Loves Redemption (7 page)

“Give me the time, and I’ll put it on my schedule.”

He secured a promise from her that she’d drive home carefully and hung up. The smile

on his face still there as he gathered his things to go home.

“Listen, Maya, I expect this damn house to be clean when I get back, no fuckin’ around

this time. And get Ally to bed, and
your
ass better be in bed too when I get back--you hear?”

Melissa would demand, as she slathered more mascara on lashes already thick and coated.

As she sprayed more hairspray and attempted to fluff her thin blonde hair, Maya would

feel her glare. She’d call her a mutt. Maya particularly hated that name. She wasn’t a mutt.

During that time Maya had grown increasingly afraid of Melissa’s lover Danny. She’d

caught him staring at her when she began developing. His stares made her nervous, and she’d then started hunching her shoulders and wearing oversized sweaters to try and hide her

developing body away from his creepy stares.

Danny had just gotten out of jail for having sex with an underage child. He’d told Melissa

he thought the girl was nineteen. Maya wondered at the time if Melissa had believed him. She’d been little more than a child herself, and she’d known he was lying. But Melissa was blind when it came to Danny.

“Damn,” Maya said out loud in her empty office. “Will the memories ever get easier?”

She asked on a weary sigh to no one in particular.

“Yes sir. I’ll get right on it. As soon as I have updates, I’ll let you know.” Jaime gently replaced the phone on the receiver and settled deeper into the soft leather chair, staring out the bay window.

Spring was the best time in San Antonio, with the soft fall of rain. It was a time of

renewal. Jaime looked out the window with a small, pleasant smile and thought back to a rainy day years ago. Just like today, it too was a day of discovery.

“Jaime, Jaime where are you? I’ve been calling you for the last two hours…” Jaime could

hear Aunt Meg’s voice halt outside the door, and then heard muffled cries.

She had to know what was going on behind the closed bedroom door. She had to know

what had been going on for the last few weeks. Meg
knew
what Rick was doing on that cold rainy day. She had been the one to encourage Rick. She’d been the one to suggest it was time for Jaime to join the “family business.” The bitch. She deserved what she got. If her man no longer wanted her, it was her own damn fault. She should have never let her lover rape her own sister’s child in the first place. Jaime turned away from the window and stared gloomily into empty

space. The carefree happiness of moments ago falling away, leaving a cold determination in its place.

* * * *

“Mark, we got a call from the uniforms. Looks like it might be the slayer,” Jordan yelled

out, and they donned their jackets, hiding from view the holsters that housed their weapons and left the squad room at a half jog.

“Looks like our girl may have hit again,” Lieutenant Hernandez shouted out, coming out

of his office.

“We’re on our way, sir,” Jordan called back as they were nearly out of the door.

Favoring the stairs over the slow climbing elevator, they took them two at a time in their

rush to reach the underground parking lot. Tossing the keys his way, Jordan yelled across the roof, “You’re up, partner.” They’d started early on with both of them taking turns driving, and the tradition had continued throughout their partnership.

Driving through the streets at a fast pace, they soon reached the interstate and drove to

the coordinates they’d been given.

“What do we have here, Davis? Is it our girl?” Mark questioned the crime technician

who, with gloved hands, was placing evidence into a plastic bag, as he and Jordan approached the taped off scene. This was the same tech that’d worked the two last murders, and Mark knew he was familiar with the MO of the slayer.

“Yeah, it looks like the same. Down the road a bit we found an abandoned black

Mercedes SLK 350 with an empty wallet on the passenger seat--no identification left inside of course to tell us who are victim is. The uniforms ran the plate and the car is registered to Guy Kross. We also have found shell casings from a .22 and evidence that the victim had been

sodomized.” He listed the familiar MO of the killer.

“Any witnesses?”

“Jogger over there discovered the body,” Davis motioned to a female standing near the

trees, hunched low, and petting an oversized Doberman pinscher. “She was taking her dog out for a run and let him off his leash. Dog went ape-shit and took off up the incline. She went after him just in time to see him pull out an arm.”

