by Stacy-Deanne
“I’m fine.” Brianna looked at Steven. “I was just about to tell Steven that I can take care of myself, and that I know what I am doing.” He scoffed.
Jersey sighed. “I’m not so sure. I mean, I know you’re a damn good cop, Morris, but this is just a little too close for comfort. I’m thinking that maybe I need to take you off this case, and let Kemp go at it alone.”
Chapter Six
“Excuse me?” Brianna nearly dropped the blanket. She rushed to catch it after remembering her torn clothes. “Captain Jersey, you cannot be serious. I have put months and months of time and effort into catching this man. I know this case better than Steven does! How the hell can you even think of taking me off it?”
“I can think of it because you were almost raped tonight. Not only that, you’re damaged goods.”
“Damaged goods?” Brianna gaped. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“She’s talking about how you’re gonna be when you start to face this, Bree.” Steven squinted. “I mean, really, face it. You haven’t faced it yet.”
“I’m facing it fine! I know what happened to me! It has nothing to do with me being able to do my job! I can handle myself, Steven!”
“You were almost raped tonight!” he yelled.
“But I wasn’t! And this is the fuckin’ job, right? We are cops! We know the dangers like the back of our hands!” She looked at Jersey. “Captain Jersey, you can’t pull me out now. You can use me as bait even.”
“What?” Steven shrieked.
“I mean, he knew I was a cop. He knew everything about me, Captain. He even knew Steven and I used to be together. I am no different than any other woman he’s wanted to control. The only difference is that I got away. Don’t you see? Rapists don’t just walk away. They don’t just quit. Captain Jersey, I can draw him out.”
“How?” Steven scoffed.
“He wants me, Steven.” Brianna’s voice shook. “And he’ll be back.”
“So what’cha saying?” He rubbed his chin. “Huh? You want to put yourself out there for this sick motherfucker? Why can’t you just walk away, Bree? Why do you always have to prove that you’re better than everyone else?”
“I’m not doing that, Steven!”
“You can’t just wish tonight away, Bree. I don’t care what you do; this has happened! You were almost raped tonight!”
“I know that!” She cried into her hands. Steven reached for her. Jersey gestured for him to let her be. Brianna calmed down. She took a deep breath. “I am not in denial. No matter what you both think, I can do my job, regardless of what I went through tonight. I’m a cop.” She looked at them. “Okay?”
“You’re a woman first, Bree.” Steven shook his head. “Why can’t you realize that? There‘s nothing wrong with being scared or confused. No one expects you to be perfect, except yourself! No one else expects you to be anything more than what you are.”
“I can take care of myself, Steven.” He paced. “Captain Jersey, let me finish off the case.”
Jersey rubbed her forehead. “I…”
An officer ran into the room. “Detective Kemp, you got a phone call from the station.” The officer threw the cell phone to Steven, then ran back outside. Brianna and Jersey watched in silence.
“What?” Steven looked at the ladies. Brianna and Jersey exchanged glances.
“Wait, when…this evening?” He rubbed his face. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Did you dispatch some officers already? Okay, yeah. I’ll be at the scene in five minutes. Yeah, Detective Morris is fine. Okay, bye.” He stared at the phone.
“Kemp, what is it?” Jersey glared.
He exhaled. “Monica Cartwright…is dead.”
“What?” Brianna covered her mouth.
“Who is Monica Cartwright?” Jersey fixed her glasses.
“The woman we brought in for questioning about the rapist. The one that got away.” Brianna looked at him. “Steven, what happened?”
“Apparently it happened this evening. A neighbor found the body. Monica’s body’s all bruised up. She was raped, too. The blows to her head may have caused her death. They say it looks like the work of the Albany Predator.”
“Shit!” Jersey stared at the carpet. “Homicide. You know what that means, don’t you? Oh, if you think Commissioner Reynolds has been riding our asses about this guy so far, then you just wait until he hears this! A fuckin’ homicide!”
“Captain Jersey, you can’t take me off the case.” Brianna exhaled.
