Tap Dancing with the Devil

by Faith Gibson

  Amanda licks at my lips. She even sucks my moustache, not leaving one drop behind. Having gotten what I came for, I put my hand on her shoulder and push her away. As she rights her dress, I pick her purse up off the ground and place it in her open hand. “I need my panties, please,” she says sheepishly.

  “I think I’ll hang onto those as a memento of this wonderful evening.” No way in hell is she getting those back. “Thank you, Mrs. Perry, for spending time with me.” I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles. Not waiting for her to follow, I stride off past the corner of the building, hailing a taxi. One pulls to the curb, and I hold the door open for her. “Here you are,” I announce and gesture inside like a chauffeur would for his master.

  She stops in front of me and asks, “Will I see you again?”

  Abso-fucking-lutely. “If fortune smiles on me, then yes, you will.” I walk away, not lingering to see whether or not she gets into the waiting vehicle. As I make my way to the front to have the valet bring my car around, I wrap my hand around her silk panties hiding in my coat pocket. You will definitely see me again, Mrs. Perry.

  Seducing Neil’s wife didn’t take very long. I have no doubt I could have fucked her up against the building and she’d have been yelling my name. Well, Theodore’s name. My dick is still hard and needing relief. It’s late, and I need to go by the house to change out of my suit. It’s too late to go around to Violet’s, so as soon as I get inside and have my clothes off, I jack off using the lingering scent on Amanda’s lace to fuel my erection. Fucking my hand isn’t as satisfying as fucking a willing woman, but now that it’s not the only relief I’m getting, it isn’t as tedious as it was in prison. Plus, now I have the luxury of taking my time without worrying about anyone hearing. Imagining I’m sinking my dick into her slicked up pussy, I stroke my fist over my dick until I’m shooting my load against the tile wall of the shower. Not as good as the real thing, but it’ll do.

  Chapter 8

  Neil

  Neil pretended to be put out by having to leave Amanda at the restaurant, but he silently thanked the bastard who was on a killing spree for the small favor. Celebrating their anniversary wasn’t something Neil wanted to do. What the fuck was there to celebrate? Their relationship was strained at best and had been for a long damn time. Now he had an excuse to stay out late and go see someone who appreciated his sexual appetite.

  Even though Huntsville was outside their jurisdiction, he and Adam had been called in because this victim was killed in the same manner as two previous men who happened to be wanted criminals themselves. “What do we have, Adam?” Neil asked his partner as he ducked underneath the yellow crime scene tape that stretched been two tall trees. The Huntsville State Park was often used as a body dump. Overgrown brush and trails that led nowhere were perfect spots to leave victims if you didn’t want them found for a while.

  “Jack Davies.”

  “The child molester?”

  “Yep. A couple and their dog found him. The dog took off after a squirrel and wouldn’t come back to them. When he kept barking, they went looking for him and found the body. This one’s a little different from the last two, though. The unsub left a calling card.” Adam Murdock, Neil’s partner, motioned to where one of Texas’s most wanted was propped against a large tree. The victim was no loss to humanity. As a previously convicted child molester, the world was better off without the piece of shit as far as Neil was concerned. What bothered him most about these killings was that somehow, someone was finding men the Houston PD as well as the FBI had been looking for over the span of many years. Adam held out a plastic evidence bag with what appeared to be a tarot card inside. “This was stapled to his chest.”

  “The Three of Swords… Do you know what it means?” Neil mumbled, not wanting to touch the plastic bag.

  “What the fuck do I look like, a goddamn swami?” Adam barked.

  “Fuck you, Adam.” Neil hated his friend sometimes. Most of the time. But right then, he couldn’t be bothered with his partner. He studied the card. It was the same card he’d received earlier that day in his mailbox at home. He’d thought it odd finding the plain envelope stuck in the middle of his other mail. Now, it was more than odd, but he had no clue what it meant other than the killer knew where he lived. The hair on the back of Neil’s neck stood on end. He scanned the area, certain they were being watched. “What else do we know?”

  “It looks like he was killed somewhere else then dumped here, same as the others. The only blood we found so far is coming from the wound to his chest, and even that’s minimal.”

