Somewhere in between reading the reports, her mind wandered back to her mission. If an afternoon as hot as she and Jake shared today didn’t bring him to climax—what would? She already knew the answer to that and she was determined to see it through.
She quickly caught up with her paperwork and impulsively pulled the pattern analysis at the bottom of the file to take one more look before she headed for the beach on a mission. She laid out the three news stories Clint had printed out, one of them still stained with spewed orange chicken from the Gay Dolphin.
Molestation Victim Kills Tormentor
Howard Breuer, People Magazine, April 27, 2010 Fort Bragg, CA
After Aaron Vargus endured years of sexual abuse, it seemed inevitable that something would finally have to give. One night in February 2009, he downed beers and vodka, drove to a mobile home in Fort Bragg, CA and shot the man he said was his tormentor once in the chest. “You’re not going to hurt anyone again,” Vargus, thirty-two, allegedly said as the sixty-three-year-old Darrell McNeill lay dying.
The fatal shooting in the quaint town flanked by redwood forests and spectacular coastal views has sparked a debate over whether Vargas should be treated like a hero for killing a man who many, including his own family, considered a danger to children, or a criminal for allegedly taking the law into his own hands.
Initially charged with murder, Vargas’s attorney Tom Hudson contended that the gun went off by accident during the scuffle, although his client was too drunk to remember how it happened. Prosecutors earlier this month agreed to a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter. They cited evidence that McNeill had molested Vargas as far back as when he was eleven years old, along with Vargas’s clean record and the sentiments of McNeill’s family who have come out in support of Vargas.
Serial Child Rapist Allegedly Killed by Molestation Victim in the Same Cell
By James Anderson Hampton Roads
The sixty-four-year-old man had been locked up for much of the past four decades for sexually assaulting several teenagers in the South Hampton Roads. He tossed one boy in a ditch and abandoned another in a wooden box. Now, a man who himself was a childhood victim of sexual abuse is accused of killing Ausley.
Dewey K. “Frankie” Venable, twenty-four, had vowed in a letter to his grandmother that he would not let himself be raped in prison. He also had told family members that he had been disciplined for attacking inmates who were sex offenders.
“He had asked not to be stuck in a cell with a child molester, flat out, plain and simple,” his aunt, Patricia Nelson, said in an interview. Venable told his family he did not commit the crime.
Department of Corrections officials would not talk about the pending criminal case or about information from inmate files. In an email response to the Virginia-Pilot, department spokesman Larry Traylor wrote that there are no policies specifically governing cell assignments for sex offenders or inmates who are known victims of child molestation.
Venable was molested at least once in the mid-1980s, when he was between the ages of four and seven, according to records in Norfolk Circuit Court.
In 1988, Dennis L. Sewell pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery for attacks on Venable and another child, court records show. Sewell received a suspended twenty-year prison sentence and ten years of probation.
Thirteen-Year-Old Boy Shoots Sexually Abusive Parents
Daniel August Jones, San Francisco Times October 17, 1989 Anaheim, CA
A thirteen-year-old boy called 911 today at 5:00 a.m. to report that he had shot and killed both his parents. Police report the deceased as Gerard and Gwendolyn Jacobson of the Bay area. The 911 tapes reflect that Adam Homer Jacobson is the self-professed killer, though officials will not confirm this because the accused is a juvenile. Unofficial police sources confirm that the thirteen-year-old Jacobson allegedly shot his parents as they slept and then called police to turn himself in. Investigation into the scene and crime uncovered a wealthy and kinky lifestyle in which the Jacobson’s only child was routinely “loaned” to “sexual swinging partners” at weekly parties given at the lavish Jacobson estate, complete with full BDSM sexual dungeon. Mark Jacobson, a businessman and sole heir to the Case Hard Steel Lock Empire, a multi-million-dollar corporation, lead a life of luxury and lascivious behavior. Neighbors report numerous parties and neighborhood rumors of nude swims, wife swapping, and sexual deviance abound. The Jacobson’s son has not been charged but is being held in “protective custody” according to Anaheim officials.
