Standing outside on the porch of an old rundown, filthy, foul smelling, house, John Heathcoat wonders why anyone would choose to live in such filth. Surely, this man has to be insane to live like this. The house was so rundown; that if John hadn’t sit in his car and watched Richard enter the house, he wouldn’t have believed anyone could possibly live here. How pathetic this mans life is.
But John didn’t have the time, or the inclination to feel sorry for him. It was time that he did what the judges, and the police couldn’t, or wouldn’t do. It was time for Richard, and all the insane idiots of the world to receive payment in full for the torment they’ve inflicted over the years, to so many people. John opens the door and goes inside. The smell is almost unbearable. He walks through the piles of trash, trying to figure out what part of the house Richard lives in. When he turns right to go down the hall, he sees the light under a door off to the left. As he opens the door, he notices that there is no smell coming from this part of the house. The first thing he spots, are the pictures and articles on the walls, they’re everywhere you look, and every one of them is of, or about Dr. Jasbelle.
Then he notices that this room is spotless. There’s not a speck of dirt anywhere in the room. In fact, it looks like someone put down new linoleum, painted the walls, washed and ironed the curtains, and, “Oh my Lord! There’s a skull with pieces of hair still attached to it laying on the bed, with a brand new white dress beneath it, and what appears to be bones with flesh still on them sticking out of each arm hole” He had to cover his mouth to keep from gagging.
“What manner of man would keep such a clean room in such a filthy house, and then leave a skull and bones with a white dress and slippers sitting on the bed?”
At the same time, across town, Richard has gone to Beverly’s neighborhood, dressed in a shirt and a pair of overalls. He left work at 12:00 to get some things he needed for the task he was about perform. This is the first time in 2 years that he has taken off from work early. He’s got a clipboard, and hard hat, and he’s checking water meters in the neighborhood, trying to get close enough to Beverly’s house so he can put something in her mailbox, without making the police across the street suspicious. At the last minute he has a change of mind, and decides on a new plan.
Two police officers sit in the vacant house across the street from Beverly’s house. One is sitting in a chair facing the house, watching it through the window shade. The other is lying on the couch, asleep. For three weeks they have been on this detail. Three weeks and nothing at all has happened. A person’s concentration tends to wonder, after so long on a boring assignment, and it’s especially hard for a rookie cop to keep his attention on the job. So he sits there in the window thinking to himself, “This is not what I joinedthe force for.” He sits back to stretch, and is lost in his thoughts that’s why he doesn’t notice the meter reader. When he does finally notice, it doesn’t register that this person has on overalls, and a hard hat, but no name tag, or department name.
After Richard puts the plate back over the hole he starts walking toward the door. Since he’s been monitoring the cell phone calls, he knows there are two police officers in there. And he’s going to kill them, then he can get into Simone’s house, and if he’s lucky he may be able to take her with him to see mother.
He walks up the walk to the door; the rookie lets his guard down and opens up the door. By the time he realizes what’s going on, it’s too late. Richard sticks an Electric stun gun in his gut; he falls back and is stabbed twice, he’ll never get the chance to make another mistake. His partner is awakened by the sound of a body hitting the floor but before he can fight off sleep and react Richard is on him. He stabs this one three times, and two officers lay dead in their own blood. He wipes his knife on the second officer’s back, and proceeds out of the house, across the street, and into Simone’s house.
After entering the house he goes to the kitchen and makes himself a sandwich. It’s only four o’clock P.M., and the dead officers aren’t due to report in until twelve o’clock so he has plenty of time. Simone usually arrives home by seven o’clock., which will give him plenty of time to renew old friendships. One good thing about Simone, she is always prompt. So he sits back and relaxes. The time has come for her to pay and he was going to enjoy it.
At five o’clock P.M. across town, Beverly is getting ready to leave, when Tameka comes in.
“Hey girl, Chris told me to ride with you tonight.”
Meanwhile it’s eight o’clock and Richard is waiting at Simone’s house, and he’s getting more anxious by the minute.
“Where is she? She’s always here by seven o’clock; she would have to pick this day to be late. Well I can afford to wait a couple of hours more.”
An hour later he’s still waiting in the dark for her, and he’s about to give up when he hears Simone’s car pull into the driveway. He gets up and steps behind the front door. He peeks out of the small curtain beside the door, and sees that not only is Simone here, but so is Tameka.
“Good, I can get two for one. Now I get the chance to deal with the lady cop, and show her how tough she’s not. And after I kill her, then I can take Simone with me. I’ll show her what she’ll miss before I kill her.” Simone and Tameka get out of the car totally unaware that Richard is waiting for them. They’ve been shopping all over town. They’re tired, hungry, and happy to be in each others company. Over the shopping trip a bond only true African American sisters can understand, has formed between them. The bond of leaning on a friend and finding out you’re not alone in your struggle to be independent, intelligent, and free. It also helps to find out that you’re not the only one that’s had to deal with a hardheaded male. And last but not least. Finding a friend you can share secrets with, a friend you can confide in. After this trip with good intelligent conversation between friends, they are stronger than their separate weaknesses.