“Oh hell. Not the kind of bone you want your dog digging up,” Mark murmured.

“No kiddin’. She had her cell phone in her fanny pack and called 911,” Davis finished.

“I’ll go question her,” Jordan volunteered.

“Fine. I’ll check out our victim.”

As Jordan walked over to the jogger to get her statement, Mark made his way over to the

murder victim. As he came closer to the body, flashlight in hand, he shone its bright light on the ground to help light his path. The light allowed him to see small chunks of what appeared to be gelatinous matter on the ground. As he worked his way closer to the victim, he confirmed in his own mind the presence of brain tissue.

He and Jordan continued to work the scene until every piece of evidence had been

collected and questions were answered. Finishing their task, they made their way down the

incline toward their vehicle. As they drove back to the precinct, both men were exhausted, but knew their night wasn’t quite over. They would have to file their report when they returned.

Soon after they arrived back at the precinct, they were called into the lieutenant’s office.

Not bothering to knock they walked into the office and waited until he hung up the telephone, running his hands thorough already disheveled hair.

“Yes sir, we’ll be right on it. Yes of course. All my men are highly trained professionals.

I have Detectives Halstan and Phillips on the case, and we’ve added the help of Dr. Maya

Richardson to aid us in profiling this case, Chief Hardcastle. Yes she is, sir--fully qualified. We believe that she can bring insight into this case that we are not privy to. Yes sir, right away.

We’ll be bringing her into the station, today?” Looking to Mark he raised an eyebrow, and with his nod continued.

“Yes, we’ll bring her in today. Yes I know that this isn’t the type of media attention that we want or need. Okay yes of course we’ll keep you updated on everything.” Hanging up the

phone he began to rub at his temples.

“What was the scene like?”

“From what we saw, it looked like it was the slayer
,
Lieutenant. There’s a good chance that the victim may be Guy Kross, the owner of Kriss Kross apparel,” Jordan answered, naming the owner of a franchise of adult novelty clothing and accessories.

“Just what this case needs is another famous, or if this is Kross, infamous name attached

to it.” Raking a frustrated hand though his hair, he turned toward Mark.

“What about Dr. Richardson, when is she coming in?”

“She’s coming in tomorrow.” Catching himself, he remembered his earlier conversation

with her. “No scratch that, she won’t be able to come in until Friday. But in light of this new murder, maybe she can work it out so that she can.” Mark felt guilty knowing the tight schedule Maya tended to keep.

“That would be better. I’ve got the chief on my back enough already. Look, it’s late. You

guys go on home; you’ve been at it all day. We can pick this up in the morning.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant, we’ll file the report and head out.” Mark answered as he and Jordan

left the office. He was more than ready to go home, as he continued to review the complex case in his mind.

It had been one heck of a day. Finally, left all alone in the empty room, Jaime happily

spun around and around in the leather high-backed chair until dizziness called a halt to fun time.

Oh brother. It was just as well. With the end of the day came other responsibilities. Other duties called.

Jaime giggled lightly, remembering the latest that justice had been served to. That cross-

dressing mother fucker’s days were over. With another trickling giggle, Jaime remembered with glee how it felt to be the one to stick it to Kross. The fucker had squealed like a stuffed pig when his ass had been rammed with that stick. It was fine to be the poker, but they rarely liked to be the one poked.

With a happy sigh, Jaime reached down and retrieved the small leather briefcase beneath

the desk before walking toward the exit. With one final look around to make sure everything was in order, Jaime turned the light off, and with a jaunty step, left the office, nodding to the late night personnel on the way out the door.

“Hello, Maya?” Mark asked in surprise, expecting to receive her voice mail, “You’re still

at work?” he asked with real concern.

“Hi Mark.” Her voice sounded tired and strained.

“No, I have my personal line at work transferred to my home at night, in case of an

emergency.”

