“That should cover everything,” Officer Daniels said with a smile as she closed her notebook and rose to leave. “You were very brave, and I hope your recovery will be quick.”
“I’m supposed to be released this afternoon. It seems I make a better nurse than I do a patient,” she said ruefully.
“Well, your friend out there will be happy to hear you’re being released so quickly. Thank you again.”
Officer Daniels had no sooner left than a small tornado came barreling through the door. With a squeal, Melanie threw her arms around Ella and toppled into the bed with her.
“Oh my God!’ Ella exclaimed, crying and kissing her friend exuberantly. “What are you doing here?”
“And where else would I go upon hearing how my best friend risked her life to find the person who assaulted me?” Melanie grew serious as she looked hard at Ella. “I can’t believe you did that, Ella. When your detectives showed up this morning at the safe house and told me the whole story, I demanded to be released immediately and brought here. Of course there was the red tape to wade through, and probing my memory again about my ordeal, which seemed to take forever. And nothing’s changed. I still have no memory of anything after I got home except Mandy and I fighting, again. She left and then nothing. I don’t even remember this Carly from the club.”
“Maybe not remembering is a good thing, Mel. I wish I could forget last night. I’ll admit this to you only, when I realized she had drugged me, I was scared to death. Not even knowing Mac and Sam were near and would intervene at any time was enough to ease my fears.”
Melanie clasped her face and kissed her softly. Ella tasted her tears and knew she wept out of fear and gratitude for her. Ella kissed her back, her lips clinging, her tongue dancing with hers. Their hands automatically danced over each other’s breasts with the comfort and ease of familiarity, eliciting a hunger that left them both ravenous.
Giggling against her mouth, Ella pulled back enough to whisper against her lips, “We can’t do this here.”
“Are you sure?” Melanie questioned mischievously as her hand found its way under her gown. Her soft palm on her naked breast felt so good Ella couldn’t stifle a moan, making Melanie chuckle.
“No,” she sighed regretfully. “But Mandy already resents me, Mel. I don’t want to cause anymore trouble between you two.”
Reluctantly, Melanie pulled back and took a seat by her bed. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess I’m going to have to decide if I’m staying with her or not. But, Ella, I’ve always been up front with her about us. She knew from the beginning that we just played around, that we we’re best friends first and occasional lovers second and that that wasn’t going to change.”
“I know, hon, but she really loves you. We’ll always be best friends, but we can put the sex aside for a while until you decide where your relationship is going with her.”
“I guess you’re right. Your decision wouldn’t have anything to do with the two hunky detectives you’ve been screwing the past few weeks, would it?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Now it was Ella’s turn to become weepy. Irritated with herself, she swiped her hand over her eyes roughly.
“Okay. Spill it. Every sordid, upsetting detail, and then I’ll go rack some balls for you.”
Ella laughed. The picture of petite Melanie taking on her boys was rather humorous. She told Melanie everything, giving her intimate details of each sexual encounter and ending with how she had been stupid enough to fall for both of them knowing their relationship was temporary.
“I think you’re selling yourself short,” Melanie said after she had heard everything. “What makes you think they wouldn’t want to continue seeing you?”
“They’ve never even hinted at anything beyond solving the case. And after last night…”
“What about last night?” she asked when Ella paused. “Are you sorry you did it?”
“Honestly, no. It led to catching that psycho, Cindy, and it was exciting. I’m not saying I’d repeat the experience, once was enough, but being fucked anonymously, with an audience, was highly erotic and pleasurable. I lost count of how many times I came.” Recalling the feel of those hard cocks filling her, hands and lips fondling her breasts, mouths against her lips, was enough to fuel her senses and ignite her passions all over again.
Melanie smiled at the sight of her hard nipples against her gown. “I see that. So, you must think Mac and Sam have a problem with your performance.”
“That’s just it,” Ella sighed. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought so, after all they’re regulars at the club, and I assume have indulged in other such scenes with other women. But they were so quiet and aloof on the way back to my apartment, I felt they were glad it was over.”
