Destroying Angel, page 16
“And he believed it?” Julia asked, trying to imagine the desperation required to eat a mushroom dish with a woman whose life you just got done destroying with the very same mushrooms.
“I made it believable,” Amanda shrugged. “Plus, I sat there with him while he ate. I made sure he cleaned his plate. I took some for myself too, but he was so busy congratulating himself on winning me back, he never noticed that I didn’t eat a bite.”
“And it put him in the hospital, but he knew what to look for so he got there fast enough,” Tom said. “He started to recover. And that’s when you took the hospital kitchen job as an excuse to get near him again?”
Amanda just nodded.
“But why did you dose him a second time?” Julia prompted. “Why not let the first one be the warning you wanted to give him and let it go?”
“He killed my boyfriend!” she cried, worked up all over again. “He believed me so readily when I said I wanted him back. The more I thought about it, the more sure I was that I’d never be rid of him unless he was dead.”
“Or in prison,” Tom suggested. “You could have told us what he did to Brandon. You knew when we interviewed you before, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she said, resigned. “I thought about it, I really did. But I decided I had to kill him myself. It was the only way to be sure he was never going to be able to hurt me again.”
Tom passed her the tissues, she swiped at the snot collecting on her upper lip, and then she looked up at him.
“But the bastard just keeps on surviving!”
“You still want him to die, after all this?” Julia asked. “Even sitting here in the police station, knowing you’ll be charged with murder if he dies?”
Attempted murder, even if he pulls through, she thought. That was up to forty years in prison. Amanda could be of retirement age by the time she got out, all because she chose a bad guy when she was a teenager and couldn’t get rid of him.
But the cold expression in Amanda’s eyes remained. “I do want him to die. He deserves it for what he did to Brandon, and to me.”
31
EMERY
Julia stepped out of the interrogation room about fifteen minutes after she and Tom got Amanda’s confession. Amanda was still working on a written version of her statement, but Tom told Julia he could take it from there.
She met Emery in the observation room. “So, I guess that’s your first Fox County case in the books,” Emery said. “Good work.”
“It’s not over quite yet,” Julia said. “We can’t just take her word that Kyle is the one responsible for Brandon’s death. Best case scenario, he recovers enough to talk and decides to tell the truth when we confront him.”
“And if not?”
“We’ll just have to double down on our search for physical evidence,” she said. “A deeper inspection of Kyle’s apartment, to start off with. Try to either confirm or deny Amanda’s story.”
“Do you think it’s true?” Emery asked.
Julia sighed. “Probably. I hate to rely on personal experience when it comes to a case, but it all rings true from what I know of being with Samantha. I didn’t detect any deception when Amanda was talking about her relationship with Kyle. And speaking of Sam… you up for being an emotional support human?”
“You ready to talk to the chief?”
“No better time than the present,” Julia said with a resigned sigh.
They walked through the homicide department hand-in-hand and Emery hung back for a moment while Julia knocked on the chief’s door.
“Come in,” he called, and Julia motioned for Emery to follow.
Inside, a slightly portly man who looked to be in his fifties sat behind a cluttered desk. A blonde in a police uniform sat across from him, and they both had take-out sandwiches laid out in front of them.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Julia said. “I can come back.”
“We’re just having lunch,” the chief said. “This is my daughter, Court.”
“We’ve met around the building,” Julia said. “Didn’t know you were the chief’s daughter, though I probably should have guessed – same last name, right?”
“Wilson, yeah,” Court said, then shot her dad a disapproving look. “Though I keep asking him not to tell people that.”
“What is it, a secret?” he shot back. Then he turned back to Julia, setting his sandwich down. “You’re one of my new hires in homicide, right?” Julia nodded. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, first off, this is Emery Ellison,” Julia said, gesturing for her to step into the room. Emery came to her side. “She’s a mycologist over at the university and she’s been consulting for us. She’s also…” Julia looked at Emery and smiled. “My partner.”
“You don’t need to fill out a relationship disclosure form if she’s just consulting,” the chief said.
Julia laughed nervously. “No, actually, I just wanted her here for emotional support, if that’s okay.”
The chief’s expression turned serious and he looked at his daughter. “Honey, can I take a rain check on this lunch date? Sounds like duty calls.”
“Sorry,” Julia apologized, but Court waved her away.
“It’s no problem, I eat with him all the time,” she said. “Only way to make sure he doesn’t have a burger and a milkshake for lunch every day.”
She packed up her own lunch and left, pulling the door closed behind her. Then the chief gestured to the two empty chairs across from his desk. “Have a seat and tell me what’s going on.”
They sat, and Emery held Julia’s hand while she told the chief all about her ex – including the rock through her apartment window back in Grand Rapids and the creepy text she received at the bar just the other day.
“I don’t mean to bring my drama to work with me, but she’s tried to use my job to manipulate me in the past,” she said. “I don’t want it to happen again here.”
