Sacrifice (33 page)

Unable to stomach the men’s conversation, I turned away. My eyes wandered about the expansive apartment until I found the door to Greg’s private storage area.

“
What about David’s paintings?” I asked, waving my hand back toward the storage room door. “Caston kept them in there. What happens when the police find them?”

Dallas stared at the storage room door. “Better not risk leaving anything behind that could cause problems down the road for any of us.” He looked about the apartment. “Any idea where he keeps the key?” he asked.

I nodded. “On a key chain in his pocket. It’s a funny looking square key. A gold one.”

“
Then I’ll get the paintings and take them with me,” Dallas explained.

“
Why don’t you give the paintings to me?” Uncle Lance suggested. “I know a certain Italian gentleman who is a big fan of David’s work. I could present them to him as a sort of thank you for all of his help.”

Dallas shrugged as he looked at David. “You all right with that?”

David nodded. “Seems the least we could do for Uncle B.”

Uncle Lance reached into his pocket, pulled out his keys, and tossed them to David. “Take my Jag and get Nicci out of here. We’ll clean up everything here.”

“
Stay at the dead girl’s place tonight,” Dallas instructed. “I suggest you make it look like the girl suddenly decided to leave town. Just in case anyone comes looking for her.”

David nodded. “I know what to do.”

“
In the morning you two can head out to your house,” Dallas advised.

I turned to David “What house?”

He grinned at me. “A place I purchased a few months back, or should I say Dan Goldvarg purchased, outside of the city.”

“
Keep the car,” Uncle Lance offered. “I’ll get another one and I’ll send you out some new plates in your new name.”

I looked up at my uncle. “Uncle Lance….”

My uncle pulled me into his arms and hugged me. “I’ll take care of everything, Nicci. I promise I’ll talk to Billy. He’ll understand. Just do what David tells you and everything will be all right,” he whispered into my hair.

I stepped back from my uncle’s embrace and became distracted by the artic eyes of Dallas August standing beside him.

“
Will I ever see you again?” I asked him.

Dallas gave me a warm smile. “One day. You take care of him,” he said, nodding to David.

I leaned over and kissed Dallas gently on the cheek. “Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done for me.”

His scowl quickly returned. “Time to go,” he ordered.

David wrapped his bloodstained arm about my shoulders and guided me toward the “emergency exit” door. I glanced back once more to my uncle and Dallas. A swell of emotion began to fill my heart. I was not ready for this. I wanted to be me and not have to walk away from everything I had known to become some stranger with bad diction. And then I caught sight of the two dead people on the floor. I immediately regretted my paltry concerns. I was alive. The meaningful familiarities of my life paled in comparison to the reality of their demise.

As we slowly made our way down the stairs, the realization of what had just happened hit me like a swift kick in the gut. My slight shaking turned into an uncontrollable trembling and my respirations came in accelerated gasps. I felt David’s arm tighten around me as we emerged from the building.

“
I know how you feel Nicci,” he whispered in my ear. “It’s not every day you get to die.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Jenny Ryan lived in a yellow shotgun cottage on the end of Magazine Street near the outskirts of the Garden District. The slender house with its opaque glass front door and old-fashioned beveled glass windows was not what I expected. The raised structure seemed too plain a residence for the flashy Jenny Ryan I remembered.

David and I sat outside in my uncle’s red Jaguar as we watched the darkened house for any sign of activity.

“
Any roommates you think?” I asked.

“
Only one way to find out,” David admitted and opened his car door.

We walked slowly up the small path that led to the porch steps. I pulled her keys out of her big black purse and looked nervously at the neighboring houses.

David put his arm about my waist as we stood before the front door. “Take your time. If anyone is watching, they will think I’m a date,” he whispered to me.

I nodded and began trying the keys one by one in the lock. The third key opened the dead bolt on the other side of the door. I gently pushed the door open and we eased our way into the house. I could feel my heart clamoring inside of my chest. I jumped when David turned on a lamp just inside of the entrance. He shut the front door behind me and locked it.

He reached for my hand. “Let’s take a look around,” he instructed.

We went room by room, which did not take long since the house only had a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and a bathroom. I noticed during our search that the place was sparsely furnished and there were no pictures or artwork decorating any of the walls.

“
She didn’t have much,” I commented as I took in the bedroom.

The small room contained only a twin bed, a round nightstand with a brass lamp on it, and a plain oak dresser. I walked over to the closet and opened it. Inside I found only a few cocktail dresses, a couple of pairs of slacks, and some blouses. She had only five pairs of shoes, and one small suitcase, neatly arranged on the closet floor.

“
Seems Greg didn’t help her financially,” I remarked as I turned from the closet door.

“
Greg was a cheap prick,” David grumbled and sat down on the bed. “Barely enough room on this thing for both of us.” He removed the gun from the waistband of his pants and placed it on the nightstand.

I rested my eyes on the bloodstained sleeve of his white shirt and David noted my concern. He began undoing the buttons on his shirt. “Perhaps you should soak this tonight to help get some of the blood out. I’ll need to wear it tomorrow when we leave here.”

As he put the shirt down on the bed beside him, I eyed the taped bandage around his left shoulder, the bruise on the left side of his chest, and the purple discoloration under his right eye.

“
Am I really worth all this?” I asked in a quivering voice.

He got up from the bed and came over to me. He gingerly put his arms around me. “You are worth every scratch, every scar, every bruised rib, and every tooth implant.” He tenderly kissed my lips, and just as he was about to pull away, I placed my hands about his face.