They can’t wait to get in the house, because they have, a good love story video, from the video store, some pizza, some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and some Oreo cookies. What better way to end an impromptu day out with the girls? But death is waiting behind the next doorway, and they’re not prepared for it.
“You know we shouldn’t be eating all this stuff. If I eat just half of what we got here, I’ll need to run two extra miles in the morning just to keep the fat off of my hips. And girl you know that’s where it’s going. Right to the butt and hips.”
As they walk up the walk to the door, Richards’s eyes get wider with each step. Simone puts her key in the lock; his grip gets tighter on the knife. She turns the key; his heart starts to pump so loud, he’s sure they can hear it outside. She opens the door; he takes in a big gulp of air. She steps through followed by Tameka; he calms himself and attacks. Before Berverly can turn on the lights, he rushes forward out of the darkness, and hits her body to body, as hard as 2 football players colliding head on. The force of his attack sends her, and her packages sliding across the living room floor, 15 feet away from the door. Beverly lays there in a daze.
Then he turns his attention on Tameka. Before she has time to react, he slashes her across the shoulder with the knife. Putting a four inch wide, half inch deep wound, in her flesh. As he’s drawing back the blade for another stab, Tameka’s reflexes go into effect. She drops her packages, grabs his arm, locks it at the elbow, twist her body, and slams him face first into the door facing. Then she slams the door on his arm. All of that is good enough to make him scream out in pain, but not good enough to make him drop the knife. He manages to push the door with enough force, to knock Tameka off balance, and he stabs at her again. This time it’s only a small cut on her right thigh. Tameka catches her balance, and backs off. As she is backing off she reaches in her waistband, behind her back for her gun. Unfortunately, her gun is missing. Richard lunges at her again, she side steps, and before she can hit him, Beverly breaks a broom handle across his back.
As he turns around to face Beverly, he sees in the partial light, coming from the open doorway, that Tameka has found her gun. She reaches down to the floor for it, and he starts to run for the door. Before he can get there, Beverly hits him one last time, this time across the head, and this time she draws blood. But Richard doesn’t seem to notice the pain. He knocks Tameka off balance, as he runs out of the door, across the lawn, and into the night. Just before he gets out of sight, Tameka fires at him one time, she doesn’t hit him, and he’s lost to the darkness. Beverly turns on the lights, and they both sit down in the middle of the floor to catch their breath.
Richard gets to his old car, and starts it up. “So those bitches think they’re tough, well next time it’s going to be different. I’m tired of everybody beating on me. First those bullies at school, then the man that I had to call father, now those nasty bitches. It’s time to get really vicious with them.”
He puts his car in gear and without looking pulls out into the street, and slams into the car that was rolling past him. The driver of the car looks at Richard like he’s just stepped out from under a rock, which is the wrong thing to do. Then he rolls down the passenger’s window, and says, “You have got to be the dumbest asshole in the world. I guess you think the rules of the road don’t apply to your dumb ass huh?” Which was the wrong thing to say.
Richard gets out of his car, with his knife down to his side. The other guy gets out of the car to inspect the damage, and to give Richard a good cussin. Thirty seconds later, Richard gets back into his car, puts it in gear, and pulls off. He looks in his rear view mirror as he drives away and smiles when he sees the driver of the other car lying on his back, on his own car hood, with a knife sticking out of his forehead.
After Tameka catches her breath, she calls Chris on his cell phone. “Chris this is Tameka, where are you now?”
Chris picks his cell phone up, on the way out of the door. He dials for the third time, and lets it ring 10 times, no one answers.
“Damn, no answer, this doesn’t feel right. Someone should have answered by now.”
They turn onto Beverly’s street, and parks in her yard. Chris goes to her door and uses the key that she gave him to open the door. He walks in followed by Barry. He checks the windows and the other door, but there’s no sign of forced entry. Either the stalker had a key, or he is very adept at picking locks. He starts out the door, and Barry follows. Chris stops and turns around to face Barry.
“ Barry, you need to stay over here until I find out what’s going on across the street.”
They walk across the street, and Chris knocks on the door. After waiting a few seconds, he calls the officers by name, and identifies himself. When there is no response, he grabs the knob and is surprised that it’s unlocked. He pulls out his gun, and motions Barry to stay back. As the door opens he turns on his flashlight. The beam from it hits the first officer’s body.
“Damn! How the hell did he get in here?”
After turning on the lights, he motions Barry in.
“Don’t touch anything until I can get forensics in here. And call 911, tell them we have 2 officers down, give them my name, and this address. I’m going to check the rest of the house.”
By the time Beverly and Tameka make it back, there are police cars, television trucks, and emergency vehicles all over the street. Tameka has to show her badge just to get back to the house. When they walk into the living room, Barry gets up and hugs Bev.
“Are you alright sister girl?” Beverly rolls her eyes, “Look at him Tameka, trying to get his mack on, even after an attempted murder.” Tameka moves closer to Barry, and rest her head on his chest,“hush girl, let the man get his mack on if he wants to. She looks up into Barry’s eyes.
“Now back to that back rub thing, are you volunteering?”
Richard pulls into his yard, and cuts the car off. He has a rag, and he’s dabbing at the blood running from the back of his head.
