The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (110 page)

He steered her closer to one of the motion detectors. “As soon as the system is armed which you can do from the remote control on any of your televisions, or from the wall unit near the door, the system will be activated. Once the system is armed, the motion detectors sensing movement will send a signal to the security company and they will get immediate video feed and begin to monitor the situation and send help if it is needed.”

“Very good,” she commented, and turned to glance at the other three corners of the large open space.

“Also, if you are sleeping, it is a good idea to arm the system. An alarm will sound and it will begin recording and again, it will send those images directly to the security company. If you get up in the night you can disarm it easily and then rearm it from your remote.”

He felt her stiffen at his side. “Can I access the video feed?” she asked. He looked down on her, sensing her fear.

He reached for her arm, just caressing it lightly to let her know she was not alone. “Yes, you will receive a code, and if you have a smart television you will be able to access it from there, your laptop, phone, or tablet.”

Her smile wavered as she glanced around her apartment once more. She let out a slow breath, pushing it from her lungs. “That’s wonderful. I admit, since the note was left on my door, I did not think I would feel safe here, but this seems like a good system.”

Andreas cocked his head to the side. He felt a trickle of fear himself. He did not like the idea of her being alone. He could hire some men to protect her as well. He was about to suggest it, when she began speaking. She must have misinterpreted his silence.

She started. “Well, I meant if I was out I could get alerted as well that someone was here and not put myself in danger. I don’t expect to be babysat twenty-four hours a day.” Her spine stiffened.

Her ire had come up, and he did not want to ruin the progress they had made, so instead he decided to show her the rest of the security features. “I understand. Let me show you the other cameras and their locations.”

Catarina followed him through her apartment. She was nervous though, she had to admit to herself, as she looked where he pointed. Even with the high tech equipment. The cameras were disguised amongst her things. One attached to a wall sconce, one on an adornment added to a curtain rod provided panoramic images of the living room. One on top of her steel refrigerator scanned the kitchen. Then he indicated two more at each end of the hallway leading to her bedrooms. There was a camera in each of her guest rooms and one in her bedroom. “You will be able to disable the one in your master bedroom if you wish.” He coughed and looked away when her eyes searched his face. He felt uncomfortable suddenly in her very simple, pristinely white yet feminine bedroom. It suited her. There were not a lot of decorations or adornments throughout the entire apartment. No pictures. He knew why, but would not comment on it.

She interrupted his thoughts by throwing her purse onto the white duvet that covered her large bed. “Not to worry, I do not have guests here.”

That startled Andreas. She made it sound like she never had anyone over. He looked at her as she began to open drawers and select items from them. He couldn’t help but notice the white satin she was holding. He looked away. He presumed it was some kind of nightwear, but did not want to imagine any more. He was already trying to get the image of her with other men, many men, out of his mind. He didn’t want the image to be further detailed by imagining her in silk, satin and lace.
Fuck! Too late
. He was imagining that now too. But instead of other men, she was walking towards him wearing those things. He felt himself stirring.

Clearing his throat and dragging his eyes away from her hands gently pulling garments out of her drawers, he spoke. “I’ll give you some space,” he spoke the words gruffly, more so than he intended. “I’ll call the security company to see if the permits came in so they can put the electronics and wiring in for the system to go live.”

Smiling, Cat only nodded and resumed selecting a few changes of clothes.

Escaping her room, Andreas let out a shaky breath. He was dumbfounded at his reaction to this woman. He was a virile man, and enjoyed the opposite sex, and having it with them, but he never mixed business with pleasure. When he was in the mood, he sought out his entertainments. He wondered why she was different. He presumed it was because of the connection to his parents’ murders and Romeo. His guilt had eaten away at him for years. He didn’t want any more blood spilled because he hadn’t been able to catch this psychopath. Shaking his head now that his libido was once more under control, he pulled out his phone and called the security company.