  Neil doubted there would be much evidence, if any. So far, the forensics unit had come up with nothing on either of the other victims. This guy was good. “What do you need me to do?” he asked, praying Adam wasn’t in a hurry to get home. Neil had somewhere else he wanted to be.

  “Nothing for now. I just wanted you to see it in the flesh, plus I thought you might want an excuse to get away from Amanda. You going back to finish your dinner?”

  Neil laughed at his partner. “Nah. You know her fat ass is already in bed snoring. I’m gonna go finish the drink I’d barely started. I’ll catch you tomorrow.” Neil shouldn’t act as shitty toward Adam as he did sometimes, but their past held a lot of history that he’d just as soon forget about. As he walked back to his car, Neil scanned the area looking for something. Someone. There was no way the tarot card he received at home was a coincidence. And now his prints were all over it. Fuck. The first thing he was going to do the next day was show the card to the Captain before taking it to the lab.

  Driving away from the crime scene and in the opposite direction of home, Neil headed to a bar he frequented up in Madison. It was far enough away he didn’t have to worry about anyone recognizing him, especially that late in the day. When he arrived, he made his way to the booth at the back of the room and sat facing the door. It was busier than usual, and he had to wait a few minutes for the waitress to come by. A strange face asked, “What’ll it be?” She had her pen poised, ready to write his order on her pad.

  “Give me a double Jack, no ice.”

  “No food?”

  “No food. Say, where’s Gloria?”

  Before answering, the waitress eyed Neil up and down. Her face was impassive, so he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Smirking, the woman said, “She quit. But if you need, you know, anything, I’m available. The name’s Violet.” Neil took that to mean she liked what she saw.

  Violet sashayed off to another table before she put in his order with the bartender. If Violet knew why he was asking for Gloria, either he’d made such an impression the other girl had bragged, or she was a whore who fucked all the patrons. Violet wasn’t bad looking. She was rough around the edges with a sleeve of vibrant ink on one arm. She was a little on the slender side, but she had an ass that he’d love to sink his dick in. Yeah, she’d do.

  Neil ordered several doubles. Once he started reaching his limit, he motioned for Violet. “I’m ready to tab out. What time do you get off?”

  Violet didn’t answer. He was sure she’d heard his question, but she left him alone, retreating to a table on the other side of the room where she spoke at length to a rough-looking man. With long hair and a beard, he looked more like Violet’s type than Neil did. The man put some cash in her hand and headed out the door. All night, Neil kept an eye on who the woman talked to, who she flirted with. Who she might have rather spent time with than him. When she returned, she placed his ticket on the table and said, “Half an hour.”

  “I’ll be waiting outside,” Neil responded and threw a couple of twenties on top of the check. It was too much of a tip, but this was their first meeting. He would get her alone after her shift and amaze her with his dick. Once he had her hooked, the tips could dwindle. If she wasn’t as good as Gloria, or she wasn’t into the rough stuff, he’d have to look somewhere else.

  Neil stood with his back against the front wall of the bar, one knee bent with his foot resting on the bricks.
He usually allowed himself one cigarette, but waiting on the broad was getting boring, so he lit a second. Jack’s was busy as usual. Most people enjoyed sitting on the back deck that looked out over the lake, but Neil wasn’t there for the ambiance or the scenery, other than watching Gloria sashay her ass across the floor in her cut-off denim shorts. Her quitting seemed odd. Neil had seen his favorite piece of ass less than a week ago, and she hadn’t mentioned anything about quitting.

  Gloria was into the same kind of kink Neil was, only instead of being on the giving end, she was a willing recipient. Plus, she lived close by. Neil didn’t have to pay for a room where he could fuck her, and he didn’t have to keep his toy bag in his car. He didn’t need anyone from the precinct finding out what he got up to in his spare time. Adam knew, but only because he’d joined Neil at a BDSM club once. Once had been enough for Adam, but he never gave Neil shit about it.