She shrugged. “Morris, weren’t you listening? The man may have killed that young lady. So the homicide guys get the case, you know this. It’s changed directions, Morris. We’re no longer dealing with just a rapist. Sorry, but you and Kemp’s days are numbered on the case.” She rushed out the living room.
Steven shook his head. “And if we find out he’s killed others it may even go to the FBI. He’d be a serial killer. Fuck! How did things get this far?”
Brianna sighed. “He was here. He was so damn close, Steven. How could I let him get away like that?”
“You did the best you could.”
“But he could be a killer, Steven. I had him. I was so close and I just let him get away.”
“I got to get to the scene. I’ll call you with the information soon as I can.” He rubbed her arm. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“You sure?” She nodded. He kissed her forehead. “See you, Bree.” He quickly headed toward the front door.
“Steven, wait!” Brianna struggled with the blanket. “I got to get changed and…”
“You kidding me? You’re not going, Brianna! This man nearly raped you, and he may have murdered Monica Cartwright! You’re not going anywhere near that place!” He ran into the yard.
“Oh yeah? Try and stop me.” Brianna ran upstairs to change.
Melody arrived for her first day at Caper a few days later. She felt more at ease since Lucas’s visit last night. He claimed he’d come over to wish her well for her first day. She grinned. She tugged on the lapel of her crisp tan pantsuit. Courtesy of Sarah’s newest credit card. If Lucas’s intentions had only been about the job, then how come he hadn’t mentioned the job once?
Melody scampered to the floor she’d be working on. She’d do her best not to appear cocky, though she’d figured out how to navigate the building already. With such a complex building that hadn’t been an easy accomplishment. She stopped in a hallway encased by beautiful, top-notch offices. She wondered if she’d become acquainted with everyone here.
She doubted it. Even though Caper Enterprises took up less than half of this skyscraper, Melody had a feeling that it boasted the most employees in the building. And that seemed to be a lot. Well-dressed men breezed past her like gnats. Two women flew around a corner chattering. Melody would have made their acquaintance, but couldn’t keep up long enough to say hello.
The ladies darted around another corner talking about coffee and a new brand of perfume. She passed Dave’s empty office. His secretary stacked papers on his desk. Melody continued down the hall. She looked for her office and the trainer Dave had assigned her. He’d been nice enough to take care of things personally for her. Once again, she couldn’t help wondering if it had been more for Lucas’s sake than for hers.
At this point she couldn’t afford to care. All she’d think about would be this job from now on. She anticipated working here more than she thought. She liked the busyness. She liked the organization. She liked keeping to a schedule. Hell, she just liked feeling important and needed. She would be leveling things out for all of Caper’s employees. She vowed to do her best. She’d become a top necessity, if she had anything to say about it.
Her trainer turned out to be a forty-year-old clerk named Mario Lamos. Melody glowed at seeing another Hispanic on the premises. She assumed if she would see one, they’d be pushing a bucket. Maybe her ideas were prehistoric, but Caper didn’t seem like it hired many of her kind. Mario presented her a girl
ish smile the moment she entered the office.
He told her about the business within minutes. She could see why Dave spoke so highly of the chipper clerk. Mario knew everything about files, answering phones and setting up meetings. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he knew how many staplers were in the building. She grinned at the thought. Her mind drifted to the news reports she’d caught over the last few nights.
She’d become so sick of this rapist she didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter to Melody who he targeted specifically. Black or not she felt like a potential victim. She didn’t know how much longer she could deal with being so on edge. Maybe this job would get her mind off things. At least it would keep her busy.
Mario shared personal tidbits about himself after explaining the job to Melody. He got a pretty hefty sum for his duties. He first started at Caper at twenty-three, too. Melody didn’t find that part too comforting. She did not want to be an assistant for the next seventeen years, high pay or not. Mario openly admitted his homosexuality though Melody had picked up on it immediately. He boasted that he knew everything about everyone in the company. Melody took this as another chance to do her own digging. If Mario knew the goods, it would be in her best interest to become a friend.
