“Three hours ago,” she answered, gently stroking his head, “You have a phone call.” She placed the phone on his ear but he didn’t say a word, he went back to sleep instead. “Dale!” she laughed, shaking him awake.
“Audrey what is it?” he asked, groggily, the sound of annoyance at the edge of his voice. He pulled Ellie in closer so that he could take a look at his watch on his wrist. This girl has such a tiny waist, but she’s heavy, he thought to himself as he listened to Audrey on the line.
“Are you at your girlfriend’s house?” She asked, eagerly, “Or did you finally bring a girl to your apartment?”
“Audrey,” he groaned, pinching Ellie’s belly with his lips, making her giggle.
“I’m so happy for you!” She screeched, before she was serious again. She wished she didn’t have to ruin the best moment of their lives but, “We have another serial killer.”
Dale’s stomach dropped and his body went rigid, “Where?”
“His or her last victim is from here, Washington, but murder reports with the same MO have appeared in Boston too. I have one more person to call, the rest are on their way.”
“Thanks sweet cheeks.”
“Don’t call me that! She’ll think you are cheating on her, and we’ll lose a girlfriend!”
“You really need to focus on your relationship and leave mine alone. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”
“What are you and sweet cheeks squabbling about?” Ellie asked, unsure if she should be jealous or not.
He stood up and walked to the bathroom, “How long did you guys talk for?”
Ellie felt caught, “Not long. She just asked me to wake you up.”
“How did she sound to you?” he asked, walking out with his head and face wet, a towel in his hand.
She dried the back of his head as he put on his shoes. “She sounds nice, really sweet.”
“That’s why I call her sweet cheeks. She wanted to know if you were my girlfriend and where I spent the night.” He then stood up and looked down at her, analyzing her expressions.
Ellie looked up at him, “And?” She wasn’t sure if she’d like any of the two obvious answers because she wasn’t sure what title he held in her life. They’d only seen each other four times but talked and texted constantly for seventeen days.
He kissed her lightly on her lips at first and then deepened it, pulling her tightly and closely against him. If it wasn’t for work, he would have led this down the direction it was crying to go. “And I have to go,” he whispered on her lips, before he pulled away.
Ellie stared at him dreamily, her body numbed by a voltage of passion that surged through her. She had felt this before, just not like this!
“I’ll call you later,” he said, before he walked out the door. Ellie just nodded, and then she slowly closed the door. She leaned against it, still dazed by the kiss.
“Oh my….” she said, before she sunk down the door onto the floor.
Carson stepped out of his car and walked up the victim’s drive way, Ellie still on his mind. There was yellow tape around the house and a police barricade keeping the reporters and the on lookers out. He walked into the house- an air of dread hung inside it. Police officers were all over, processing the house. Paloma and Doran were seated with a man he assumed to be the victim’s boyfriend. He walked up the stairs and spotted Kevin, Gwen and Richard. He was sure that was where the murder was committed. The tied up naked body and the blood on the bed and wall confirmed it.
“What the hell happened here?” He asked, putting on his latex gloves. He walked around the room and looked through her things, trying to get a feel of the victims’ personality.
“The victim was tied to the four corners of her bed with her bras. We aren’t sure yet but I think it’s safe to assume she was sexually assaulted, probably after the suspect beat her up,” Kevin offered.
Carson stared at the battered woman’s bloody face. His chest tightened as he thought of Ellie lying there in the victim’s place. He took a deep breath as he tried to refocus and get his composure back. “How old is she?”
“Twenty four.”
Carson took another deep breath, the weight on his chest heavier. “What about the other victims?”
“Well, so far the youngest is twenty three and the oldest is twenty six. I looked through the photos of the victims we’ve found so far. It’s like any girl the suspect considers attractive is a potential victim.”
“Do they have anything else in common?” He wished the answer was yes, he would be able to eliminate her and breathe a little easy.
“No.”
“Damn it! Where are those files?”
“Back at the office.”
“Speaking of women, how’s your girlfriend?” Gwen asked, without looking up from her note book. Carson looked at her sensing the hostility in her voice, and he wasn’t the only one.
Richard’s eye brow rose with curiosity, “Why did you say it like that?”
“Last night we found her on stage dancing with two strippers, drunk out of her mind.”
“It was her twenty-sixth birthday,” Carson defended, “We all did wild things at twenty-six.”
“I didn’t.” Kevin objected.
“Yeah, we know.”
“So she’s practically half your age. Carson, are you having a pukey mid life crisis?” she jeered.
“She’s ten years younger than me Gwen, you know that.”
“How are you two doing?” Richard baited, “Those two weeks must have affected the relationship in some way.”
“We are doing just fine,” Carson smiled sweetly, “There is no rush, and we’re taking it one step at a time.”
“Is that code for ‘she’s holding out’ on him?” Kevin asked. He then exclaimed loudly when Gwen and Richard nodded in response, “Dale Carson, you’re slipping!”
“No I’m not,” Carson jumped, with a bruised ego, “She’s just different. I want to take my time with her, see how it goes.”
Richard chuckled, “Carson in a steady relationship, that I’d pay to see.”
“I give it a month.” Gwen said, with such conviction it bothered Carson.
“How about we get the asshole that did this before you start placing bets on my relationship?” The thought of Ellie being the psycho’s next victim bothered him. How he wished he could just lock her up in his house forever to keep her safe. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if something like this happened to her.
“I’m going back down stairs to see what Paloma and Doran have. Kevin, walk with me.” The two disappeared leaving Gwen and Carson alone with the body.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Carson asked, under a whisper.
“What are you talking about?” she returned, with a blank look.
“You are taking cheap shots at Ellie. Is this about us? We agreed, no strings attached, remember?”
Gwen looked at him intensely, then after a moment her gaze softened, “I know, I just don’t like being replaced without notice, and besides I’m just looking out for you.” She smiled at him before she left the room. Carson wasn’t sure he believed her, but he wasn’t going to probe.
****