Silently, he slouched in the shadows, watching her intently as her slender body, bathed in the moonlight and the aquamarine glow of the pool, knifed through the water like some pale, exotic sea creature. From his hiding place in the heavy foliage just at the edge of the clearing, he could make out every detail of her as she swam slowly back and forth from one end of the pool to the other.
Long, beautiful legs propelled her with hardly a ripple as her perfect arms pulled through the warm water. The crest of her lovely ass just visible. Abruptly, she turned on her back and floated near the deep end, her breasts like soft, tantalizing mounds of cream with cherries at their centers, her dark hair ringing her head like the rays of some Renaissance painter’s halo.
Inside his jeans, his cock stirred, taken by the sight of this magical being, at once pure and seductive. Sexual and simple. Heat and desired flashed through him. He wanted her; needed her. Everything that had gone before had built up to this.
Slowly, carefully, he moved himself around the clearing, keeping to the jungle’s fringe, fearful that the snap of a twig, the sudden rise of a startled bird, might alert her to his presence.
At last, the foliage made an inward sweep and he found himself almost at the pool’s edge. By sticking to the shadows between the torches, he managed to get within striking distance of his quarry.
Rolling onto her stomach, she stroked lazily back to the shallow end, emerging up the stone steps like a sea nymph, her sleek, wet body covered in tiny diamond sparkles. Dripping wet, she paused at the pool’s lip and stretched; a long, contented, almost feline movement. Lacing her fingers together, she raised her arms to their full length, pointing her round, pale breasts to the moon and pushing her dark pubic curls forward a little.
He swallowed hard and ran the tip of his tongue over his dry lips. As swiftly as he could without taking his eyes off her, he began stripping off his pants and shirt. A hot tropical breeze caressed his naked body as he stepped out of his jeans, his cock already hard and full of need and desire.
Leisurely, she picked up a large, multi-colored beach towel and walked the couple of steps to the grass just beyond the cement walkway hugging the pool. Spreading it out, she lay down on her back, arms at her sides, legs slightly apart and closed her eyes to let the warm night air and the moonlight dry her.
His dry mouth suddenly filled with the imagined taste of her lips, her breasts, her sweet pussy. A ripple of fire swept through his body as in his mind he took her in his arms, the feel of her warm, wet flesh melting to him, surrendering. The ripple became a tidal wave as he felt himself slipping inside her willing, waiting body.
Leaving his clothes where they lay, he crept the last few yards until only a thin curtain of lush green foliage separated them. For a few more precious moments he let himself feast on her nakedness, her ethereal, almost dream-like beauty. He’d waited and hoped and fantasized about this moment for so long, he could scarcely believe the time had actually come.
Stealthy as a jungle cat, he moved out of the covering vegetation and inched toward her, his throbbing cock straining with every step. Just as he reached her, he kneeled down and in one fluid motion, pressed his shin across her chest to keep her from moving and covered her mouth with his huge hand to keep her from crying out.
Instantly, her eyes flew open, stark terror showing in their dark depths. Her whole body flinched and went rigid under him. He moved his face to within an inch of hers and they stared at each other in silence.
And then he felt her relax, the muscles of her cheek under his hand changing their shape. Slowly, he moved it; she smiled. Breaking into his own smile, he bent down and kissed her, feeling her mouth open wide to receive him.
“You bastard,” she breathed between passionate kisses. “You damned near scared me to death leaping out of the bushes like that. How…how long have you been hiding out there?”
“Long enough to watch you skinny-dipping. By the way, you’re very beautiful, especially when you’re wet and have nothing on but moonlight.”
“Pervert,” she teased as he moved his leg and settled on his side next to her.
“Why? Because I like watching the woman I love?” He rubbed his aching cock along her thigh as he took a nipple between his fingers.
“I thought you said you had to work tonight,” she murmured, closing her eyes again and sinking into a cloud of pleasure.
“Deal closed over drinks instead of dinner.” His mouth replaced his fingers and she shivered with delight. “So I explained that I had a very hot deal on the verge of climaxing, apologized profusely, told him to have dinner on me and shot over here as fast as I could. The thought of you made me so horny I almost slammed my cock in the car door.”
“Then why didn’t you just come to the front door like any other respectable gentleman caller?”
