Case 16

by Shiralyn J. Lee

  Continued from Case 503

  Case 16

  By

  Shiralyn J. Lee

  All characters and names in The Paige Bleu Series are fictitious and any similarities to anyone living or dead are purely coincidental.

  Case #3 in the Paige Bleu series

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Other Published Works

  Chapter One

  I had gone on a shopping spree with Kate. We were having a really nice time advising each other on which outfits that we should buy. I bought a plain white shirt and an expensive pair of jeans. Kate bought just about everything. She loved shopping for clothes. She bought three dresses, three pairs of sandals to match, three pairs of panties to color coordinate, god knows why, and three bras to match the panties. We went and drank coffee in a small coffee house. Sitting opposite her and watching her laugh and smile at my jokes, I couldn’t resist asking her a question.

  “Kate, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife. I know that the same sex law hasn’t been passed in California yet, but when it has, will you marry me, Kate.”

  She stopped dead and blushed. “Yes, yes, yes,” she sang.

  I leaned over the table and kissed her. I didn’t care that we had an audience, for once my private life could be on display.

  We walked out of the shop holding hands, in fact, we were swinging them, we were so happy. But happiness has a way of being interrupted. A scent ran under my nostrils, a scent that I hadn’t smelt for years, not since I was a child. I broke out into a sweat, my legs felt weak, I tried to remain calm. I looked around quickly, trying to see anyone who had just crossed my path. A man in a camel colored coat was walking away from me, a man who fit the description of a monster from my past.

  “Paige, what’s wrong, what is it, Paige?” Kate fretted.

  I couldn’t answer her, my eyes began to roll back and everything turned yellow. It felt as though the air around me was swirling, making it harder for me to catch my breath. I fell to the ground with my purchases surrounding my legs.

  “Paige, Paige,” Emily cried. “Help, somebody help us…”

  ♦♦♦

  I came to in the hospital with Kate sat by the side of my bed, clutching my hand tightly. A private room with the usual white walls and a window and a small TV mounted high in the corner of the wall had been allocated to me. I must have been unconscious when I arrived and then I remembered why I was there. A twinge of panic began to set in.

  “Paige, you really scared me. The doctor told me that you should get plenty of rest for the next couple of days. You’ve exhausted yourself,” she said pitifully.

  “I’m ok, I just got overwhelmed, that’s all,” I told her, keeping my discovery to myself for now.

  Dr. Morris came in to examine me. “You gave your friend quite a fright, you know,” he knowingly said as he peered over the lenses of his frameless glasses.

  I stared at him. His gray wavy hair sat like a toupee, it was that thick. His eyes were steel blue and his facial skin looked gaunt, and he thought that he could give me attitude.

  “She’s not my friend, she’s my fiancée,” I informed him with my bolshie approach.

  He’d picked up the clipboard with my notes and was reading through them. His eyes rose to look at me as if I was being defiant. “My sincere apologies, Miss. Bleu. I made a mistake.”

  “Babe, please don’t give the doctor a hard time. You need to relax, I know that you’ve been so tense with this murder case lately…”

  “Kate, not here!” I interrupted. “You never discuss anything, do you understand?” I had to be firm with her, even when I saw the hurt in her eyes she had to know that she could never mention my job.

  The doctor took my blood pressure, 120/80 and then my temperature, orally, 98.6F.

  I felt fine in myself and really wanted to get up and leave.

  “Kate, I really need to go now.”

  “You can’t just leave,” she whispered so the doctor couldn’t hear her.

  “They’ve got my medical card so let them take what they want.” I sat up on the bed and slipped my feet into my shoes that had been placed beneath the frame.

  Two hours later we were pulling into our driveway. As we got out of the car I heard a door slam behind me. Looking up I saw Rachel standing in front of her house. She stared at me with a look of disdain on her face.

  “Are you fucking happy now?” she shouted at us. She looked a mess, her hair was straggly, her clothing disheveled and she seemed to be acting as though she’d had a few drinks.

  “Happy about what, Rachel?” Kate asked, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

  “He’s gone. I blame you, Paige, if you hadn’t hit him, he would have stayed with me.” She clenched her fists, holding them at her sides.

  The heat from the sun was beating down directly on to the front of house. It was hot and I really didn’t want to get into my neighbor’s domestic turmoil.

  “You do know that he tried to force himself on Kate,” I yelled back at her.

  “No he did not. She’s just making that up and you were stupid enough to fall for her lies. He told me that she came on to him and that she wanted to feel a real man inside her.”

  “Paige, she’s clearly not thinking about this logically. Let’s go inside,” Kate suggested.

  “You need to put a leash on him,” I retorted.

  We went inside the house. Kate poured herself a glass of cold water from a pitcher that had been chilling in the fridge.

  “I didn’t come on to him, I promise you that I would never do anything like that, not to us,” she appealed.

  “I know, Kate. I think the stupid one is Rachel. It’s hit her hard by the looks of things.”

  “I can’t believe that she’s been drinking when she’s pregnant,” Kate said, moving to the lounge and looking out of the window to see if Rachel was still there. “She’s staring at the house.”

