Renee 3 Page 14

  His hand reached for the bathroom’s doorknob, yet one second before touching it, it pulled away. The need to admire her skin, feel the water, and take a voyage throughout her body pushed him forward. He received flashbacks that screamed like a cat in heat, but still, he resisted. Step by step, this gentleman walked backward and didn’t stop until the bed stopped his movements. He sat down, eyes fixated on the mahogany door.

  Renee plunged her face into the hot shower water. Drops of H20 banged against the back of her neck. She had not slept, had yet to fall victim to her pillow and sink into a world of relaxation for hours of reenergizing. After five more minutes in her personal spa, she stepped out, her feet landing on the plush navy blue bath rug. It absorbed the clear liquid escaping from her body. Water splattered on the zigzag-patterned titles when she stepped off the rug, and it created a slippery surface. She dried herself off and threw her towel back on the towel rack. When it fell, she stuffed it inside the slim opening, the thick towel bulging out. She opened the door and stepped inside the bedroom with her head down.

  Heading for the dresser, she looked up and looked directly at Julian, the winter’s cold from the open window tapping Renee on her naked body.

  “How did you get in here? Did Madison let you in?” Her arms folded against her chest, but just enough to act as a push-up bra and heighten her cleavage.

  “Does it matter?”

  It didn’t, and Renee didn’t push the issue, because deep down inside, she really didn’t care.

  Her tight body stood firm, exactly how Julian remembered. He analyzed her curves and saw where she had lost weight. He knew the depression he caused her had contributed to that. Julian looked back up into her eyes. “Who’s Madison?”

  “My sister.”

  Silence. He believed Dane when she said she told Renee about Madison, but it was better to hear it from Renee himself. When quietness swallowed them both whole, Renee turned toward the dresser. She opened the top drawer in search of nothing in particular, just a reason to keep herself busy. She fell into a world of undergarments when a pair of hands touched her skin.

  She jumped, her eyes landing on Julian’s reflection in the mirror. The discussion that took place between their eyes and lips could not translate or duplicate their emotions. She finally turned around and laid her head down on his shoulder. Renee closed her eyes and lived in the moment. She had fantasized about this moment, pieced it together, and devoured the feelings. Following the reunion images she had set up in her mind, he turned her face toward his, their lips bumping into one another’s and making her fantasy a reality. The soft, gentle kiss intensified, and they kissed into each other’s souls. Tears dampened her cheeks, adding to the emotions locked within their surroundings.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, the apology leaking out of the corners of their mouths.

  “I know, and I love you.” She pulled from the kiss and gazed undividedly into his eyes. The sins of their past vanished. “I love you more.” Julian hoisted her in the air. Her legs secured themselves around his waist as they took off to the bathroom.

  Steam raided the bathroom and fogged the mirrors. Water splashed out of the tub, Renee and Julian didn’t bother to close the shower curtain and drenched the floor. Slapped against the blue-tiled wall, Renee welcomed Julian back into her temple and released liquids of her own. Water splashed over the sides of the tub and spilled on to the floor. It avoided Julian’s clothes, curving around the material and floor mat, and rushed toward the entrance, where it crashed into Jared’s Timberland boots.

  Chapter 24

  “He made you take the pills?” Officer Reynolds asked, his left hand scribbling in his notepad the details being mentioned to him by Carmen. It saddened him that every time their paths crossed, it was in reference to some type of pain she was in. Their first encounter ensued months ago when he and his partner delivered her the news pertaining to her uncle’s death. For weeks, he couldn’t get out of his head the scream she let out. He heard it while sleeping, investigating crimes, and whenever he was rewarded with a time of silence.

  “Yes, that is correct,” Carmen answered.