“Because I figured on a night like tonight, with the moon and the stars and a private beach cabana, you’d be out here instead of inside. I wanted to surprise you. Finding you naked’s just an unexpected bonus.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she whispered hoarsely, turning on her side so that his cock rubbed tightly between their bodies. “I kept thinking about how much I wanted to fuck and you were off making another gazillion dollars or buying an aircraft carrier or some other dumb macho thing and you left me all alone. I finally came out here hoping to…cool off a little.”
“Did it help?” he asked.
Easing herself onto his naked body, she took his face in her hands and forced her tongue deep into his mouth, dancing a furious tango with his.
“Not…a…bit.”
“Good,” he murmured as he pressed her to him, feeling her cool, damp flesh on his hot body as his hands ranged over the ridges and valleys of her shoulders, back and ass.
She rubbed her wet pussy over the length of his pulsing cock, pressing it between his flat stomach and her own engorged clit. A sound between a growl and a moan escaped him as they closed their eyes and let their bodies explore each other, seemingly on their own.
Without opening his eyes, his hand reached down to reposition her so that his aching cock could slide inside but she resisted.
“Not so fast,” she grinned, opening her eyes to enjoy the surprise in his face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that since you made me wait, you’re going to have to have a little patience yourself.”
His cock rubbed against her and he could feel her wetness and not just from her swim.
“Come on,” he kidded weakly, “you’re as hot as I am.”
“Uh-huh,” she agreed readily. “And you’re going to do something about that right now.”
He grinned, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight. “Now you’re talking.”
But instead of sliding down, she pulled herself up until her breasts hung over his mouth, like ripe inviting fruit. Lightly, she brushed her right one against his cheek, dragging it slowly to his waiting mouth. Immediately, he attacked it like a hungry baby.
She purred as he turned his attention to her left breast, feeling her growing heat as she moved her lower body against his smooth flesh.
His cock pulsed, sending fire through him with every heartbeat. Pushing down on her ass he forced her wet pussy against his stomach, the tip of his cock just barely touching her wetness.
“Oh God,” he mumbled into her cleavage. “I need you so much.”
“I needed you too,” she whispered, “but you didn’t care.”
“Business,” he answered hoarsely, “just business. But now I’m here and I want you. And you want me.”
He grabbed her and tried to slide her backwards to his waiting cock but she slipped away again, pulling herself up until her pussy replaced her breasts.
“Me first,” she told him haughtily, “and then, depending on how well you do, you. Maybe.”
Lowering herself, she felt his lips brush her swollen clit.
So that’s how she wanted to play it. All right, he’d show her that two could play that game.
“Bitch,” he snarled just before his tongue found her. The first long, slow flat sweep made her jump as if she’d gotten an electrical shock and he felt her whole body quiver.
The feel…the taste of her warm, willing body made his blood burn and his cock scream but he was determined to make her pay dearly for putting him off. Before he released her, she’d be begging for mercy.
Broad strokes alternated with swift licks and sucking that created a vacuum on her full clit. He grasped her trembling ass and listened with wicked delight to the growing moans and her short, ragged breathing.
“Oh God,” she cried softly, “oh…oh…”
He slowed his movements almost to a stop, leaving only the tip of his tongue to tickle her.
“Please…”
The tickle stopped, leaving nothing but his lips covering her, sucking softly.
Her body jerked over him.
“God!” The cry became a poorly stifled shriek. “Don’t…oh please…”
His own body was past endurance. With two more quick, hard passes, he felt the tremble become a shudder as she released herself to him, her sweet juices gushing into his mouth and down his cheeks, her screams of ecstasy ringing through the still night.
Sagging, he pulled her down to him, settling her back so that she slid effortlessly on to his cock.
“Is it my turn yet?” he grinned.
In reply, she smiled and began working herself gently up and down his rock-hard shaft, the smoothness of it like a piston moving inside her.
She was everything he’d imagined. Soft and giving yet holding and gently squeezing every inch of him as she moved, easily and unhurried. In his present condition though, he knew he wouldn’t last long, glad now that he’d made sure of her satisfaction. Of course, he knew that the night would not end here and that once they’d taken the furious, crazed need off their passion, they could take their time and linger over the exploration of their sexuality.
He wanted to savor this, enjoy it and make it last but his body, in control now, overrode everything but the need to come in this beautiful woman. The woman he’d yearned for and hoped for and fantasized about in his lonely bed.
Pulling her to him, she laid out flat against him as he cupped her ass in his hands and pressed harder, deeper into her. Parting her lips, she bent her face down and their tongues met, moving as frantically as their bodies now.