“The bitch cut me, and that’s what I’m going to do to her, as soon as I get my hands on her.”
He gets out of the car, slams the door, and goes in the house. When he opens the door to his room, there staring him right in the face, in bright red letters is the message that John Heathcoat left for him. As he reads the message, he feels as if all the air is rushing out of his lungs, and he has to sit down and catch his breath. While he sits there he realizes that not only does this person know who he is, he or she also knows what he’s doing, and where he lives.
Then the anger starts to build in him. “How dare they invade my home? Who do they think they’re playing with? I will find this person, and I will show them the error they committed when they messed with me. But first things first. I need to check and see if there is any one watching our house.”
He goes out of the house and walks around the block. Since he lives in a deserted neighborhood, anyone on the street with a car would stick out. When he has satisfied himself that no one is around to follow him, he goes into the house, looks into his closet, and pulls out his electronic detection device. He uses it to see if anyone has planted any listening devices in the room, there are none, then he goes out to his car, and checks it for tracking devices, again there are none.
Richard goes back into the house and gets what few clothes and shoes he has, and puts them in a shopping bag. He collects his money from all of his various hiding places. By his last count he has exactly twenty thousand, six hundred and twelve dollars. He gathers his knives, and puts his things in his car. Then he goes back inside, takes the blanket, wraps it around mother, and carries her to the car, all the while he’s arguing with himself as if he’s talking to his mother.
“Yes mother, we’re leaving. Well I’m sorry but we don’t have a choice. Look mother, I don’t have time for this conversation now. No I’m not being disrespectful. I just need for you to be quiet while I drive. No I didn’t know that you get car sick, I’ll try to be careful, but we have to go.”
He gets in, starts the car, pulls onto the street, looks all around one more time to make sure he’s not being followed, and drives off. He knows a quiet hotel across town where a person can get lost. He heard his boss tell another employee that this hotel was the place he goes to get away from his wife, so he can screw his girlfriend. That’s where Richard is headed. Then he can set up his revenge from there.
Chris and Barry have gone to pick up some clothes. Chris has decided that for the time being, it would be a good idea if Beverly and Barry were in the same place, so it will be easier to guard them. He doesn’t want to take anymore chances now that he knows the stalker is willing to kill anyone that could prevent him from accomplishing his goal. He has put 2 detectives in the house across the street, and has decided that he and Tameka would also be staying in Beverly’s house. While they’re gone Beverly and Tameka get some pillows and blankets and fix up places for everybody to sleep. While they work, they talk,
“Tameka I’m curious, is this the worst stalking case you’ve been on?”
Just about that time the doorbell rings. Tameka pulls her weapon and looks out of the window. In the driveway is Chris’s patrol car, but not wanting to take any chances, she goes to the door and ask who is it. When Chris answers, she opens the door, and puts her weapon away.
“It’s about time you two got back.”
Chris sits down in a chair, and slumps over. To Beverly, he looks as if he has the whole world on his shoulders. She tells Tameka to take Barry upstairs and show him where to sleep. Tameka says, “If I go up there with him, he may not get any sleep.”
Tameka walks over to Barry, takes him by the hand, and leads him up the stairs. Beverly goes into the kitchen and makes some herbal tea. She brings it out to Chris, takes off his coat, and starts to massage his shoulders.
“Beverly, what do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be getting some sleep.”
Upstairs Tameka and Chris are arguing over who gets the sheet, and who gets the comforter.
“Why is it I can’t have the comforter, I’m already sleeping on the floor, and it’s cold down there.”
When Barry turns around, Tameka is standing there with her bottom lip poked out. He crosses the room, and takes her in his arms.
“Oh no not the poked out lip. I can take anything but the poked out lip.”
Down stairs Beverly stops kissing Chris and looks into his eyes. “What’s the matter Beverly?”
Barry comes out of the bathroom with a vial of oil. “Now how do you expect me to rub your back with your bra on?”
Downstairs, Chris has laid Beverly down on the floor and is kissing her naval. She has him by both ears, and is gently pushing his head downward. Now it’s on. For the next hour all that is heard, upstairs and downstairs is heavy breathing, sensual moans, and a lot of relaxing by four people, in a bad situation, needing some relief from their tensions, and getting it from each other.
RICHARD PULLS INTO the hotel parking lot. This is just the kind of place he’s been looking for. In a secluded neighborhood, on a quiet street, with access to the post office, several stores, and the interstate highway. He gets out goes into the lobby and inquires about the rate per week. The manager tells him that it’s two hundred and ten dollars a week. He pays him in advance for a month, gets his key, drives to his room, and starts to unload his car.
He opens the door to his room, and puts mother gently on the bed.
“There now isn’t this a nice room. The bed is nice and soft and you’ve got a good view of the road. Yes mother the carpet and the curtains are very nice, see, I told you that you would like this if you just gave yourself half the chance. Now let me get the rest of our things out of the car. What did you say? Yes I know there is blood on the back of my head, but it’s just a scratch, nothing to worry about. I’ll just get our things in.”
He goes to the car and gets all of his stuff. This is where he is going to live from now on, this is where he’ll get his revenge from, and this is where he’ll plot and execute the murder of all his enemies.