He found out the permits would be in the next day, just as her cry tore him back into her bedroom. Cat was backing out of the bathroom, and she was shaking, her body heaving, and when she turned she launched herself into his arms. Andreas wrapped his arms around her, but peered over her head into the room she had come out of. He could see the red lettering scrawled across the wall? It read, “Where are you, beautiful? You won’t escape me again.” He pushed her aside even though she was still trembling. He wanted a closer look. The handwriting was familiar, very familiar.

Backing out of the bathroom he gathered her back into his arms. Her back was to him, her shoulders bent in exhaustion, and fear. She was still trembling and he felt the tension in her body. Andreas, seeing those words, made a decision. Security or no security, until Romeo was caught, she was staying with him. He soothed her as best he could. She had turned in his arms, and pressed herself up tightly against him. Grabbing at his shirt and shaking her head, she was like a child trying to push back a nightmare.

“Hush, It’s gonna be okay. I will get him. I promise. Come on. Let’s get out of here. We will call the police down stairs and I’ll take you home. You are going to stay with me until we find him. I can’t risk you coming back here.”

Blood boiling because of his anger, and the feel of her in his arms, he had to admit he knew one thing that was certain; Sal Mazzelli wasn’t going to touch her, not with one fucking finger.

Rage

R
age, like nothing
he had ever experienced tore through his soul. Sal choked back the sobs that threatened to reveal him and his hiding location. He panicked when she had not come home by ten last night. Since her neighbors had returned and his urges had overtaken him once more, he was desperate to see her. Last night, he had come to the parking garage in the hopes of seeing her. He had come two other times on his nights off. Both times her car was already parked and he had not gotten the glimpse he desired. But last night he had been hopeful. He had hidden behind two parked cars near where he knew she parked her small silver Mustang.

From the layer of dust on the cars he was squatting behind, and the coverings on the wheels to protect them from the Florida weather, he knew they belonged to snowbirds. But she had not come; her car was not in its place and he had waited all night. He knew from watching her for months what she did for a living, sometimes even risked following her during the day to her destinations, but she always came home. Only on occasion had she been out late. He had panicked then too. But she had come home to sleep alone and that pleased him. She wasn’t the slut she had once been. And back then she had been forced.

But when she did not return at all last night, his imagination went wild with irritation and then fury. He was desperate to see her, to know where she was, with whom she was spending her time. He imagined all kinds of things. The worst things she could do to betray him. Like spreading those milky thighs for one of her Johns. Yes, he knew what she did for a living. He had overheard her having a phone conversation once.

He went home when the sun was coming up and he was unable to sleep. He even called in sick from work for the next night, something he had never done before. He needed to keep his vigil, find his beauty. He had an old jacket from one of his past jobs, and he rolled it up and tucked it under his arm. The faded blue jacket simply read repairman. It would have to do. He would put it on once he got past the front door and the lobby.

He combed his course hair back, now a faded brown in color from age and a box of cheap dye. Using gel and water gave it a slick appearance, he went without his usual ball cap. His plan was to simply walk into the building telling the doorman he had forgotten his wallet inside his janitorial closet and show his ID.

And it worked. Beautifully.

The man allowed him to pass no questions asked. He went directly to the floor he worked on in case someone saw what floor he stopped on. He got out, and then took the stairs to Cat’s floor up two flights. He saw right away workmen coming and going out of her apartment, and quickly turned around and went back to the stairwell. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought about what to do next. It looked like those men were leaving. When he glanced through the small window in the door to gaze down the corridor, he knew his assumption was correct. They were packing up.

“We’ll have to come back tomorrow and finish the wiring and alarm the system after we get the permits.” One of the men huffed as he carried a large silver case and placed it outside the apartment door. Noticing his friend already in the elevator, he picked it up once more, calling, “Ralph. Hold the elevator.”

The man inside the open elevator swung his beefy hand out and held the doors that were beginning to slide shut twisting himself around the large rolling cart that was loaded down with equipment. The man with the heavy silver case pulled Cat’s door shut, but in his haste he rushed and did not wait for the door to close all the way.

