“Is Jenna here now?” What I would give to see and hear her. What was she telling Kendra?
“Yes. Jenna’s been with me all night. She actually can’t leave. I’ll explain later.” Kendra grabbed my hand and led me to the elevator. “Tressa is texting Gimbel right now.”
“How could her room get totaled so fast? We were just there.” I calculated how much time had passed since we walked out her door. Our trip back to the room, studying Tressa’s monitors…maybe fifteen minutes, twenty tops. “These rooms must be well insulated for us not to hear anything. Tressa’s room is right below Tory’s.”
I thought about the couple that had boarded the elevator as we left to meet Tory. My spidey-senses had taken a nose dive at the time. A flash-back of the passionate moment with Kendra flooded my mind. I glanced her way. Her gaze coated me in heat.
“What is it?” she asked.
The elevator doors dinged open, we entered, and before the doors completely closed, that same couple that had boarded the elevator earlier walked out of the room opposite 318.
I slipped my hand between the doors.
“What are you doing?” Kendra surprised me by pressing the button to open the doors. “Jenna’s rushing down the hall, apparently her tether to me is growing in length.”
I had no idea what Kendra was talking about with Jenna and a tether, but I did know those two people walking down the hall in the opposite direction of the elevator needed to answer a few questions. Maybe they saw or heard something. Or, they were involved in what happened with Tory. Apparently, Jenna must have the same thought about them.
Kendra followed me out of the elevator and walked fast to keep up with my stride.
“Stop,” I yelled before they rounded a corner. Both of them hesitated and turned toward me.
“Are you talking to us?” the guy asked, his forefinger waving between him and his girlfriend.
I nodded and kept walking. Kendra grabbed my hand. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt natural to me. They walked toward us, which gave me an immediate impression they weren’t involved with what happened in Tory’s room.
“Hey, you’re the couple we saw in the elevator earlier,” the woman said, her eyes grew wide.
“Yes, we are.” I stopped in front of them and Kendra let go of my hand. I glanced her way, and she reassured me with a smile. “Would you mind answering a few questions?”
The guy frowned, his girlfriend snuggled closer to him. “Why?”
“There’s a friend staying in the room across from yours. We believe someone might have broken into it a little while ago. We’re hoping you might have heard something or saw someone in the hallway?” I studied both of them, and neither gave an expression they’d seen or heard anything worthy of mentioning. “Were you here at all within the last half hour?”
The young woman’s face blushed a bright red and she giggled.
The guy said, “Well, yeah, we came back to the room for a quickie. We never got off the elevator, just rode it back up to our floor.”
The girl slapped his shoulder. “Harry, no one wants to hear those kinds of details.”
“We had the music amped. So, even though we were in the room, we heard nothing,” the young man responded, and then grabbed his girl’s hand. He turned to her. “Charlene, shall we go back to the room?”
She giggled and off they went, back to their room.
“Do you think they were telling the truth?” Kendra stared at the couple as they rushed through the door of their room. “Jenna believes they were doing exactly what they told you. Would you like her to morph through the wall and take a peek?”
“Hell, no. I agree with Jenna. I didn’t notice any facial tics or markers in their expressions to indicate a lie.” Frustration hit mid-chest, nearly cutting off my breath. What happened to Tory? “I’m pretty sure Tory’s cover got blown, but how? We need to contact Gimbel. Let’s go back and see if Tressa’s had any luck with that.”
* * *
Kendra
Jenna matched Derek’s stride back to the elevator, even though she appeared to be floating a foot off the ground beside him. I followed close behind. “Shouldn’t we check the room in case there’s been something left behind?”
“At this point, Gimbel should take over the room part of the investigation. He’ll inform us of anything gone awry. He’s on friendly terms with Jackson. I know they’ve met a couple times in the past regarding the Merretti family,” Derek said, speaking low-toned and leaning toward me, his breath soft against my ear. “We can’t be too careful here right now.” He straightened his posture.
I’d lost my extra stiletto height, so I lifted my chin to see him look down and smile. A heated surge zipped through my veins and my breath caught…out loud, on a gasp.
“Wow, Sparky, pull yourself together or let yourself go.” Jenna chuckled. “You need some good lovin’, woman, as much as Derek needs it. I mean, honestly, he’s practically drooling. Look at him.”
I was looking at him, openly, and with too much passion flowing into my system. For whatever reason, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his smile and that dimple, so close to the corner of his mouth, and those lips. Maybe the wine I’d drank earlier affected my inhibitions, maybe Derek’s was affected also.
Ding. The elevator doors swooshed open. Derek grunted, loud enough to shake me back to reality and Tory. What happened to her?
“Let’s get back to the room. I have some questions for Tressa.” Derek grabbed my hand and pulled me along. When we reached room 218, he asked, “You got a key card?”
I shook my head and knocked on the door. Jenna disappeared through the barrier.
“It’s Derek. Open the door.”
Tressa swung it wide. “There you are. I was ready to call Luke and Ray back to find you.” She waved us in. “Go look at the monitors.”
Jenna stood in front of them already. “Oh. My. Gods. I just realized who that woman is.”