He gathers all his things together, and carries them to his room, and then he goes back to the car for one last thing. He’s decided to change his methods just a bit, so he brought along a helper. From the glove department, he pulls out a nine millimeter, the only thing the man he was forced to call father left him.
“When we meet next time, I’ll be the one with the upper hand.”
Four thirty A.M. Beverly, and Chris are lying on the carpeted floor of the living room, in front of the fireplace, in the spoon position. The last hour have been physical, delightful, intimate, tender, and loving. Both of them have given and received more pleasure than they have experienced in quite a while. Both are exhausted, relaxed, and totally comfortable lying there together. A love affair fantasies are made of. But as with all things, there must always be a reality check.
The phone rings, and Beverly stirs. It’s hard to focus, because she had just fallen asleep fifteen minutes ago, but she finally wakes up enough to pick up the phone.
“Hello.”
“I didn’t think you would have the balls to call me again, after the ass whupin we put on you last night, you pathetic asshole. You claim you’re gonna kill us, when you couldn’t win a fight if it were held in the school for the blind. Let me tell you something. I’m going to find you, and when I do, the only thing that’s going to be left of you, is your severed head with your nuts sticking out of your mouth.”
Richard is caught a little off guard by the fury of Beverly words, and he hangs up. Beverly puts the phone back in its cradle and the Ms. Jasbelle starts again.
“Alright Beverly Simone, those are pretty words, but its time to let me do what I do best. You know what we have to do.”
Beverly sits back, and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, all the compassion has gone from them. Her features have taken on a harder edge, and her jaw is tighter. She has allowed Ms. Jasbelle more freedom, and her only focus now is Richard Black. He doesn’t know how to inflict pain and hurt on someone, but he’s about to learn from an expert. Yes he will learn the price of playing games with me. Then he will die knowing that he wasn’t even close to being as scary, or as wicked as he thought he was. Chris wakes up and notices Beverly standing by the living room window. He gets up, crosses the room to her, and pulls her away from the window.
Upstairs, Barry and Tameka are snuggled up on the bed, they haven’t been to sleep, and they’ve been talking for the last ten minutes.
“Damn girl, you are incredible. I didn’t know a woman could do her legs like that.”
Everybody meets in the kitchen downstairs. Chris gets on the phone to find out if there are any breaks in the case. That’s when he finds out about the dead motorist a patrol officer found two blocks away from Beverly’s house, with a butchers knife stuck out of his forehead. Now his problem has become bigger because the news media had found out about the officers, and the dead motorist, and they had already started calling the killer, the “Seattle Slasher.” Now everywhere Chris goes, he’s going to be hounded by the press. They’ll be stepping over evidence trying to get the story. They’ll be all over Beverly’s house, and worst of all, every wacko who wants to get on television will start calling the station claiming to be the “Seattle Slasher.” Now he’ll be lucky if we can catch this murderer at all.
Chris slams the phone down, “damn, now we do have trouble.”
While Chris, Barry, and Tameka are talking, Beverly has gone back into the living room, and is now peeking out of the living room window.
“Chris it looks like we’ve got a problem.”
They all gather at the window, and Beverly points at the big news truck parked in front of her house.
“Damn, I was afraid of this.”
Chris gets on the phone and calls across the street.
“Hello, this is Lieutenant Adams, put Sergeant Hall on the phone.”
Chris hangs up the phone, and all four of them watch as the police Sergeant makes the reporters move the truck down the block. Then he notices something strange, something he hadn’t noticed last night. He tells them to stay in the house, and he goes out the door, across the street, and looks at the water meter cover that has been left off of the water meter. After a minute of looking around, he goes back to Beverly’s house.
“Well I think I know how he managed to get to my men, he posed as a water meter reader. But why would they let him into the house when they know the water is not on in the house. This is getting more puzzling by the minute.”
Barry gathers Tameka in his arms, and she starts to push him away, “we can’t do this now, we both got things to do, besides Chris ain’t in a good mood. And I don’t want him to come back and catch me kissing you when I should be upstairs with Beverly. I’ve been chewed out by him before, it’s not a pleasant thing.”
At nine o’clock A.M., John Heathcoat goes into the electronics store and looks for Richard, when he doesn’t find him there, he happily assumes he’s made such an impression on Richard that he’s decided to stay home today. So John gets back in his car and drives to Richards’s house. He parks three blocks away, and uses binoculars to check the house. He moves the binoculars slowly from the front to the back of the house, when he gets to the window of the room where Barry sleeps, he sees that the curtain is up and the skeleton is missing from the bed.
“Damn, he must have left last night, now I’m going to have to find him again.”
John pulls his car up to the house and looks around to see if anyone is on the street, then he gets out of his car and goes in for a closer look. When he gets to Richards’s room, he finds out that he was right. He sits on the bed to think, and then gets up again very fast, remembering the skeleton he saw lying there.
“Well he’s got to be somewhere, and I have to find him. He’s already killed two police officers trying to get to Dr. Jasbelle, if I don’t get to him soon, he’ll find a way to get her away from her police protection and kill her. So I have to find him.”
