Authors: V. K. Powell
Maybe the data she gathered from crime analysis would be a starting point. Solving her stun-gun attack might open other doors in her memory and her life. But how could she keep Rae Butler out of her business while she pursued leads? Audrey Everhart fought her own battles and she wasn’t changing—no matter how attractive and compelling the rescuer.
*
After Janet moved out, Rae transformed the vacant sleeping quarters in her condo into a multi-functional space that served as an office, dart room, and alternate gathering space. Tonight she put Stephanie’s favorite beer on ice, set Deb’s Southern Comfort on a side table, and spread Ronni’s preferred cheese and peanut snacks on a platter. Her friends weren’t big drinkers, but they liked to sip and munch while they talked.
She’d met these three women through their public-service jobs with city-county government over the past five years. They’d become friends and weathered many personal and professional storms. When one of them needed a pep talk, a reality check, or a quick kick in the pants, the others rallied round.
Her oldest friend, Deb, arrived first, as usual. She liked a few minutes of private time with Rae before the others came. Without a good cover or diversion, Deb would see right through Rae’s celebration ruse.
“God, I’m glad you called. I haven’t had a day off in two weeks. The entire communications division is going to hell in a hand basket.” Deb gave Rae a full body hug and waggled her pelvis against her in jest. She epitomized the Southern belle, voluptuous body and a drawl that made most men weak. Deb considered the effect a bonus in supervising the men in her unit and an annoyance otherwise, since she dated only women. “I love what you’ve done with the place. Nice spot for your dartboard. Stab anybody lately?”
“I’m considering it. How about a quick game before the others get here?” Deb looked at her with suspicion. She’d made a tactical error.
“Okay, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“The last time you asked me to play darts was before you told me Janet was cheating on you. And if I recall, I broke two of your precious spinner thingies and destroyed the wall. You’ve got that woman-trouble look. Who is she?”
Rae needed at least one beer before she broached the subject of Audrey Everhart. Fortunately, the other two members of the quartet arrived before she was forced to answer Deb’s question.
Stephanie, a robust butch with basic brown hair and brown eyes, worked as a firefighter. Her partner, Ronni, a gorgeously androgynous EMT, sported wavy black hair and dark-gray eyes. They were an unusual couple, but their relationship had lasted three years so far and showed no signs of trouble. They acted like teenagers in heat.
“What took you two so damn long? Stop for a quickie? I’m dying for a Southern Comfort.” Deb gave each woman a hug and impatiently tonged ice into her glass.
“Nah, I took care of her while she drove,” Steph answered. “Pass me a beer, Deb.”
“Do we always have to start with sex?” Rae asked.
“Yes.” They spoke in unison.
“I’m so horny you could snap me on the ass with a rubber band and I’d go off,” Stephanie said.
Deb raised an eyebrow. “Well, let me see if I can rustle one up. That might be fun to watch.”
“Might get noisy though,” Stephanie warned. “Tell them, Ronni.”
Ronni smiled her heart-stopping grin. She was the quiet one in the crowd. If she had something to say, she said it. If not, she didn’t waste words or energy. She played it honest and true. “It’s good to see you again, Rae. It’s been a while.”
Stephanie mumbled agreement then pinned Rae with a pleading stare. “
Please
tell me we’re not here to unearth the bones of dearly despised Janet one more time. I’m not sure I can take it.” Stephanie’s profession suited her because she flew hot in seconds. Tact wasn’t a skill she possessed nor one she tried to cultivate. Her emotions lurked close to the surface and she did nothing to temper them. Fortunately her peers wore fire-retardant clothing and had water hoses handy.
Deb moved to Rae’s side. She had unofficially assumed the role of group peacekeeper and was surprisingly effective. “Now, Stephanie, darling, we have to be sensitive to each other’s needs. We’re here for support and encouragement…and the occasional wild gossip session.”
“I promise I won’t talk about Janet,” Rae assured them.
