I rest my head on the back of my old leather chair, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling.
“Just what we need right now. Don’t let it get to you. There isn’t anything to it. His word doesn’t mean a thing when there is no evidence.”
“I don’t trust her, Isaiah. She is his friend and she looked at me all funny when I asked her about that. I didn’t see her taking notes or anything either. What if she is on his side? How do we really know what is going on between them?” Her voice is edgy.
“I’ve worked with her for years, I’ve never seen her do anything even remotely off when it comes to a case. Maybe she’s looking into it off the record. If she opened up a case file then I might get sucked into an Internal Affairs investigation. She might be trying to avoid that.”
Emily huffs on the line. I look over at my friend, Billy Watson. He’s eyeing me with curiosity, making no move to walk out and eject himself from my private conversation.
“I hope you’re right. Something just felt hinkey about the whole thing. I guess it’s possible that I’m being paranoid, considering what’s been going on. Maybe I read too much into it.” She breathes out a heavy breath. “I need a night out.”
I smile. “Funny you should mention that. My buddy Billy Watson is sitting right here and he was planning a little house party for Saturday Night.”
Billy jumps up, snatching the phone out of my hand before I can pull away from him. I watch him grin at me and take over the conversation with my girl.
“Hi, this has to be Emily. I’ve heard so much about you… the man never shuts up about you… didn’t he tell you that Saturday is his birthday? Well I hope you yell at him… don’t get him anything he doesn’t deserve it… my house, yeah just some friends… I can’t wait to finally meet you girl….” He hands the phone back to me, sitting back down in the chair with a laugh.
“Hi, sorry…,”I start.
“Isaiah, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that it’s your birthday. You are in so much trouble,” she shouts in my ear.
I smile. This kind of trouble I don’t mind at all. “I didn’t think about it until stupid here walked in and told me that we were having my birthday party at his house.”
“How old are you going to be?”
“Thirty-one.”
She whistles in my ear. “Old fart.”
I laugh. “Thanks, doll.”
“It’s fine, I still love you. Now I have to figure out what to get you.”
“Don’t worry yourself over it too much, anything is fine. And hey, don’t sweat anything Barton told you. I’m sure nothing will come from it.”
Emily sighs loudly. “Well, I wish she was as interested in my stalker as she seemed to be in our relationship and how I know Noah. She didn’t seem to care.”
“She’s not assigned to your case, anyway. Detective Patterson is on your case, and she’s been looking into it. She won’t contact you unless something develops, so don’t’ think that no one is doing anything. And by the way, I talked to the Captain about locking your file.”
“What’s that mean, locking my file?”
“It means no one can open the case report, or view any of the evidence but the detective assigned to it and some supervisors. I don’t want you to think that everyone can see that video of you.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that there was such a thing. I figured that anyone up there could look at it. I appreciate that. I didn’t think about what I would feel like walking into a room full of cops on Saturday that have seen videos of me naked.” Her voice is hushed.
“I can’t even see it now. It’s locked, honey. No one needs to be in your business but you.”
“Thank you. I need to go, my lunch break is over.”
“Okay. See you at home. Love you, girl.”
“Love you back.” There is a smile in her voice.
My chest is warm when I hang up and toss my phone on my desk. I don’t imagine I’ll ever get over hearing her say that to me.
Looking up, I stare into my friend’s cocky face. “Why are you still sitting here? Don’t you have a job to do?”
He laughs. “You’re not the boss of me. I’m just eavesdropping on all your drama, that’s all.”
“I can’t wait for all this shit to be over. She’s so stressed out. Finding out that someone’s been in her house watching her has made her a nervous wreck. She’s so damn jumpy.”
He nods, his face relaxing into a sober sort of compassion. “I can imagine. It sucks. I’ve never heard of a case like that around here in the recent past. Maybe in Houston, but that’s the kind of crap you hear about on that Investigation Discovery channel. Maybe you two will have your own dateline episode.”
I shake my head. “No thanks. Not the kind of attention she would ever be interested in. I’ve looked into it a little, but I almost got myself into big trouble a few days ago so I had to back off. I trust Patterson to do her best with it. I’ll only get myself fired.”
Billy nods. “You have more of a level head than I would. If Mags had someone stalking her and I thought I knew who it was, I’d be all over that shit.”
I meet his green gaze across my desk. “I went to his house and threatened him.”
His eyebrows go up. “No kidding?”
I nod. “Yeah. I’m surprised he hasn’t told Barton about it since they are buddies. Maybe he’s saving it for a rainy day or something.”
He scratches the stubble on his chin, standing up and adjusting his duty belt. The leather squeaks.
“Possibly. I don’t think any of us here would blame you for it. We would all do the same thing if it was our family.”
“Thanks. Keep it quiet though, would you?”
“You got it. I better get back to work. I have to make a phone call to a woman that’s going insane over her neighbor. They’ve been having a property line dispute and they both refuse to mow this one foot strip of grass.” He rolls his eyes heading for the door. “People and their perceived problems never cease to amaze me.”
I lean back. “Job security, man.”
“No kidding.”