John gets back in his car, and drives off. He goes back to the electronics shop, parks in the parking lot and waits, hoping that Richard will at least come in and get his check.
“If I see him again, I won’t stop and play, I’ll just put him out of his misery, for Dr. Jasbelle. I’ll kill him and bury his body, and no one will ever know. Then I can move on with my life.”
So he sits there and waits. Hoping this murder will purge his mind of his wife and children, hoping that this act will put his life back together. He sits and he waits.
Ricky Mcknight
This really is a sick individual. But no matter how sick he was, John was there for one thing, to make him feel fear. So John did what he sat out to do, he got his spray paint and wrote in neat letters on the wall.
“I AM HERE TO BRING YOU PAIN. I AM RETROBUTION, AND I COME FOR YOU.”
“I think I’ll drop by the store tomorrow, and check to see how He’s doing. If he shows up for work, I would imagine he won’t be feeling well.”
At the thought of that, John smiles, and leaves the house.
“Why what happened to my normal two policeman escort?”
“Our captain put them on detail in a different area. So we’re going to work this case with Chris, the two officers across the street from your house, and me. But don’t worry, I’ll be staying with you for a while.”
“Good, it will be nice to have some female company for a change. I was getting tired of the officer sitting at my front door. Besides, we’ve been needing to get together, to talk and compare notes, cause I got some questions to ask you about Chris, with his sexy chocolate self.”
“Is that right, well good, cause I’ve got some questions of my own about your homeboy, Barry. Girl that mans lips just float my boat, and that tight butt makes me want to reach out and touch something.”
“Oooh girl, look out now! Let’s go, we’ve got a lot to talk about. On the way we can pick up a pizza, and some chocolate chip ice cream.”
“Girl that sounds like a sistas party to me.”
While they are out, they decide to get a little shopping in. They go to several stores and do what a lot of women do when they get together with their friends, shop until they drop.
With his knife in his hand, he readies himself for the kill. A sadistic smile is on his face. This is going to be a very easy kill, very easy indeed.
“Hush Meka, if you don’t tell my butt, I won’t tell your hips. Besides a girl needs some chocolate every once in a while, just because she has to deal with these trifling ass men. A man will make you go get a chocolate fix just to deal with his trifling butt sometimes.”
“I know that’s right. In their defense though, all men are not trifling. Some of them can be trained pretty well, at least for a while.”
They both laugh real loud.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. How we gonna get the ice cream, and pizza in the house?”
“Somebody’s going to have to come back and get it.”
They start toward the door with their hands full of packages.
“I’m at Barry’s house.”
“You need to get over here as quick as you can.”
“Why, what happened?”
“Our friend just paid Beverly, and I a visit. We managed to fight him off, but my backup never came.”
“What do you mean you’re backup didn’t show?”
“Just what I said. We fought right in front of the wide open front door and they didn’t come to help, and as he was running away from the house I got a shot off at him and they still didn’t come.”
“Damn, somebody’s going to get their ass fired for this. Are you and Simone Ok?”
“Yeah, we’re alright, but I think I’m going to need some stitches, he got me pretty good on the left arm.”
“Call for another unit to ride with you and Beverly to the hospital, and I’ll check on your backup.”
He hangs up, and dials the house across the street from Beverly’s.
“Who was that Chris?”
“That was Tameka on the phone. The stalker was waiting on them when they got home. But she and Beverly were able to fight him off.”
“Are they alright?”
“Yeah, Tameka got cut on the arm, so Beverly is going with her to the hospital. My problem now is why didn’t her backup react to the situation? Let’s go, I need to find out what’s going on across the street from Beverly’s.”
“Look Chris, I’m not overly macho, and I know you’ve been trained for this, but this mutha fucka has been screwing over me, and Bev long enough. I hope he is still over there so I can kick his ass. Ain’t no way you gonna keep me over here.”
“Alright Barry, but get this straight, you do this my way, I don’t want you to get hurt, you got it.”
“Yeah Barry, I’m just fine. It’s been an interesting night, and I don’t ever want another one like this, but it did give me a chance to see Tameka in action. Barry you should have seen Tameka fight. Chris I can see why you have her on your team, she’s real good.”
“I only have the best on my team.”
“Wait now, I’m not the only one that was fighting, Beverly gave as much as she got. If she hadn’t hit him with whatever she hit him with–
“It was a broom handle.”
“Whatever it was, it saved our lives. While you were hitting him, you gave me time to retrieve my weapon.”
“Yeah girl, but you were the one that got cut.”
Barry steps forward, and puts his arms gently around Tameka.
“Damn Meka, he didn’t hurt you too bad, did he?”
“No it’s not too bad, I’ll survive, although the adrenaline is still pumping, and I’m as edgy as a cat.”
Barry pulls her closer and says, “I know just the thing to take that edge off you”
“Oh really and what is it?”
“A Long Island tea, and a tall strong man to rub your back.”
“Yeah Meka, I’m definitely asking for the job.”
Beverly tries to add a little hate to the conversation, “Oooh, uh uh, see, both of you are wrong.”
“Sergeant Teasley, you don’t have time for this.”
Tameka unwinds herself from Barry’s arms, “Yes sir.”
