Chapter 20
Elizabeth smiled warmly at her new doorman as he held the slab of stained and beveled glass, encased in finely carved wood, open for her. Only moments ago she had jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing, hoping that it was Matt letting her know he was down stairs. The day was sunny and warm, considering the season, as she stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked around for his car. Seeing it parked a little way down the street, she rushed to it and climbed in before he knew she was there. As she closed her door and turned to look at him, she couldn’t help but laugh. He had a napkin tucked into the collar of his shirt like a bib as he was in the grips of hurriedly devouring a delicious smelling hamburger. Catch-up clung temptingly to the corner of his mouth and she wondered, deviously, what would happen if she followed her impulse to lick it off. As his tongue snaked out to flick at the glop, she forced herself to swallow back the whimper in her throat.
“Well, where’s mine? I’m hungry, too!” She was only half serious, intending the remark to tease him more than make him feel guilty, but it was his turn to laugh this time. His mouth still full, he held up a finger and reached into the back seat, producing a sinfully plump bag that smelled of salt and heaven. Her smile was almost evil as she snatched the bag from him. There, cradled inside, and wrapped in red checkered wax paper, was an order of home style fries and what had to be the biggest burger shaped present she had ever seen. As she looked up at him in appreciation, her stomach roared at the prospect of this impending meal. Smiling even wider, he produced, from seemingly nowhere, a large soda cup. Shaking it at her, he took another bite of his own burger. Grabbing the cup and placing it in her cup holder, she quickly pulled the seat-belt around her and set about covering her black, knee-length, skirt with a napkin grease barrier. Tucking the last one into the neck of her blouse as a bib, an imitation of his, and ignoring his snicker, she greedily pulled the wrapped sandwich from the bag and unfolded the paper to reveal her absolute favorite of sinful foods.
“So, how did you know that burgers are my all time favorite thing to eat?” She flashed him a wicked little smile as her teeth sank into the delectably plump confection. Her eyes rolled back in her head at the sheer pleasure of it, finding only one small flaw. Chewing deliberately, she swallowed and turned to him. “What? No bacon?” He laughed as he finished the last bite of his sandwich. Pulling the napkin from his neck to wipe his mouth, he took a long drink from his soda before facing her again.
“I second guessed myself at the last minute, alas, I have failed you.” They laughed for a moment before she returned to her meal, watching casually as he got them on the road and headed for their next horrible crime scene. As she finished her hamburger and devoured her fries he steered them toward the first of several bridges they would need to cross to reach their destination. She was familiar with the route they were taking, after all, she had taken it many times in the last several years to visit her adopted parents. Finishing the last of her meal with a contented sigh, she tucked her napkin shield and bib inside the bag and tossed it into his back seat, settling into a blissfully relaxed state of satisfied warmth. When his fingers found her hand, she twined their fingers together and closed her eyes, so very close to a nap. A few minutes later he broke the silence. “So, I hate to ask, but what’s your connection to the Hamptons?”
“Oh, I lived there, after my parents died.” She felt his hand tighten. Sitting up a little straighter, she turned to him. Clearing her throat, she explained to him how, after her parents’ murder, she had been sent to live with her mother’s second cousin and her husband. How they had been the only family she had left and about her high school years living in the Hamptons. He listened intently to her story, all the while running his fingers lightly over and through her own. The caress was utterly relaxing and more than once she had almost fallen asleep. It came as a bit of shock to her when he announced, slightly annoyed, that they had arrived at the Hampton Police station. He shut the car off and turned to her, tugging her hand a bit. Warming inside, she leaned in to his light kiss—one moment of privacy before they had to go back to the real word and its horrors.
“Excuse me, I’m Detective Barrow, this is Detective Cord, we are here for the double homicide you called us about.” Matthew flipped his badge open for the officer at the reception desk.
“Ah, yeah, they said you were coming. Your lab guys are already there. Here’s the address. The first responder and assigned detective are waiting for you at the scene.” Matt took the post-it note from his fingers and, having given them all the information he intended, the desk sergeant casually went back to reading his magazine. Matt’s brows furrowed, but he turned and led Elizabeth back out of the entrance without another word.
“Chatty group you got here.” He mused sarcastically as he punched the address on the post-it note into his phone. Getting back into the car, he handed his phone to her and followed her directions. As they pulled up in front of the house, he stepped out of the car and looked up at the run down building. It was a large home, but judging by the state of the landscaping and the siding, no one had lived in it for years. Yellow crime scene tape was wrapped from column to column across the front of the house and a N.Y.C. corner’s van was backed up to the front steps. “Looks like we are fashionably late.” He laid his hand lightly into the deep curve of the small of her back and guided her up the stairs toward what was undoubtedly a tragedy.