He walks out, closing the door behind him. Emily’s words play over in my head again in the silence of my office. She said Julie acted funny. I wonder, just what kind of relationship does she have with this nut? I don’t think she would ever cover up something for someone, but how can I really know? It’s not like I know her well. She’s gone out with a few of us several times, but you don’t get to know people that way.
I tap my pen on the table. Itching to dig deeper, talk to Noah, Caroline. Go ask Barton point blank what in the hell is going on. Instead, I wiggle my mouse and my sleeping computer blinks, the case file I was staring at thirty minutes ago on my screen to distract me. I click on the evidence button, select the photos.
Homicide scene photos should be enough to distract me. Too bad it’s not.
Chapter Seventeen
Noah
Caroline. She stands in my office with her hands on her hips. Her face whiter than usual. Bags under her eyes aren’t hidden very well by makeup, and she looks thinner.
“You look like hell.” I point out.
“Tell me about it. Gary is starting to wonder what is wrong with me. I’m a freaking mess. I have cops crawling all over me, Noah. What the hell have you dragged me into?”
“Lower your damn voice. What cops?”
“Well Isaiah for one, I told you about him. Then some Sergeant called me today and left me a voicemail. I managed to avoid her call, but it’s only a matter of time before she shows up asking me questions about something I don’t even know about. I want to know what’s going on here. This is my life you are screwing with. I don’t want your money or your job if this is what I have to deal with.” Her voice cracks as she leans forward on my desk.
She has on a deep purple dress and, when she leans forward, she shoves her breasts out of the top of it. I wonder if she’s doing it on purpose, thinking she can influence me. I pull my eyes
up from her chest to her wide, fearful eyes. She’s trying to make a show of being forceful, but I don’t buy it.
I lean back in the rich leather chair and smirk at her. “You do realize that you deal with cops for a living. Our whole business is about law enforcement. Don’t you think you are being paranoid?”
Caroline sits carefully in a buttery, brown leather chair across from me. Slowly, her legs cross. Her skirt slips up her thighs a little.
“Of course, I’m not an idiot. I do know the difference between contacts and networking, and an officer that wants to question me. She mentioned you, I can’t avoid her forever, Noah.”
“So what are you here for? You angling for more money or what?”
She shifts. Her skirt moves higher. “I didn’t say that.”
I let her see me looking at her bronzed thighs. “You haven’t said much of anything yet. You’re too busy showing off your tits and pulling your skirt up.”
Her face blooms crimson as she moves to pull her skirt down. “I wasn’t trying to….”
I chuckle. “You can’t expect me to buy that. I’m not interested in what you’re selling, Caroline. As far as I’m concerned I didn’t even get my money’s worth out of you the first time.”
Tears fill her plain brown eyes. “I can’t be expected to lie to the police forever. This isn’t right.”
With an eye roll, I lean forward. Clasping my hands on top of my desk, I let out a breath.
“Here is what you will do. You are going to tell that cop that Emily and I are friends. You will tell her that since she has been with Isaiah you haven’t seen her and she’s stopped calling you. She won’t accept your calls and you are worried about her. Think you can manage that?”
“Emily said she doesn’t know you. Are you going to hurt her?” Her voice is small.
“No, I’m not going to hurt Emily. I plan to give Emily more than she ever dreamed of. I’m worried about how Isaiah is treating her, she hasn’t been the same since she met him. I know Sergeant Barton very well. She won’t hassle you. Next time she calls you, be available.”
I get a slow nod. She pulls a tissue out of her designer purse and dabs her eyes.
“I need you to do one more thing for me, I’ll pay you.”
She meets my eyes and sighs heavily. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars if you will be available for me when I call you. No questions.”
Her eyes widen almost imperceptibly. “Fifty? But what about Gary, he will wonder if I just head out of the house without explaining. And what do I tell him about the money? Where it came from?”
“Fine, seventy five. I’ll wire it to an account in your name and he won’t know it’s there unless you tell him. You are a crafty liar, I’m sure you can come up with something.”
The fear on her face changes to something cold. I knew that once I bought her the first time, I would be able to do in again.
“You have to promise to protect me,” she says, quietly.
“Of course.”
“Okay. How-”
“I said no questions.”
Our eyes meet again, she stands up. “Fine. I tell you one thing, if I get into trouble, I’m not going alone.”
I laugh at her. “Please, don’t bother to try and threaten me. Get out of my office. I’ll call you when I need you.”
She sniffles and walks out, closing the door softly.
Two days later I’m leaving my office to go to Emily and Isaiah’s apartment. It’s Friday afternoon, they shouldn’t be home yet. The apartment has me irked. I haven’t been able to maintain the contact I had with her before. I drive, gripping the wheel until my knuckles are white. I replaced my black Corvette, fearing that they might recognize the car. It’s not easy to hide in an apartment parking lot, especially in a high dollar, luxury sports car.
I pull into the parking lot in a new, slate gray Toyota. It blends in nicely, but doesn’t have the pickup that my other car does.
Glancing down at my ringing phone, I see Julie’s name. Maybe she has news for me.