“It’s not drama, stalking is serious criminal behavior,” the chief said, and Emery instantly liked him for taking her girlfriend’s safety seriously. “However, if you have a restraining order in place, I’m not sure there’s much more we can do other than circulate her photo, make sure everyone in the station knows to look out for her. Have you already told your department?”
Julia shifted in her seat. “I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot with them, make them think I can’t handle myself.”
“I doubt they would think that,” the chief said. “And I don’t have to tell a veteran officer like you that keeping secrets from your team isn’t a good idea.”
She frowned, and Emery tightened her hold on Julia’s hand. “No, I know that. I was just hoping there was something we could do to end this, once and for all.”
The chief sat back in his chair. “What did you have in mind?”
Julia let out a huff, and Emery wondered if she was thinking about Amanda Drake, about the lengths she went to so she could feel safe from her own stalker ex. Lengths Emery hoped Julia would never feel compelled to go to.
“I don’t know,” Julia put her hand to the bridge of her nose, like she was trying to stave off a headache. “I just don’t think I can take another six months of living like I did in Michigan, constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for her to show up outside my house, inside my workplace, in parking lots…”
“Could we lure her in?” Emery asked. “Catch her in the act, if she’s going to be making threats anyway?”
The chief’s hands went up instantly. “The police can’t be involved in anything like that. It’s entrapment, just as illegal as stalking.”
Ah yes, if Emery had run that idea past Monica, she surely would have used her CSI knowledge to tell her so. It had just come to her in the spur of the moment, born out of desperation.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Emery asked. “This woman is making Julia’s life hell.”
“We can put a security detail on you,” Chief Wilson told Julia. “We can make sure you’re safe, circulate that photo, and if she does show up here, we’ll nail her feet to the floor.”
Julia gave another one of those resigned sighs, this one heartbreaking in its tenor. “You’re right… that’s all there is to do. Can you put a detail on Emery too?”
“I don’t know if I want that,” Emery tried to object.
“I’m not gonna let you wind up like Brandon Hawthorne,” Julia said, her tone leaving no room for argument.
The chief sat forward in his chair again. “Look, I know you don’t want to see this woman again, but you know how stalker cases work – they escalate. If she’s sending you threatening text messages and saying she knows where you live, it’s likely she’s planning to violate the restraining order. We can put her away without the entrapment when she does decide to act.” He looked to Emery, then back at Julia. “And yes, I will assign an officer to your partner as well because I can see the risk.”
Julia stood and put her hand out across the desk. “Thank you, Chief. I’m sorry to bring this problem into the precinct.”
He stood too, shaking her hand. “It’s my job to make sure the citizens of this city are safe, and that includes my employees. There’s nothing to apologize for. Besides, what I hear from Tom is you’re an asset to the department.”
Julia and Emery left the chief to his lunch, and went into the hall. Once the chief’s door was closed and they were alone, Emery pulled Julia into a hug. “How’d you feel about that?”
“Not as good as I would have if the chief had said, ‘let’s haul her ass in right now and throw her in jail,’” she smirked. “He said Tom is speaking highly of me. So weird, I thought he hated me.”
“So now what do we do?”
“With our lives?”
“With the afternoon,” Emery laughed. “Do you have more work to do to close the amatoxin case?”
“I still have to go talk to Kyle Brogan again, get his side of the story,” she said. “But I doubt a couple hours have improved his condition any. Right now all I can do is wait and see if he pulls through.” She smiled up at Emery. “And we can wait at my place if you want. I’m exhausted, and I want to thank you for being my bodyguard today.”
She winked, then turned toward the stairwell.
Emery wasted no time chasing after her.
“I’m so glad you’re staying,” Emery said the moment they were alone in Julia’s apartment again. “I don’t know what I would have done if you decided to leave here.”
“I would have hated to leave you.”
“I just might have had to follow you,” Emery said. “I mean, if you wanted me to. I never want to make you feel like Sam did.”
Julia pressed her lips to Emery’s. “Never say that name again. I don’t want it to have to cross your lips.”
“I love you.”
It was only the second time she’d said it, but it felt so right, the words just slipped out again. And when Julia said them back, Emery’s entire body flooded with joy.
“I love you too, Emery Ellison,” she said, “so damn much.”
“Come here,” Emery growled, pulling her closer and kissing her again. She wanted to show Julia just how much she loved her in a way that words could not.
She felt a spark, a warmth that spread from her lips all the way down to her toes. She closed her eyes and savored the way that Julia melted into the kiss. Julia nipped lightly at Emery’s lower lip, eliciting a moan. Emery brought her hands up to Julia’s face, her fingers lightly tracing the curves of her jaw.
Julia pulled away and looked deeply into Emery’s eyes. “I’m yours… all yours,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
Emery’s heart felt like it was going to burst. She gently caressed Julia’s cheek, her fingertips lingering on her soft skin. She looked back into Julia’s eyes, and saw a fire there burning hotter than she’d ever seen before.
She moved her lips back to Julia’s. This time, the kiss was slow and passionate, their tongues intertwining and exploring each other’s mouths. Emery felt a surge of need course through her body.
