Fallen for You (19 page)

***

Roger went back to his place with a big grin smeared across his face. Kate not only believed him, she also was willing to help him. He couldn’t help but feel excited at the possibilities of what would happen next between them. He imagined her in his bed. God, how he wanted to run his hands all over her body. She had such big firm breasts he couldn’t wait to suck them. He couldn’t wait to ram his hard cock into her and feel her wet pussy. Yeah, she was about to be his. His fantasy of fucking her was going to come true.

It was too bad about Rose. When she said she was pregnant, she had put a major dent in his plans to be with Kate. He didn’t want a child tying him to Rose forever. He had already been down that road with Paulina. He could have demanded that she have an abortion, but she would have refused. She would have wanted them to get married. She wanted them to be a family.

Initially, he had thought that an abortion would be the simplest way out of this mess, but Rose wouldn’t have gone for it. He could have cried on Kate’s shoulder about what Rose had done. Kate would feel sorry for him and he would be able to make his move. He felt confident that once he started kissing her, she would just melt into his arms and he could have his way with her. Why did Rose have to be so damned difficult? Well, he didn’t want to waste any more time dwelling on that. It was over now. He didn’t have to worry about Rose getting in the way anymore. He would wait a reasonable amount of time and then he would let Kate know how much he liked her, how much he wanted her. But how long was reasonable? He had a hard-on now, just thinking about her. He wanted to have her in his bed now. If he tried to make his move too soon, she would most likely resist. How he hated to wait. He imagined Kate sucking his cock, and decided she was worth the wait. For now, he would just have to keep visiting her late at night and taking a peek at her beautiful body. Soon he would have this perfect woman in his bed.

***

Kate fished out the card that Officer Segura had given her earlier that. She dialed the number and he answered on the third ring. She told him what had transpired in her conversation with Roger. They both agreed that there could be a correlation between Rose’s death and Mark’s disappearance. He entered Roger’s name in the police database and learned that Roger was under investigation by Detective Jameson in another precinct. He told Kate to wait for a call from Detective Jameson. He was in charge of Rose’s case. He was also the lead investigator in Rick Holloway’s missing-person case. They ended the call and she sat there staring into the abyss for a few moments. She began reviewing the interaction she had just experienced with Roger. It seemed surreal that this was happening. She patted her leg to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming something crazy. After David had died, her dreams had been borderline bizarre.

Her phone lit up, delivering her from her thoughts.

“Hello,” she said, not recognizing the number on her screen.

“Hello. This is Detective Jameson calling for Kate Simmons.”

“Hi, detective, I’m Kate Simmons,” she said. “I’m so glad that you called so quickly. Did Officer Segura get a chance to fill you in?”

“Yes, he told me about your conversation this morning and about your interaction with Roger Wilkins this evening. I think it would be a good idea for you to come to the station so that I can get a full statement from you.”

“I’m more than happy to do that. When would you like me to come?”

“Can you be here in an hour?”

She looked at her watch. It was 7:30 right now. “That shouldn’t be a problem. What’s the address to the station?”

As soon as they hung up, she called Neil and filled him in. He was furious that she had been alone with Roger. “That’s it, Kate. You’re staying with me,” he snarled. “I’ll meet you at the station. Pack a bag for the next few days and we’ll go to your apartment when you think he is working and pack up the rest of your stuff.”

“Okay, Neil,” she said just as Charlie and Mitch walked through the door. “I’ve got to go. Charlie and Mitch are home and I need to fill them in and pack. I’ll see you at the station.”

“See you there,” he said and they hung up.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked with great concern. She could see that Kate had been crying. “Did something happen with Neil?”

“No, it has nothing to do with Neil. Rose has been murdered and Roger is a suspect, possibly the only suspect,” Kate exclaimed.

“Oh, my gosh! That poor woman! This is crazy. How did you find out about this?” Charlie asked, her eyes widening.

Kate told Charlie and Mitch all about Roger coming over earlier that evening. By the time she was done, she felt shaken and thoroughly spent. She was drained from the fear and emotional intensity.

“So where’s the money and the rest of his stuff right now?” Charlie asked. “I put it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. I didn’t know where else to hide it.”

“Clearly my dad was right. Remember he had some gut feeling for us to be careful around Roger?”

“Yes, I remember,” Kate said. “I thought about that a few times in the last hour.”

“I need to get going soon. Will you help me get some of my things together? I’m going to stay at Neil’s for a couple of days. I can’t handle running into Roger.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Mitch.

“Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?” Kate questioned.

“It might make Roger suspicious if you are not here all of a sudden. He might get paranoid and think that you are trying to avoid him. He may even think that you believe he is guilty. Right now, he thinks you’re on his side,” Mitch said. “Now’s not the time to rock the boat.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t want to make him suspicious of me. This is so overwhelming. I don’t know what to do. I told Neil that I would stay at his place. He’s already going ballistic that I was alone with Roger earlier.”

“Well, the good news is that he is going to Germany to visit his son. I think moving when he’s gone is the best plan of action,” Charlie chimed in.

“I’m concerned that he might track us down. He seems to know my schedule very well,” Kate said, shaking her head. “But you’re right, we can’t live here like this. We’re going to have to move and I’m going to have to transfer to another store so he can’t find me at work.”

“Do you know what else is a problem?” Mitch asked. “Roger knows where Charlie works from her rental application. He could just follow Charlie home from her office and find you.”

“That’s true. He really could do anything. Hopefully, the police find some evidence so that they can arrest him. I’m not sure we’re going to be safe if he’s not put away. All I can do is find out what they know and go from there.”

“Well, we’re going with you and I’ll explain to Neil that you should stay put until things settle a little bit,” Mitch said assertively.

“That would be great. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. You know we’ve got your back,” he said putting one arm around Kate and the other around Charlie.

***

On the drive to the station, Kate thought about how unaffected Roger seemed that Rose was dead. Her gut told her that he had killed Rose. She wanted to find out everything that she could about the case. All she had to go on was what Roger had told her.
Somehow she didn’t think that information was very reliable. Roger had likely left out vital information that she needed to know. Information she was becoming terrified to find out.

They pulled into the parking lot at the police station and parked in the first available spot. Neil was waiting outside the door. Even under all of this stress, she still noticed how handsome he was. She wanted him to take her in his arms and make everything go away. He had a knack for doing just that. He greeted her with a kiss on the lips and then shook Mitch’s hand and greeted Charlie.

“I’m glad that you two came with Kate,” he said, smiling at Mitch and Charlie.

“We thought that it was important that we all hear firsthand what the police have to say,” Charlie responded.

“Well, shall we go in?” Neil replied.

As they walked in the front door, they were welcomed by the front desk clerk. “How may I help you?” he asked.

“We’re here to see Detective Jameson. My name is Kate Simmons. He is expecting me,” she said. The officer called Detective Jameson on the phone.

“Kate Simmons and friends are here to see you. Yes, I’ll tell them,” he said and then hung up the phone. “He’ll be right out to meet you.”

“Thank you,” Kate said, taking Neil’s hand. She was beginning to shake from her nerves.

Detective Jameson appeared a moment later. Kate stepped forward when she saw him.

“You must be Miss Simmons. I am Detective Jameson.” He reached out to shake hands with Kate.

“It’s nice to meet you, detective. Please call me Kate. This is my roommate Charlie, her boyfriend Mitch, and my boyfriend Neil,” she said as she motioned toward her entourage.

“It’s nice to meet all of you. Sorry that it’s under such unfortunate circumstances,” Detective Jameson said. He had kind eyes and a bright smile. “Please follow me. We are going to the conference room at the end of the hall.”

They all followed the detective. As they entered the room, he said, “Please take a seat.”

“Is it okay with you all if I record our conversation? It is easier for me than taking notes while you talk,” he explained.

“Absolutely,” Kate said, feeling a little unsteady. She wasn’t eager to rehash the events that had taken place earlier that day.

“Why don’t we start with what happened this evening with Roger?”

“Okay,” Kate agreed. She told the detective about Roger coming over to tell her about Rose’s death, his leaving for Germany, and asking her to hold onto his possessions. She expressed her concern about being considered an accomplice since she was keeping items that he needed to leave the country.

“Nothing that he asked you to hold onto makes you an accomplice. He has not been arrested and is free to come and go as he pleases. We do not have any evidence linking him to Rose’s death. We’re hoping to find some, but so far we have nothing.”

Kate nodded. She felt relieved that she couldn’t be considered an accomplice after the fact.

“Please go ahead and tell me for the record what happened on the day that Mark Baxter followed you home.”

Kate told the detective everything that she could remember about that day.

“Did you see Roger leave his apartment after Mark left?”

“No, I didn’t, but I wasn’t looking either. I had an appointment to get ready for, so I have no idea what Roger was doing.”