Stepping through the open door, the stench of death nearly gagged him. He could feel Elizabeth tense with revulsion and his fingers pressed comfortingly against her. “Sorry folks, you can’t be here, this is an active crime scene.” Matthew turned to find what he assumed was the detective he was told would be here. Flashing the man his badge met with a terse nod. Holding out his arm, the other man led them further into the house. As they walked, he began to tell them the incidentals of the case. “This house has been on the market for nearly two years now. The previous owners lost it to foreclosure when the economy tanked, but we don’t have a name on them yet. The realty company says they haven’t been out to the property in months. The only reason we found the bodies was because of the Robertson’s dog. They walk it down this street every morning and this morning the thing started freaking out, managed to get away from them and ran up onto the porch. When they came after it, well, I’m sure you can smell that, and so could they. They called us, then we called you. Tom, over there, was the first officer on the scene. He swears he didn’t touch anything. Honestly, I don’t think he was in here more than two seconds. When I got here he was puking in the bushes out front. We don’t see a lot of this around here as you can imagine. My name is Bill. If you need anything just give me a call.”
They were now standing in what Matt guessed was a library. The house was completely devoid of furniture, but the walls of this room were covered in darkly stained built-in wooden shelving. There, in the center of the room was a sickeningly familiar sight. Two bodies, bound and stabbed in the back. The scene came complete with the sadistic scrawl only this time it was on the wall in front of them like the original scene pictured in her parents file. The stench of decay made his stomach churn. Turning away from the horror of it, he looked after Bill who was hastily leaving the scene. “Wait, aren’t you staying? This is your jurisdiction after all.”
“That maybe true, but this is your case and frankly, I’m glad to give it up. The sooner your people get this crap out of my jurisdiction the better.” With a grimace on his face, Bill disappeared around the corner, his tread moving quickly toward the front door. Matt sighed. No one wants a case like this. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was drawing closer to the scene. She was bending down to get a better look at the bodies, her handkerchief covering her nose and mouth from the smell. She was studying the disfigured faces when he joined her.
“It’s no use, Matt. They’re too badly decomposed to tell if I know them.” Her voice sounded like a mixture of fear and relief. Standing, she turned to him, still covering her face against the ov
erpowering stench of old blood and decay, and said, “I guess we should talk to, what’s his name, Tom? And then the Robertsons. After that, I have a few people downtown that might be able to tell us something.” She was stronger than he had given her credit for and it shamed him to think that on some level he might have doubted her. Following her lead, they met with Tom, but aside from his continual description of the horrible smell, he had no real information to give. The door had been unlocked, no signs of forced entry, and it stank was all he could tell them. The Robertsons had even less information as they had not gone any farther than the front stoop. Dead ends on all sides.
Chapter 21
Elizabeth guided him to Main Street, where a line of small boutique shops spanned both sides of the street for about three blocks. They were walking down the sidewalk, toward the bookstore, when someone popped out of the doors next to her, almost knocking her over. Matt’s strong arms had been the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground. Spinning to face the culprit, she nearly squealed. There, facing her, was her best friend from high school. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in almost three months, there was no mistaking Alex’s wild blond hair and delightful smile. It appeared that she recognized Elizabeth just as easily as they suddenly embraced. She could feel the confusion radiating from Matt like heat. To his credit, he stood quietly and just listened as they chattered for a second before Elizabeth managed an introduction.
“Alex, this is my partner, Matthew Barrow, Matt, meet Alexandra Smart, a friend from high school.” As Alex and Matt shook hands, her smile turned wicked.
“Partners, huh? I bet.” Her eyes flicked back and forth between them and Elizabeth couldn’t help the telling blush that it caused. “Well, It’s about time! I swear, Matt, I tried like hell to get her to date in high school and did nothing but fail, miserably, over and over again. I thought it was my duty as her best friend to break her out of that shell of hers, but that damn thing was pretty solid. You must be some, uh-huh, partner, to have managed it. She looks positively satisfied!” Her all too knowing smile turned Matt a wonderfully tempting shade of fuchsia and Elizabeth felt her guts tense as she tried, and failed, not to match it.
“Alex, stop it!” Elizabeth couldn’t help but giggle as Alex flitted her hand and slid her arms around both their elbows, pulling them along her sides to walk them down the street. It had been too long. Alex had been her first friend when she had moved here and, despite her distant and cold nature, the bubbly, intelligent, and somewhat naughty blond had been unwilling to give up on her. “Hey Alex, what do you know about the abandoned house on Sanders?” Alex knew every one and every thing about this town.
“Ugh, you’re talking about that nasty business, aren’t you?” She sighed. “All I really know is what I heard from Charlie at the pharmacy. That house is a foreclosure and the previous owners are dead. He said old age got ‘em. Heard they found two corpses inside. So gross!” She shook her head. Elizabeth knew she didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but she had one more question.
“Alex, I have to ask one more question, then, I promise, no more murder talk. Do you know if anybody in town went missing about two, maybe three, weeks ago? Anyone we knew in high school or that we saw a lot of in town?” Elizabeth’s stomach tightened as she tried to prepare for the answer. Alex looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head.
“Most people we went to high school with are gone, moved away like you did. As far as I know, no one’s missing. Liz you know good and well that if anything that interesting had happened you would know already, being the only cop I care to associate with. No offense Matt, but I just met you. Best person to ask is Claire.” Elizabeth nodded.