“Well, I think you should quit worrying about them and let me take you home so you and I can get our lives back to normal. I’m going to think positive and believe they were more concerned for you and what might happen because of that little ceremony, and rightly so. Every time I think about how close you came to getting really hurt, it makes me sick.”
“You’re not the only one. I say we leave the police work to the cops, and we go back to being ordinary citizens.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
It took Mac and Sam over a week to close the case on Carly’s four homicides. The quick background search done the night of Ella’s attack revealed Carly had moved to Chicago shortly after her ex-boyfriend’s new lover was found murdered in a park, the victim of an overdose of the same date rape drug found in their victims. An interview with Michael Weston revealed he and Carly were into a Dom/sub relationship; but, when she had refused to participate in a public orgy at a popular club in New York, he had dumped her and took up with a new girl who was willing and eager to do whatever he demanded of her with whomever.
Michael admitted he thought Carly might have had something to do with Pam’s death, but there had been no evidence to back up his suspicions other than she had taken their breakup very hard and resented his new relationship. A search of Carly’s car the night of Ella’s attack revealed a thermos of tea laced heavily with more of the same drug, enough to cause death. She also had several different objects including a baton and a glass pop bottle that had been used to rape her previous victims with. They concluded she was taking her anger out on unsuspecting women who reminded her of Michael’s betrayal.
“She was a real piece of work,” Mac said as they were leaving their captain’s office after giving their final report.
“Yeah. There’s no telling how many lives she would have destroyed if we hadn’t set her up, including Ella’s.” Just the thought was enough to make Sam shudder.
“Speaking of our girl, what do you say we get her and fill her in over breakfast. I’m starving.”
Sam stopped before getting in his truck and eyed Mac seriously. “Is she?”
“Is she what?”
“Our girl.”
Mac ran his hand through his long hair, sighing deeply. “We haven’t had time to discuss it.”
“You know, that condo we were looking at is still available. It’s three times the size of any of our apartments and the rent was doable when we were talking just the two of us.”
Mac’s eyes lit up with Sam’s proposal. “True. And, with a third roommate, it would even be more economical than our apartments.”
Sam smiled, catching on. “Big garage, a yard, all the comforts of a home.”
“Nice area, centrally located so none of us would have a long commute to work.”
“Think she’ll go for it?” Sam was worried she was thinking they had deserted her. They had been so busy trying to connect all the dots on this case, neither one of them had had the time to contact her in the last week. They both had to fly to New York for interviews with Carly’s ex and with the NYPD, which took them several days.
“We can talk her into it,” Mac stated with confidence.
Chapter Fifteen
Ella maneuvered the small sailboat back into its slot at the marina with practiced ease. For the past five years, she had been coming to one of the secluded campsites along Lake Michigan during the summer to get away from the stress of the big city and her job. The quiet solitude soothed her, the fresh, clean air rejuvenated her and the boating and hiking invigorated her. She took the time every few weeks to spend a few days by herself, or with Melanie, and usually enjoyed the quiet, peaceful time away from everyone and everything. This time, however, she was finding little comfort in her usual activities and no reprieve from the heartache she had hoped to leave behind.
Jumping up onto the deck, she strode to the office and turned in her slip. “Thanks, Mike,” she said as she waved to the owner of the small marina and boat rental.
“See you tomorrow?” Mike asked.
“Probably early, and then I have to head back. About nine, okay?”
“I’ll have her ready.”
The walk back to her camp was less than a mile, and Ella enjoyed the trek through the woods. It was cooler with the trees blocking most of the sun, but she had gotten warm out on the lake and the shade felt good. Dressed in shorts, tee shirt, and tennis shoes, she had managed to get her exposed arms and legs some much needed sun; but, with her fair skin, she had to be careful not to overdo. She wondered what Sam and Mac were doing and then quickly shoved thoughts of them aside. She wished Melanie were here with her to help keep her mind off the end of that relationship, but she had told Melanie she was going to give her some time and space to either work out her problems with Mandy or end the relationship, which left her to brood alone.