They made idle chitchat while Deb played bartender and directed them to seats around the room. The small space could barely accommodate the settee and two dining chairs Rae had dragged in at the last minute. Stephanie and Ronni claimed the settee, leaning against each other in a picture pose of lesbian bliss.
“How are your classes going? Don’t you graduate soon?” Deb asked.
Rae took more time than necessary retrieving her beer from the ice bucket, wiping it down, and sliding it into a koozie. “I’m not sure I will—graduate.”
“What?”
“What?”
“What?”
She’d expected a passionate response and faced her stunned friends. “I’ve missed a few classes, after Janet—sorry. What’s the point anyway?”
Her friends took turns encouraging her to pursue the degree she’d worked on so hard for the past five years. Their arguments made sense, and they were probably right. But she couldn’t help but wonder what it would accomplish.
Ronni summed it up. “If you don’t do this, Rae, you’ll always regret it. A degree is good for you personally and professionally. Do it for yourself, not for anybody else.” The others nodded agreement.
“Yeah,” Stephanie added, “and start dating again.”
Rae moaned. She hadn’t thought about dating in eight months, until the past few days. “I don’t know, guys. Love makes us either daredevils or cowards, and I don’t want to be either.”
“What’s wrong with a little daring, as long as it’s with the right person. You both have to be on the same page. Most women these days can’t hold their sex. You sleep with them once and they think you’re engaged.” Stephanie looked at Ronni and grinned. “At least that’s what I hear from our single friends.”
Deb rolled her eyes. “I’d offer to loan you my address book to do some phone cruising, but my girls would be too butch. You go more for the femme types, like me.”
“I don’t have time to date. I’ve got other things on my mind.” Talk about her sex life always made Rae uncomfortable, and thoughts of Audrey made it worse. She needed to change the subject. “I’d like to make a toast to the newest detective on the Whisperer case—me.” Everybody clicked their glasses, took a drink, and waited for Rae to explain. She gave them a brief rundown, as if the case provided her ticket to investigative stardom.
“And this is good because?” Ronni asked.
Deb intervened. “Honey, this could move Rae up the promotion ladder, if she wants it.”
Stephanie snorted. “It’s career suicide. One detective has already retired because of it. Why do you think they gave it to a junior investigator, no offense intended?”
“If it’s such a good thing, why aren’t you more excited?” Deb passed around the guacamole dip and chips.
“I am excited.” Rae took another swig of beer, and when she lowered the bottle her friends were all staring at her. They weren’t buying it. “Mostly excited.”
This group of women had been the only consistently stable thing in her life for the past five years. When she and Janet fought or when she changed positions in the department, they were there. Each of them brought something different, something she needed. Stephanie’s passion reminded her to grab life by the throat and squeeze for all its gusto. Ronni personified integrity. And Deb was the best best friend—fiercely loyal, brutally honest, nurturing, and kind. If emotions flowed, Deb wanted to share them. They were all good, reliable, trustworthy companions.
“If the most-decorated detective in the department couldn’t solve this case, what makes me think I have a chance?” Rae couldn’t admit the extent of her self-doubt even to them. Years of betrayal by her parents, associates, and lovers had taken a deeper toll than she realized. She didn’t just distrust others now; she couldn’t even trust herself.
“God, I hate her!” Stephanie jumped from the sofa and grabbed another beer. “That fucking Janet. She’s made you question everything. Can I kill her?” Despite her rough exterior Stephanie didn’t even hurt insects she found inside her house, so no one worried about an actual homicide.
Deb answered with a steely calm. “I’d prefer to handle it.” She had everyone’s attention. “I don’t care that she’s part Italian. The mafia’s got nothing on a Southern redneck.”
“Right,” Rae said. “What can you do, twang her to death with your accent?”
The group cackled but Deb wouldn’t be outdone. “I have deadly relatives. They could blind her with chewing tobacco juice at twenty paces or cold-cock her with a polecat before she knew what hit her.” It took several minutes for the laughter to die down.
