AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Laughing nervously, she moved quickly back into the house, slamming and locking the door. Easing her back against the smooth wood, she let out a single moan. This wasn’t a good time to reflect on family. Her legs shook to the point she slid down onto the floor, hugging her knees. Why was this happening to her?
From her position she could just make out the flicker of her computer screen. The system should have gone to sleep. Huddling in the darkness, she thought first about Michael then Mark Ramos. Their conversations were often sexual in nature. While Michael had never been as aggressive as he’d been in her office, he’d always alluded to kinky desires. So had Mark. She rose to her feet.
Crawling along the wall, she crept into the kitchen, staring at her computer. Everything in the world could be found on line. In other worlds, those made of sexual sin and debauchery, sex and sin were offered for a price.
She slipped a disc into her laptop, bringing up Mark’s extensive file. As she read through various pages, conversations noted during years of his visits, the cold chill remained. The words said, his often odd comments about intense needs, were initially copied in long hand, scanned to a computer file.
Three cups of coffee and two hours later, and the sun was finally streaming in through the window. She’d made dozens of notes, studying even the smallest details of the various sessions, and had finally developed a darker description of her patient. Mark Ramos had considered himself a sexual deviant since he was a small child. Aspects of BDSM had been his respite. While she’d gleaned some information about his particular needs, the S & M community had embraced him with open arms and for the first time he’d seemed happy. During his last visit he’d been animated, full of verve, so much different than the bouts of deep depression where he’d withdrawn.
She’d attributed his sudden change to developing self-confidence given a new job and a growing set of friends. She tapped her finger on the kitchen table. Details gnawed at her gut. Had she simply been happy her patient seemed better and forgotten to delve into the reasons why?
Destiny sat back in her seat and swirled the tip of her finger around the thick ceramic edge of her cup. The sun was nearly blinding as the rays cascaded in through the open blinds. Her thoughts remained disturbing. Mark’s behavior had changed in a similar fashion to Michael’s. There’d been no rhyme or reason, no telltale signs. Mark had simply become withdrawn, what her notes indicated as a shell of a man.
She rubbed her eyes and checked the time. Her workday was set to start in a little over an hour. Thank God it was Friday. Thoughts drifted to going out of town. He’d follow her. There was nowhere she could run, no place to hide where he wouldn’t be able to find her. She swallowed hard and closed out Mark’s file, shutting down the computer. One note she’d circled. An audiotape. She’d forgotten she’d actually recorded one of his sessions. Now she couldn’t remember why she’d bothered, but her first order of business was to locate and listen to the tape.
* * *
“Come on. Spill it,” Grant snarked as he grinned.
Montana winced and glanced out the window, the gleaming sun biting into his retinas. The cup of coffee tasted bitter, leaving a nasty residue in his mouth. The lack of sleep coupled with a slight hangover wasn’t the reason he was out of sorts. His attraction to Dr. Blade had pushed him into a funk. Their combined energy was more than unnerving. He couldn’t help but think they’d been together in another life. Thinking about his past wasn’t a normal occurrence. He’d slammed the door shut to ugly memories long ago. Living and breathing his job had in truth kept him alive.
Grant shifted and turned his head, as if searching for the source of his partner’s attention. “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Fiddling with the cup, Montana studied a young couple as they crossed the street, hand in hand, huge smiles crossing their faces. “I almost asked her out.”
“Who?” Grant shot him a look. After a few seconds he narrowed his eyes. “You mean the doctor?”
Montana shrugged and pushed the coffee away. He leaned over the table. “Yeah.” Since we must have had sex. Right. He rubbed his eyes. Exhaustion was the reason for his dark needs.
“Jesus Christ you’re speechless.” Grant burst into laughter. “Wait a minute, you ain’t kidding about this. You really like her. Don’t you?”
Groaning, he thought about her face, the authoritative manner in the way she spoke, yet her utter vulnerability. His cock stirred, pushing against his pants. “That obvious?”
He remained quiet for several seconds. “Then why didn’t you?”
“I’m questioning her about a murder case.”
“Unless you think she’s our killer, there’s no reason you can’t ask her out.” Grant drained the last of his coffee.
“I can’t just take her out on a date. I don’t know her.”
“That’s why you ask someone out on a date. To get to know them, dumb ass.”
Montana exhaled.
“You want me to pass her a note next time we see her?” Grant’s eyes twinkled.
“You do and I gut you,” Montana mused as he held up his middle finger, a laugh bubbling to the surface. Maybe he would ask her out. What did he have to lose? He pushed the thought aside. “I don’t know what to make of our conversation.”
Grant glanced over his shoulder as a group of women walked inside, their laughter echoing in the small space. “Did she have any concrete information about the victims?”
“Nothing that I can build a case on.” Montana rubbed his jaw.
“But?”