Charlie: Hey handsome. I’m going to head home early and get ready for tonight. Want me to pick up some takeout from the Gay Dolphin and you come over at about 8:00?
Jake: Why are you texting me when you are ten feet away?
Charlie: Because if I walk the ten feet I can’t call you handsome and because Crammy will place a Gay Dolphin order with me and I’ve already fed that cheap bastard once today.
Jake: Why don’t we just go get a bite on the way? We have plenty of time.
Charlie: Because I need to run an errand and because I need a shower . . . I smell like . . . you. Purrrrrrr
Jake: I like marking you with my scent.
Charlie: )))))))))))))))((((((((((((((((((
Jake: What’s that, Baby?
Charlie: You make me shiver.
Jake: You can take a shower Baby, but there is no guarantee you won’t be re-marked by the time we leave for the stakeout. What errand?
Charlie: I want to pick something up. MYOB
Jake: You are my business. I’ll pick up dinner after I change. See you at 8:00 my love.
My love. Charlie sighed.
Charlie: Orange crusted chicken!
Jake: Yes love, I know.
Charlie smiled and actually shivered remembering how Jake said he wanted to mark her at the beach. He was so fucking out there. So what did that say about her that she was considering allowing him to mark her? Permanently?
She didn’t have a lot of time. She really did need a shower and she was hoping to get to her laptop before Jake arrived and try again to contact AJ, so Clint’s contact could track the signal. She was determined to head to the beach and go through with her plan.
Charlie was sincere when she had asked Clint to try to pin down the origin of AJ without having to make it part of the case file, which they both felt was premature, but she had second thoughts about it almost immediately. While she had truly been wary when she shared with Clint that she had told AJ about her 2012 cases, she had also been shit-faced at the time. The whole idea was as crazy as Clint’s accusation that Jake might somehow be involved.
When a case goes on for too long a detective has to resist the urge to reach too far in their desperation to catch a break, and Charlie felt like she had crossed that line in thinking that AJ was somehow connected to the case. She reached out to AJ but he didn’t answer. Charlie showered quickly, paying special attention to her virgin and pristine nipples to ensure they were ready for the adventure she had planned for them. Then she pulled her wet hair into a ponytail and decided to try one more time before she headed to the beach.
VABlueAngel: AJ Please.
VABlueAngel: I know you said we had a shelf life, but I don’t agree. I need to talk to you please. So much has happened.
AJ101-789: Be careful tonight, Angel.
Chapter 31
Pierced
Charlie drove to the beach in silence. No music, no news, just her and her thoughts, which were racing. AJ told her to be careful tonight but would not respond any further. He knew. Did he know she was going to be on stakeout tonight, or was he just guessing? Or maybe fishing? She needed to know where that IP address was coming from. What if Clint’s instincts were partially right and someone inside the department was somehow involved? She shivered. Not the good kind.
She tried to clear her head. She would nee
d a clear head for what she was about to do. It was crazy. She sped up, worried that she might lose her nerve. Thankfully, traffic was light and she caught mostly green lights when she hit the city line. She made her way to the strip and began to look for the shop. It seemed like these types of shops were staggered every fifty feet on the boardwalk but she didn’t want just any shop. She wanted one particular shop, the one where he had confided to her how to win his trust forever. At last she came upon it. It was empty except for the pierced and tatted proprietor. “H-hi, I was interested. I mean I was wondering how . . .”
“Oh sweetheart! I know a virgin when I see one, doll!”
The fact that he was clearly and proudly gay somehow made her feel more comfortable. “Now don’t tell me, don’t tell me. I loooooove to guess!” Charlie giggled at his enthusiasm.
“I’m channeling my inner woman, and believe you me, she’s in there! I’m thinking . . . you are not here for a tattoo.”
“You’re right,” Charlie said, shyly.