His climax began with little ripples that became, in another heartbeat, a roaring tidal wave of physical pleasure like nothing he’d ever known before. His body rocked to a series of internal explosions, fountains of streaming ecstasy washing over and around and through him like liquid fire. Only the beautiful, magical creature above him kept him from shattering like multi-colored crystal.
In the moonlight, not a breath of air stirred as they held each other and felt their heartbeats returning to normal. Together, they lay in a sated tangle of arms and legs, the physical and emotional intensity of their joining wrapped around them like a cocoon that shut out everyone and everything else in the world…
A knock sounded on the door even as it opened.
Elgin spun around and sighed in frustration. “How many fucking times have I told you not to disturb me when I’m having sex?” she growled. “Jesus! You’re worse than my mother.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know what you’re doing in here behind closed doors?” Martha replied dryly “Besides, you’re always having sex. God knows maybe if you actually had sex as often as you have sex, you wouldn’t be such a damn pain in the ass all the time.”
“Yes, well, don’t forget it’s my sex life that keeps you dawdling in the lap of luxury instead of out having to hold down a real job like everyone else.” Elgin grinned evilly. “And besides, if I actually had sex as often as I have sex, I’d be too tired to write and we’d both be out on the street.”
“Maybe we could work out a signal.”
“Like what?”
“Well,” Martha ventured, “in college, I roomed with two other girls. If one of us was ‘entertaining,’ we’d tie a red bandana around the front doorknob so the others would know to steer clear.” She paused and sighed dreamily. “We finally had to stop doing it though.”
“Run out of guys?”
“No. The bandana fell apart from being knotted around the doorknob so much.”
Elgin rolled her eyes.
“Did you want something?”
“Just to let you know it’s almost eleven. You’re gonna have to beat feet and hope there’s no traffic.”
“Damn!” Elgin yelped, glancing at her watch as she jumped up. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me it was so late?”
“Because this morning at breakfast you told me not to disturb you. I figured that since you’ve been getting your hair and nails done every Wednesday at eleven-thirty at The Beauty Spot since before you could afford it, you’d remember on your own. Should have known better.”
“When I said I didn’t want to be disturbed, I meant for silly crap like the President or World War III. This is important. I keep Wanda waiting and I’m liable to end up with a real poodle cut and green fingernails.”
She pushed past her secretary, out into the living room and started for her bedroom.
A shrill whistle brought her up short and she turned just in time to see two of Martha’s fingers leaving the corners of her mouth.
“Your sweater and bag are on the sofa,” she smiled. “Ben’ll get you a cab downstairs.”
Grabbing her things from the sofa, Elgin hurried over to her friend.
“What did I ever do without you?” she asked, grinning sheepishly.
“Damned if I know.”
They embraced warmly as Martha patted her lovingly on the back.
“Now get going.”
Catching an elevator, Elgin had just reached the lobby doors when the bulk of her doorman, Ben, appeared and pulled open the heavy glass door for her.
“Mornin’ Miz Collier,” he smiled, touching two fingertips to the brim of his cap. Elgin loved his soft, New Orleans drawl that seemed to flow out like molasses.
“Good morning, Ben,” she replied with a smile of her own.
Rumor around the building said that Ben, at six feet, six inches tall and at least three hundred pounds, had been hired as a large, scary deterrent for the front doors of this high security building.
But in his dove-gray uniform, matching hat and gold buttons, he always seemed to Elgin more Teddy Bear than Grizzly. His ready smile and unfailingly sunny disposition seemed to brighten even the dreariest day.
They moved to the curb as Ben blew a single shrill blast on his ref’s whistle and raised a long arm above his head, waving once into the on-coming traffic. Almost instantly, a taxi appeared about half a block away.
“Ben,” came a female voice behind them.
Turning, they recognized Mrs. North, a sweet elderly little tenant trying with one hand to hang onto a small, two-wheeled metal cart filled with packages and open the huge door with the other.
He glanced quickly up at the nearing cab, to Mrs. North and down at Elgin.
“That’s all right, Ben,” she assured him with a pat on the sleeve. “I can get the cab. You help Mrs. North to the elevator.”
That grin flashed again.
“I’ll be just a sec,” he promised and hurried back to the door.
The cab slid to a stop and Elgin took a step toward it, reaching for the rear door handle. As she did, a huge hand reached out and covered hers, trapping it on the door handle.
