Liar, page 12
“It was Derek, wasn’t it?” I already know the answer.
He looks down and nods. “Officer Derek Hines.”
“Adam, I need to ask you a weird question.”
He looks up at me, shame welling in his eyes. “What?”
“Was it a diamond? That he carved into the girl’s stomach, I mean. Was it a diamond shape with some lines next to it?”
His eyes widen, and I can tell he’s confused as hell. “How... Yeah. It was. How did you know?”
“Oh, fuck,” I whisper.
“I mean, I thought it was more like a box. But, you know, if you looked at it from an angle, yeah, sure. It was a diamond. There weren’t any lines beside it. At least, I don’t recall any. But, like I said, she had so many slashes and shit all over her, I couldn’t really say for sure.”
“Adam, it’s him.”
“What’s him? How did you know about the diamond?”
Trembling, I take a deep breath. “I didn’t know at first. But, that girl at the lake, she had a diamond carved into her stomach, too.”
“What?” He looks ill. “Why the fuck didn’t I know about that?”
“No one from the general public knows about it. I think the police wants to keep it quiet.”
“You’re goddamn right they want to keep it quiet. Because he is the police, and too many people know that he’s a sick motherfucker.”
“That’s not all.”
“What do you mean?” Adam looks almost crazed.
“Next to the diamond, there were some slashes, three of them. I heard the police are thinking it’s some kind of cult symbol or something.”
“And...?”
“And I don’t think it is.” I swallow, unsure if I’ll be able to get through this next part. “Last year, a six-year-old girl named Tonya Williams went missing from a softball field in Oak Grove. Her sister was playing in a tournament there. You might have heard about it on the news.”
Adam nods. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“Well, her parents were sitting right there in the bleachers, watching the ballgame when she disappeared. They found Tonya’s little body three days later in the woods covered up with a bunch of brush and wet leaves. I don’t want to say what all he did to her. But she was tortured, and someone had carved a ‘box’ or something into her little chest. And it had two little slash marks next to it.”
Adam stares at me, blinking, trying to get my gist.
“Adam, I don’t think those were slash marks. I think they’re fucking numbers. I think Tonya was his second victim, and I think the girl at the lake was Roman numeral three.”
“You think the girl at Tommy T’s was the first one?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t know. Maybe there’s another girl out there somewhere they haven’t found yet. Or, maybe they did find her, and just didn’t release that information to the public? I just don’t know.”
“But I heard they arrested the guy that killed that little girl?”
“Well, they arrested a guy for it, yeah. But the prosecutor just dropped it. They dismissed the charges last week because there wasn’t enough evidence to make a solid case.”
He sits there now, looking outraged and frustrated by helplessness.
“Adam, what are we going to do?” I reach for my coffee cup. But I drop my hand before it gets there, realizing caffeine probably isn’t what I need right now.
He shakes his head. “Nothing. Something. I don’t have any fucking idea.”
“I’m sorry, but I need a drink.” I get up and head into the kitchen.
“Make that two, please,” he shouts from behind me.
Returning a few minutes later with a glass of wine in each hand and a half-empty bottle tucked beneath my arm, I find him pacing back and forth in the middle of the living room.
“Here.” I hand him a glass, and he leans down, gives me a quick, chaste kiss and resumes his pacing.
Sitting down on the sofa, I take several nice, lady-like gulps from my glass as I think about Derek, about how different he seemed from the guy I used to know.
“They’re going to try John for that girl’s murder,” Adam says as he paces.
“I know.”
“And that fucker Derek is going to laugh while my friend fries.”
“I know.”
“What if you’re right?” He paces over and sits down next to me, placing his hand on my knee. “What if you’re right and he’s out there right now looking for Girl Number Four? What if he waits until he’s sure someone else is going to get pinned with the last murder? And then, he goes out and finds the next one?”
“I think that’s exactly what he’s doing.” I look down and see that half my glass is already empty. I scratch my head, trying to figure out where it had gone. That can’t be right?
“You should have seen him that night, Billie. He looked like some kind of monster. Like he didn’t even have a soul. It actually scared me. He scared me. And, not to brag, but not too many people can scare me.”
“He’s not the same guy I knew back in school. That’s for sure. The guy I knew was shy and skinny and avoided people as much as possible. Marcus used to watch out for him with the other kids. Well, so did I. Come to think of it, that’s actually how I first started learning to fight. He was always getting picked on.”
“And you’re supposed to meet him for lunch tomorrow?”
“Well, fuck that noise.” I scoff. “I’m sure as hell not going.”
Finishing off my glass, I refill it from the bottle I’d brought back from the kitchen.
“You can’t just not show. What if calls or comes looking for you? What are you going to say?”
“I’ll call him tomorrow. I’ll make something up like work or an emergency or something.” I take a drink and then I gape at him, a horrible thought running through my mind. “Adam, what if I’m supposed to be Number Four?”
His face goes pale as death.
“No,” he says finally. “He wouldn’t. He knows you too well.”
Not quite convinced, I shake my head. “We have to do something. We need to turn him in.”
