Evil Intent (16 page)

Chapter 21

T
he music filled her apartment, as Kathryn began to unwind after another hard day in the office. The minute she arrived home, she turned on her CD player. Enya was one of her favorite easy listening albums - New Age, and what some people would call meditation music. It was often, when things were hectic in the office, that she’d come home and play Enya just so she could relax. She somehow found that music easy on the soul. Sometimes she would just pour herself a glass of wine and plop down in her grand chair and let the beauty of the music melt her stress away. But tonight was a different story. She had little time to sit and relax. She had to take a shower and get dressed quickly, since she was expected to be at Richard’s apartment by 7:00 o’clock for their Wednesday evening Bridge game. This week, the game was hosted by Richard.

“I made it,” Kathryn said, giving Richard a quick kiss as he greeted her at the door. “I’m not the last to arrive am I?”

“No. We’re waiting for Carl and Lauren. They called and are on their way. Come, say hello to everyone, while I fix you a drink. I assume you’d like a glass of your Chardonnay?”

“Yes, that’d be fine.”

“Look who’s here, everyone? I’m so happy Kathryn can join us tonight. Oh, and I received a call from Carl, they’re not lost.”

There were chuckles throughout the room.

“He and Lauren should be here momentarily.”

“We missed you last week, Kathryn,” Maggie said. “It’s so wonderful, you could come tonight.”

“Me too, Maggie. I had every intention of coming last week, but, well...I’m sure Richard clued you in about what had happened at my office. I was so mad at them.”

“We all heard about your tragic experience last Friday,” said Harriet. “That sounded horrendous! We’re so sad you had to go through all that. It must have been dreadful.”

“Does anyone need another drink?” Richard interjected trying to spare Kathryn from focusing on the nightmare that transpired. “And here’s your Chardonnay, honey.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Bob and Harriet both needed a drink, sending Richard back into the kitchen to fix something just as the doorbell rang.

“Ah, this must be them, now,” he said, turning toward the front door.

Kathryn too, turned to see who was there acting jittery and somewhat nervous over any uncertainty. Deep down inside, she had an uncanny feeling that the police could walk in at any time and arrest her. Richard, of course would say that’s ludicrous, but Kathryn’s trusting soul was badly shaken by the way the police kept questioning her. And her imagination was in overdrive.

“Hi Richard, sorry we’re late,” Carl said.

“Hello, darling, don’t you look gorgeous tonight,” said Lauren in her usual sensuous voice. “But then, you always look good. I just love this shirt. Richard. Is it silk?” Lauren reached out feeling his arm and giving Richard a kiss on his cheek at the same time. The other hand gently found its way to his waist. Of course, steam was probably about to exit Kathryn’s ears!

Why don’t you just excuse yourself from the living room and invite him to bed? My Lord, could she make her attraction to him any more obvious? This woman pays way too close attention to Richard for my taste, and you better remember bitch, he’s mine!

Kathryn suddenly gulped down her drink.

“Oh honey, could I please have another wine?” She said intentionally trying to pull him away from Lauren.

‘Coming honey. Excuse me Lauren, and what are you drinking?”

“Vodka, if you have it sweetie.”

Once they were all situated, the game progressed just fine. They were well into the play when Samantha, again, brought up the Friday murders.

“I didn’t quite understand something about Friday’s murders. Was it three murders or two?”

“Technically, only one. One of the victims died of a heart attack, but the prosecution may charge the alleged assailant with manslaughter brought about by an extreme emotional disturbance,” Kathryn answered. “A second victim died of an insulin overdose, which is still unclear how that happened. The only confirmed murder victim was shot.”

Kathryn immediately looked away to try and avoid further conversation with Samantha. Unfortunately, she was now looking directly at Lauren, who, naturally was trying to get Richard’s attention. It seemed that Lauren had managed to turn her chair to face Richard, and was sitting with her legs crossed in a very provocative manner. Richard was directly across from her at the second table.