  It was three in the morning when she and Zeke were finally found. One of the young girls attending her friend’s bachelorette party saw the hole inside Carmen’s room door and, with caution, took a look. The alcohol in her system rumbled and shook her stomach while vomit inched itself upward. But for confirmation that there were no wounded people in need of help, she swallowed the chicken wings, nachos, and French fries she partook in hours prior. Carefully, she entered the room and found Carmen sitting unconscious and spilled over. The sight of Carmen’s blood-ruined clothes forced the vomit to escape her mouth and squirt all over the bathroom. It took a moment for her to get herself together, but the release of liquids and food actually helped sober her some and give her a clearer state of mind. Dialing 911, she stayed with Carmen in the bathroom, fighting off the smell of stale blood and puke. She kept telling herself that she either dealt with that or the sight of a man with most of his cranium missing.

  Travel time to the nearest hospital took minutes. Carmen’s stomach was pumped, and when everything was said and done, she fell into a deep slumber. Her mind and body were in dire need of rest. Carmen recalled dreaming about a cat racing past her and jumping pebbles, bushes, logs, ditches, and boulders.

  She followed its fast movements to the point where she made herself dizzy and her neck cramped. However, her curiosity was at an all-time high and could not rest. The hurdles the cat jumped seemed to get more dangerous than the one prior. It started off light, then grew to leaping over oceans. Each was a success and a mind-blowing sight to behold.

  Carmen lost count of the hurdles the cat jumped. Was it the eighth, ninth, or tenth? The fire-raging pit seemed to fall deep within the earth, a relative of Dante’s inferno. The cat stopped, her fast feet kicking up dust while coming to a pause. And then it looked at her. Inside, Carmen cheered her on and was excited to see this trick emerge. But the cat didn’t run, didn’t amaze or amuse. Instead, she just stared, then without warning disappeared. Carmen looked around, took steps around the grass-filled field, and stopped when the cat appeared in front of her face.

  “You have nine lives,” the cat told her. “Nine lives.” Then she disappeared.

  That’s when Carmen woke up. It was the best sleep she ever received. Unfortunately, sleep did not come easy these past few weeks, so after the gastric suction, her fears and stress were no more. Her body demanded that she rest. It had no energy left to fight the battle she signed herself up for. And although her dream was mind-boggling, it made her proud. She was a survivor who jumped over many hurdles. It made her see things in a different light.

  When she took those pills, she was tired of fighting, tired of running and every time being found. Carmen checked out mentally for the moment, and that friendly cat brought her back. She was now reenergized and approached with the strength needed to fight Renee. Her mind was now clear, fresh, and sharp as the first day she stepped foot in New York, and she was going to use it to manipulate the police. Not long after she woke, the detectives came in and questioned her about her cousin’s death and her overdosing.

  “Why would he force you to overdose and not kill you like your cousin? He’s killed before, so why not do it again?” Detective Day questioned.

  “I don’t know,” Carmen whispered, her throat sore from her stomach being pumped. “I don’t know why. People do weird things. Maybe he wanted it to look like I killed my cousin then tried to kill myself. Maybe he didn’t know we were cousins and took us as lovers.” Carmen was laying it on thick, taking herself out of the situation she knew well and pretending to be an outsider looking in. She wiped the tears plunging from her eyes and let that act be the icing on the cake. The cherry on top was when she looked their way and revealed, “I know him. I know who did this.”

  Reynolds flipped a page on his notepad and ignored his partner glaring at the side of his face. This m
ay be the easiest case we’ve taken on in a long time, Reynolds thought.

  “Who, Ms. Hunt? Tell us who did this to you.”

  “His name is Jared, Jared Psyche. He’s not wrapped too tight. He’s hurt me before, but I never thought it would go this far.” She cried, and this time it was ongoing, a nonstop attempt to win them over with her bullshit story. “We were together at one point, nothing serious, just a fling here, a fling there,” she lied. She stretched her one-time sexual experience with Jared into several.

  “If you guys were not serious, why would he do this to you, and what had he done before?” asked Reynolds.