“Hi.” I look up. Isaiah’s window is closed again. Damn it.
“Hi there.” Her voice is low and sultry. “Are you at home?”
“No, I’m running an errand. What do you need?”
“Oh... I was hoping to talk.”
“We can talk now. Is it about the investigation?”
“I’m still working on it. I talked to Emily, I tried to get Caroline the other day but I missed her. I haven’t been able to try again. I’ve been swamped.”
“What did Emily say?”
She coughs. “I’d rather wait until I have all the information, Noah.”
“Julie, if this is about sex...”
She sighs. “I can’t deny, I’ve been thinking about it since we met up. You’re terribly addictive.”
I shift in my seat. I can’t deny that I feel the same way. Sex with Julie is powerful. She can take everything that I give her and begs for more. I look up at the apartment again.
“I can meet you this evening, at my place.”
“Okay. Can I bring anything?”
“No, just don’t be late. I don’t like to wait. Eight o’clock.”
“I’ll be there.” Her answer is breathy.
“I know you will.” I hang up.
Glancing around, I get out of the car. Quickly, I rush across the parking lot on swift feet. Reaching the door, I find that the key still works. A breathe of relief rushes out of my lungs.
Any day now they might realize that it wasn’t Isaiah that locked his keys in his car and I might be locked out again.
The apartment isn’t as neat as it was a couple of weeks ago. Seems that Emily is rubbing off on him. I grit my teeth, looking around at the clothes on the floor by the couch his and hers. Maxie runs around my feet, wiggling happily. I ignore her.
This detective is in my way. I’d plant a camera in here but I’m too worried that he would spot it. Moving through the house, I head into the bedroom, laying down on her pillow. Closing my eyes, I breathe in her scent, covering myself with her blanket. She will be in my arms soon.
***
Julie is right on time. I open the door and find her standing with a smile wearing black slacks and a lacey burgundy top. Her hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail.
Leaving her street shoes at the door, she enters in stocking feet. Staring up at me with hopeful eyes, she smiles again.
“Hi there.”
“Come sit down.”
I lead her through the front foyer to the white sitting room. I have a bottle of wine set out. Julie helps herself.
”Tell me what Emily said.”
A shadow passes over her face. “Do we have to talk about this right now?”
“Yes, we do.”
Throwing back her wine, she reaches for a refill. “She said you aren’t friends. That she doesn’t really know you and she’s happy with Isaiah.”
I stretch my arms across the back of the loveseat, watching her fidget on the wing chair.
“That doesn’t surprise me at all. I didn’t think she would admit to anything. I’m sure your investigation will uncover the truth.”
“I’m sure it will.” She holds my eyes.
Julie is a smart woman. I know what I’m risking. I also know how addicted she really is to me. I have a hard time believing that she will do anything other than do what it takes to stay on my good side.
She should be grateful that she’s never experienced my bad side.
“You will let me know when you speak with Caroline.” I stand up, motioning for her to follow me.
“I can. I haven’t talked to Isaiah yet either.”
We pass from the sitting area into the hall. I turn to Julie abruptly in the hallway, startling her.
“Tell me honestly. Are you with me on this?”
A slow blink, lips parted in a breath. I step closer to her. Then she finally answers me.
“You mean this Em
ily thing?”
“Yes, that’s what I mean.”
“Can I ask you why you are so hung up on her?”
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not. I don’t care much about Emily and Isaiah. We aren’t close. I don’t know the woman. Can I ask you a question now?” She reaches out and touches my chest. “Will you kiss me?”
I chuckle. I’ve never kissed her, ever. She’s asked me this before, half a dozen times. “No, we fuck. That’s it. I’m not going to kiss you.”
An instant pout curls her lips down. “But Noah-”
Leaning down, I grasp her top in both my hands and rip it open. A gasp, I push her against the wall and lean close to her face.
“This isn’t enough for you? I don’t have more to give you, Julie.”
“Do you love someone else?” Her eyes search mine, even as she starts to work the buttons on my shirt.
“Yes, I do. It’s never bothered you in the past, who I loved and who I didn’t. Does it bother you now?” As if I cared if it did.
My shirt is pushed open. Her hands move to my belt. “No, I don’t care. I just want...” She trails off, opening my pants.
I grin at her. Her blouse hangs off her shoulders in tatters. I look down as she relieves me of my pants, holding me in her hand. Blood rushes, throbbing in my veins thanks to her skilled touch.
“You just want what?”
Brown eyes lift from my crotch. “I want in your bed.”
“Then you won’t ever ask me again. You won’t ever question me. Got it?”
Her eyes dim, and darken with lust. She’s beyond addicted. I have no doubt that she’s never going to betray me.
“Yes sir.”
“That’s my girl.”
I allow her to look into my eyes for a moment, then I grip her by her forearms and spin her, forcing her pants down her legs, thrusting her thighs apart with my thigh.
I push inside her, she cries out, her face pressed into the wall. When I look up from her tight round ass, I see a shock of red hair. My Emily.
I stroke her slowly, nuzzling her neck. She purrs, My Emily. I knew she would.
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