Barry looks at Chris with that “I be damn” look, “Damn Chris, why you want to cut a brothers romance off?”
“Because Tameka and Beverly, just beat, and run off the homicidal maniac, that killed 2 male officers, so the pitiful act ain’t working.”
“Who did he kill?”
“That’s right Tameka, you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“He slipped in on Joe and Jack, and killed them both.”
“Oh no, now I’m sorry I didn’t hit the fool when I shot at him. Damn and Jack’s wife just had their second child. Now I really hate this bastard.”
“So do I Tameka, that’s why I want to end this case. Now I need to know exactly what happened and I need to find this broom handle you were talking about, if it’s got blood on it, I want it typed, so hopefully we can add it to the profile of him, along with the description you and Beverly give us. I assume you did see his face.”
“No sir we didn’t, it was too dark, and everything happened so fast he got away before we could even turn on the lights. The only thing I can tell you is, he is a white male, about six feet tall, a hundred and seventy pounds.”
“Well that will have to do. We’ll circulate that to all the other precincts. This is now a murder investigation. Two of my men have been killed. I want the asshole that did this, and I want him now.”
“No it’s not, but it is running a close second.”
“What was so bad about the worst one?”
“Well, in that one the stalker was the victims brother. It seems he had become obsessed with his sister, and had decided that if he couldn’t have her, no one would. We had to kill him, which almost destroyed the whole family. To this day the mother doesn’t talk to her daughter. She claims that the daughter is the one that got her baby killed. In my opinion, the mother was the sick one in the family. She let that boy sleep with her in her bed until he was twenty years old. It’s a wonder he had any sense at all.”
“Well let me ask you another question”
“Ok what is it?”
“From a psychological stand point, this is going to sound like I need some serious therapy, but is the adrenaline of the fight still rushing through you. And if so is it making you, how can I say this–
“I think the words you’re looking for are horny as hell.”
“So you do feel it. Well I’m going to have to go back and apologize to some of my colleagues for strongly disagreeing with their study.”
“I don’t know about your colleagues study, all I know is I have that “I want to ride something hard” feeling. That’s why I reacted the way I did when Barry put his arms around me.”
“So do I, so I guess my colleagues were right. Let me explain the study. Dr Caldwell suggested to me that men and women have a sexual reaction to extreme stress, and further that when adrenaline is introduced into the system, the residual effects left in the blood stream allow a person to become less inhibited.”
“Yeah tell him that all he said is true, and then some. And if you, and Chris weren’t going to be here tonight, I would lose my professionalism, and get busy with Barry.”
“Normally I would say that you need to calm down, and check yourself, but I feel the same way. My only problem is getting Chris to notice.”
“Oh I don’t think you have to worry about him noticing you, I overheard him talking to Barry, day before yesterday. He thinks you’re the finest, most intelligent, sexiest woman, he’s ever met.”
“Did he say all that?”
“Yes he did. And he also said that he would like to spend as much time as he could with you and that he could just sit for hours and look into your eyes. He went on so much I thought I would just throw up on the floor. Then he went into his macho thing with Barry. Talking about what he would do to you if he got you in bed.”
“What did he say, and how did you manage to hear it?”,br>
“Lets just say that if he does half of what he says he wants to do to you, you are going to be tired, and very happy. And I heard all of this because he left the desk speaker switch on while he and Barry talked in your office.”
“Uh huh, and what did Barry say he wanted to do to you?”
“Well, put it this way, if he does it, I ain’t gonna complain.”
“I don’t understand, if he feels that way, why doesn’t he tell me?”
“Look Beverly, he’s the lead officer assigned to protect you, he just lost 2 men, and he’s not the type to let emotions cloud his judgement. But I guarantee that if you wait this out, you’ll be glad you did.”
“You sound as if you and he had something going on, in the past. Were you two tight at one time?”
“No, he’s always been more of a big brother to me. When I was a rookie, the male officers gave me a hard time. He never did, but he never helped me either. Then one day out of the blue, he asked me to join his team. He said he had been watching me, and he thought I handled myself well under pressure. I accepted, and he’s been teaching me every since. The reason I know he’ll be good to you is because of a relationship he was in at the time of his sister’s murder. He was with this, and I use the word very loosely, woman. He did everything for her, after she got all she could out of him, she left him. And this is the bad part; she left him two days after his sister was killed, when he needed her most. A lot of men would have been bitter about it, but he said he accepted it, and that he would find another woman to love one day. It hurt me real bad to see him in that situation, but he made it through, I don’t know how, but he made it through. Now I believe he’s found a good woman, at least you appear to be. I do know one thing; at least you don’t need his money. If you’re serious about him, tell him, and take good care of him. He’s a good friend of mine, and the next woman that hurts him, will have to deal with me.”
“So you say he’s been hurt, well mother has the cure for what hurts him, and don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.”
“Well, my boy here, had to bring all his clothes from home.”
“Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.”
“Look Mr. Playa, you’re only going to be here for 5 or 6 days, until the department can clear some more men to protect you.”
“Yeah but in that time a brother has to look good. Now can we end this conversation, it’s 3:00 in the morning, and I’m either going to get some sleep, or I’m going to pass out on the floor.”
