Evil Intent (15 page)

“But, me lady, a pint’ll only cost ye three shillings, these days!”

“Why kind sir, ye mean ya not gonna join me? I’ll be your Watson!”

The couple both broke out in laughter as they squatted low, to see how silly they looked in a nearby mirror.

“Hey, Richard, look at this hat. This is too cute!” She said all excited and having a ball finding one cool, unique hat after another.

Kathryn tried on several hats Richard had picked out for her. Some large, some small, but all very strange and interesting. His favorite was a sporty plaid cap with a small brim on the front. It cost $325.

“You look fantastic in these hats. Seriously, Kathryn, do you ever wear hats? You have an incredible look, very sexy, too, I might add.

“Sexy?”

“Yes, definitely!”

“Oh. I like sexy.”

“I’m serious. You look damn good in these hats. I mean that as a compliment! Please let me buy one for you.”

Absolutely not Richard, these prices are ridiculous,” she whispered moving in closer to Richard so the sales clerk couldn’t hear.

Ten minutes later they were walking out with two bags.

“Thank you, that was very nice of you. I love my hats, Richard, and I loved my cupcake too! You are so good to me.”

“Well, to be honest, it’s actually a bribe. I’m rather interested in what you were saying before about naked and a bubble bath!”

“I was kidding, mister!” She said as she turned facing him, lightly beating his chest with two fists. “Don’t get any ideas!”

“Are you telling me, you lied to me?”

“What?” She asked, looking surprised with a worried expression on her face.

“It’s not nice to lie. Do you want to be punished?”

She smiled. “Punished? What would you do to me?”

“You do it again, and I just might have to spank you!”

“You wouldn’t dare. I’d give you a bust in the mouth!”

“I’d like that, too.”

Kathryn, turned twelve shades of pink realizing what she just said.

The couple continued walking along Bleecker heading south. They were quiet at first, and she noticed him grinning, as if he was beside himself over having the upper hand with her, so he thought.

“You think you’re pretty smart, mister. Well, don’t gloat too much, I’m smart too!” She said giving him an occasional poke in the ribs to bring him back down to earth. They’d laugh, then soon start chatting again about all sorts of stuff. But, before long Kathryn started talking about Friday, trying desperately to make some sense out of what happened.

“I find myself searching and searching for answers that I know just aren’t there. I was asking Suki all these questions, and felt bad about it. Why should she be any different from me? Really? She experienced the same tragedy I did, and she feels the pain, too. I should have been helping her! Sometimes, I feel so stupid Richard, and selfish.”

“Don’t feel stupid. I want to hear what’s on your mind, and heart and I’m sure Suki does too. Both of you went through so much, and you each need to grieve in your own special way. What’s important, is that you, and Suki’s, feelings are real, and you both need to express those feelings anyway you want - whatever, whenever, and wherever, you can.”

“Suki wanted to go home and hug and talk to her cat! Will she be ok alone?”

“I don’t know, but we can call and ask. Offer to be with her. We could bring her cat food, or a nice plant for her apartment, if you’d like.”

“That would be nice. I’d like to do that. She asked me why I felt frightened when we were at my apartment, you know, after everything was over. She didn’t understand.”

“What did you tell her? What didn’t she understand?”

“The office. I told her a bunch of stuff has been happening in the office, and I have a horrible feeling it’s related somehow to the incident at The Cafe 63.”

The couple must have walked ten or more blocks as Kathryn explained many of the strange occurrences that were happening in her office - Ted’s demands, Dr. Andreyushkin’s strange behavior, Eric’s hatred toward his boss, and Donald’s outbursts and serious accusations. Richard was finally beginning to understand why she felt afraid.

“What bothers you the most?”

“I don’t really know. Actually, it’s probably got something to do with the feeling that I’m not in control. Most of my life Richard, I felt like I knew what I was doing and why. I had goals, I was organized, prepared. I took control of everything. Everything had a place in my life. But, lately, everything feels like one big surprise. I feel insecure, and hesitant about things. That’s not me Richard.”

“I think that’s understandable, under the circumstances.”

“I’m lost!”

“I think that’s a normal feeling, too.”

“No. I meant we’re really lost. Macdougal Street? Where the hell are we?”

“Oh shit! We’re in Soho. How’d we get here?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m following you! You’re the smart one.”