Startled and frightened, she looked up.
“Oh, pardon me.” A long heartbeat and the hand released hers. “I didn’t know you were waiting for this taxi. My apologies.”
Tall, dressed in a lightweight black trench coat, thick black hair, dark eyes behind dark rimmed glasses and a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I didn’t see you. If you were waiting for this cab, please, take it. I can always get another one.”
“A gentleman would never think of taking a taxi and leaving a woman standing,” he smiled down at her as he opened the door for her. “Especially a lady as lovely and charming as yourself. Please. I insist.”
“Well, thank you sir,” she smiled back, feeling a little sheepish. “That’s very gallant of you.”
His head lowered to her a bit. “I’m pleased that I could show you that while chivalry may be on life support, it isn’t completely dead. At least not yet.”
Taking her hand, he helped her into the taxi.
“Thank you again,” she told him through the partially open window.
“My pleasure, I assure you.”
As the cab pulled away, Elgin looked through the rear window for a last look at the stranger, but he’d already turned his back and disappeared into the crowd.
“Charlie,” Harm grinned, stretching out his hand to his friend. “Good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too Camp,” the other man replied as they shook hands.
“How’s it going?”
“Eh,” he shrugged. “Sometimes I’m not even sure it’s a different day.”
Harm threw back his head and laughed. Charlie Simons had been his friend and mentor since his FBI days. The best natural detective in the business in Harm’s opinion, a sniper’s bullet in the back had creased the older man’s spine and ended his active career. When he’d decided to open Harm’s Way, Charlie’d been his first call.”
At fifty-seven, lean, tan, salt and pepper hair and sea blue eyes, Charlie hardly looked the part of the grizzled old detective. In fact, he prided himself on being able to blend in virtually anywhere, sometimes a life and death skill in their business.
When they’d settled in with their coffee and exchanged a few minutes of personal chat, Charlie got down to business. Opening his briefcase, he laid a thick file on Harm’s desk.
“Here’s all the official stuff,” he nodded to the file. “Interviews, forensics, the ME’s report, the whole nine yards. You can curl up tonight with a warm fire and a bottle of Scotch and wade through it, so I’ll just give you the highlights.”
“I’m all ears.”
Charlie took out a leather bound notebook from his breast pocket and adjusted his reading glasses.
“Late lamented was John Roy Richards, born forty-eight years ago in a little place upstate named Winslow. Parents are dead, one younger sister, married, two kids, still lives there. From what I could dig up, he had a pretty uneventful life until, at nineteen, he went away to college where he became acquainted with John Barleycorn.”
He grinned at Harm. “Apparently, it was love at first sight. Went almost overnight from virtual teetotaler to the life of every beer bust. From there, a quick slide to the hard stuff. By his sophomore year, his grades were in the toilet. Got expelled at the start of his junior year when he blew his tuition and living money on booze.”
“At thirty grand a year that must have been some thirst,” Harm commented.
“In those days, more like fifteen, but yeah, it musta been a snootful. Anyway, that was the beginning of the gutter, jail, rehab, gutter, jail, rehab, gutter cycle of his life for the past twenty-five years.”
“What about the sister?”
Charlie shook his head. “According to the cops and my interview, she hadn’t seen him in about six years. Last time she took him in to dry out, he repaid her by stealing a portable television, a VCR, some jewelry and the contents of her children’s piggy banks.”
“Charming fellow.”
“Pretty much his MO. Petty theft, a little car and home burglary, penny ante stuff mostly. Lately though he’s been panhandling in the Riverview Plaza area. Police have had some complaints but no one wanted to press charges for fear of retaliation. Looks like the first person to ever actually do something about him was your client.”
“Not my client,” Harm corrected acidly. “My client would have ripped off his balls and gulped ‘em down right there. Probably carries mustard and catsup in her purse just in case.”
The other man laughed. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll remember to start wearing my cast iron jock when I come in here.”
They both laughed and sipped their coffee.
“Where was I?” Charlie scanned down his notes.
“Oh. Anyway, by the time the cops got there, it was all over but the shouting. The combatants were gone as was most of the crowd. But the couple of people who’d called 9-1-1 both said the lady got into a cab and the guy staggered off down the street, his ego and various other parts dented but definitely alive.”
“Anybody get a look at where he went when he left?”