  Carmen paused and swallowed. “The first time he laid hands on me, it was because I went to his house unannounced and found his home empty and him leaving. I’ll be honest with you. I was angry. He told me nothing about a move, so I demanded answers and asked him what was going on. We argued. He didn’t like me questioning him, and before I knew it, he was choking me.” More tears dropped, and Carmen quickly started to wipe them away. “I’m sorry,” her hoarse voice let out.

  “Why now? Why come and do all of this? Why not kill you when he had the chance?” Day asked.

  “Be easy,” Reynolds interjected. “She’s the victim here.”

  Day gave his partner a look, an agitated glare that screamed, “Let me do my job.”

  “Why now, Ms. Hunt? What happened after he moved, and is there any other reason you think he would go so far as to kill your cousin?”

  Internally, Carmen was smiling. The cops were now on two different pages, and all that was left for her to do was flip Day over onto her and Reynolds’ page. She turned away and focused on the window and the family members entering and exiting the hospital. Today was such a beauty. Winter was slowly leaving and making way for the next season.

  Day called out to Carmen, “Ms. Hunt.”

  “I threatened him,” she spat out. She took a deep breath, pretending that she was preparing herself for the bomb she was about to drop. “My cousin was a drug dealer, Jared is a drug dealer, and the two have done business together. I knew about this because he didn’t know Zeke and I were family and that he told me everything. After what Jared did to me,”—Carmen paused, clearing her throat and momentarily giving her voice box a break—“I wanted to get him back and make him just as afraid as he made me when I thought I was going to die that night in his house. So days later, I contacted him and told him that if he didn’t give me ten thousand dollars, I was going to the police with everything I had on him pertaining to him selling. That really pissed him off, but I didn’t hear from him for a long time after that and never received any money. I really didn’t want it. I just wanted to fuck with him, and I did, so since I heard nothing from him, I let it go. But trust me, if he had given me the money, I would have taken it.” She smirked.

  “When Zeke came out to New York and reached out to visit me, that’s when this all happened. I don’t know how Jared knew exactly where I was. And I can only assume that him seeing Zeke there that night was a wrench thrown in his plan.”

  Reynolds nodded. “One more thing, Ms. Hunt, and then we’ll be out of your hair.” He placed his hand on top of hers. “How does Jared look, and where does he live?”

  Carmen gave the officers a rundown of Jared’s physical features, from his towering height down to his distinct tattoos. “I don’t know where he lives now. He never told me,” Carmen stated.

  “Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Hunt. We’ll be in touch.” Reynolds gently caressed her hand, a smile landing against Carmen’s face.

  The detectives left the room, and Carmen sat proud of her performance. She rolled over, got comfortable, and prepared for a quick nap. Soon she would undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She’d need every trick filling her bag to pull this one off.

  “You’re a real piece of work, Reynolds. A real piece of fuckin’ work,” Day voiced. He was never one to fall weak over a pretty face, so to see his partner all googly-eyed over a pill popper boiled his blood.

  “Should I have accused her of attempting suicide and murder like you?” Reynolds spat.

  “The shit makes no sense. Why not kill her? If she was the reason for going to the hotel in the first place, why not kill her also?”

  “Like she said, people do weird things, and you should know better than anyone else that weirder shit in this world has happened.”

  “So now you’re abandoning your cop instincts and going by the word of a broad you want to fuck? Good job. I gotta tell the captain to give you a promotion,” Day spat.

  Day thought back to his wife and why he took a vow to do his job and do his job right, which required him to wear no blinders. He wanted to make the world a safer place for his better half to exist in. However, if he was going to do that, he had to toughen up and carry an umbrella at all times, because he never knew when a shit storm would hit. Day slammed his palm against the elevator call button.

  “Let go of the bad-cop routine, and put that old memory of yours to use,” Reynolds instructed. They walked inside the elevator, and Day didn’t respond until it closed.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Jared Psyche is the little fucker he’s been hunting for years. The son of a bitch Lane wanted to put away just before he retired.”