Sal prayed. He pulled back and took several steadying breaths. Stay calm he repeated, still not knowing what he would do next. Catarina was getting a security system. That much was obvious. It bothered him.
Did she know he had been watching her, or was it just the murders of her girls that prompted this?
And the note he had taped to her door?
He did not know.
How was he going to get close to her now?
He chanced another look and the elevator was gone. The light above indicated it was going down.

He took the opportunity to walk by her apartment still not knowing what to do. He could leave her another note perhaps. As he passed thinking about what he should say, once more his heart leapt into his throat. Her door was ajar. He touched the handle, and it felt warm. His blood turned to fire. He pushed and it opened silently. He heard the elevator ping announcing an arrival and made his decision rashly. He went inside and quickly and quietly closed the door behind him glancing around her living room. All was quiet. He was in! Her fucking sanctuary. His cock began to stiffen in his pants. He closed his eyes and imagined her here greeting him in nothing but a thong, perky breasts and tight nipples as she opened her arms to him. His cock was harder than stone, the fantasy so real.

But he couldn’t enjoy it for long. Someone might return, and he wanted to explore. Sighing, he opened up his eyes. He recognized the floor plan. He went directly to her bedroom, knowing he could touch her things. It was a good thing too. He was half way down the hallway when he heard a man’s voice by the door, “I had to check. I wasn’t sure I locked it.”

“Good thing you did,” came another voice. “Andreas would have had our asses, let alone the boss.” Then the voices began to fade as a bead of perspiration trickled down his face. He was frozen in place. He waited a minute, or longer. He wasn’t sure. His eyes closed tightly until his heart returned to normal. He took several calming breaths, and he inhaled her scent. It washed over him, and he was able to open his eyes once more. He was in her apartment surrounded by her things, her essence. Then slowly he walked to her bedroom. This door was open too. He was in her fucking room. There was her bed. He took it all in, turning and smiling, feeling closer to her than he had ever been. His eyes feasted and his hands began their exploration. He touched her perfume bottles, her decorative bits, her remote control. He imagined he was touching her. This was the room he had only seen at night in the dark with the only light coming from the glow of her television. He approached the bed, legs trembling. He ran his hand over her comforter. White and soft like her skin. He looked at it a moment longer and then climbed on, careful to keep his feet off the side. He sank into its softness and imagined himself sinking in to her.

He could feel himself getting hard again. He wanted to jerk off and he would, he thought smiling as best he could, feeling the pull at the corners of his mouth. He forced himself to not smile remembering his dad yelling at him, calling him clown face. He didn’t want to think of his father now, so he quickly got off the bed, and went directly to her chest of drawers. He wanted something. A token of her. He opened drawer after drawer until he found it. Her underwear. He took a pair of silk underwear from the bottom of the pile in case she missed something. Then he went to the bathroom. Standing over the toilet he quickly fiddled with his pants. He pulled out his already engorged cock, and began to stroke himself with one hand. He lifted her silky pale blue panties to his face with his other hand and inhaled deeply. Sandalwood. He exploded on the spot. His cock grew lifeless in his hand. It was over too soon. He used her underwear to clean himself up and the feel of it on his already sensitive shaft had him semi aroused once more. My God, what a thrill. He stuffed the underwear deep into his pocket.

He turned once more and saw a flash of red. A tube of lipstick. He was tempted to put some on, to imagine she had kissed him and left the proof on his lips. He touched his face, and imagined her doing that. When he opened his eyes he looked at the pristine white tile behind him in the shower. He would leave her a message. Yes, Catarina, his love, needed to know he missed her. Sorely.

He scrawled the message across the tile, and then left her room, her apartment, and the building. Taking the elevator straight down to the lobby, he waved his wallet at the doorman twenty-five minutes later than when he had entered. The doorman nodded briefly still standing at his usual spot waiting to open the door for someone.