Serial Volume Three (8 page)

She nodded, her eyes welling with tears and her throat trying to swallow down the lump of fear.

“Good girl. Now help me drag her out of here. We need to dump the body.”

Jude

I waited as long as Donovan deemed necessary, never giving him the satisfaction of a reaction.

It had been close to forty-eight hours since they kicked my door in and dragged me from my apartment, and still no lawyers. The FBI were flexing their muscles and letting me know how much power they had over me.

I’d spent last night in a holding cell somewhere in the back of the FBI field office. It hadn’t been comfortable, and the food had been sub-par, but I’d refused to voice a single complaint. I was a gracious houseguest.

Agent Chase had been sent in to question me earlier, a distraction from Donovan I was sure, but I hadn’t bothered to respond. She was a beautiful woman, but she grated on my nerves. I was polite though, annoyingly so by the number of frustrated sighs and eye rolling she did.

Now I sat perfectly still at the table in the interview room, hands folded on the table in front of me, water glass aligned in the proper position in front of me, and my mind soaring free. I closed my eyes from time to time, to relive some of the highlights of my killing over the last few years.

I waited, and reveled, and knew I’d be walking out at any time now. It was just a matter of playing this waiting game, and I knew I would win.

Donovan threw the door open and strode in, his steps confident and his shoulder thrown back as if they had something on me.

He slammed a photograph down on the table in front of me and said, “We’ve got you at the right time in the right place, you’re going down for this, you sick bastard.”

The photo was my Aston, or should I say the company Aston. It was obviously taken a short distance from where I’d picked up Noreen. I knew it had been risky picking her up on a whim, but it was a risk I’d been willing to take at the time.

I scanned the photo and didn’t see any evidence of the driver. This was it? This was the reason I had been dragged away from Pet and brought to this dull room with its grey walls and cheap table?

“Nice car,” I said and looked up at him. His jaw twitched, he was waiting for a reaction he was never going to get.

“That’s all you have to say? Do you recognize it?” he asked and shoved the photograph closer.

“It appears to be an Aston Martin,” I replied, “but that’s all I’ve got. I’m not really a car guy, I’m more the type to walk into the dealership, throw a bag of cash on the desk and tell them to give me the fastest thing they’ve got.”

“Really?” Donovan said, “Because this car belongs to you.”

“Does it?” I replied and looked again, “Can’t say it looks familiar, but I do have several. If it’s registered in my name, what can I say?”

His jaw twitched again and I saw that vein on his temple throb. He picked the photo up and slid it back in an oversized manila envelope with CK scrawled across the front in black felt marker.

“That’s what this is about?” I asked incredulously, “You think I’m the Cascades Killer?” I threw my head back and laughed, that arrogant frat boy laugh I reserved for those I wanted to know their place. “You must not have a lot to go on I imagine, since I didn’t do it.”

“We have enough,” he said and held his envelope close to his chest.

“When is my lawyer getting here?” I asked and sighed, then tapped the table with my forefinger.

“Your father called somebody, they’re on their way,” he said, “You’ll just have to hang tight until then.”

He just stood there, trying to unsettle me I’m sure, but if you knew anything about me by now, you must know that I’m pretty fucking unflappable.

There was a light tap at the door, Donovan opened it and let five men enter. He raised his brow at me; I smiled smugly and leaned back in my chair. “I see my lawyers have arrived,” I said and watched him leave.

“Mr. Hollister,” the first man said and sat in the chair to my left, “I am Davis, your father sent us over. The good news is that they have nothing on you, the bad news is that you need an alibi.”

He dove into the legalities of it all and assured me I would be free within twenty-four hours. That Donovan would pay for his insubordination, and I would be back to normal as soon as legally possible.

“Why am I not walking out of here right now?” I asked.

“It’s all circumstantial,” Davis said, “we’ll work on it, but it’s not just the connection between you and the waitress. Apparently you have a girl living with you? The other missing waitress?”

“Yes,” I replied, “and as you can see, she’s very much alive and very taken care of.”

“Still, we need to know more about her,” he said, “we’ll interview her and…” he glanced at the one way glass, it was illegal for them to be listening while I spoke to my legal team but one never knew, “…get your stories straight.”

“Excellent,” I replied, “I would like to see her.”

“That’s against protocol,” he said, “but we’ll make sure it happens.”

We stood and shook hands and they left.

Donovan came back in immediately. “We need to talk about your captive,” he said.

“I’m sorry, my captive?” I laughed,

“Veronica Lapierre, the woman you’ve been holding in your apartment.”

“Holding?” I laughed again, “I hardly think allowing her to stay at home and treating her like a princess constitutes captivity.”

“We found her room,” he said, “and all the…ligatures.”

“Sorry? You mean the bondage gear? She has her own room because we both value our privacy, and we both value our very active sex life. She enjoys being my pet, you can ask her yourself.”

At the word pet I noticed his eyebrow twitch, ever so slightly. He darted his tongue along his lips and paused. He was interested in Pet, excited by the fact that I seemed to own her. He might have similar predilections to my own. Interesting.

“Your set up goes beyond normal BDSM, Mr. Hollister,” he said, “surely this is more than a casual interest.”

I leaned forward and stared at him, “It is, in fact. It’s a lifestyle. I have certain needs, and have been fortunate enough to find a woman who is able to meet them. Perhaps you should seek such a woman yourself, Agent Blake. Perhaps you could harness that hot little Agent Chase and get her tied up before she gets away on you.”

He didn’t respond. Very interesting, he twitched when I mentioned Pet, but no reaction at Agent Chase. I wondered if my girl already had him under her spell. I wondered if he’d already fucked her.