“Yeah Barry, that’s a good idea. Why don’t all of you get some sleep?”
“What about you Chris?”
“Don’t worry about me Beverly, I’ve got a lot on my mind, I’ll just sit here for a while.”
“Well you go up there and handle your business, and I’ll be down here trying to handle mine.”
“Look Chris, I can see that you’re tense, and that you need to relax. As a Psychologist I know that a person carrying a lot of pressure can’t function if they don’t relax from time to time. So sit back, shut up, and let me massage your shoulders. Doctors orders.”
“Yes mam. That does feel good. Is this part of the treatment you give all of your patients?”
“You are not one of my patients. You are a man that’s under a lot of stress. And a man who I think is intelligent, warm, and caring. The type of man I wouldn’t mind spending my time with.”
Chris pulls Beverly onto his lap and stops just short of kissing her. “I shouldn’t be doing this, it’s not very professional—
Beverly puts her finger to his lips to keep him quiet, and then they kiss for the first time.
“First of all, I get the comforter because you’re suppose to be a gentleman. And second of all, I didn’t tell you to sleep on the floor.”
“You get the comforter, I thought Chris was sleeping up here, and you and Bev were sleeping downstairs.”
“I don’t think Chris is coming up here to sleep. If I know Chris he’ll be down stairs the rest of the night. And if Beverly’s plans work out, he’ll be up for the rest of the night.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, she is probably getting the back rub that someone in this room promised me tonight.”
“You mean Beverly and Chris are getting their romance thing on. Good it’s about time. That’s what she’s been needing all the time. Maybe he can take some of the edge off of her.”
“Is that right, well if you want to see a woman on edge let me show you one that hasn’t gotten her back rub.”
“Well if you don’t want to see the lip, then do what you promised to do.”
“I’m sorry Meka, I did promise you a massage. I tell you what, let me go in the bathroom and see what kind of oil Bev has in there, and I’ll be right back. Meanwhile get comfortable on the bed.”
He goes to the bathroom, Tameka takes off her sweater, and lies down on the bed, face down.
“Oh nothing, I was just thinking about what Tameka told me tonight.”
“What did Tameka tell you tonight?”
“Well it seems that she overheard you and Barry having a testosterone fest. Both of you were bragging about what you would do to us if we gave you a chance. Do you have any thing to say in your defense?”
“Yes, I meant every word of what I said I would like to do to you. First I would kiss your neck, then I would kiss your shoulders, and as I worked my way down, I would slowly undress you.”
As he says this, he starts to slowly do what he is talking about. The feelings that Beverly begin to experience are intense and exquisite, and she knows they are about to start something, that won’t be finished until the morning light shines through the window.
“Well if you’re going to do the job, you’re going to have to do the job all the way.”
Barry sits down on the edge of the bed, puts down the oil, and starts to unbutton her bra. As he’s doing that, he kisses the back of her neck. “Alright now, don’t start none, won’t be none.” But Barry doesn’t stop; he just keeps moving down her back. Suddenly Tameka rolls over and Barry’s lips land right in the middle of her breast. As he slowly
moves his tongue over her left breast, he gently manipulates her right with his hand. Then slowly he starts to move his kisses from her breast down to her stomach. Tameka closes her eyes, and allows the tingle from his kisses to roam all over her body.
“Yes mother this is where we’re going to stay. No we’re not going back home I explained all of this to you in the car. I’m sorry mother; I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. Yes I know that you haven’t lived anywhere else in thirty years, but it was necessary for us to move, so that we could survive. Now would you please be quiet, before someone hears you.”
“They won the first round, but I survived, and now I’ll kill them all, and from now on, I’ll kill anyone that gets in my way. Simone, you, I will save for last. And what I’ve got in mind for you will be the greatest, most talked about murder ever. You will be my masterpiece. I think I’ll call you and tell you that I’m going to make you my best work. Yes, that’s what I’ll do as soon as I finish moving all of my things in my room.”
“Hello bitch, I guess you think you and that toy cop got rid of me last night, but you didn’t. I’m just calling to tell you that I’m gonna kill you and that other bitch, and it doesn’t make any difference how many police officers they send to protect you. I’ll kill them all, and it will all be your fault. If you had done the right thing in the first place, those poor police officers wouldn’t have died. Now you and all around you must die.” Beverly sits up; her face is a twisted mask of anger. How dare he ruin this moment for her? Now she is totally focused, and her anger is aroused. It’s time to put this fool in his place.
“Ok, I’m going to let you take control, but there are a few things I won’t let you do. I won’t let you hurt Barry, Chris, or Tameka. I just want you to kill Richard Black, and as soon as you do, I want you to give the control back to me. Do you understand?”
“Yeah I hear you. All I want to do is put this asshole out of our misery, then you can have it.”
“Ok, you got it.”
“I don’t want you standing next to any windows, because I don’t want to take any chances with you.” He pulls her close to him and squeezes her tight. She pulls away and walks over to the couch. “Beverly, is there something wrong with you?”
“No there’s nothing wrong with me I just need some time to think. It’s hard for
me to realize that a lot of people have been hurt because of me. It’s a little too much to think about, even for a trained Psychologist like me.”