The monitor zoomed in on the woman’s face. I wasn’t sure how the camera set-up could be so clear, but I recognized her also.
Tressa pointed to the woman, and said, “She was the number one top model a couple years ago, all over the television, in magazines, and then the news covered her marriage to Robert Lyndowl, a major defense lawyer for the top dogs of organized crime.”
“That’s what I remember,” Jenna added. “Misty Landis-Lyndowl.” She shook her head. “There was a lot of seedy smut written about Misty…how she made it to the top in the modeling empire. She sued one of the magazines that posted some of her sordid behavior, and guess who the lawyer was that came to her defense?”
“Robert Lyndowl,” I said without thought of it being out loud.
“You know of him?” Derek asked.
“No, but I’ve heard of him from someone close.” I nodded my head and arched a brow, hoping he would get who I meant.
“Oh.” His right brow rose. “She was in the news a lot a couple years ago. Did your ‘someone close’ know her personally?”
So, he did get who I was talking about.
Jenna said, “I wanted to get to know her better. We met at a bar, before Lisa and I got serious. Misty swung toward either gender and let me tell you, she held nothing back in the bedroom. Too scary, the kinky stuff that woman was into. One night with her was enough for a lifetime.”
“Yes, intimately, for one night,” I responded to Derek, and then I added the other details.
Derek’s brows drew together. “Either one of those things, her lawyer husband or her kinky sexual prowess would be a calling card for Vinny. That explains their relationship.”
Jenna moved to another monitor. “I’m sure Lyndowl pimps his wife around for a nice deep connection…although, with her taste, she most likely loves the role she plays. They probably have all kinds of leverage on men and women alike. She wanted to record what we did that night.”
Derek glanced at Tressa, and said, “I bet Mr. Lyndowl has some major connections with the Wilmington Po
lice Department, along with other police departments. Tressa, do some research on Lyndowl and his wife. Let’s see who the skeletons are in their closet.”
“My friend also mentioned Misty wanted to record the kinky intimacy the night they spent together.” I thought it important that Derek and Tressa knew this part before the research. That might change some research sources. “Imagine if that’s something she did or still does on a regular basis. That would make some pretty damning leverage. Bet she has a number of skeletons in her closet.”
Jenna added, “I could actually see Lyndowl using that sort of thing for his benefit with his down and dirty clientele. Think of the possibilities with a down and dirty wife on top of that.”
I repeated Jenna’s comment.
A set-up like the Lyndowl’s had could make anyone’s life pure hell.
Chapter Eight
Kendra
Derek left with Ray to follow Vinny and Misty. They had taken coms and camera devices.
My head spun a web of revolting possibilities for the Lyndowl’s and how a major cartel defense lawyer and his kinky-sex obsessed wife would make for a great suspense-thriller mystery. Their fictionalized story could definitely work for the next book in my series. My literary agent, Clare, had texted earlier and asked what the premise of the upcoming novel would be. She knew I wasn’t home, but that never stopped her from following up on my progress when it came to my publishing commitments. She would require a response.
“Who are you texting?” Jenna stood beside me and studied the screen of my cell phone.
“Aren’t you Miss Nosey-pants.” I tapped out my response to Clare. “If you must know, it’s my agent asking about my next book. She wants to make sure I keep my commitments to Knixton House, the new publisher.”
Jenna crooked a hip, her hand folded over it. With her stiff bent elbow, the stance gave her a look of attitude. “I forget that you’re a best-selling suspense-mystery novelist. I’ve read all of your books, by the way. So, I know why you’re such a popular author.” She grinned. “But you need to include more parts that are steamier…just sayin’.” She wiggled her brows. “Something to think about.”
“I have plenty to think about right now, and you do too.” I was selfishly happy Jenna wanted to stay earth-bound. That gave us more time for the discussions we’d missed during the last three years we hadn’t seen each other.
Tressa stopped and looked in from the open doorway of our shared bedroom. “Are you talking to me? Can’t really hear you when I’m out here.”
“Oops.” Jenna pressed her lips together. She backed into my bed and plopped down on it as if sitting, but of course the bed never moved with her ghosty weightlessness.
“I was actually talking to myself, which I do frequently when thinking about my fiction writing.” I didn’t lie to Tressa, but I also didn’t tell the whole truth. I hated when people that I respected and thought of as friends would suddenly look at me differently after learning of my ability. A good reason I didn’t tell her everything. But, since she was here, I asked, “Are you in the middle of something?”
Tressa entered the room. “What’s up?”
“I’m curious to know the next step in finding Tory. And then figure out where the girls were killed, the two discovered along the shore of Cape Fear River.”
“Firstly, Luke just left a few minutes ago. He’s meeting Gimbel to share what we know and hopefully, he’ll come back with something Tory might have shared with Gimbel.” She stepped over to her designated bed and sat on the edge. “Secondly, Derek wants you in another disguise. He requested me to reserve the two of you passage tickets on the Midnight Bliss Shoreline Cruiser for tomorrow night.”
“Wow, it’s going to take a lot of work changing your and Derek’s appearance after last week,” Jenna said. “At least you’ll have most of tomorrow to come up with costumes.”