“You’d be interested to know I’ve already interviewed her,” he said, “and she says almost the same thing as you. You’ve coached her well.”

“When can I see her?” I asked and sat back.

“I will send her in if you insist.”

“I do, I need to reassure her. She will be so distressed if she’s left all on her own.”

Donovan shot me a strange, secretive look, turned and left. I was alone again with my thoughts. I wondered what Pet had done to garner his intense interest and decided to reward her loyalty the moment I was released. Giving him her body to sully his case would be the perfect way to help me out. She was a good girl.

Some time later the door opened and she came in. She shone, something was different about her. Something had blossomed in the two days I’d been in here.

She smiled and jumped into my arms the moment she saw me. I held her against me and kissed her, noting Donovan’s frown of disapproval as I stabbed my tongue into her mouth.

He did have the hots for my girl. I was positive he’d fucked her. You’d think I’d be jealous, but quite the opposite. It excited me to know that he’d tried to own her, possess her, but she would always come running back to me. Try as he might, he would never control her like I do.

“Pet,” I breathed against her cheek, “I’ve been mad without you.”

“Me too, Jude,” she said, “they’ve been asking me all kinds of crazy questions about you and some girls and my ex boyfriend. It’s so intense. I didn’t know what to say.”

I pulled back, looked into her eyes and said, “Just tell them the truth.” I trusted her so much right then, my heart felt like it might burst with love for her.

“I did,” she replied, “I let them know I had no idea what Billy had gotten up to or who had killed him. I didn’t even know he was dead. I let them know that I went home with you that night from the diner and we’ve been together every night since. Even the night that Noreen went missing, we were probably fucking like animals the moment she was picked up. We’ve been so wrapped up in each other since you saved me from my life.”

“Oh Pet, I love you so much,” I said and rewarded her with another kiss, “you are everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more.”

She beamed at my approval and slid her tongue towards my ear. She paused, her breath hot on my flesh, and whispered, “I’ve taken care of it, Jude. You’ll be out of here soon, my love.”

I nodded slightly and nuzzled her neck, nipped her along the collarbone and ran my hand down her body to cup her ass. I lifted her and she wrapped her long legs around me, kissing me and grinding her cunt against me.

“Enough of that,” Donovan broke our loving, “Step back Ms. Lapierre, keep your hands off the suspect please.”

“Oh boo,” Pet pouted and dropped off me. She looked up and winked, stepped around the table and sat across from my seat. I sat down and faced her. My cock was raging hard; I wanted nothing more than to tear into her, fuck her from behind bent over the table. I needed to be inside her like I needed air.

But somehow I managed to remain seated, fully clothed, and in calm control.

We made small talk, I let her know where I kept cash for her, I suggested she call the home shopping service and go ahead with her appointment. We most likely wouldn’t make Sunday brunch, but she would always need new clothes and nice things.

We talked for about an hour, the entire time Donovan stood just inside the room in the open door, watching us. Watching her. He was fascinated with her, I could tell. The look on his face was naked, unrequited hunger. My Pet and her magic cunt had him tangled up in so much lust it would surely cloud his vision. What a girl.

“Ms. Lapierre, you should leave now,” he finally said, interrupting our conversation, “Mrs. Hollister is here.”

She looked at me with a question on her face. I knew what she was thinking, so I laughed and said, “My mother, I’m not married, Pet.”

Her face relaxed and she laughed with me. “I wasn’t worried,” she said, “but you never know. Some of the losers I’ve been with, you learn to expect anything.”

It was my turn to make an attempt to hide my distaste. I hated that she’d been with such base characters in her past, but I hated it even more when she referenced them. She would have to learn.

We kissed at the end of the table. Donovan cleared his throat and we broke apart, embarrassed as my mother entered the room.

Pet seemed nervous, she kept her eyes downcast as I introduced them

Mother had a terrible look on her face, I had expected some reluctance because of Pet’s obvious rough background, but naked disgust was a little over the top.

I said goodbye to Pet, she turned and left with Donovan.

I glanced at the one-way window and invited my mother to sit down.

She did, where Pet had been sitting only moments before.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked and she fluttered her hands and looked uncomfortable.

She paused and finally spoke, “He had a meeting. You know how he is.”

The old bastard had been let down one more time. At least he’d sent his legal bulldogs to defend me, even if he’d been too humiliated to visit his son, the murderer. Cross that out,
accused
murderer, but let’s face it, my parents raised me. They’d know I’d done it.

Mother leaned close in towards me as if she wanted to tell me something in secret. She must have been warned not to talk, that we’d be monitored.

I leaned to meet her across the table and said, “Yes Mom? Is there something you need to tell me?”

She looked stricken, the color all gone from her face. She gathered her courage and asked, “That girl, Veronica…she is your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Do you know who she is?”

Ah, that’s what it was. She was concerned that I was hooking up with Yolanda’s daughter. That was so far in the past though; as interesting as it was, I hardly thought it warranted discussion given the current circumstances. I said, “Yes, I do. And don’t worry, Yolanda is long gone and Veronica is quite of age now. There’s nothing scandalous going on.”

She leaned even closer and lowered her voice, “Oh dear Jude, my son. It’s true, that is Yolanda’s daughter. But you must know…your father had an affair. He could never keep it in his pants.”

“I know that Mom, I know about all his affairs,” I replied.

“Then you must know that Veronica can’t be your girlfriend, Jude. She’s your sister. Well, your half sister.”

I sat back and processed the information I had just been given.

Veronica. Ronnie. Pet.

Was my sister.

Interesting indeed.