  Day thought for a moment. “The girlfriend killer? You talking about the kid Lane had on his radar when he was on the force down South?” Things were starting to click inside Day’s brain. “Are we talking about the same fucker who when he came to New York bodies would pop up, yet he always slid through the cracks?”

  “Exactly,” Reynolds confirmed, scratching his neck. “The same guy Lane was after, but there was never enough evidence to convict him with.”

  The elevator doors opened, and both men stepped out, their thoughts fresh and now sharper.

  “I couldn’t give a damn whether Miss America up there is telling the truth or not. I just want Jared’s ass. We can use this to put him away. So I say we question the staff and visitors once more in that hotel and see what we can scrape up. Someone has to know something. I’m not buying the whole ‘our cameras weren’t working for a few hours’ bit by that security guard,” Reynolds stated.

  “What about her cousin? She said he was a drug dealer.”

  Reynolds opened the car door. “Consider him a casualty of war, one less scumbag we don’t have to deal with. I want the bigwig, so let me know when you’re on board.” Reynolds got into the car.

  Day smiled and hopped in, proud of how quickly his partner bounced back and came to his senses. “I’m down,” Day ensured.

  “Good.” Reynolds pulled away from the hospital and merged into traffic. Minutes later, he broke the silence. “Be real. She is fine as hell, though,” he commented, a large smile plastered across his face.

  Day just shook his head, his moment of being proud of his partner gone.

  Chapter 25

  The bathroom door connected to Renee’s bedroom was wide open. The bathwater led a trail of H2O from the bathroom and stopped at the foot of Renee’s bed. The water glistened, adding to the serenity brought to the home that morning. She slept in bed that afternoon. The sun shined bright through the window and hugged Renee’s face. She turned her head, her legs and arms intertwined with Julian’s. The two melted together, yet Renee still snuggled closer. Burying her face in Julian’s chest, she started to moan, annoyed with the sunrays disturbing her sleep. Without opening his eyes, Julian squeezed her tighter. The security she felt wrapped in his arms instantly brought her comfort. The bedroom door cracked open, and then there was the loud noise of Madison’s scream as she quickly tried to close it again.

  “Madison,” Renee called out. She turned her head toward the door.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had company,” Madison apologized.

  Covered in blankets and sheets, no skin was visible. However, the cracked door brought a little more air inside than Renee cared to have, so she buried herself farther und
er the blankets, her body sliding down Julian’s. Renee continued to snuggle beneath the covers, strands of hair the only proof she was there.

  “That’s Madison?” Julian asked.

  Renee felt the vibrations in Julian’s chest when he spoke. She pushed the covers down a little from her face. “Yeah.”

  “Was that her luggage downstairs?”

  “Yes. She only stayed the night. Last night her uncle kicked her out of his house since she didn’t agree with them wanting revenge. It was late, so instead of traveling home, she came here.”

  “How did you meet her?”

  Renee came out from underneath the covers, a gush of air filling her lungs. “I went to give my condolences, and she opened the door. Would you think I was crazy if I told you we talked all night about everything?”

  Julian stood quiet, listening to Renee.

  “I told her everything, Julian.”

  “Does she know who you are?”

  “Yes. I stopped hiding when we all separated. Anyone I come in contact with knows who I am.”

  Julian said nothing, and Renee felt his chest slowly rise then fall. She sensed his discomfort over her exposing her identity. Doing so placed her in harm’s way, but that was what you did when hurt.

  “She knows about the hit on Carmen and Zeke. She even knows we’re responsible for her mother’s death.”

  Julian opened his eyes and looked down at the top of Renee’s head. “And she’s fine with that? How can anyone in their right mind be willing to stay at the person’s home whose associates killed their family?”

  “I don’t know, but she is.”

  Silence fell over Julian. To relive the same events they went through, but with a different sister, was sure to break them all. He wished he and Renee could slide under those covers together and have them act as a force field, protecting them from all harm.