She waited until he went on about some boat he and his boyfriend Luis were buying. They’d been saving up for a trip to Costa Rica. The two had been together for four years. Mario claimed they’d finally make it official. Melody pretended to care long enough to get to the good stuff…what she wanted to talk about. Mario unpacked newly delivered office supplies for her desk.
Melody liked the office, though it lacked the prestige of Dave’s. She walked around the back of her desk. She also had a window where she could see around the city.
She ran her fingers down the cool glass. She belonged here. She could feel it. Maybe this had been what she needed all along.
“So, you’re a quiet chica, huh?” Mario winked. “We can talk all the Spanish we want in here, but in the halls, let’s keep it English.”
“I speak primarily English, anyway, unless I’m pissed.”
Mario chuckled. “Then what’cha do?” His accent became apparent after every three words.
“I curse in Spanish.” She grinned. “There’s not a lot of Latinos where I live or where I go and all, so it’s easy for me to curse folks in Spanish and walk away.”
He laughed. “I’m gonna like you, girl. I really think we’ll become fast friends. I like your style, mama. That suit’s to die for. I think I saw it in a catalog from one of them fancy stores. Girl, if you got that kind of money, why are you an assistant here?”
She shrugged. “First off, my sister paid for this suit. She’s the one with the dough in the house. Hell, she’s the one with the house, period.” Mario grinned. “Soon I’ll be making my own money, and I won’t need her to support me. I just want to do all I can. I think working here is going to be a great opportunity for me.” She sat in the leather chair behind her desk. “Mr. Lawson is very nice. He seems very fair and professional.”
“Oh yes, he’s the best,” Mario gushed. Melody wondered if he held more than admiration for his employer. “Mr. Lawson believes in helping the underdog, you know? He gave me a chance when no one else would. I hadn’t even finished college and he offered me a place here. After he saw my qualifications, of course. He’s one in a million. I wouldn’t want to work for anyone else.” He smiled.
“Well, if it’s all it’s cracked up to be, then maybe I made the right decision to work here.” She smiled.
“Yep.” He yanked a box of folders from the floor. “Pardon me for staring but…you are Sarah Johnson’s sister, right?” Melody nodded. “You guys don’t look anything alike.”
She grinned. “Believe me, we know. We get this all the time. I mean, we say we’re sisters, yet people are always dead set against believing us.” She chuckled.
“I mean, I didn’t even know Sarah was Latino until probably recently. And I still can’t believe it.” He slapped the box on the desk. He held his thick waist. “Your father was white, right?” She nodded. “What exactly was your mother?”
“A woman.” Melody grinned.
He chuckled. “Her race.”
“Mexican.” She smiled.
He tilted his head. “Ah, I’m Chicano myself. I got a lot running through my blood.” She smiled. “Got any kids?”
“Who me?” She chuckled. “I can’t even keep my own room clean. You think I can tell someone else how to run their life?”
Mario laughed. “I can see you’ll be fun to have around already, Mel. Looks like we’re hitting it off well. So, how did your parents meet? Was your mother born here or Mexico?”
“She was born here.” She looked at the ceiling. “Actually, I kind of forgot how my parents met.” She grinned. “I think they met in college. My dad was a dentist and my mother a pharmacist.”
“Wow, very good jobs, huh? You come from good stock. I know Sarah makes that good dough where she works.”
Melody shrugged. “Now it’s time for me to make some decent money for myself, hopefully.”
“Lucas told me that your parents died in a car crash when you were young, right?” She nodded. “I’m sorry. It must have been hard growing up without parents. My parents are the center of my world. I’m so close to my mother, I could be a pimple on her ass.” He laughed.
“Wow, well…I guess that’s a good thing.” Melody chuckled. “So you really know a lot about the people here?”
“Nothing gets past me. I guess every workplace needs a good gossip, huh?” He rested his large frame against the file cabinet. Melody couldn’t help thinking why the most alluring men seemed to be gay. Mario had looks, charm and a sense of humor. Too bad she’d been the wrong damn gender to even experiment with him. “Something on your mind?” he asked.