They stopped, had a good laugh then marched off searching for a nearby subway. It was getting pretty late and they decided to head back to Kathryn’s apartment.

“Wow, look at the time. Would you like to go somewhere for dinner?”

“I’m not very hungry, Richard. Maybe we can just grab a slice a pizza, and go back to my apartment.”

The local #1 train was slow and took a while. By the time they got to Times Square, the crown on the train was pretty heavy, too, so they decided to jump off and walk on the streets. They were walking along Broadway when Kathryn spotted a pizza join. After some food and drink, they strolled past a few theaters, and enjoyed the lights and Marquis of the Theater District, as it started get darker outside.

Once back inside her apartment, she dropped the hat bags on a chair, set the third cupcake on the coffee table and with her hands free, turned and gave Richard a huge hug, then gently kissed him.

“Thank you for being here, with me, today. You’re wonderful Richard, and I loved our little adventure! I had a really good time.”

“I had a really good time, too, Kathryn. I don’t want to leave you.”

“Then don’t,” she whispered, kissing him again. “I don’t want you to go. Finally, we can be alone.” She paused for a moment staring into his eyes as if she didn’t know what to do next. Then, she asked, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“That would be nice.”

He was sitting on the sofa, when she returned with two glasses of red wine. She curled up close to him, and reached over to the coffee table grabbing the little bag containing her cupcake. Staring intently into his eyes, without a word spoken, she slowly raised the cupcake to her mouth, very sensually taking a bite, and slowly licking her lips with her tongue. It drove Richard nuts, seeing her sitting in such a provocative position biting the cupcake. He peered down at her beauty, revealing his desire to kiss her icing covered lips.

With a very sexy voice, and holding the cupcake in front of her, she whispered, “would you like to bite something I have?”

“That would be nice, too,” he said leaning forward to take a bite of her cupcake.

Just as he was about to take a bite of cake, Kathryn gave it a little push, smearing icing on his nose.

“Oops!”

“Do that again, and you’ll be punished.”

“Sorry, it slipped.”

Just as Richard again bent over to take a bite out of the cake, she pushed it again, this time covering half of his face.

“That’s it. Get over here young lady!” He said, snatching the cupcake from her hands, and reaching for her arm. He put the cake on the table, and in one quick motion, pulled her body up, off of the sofa, and over his knee, her ass high in the air, her head down. Before she knew what happened, he had her dress up, panties pulled down and smacked her naked bottom, hard. Shivers raced through Kathryn’s body.

“Didn’t I warn you?”

She didn’t answer.

He smacked her bare behind again, this time harder than before. Despite the sting, she remained quiet, still no answer. Again, for a third time, he smacked her bottom, turning her beautiful behind the color of a red beet.

“I’m sorry. I was bad. I won’t do it again, I promise.” she said.

With that, he pulled her panties back up and put her dress in place, as she sat up. The two were staring at each other in silence for only a few seconds before she lunged toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately and pressing her body tightly to him. Her entire body quivered with anticipation of what she knew they both wanted. They fell back onto the sofa, him on top of her, his hands reaching up touching her breasts as she closed her eyes. His kisses on her neck, cheeks, and lips sent a tingling feeling throughout her body. Her arms reached up grabbing on to him everywhere she could, pulling him closer and closer letting Richard know she wanted him too.

When Richard started to unbutton her dress, she felt the warm feeling race to her breasts. Her body tensed, but at no time because of a lack of desire.

“Oh Richard, please, not here.” Her voice had a slight cry or moan to it. “I wanted this moment to be so romantic, please. I wanted to take a bath for you, oh…….take me to my bedroom. I need to ……………… please, stop.”

Suddenly, Richard stopped kissing her allowing Kathryn to get on her feet. She reached down, pulling Richard up off the couch, and holding on to his hand, she led him to her bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed. As she let go of him, she turned and slipped off her shoes.

She turned back toward him, kissing him again, this time whispering, “I’m just going into the bathroom for a couple minutes. Don’t you go anywhere?”

Richard was patiently waiting for Kathryn, when he looked up and surprisingly noticed the bathroom door ajar. He could clearly see her in the vanity mirror. She looked exquisite in the bright light as she slowly stepped out of her dress, unknowingly revealing to him her white skin accentuated by a lacy and very sexy deep purple bra and panties.