It had been over a week since Carly’s attack, and she hadn’t heard from either one of the detectives. She took that as a sign they were done with her; and, really, what had she expected? She had forced her way into their investigation and had willingly and eagerly accepted the terms of her involvement. She had no one to blame but herself for wanting more out of their brief association than they obviously did, and only herself to kick for having allowed herself to get involved emotionally. She returned to work in two days after having the week off at her boss’s insistence, and she was hoping that keeping busy would help her cope with missing them.
Mac pulled the Cherokee into Ella’s campsite and parked next to her car. “I don’t see her,” he stated as he cut the engine.
“Maybe she’s hiking around. The guy at the marina didn’t know if she was returning directly here or not,” Sam replied. They had stopped there to ask for directions to Ella’s campsite and it had taken their badges to get the older gentleman to give out that information. Only when he was convinced they were trustworthy friends of Ella’s did he point out her area. Both Mac and Sam were glad he was protective of her privacy.
“I’m just glad Melanie knew where she had gone; otherwise, we’d be in the dark still.”
“Now, Mac,” Sam chided him as they got out. “You can’t fault her for not telling us. We’ve been unavailable and tied up all week, and we just now decided we were going to pursue this relationship. How was she supposed to know?”
“She still needs a fucking keeper,” Mac grumbled, still not over the worry he had felt when they couldn’t find Ella.
“I agree with you there. Man, she really roughs it up here,” Sam said as he took in the two person tent, small cook stove and folding camp chair. A picnic table and grill sat on a concrete slab and the lake was literally steps away. It was an idyllic spot if you didn’t mind the lack of amenities.
“Yeah. From now on, camping will be done in a cabin with a bathroom, not in a tent with public restrooms up the road.”
They both turned as they heard a gasp behind them. Ella stood on the path that led out of the woods, her face flushed with exertion, her green eyes wide with surprise.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, hello to you too, Blondie,” Sam answered as he strode over to her. “You’re a hard woman to find.” Hands bracketing her face, he pulled her up for a hard, wet kiss.
“You could’ve let us know where you were going,” Mac scolded her before his hot mouth replaced Sam’s.
Ella went from surprise at seeing them there to instant lust at the feel of their mouths on hers again to anger at their high handedness all within less then two minutes. Pulling away from Mac, she glared at both of them. “I haven’t heard from you all week, and after that, if I was so inclined as to let you know of my plans, how was I supposed to contact you?”
“Don’t you have our cell numbers?” Sam asked with a frown.
“Do you remember giving them to me?” Ella didn’t know why she was goading them with her sarcasm. She was happy to see them, glad they had taken the trouble to discover her whereabouts, and was hopeful this meant they wanted to continue their relationship. Still, she didn’t want to give in too easily or they would think they could run roughshod over her all the time. They could, but they didn’t need to know that, she thought giddily.
Mac narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t need to be bitchy, Ella. If we neglected to give you a way to get hold of us, we’re sorry. However, you could’ve always called the precinct. Someone would have put you through to us.”
“Excuse me,” she said brushing past them. “Since the case was solved, I didn’t know there was anything else to say to each other. I gave my statement to the officer you sent to the hospital.” Ella bent and opened her cooler retrieving a bottle of water. Holding it up, she asked, “Want one? Or I have beer if you prefer.”
“We prefer you talk to us; but, since you’re not inclined to do so, maybe we ought to just skip ahead to meting out your punishment.”
Sam sounded angry which made Ella pause. Sam never sounded angry. “Punishment for what?” Her heart leaped with excitement as they both approached her, their eyes raking her with lust.
“For starters, taking off without letting us know.” Mac took her arms as Sam seated himself on the camp chair. “And for your smart mouth after we went through all the trouble to find you.” His hands went to her shorts and shoved them down to her mid thighs along with her panties.
Ella was too excited, too pleased at seeing her boys again to continue baiting them. Sam grabbed her and pulled her over his lap, her bare ass elevated, her head down to the ground. She cried out as Sam smacked her right cheek hard, the pain and heat causing her to vibrate with need and tears to well up with the pleasure of being in her favorite position again.