Julia broke the kiss and looked into Emery’s eyes. She whispered, “Let’s take this to the bedroom.”
Emery grinned. “Race you.”
Then she took off in the now-familiar direction of Julia’s bedroom. Once inside, the two of them fell into bed together, ripping each other’s clothes off, hungry with need. Desire built in Emery, becoming more and more urgent with each passing moment, her skin tingling with anticipation.
When they were both fully naked, they lay down beside each other. Julia’s hands began to wander over Emery’s body, exploring every inch of her. A wave of pleasure coursed through her as Julia’s lips lightly brushed against her neck. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensation.
Julia’s hands continued to move over Emery’s body, her touch both gentle and demanding, her lips trailing soft kisses along the way.
Emery was relishing this slow love-making, but at the same time, she craved Julia fiercely. She pulled her closer and kissed her hungrily, ready for her.
Julia picked up the cue, her hands moving lower, touching Emery in a way that left her trembling. She felt Julia’s fingertips lightly brush against her inner thighs, then she spread Emery’s legs and began to stroke her folds and the hard nub of her clit.
Emery gasped, the pleasure almost too much, the sensations overwhelming her. Her own fingers walked down over Julia’s hip, circled around and plunged between her thighs, sliding into her wetness. They clung to each other, like this was the only moment, the only thing that existed in the world.
The two of them.
This pleasure.
Their bodies pressed against each other.
At last, they spilled over the edge of desire together, holding each other tight as they came, their bodies trembling against each other.
When the pleasure faded, they lay in each other’s arms. Emery looked into Julia’s eyes and whispered, “I love you.”
Julia smiled back and whispered, “I love you too.” Then she chuckled. “And I think we’re gonna have to get cleaned up before you have dinner with Monica.”
“Come with me,” Emery said.
“Really?”
“Of course,” Emery answered. “I met your friends. I’d be delighted to introduce you to my best friend.”
An hour later, freshly showered and in clean clothes – Emery wearing something from Julia’s closet that made her feel proud and naughty and loved all at the same time – they showed up at a little Italian restaurant near the lake that was Monica’s favorite.
The chief had worked fast in getting them a security detail, and as they walked from the parking lot to the restaurant, Julia pointed out a man sitting behind the wheel of a black sedan, parked on the street.
“Sorry, babe, you’ve been replaced as my bodyguard.”
“We’re really going to have undercover cops following us around now, for as long as it takes S– your ex to make a move?”
Julia nodded. “You’ll barely notice them – or so I hear from people I’ve put under protection in the past.”
Emery did her best to ignore the man in the unmarked sedan. She told Julia about how Monica had discovered this restaurant in her first week at the university, and how it had turned into their go-to spot if they decided to venture off-campus for lunch. “I hope it can be your spot too now. Oh, there she is.”
She pointed to where Monica stood on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, one hand smoothed over her belly. Emery felt Julia’s hand clutch hers harder.
With an eyebrow raised, she asked, “Are you nervous?”
“Meeting the best friend? Yeah, a little.”
“I love you, so Monica will love you,” Emery said. It was already starting to feel normal to say that, and she loved it. She knew she’d never grow tired of those three words.
Monica raised her free hand. “Hey, you two. This must be the famous Julia.”
“Famous?” Julia asked when they met her on the sidewalk.
Monica laughed. “You have no idea how much this one likes you. She won’t stop talking about you.”
“Oh, I have an idea,” Julia answered with a grin.
They finished with introductions, then went inside and got a table. When the server came over, Monica ordered a lasagna dish that she talked Julia into getting as well.
“As long as it doesn’t have mushrooms,” she said.
Emery laughed. “Feeling squeamish?”
“For now. I’ll eat them again once this case isn’t so fresh in my mind.”
Emery stuck with the spaghetti and meatballs she pretty much always ordered there, and they shared a basket of bread while they waited for the main course.
"So, you two," Monica said, her mouth full of bread, “tell me how things are going. Julia, I’m shocked you were able to draw this one out of her shell.”
“Oh yeah?” Julia asked, intrigued.
“She’s been… let’s just call her a lone wolf,” Monica said. “I’ve never known her to date anyone seriously.”
“I’ve never met anyone worth putting myself out there for,” Emery added.
“Just waiting for the right woman,” Monica confirmed, “who seems to have come along at last.”
Julia beamed, then stuffed a piece of bread self-consciously into her cheek. “Emery tells me you’re expecting your first baby,” she redirected the conversation.
They talked until the food arrived, and all through the meal there wasn’t a single awkward silence. It felt immediately like all three of them had been friends for ages, and it was with a great sense of peace and rightness in the world that Emery sat back in her chair at the end of the meal. Her girlfriend and her best friend had hit it off.
They split the check two ways, Julia insisting on paying for Emery’s meal for sticking by her all day. Then Monica stood up, reaching for her jacket. "Well, I better get going. The more pregnant I get, the worse I am at staying awake past nine o’clock. But I'm glad I got to meet you, Julia."