  I joined her at the window and looked out. If nothing else, it was creepy.

  Chapter Two

  Kate had been working hard gathering her favorite artists together for her opening exhibition. Invitations had been sent out to anyone and everyone she knew who would be interested in attending and maybe purchasing a piece. She’d been at the studio all day and I was on my way to join her.

  When I stepped inside, I was met with a crowd of interested potential buyers, drinking wine and eating canapés, they were all discussing their favorite artist or individual painting.

  “Paige, you’re here.” Kate emerged from a small crowd of people. She picked up a glass of white wine from a table by the back wall and came straight over to me. “Here, drink this.”

  I took a sip. She had chosen a soft fruity wine that was light and easy on the pallet.

  “It looks really good, Kate. I love how you’ve displayed the pieces.” I felt really proud of her.

  She was wearing a white halter neck all in one piece that tied together at the back of the neck and had a low cut back. It showed her cleavage off and hugged tightly at her waist and then flared out on the pants. Her hair was up on top of her head with wispy bits cascading down over her temples and the nape of her neck and diamante combs sparkled where they held it in place. She had opted to wear the diamond necklace and earrings that I had bought her last Christmas. But my attention was quickly drawn away as a male figure behind her, came into focus. He was just walking out of the doorway, stopping momentarily to light up a cigarette. I glared at him, the camel color of his coat had attracted my attention, it was the same style that had given me cause to fall ill previously.

  I whispered to into Kate’s e
ar that she looked stunning, my eyes were still focused on the doorway.

  “Kate, would you excuse me for just one moment?” I asked her.

  She looked confused but I didn’t wait for her to answer me. I walked over to the door and looked in the direction that he had just walked off. There was no sign of him. I stared for a few moments longer and then told myself to stop being so paranoid. I rejoined Kate and stood at her side whilst she proudly presented the chosen pieces to her audience.

  ♦♦♦

  It was late and we had just arrived home. I poured us both a glass of Champagne and we toasted to an eventful prosperous evening. I sat down in the armchair and absorbed Kate’s conversation as she excitedly told me about how she had felt tonight. Her eyes were wide, her smile beamed as she spoke, her body language confident. She stood in front of me, her one arm rested on the mantel above the fireplace and sipping her Champagne in between each deep breath that she took.

  I came to realize that she had stopped talking and had placed her glass down. When I looked up at her, I found that she was untying her garment and then allowed it to drop down, showing her naked breasts. She slowly undid the zipper at the side of her waist and the garment fell completely to the floor. The only item of clothing that was protecting her vanity was a tiny white thong. She stepped out of her crumpled attire and slowly twirled around. Her slender back curved at the top of her butt, her olive skin glowed under the dim glow of the lamp light. She stepped toward me and stood at my feet. Bending down she parted my legs, gently caressing my knees in the process. She knelt down in the gap, her eyes looking directly into mine, sensually and wantonly. She ran her hands over my thighs, stretching her fingers out as she circulated her palms to massage them.

  “I love you, Paige,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered back.

  She bit her lower lip, and with her eyes still looking up at me, she began to unzip my pants. I lifted my backside up a few inches to help aid her in removing my clothing.

  With my pants on the ground and my shirt undone, she began to sensually work my body. Her warm lips kissed their way over the tops of my thighs until she reached my hips. I threw my arms above my head, holding the back of the seat whilst she shuffled me lower down into the cushion so that my inner thighs met with her face.

  Her warm breath touched me. I closed my eyes, my thoughts were in ecstasy and my body in rapture…

  ♦♦♦

  May 19 Time-10.28am, two minutes before my appointment with my shrink, Martha Raney. The door to her office opened and out walked a young woman. She had been crying and I can only presume that she was searching through her red purse for a tissue.

  “Paige, please come in,” Martha summoned standing in the doorway.

  For the first five minutes of my appointment, I sat silently as usual. But then I began to focus on my concerns over my uncle. Memories flooded my mind, memories that I’d locked away never wanting to place myself in that predicament again.

  “He’s back,” I said out loud.

  “Who’s back, Paige?” Martha asked. Her voice was soft and understanding.

  I could feel my tears forming.

  “Paige, take a deep breath, and if you feel that you need to say something then please just say what’s on your mind.”

  “He’s back, my uncle, he’s back,” I said quietly. I knew that she had my personal history notes. Mike was aware of my past and Martha had been recommended by him. She worked for the bureau. Her office was on the floor below my office.

  “And your uncle, has he been in touch with you?”

  “No!” I snapped. My answer jolted me from my paranoid state. I wasn’t sure that it was him, only the scent of this figure walking by had reminded of my dismal past. Could the stranger in the doorway really have been my uncle, or had I just been searching for something that didn’t actually exist.

  Martha sat in her comfortable chair waiting for me to share my darkest secrets with her. She was an intelligent woman with a dress sense of someone with maturity, even though she was only 38, she could easily be mistaken for a woman in her late 40’s. She always tied her hair back tightly at the nape of her neck and wore the same dark gray colored skirt suits every day that she worked in the office. She wore nylon stockings, an item of clothing that I completely detested.

