Love Lost (3 page)

Between his dark hair, tan skin, and gorgeous body, he expected women to fall at his feet, and they did.  They all wanted him, but he wanted only one.  He grabbed her legs and pulled her down
toward him.  Carina tried to fight him off, but it was useless.  It was like watching a puppy try to fight off a lion. The winner was clear and evident.

             
Her struggling stopped after a few minutes.  He took a knife out of his pocket and held it against her throat.   She tried to say something, but the gag in her mouth kept her from speaking.  He removed it, curious to hear what she was going to say to him.

             
“Please don’t kill me.  I won’t fight back.”

             
He smirked and pressed the knife harder against her throat.

             
“You have nothing I want, Carina.”

             
She closed her eyes and tears fell down her face.

             
“I know someone who is going to turn you in.”

             
Lucio felt himself tense.  He moved the knife away from her neck, but kept it close to her body.

             
“WHO?”

             
“One of your girls.  She has been making calls to someone.  I think she is talking to the cops.”

             
Lucio wanted to kill something, and Carina was the closest living thing right now.  He needed to be smart and use her, for now.

             
“You want to live, don’t you?”

    She nodded furiously, like a bobble head doll.

    “Tell me who she is.”

    She swallowed hard and then said one word. 

    “Mimi.”

    He brought the knife back to her throat.  His green eyes pierced into her and Carina felt she was facing death itself.  Mimi was one of the few girls that had been with him since Selene left.  He kept her around because that is how he kept tabs on Selene.  He knew they were meeting each other, but he thought it was for stupid girl talk.  Apparently, it was a lot more than that.

     “How do you know this?”

     “I saw her making calls and when I got closer to her, she was in a hurry to hang up.  And then…”

     “Spit it out.  Or I will use this knife.”  He cut her slightly, not deep, but enough to draw blood.

      Her fear kept her from screaming.  

     “A customer came in yesterday, asking for her.   He handed her an envelope.  That’s all I know.”

     “What’s his name?”

      “I don’t know his name, but I know he works at the coffee shop on West 38
th
Street. He wears the uniform to the club sometimes.”

“How do you know that is where he works?”

  “I did a coffee run for the guys at the bar before I came to work a few days ago.  I saw him there. I don’t think he recognized me, or at least it didn’t seem like he knew who I was.”

       Lucio sat up, satisfied that she had said everything she knew and put the knife on the side table.  Carina
’s face showed relief when she saw him let go of the knife until he lifted his fist to throw a hard punch to the side of her face.  Her cries were music to his ears.

       “I thought….you would….let me go….if…I told you…”

     He laughed menacingly. 

    “I have other plans for you.”

     He opened up an armoire, revealing different sized knives and tools that put dread in Carina’s heart.

     “Oh God!”

     “He can’t help you now, sweet girl.”

Jason woke up and glanced at the clock.  7 am.  He grabbed his pants and t-shirt, and headed toward the coffee shop.  The week had flown by quickly.  Jason had to work the night shift for a co-worker who was on vacation, and he slept in for most of the morning.  His intended visit to his parent’s house was postponed for now. This also meant he missed his usual coffee run, and another chance at seeing Selene. This was the unpredictable life of a detective.  Being on call 24-7 made making plans a problem.  Jason found himself canceling or rescheduling almost everything.

As he walked over to the coffee shop, he was hoping that she would be there.  It had been a week since he had last spoken to her.  As he opened the coffee shop door, Selene was sitting at the same table they were sitting at the day they first met, reading the newspaper.  Her hair was loose and curled.  She was wearing yoga pants and a tight fitting shirt. 

He walked around the table and asked, “Waiting for someone?”

Selene peered up from her paper and saw Jason. 

She looked back down casually and replied, “Not anymore.  Can I get you a coffee?”

Jason laughed and answered, “I’m not wearing my vest, so I’ll get it.  Thanks. Do you need a refill?”

Selene smirked and shook her head no.  Jason walked over to the counter, grabbed his coffee, and headed back to the table. 

He sat down, and she looked up at him at that same moment. They laughed almost nervously.

“Busy week for you, I assume,” Selene stated as he drank his coffee.

“One of the guys at work needed some time off to deal with some family stuff, so I covered his shift.  I didn’t realize I volunteered to work nights.  A few of us took a week each so it doesn’t fall all on one person. This happened to be my week.”

“That was nice of you guys to do that for him.”

He smirked. “Do I not look like a nice guy to you?”

“I plead the fifth.”

A laugh escaped him, and he almost spit up his coffee.

He reached for a napkin and asked, “So, last time we were here, you were asking all the questions.  Can I assume today is my turn to ask you whatever I want?” 

Selene smiled and motioned for him to continue.

“So, what made you want to be a lawyer?” 

Selene tried to focus on the paper as though she was deep in thought. “Well, that’s a long story and I have to be getting back to the office in a few. Another time?”

“Really? It must be dress down day at the office today, or you are just avoiding my question.”  He pointed at her clothes when he mentioned dress down.

“Oh, no.  I live…nearby.  I can change before I go into the office. For the record, I am not avoiding the question.  I don’t think this is the place for that conversation.  It’s kind of personal.”

He decided to take a chance at the opportunity being presented and asked, “Well, since I didn’t get a chance to interrogate you, then why don’t I take you to dinner? We can talk about your thoughts on how I resemble Hannibal Lector and why you became a lawyer.  We can even catch a movie afterward.  What do you think?” 