“I have an idea and wonder what you think,” Tressa said. “What if you and Derek are dressed like parents – you know, a happily married husband and wife. That would make any kid feel safe for a couple of pedophile ingrates. I mean, really, how would a pedophile dress for something like this?”
Little did Tressa know those girl bodies harbored seasoned prostitutes who loved the profession from plenty of experience during their live-in at Bertellia’s house of pleasure. Those girls wouldn’t care how we came dressed. The only people we would need to fool were those monitoring us.
“Okay, husband and wife make sense.” Thinking of Buster made me realize I hadn’t talked with Tressa about the holistic supplies essential in dealing with that monster. Jenna and I needed a safety net, even if only a short-term solution. “While we are out tomorrow, I have a short list of things I need from a holistic supply store. Would you mind if we stopped at one of those?” Then I remembered Tressa was already buried knee-deep into monitoring and techie research for other areas of the case, so I said, “I can do the research on where the closest store would be, and hopefully it will be near where we’ll shop for our dress-up gear.”
“Sounds like a plan. We should have time to fit in a supply store. I’ll want an early start, though. We’ll need either a wig for you or to dye your hair…maybe even cut it. That could mean a hair-stylist appointment.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to find what happened to those girls.”
“I’m so proud of you for doing this, Sparky,” Jenna said.
I sat beside her on the bed and wished I could place an arm over her shoulder like we used to do in college.
“Hey, I ordered a full appetizer plate to be delivered shortly. I’m starving and I know it will be more than I can eat. Sort of hoping the guys might want some too. You’re welcome to share it with me.” Tressa headed for the door.
“I actually didn’t end up eating dinner with Gimbel or with Tory.”
She stalled at the door and turned toward me.
“And I’m famished. Thank you.” I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Midnight. I never ate this late, but I wouldn’t sleep a wink until Tressa heard from Derek. If I shared her food, I would be in the room when he contacted her. “I’ll be right out.”
“Okay. We can talk more about your disguise if you’d like, make a plan of action for tomorrow.” She waited, her hand on the doorframe.
“I’d like that. I want to change out of this gown first, and then I’ll join you.” I jumped off the bed.
Tressa walked back to me. “Turn around, you’re gonna need a hand peeling that form-fitted sheath off your body.” She unzipped me, and my lungs instantly expanded.
“Wow. I had no idea how constricted my wind-pipes were.” I giggled. “I can breathe,” I said using my most drama-inflicted voice.
Tressa laughed and left the room, closing the door.
I shucked the dress from my body, leaving me naked and a bit self-conscious in front of Jenna, even though she’d seen me naked many times. Jenna and I used to dress in front of each other in college, we had shared a room. Of course, that was before I learned Jenna was a lesbian.
“Your body is as fit as it was in college, Sparky.”
“Thank you.” I quickly grabbed a bra, panties, T-shirt, and jeans from my suitcase. I glanced at her, not wanting to appear embarrassed. Her ghost form had popped into my shower last week, and I booted her out with a jokey comment. She’d always been more like a sister, much closer in kindred-ship than my actual sister, Rachel, but I suddenly felt awkward in my nakedness.
She moved off the bed, walked to the window, and stared outside. Something she’d been doing a lot lately, staring out the window.
“When I’m home, I usually run five miles a day, like we used to do together during our college years. It became a habit for me.” I dressed and then walked to the window, near Jenna. “Hey, I’ve got some questions for you. I’m hearing your laughter after you disappear. What’s changed? Are you aware of your new ability?”
“I’ve realized that if I consciously put a specific thought in my head, it ha
ppens…just like I thought it would happen.” She grinned and nodded.
“So, that’s how you changed from your running outfit into the lovely gown you’re wearing.”
“Yep.” She changed from the gown and heels into the gray and fluorescent green running suit and matching shoes. “What do you prefer I wear?”
“Whatever you feel most comfortable in, of course.”
“That’s the weird part. Nothing feels uncomfortable, and I really don’t have anyone to dress for, other than you.” She studied me for a moment. “That sounded strange. I’m sorry. There’s no deep thinking behind the words.”
“I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now. You’re unable to connect with the people who mean the most to you, like Lisa, your mom, and your dad. You can’t go back to your safe place right now, nor open any doors to visit with them in the dream plane.” I pressed my lips tight, thinking about how she could have gotten locked out of her safe place.
What made the most sense?
“Buster. He must have done something,” I said. He’d tagged Jenna, perhaps that was how he gained access to her place. “Maybe we can find answers from the voodoo priestess. I don’t have anyone to talk with about this unless I can contact Grandma Ellie in a dream.” Perhaps tonight would be the perfect time to make that connection. If Jenna didn’t have a safe place to escape to, how would she be safe anywhere?
A tap on the door drew my attention.
“Appetizers arrived and they smell delicious,” Tressa said through the door.
“Go on, Sparky. I’ll be close, but I won’t always be visible. It’s taking a lot out of me now that I no longer have a place to recharge my energy. I can’t go farther than my tether allows anyway.” Jenna disappeared.
Malevolent Page 6