“
Don’t stop,” I begged. “I need to feel like I’m still your Nicci, at least for one more night.”

He stared into my eyes and smiled. “From now on you will truly be my Jenny.”

He kissed me again and I felt an overwhelming surge of urgency grab hold of me. I wrapped my arms about his neck and molded my body to his. I felt his body recoil slightly as I pressed too hard against his left shoulder.

I immediately broke free of his embrace. “I’m sorry,” I said breathlessly. “You’re still sore. I shouldn’t have—”

His mouth quickly closed once again over mine. He eagerly started tugging at the buttons on the front of my long-sleeved shirt.

My mind screamed with rationalizations against what we were about to do. We needed to stay alert and not become distracted. But I didn’t listen to my practical thoughts. I was being driven by pure desire. I needed to have David’s body next to me. I wanted to feel something normal and familiar in this surreal setting.

“
I want you inside of me,” I whispered into his ear as he dropped my shirt to the floor.

I unzipped his khaki pants and pushed the material down over his firm backside until his trousers fell to the floor. He helped me slip out of my jeans and kicked his pants away. I ran my hands down his naked back and kneaded my fingers into his round buttocks. He undid my bra and ran his hands up and down my chest. He gently lifted me from the floor and eased me onto the bed. David’s eyes hungrily devoured my naked body as he climbed gently on top of me.

He took my left breast in his hand and clasped his mouth around my nipple. I closed my eyes and raised my body to his, teasingly grinding my hips against his erection. David moaned against my flesh and drove his teeth into the tender skin at the nape of my neck. He ran his hand down the length of my belly until his fingers came to rest between my legs. As he mercilessly began stroking me, I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“
Yes, now, David,” I begged.

But David lowered my legs from about his waist. “Not yet, my love. I plan on taking my time with you.”

He started working his way down my body with his lips. Kissing my neck, shoulders, breasts, and stomach as he spread my legs wide apart and kneeled between them. He kissed my right knee and then his lips slowly made their way down my inner thigh. I groaned softly as I felt his mouth closed over the sensitive folds of flesh between my legs.

As he brought me closer to climax, my body bucked with each tingling wave of pleasure. Then like an unstoppable force, the orgasm ripped through me. I screamed out his name and grabbed at the sheets around me. But almost as soon as my body began to relax, he increased his stimulation and quickly sped me toward a second and then a third orgasm.

When he finally stopped, I was covered in sweat and my body was throbbing with satisfaction. I lay spent on the sheets below him as he placed his lips to my ear.

“
My turn,” he murmured against my skin.

He turned me over onto my stomach and pulled my hips up to meet his. He kneeled behind me and ran his hand between my legs. He spread my legs apart and forced his fingers deep inside of me.

I raised my head and gave a guttural cry as he teased my body once more into a renewed wave of desire. But before I could climax he stopped, and without warning, drove himself deep inside of me. I gasped with pleasure and surprise. He pulled out of me and entered me again and again.

“
Harder,” I called out into the darkness as I slammed my hips into his.

David moaned as he responded to my demands by increasing the depth of each and every thrust.

My body arched against his as the tension mounted inside of me. And just when I was about to beg him to stop, my body let go in one unforgiving jolt.

I screamed with such abandon that it felt as if I had completely lost control. Then David’s arms tightened around me.

“
Nicci,” he cried out as his body shuddered.

A few moments later, we were lying on the bed, blissfully satiated, when David reached over and raised my face to his.

“
My God, woman, what have you done to me?”

I laughed into the recesses of his neck. “I guess I should apologize for attacking you like that.”

He pulled me to him. “You’ve changed. You’ve never been that…how can I put this diplomatically… assertive with me before.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t changed. I just needed to feel you and to be with you. I can’t explain it.”

“
I like you this way,” he whispered. “I like the new Nicci.”

“
Same old Nicci, David. I’m just not holding back anymore. From now on I’m going to live every day, every second, to the fullest. For the first time in my life, I’m going to start living, really living…with you.”

I rolled over and climbed on top of him. I hungrily sank my teeth into his neck. I lowered my hips onto his and slowly began teasing him by gently rubbing myself over his growing erection.

“
Now what do you say we do that again,” I whispered into his chest.

David wrapped his right arm about my waist and flipped me onto my back. He kneeled between my legs and held my hands above my head. He let his lips tease my right nipple and then my left.

“
Yes, let’s definitely do that again,” he whispered against my chest. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Chapter
Twenty-Three

The next morning David stood by my side and listened as I called The Carol Robinson Art Gallery on Jenny Ryan’s cell phone.

“
Hey there, it’s Jenny,” I said, trying to imitate Jenny Ryan’s New Jersey accent.

“
Jenny?” a woman’s voice said on the other end of the line. “It’s Leslie. You sound terrible. Do you have a cold?”

“
Yeah, I do, Leslie, but that ain’t why I’m callin’,” I replied inwardly cringing at the sound of my own voice. “I, ah, I’m quittin’. I’m gonna head back home for a while. I’ve had enough of N’awlins.”

David was trying the best he could to stifle his laughter as I rolled my eyes at him.

“
I don’t understand. You seemed so happy here.” Leslie sounded genuinely concerned. “Why just last week you were telling me and Helen how much you loved it here in New Orleans.”

“
Yeah, well, things change, ya know?”

There was an uneasy moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “But you told me you never wanted to go back to New Jersey,” Leslie eventually stated.

I felt a sudden rush to get off of the line before the conversation got too uncomfortable. “Look, Leslie, I gotta go. I’ll send you a line from Jersey and let you know where I end up. See ya.”