Mark had been inundated with beloved ‘tips’ over the course of the last few days, and not

one had proved beneficial. It was Thursday, and he and Maya had talked on the phone long into the early hours of the morning. They’d talked about their childhoods, the good and the bad. Both were surprised with some of their similarities.

“Sweetheart, you sound tired. I’m sorry to have to call you so late.” He caught himself as

he uttered the endearment, surprised at how it seemed to trip so easily from his tongue.

Forging on, he cleared his voice and continued, “I know you said you couldn’t make it in

tomorrow, but we’ve found another victim tonight. Lieutenant Hernandez wants to know if

there’s any way you would be able to come into the station tomorrow. We’d work around your

schedule Maya.”

“Another victim? Were you able to identify who it was?”

“We think we have an idea, but won’t know for sure until we get the coroner’s report.”

“Sure I can come in, but it will have to be early if that’s okay. I dropped my car off to be serviced, so Dalia will have to bring me in.”

“I could pick you up and take you back to Imani House after we finish up. Then you

wouldn’t have to find a place to park. And I can take you back to Imani House afterward.”

“Well if you’re sure, Mark, that would be fine with me.” Her relief came through in her

voice.

He could also hear her exhaustion. “I’d better let you go. I’ll see you soon, Maya.”

“Goodnight, Mark.”

After hanging up the phone, he shed his clothes and took a long hot shower, allowing the

heat to loosen his aching muscles.

When he climbed into bed, he thankfully sank into the king-sized mattress. His thoughts

alternated between the investigation and the way calling Maya
sweetheart
had seemed so natural, until he fell into a hard slumber.

* * * *

After Maya hung up the phone, she undressed. She tossed her well-worn familiar jeans

into the corner chair of her bedroom and walked across to the smaller bathroom in the room to take a quick shower. After completing a shortened version of her nightly ritual, she walked back into her bedroom and went to bed, sinking her tired body into its welcoming comfort.

Before succumbing to sleep, her thoughts were usually of Imani House and her schedule

for the upcoming day’s events. Tonight her thoughts were on Mark, and the way her heart

skipped a beat whenever they spoke.

* * * *

Mark arrived at her doorstep bright and early at 6:30 a.m. with two Styrofoam cups in his

hand. He was dressed in faded jeans and a dark blue chambray shirt. Her smile of welcome

poured over him like warm honey.

“Good morning, Maya, you look great. Are you ready?”

“Yes I am. Is that coffee for me?” She asked with a hopeful, appealing smile.

“I thought you might like it. I wasn’t sure how you took it, I have cream and sugar in my

SUV.” He automatically took her oversized bag and slung it across his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said in response to both the coffee and his taking her briefcase. “I take

both cream and sugar.”

As they walked to his SUV, Mark shortened his stride to match her much smaller gait.

“You like it sweet, huh?”

“That’s the only way that I can drink it. Let me rephrase that. I prefer to drink it that way, but if desperate, I
will
drink it straight,” she laughed.

She waited for him to open her side of the door and took an appreciative sniff of the

heady aroma wafting from the cup.

“Ready?” he asked after climbing behind the wheel of his vehicle and starting the engine.

She glanced up after taking another sip and slowly bobbed her head up and down. “Sure

go ahead, I’m fine.”

“I know you have a really tight schedule, and I want you to know we appreciate your

coming in today. It shouldn’t take too long. We need to fill you in on where the investigation is so far, ask you a few preliminary questions and of course answer any questions you may have. I believe you’ll be able to help us in this investigation.” He said as he drove along the highway toward the precinct.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but I’ll do my best. And I do have some questions,

but I’ll wait until we arrive at the station before I ask. That way we won’t have to repeat anything.”

“That’s fine. Any questions you have, I’m sure we’ll be able to answer them. My partner

may be arriving later, so I’m not sure if he’ll make our meeting, but we’ll be with the lieutenant, and we should be able to cover everything.”

The remaining drive was held in companionable silence, as they finished their coffee.