You better be good Richard, or I’ll kill you. We both know she’s not wearing a bra tonight, and her blouse is...well...inappropriate with that plunging neckline. One wrong move, and she’s going to fall out of the damn thing and you better not be the one who rescues the damsel in distress!

“
So, they can charge the murderer for the death of the waitress too, and the other woman, even though their death could have been attributable to some medical condition?”

“What? Oh, I’m sorry Samantha. Actually, first they have to find him, before they can charge him, or her. They don’t know who the murderer is, and haven’t a clue.”

“That’s such a shame that poor woman had a heart attack,” Harriet said.

“Absolutely. The whole thing is quite a mess,” said Bob. And I understand they haven’t identified the boy, either.

Richard looked up at Kathryn and could see the changed look upon her face.

“It’s ok Kathryn,” he said, as Kathryn looked up acknowledging his comment.

Carl, who was sitting on Richard’s left, his back to Lauren, reached out and touched Kathryn’s hand and said. “Witnessing something like that is never easy.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Hey Maggie, can we all come to your place again? You and Harriet were wonderful. I can’t seem to even get a cracker out of this guy, let along some nice munchies. And trying to get another drink is like pulling teeth!” Carl shouted out.

“Oh my Goodness!” I forgot my deserts!” Richard cried out. “Samantha, can you help me? Everyone please take a break. You know where the bathrooms are and Bob, why don’t you freshen up everyone’s drinks?”

“Do you need help in the kitchen, Richard?” Asked Lauren.

“I think Sam and I have it under control. Why don’t you help Bob with the drinks?”

Nice move, honey. Keep it up and you’ll be rewarded!

Richard had ordered some small finger sandwiches, potato chips, two small fruit plates, and an assortment of fancy cookies.

Maggie and Harriet jumped up to get some plates, napkins, and fix the place settings. Carl and Kathryn were still sitting at their table having a deep discussion about the stock market. Soon, everything was once again under control, as everyone was enjoying the snacks. Everyone except Kathryn. She had somehow slipped into a somber, melancholy mood, quiet, and more reflective then normal. The rest of the gang picked up on it quickly, and immediately knew what brought it on.

“I feel so sorry for Kathryn,” said Maggie in the Kitchen talking to Samantha. “What can we do for the poor child, Sam? That experience had to be just awful.”

“Do you think it’s ok to talk about this with her? I mentioned something quickly to Bob and we’d like to offer her and Richard a little get away to our place in Florida.”

“That sounds like a lovely idea. Go ahead and say something. We all want to help her. I’m sure everyone would support the idea, too.”

About 20 minutes later, everyone was back at the card tables again, when Samantha, who was sitting at Kathryn’s table, said to Kathryn, “Bob and I have an apartment in Palm Beach and not planning on using it in the near future. We thought you and Richard could perhaps sneak away for a few days. It would do you both good to get a little sun and fun. How about it, guys? You are more than welcome.”

“That’s so nice of you, Sam, but I am so busy at work, I doubt I could get away, and Richard’s calendar is far worse than mine.”

“Well, please just think about it. Even if just a weekend, it would do you good. You’ve got to try and get away from thinking about those tragic events”.

“Thank you, but I don’t know.”

“How about, Kathryn and I talk, Sam? We’ll think about it, than get back to you and Bob,” Richard said staring at Kathryn and trying to read her facial expressions.

“That’s fair, Richard. We just want to help.”

“We know you do,” said Kathryn. “Richard and I will consider it, I promise.”

“It’s a good idea, Kathryn,” said Maggie. “You two need time together.”

“The crazy part of it is, at first, my feelings were only about the poor victims - their death, I mean. It was so sad and horrible. But, now I feel frightened, because there is something in my company that I just know is connected to all this. I just can’t figure it out.”

“Maybe you’re not supposed to figure it out, dear,” said Harriet. “Let the police do that.”