Unaware of her secret admirer, she reached back unclasping her bra. As she turned to face the mirror, he knew it was imminent that his desire to devour her right then and there, would force him to take her into his arms, and carry her into the bed, except for the fact that he simply could not move. He wanted to rush into the bathroom, sweep her into his arms, but was immobilized by her beauty, in awe over the reflection of her sexy body in the mirror. She was so breathtakingly beautiful, he had to look away.

Fumbling with his shoes, then clothes, he left on his boxer shorts, and slid under the sheets to the other side of the bed. Laying there, he continued to stare at the bathroom door until she emerged, turning off the bath lights, and standing at bedside, her naked body dressed only in her purple panties, and drenched in the dim light of the moon. In total silence, eyes fixed on Richard, she smiled, as she too, slid under the sheets.

Slowly, but confidently, she moved closer toward him, as she reached under the covers, wiggling for just a second, then placing her purple panties in his hand. She folded herself into his arms pressing her naked body tightly against his. Richard could not imagine anything better than the way she felt against him. All of the emotions and feelings that had been slowly building over the days and weeks gone by, suddenly overflowed. He kissed her breasts, sending warm shivers down her spine. Then, slowly moving his kisses toward her neck, he continued igniting her senses. Neither one could stop kissing each other, touching each other, as they lie locked in a tight embrace.

Kathryn’s breathing began to quicken as he lifted his leg over hers, moving on top of her. Her fingers dancing gracefully through his hair, his hands reaching around to her back gently lifting her, pressing her against him. She tightened her arms around him clinging to him tightly, their bodies moving as one as the couple passionately made love to each other. It was more beautiful than Kathryn had ever imagined. She climaxed more than once. She was amazed how powerful they felt, causing her to quiver and shake until she was utterly exhausted. Finally, they became very still, wrapped together in love, just allowing every beautiful minute that they had experienced, to dance over and over in their minds. Neither had ever known such pleasure.

Chapter 20

S
uki wasn’t at her desk when Kathryn tried to call her. Kathryn had just found out that Detective Peters, and Sargent O’Donnell, of the NYPD, were coming to the Rockne Pharmaceutical offices specifically to speak with her. She quickly tried to contact Suki, to give her the heads up just in case they wanted to talk with her, too.

“Barb, I’ll be right back, I need to find Suki. If the police show up, offer them coffee and tell them I’m on my way.”

Moments later she spotted Suki, standing at a co-workers desk.

“Suki?” Kathryn called out. “Thank God you’re here. I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to see you for a second.”

“What is it Kathryn?”

“It’s urgent. I need to see you in private.”

Suki, excused herself and walked closer to Kathryn.

“The police are coming to see me any minute, Suki. I wanted you to know in case they want to talk to you, too. I think it’s the same two gentlemen we spoke with Friday night at the hospital.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No. Just be aware that they’re in the building. I’m sure someone will call if they need you. I feel nervous, Suki. Why? I’ve done nothing wrong?”

“It’ll be ok. It’s just that there resurrecting the whole night again in your head. It’s understandable. Thanks Kathryn for coming over, and don’t worry about it.”

Kathryn returned to her office, still nervous over the idea the police were returning to question her some more.

About 30 minutes later, Barbara quietly walks up to Kathryn’s desk.

“They’re here, Kathryn. Do I bring them in here?”

“Yes, I suppose so, Barbara. I don’t need a conference room. Maybe, this’ll be real quick, I hope,” she said sheepishly.

“Miss Becker? Detective Peters, and do you remember Detective O’Donnell?”

“Yes, of course. Please come in. Have a seat. May I get you gentlemen some coffee?”

“No thank you, Miss Becker.”

“Kathryn, please. It’s just Kathryn,” she said in almost a whisper.

“We appreciate you giving us this time. We just have a few questions, Miss Becker.”

“Of course, go ahead.”

“Friday, I think you told us that you did not know, Lois Stanton.”

“What? I mean who?”

“Lois Stanton, the waitress, one of the victims.”

“Oh yes, that’s right. I did not know her.”

“Did you know the young man who was shot? Or the older lady, her name was Martha Radcliffe?”

“No sir, I did not know either of them. It was just a restaurant my friend and I occasionally go to. Our office is around the corner.”

“Yes, we know, thank you,” answered Detective O’Donnell.

“And, what about the man in the trench coat? Did you know him?”

“No! Well, I don’t think I did. I never saw his face?”

“When did you first see the man in the trench coat?”