“Oh, you are just too adorable! Now, are you doing this for a lucky man . . . or a lucky woman . . .? Don’t tell me! Don’t tell me! A lucky man!”
“Right again.”
“Is he tall? Oh-My-God! I love tall men! Ooops, L-O-L, this isn’t about me now is it?! I’m Alex by the way. If you come back on Saturday, I’ll be Alexis,” he winked.
Charlie was relaxing with every grand slur from this grand queen and she was so grateful to him. She touched his arm to shut him up and said, “He wants me to get my nipples pierced.”
“Oh-My-God! That is so hot! And you’re going to surprise him yes? Yes, you are! You little vixen! He is going to die! He’s just going to die!”
I don’t want him to die. I want him to come, she thought, her cheeks flushing.
Alex locked the front door and flipped the sign saying he would return soon. Charlie was comfortable with Alex but the cop in her told her that going to the back room of a tattoo and piercing shop with a man, well, almost a man, she didn’t know and no witnesses was a terrible idea. She knew Jake would be upset with her for making a decision like that and had already decided that she would spare him the details. Alex led her to what looked like a dentist chair and activated a set of very bright lights. She felt as though she were in the lab of a mad scientist and could easily see Jake owning a store like this one. She wondered what kind of business his parents had been in that left him in such a comfortable financial position after all these years. She was surprised she hadn’t asked him.
“Ahem! Ms. Thing! I will need your total attention for the next five minutes! You need to sign the release here and you need to choose a ring. Straight rod, c-ring with balls or c-ring with arrows. They all cost the same, it’s just a personal preference thing. I’m partial to the straight rod, but that’s no secret to anyone!” he laughed making a big sweep of his hand.
“Charlotte. My name is Charlotte. I’m sorry, Alex. I am really nervous. The arrows I guess. This is going to hurt isn’t it?”
“Are your ears pierced, Ms. Charlotte?” he asked with an overemphasized Southern twang, “Same. Same. Now, here is a copy of your release and a care sheet. You have to clean them every day, twice a day for three months to ward off infection. No cheating. Infection is nothing to play around with got it?”
“Got it. Okay. What are those? They look like electrodes.”
“No, no sweetie. These just allow us to do both nipples at once. Isn’t that genius? Just like ear piercing! That’ll be $90.00.”
Charlotte paid in cash and began to relax. Ear piercing was nothing.
“Okay, let’s see my canvass,” Alex chirped. She shot an uncomfortable glance at him. “Oh, don’t worry honey. I wouldn’t know what to do with them!” He said, making Charlotte laugh again. It felt very strange having another man handle her breasts. Even though Alex was as gay as Christmas at Bloomingdale’s she felt like she was being disloyal to Jake. He buzzed around her breasts marking the future hole with a marker and attaching the electrode-looking apparatus while she shifted in the dentist chair.
“Okay all set. Now the way we do it is I’m going to count to . . . ZAP!!!”
“Ow!!!!!” she screamed. “Oh, my fucking God!! Ow! Ow! Ow! Jesus Christ! Ow!”
“Breathe, Ms. Charlotte. It’s all over, it’s done. Look.”
She straightened her severely arched back and looked down at her freshly adorned nipples. “Oh my God, Alex. They’re beautiful. Erotic. Oh my God. He’s going to love them. I love them.” Her nipples throbbed in objection.
“He’s a lucky man,” Alex winked. All flame was now gone from his voice. “They’re beautiful. I’m sorry about that,” he apologized. “I find that pretending I’m gay is the easiest way for women to relax. You should take some naproxen for a day or two.”
Shocked, she nodded and looked at the floor. She understood, but it still made her uncomfortable that in her distraction she could be duped so easily. She was a lot of things, but naïve was not generally one of them. She quickly scampered out of the shop and headed back to her car.
Driving back to Landon, she couldn’t stop grinning. She could feel them. Her nipples still throbbed but the pain was exquisite. She couldn’t stop reaching up and outlining her little rings. A fire was burning in her groin. She couldn’t wait to tell him. But when?