Kate frowned and looked down at the floor. Detective Jameson leaned forward. “Has something come to mind?” he asked.

Kate looked at the detective. “Come to think of it, his car wasn’t there when I left for my appointment and he wasn’t home when I returned.”

Charlie chimed in. “Roger wasn’t home for the next couple of days. I didn’t see him again until Thursday night when I got home from work.”

“Did he happen to mention where he had been?”

“No, he just asked about Kate and her whereabouts. When I told him that she was staying with her mom for a couple of days, he ended our conversation by asking when she would be back. I told him Friday night after work.”

“Has he shown the same kind of interest in you that he does in Kate?”

“No, but he met my boyfriend Mitch,” she said motioning to him, “on the day that we moved in. He didn’t seem too happy to meet Mitch and he hasn’t given me the attention he has given Kate.

“What kind of attention?”

“Roger goes out of his way to invite Kate over to hang out and he greets her when she is leaving the apartment and coming home. She can’t come and go without seeing him and having a conversation with him.”

“Okay, it sounds like Roger may view you as a love interest. If that’s the case, he might want to get anyone that he considers a threat out of the way to have you to himself.”

“So you think that Kate is in danger?” Neil interjected.

“It’s a strong possibility. Have you had any romantic relations with Roger?” the detective asked.

All eyes were on Kate waiting for her answer. “Not at all. I have just behaved like a neighbor. I was friendly, but I have never kissed him or held his hand or anything of the sort. I did however hug him this evening as a way to console him when he told me about Rose. Other than that hug, I have not encouraged him in the least. I thought that he and Rose were in love and in a committed relationship.”

“By our estimations, Roger is a very dangerous man. What makes him particularly treacherous is that he comes across so normal. He has a job, follows societal norms, and looks like a nice guy. But I can assure you that it is a façade. He has devised a clever mask to cover up what he really is — a killer. We may not have sufficient evidence, but I have been doing this job for twenty years and I’m convinced that he is guilty. So you need to take whatever precautions necessary to be safe. Since he has keys to your apartment, you should barricade the door with a chair underneath it at night.”

“See, honey. That’s why you need to stay with me right now!” Neil exclaimed.

“Well, Mitch brought up a good point after we spoke. He thinks that if I am suddenly gone it might make Roger suspicious that I think he is guilty. I don’t want to cause Roger to be alarmed. He’s going to Germany soon, so we are going to move then.”

Neil’s furrowed brow gave away his frustration. “Detective, what do you think about the idea of Kate staying with me right now to get away from Roger?” he asked.

“If Roger is really obsessed with Kate, then it might be a mistake to make any sudden changes at the moment. He has most likely killed two people who were very close to him. We don’t know why. So far, we don’t know what his motive is. Kate needs to be extremely careful. I do like the idea of you two young ladies moving when he goes to Germany. You need to do whatever it takes to not be found by him.”

“So what are the police doing to get Roger off the streets?” Neil inquired.

“Until we come across some evidence, there is nothing we can do. Just like we didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him for the murder of Rick Holloway,” the detective stated. Kate recognized Rick’s name when she heard it. Roger had talked to her about Rick.

“Roger told me that he was missing and he thought that Rick had taken off. What happened to Rick?” she asked hesitantly.

“Roger was having an affair with Rick’s wife Darcy. Rick knew that she was cheating, but he didn’t know it was with Roger. We have no idea if Rick found out it was Roger or not. The last time Rick was seen alive was at Roger’s apartment. Unfortunately, we have never found Rick’s body, so we can’t prove even that he is dead, let alone that Roger killed him.”

Kate sank into the chair. There were three potential murders. Could there be more? Was Roger actually capable of killing people he was close to and making them disappear? Her head hurt from all of the events of this day. She didn’t want to believe that this was happening or that she was in danger.

“What should I do now, detective? Should I keep the money and ticket or give the items back? I don’t want to be in the middle of this,” she said softly.

“That’s completely up to you. If you want to hold onto his stuff then do so. If you want to give it back to him then give it back. Quite frankly, it isn’t safe for you to keep $2,000 in cash in your apartment,” he said.

Detective Jameson handed out his business card to the whole clan. “If you think of anything else or need my help in any way, please give me a call,” he said.

“Thank you. If anything comes up, I will be in touch.”

They all got up simultaneously to leave and shook hands with Detective Jameson as they walked out.

Once they were outside, Mitch asked, “Do you guys want to go get a drink?”

“Sure, that sounds good. I think we could all use a drink after today’s events,” Neil said.