“Downtown. Towards the river. But no one actually saw him after he melted into the crowd. Pretty heavy at that time of day as people had just let out for lunch.”
“How far from Riverview was he murdered?”
“Eight blocks. In the alley behind a deli on the corner of Thorn and Fitzgerald. Real zoo at lunch. Things slack off about two o’clock so they start cleaning up. About three, a busboy named Jose Sanchez took some garbage bags out to the dumpster. Well, he comes running right back in, white as a sheet and starts screaming in Spanish. One of the waiters tried to calm him down but he just keeps screaming, “Muerta! Muerta!” Finally drags the guy out into the alley and there’s what’s left of Mr. Richards.”
“What’d the cops find?”
“Not much, but fairly interesting what they did find.”
“Such as?” Harm leaned forward, listening intently.
“For one thing, he had almost seven bucks in change rolled up in an old handkerchief and tied around his ankle, under his sock and pant leg. Sort of a street bum’s idea of financial security I guess. His panhandling cup was on the ground, squashed flat.”
“Like someone had stepped on it?”
“More like someone had stomped on it.”
“They also found the remains of a smashed whiskey pint. From the amount spilled on the ground, probably still full. The police checked with every place he might have bought it between Riverview and the alley but no luck. And I’d think that someone would have remembered Mr. Richards.”
“Maybe he bought the bottle before he went to Riverview.”
“Trust me,” Charlie snorted, “if this guy’d had a pint for more than five minutes, it wouldn’t have been full.”
“Somebody gave it to him?”
“Be a good way to get close to him. Put him off his guard.”
“Any defensive wounds? Blood or skin under his nails?”
“Uh-uh. Whoever did this jumped him from behind.”
Charlie took another gulp of coffee before he continued. “Medical Examiner told me that calling this a stabbing was the understatement of the year.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, for starters, there were nine stab wounds.”
“Nine?” Harm repeated incredulously.
His friend nodded emphatically. “ME says the weapon was probably an ordinary kitchen knife, maybe a carving knife or a butcher knife. Eight inch blade. First blow caught him in the right side of the neck. May have started to turn around or even run. Or whoever did it may have moved around to his front. At any rate, he got another thrust in the throat and a slash in his left arm, maybe trying to protect himself. Then a straight jab in the belly. ME says any one but the arm could have been fatal and that five of the of the wounds were made after Richards was on the ground and helpless.”
“Sounds more personal than a mugging.”
“A lot more personal,” Charlie agreed.
Harm frowned thoughtfully. “Anybody see or hear anything?”
“No. Back door of the deli opens right on to the alley but it’s fifty feet from where it happened. I took a stroll back there at lunchtime. With the racket in that place, you could shoot off a cannon in that alley and no one would hear.”
“What do the police think?”
Charlie shrugged again and snorted. “Mugging. Maybe a fight over the booze or just two bad asses mixing it up. At any rate, file under, ‘To Be Solved After the Next Ice Age.’”
“What do you think?”
The older man rubbed his chin and gazed at the desktop for a few moments.
“Right now, I don’t have enough facts to ‘think’ anything. The evidence, what there is of it, could point to nothing more sinister than what it looks like. Random street violence.”
“But?”
“But my cop’s gut tells me there’s more to it than that. Lot’s more. We’re talking rage…a literal killing fury. And knives are up close and personal, especially nine times. Whoever did this didn’t care about money or booze. He wanted John Richards dead.”
“My client seems to think this may be connected to the panhandling incident at noon. That whoever’s stalking her friend, Elgin Collier, saw Richards grab her, went nuts and stabbed him to avenge her honor.”
“Would explain the ferocity of the attack if nothing else.” He paused, drained the last of his coffee and considered his next words carefully. “Of course, if this guy’s willing to kill a total stranger for putting his hands on the object of his obsession, she could be tap dancing with a cobra. Especially if it’s someone who’s already close to her.”
Harm nodded. “That’s why I’ve made arrangements with my client for Billy and I to go over to Miss Collier’s apartment and check out her computer. If that’s how he got in, we may be able to pick up his trail.”
“Good idea,” the older man agreed thoughtfully. “God knows we’ve both seen enough of this kind of thing to know that it’s a razor’s edge between undying adoration and murderous hatred. One day it’s roses, the next it’s bullets.”
“Well, thanks for all the information. I’ll go over everything tonight with a fine tooth comb and if I’ve got any questions, I’ll be in touch.”
“Good luck, Camp. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”