  When Neil found Gloria, he’d been able to save his money by not visiting the expensive club where anything went, although he did miss watching as other people with similar sexual proclivities played out their scenes. Neil didn’t get off being watched, but he didn’t mind it either. Thinking about some of the more taboo scenes got his dick hard, and he adjusted his cock with his free hand.

  Just as he was snuffing the cigarette out with the bottom of his dress shoe, Violet strolled out of the bar. She had a fringed leather bag tossed across her shoulder and was chewing a wad of gum. He fucking hated the sound of chewing. She stopped in front of him, her eyes raking over his tall, slender body.

  “You sure are dressed up to be hanging out in this dump.” Violet ran her ink-covered fingers along the lapel of his coat. Neil also hated ink on a woman, but he could overlook it for a dip in her pussy. He would have preferred the softer edges of Gloria, but she wasn’t available, and he was ready to get his rocks off. Surely, someone who looked like Violet knew her way around a dick.

  “I had a thing. Now, are we going to stand here talking fashion, or are you going to give me what I came for?”

  “What’s wrong, sugar? The little woman not giving it up at home? Or are you too much man for one woman to satisfy?” Violet asked, pointing at the wedding band on his left hand. Neil never bothered to take it off. He wasn’t trying to find another bitch to drain his wallet dry, rather someone to drain his cock dry. Nobody knew him outside of Houston, so he wasn’t worried about anyone telling his wife they’d seen him.

  “Why don’t you climb on my dick and find out?” Neil snarled. He didn’t tell Violet that his wife gave it up whenever he demanded it. With Amanda, he dipped his dick long enough to get a nut before he rolled off her fat ass and went to sleep. His needs ran a lot rougher than his wife could handle, therefore he looked elsewhere.

  “You got a room, or are we just gonna fuck in the alley?”

  “You’re a mouthy bitch, you know that?” Neil said, but he actually liked a little sass. Amanda used to be sassy, but those days were gone. Now, she barely spoke to him, and it was a blessing. Talking led to arguing, and that led to fighting. Neil was tired of fighting. He was tired of a lot of things. Some of which he had to endure until he had enough money to tell the Houston PD to kiss his white ass.

  Violet grabbed hold of his dick and stroked it through his pants. “I ain’t got all night, sugar.”

  Yeah, she was going to be a nice change of pace, even better than Gloria. “Don’t you live around here?”

  “Sure do, but I ain’t taking a stranger home to Momma. And before you smart off, I don’t live at home. She lives with me. So if you want some of me, you either come off the cash for a room, or we get a quickie in the back of your car.”

  Motherfucker. He could either cough up the dough for a cheap room or try to find someone else to spend some time with. It was already late, so he decided Violet would get more of his retirement savings. But only this one time. No pussy was worth this much money. “Follow me,” he instructed. Neil waited until he saw Violet pull out of her parking spot. When she was behind him, he led her to the cheapest motel he thought he could stand walking into. Tonight was about testing the waters and the limits the new woman was willing to go to. She would be on her knees or on the bed. Neil didn’t have to touch anything but her. If she was as good at sucking dick as she was running her mouth, he might be tempted to get a better room in the future. Damn you, Gloria.

  Chapter 9

  Adam

  Adam let out a deep huff. Another body and another tarot card. This card was different than the one they’d found on the child molester’s body, but it was exactly like the one he’d received in his mailbox the day before. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Instead of bringing it in like he should have, Adam had kept it at home to study it. Try to figure out what the fuck it meant – The Five of Swords. Adam had seen all kinds of crazy shit over the years, but never had he come across the occult. The quick search he did on the internet came up with various meanings, but most of them were close – conflict, betrayal, defeat. It appeared the killer was taunting him. There had been no return address on the envelope. No stamp. Someone had hand-delivered it to his home. If it was the killer, then he was definitely trying to get under Adam’s skin.

  Their latest victim was Carlos Sanchez, a small-time, Mexican drug-dealer-turned drug lord over the past couple of years. Hailing from Monterrey, Sanchez had plagued Texas with his heroin trade as well as dipping into human trafficking. The odd part about it was Sanchez had kept to the areas of Texas closer to Mexico. Not once had they received intel the man was anywhere near Houston. So how did his dead body end up there?