“No, we can’t.” He looks alarmed. “Well, I can’t, for damn sure.”
“Why not?” I don’t understand.
“Well, sweetheart. First of all, the thought of spending the rest of my life, or the majority of it, anyway, in a Federal prison doesn’t really sit well with me. Neither does the unfortunate accident that I’m sure would inevitably follow.”
“What do you mean? He can’t lock you up for filing a statement.”
“Billie, honey. He knows way too much about me, about what I do for a living. I just told you, I haven’t exactly lived a wholesome life. And I can’t even tell you everything. I won’t. You don’t need to know. But how do you think I get all my money?”
I hadn’t thought about that. So, all his money doesn’t come from being a bookie? How does he get it, then? “Do you... hurt people?”
“No. I don’t hurt anyone. But, I guess I help people who do. Let’s just say I know way too much about way too many big fish.”
Not wanting to think about his questionable occupation right now, I push the thought away. “Well, I could go to the police.”
He shakes his head. “I couldn’t stop you. But, setting aside for a minute that he would use me against you, I have no doubt that he’d come after you. Or, if not him, then one of his or Tommy’s guys or some of his other friends. The guy’s connected, Billie. You just don’t know what they’re capable of, what he’s capable of. I’ve seen and heard things that would make your blood turn cold.”
“I can’t just do nothing, Adam. He needs to be stop—”
Suddenly, it hits me. It slaps me, hard, right across the face. The fucking solution to everything. I grind my teeth as I stare blankly ahead, my mind turning over ideas like a tumbleweed through a ghost town. I know exactly what I have to do.
“Billie?” Adam looks frightened. “What is it?”
I cut my gaze to him and smile, blinking owlishly as an eerie calm flows through me. “I know what to do.”
“What? What are you going to do?” he asks, worried and on the brink of panic.
“You know how you said there were things you didn’t want to tell me? To protect me?”
He nods, a suspicious look on his face.
“Well, this is kind of like that. Just trust me when I tell you I can take of this.”
“No, Billie. Don’t do anything. Please. You’re going to get yourself hurt. Or worse. I’ll think of something, I swear. Just give me some time.”
We gaze at each other for a while, and I see fear and concern and love reflecting in his eyes, and it warms me. I smile and nod. “Okay,” I lie.
He pulls me to him, hugging me for dear life. “I mean it. Baby, I’ll handle it.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I rub his back gently reassuring him as I stare silently into the dark kitchen. “Okay.”
Softly, he kisses my hair and strokes my cheek. “I really don’t want to leave you again.”
“Then don’t.” I stand up and reach for him.
Smiling, he takes my hand and gets up to follow me down the tiny hallway to my bedroom. Funny thing is, I’d never thought of my hallway as tiny until I went to his apartment. Then, we enter my little storage closet, which I previously called my bedroom. Again, I’d always thought of it as a pretty nice-sized room until last night. Now, I find it hard to believe that Adam would rather stay here with me than go back home to his luxury condo.
Neither of us speak as we undress. We don’t need words right now. We just need to hold one another, to make love, and to forget about the horrible craziness going on all around us.
Naked, I throw back the cover and crawl onto the bed, scooting over to make room for him. He places his knee on the bed, crawling slowly on top of me, and then he promptly begins to worship me, starting at my neck and working his way down. He pauses at my breasts, lavishing each nipple with a solemn devotion, kissing, sucking and nipping.
“Ahh.” My body needs this. I need this. He sweeps his tongue down my stomach, burying his face in my dark patch and then covering my clit with his hot, wet mouth. “Oh, Adam,” I moan. Yes. I need him.
I raise my legs and rest them against his back as I totter on the edge of the chasm once again. But I don’t want to come this way, not tonight. I struggle to pull him up, and he looks up at me, confused.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want you to make love to me. I want you in me. I want to come with you inside me.”
He kisses my special spot and then crawls over me until he fully eclipses me.
“Oh, baby,” he whispers softly, kissing my face and running his thumbs through my hair.
But right now, I am out of my mind with need and writhing wantonly beneath him. My hands roam wildly, trying to touch all of him, as much of him as I can reach.
And I can feel his desire for me, his cock, hard and ready and resting precariously against my entrance. I wrap my legs around his hips and flex, forcing the very tip of him into me. He tosses his head back and gasps, as if I’ve just pained him.
“Baby, wait. I don’t have a condom.” He groans.
I squeeze my legs, pulling him toward me and into me until I feel his hips lay flat against my thighs.
“Oh, God, Billie,” he cries out and then buries his face in my hair, grinding and pressing his hips into me. Then, he drills slowly in and out, and every muscle in my body tenses, poised for release, begging for sweet relief. And it won’t take long, skin against skin and the hot, wet heat of his body. I dig my nails into his back and my feet into his ass, urging him on.
“Faster, Adam. Please. Go faster,” I beg.
He raises up, sliding his hands beneath me and lifting my behind off the bed. And then, gripping my hips firmly, he pounds into me, mercilessly, over and over until I hear myself crying out his name. It shatters me, a blissful, glorious little death that rolls through my body like a pleasure massage. And it goes on and on until, slowly, I regain my senses, and my body returns itself to reality, and to Adam.