“And who is Claire?” His confused smile was adorable and Elizabeth was caught by Alex blushing, yet again. Alex’s quick, encouraging, squeeze of her elbow came just before she slipped from her grasp. Taking their hands, she folded them together and smiled.
“The bookstore owner. Now, you two have fun, and you,” focusing her eyes on Elizabeth, “had better come and see me soon, you know, when there’s not some dead body to talk about.” After another winning smile, her oldest and best friend turned lightly on her heels and sauntered back the way they had come. She left them, holding hands, directly in front of Claire’s bookstore.
“Oh, I like her.” Matt’s sly smile deepened as he squeezed her hand and pulled her a little closer to him. “So, you didn’t date in high school, huh?” His face bent temptingly close to hers as his tone deepened seductively. Elizabeth felt herself lifting up onto her toes, inching closer to him.
“Or in college, truth be told.” The surprise on his face was broken as the bookstore door burst open with the ring of bells.
“Liz Cord, is that you?!” Claire, A large figured woman of at least fifty, came barreling out of her store front. Elizabeth barely had time to release Matt’s hand before she was hauled into a bone crushing bear hug by the overly excited woman. “You look so good! I can’t wait to tell everyone that I saw you today! And who is this tall drink of water? Everyone will just be so relieved to learn that our lonely little Liz has finally found herself a man!” Elizabeth couldn’t help but turn beat red, and the shocked laughter rumbling from Matthew didn’t help.
It took longer than it should have to free herself from Claire’s surprisingly strong grip, and even longer to answer her myriad of questions, most of which succeeded in making her turn that horribly awkward red color over and over again. Much to her chagrin, Matt seemed far too amused to jump in and help her. He just laughed and smiled at her slyly as he enjoyed every squirm and blush she let slip. When it was finally Elizabeth’s turn to ask the questions, Claire had far less information to offer than she had hoped. Claire was positive that no one in town was missing and that, as far as she knew, nothing suspicious had been seen in town in at least a month, much less the last two weeks. Considering Claire’s infinite reputation as a busy body, Elizabeth had to take her opinions as facts. Thanking her for her time, they left, no closer to finding the identity of their two deceased victims. At least she could rest easy that she probably didn’t know them at all.
As they made their way back to the car, Matt kept giving her the sneakiest grin, squeezing her fingers adoringly. It was almost more than she could handle. Claire had done it now. She had managed to share every embarrassing moment Elizabeth had ever had. Matt knew far too much about her and it made her hum inside that he still seemed to want to be close to her. In fact, it almost felt like he wanted to be closer to her now more than ever.
Opening her door, he asked, “Are we headed back to the city now?” He was completely unable to wipe the smile from his face. This visit had provided him with so much more about her than he could have hoped. He knew about how smart and awkward she had been in high school, what trouble Alex had managed to get her into, in spite of what a good girl she was, and her scholarship to New York State University. With every new revelation, his feelings for her had deepened, growing more urgent that he cared to admit. He had promised himself that he would slow down, take it nice and easy with her, but now that seemed like a pipe dream. Given the opportunity, he knew he would fall on her like a man starved.
“Not just yet, there’s one more stop I want to make if you don’t mind, a personal visit.” She pursed her lips at the goofy smile he couldn’t stop giving her. “Quit grinning at me like that! It’s not fair that you know more about me than I know about you!” Pulling her door closed, she stuck her tongue out at him, turned and, pouting, crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. He knew she was just teasing him, and it was working. As always, her being playful was just as sexy as her being serious. His desire growled in his chest as he climbed into the drivers seat. Pulling her firmly into his arms, he kissed her. She fell into him like a woman on fire and he quite nearly lost control. Then, just to torture him, she pushed him back roughly. “No! I’m mad at you remember.” She grinned at him wickedly and he groaned.
“You are going to k
ill me, you know that?” Cranking the car, he backed out onto the road and pulled away. “So where are we going now?” He would take her anywhere she wanted to go if it meant getting more juicy tid-bits of her past. He followed her directions out of town and into the surrounding hills. As they turned down a very high class, and well manicured, street he became aware of the stiff incline in the property values. They were now driving past multimillion dollar mansions and estates, each gated and walled in like little mini kingdoms. His shirt collar started to grow tighter, wondering exactly where they were really headed.
As per her orders, he turned into a rather formidable looking cobblestone driveway and up to a large set of cast iron gates. “Punch in 2-3-7-9-1-pound.” Assuming she knew what she was doing, he leaned out and punched in the numbers, but nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. Turning back to her, he shrugged. Before he knew what was happening, she had unfastened her seat-belt and was climbing across his lap. He nearly died as he watched her lean torso spread out temptingly in front of him. His eyes devoured every seductive inch of her far-too-near body.
Clearing his throat heavily, he said, “Uh…Liz, remember what I said about you trying to kill me…” He couldn’t help himself. His hand ran across her back and found the firm curve of her bottom, giving it a squeeze and a lustful smack.
Little Belle Gone Page 10