  “Murdock, get your ass in here,” Captain Lou Harvey yelled across the bullpen.

  Adam entered his boss’s office. “Shut the door.” When the door clicked closed, his boss lit into him. “There something you need to tell me?” Captain Harvey asked.

  “I’ve had a shitty day, Cap. You got something to say, just spit it out.”

  “Don’t take that tone with me, Murdock. I’ve got bodies piling up all over the goddamn place, and the calling cards have your goddamn fingerprints all over them. If you and Perry don’t figure this shit out, the Feds are going to come and take over. I haven’t called them in, but it’s only a matter of time before they get wind of what’s going on. I don’t like the fact that Neil got one of those tarot cards at his home. The killer knows where he lives, so it only makes sense he probably knows where you do as well.”

  “Neil got a card?” His partner didn’t bother to tell him that little bit of information.

  “What the fuck is going on with the two of you? You’re supposed to be partners, yet I don’t ever see you together, and now I know something about Perry that you don’t. Do we need to have a sit down?”

  Things were shit, but fuck if Adam wanted Lou to get involved in their mess. “Not necessary. We’re working different angles. Covering more ground that way. I got one of those cards in the mail myself. I think the bastard’s taunting us.”

  “And you didn’t think to mention that before now?” Lou bellowed. “If we weren’t short-handed, I’d be putting your ass on desk duty. Where’s the card?”

  “At home on my desk. I was searching for the meaning of it.”

  “That’s evidence, Murdock. Your partner was smart enough to turn his in. Go get that fucking card, and get it over to Murray immediately.”

  Adam ran a hand through his graying hair. He was too damn young to look and feel as old as he did.

  “What about immediately did you not understand, son?” Lou slammed his hand down on the desk.

  Adam did his best not to scowl at his boss calling him “son” as he exited the office. Lou was only six years older, but he liked to think he was wiser since he was the Captain. Heading straight for the front door of the precinct, Adam ignored the eyes of his fellow cops. Everyone would have heard the captain’s outburst. He knew. He’d heard it plenty from the other side of the door. Adam didn’t want to turn the card in, but now that Lou knew about it, he d
idn’t have any other choice.

  Seeing Lexie’s car in the driveway when he pulled in did nothing to quell Adam’s nerves. He shouldn’t feel that way, because his wife didn’t bother him. She didn’t ask for things she couldn’t pay for with her own money. She didn’t nag when he came home late. She really didn’t deserve the fist he took to her on occasion, but he was growing weary of being married to a mouse. Saddled down with a woman who had no fire. No spunk. The Lexie he lived with now was nothing like the woman he’d married all those years ago. Back when they met, she’d been hell on high heels. He couldn’t place when she’d changed. When she’d stopped giving a shit about pleasing him with her mouth and her pussy.

  As he stepped through the kitchen door, he let out a sigh of relief when he found the room empty. He honestly had no idea what his wife did with her free time nor did he give a shit. Adam unlocked his office and stepped into his private domain. He sat down at his desk and opened the drawer where he’d left the tarot card. It wasn’t there. He shuffled through the miscellaneous supplies of used pens and flash drives. He slammed the drawer closed and opened the top right-hand drawer. Rifling through the papers, he came up short. “Lexie!” he bellowed. “Lexie, get your ass in here.”

  His wife hurried to his office, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor. “Adam? What are you doing home?”

  “Have you been in my desk?” he asked, ignoring her question.

  “Of course not. I don’t come in here. Ever.”

  “Fuck!” Adam ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Don’t lie to me. I had something in the desk, and now it’s not there.”

  “Adam, I swear to you. I don’t come in here.” Lexie shrank back, and he really couldn’t blame her. He had a tendency to hit first and ask questions later. She didn’t move from the doorway, her eyes wide, her lips trembling. No, she wouldn’t dare touch his shit for fear of having a matching black eye to go with the one currently healing. Besides that, he kept the door locked to keep her out. Ignoring her, he began rummaging through his office, aware of her presence as he did so.