“Oh, baby!” Adam cries, plunging into me one more time, digging his fingers into my ass and rocking his hips back and forth. And I feel his release like never before, his precious seed spilling into me like a warm, wet surge of love. God, he’s beautiful. His head rolls back to rest on his shoulders, a look of pure bliss on his handsome face as he presses every last drop of his essence into me.
Finally, he raises his head, dragging his eyelids open to look at me. I stare into his smoky eyes, smiling, and raise my hands to stroke his face. He collapses onto his elbows, resting his cheek against mine.
“You are so beautiful,” I whisper.
He scoffs. “I was just about to say that to you.”
“Well, I guess you’ll have to be faster next time.” I giggle.
“Boy, you want everything ‘faster’ today. Don’t you, Miss Shaw?” He chuckles and nibbles my ear.
“Not everything. Just you.” I sigh.
He rolls over slowly to his side, leaving his hand on my stomach, absently stroking my breast.
“Well, you’ve got me, baby. Like it or not, I’m afraid. You’ve got all of me.” He kisses my shoulder.
“Good. I want you,” I say matter-of-factly. “I want all of you, too.”
He sighs. “Would it scare you to death if I said I...” He stops without finishing his sentence.
“No. It wouldn’t.” I smile and place my hand on top of his, resting it on my stomach.
“Good. Because I am.” He smiles.
We lay there, drifting in and out sleep, coveting each other and making love until hunger finally drives us out of the bed and into the kitchen. We return in good time with sandwiches and junk food, and we picnic in my bed, naked and happy. It’s the first day I’ve ever spent entirely in bed, without being sick or hungover. And, it felt like Heaven.
Chapter Fourteen
It’s still dark when I wake up sprawled on my side of the bed. Adam is lying against my back, either chasing me or chasing the blanket. I’m not sure which. I tug the cover around him, just in case. Then, I raise my head and look at the clock. Damn. I forgot to ask him what time he wanted me to wake him up. I flip over to my side so I can stroke his hair. Then, I trace my finger lightly across his face. He stirs, and I lean over to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“Mm,” he moans sleepily and then grabs me, suddenly pulling me on top of him as I giggle.
He smiles. “What a beautiful sound to wake up to.”
“What?” I ask, clueless.
“You. Giggling.”
“I don’t giggle,” I protest.
“You do giggle. And I love it.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then it’s a newly acquired skill.” I giggle.
“Ahh,” he breathes, thrusting his hand down to rearrange himself. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost six.”
“In the morning? No wonder the beast is up.” He chuckles, choking his massive hard-on beneath the covers.
“The beast? What are you going to do with it?” I smile, blinking innocently.
“I don’t know yet. Why? Are you volunteering to take care of it for me?”
I wiggle against him. “Hm... I don’t know. He feels a bit feisty this morning. But I can try to calm him down for you, if you want.”
He places his arm around me, lifting me up further on his chest so he can maneuver. “Oh, I think you can tame him, alright, baby,” he says as he enters me, slowly lowering me onto him until he’s entirely consumed.
“Ahh.” He closes his eyes, and I sit up, balancing with my hands against his chest.
Raising his arms, he locks his fingers behind his head as he smiles like a Cheshire Cat. “Go ahead. I’ll tell you when to stop.”
By seven, we’re both showered, dressed and reasonably fed, if you can call a bowl of cold cereal reasonably fed. I walk Adam to the door.
“I’m not sure I can go a whole day without seeing you.” He stands at the door, one hand on the doorknob, the other on my waist.
“Well, call me if you start feeling faint or short of breath, and I’ll rush over.” I smile.
“Okay. But when your phone starts blowing up around ten o’clock, just remember that you offered.”
“I will.”
“Will I see you tonight?”
“I don’t know. Do you want to see me tonight?” I cock my eyebrows in anticipation.
“Are you kidding? Does the pope shit in the woods?”
“I’m going to assume that means yes.”
“Yes.” He grins like a little boy.
“Then, yes, I guess you will.”
“My place after work?”
Thinking hard, I begin ticking off everything I need to do today, if I’m really going to go through with my plan. Then, I nod. “Yep. I can do that.”
“I’ll try to wait until then.” He leans forward and kisses the living daylights out of me. “Call me if you need anything.”
Breathlessly, I nod. “I will.”
“And, don’t do anything crazy.”
We actually haven’t talked any more about Derek or the gruesome murders since yesterday afternoon.
“I won’t. Now, go or you’re going to be late. I’ll see you tonight.”
He turns to leave. “Oh, wait.” He digs his hand into his back pocket and retrieves a card. “You’ll need this for the elevator. And, you’ll need to enter four-seven-two-three-three-nine into the parking gate to get in. Do you want me to write that down?”
“Four-seven-two-three-three-nine,” I repeat. “I got it.”
“That’s right. Now, write it down before you forget. And, here...” He stuffs his hand into his pocket and pulls out a key chain, taking one off the ring. “Take this in case you get there before I do.”
“How will you get in, then?”