  “His scent. I remember his overpowering cologne when he came into my room. It made me feel physically sick when he opened my bedroom door. I can smell him now, just thinking about him.” My tears were stinging my eyes, I couldn’t control them. It was humiliating to me to show her how weak I was at this point. My fingers were gripping hard on the chair arms, causing my knuckles to whiten. I needed to find an outlet other than crying.

  “It’s ok, Paige. He can’t hurt you now,” she assured me.

  But it wasn’t about what he could do to me now. It was what he had done to me and what he could possibly be doing to another child right at this very moment. I had pledged to fight against the criminals and to keep the innocent safe, that’s what I’m supposed to do and now finding myself in such a vulnerable state was completely alien to me.

  “I don’t need your protection, what would you know about protecting someone. All you do is sit in a chair all day and suck on a pencil. I’ve wasted too much of my valuable time here already.” I stood up quickly. My stance was unyielding as I stared at her, defying her nerve to even suggest that she was capable of saving me from the sick fucks out there.

  “I’m sorry that you feel so strongly, Paige. Please don’t let my calmness fool you. There are reasons why I chose to be in this profession as well you may understand.”

  “You might have details about my childhood, you also might have details about my personal life, but I can assure you that reading about me on a piece of fucking paper does NOT, for one second, give you the right to think that you know me.”

  She sat back in her seat, relaxed and superior in her own little world of mind games. Her pen sat between her thumb and her forefinger and she lightly tapped it on the desk in front of her. In my opinion, she was the one getting nervous.

  “This appointment is over,” I said, and then turned around, making my way to the door.

  “Paige, I will see you next month, I know that you feel as though you are being forced against your will to attend these meetings, but I can assure you that even when you are communicating with me verbally, you are still deeply in thought. I can guarantee that you’ve spent time in my office thinking about the exact things that you wish not to speak about with me. That’s a progression.”

  I grabbed the door handle and yanked on it, flinging the door wide open, I stormed through it leaving her office in an angry state. When I reached the elevator I heard her call, ‘Hi, John, please come in,’ as if she hadn’t been fazed by my outburst at all.

  Chapter Three

  Kate was singing at The Rooster Club, tonight. She was their top billing act and would draw in a crowd that usually filled the house. I sat at the bar drinking with Emily. Kate had invited her when she showed an interest in the same music that Kate enjoyed singing.

  I ordered us both another bottle of beer. The crowd was growing and soon we were surrounded by a mass of women and a few men, all waiting for Kate to perform for them on stage.

  “She must be good if she has a following this big,” Emily commented as she turned her stool around to face the room of impatient fans.

  “She’s worked really hard for this. I’m so proud of her,” I said, watching the lights turn dim, ready for Kate to present herself.

  The audience began to clap and cheer when the bar turned dark. A red spot light beamed down on to the stage and then cross lights of green, blue and white beamed from the ceiling onto the stage. Kate emerged wearing her dark brown leather cowboy hat with her hair long and straight, hanging down to her waist. Her cowboy boots were her favorite ones to wear, they were distressed leather with gold stud detailing climbing up the shaft. Her top was off the shoulder,
long sleeves; slightly transparent with a floral print. She began to sing. She had chosen, Never Love You Enough, by Chely Wright. It was one of my favorite songs and Kate sang it beautifully. She was mesmerizing to watch.

  “Wow, she’s really good,” Emily said, nudging my arm and then taking a swig of beer.

  It was like no one else was in the room when she sang.

  “That was for you, baby,” Kate said after she had finished the song and pointed directly at me. I raised my bottle to her.

  She began to sing her next song, Blue, a Leanne Rimes hit, the crowd loved this song. I was just about to put my drink to my mouth when a female hand stroked my lower arm preventing me from going any further.

  “Paige, I can’t believe it’s really you,” she said.

  I turned around and recognized who the voice belonged to immediately.

  “Rosa.”

  “How are you? You look awesome and you’ve grown your hair,” she said with her Hispanic eyes admiring me.

  We were in a relationship and broke up long before I met Kate. Rosa was a criminologist and I was still in training and working every hour under the sun to win the fight in climbing the ladder at the bureau. We made it as a couple for three years. Gaining a degree at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Antonio, Texas, I met Rosa, who happened to be teaching a course there. We became lovers shortly after I passed and with Rosa living in San Francisco and me in Fremont, we would commute over the weekends. She was my first serious relationship. Our downfall was what we loved most, our careers. Both of us worked exceptionally long hours and found that trying to find the time for our personal interactions was growing less by the week. The split was decided with a very heavy heart and it took me quite some time to get over her.

  “Are you going to introduce us?” Emily casually interrupted.

  “Emily, this is, Rosa. Rosa, this is Emily. We go back a long way,” I told her.

  Emily shook Rosa’s hand. “Hi, Rosa, nice to finally meet one of Paige’s friends, she’s so private,” Emily joked lightheartedly with her.