Selene grinned at him.

“Ok.  Pick me up at seven at my office.”  She started to stand when Jason grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Aren’t you going to tell me where your office is?”

Selene leaned down close, merely inches from his face.  “You’re a detective.  You have your ways, remember?” 

With that said, Selene left the coffee shop, leaving Jason behind with a huge grin on his face.

Jason headed back to his place and plopped himself on the couch.  As he turned on the TV, the doorbell rang.  He ran down the stairs and opened the door.  His old partner, Vincent, was standing at the entrance of the door.  Vincent, or Vin for short, had been his best friend since they were in diapers.  There wasn’t anything that Jason wouldn’t do for him and he knew that.  He was also a cop, but ever since Jason was promoted, things had changed between them.  Jason did things by the book and Vin was the total opposite.  He was known as being quite a ladies man, and sometimes he would get into trouble because of it.  Jason remembered one time when he caught him in the back seat of his patrol car with a female hooker he had just arrested.  He had told her that she could persuade him to not take her in.  Jason was furious, but he still managed to cover for him.  Ladies were not his only problem.  He had a temper and it was a bad one.  Vin at his front door was definitely not a good sign.

“What’s up?”  Jason asked, as he leaned against the door frame. 

Vin glared at him and asked, “Aren’t you gonna let me in?” 

Jason moved away from the door and let him in.  As they walked into the apartment, Vin sat on the couch and put his legs on top of the coffee table.  He didn’t bother to look in Jason’s direction when he spoke.

“So, I heard you had a visit from the Captain.  Is the golden boy already in trouble?”

Jason shook his head. 

“No, it’s not like that.” 

His friend just stared at him.

“Are you gonna tell me what it’s about?” 

Jason considered telling him, but then he held back.  Best friends or not, he needed to keep this case quiet.

“I can’t.  You know better than to ask me that.”

He rolled his eyes and turned on the television.

“Whatever.  I was thinking of going over to the new club later.  Interested?”

Jason shook his head no.  Vin loved to go to clubs and flash his badge around like he was some kind of celebrity.  It usually got him unlimited drinks and that meant when drinks flowed, women followed.

“I have a date tonight.”

He turned his head and asked, “With who?”

Jason started to tell him about Selene.

“I met her at Gourmet Coffee
; the coffee house owned by Elizabeth James.  Remember her?”

“She was that hot author that we helped when her apartment was broken into.  Yeah, I remember her.”

The look on Vin’s face spoke volumes.

“Anyhow, her name is Selene.  She is gorgeous and smart.”

He smirked.

“She sounds like a good bang.” 

Jason started to get annoyed.

“Yeah, time for you to leave.  I have shit to do.”

Vin took one hard look at him, got up, and started to walk out of the apartment.

Jason stopped, feeling bad for throwing him out and asked, “Wait.  I’m gonna go up to see my parents next weekend.  Wanna come?  They have been asking about you.”

He shrugged his shoulders and responded, “Yeah.  Whatever.  What time?”

“I’m leaving on Friday after work to head up there for the weekend.”

Vin nodded his head and agreed to meet him at the apartment.  He shut the door behind him and Jason looked over at the time. He threw himself on the couch and continued watching TV. His mind wandered to his impending date with Selene and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

Selene walked into her office as Daphne was hanging up the phone.

“Hey.  I just booked you an appointment with a new client.”

“Daph, I can’t take on any more new clients.  I have a lot on my plate right now.”

“I know that, Sel. He specifically asked for you and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  He is coming in next Friday at 10am.  Just sit with him and you can decide after that.  I will handle the case if you can’t.  Deal?”

Unable to refuse her friend, Selene nodded and sat at her desk.  The day didn’t seem to go by fast enough.  As she ran up to her apartment to get ready for her date, her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Selene, it
’s Mimi.”

Selene stopped in her tracks
and her heart caught in her throat.  “Mimi, is everything ok?”

There is a long pause and then Mimi answered.

“Listen, I need to talk to you.  You need to let this go.  Something bad is going to happen.
I think he knows, Selene.  I can’t do this.  I’m sorry.”

Selene walked into her bedroom and on her bed she found a large bouquet of flowers.  As she got closer, she saw a note.

“Selene, are you there?”

“Yeah, Mimi.  Nothing is going to happen, I promise.  Can we meet this week?  We can talk about it then.  Please.  We need to bring him down.  How does Friday sound?  Can you make it then?  I will talk to Mike and have him pick you up.”

Selene waited patiently, staring at the flowers that seemed to be moving. 

“Fine. I’ll meet you Friday at 8pm at your place. Selene, please be careful.  Something just doesn’t feel right.”

The line went dead, leaving her speechless.  Selene hung up the phone, but her eyes did not leave the flowers.  They were moving again.  She grabbed the note and a large tarantula jumped onto the floor, heading straight for her.  She grabbed the baseball bat that she kept hidden behind her door for emergencies and crushed the bug in two hard blows.  Daphne walked in and looked at Selene.

“Getting ready fo-” She noticed the dead tarantula on the floor.  “What the hell is that?”

“Who sent these flowers?”

Daphne shrugged her shoulders. “No one. There hasn’t been a delivery all day.  I didn’t even know you had gotten flowers.” 

Selene picked up the note she dropped and it read: