by Karine Green
He put his hands on her waist to avoid her running into him. He shrugged, "I don't know." He leaned his forehead on hers.
She smiled and put her arms around his neck. He seemed so confident and pulled together, but was painfully shy in the area of romance. "Would you like to kiss me?" She tilted her lips toward his.
He didn't answer. He leaned down and kissed her, feeling her waist. He kissed her a long time before backing off. "You don't have any pantie lines under your dress."
She winked at him. "I had plans for you the moment you asked me to the fish fry. It's why I wore the long dress and not the sun dress."
He smiled and kissed her again, this time pulling her dress up as he picked her up running his hands over her bare rear end. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He sat on the humble wooden bed and lay back with her on top of him.
She kissed his neck, and then ran her lips along his earlobe.
"I want to make love to you right now," he blurted out. He stopped, "I can't believe I just said that. I am sorry." He started to lift her off of him.
"I know about the cheerleader, and crazy Lauren. All I can assure you of is that is not what I am going to do. Please don't leave." She reached down his shorts. He unbuttoned them and groaned, leaning hard into her while trying to wiggle out of them.
He cupped a breast, as he moved down her neck kissing her until he reached her cleavage. He untied the string of her maxi-dress. It had been too long since he had made love. He honestly thought he would die if she suddenly decided to refuse him. If she did, it would be par for course. He would never trust anyone enough to be intimate again, ever.
"Do you want to go downstairs?" she breathed into his ear.
He shook his head no. "If I don't have you right now, I'll surely spontaneously combust." He lifted her by the waist just enough to slide inside her.
When they were done Kathy lay with her head on his chest, because there wasn't room in the narrow bed for her to lie next to him. He kissed the top of her head, and smoothed her hair.
"Thank you," he said, stretching and knocking open the footlocker at the end of the bed. "Oops."
"No, thank you, for being so incredible." She smiled. His kisses were gentle, and his touch kind, but massaging. No one had ever made love to her like that before. She wanted to fall in love with him. She could understand Lauren's obsession with him. He was perfect.
"Can I stay the night, but not right here?" he asked, sounding awkward and nervous.
She grinned, "I would be delighted. Come on. Let's go to bed, properly." She kissed him on the mouth and then got up. "Jason." She pointed into the bottom of the footlocker he just knocked open.
He pulled his shorts back on and rolled over and looked into the footlocker. There was a false bottom, and even in the waining light, the edge of a brown quilt could be seen. "No one has found this before now, with all the trespassers up here? There was no way this could have been kept secret."
Kathy pulled her dress back on. She leaned into the locker and pulled up the false bottom to reveal a beautiful brown quilt, or at least it once had been. Dry rot had taken its toll. "Help me set it down. Be careful, it's fragile." Threads were falling off of it.
Jason put both arms under the quilt and set it down on the bed. He used his phone light to look in the bottom of the locker.
Kathy leaned over his shoulder, and read the words burned into the bottom of the locker. She read the words, "Red = Death/Avoid, Purple = Safe, Brown = Storm's brewing, hold in kind. It's the quilt meanings. Why would she keep this here?"
"If she wrote this down, she was a really bad smuggler. That must have been how William and Percy cracked her code. He found this," He stood behind her, caressing her stomach, and kissing her neck.
"She was a decent human being, trying to do the right thing. Decent people don't make good smugglers," she said, reaching back to run her fingers through his hair.
****
Jason nodded. As interesting as he found this, the only thing he could think of was getting Kathy back out of her dress and into that fluffy, comfortable looking bed she had.
"Ethan...Stable Boy," Kathy whispered, holding her dress over her bare breasts. "Did you see who killed the man? In the cane field?" she added, figuring that when Ethan was alive the subdivision had been sugar cane fields.
Silence.
"You didn't expect an answer, did you?" Jason asked, but he sounded very unsure of whether or not he had expected one too.
She slipped her dress back on to properly cover her. "No, but I didn't expect to find this either." She pointed at the quilt. "Besides, some of the best clues are always unexpected. You guard it. I'll go get a box to put it in so it will be safe. Check around, see if you can tell if anything has been disturbed."
He nodded. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind for the rest of the evening."
She leaned up and kissed him. "We're not done, at least I hope not. I just don't want this one vanishing when we glance away. I want it safe in my room, where I can see it." She ran off.
He sat down next to the quilt staring at it. It had once been exquisite work. His mother would love to see this. He used his phone to take a photo of it, the quilt code, and then uploaded them to his work email account. Then he noticed the writing in the photo.
The inscription didn't state the quilt meanings it stated. Hello, it's Stable Boy. I am sorry I cannot help you further. I get to go away now. Please help Granny. She will keep Mother safe, for my sake.
Jason looked at the photo, and then back down into the locker. The quilt code was still etched there. He looked back at the photo, it was the quilt code. He took another photo.
“Tell mother, I promise to be a good boy, but I won't remember this place.”
He looked away, and back at the screen. It was another photo of the quilt code. He looked around. "Stable Boy?"
He snapped a photo again.
“Good-bye, Daddy. I will see you soon.”
He had meant to stare at the screen for a long while to make sure it did not change, but involuntarily glanced at Dark Lady's bed where he had just had unprotected sex with Kathy. He looked back. The message was gone, replaced by a third photo of the quilt code.
"Found one," Kathy said, coming up the kitchen entrance. He must have been staring wide-eyed at her. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I...uh..um" His gazed dropped to her flat stomach.
"Oh for heaven's sake not you too. There are no ghosts. It is just the work of a psycho killer's mind games."
"Stable Boy said to tell mother he promised be a good boy." He glanced at Kathy's lower abdomen, again, and then at his phone. Too bad the messages were gone.
"Of course he is. I am sure he was a little angel baby." She gently put the quilt into the box, and carried it down stairs.
"I could use a drink, I think," Jason said, checking his phone again. "And you have no idea just how much of an angel baby he intends to be."
"I have some beer in the fridge, but I'll warn you, I am a light weight." She boxed and took the quilt downstairs.
"A beer would be great," he said, leaning on the kitchen island counter top.
After several beers each, they were both now drunk. They had moved to the living room with their beers. Kathy's furniture looked ridiculously small for this grand room. Perhaps she would move it upstairs to the mezzanine?
Kathy mused, "Do you think you knocked off her trunk-locker-thing lid by accident? Maybe, no one else could open it because her ghost self was sitting on it?" She leaned in close to Jason. He still smelled of his aftershave. "You smell fantastic."
He smiled. "I don't know. I think so," he was having a hard time not slurring his speech, time to stop drinking. "Someone must have left it there, Louise mentioned for us to go to your library." His head was spinning, but he was enjoying the fact that Kathy's right breast brushed against his arm when she leaned into him. He felt like a teenager on a date with a pretty girl, and had to laugh at himself.
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"Really, do you think she drove her scooter up there?" Kathy said laughing. Why was that funny? Oh, because she was totally lit. It had been a long time since she was this buzzed on a date.
"Damn it!" she said, frowning.
"What?"
"Do you think someone broke into my house and put that there? The killer?"
"Who?"
"I don't know, you're the active duty police officer."
"But you're the trained detective," he said, leaning in and kissing her neck. "Did you lock all the doors?" Sable Boy's message calling him 'daddy' was fading as he felt the urge to finish what he started with Kathy earlier.
"Yes," she breathed, "You have had too much. I can't let you drive." She ran her fingers through his hair.
"That's OK, you can ride along all night if you want." He couldn't believe he just said that! He had never physically wanted a woman as badly as he wanted Kathy right now.
He was about to hope she didn't get mad at him for coming onto her that strongly, but the thought was cut off by her putting her hands down his pants.
"Do you want to come to bed with me and talk about the evidence in the morning?" she asked, digging her nails into his rear end.
He nodded, "Thought you would never ask." The only thing he could focus on was making love to her as he carried her upstairs and sat down on the bed. He pulled her maxi-dress off, and lay back pulling her with him.
Neither of them saw Dark Lady with Percy's book. She set it on the night stand, opened it to the page Stable boy had left the message on, and then she glided out of the room. She had intruded enough.
The Randy Bell Incident
Kathy awoke with a slight headache, but felt safe snuggled into Jason's side. She pulled the covers over her shoulder, trying to ignore the single ray of sunshine coming in through the curtains, and somehow landing on her eye.
She stirred, remembering the sweet sensations of Jason's love making. He was very attentive. She was definitely falling in love with him, and prayed she wasn't making a mistake. She had been hurt so many times in the past, but Jason was unlike any of the men she had ever dated.
Did she dare allow herself to think she might still have her own family? How did Jason feel about that? She pushed the thoughts from her mind. She warned herself not to fall in love yet, Kathy. There was still the Lauren factor.
She could feel her comforter underneath her, but there was a blanket on her. She must have passed out, and Jason covered her. How freaking embarrassing!
She paused for a second.
What blanket was this? She only had the one. She opened her eyes, and then was immediately awake as she realized what it was.
"Jason!"
"What!" His dark eyes flew open, and pain shot through his skull as a hangover headache took over.
"The quilt!"
They were covered up with the old brown quilt, and the Shakespeare reader was open on her nightstand. She picked it up. It had a message written on the pages. She read it out loud. "The Angry One, who hates everything, whipped the one in the cane field to death. The Angry One is after mother, and was not after the man. The next quilt is red." It was blocky childish lettering over several pages.
Jason leaned over her, caressed her face, and leaned in like he was going to kiss her. She could feel his heart pounding, probably because he was startled awake. He didn't kiss her, instead he leaned over far enough to whisper into her ear. "Do you take the pill?"
She stopped breathing. "No." She clung to him. "Oh God, Jason! Do you think he was referring to me as mother?"
Jason nodded. "He also called me daddy in the attic."
"Why didn't we think about that?"
"Cause we're older. Hell, at this point in my life a child would be the ultimate blessing, not an unplanned teen-curse. Especially if my son could have a mother as incredible as you are." He caressed her face.
Kathy smiled. "I wouldn't be upset either, but I must admit. I wasn't planning on having one nine months from now." She put her arms around his neck. "Is it OK to fall in love with you?"
He smiled and nodded. "Not until we get out from under this old, dry-rotted quilt."
She laughed. They got up and repackaged the quilt. She glanced over at the side table. "Um Jason." She pointed.
It was the little Shakespeare reader. It was lying open flat, with the message, 'If you want a purple quilt, do not leave the house, but first you must find the bearer of the red quilt. It's in the house.' was scrawled across the pages in loopy cursive writing that was very different than the other message.
"Jason, we didn't leave this here last night. That means someone was in the house while we were sleeping." Kathy covered her mouth. "They could have blown our brains out. And, we would not have known it."
"I think it's time you tell me about Randy. Is it possible that he is trying to get revenge for your part in his termination?"
"By whipping an innocent man to death? I don't' think so. Do you think it could be?" The idea was very far away from what she believed Randy could do.
"By making your murder look like the same suspect did it, so no one would ever suspect him. It would be a good way to get away with it, wouldn't it?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to eat, and get something to drink. I am so thirsty it is hard to think straight. Do you think someone came in last night? Perhaps you are alive right now because whoever came in didn't expect two people to be here."
"Could it be one of your psycho ex-girlfriends wanting me out of the way?"
"Ex-girlfriends?"
"Lauren, or the Cheerleader bitch."
"The Cheerleader bitch died in a drunk-driving crash almost ten years ago. Thankfully her drunk ass only killed herself. Lauren was never...ever...a girlfriend, nor was she ever even good enough to use as a heated blow-up doll. Not only that, but she is one hot financial mess."
Kathy was intrigued. "How so? Did she really work as an officer?"
He nodded. "I hired her to help her out money wise, because I thought she was a victim of the housing scandal. I fired her because she had been taking the school kids' fundraiser money, greedy bitch. She's lucky they let her return it, and didn't prosecute her. They said being fired was enough. Frankly, I am surprised the school was able to keep it quiet. She was trying to buy this house, but her credit is crap. As it turned out, she had let the bank foreclose on her home, because she thought she shouldn't have to take the loss on its value during the downturn. So. She couldn't get a mortgage even if the market was good, which it isn't. This is a small town, and the same bank held Lauren's foreclosed mortgage, and the Caine Plantation. That meant they wouldn't deal with her under any circumstances. Frankly I was stunned when I learned they let her handle the closing papers."
She stared at him looking...scared. Why did she always have to fall in love with someone who loved her less? Why couldn't she find someone to love her back, as much as she did him? Perhaps it had been a bad idea to sleep with him so soon, but he was just so adorable to her.
He made a face. "You didn't think I was actually interested in that nasty, bony, scheming, blow-up-doll-want-to-be, do you? I never had sex with her. Creepy old piss ant."
"Gee, Jason, How do you feel about her?" Kathy smiled weakly. "No, I didn't think that, but she is clearly interested in you, and I am in the way of both objects of her desire. And you said Milton had an uncle at the bank, and you just confirmed it was the same one that held this house and Lauren's?" She pointed at Jason with one hand, and the house with the other, before stepping into him and running both hands down his backside.
"Yes, the same. Nice try. Tell me about Randy. The whole story…Please," he said, taking both of her hands and kissing them.
She reached over, picked up her phone, snapping a photo of the message. "Just to make sure it's really there this time." She checked to make sure it was in the photo, it was, but that didn't really mean much on this property.
"Come, let me make you breakfast, while you tell me about Randy," he s
aid, slipping his polo and shorts back on.
She nodded, and ran a brush through her hair. She picked her flowery sun dress today. The dresses were new to her wardrobe. She had never worn them until moving here. She had bought every color that didn't clash with her hair, with matching flip flops, at least ten pair. No more black, gray, or navy blue suits, with dress shoes. Then she followed him downstairs
"Don't worry, we'll take care of the quilt later, but you are going to tell me about Randy. Now," he said, starting to sound impatient. "No more runaround."
She nodded. He was right. "We need to consider every angle, an angle left uncovered, is a corner for the suspect to hide in." She followed him into the kitchen.
He grabbed a bottled water and handed her one. He downed the entire bottle. "Lord have mercy, I am going to die of thirst!"
She down at the stool by the kitchen island and sighed, "Sometimes in Homicide we handle severe assaults. It isn't always death scenes. Sometimes with the bad assaults, we work them like a homicide...just in case. One day we received a call. I am not sure why Randy formed the opinions that he did that day. Anyway, the wife had beaten the holy hell out of the husband with a Louisville Slugger."
"That's a switch," he said impressed. He had never worked a domestic from the reverse angle.
"Just because men don't get their asses kicked as often as the women, doesn't mean they don't get beat at all. The husband kept saying he deserved to be beaten, that it was alright. Justice had been served."
"What did that mean? Are you going to get to the Randy part?"
"It needs to be in context," she nodded. "He was on parole for throwing scalding water on her, burning her back severely enough to require skin grafts."
"Jesus."
"He had gotten out...paroled after serving five years of a twenty year sentence. He had tried to 'make-it-right', as he put it. She even admitted he had been like Prince Charming to her. She also admitted that she couldn't come to terms with what he had done to her before. After all, every morning when she toweled off, she was reminded of how he really felt about her, as she looked at her scarred body in the mirror."