Chris sits down on the couch beside her and pulls her close. She slides away from him.
“Look Chris, I like you a lot, but I’m afraid if I get too close to you, you’ll end up dead too. So if you don’t mind I would like to put this relationship on hold until we get this maniac off the street. Besides, I know you don’t need any emotional baggage right now. You need your mind free to do your work. What we had last night was great, and I want to continue it, but not until this situation is resolved”.
She walks over to him, leans down, puts her arms around him, and kisses him, and for a short moment, the real Beverly Simone surfaces.
She pulls back, looks into his eyes, and says, “I will be right here waiting for you when this is over.” Then she turns and walks away, and Ms. Jasbelle is back in control. Now the
only thing that’s on her mind is Richard Black. Chris gets his clothes and as he’s heading for the bathroom, he answers her.
“Yeah you’re right, I don’t need my mind cluttered now, so we’ll put this on hold until I catch this bastard.”
“I didn’t either, until thirty minutes ago. And by the way you were damn good yourself, it’s good to find a man that’s as good as his word. To bad we have to get up and go back to reality. It would be nice to just lay up here in your arms for the rest of the day.”
“Yeah I would like to stay here with my arms wrapped around you, cause you snuggle real good.”
“Yeah I do don’t I,” she gets up and starts to gather her clothes, “but we’ve got to get on the case for Beverly’s sake.”
Barry gets up and picks up his clothes.
“I know, cause I’ve been a worried about sister girl every since this whole thing started. I hope we can get this case solved soon for all of our sakes.”
“What’s wrong Chris?”
“They found another murder victim last night, about two blocks from your house. He had a butcher’s knife sticking out of his head, and the bad part is the news media has gotten a hold to the story, and they’ve started calling him the “Seattle Slasher.”
“Oh shit, now we’re going to have every news reporter in this town following us around trying to get the story.”
“How will this effect your investigation, Chris?”
“To tell you the truth Barry, I’m hoping that it won’t effect us at all. Right now the media has a hand full of nothing, and as long as there’s no leaks in my department it’ll stay that way. And since I’ve never had a problem with my team before, I don’t believe there will be a problem now.”
“Good cause we don’t need anymore problems.”
“Yes sir, what can I do for you?”
“Sergeant, I want you to look out of your window and tell me what you see.”
“Yes sir there’s a news truck out in front.”
“That’s right, and didn’t I tell you that I didn’t want anyone close to Dr. Jasbelle house, unless I gave the Ok.”
“Yes sir, but it’s only a news truck.”
“Sergeant do you have any clue as to who killed two of our fellow officers yesterday?”
“No sir.”
“Then how do you know that one of the people in that truck is not the killer?”
“I don’t sir.”
“Then I suggest you go out there and get that truck moved down the block, do I make myself clear Sergeant?”
“Yes sir.”
“Thank you Sergeant.”
“Well I’m going upstairs to get ready for work. Are you going to work today Barry, or are you to tired?”
“I’m just as alert as you are sister girl, and don’t start throwing out those innuendoes, like you’re trying to start something.”
“I’m just saying that if you needed to get your second wind, I understand.”
“Real cute Bev, but I’m good to go.”
Chris gets his coat, “Come on Barry I need to stop by the station. We’ll get to the institute later.”
Chris goes out the door, and Beverly is already upstairs.
“You better hold still and give me the lips before I go, or I’m going to be the brother you’re gonna get the chewing from.”
They kiss briefly, Barry leaves, and Tameka goes upstairs, expecting to talk to Beverly, and instead runs into Ms. Jasbelle.
“Hey girl, how did it go last night?”
“It was alright.”
“Just alright, you mean to tell me that I could hear you moaning all the way up here, and it was just alright?”
“Okay, it was great, but we decided this morning to put this relationship on hold, and concentrate on getting that maniac, before he kills someone else. I told Chris that he needed to have his mind free to deal with the case, and he agreed. I don’t want to be in the way of a good police officer at work. But I told him when this is over, I would be waiting for him.”
“Good I’m glad that you two are working out. He needs someone special in his life, and according to Barry, it’s about time you had somebody in your life.”
“Sometimes Barry talks too much.”
“He’s just trying to make sure his best friend finds some happiness in her life.”
Ms. Jasbelle turns around to look at Tameka, and the look on her face is as cold as she’s seen on any criminal.
“Maybe I’m not suppose to have any happiness in my life.”
“Damn girl, you look like you could kill up a lot of people. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m just tired of this maniac coming into my life, and trying to destroy all I’ve worked for. And I’m tired of this bastard trying to kill the people I care for. If I had him here right now, I would cut his arms off, and feed them to him,”
“Calm down girl, don’t let this fool stress you, Chris is going to find him, and when he does, he’ll put him away for a long time.”
Ms Jasbelle looks at Tameka for a few seconds and without saying a word, turns and walks out of the room, and whispers to herself, “Chris won’t have to worry about getting him, I’m going to kill him myself.”
Thank you for reading the chapters. The book is now in publication. If you would like to buy the book you can purchase it from the following web site www.trafford.com If you would like to contact the author you can send your emails to mackabre@hotmail.com