and took two or three out, replaced the suitcase, and hid them in my room under my mattress.”

  Odin parted her thighs. She moaned softly.

  “Go on.”

  “When Annie came over that Friday, we had dinner and went into my room. I put the music on loud and locked the door, then I pulled out one of the magazines. I asked her if she wanted to look at it.”

  “She said yes?”

  Lena nodded. “We opened it to the centerfold. It was a picture of two women, a blonde and a brunette.”

  “Just like you and Annie.”

  Odin’s cock was hard against her thighs. He rose onto his knees and continued to press against her.

  “What were they doing?” he asked.

  “They were naked,” she whispered, “and they were…you know.”

  “Making love?”

  “Yes.”

  Heat flooded her lower extremities; her heart thumped wildly as he pulled her panties down and pressed against her.

  “What happened next?”

  “We turned back to the beginning of the article,” she whispered. “It wasn’t an article really, just a series of pictures. In the first one, the two women were dressed in suits and high heels. The kind of suit you’d see in a Victoria’s Secret catalog. You know, unbuttoned to here.” She pressed a finger midway down her breast.

  Odin nodded. He took her finger between his lips and licked it.

  “In the second picture, they were kissing. The blonde had her hands on the brunette’s ass. She was hiking up her skirt.”

  Odin pulled her closer. She could feel the tip of his cock as it entered her and withdrew.

  “What next?” he whispered.

  “Next, they were topless. The brunette had her mouth open. Her tongue was touching the blonde’s nipple.”

  “Like this?”

  Odin’s tongue found her breasts. A tremor passed through her as he sucked the right one, then the left.

  “In the last picture, the centerfold, the brunette was posed in an office chair with her feet spread wide on her desk. The blonde was between her legs. You could see her tongue and her fingers…”

  Odin entered her. She moaned again and wrapped her legs around his back as he pushed forward.

  “What happened next?” he murmured.

  Lena closed her eyes as his buttocks clenched and released. Her pelvis rose to meet him. “Next, Annie looked at me with this really strange expression. She bent forward and kissed me.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What did she say?” He withdrew and slipped to the floor, pulling her lower body to the edge of the bed. Bending forward, he flicked his tongue back and forth while his fingers entered her depths.

  “Oh,” Lena said, running her fingers through his hair.

  “What did she say, Selene?” he repeated.

  “She said ‘Do you want to try it?’”

  “Like this?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “And did you?”

  His fingers pulsed against her as his tongue flicked faster. Lena felt her body tighten as her pelvis rose skyward. Her breath came in broken gasps.

  “Did you make love to her, Selene?”

  She opened her eyes and draped her legs across his back. Her pelvis rose and fell, rose and fell. Fast. Faster.

  “I...”

  “It’s okay,” he said. “You can trust me. Did…you…make…love…to…Diana?”

  Memory heightened sensation. Lena cried out as her body convulsed. “God forgive me, yes,” she said as his lips left her loins and he joined her on the bed. “I made love to her.”

  Shame mingled with passion and she wept with fresh grief while Odin held her, so distraught that she thought she misheard his final words of comfort:

  “It’s alright, Selene,” she thought she heard him say. “It’s alright…I forgive you.”

  Chapter 32.

  “How long did your affair with Annie last?” Odin asked.

  They’d made love for a second time and lay amongst the tangled sheets, arms and legs entwined.

  “Three weekends,” she said. “Six nights altogether.”

  “What happened? Why did it end?”

  Lena frowned. “Jake Morris asked her out and she said yes
. The next thing I knew, they were inseparable. Probably fucking in the front seat of his pickup truck, knowing Annie.” She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. She’d loved Annie; Annie was dead.

  “Have you ever told anyone about your affair?”

  “No.”

  “Not even Alex?”

  Lena shook her head. “Especially not Alex. He would have screwed everything up between us if he’d known.”

  “How so?”

  She shrugged. “Alex married me, but he was hot for Annie from the get-go. If he’d known what we’d done…”

  “You think he would have asked you to revisit your sexual relationship?”

  “I know it. Just after we were married, Annie came down to Connecticut to visit.” Lena pulled the sheet over her legs and rolled over, propping herself on her elbows. “He practically begged me to ask her into our bedroom. When I said no, he flirted with her like a hound in heat. If Annie had liked him at all, she probably would have slept with him then and there despite our vows.”

  The hint of a smile played across Odin’s lips. “She didn’t like your husband, I take it.”

  Lena shook her head. “She never told me so and she tried to fake it, but I knew her too well. She couldn’t stand Alex from the start. Maybe she saw what I didn’t.”

  “Which was what, exactly?”

  “A self-serving egotistical bastard who doesn’t give a crap about anyone but himself. I should have taken her intuition a little more seriously…it would have saved me a lot of grief in the long run.”

  “There must be something redeemable about him,” Odin said. “You married him, after all.”

  She grinned and rubbed against him. “He’s extremely good-looking, don’t you think? On top of that, he’s hung like a …”

  Odin laughed and rolled his eyes.

  “Well, you asked!”

  “Since we’re on the subject of your extremely good-looking well-endowed husband, did you serve him with the papers yet?” he said.

  “Yes. My lawyer delivered them a couple of days ago.”

  “And?”

  She snuggled closer to him. His arm tightened around her shoulder. “Now it’s just a matter of waiting until our separation’s been long enough for the divorce to become final.”