Chapter Nine
“Mistress, why are you doing this?” The man tied to the bed gasped weakly as he struggled briefly against the lines tying him to the bed.
The curvy blonde twitched the skirt of her black robe and smiled, taking a small sip of the red wine in the glass she held. Setting the glass aside, she rose and crossed to where the victim lay struggling, enjoying the musical notes of glass pinging as one toe nudged several empty alcohol bottles out of the way as she walked.One beautifully manicured hand reached down to squeeze the enema bag, ensuring that it was empty.
The man groaned in pain, red wine mixed with blood oozing out of his anus as the spout of the enema bag was none too gently removed and replaced with a small rubber plug. Then, the entire apparatus was placed into the empty trash bag that sat waiting to collect the evidence of the misdeed.
Sitting back in her chair, the killer once again turned her attention to the wine as the man’s breathing slowed. She bent over him, taking his erect penis into her mouth and wrapping the base in one hand, stroking it aggressively. When his body began convulsing wildly, she used her other hand to pin his hips to the bed while she drew in his release greedily, finally pulling off with a rude slurping noise.
Then movement ceased andthe man’s eyes rolled back in his head. She bent down to check his pulse, her long hair hanging over him in a curtain. Satisfied that there were no signs of life, she removed the plug and untied the cheerful ribbon bows that had been his chains, slipping them into the pocket of her robe.
Easily flipping the dead weight onto his back, she let the fluid leak from her mouth into the cavern behind his slack lips before wrapping one of his hands around his sticky member.
Wiping the rim of the wine glass with an alcohol pad to remove the saliva, the wine glass was carefully balanced in the slack fingers of his other hand and allowed to fall to the floor, spilling the remainder of the cherry red liquid to pool on the floor under his hand.
Satisfied that the police would see exactly what had been planned, she stuffed the trash bag under her robe and walking out the door to the main hall, making noattemptto dodge the blinking security cameras.
~*~
“You okay, Coop?” Genov sounded concerned as he greeted Lamar Thursday morning. “You look like shit, man.”
Lamar grumbled something into his ever-present coffee cup and swallowed a large mouthful, ignoring both the pain as it scalded his throat on the way down and the brow that Genov raised. The last thing he wanted to discuss with his temporary partner was his sleeping habits. Or, inthecase of last night, his sex-dream riddled bouts of insomnia. He certainly wasn’t going to tell him that every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d found himself having increasingly erotic fantasies about the blond healer he’d only met once. Or that he’d jerked off repeatedly while thinking about the possible suspect until he’d finally been wrung dry and able to sleep for a fewminutes.
Yeah, not telling him any of that.
“Looks like we caught another case,” Lamar muttered instead. “Don’t have any details yet, but Chief looked worried.”
“Okay.” Genov was still staring at him, the blue ringing his gray eyes widening.
Uncomfortable under his partner’s scrutiny, Lamar shoved his chair back and rose abruptly. “You want coffee?” he asked over his shoulder on his way to top off his half-full cup.
“Naw, I’m good.” Genov shook his head and gathered up his notepad and pen before turning to the briefing room. “I’ll meet you inside.”
Major cases were usually the first ones assigned, so when the short meeting adjourned and the Chief hadn’t mentioned their new case, both detectives were confused. Then he caught them on their way outandnodded to his office. “I need a minute.”
Once the door closed behind them, the Chief didn’t waste any time. “There was another suspicious death that came in just over an hour ago.”
Genov and Lamar exchanged a glance. Granted, they didn’t see that many annually in the suburbs of Denver, but it wasn’t rare enough to explain the Chief’s secrecy.
“And?” Genov finally asked, grunting when Lamar lodged his elbow in his ribs. “I mean, what do we need to know?”
“The body was found atAfter Nine.” He waited for his words to sink in.
“But they’re closed on Wednesdays,” Lamar said curiously. “What the hell was anyone doing there?”
The Chief just shook his head. “The place was still locked up tight when the cleaning crew got there. They’re the ones who found the body,” he clarified. The Chief looked from one to the other. “We have the place locked down. The CSI crew has been going over it with a fine-tooth combsincethe warrant came in around midnight. You two better get on over there.”
The first thing Lamar noticed as he pulled the sedan to a smooth stop at the curb was that Ms. Clauneot was pacing just the other side of the police tape, her hands jammed into the pockets of her jeans. Her sweater was inside out, as if she’d gotten dressed in a hurry, and the laces of her tennis shoes dragged the ground.
Genov followed his gaze. “Why don’t I go talk to her?”
Lamar shrugged. If they’d hit it off well enough for parking garage stairwell sex, he guessed she’d be happy to see him. He gestured to a man in a heavily rumpled brown suit talking to a man whose white hazmat jumper identified him as a member of the CSI team processing the scene. “I’mgonnago talk to the lead that caught it.”
He’d only taken a couple of steps when the unmistakable thud of flesh on flesh rang through the air. Spinning around, he saw Ms. Clauneot being handcuffed by a beat cop, her cheeks flushedand chin angled up defiantly. In front of her, Genov was staring in astonishment and cupping his cheek, an angry red mark blooming out from under his fingers.
Genov spoke quietly to the cop and then began to walk toward Lamar as the handcuffs were unlocked.
“Shehityou?” Lamar asked incredulously, forcing his voice to stay low. “And you’re letting her go?”
“Yeah.” Genov rubbed his cheek and gave a rueful grin. “I got too familiar. After the other day,” he gestured off into the distance and Lamar tipped his head in acknowledgment, “I thought we connected and I tried to hug her without asking.”
Lamar shook his head. “Well, her fist definitely connected with your face, anyway.”
Genov huffed, but there was more amusement than annoyance in it. “I’ll make a formal apology after she calms down. In the meantime, let’s see what’s up, shall we?”