“It’s a complicated case and I don’t want to let these victims down.”
“And that’s why you won’t,” Ronni said. “Fresh eyes and that kind of compassion go a long way. You’ll figure it out.”
They sat in silence for a few seconds, as everyone seemed to let the truth of Ronni’s statement sink in.
“Now, have you met anyone you’re interested in yet?” Deb asked.
Anything except total honesty right now would undermine her cherished friendship with these three women. If she expected their allegiance, she had to give hers. “Maybe, I’m not sure…” The room suddenly went very quiet as they gathered closer for the scoop, but she didn’t know exactly what to say about Audrey Everhart. “She’s a victim in an assault, but not really. I think she’s holding back information, but I’m not sure. She’s different. I think she’s attractive.”
Deb responded first. “How did you meet her? How long have you known her? What’s her name?”
“We met in her rookie school class over a year ago. I felt an attraction and that was all. You know, that immediate zing you get sometimes that usually doesn’t mean anything. I hadn’t seen her again until four days ago.”
“And now she’s a victim in a case?” Stephanie asked. “Well, you’ve got to nip that.”
“You said, not really. What does that mean?” Ronni wanted to know.
Rae explained the situation with Audrey as best she could. The story didn’t make any more sense out loud than it did rumbling around in her head. “Isn’t this perfect? The first woman I like after Janet and she’s obviously hiding something. I can’t deal with any more deception.”
The room was too quiet. Her friends didn’t have any answers and they refused to give her false hope. Their silence confirmed what Rae already knew—run as fast as possible and don’t look back.
However, Audrey had challenged her professional skills, piqued her personal curiosity, and aroused her sexual interest. It wouldn’t be so easy to just walk away from her.
Arya clenched his teeth against the pain coursing through him like electricity. Drugs were not an option. His plan required optimum performance. The medication dulled his senses and slowed his reflexes. What would’ve happened if he’d been medicated the other day when she needed him? His initial goal had been reconnaissance—surveillance and documentation of patterns and behaviors—the foundation of any successful mission. But the degenerates had forced his hand.
She walked toward the front of the community center, oblivious to her surroundings, as the three sloppy, untrained rogues approached from behind. He couldn’t allow them to touch her, to spoil her in any way. Arya moved swiftly and immobilized the first one with a strike to the chest. The others ran like cowards. Then she was so close, the pull too strong. He wasn’t ready. But she was waiting for him. His fever grew and the ache worsened—control fragile, desire overpowering.
He reached for his only non-lethal weapon and stepped closer. She would certainly turn at any moment and see him. After all, they were connected. Why didn’t she turn? He placed the device against her back and pulled the trigger. Power surged through him into her. The craving swelled and burned between his legs. Rage exploded inside.
Her delicate body convulsed in grotesque shapes and she hit the ground. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t his way. He had a method, a foolproof plan. But circumstances demanded that he act to protect her. He had started to retrieve her body when the gangbangers returned with reinforcements. He had to choose between an altercation that would certainly result in their deaths and undue attention or leaving without her. He’d agonized over his choice since.
Afterward he waited outside her apartment for her return. His note hung loosely in the door. A car pulled up. He knew she was inside. Another woman opened her door, tried to touch her—someone he’d never seen—obviously a cop by the bulge under her leather jacket. The cop removed his message from the door. He’d almost shot her on the spot. It would’ve been so easy to eliminate this person who dared get between them. He intended his note for
her
only. Arya calmed himself and watched their interaction at the door. She hadn’t allowed the cop inside her apartment. Good girl. She was still his special person and soon he would have to be closer.
*
Audrey stared at the pages of assault cases spread across her kitchen counter, glad to have uninterrupted time to review them. Probably over a hundred cases, the printout hadn’t seemed so daunting initially. Each entry consisted of a single-line account of a separate incident. Every item included time and date of offense, location, suspect MO and description, arrestee if any, weapon if used, and the identifying case number. If she expected to make any headway, she’d have to narrow the list.