“He was standing for quite a while outside the door. Strange looking fellow.”

“You noticed him more than once? How long would you estimate he was outside the door?”

“Maybe ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes, but you didn’t see his face?”

“No. His back was to me. He was looking out toward the street.”

“Did you mention anything to your friend? Miss Suki Nikimora?”

“No.”

“A strange, suspicious looking man, and you said nothing?”

“I didn’t say suspicious, and I thought he was strange wearing a trench coat.”

“But you didn’t mention him to Miss Suki Nikimora.”

“Detective Peters, there are a lot of strange weird-o’s in New York. I don’t have a habit of pointing them out, even to my best friend.”

“I understand Miss Becker. Is it safe then to say you did not recognize anyone that day?”

“Yes. Oh wait, I recognized the help. I did say, Suki and I regularly go there.”

“But the help includes waitresses, and you said you didn’t know Miss Stanton.”

“Sorry. I think I saw the owner, he was there, and I recognized the cashier. That’s all. What are you getting at Detective Peters?”

“Just routine questions, Miss Becker.”

Detective Peters looked at O’Donnell.

“We’re you aware that Lois Stanton died of an insulin overdose?” Asked Detective O’Donnell.

“Yes. I was told that by a doctor who works at Lenox Hill Hospital.”

“Why would a doctor have told you that ma’am?”

“He’s a friend of mind, Detective.”

“Would that have been a Dr. Richard Marks?” Asked Detective Peters.

“Yes.”

“Would you have any idea how it’s possible for the victim to have died from an insulin overdose?”

“She was a diabetic. That’s a complicated disease. She may have taken too much insulin earlier that day, or forgot to eat, or diabetics can mistakenly eat the wrong foods.”

“Which one of those reasons would result in sudden death? Wouldn’t a patient receive some kind of warning? Or exhibit symptoms of some sort?”

“A rapid or instant death normally would be associated with an excessive insulin dose, without possible symptoms.”

“Were you aware the waitress was wearing a diabetic pump?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know it at the time of her death.”

“I presume your doctor friend told you that as well?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t you normally feel a device like that on someone’s body? You told us you were administering CPR to the victim to revive her.”

“Yes, I was, but patients can wear a device like this inside her bra, strapped to her belt at the waist, or attached to her leg. There are many ways she could have worn it.”

“Do you happen to know how Lois Stanton wore her device?”

“No sir.”

“Well, I think I could say it probably was not inside her bra.”

“I’d agree,” said Kathryn, becoming even more nervous and uncomfortable with all these questions.

“And that’s because you were administering CPR to her chest and you would have felt such a device.”

“Yes, that’s probably true.”

“Did you see the man in the trench coat shoot the young man?”

“Yes,” she said softly, closing her eyes and lowering her head.

“I’m sorry, Miss Becker, I know what a horrible and tragic sight that must have been, but I have one more question ma’am. You just said you saw the man in the trench coat, turn, come through the door, entering the restaurant, draw a gun, point it and shoot the boy who was sitting at the first booth facing you. But, you did not see the man’s face?”

“I told you Detective Peters, I did not see the man’s face nor recognize him!” Kathryn said, slightly raising her voice.

“Thank you for your time, Miss Becker,” said Detective Peters as he and O’Donnell stood up, and turned to walk out of her office. At the door O’Donnell turned around facing Kathryn.

“Miss Becker, I do have another question. By any chance, would you ever have to carry hypodermic needles with you in your purse?”

“No Detective. Absolutely not. Now would you gentlemen excuse me please? I have work to do!”

Kathryn sat frozen, momentarily rethinking what just had transpired.

That was odd and I didn’t like their tone of voice, either, damn it!

For the second time in a week she whispered out loud, “Why me!”

Fifteen minutes after the police left, Kathryn still felt nervous and annoyed at the police questioning her the way they did. She left her office, telling Barbara she had to take a walk and was going down stairs to the cafeteria for just a few minutes. As she crossed the lobby heading toward the elevator, Donald Gingrich passed by.

“Good morning Kathryn,” he said in his usual happy disposition, turning back and adding, “I wanted to ask you how your mom is doing? Feeling better, I hope.”

“She’s much better, thank you,” she instinctively answered, before pausing for a long minute. She had a perplexed look on her face.

What did Donald mean by that? And how the hell would he have known my mom was in the hospital? I certainly didn’t tell him!