“The police are doing a very poor job so far.” Kathryn mumbled.

They chatted some more, but most everyone could see the frustration and stress in Kathryn’s face. Finally, they picked up the pace of the game, and stayed at it until they finished, a little earlier than normal. Once everyone called it a night, Sam and Bob and Lauren and Carl, said their goodnight, and left rather quickly.

“You look so tired honey, why don’t I just get a cab to take you home? You need to go straight to bed,” Richard said.

“Why don’t you take Kathryn downstairs now, Richard? You’re right, she needs to get home and sleep. Harriet and I will clean up for you,” Maggie said.

Richard did exactly that. On the street, he hailed a cab, told him to cut through the Park at 72nd and get her home quickly. It was already 10:47 PM. He gave Kathryn a kiss, gave the cabbie twenty bucks, the headed back up to his apartment.

“Thank you ladies, you’re wonderful,” Richard said when he returned to his apartment.

Maggie and Harriet said goodnight, and left Richard alone.

“Hey, Jennifer, where are you going? You’re not leaving are you?”

“No, of course not. I’ve got to pee. I’ll be right back,” she said, struggling to get on her feet.

Jennifer already had quite a bit to drink and was swaying once she stood up.

“Where the hell am I? I forgot where all the bathrooms are in this place?” She thought.

A handsome young man in a charcoal suit, white silk shirt, standing nearby answered the beautiful lady. “Just go down this hall. Second door on left is a bedroom. There’s one inside there.”

“Thanks, what’s your name? You’re cute.”

“Crow. My friends call me Crow.”

“Hi! I’m JE.”

Jennifer Ann Ellington, was rich, single, and drop dead gorgeous. She was a fashion model who worked for an exclusive modeling agency on Madison Avenue. Most New Yorkers may not necessarily recognize her name, but they would all recognize her as the girl depicted in billboards, magazines, or certainly, the popular half naked girl pulling her pants down on the side of every city bus, just so you would know what brand of underwear she wears. Yep, New York City’s famous underwear girl was none other than Jennifer Ann Ellington, or JE as the street knew her.

When she finished, she opened the bathroom door, only to be surprised to find a couple had taken up residency in the room, and we’re having sex on the bed.

“Hi.” JE said to the guy when he looked up.

“Hi gorgeous. Do you want to join us?”

“No thanks, not my thing.” She said, even though she had probably been with more threesomes, girl-girl, boy-boy, girl-boy-girl combinations than Carter has peanuts. Jennifer was definitely on the wild side, although tonight, she was rather tame, indulging only in hard liquor, and plenty of it.

She barely found her way back to her friends, no thanks to several guys hitting on her along the way or offering her a joint, coke, another drink or whatever else might capture her attention. Finally, she spotted her friends, together on a leopard-skin sofa.

She had been hanging out with a girlfriend who models with her - several other girls she knew in the industry were there as well - and two very cool, sexy guys who they met there that night. The girls had been invited to a party some multimillionaire held at his Manhattan Brownstone - a small, five story, $35 million dollar pad decorated to the hilt. Jay was a phenomenal photographer all the ladies in the business knew and liked. They also came to like the wild parties he typically hosted. Once in a wild, the parties had a tendency to get way out of hand, like the time early this summer when everyone ended up completely naked in Jay’s roof-top pool indulging in the wildest orgy imaginable.

“Have you been here before, Rick?” Jennifer’s girlfriend said to one of the sexy guys.

“No, can’t say that I have, but maybe you two ladies can show me around,” he said glancing over at Jennifer, leaning back into the sofa looking sexy as hell. She was wearing a gorgeous outfit that suddenly became quite revealing the way she was sitting. And, of course, she was wearing one of the lacy, skimpy, panties, in hot pink, she was so famous for.

“Would you ladies excuse me for a second? I just spotted a friend I need to chat with. I’ll catch up with you later,” said the second guy who actually looked like some long haired British rock star.