She arrived back at her apartment just as Jake was pulling up with the food. He shot her a cold stare. It had no effect on her. She was high from the rush and nothing could touch her.
“Where have you been, Charlotte?” he said in a demanding tone.
“Getting you a present my love. So, check that cold stare, Agent. I’m starving,” she grinned.
Jake was annoyed but intrigued. This was definitely a different side of Charlie and it was arousing him. She was deliberately but not defiantly misbehaving. Jake unpacked the food while she changed for the stakeout and discreetly texted Clint, letting him know that he would be with her for the midnight shift stakeout the next night.
Clint: Who’s on tonight? Someone competent, I hope. I have a feeling.
Charlie: Jake and I. No worries, Night Rider.
She sat down at the kitchen counter dressed and ready to go and still grinning. She had it all worked out in her head. She decided she would tell him on the stakeout. She would wait until early morning, when the stakeout was starting to drag. Then she would tell him and he would have to wait until sunrise to actually see them, though she might let him trace the outside of them with his finger through her shirt.
“Where’s your vest, Sergeant?” Jake asked.
She hadn’t really thought that part through. She would be on a stakeout for the next three nights and would be unable to wear her vest due to the tenderness from her new nipple rings but there was nothing she could do about it now.
“No vest tonight, Agent. It’s too uncomfortable while we are sitting all night. I’ll bring it and if we see any action I’ll strap in on over my shirt. Okay?”
“Not okay.”
“Jake. It’s okay. Honest. Work with me here.”
“Not okay,” he said again, his eyes starting to narrow. “What the hell are you grinning at, Cavanaugh? We are leaving here in ten minutes and you will be wearing a vest. Do you understand? I am not amused Charlotte. What the hell is going on with you tonight?”
“This is not how I wanted to do this. I wanted to surprise you in the morning,” she grinned.
“Surprise me with what?” he asked, irritated.
“With these,” she said, lifting her shirt and revealing her braless chest.
“Oh my God. Charlotte. Baby, they’re beautiful. I can’t believe you did this. Did it hurt? Can I touch them?” he asked wide-eyed. She lifted his hand to her ring and a shock pulsed through her body as he gently touched them. “You did this for me? Why?”
“Because I love you, Jake. You are
the man of my dreams. I want to be the woman of yours.”
Chapter 32
The Train Has Left the Station
“I’m not sure you thought this through, Sergeant,” he grinned as they drove to the stakeout. “Tonight is not the night for us to be distracted and those are very distracting. I can’t wait to feel them in my mouth.” Charlie both shivered and grinned at the thought.
They picked up coffee and drove around the block several times to clear the area before agreeing on a good spot. Jake was arguing with her about the best location and she was perturbed about having to give in, but when he got that tone in his voice and that look in his eye, she knew arguing with him was futile.
“Does the target know?” he asked.
“No. Cap thought it would be best to stay the course and keep him in the dark on the off- chance he might be a suspect as well.”
“A suspect?” Jake asked, suspiciously.
“I know it’s a long shot but this has been a case of long shots and unexplained weirdness,” she said with trepidation.
“What’s on your mind, Sergeant?” he prodded.
“Why did you tell Clint that you and I were together the whole time the night of the Daniel Silver murder?” she asked, turning in her seat to look him directly in the eye.
“Why do think? To protect us.”
“Protect us from what? I . . .”
“This conversation is over, Charlotte.”
“Jake, I . . .”
“Over.”
They sat in silence for over an hour, watching the house. Charlie’s jaw was squared. She hated that Jake felt he could issue an order to her and she hated herself for following it. The house was busy with activity. Lights coming on in one room, going off in another, until the house was finally dark and still. The police radio quieted down as well and the tension was palatable. Her head was spinning over his refusal to discuss why he lied to Clint, over the pain from her aching nipples, and from the overwhelming physical ache she felt when she was sitting this close to him but not touching him. To protect us. Why did we need protecting?
The Hooker, the Handyman and What the Parrot Saw Page 24