She shook from her daydream. “What do you know about Keith Taylor?”
He sighed. “Besides the fact that he’s fine as hell?” She grinned. “Well, he’s probably the only one here I don’t know much about.” He opened the box of folders. “I don’t think the CIA could get into his business. He’s very private. He doesn’t give people the opportunity to know what he doesn’t want them to.”
“What do you mean?” Melody nibbled her lip.
“Well, with other people you can just read them, you know? You can listen to their conversations. You can see how they react, and you can watch them and find things out. Not Keith. It’s like he’s always…always guarded somehow. Like he goes out of his way to make sure he doesn’t lend extra information. It’s not normal, if you ask me.”
She leaned up. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I hate to say things about people, but I never really liked Keith Taylor. He just doesn’t come off as being on the up and up.” Melody raised an eyebrow. “It’s like he always has some kind of angle, and I can’t figure it out for the life of me.”
“Angle with this job, or in general?”
Mario wiped sweat from his forehead. “He always manages to make things work out in his best interest, you know? I mean, he gets perks around here that people who have been working here for years don’t even get. It’s like everyone is snowed. The employees flock to his every move. The women around here, oh, they can’t get enough of him. And Mr. Lawson acts like he’s Jesus.” He shook his head. “I’m probably the only one around here who doesn’t think twice about him.”
Melody stood. “Until now.” Mario looked at her. “I think you’re on the right track, Mario. I don’t like Keith Taylor, and I’d die before believing a word that came out of his mouth. I think he’s a manipulative liar.” She looked into the hallway. “He scares the hell out of me, and for that, I want to make sure he stays away from my sister.”
Mario sighed. “I think you should definitely stay away from him, too, Melody.”
“If only I could get Sarah to see a reason, but he has her snowed like everyone else.”
“Hi.” Keith le
aned at the door with his arms crossed. His fancy white shirt, blue tie and black slacks were straightened to perfection. Melody wondered if he’d heard. Somehow she felt it hadn’t made a difference either way. She wanted him to know how she felt. Maybe then he’d leave Sarah the hell alone.
“Uh, hello, Keith.” Mario waved nervously. “I was helping Melody get settled in. How are you this morning?”
Keith squinted as he glanced at Melody. “I’m fine, Mario. Just heading to my office. Please don’t stop talking about me on my account.” He smiled at Melody.
“Melody, I’ll be right back. I need to get you the manual so you can read up on your duties.” Mario slid past Keith.
“Oh, boy.” Keith chuckled. He scooted on top of the desk. “Nothing more flattering than a woman checking up on me.”
“Believe me, I wasn’t doing it for the reasons you think, Keith.” She glared at him. His eyes skimmed her large breasts through her suit jacket.
“Any reason you’d take time to know more about me is music to my ears, Melody.” He smirked.
“I have to go to the bathroom and…” He blocked the door.
“You’re not going anywhere!” He shoved her in the chair.
“Get out of my way, Keith!”
“Shut up!” He opened her suit jacket. He tore open her blouse.
She screamed. “Oh! What are you doing? My blouse!” She tried to shield herself with her arms.
Keith held her to the chair. “Yeah, I did it,” he whispered.
“Get away from me!” she begged.
“I said, shut up.” He glanced at her plump breasts encased in the lacey white bra. Melody could barely breathe. She sure as heck couldn’t confront him. Her heart pounded. She started to see double and became woozy.
“Oh, what’s the matter…huh?” Keith panted. “What, having a panic attack, Mel? Sarah’s told me all about those.” He struggled from staring at her breasts.
“Keith…I…I can’t breathe.”
“What, huh?” He got on his knees in front of her. He continued to hold her arms to the chair. “Besides being gorgeous with great legs, you’ve also got a very bad habit. You’re nosey as hell. At first, I assumed that was part of your charm. So I tolerated it. But I won’t tolerate it much longer.” He stood erect. His eyes narrowed until she saw no evidence of the green pupils.