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“Deidra and Winston were kissing?” Jonathan glared at Deidra from across the ballroom as she danced with a guest. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Asia said, the lights reflecting off her cocoa-brown skin. “At first she tried to discourage him but it became obvious she was enjoying herself.”
“Is that so?” Jonathan took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles. “What else?”
“They talked.” Asia shrugged, clasping her hands. “Something about drawing a picture of her. He’s an artist I guess.”
“I’ve given her more than any man ever could.” Jonathan shook with rage. “She hasn’t given me an inch yet she can go out into my garden and carry on with him?” He lowered his voice before his temper got out of hand. “Deidra Quarter is mine and I’m going to prove that.” He focused on Asia. “Gather the women and tell them we’ll have the final ceremony.”
“You mean, sex with Deidra?”
“What do you think I mean?” His blood boiled as he watched Dee smiling and twirling. “Right now she’s making a fool of me and I can’t let that happen. I’ve given her too much leeway. I’m the leader of The Circle and she’s gonna do what I say when I say it. She’ll give herself to me.” He smirked. “With a little help from the medicine cabinet.”
Asia smiled.
****
“Once again, I had it in my mind that Dee was coming back with me...” Winston stood at Connie’s desk the next morning. “But, came up empty handed again.”
“I’m so sorry, Winston.” Connie sipped the caramel-flavored coffee. “You can’t give up.”
“Since I can’t protect her from Jonathan, I took her a cell phone and told her to hide it so she can call me if she’s in trouble.” He sucked his lip. “But knowing her she told Jonathan. Damn it.” He dropped his head in his palms. “Why can’t I walk away? Why am I torturing myself like this?”
“Because you love her.” Connie turned on her computer. “How is she?”
“The same I guess.” He sat on the corner of her desk and swung his leg. “We kissed.” He stared at the ceiling.
“I’m not too keen on you hanging around that Shauna.” Connie scowled. “Watch your back.”
“Oh, believe me I don’t trust her at all. She’s not the type to do something for others without an angle but she’s my only link to Dee and what’s going on over there. What if I kidnapped Dee back and undid whatever Jonathan did?”
“That would only make things worse.”
“I can’t just sit around worrying about this.”
“Ever thought of talking to someone about it?” She set down her mug. “How about the department psychiatrist?”
He shook his head and crossed his arms. “The only thing that will make things better is getting Dee back.”
“Excuse me?” A tall, woman with pinkish-ivory skin, powder-blue eyes and features like the women in a Botticelli painting, stopped at Connie’s desk. “Are you Detective Connie Wilks?”
“Yes, I am.” She pointed to Winston. “This is Detective Winston Lewis.”
Winston smiled, giving the woman a onceover.
“What can I do for you?” Connie asked.
“My name is Tara Gross.” She looked back and forth at the detectives, her wavy auburn hair sweeping her shoulders. “I heard you were working the murder of the woman who lived at the Bay Bridge House.”
“Yes.” Winston stood. “Why?”
“I rarely go pointing fingers at people but you might wanna check out CeCe Babbitt.”
Connie leaned forward with her arms on her desk. “Why?”
“I stayed at Bay Bridge for about a year. I moved out a few months ago because of CeCe.” She pushed her hair behind her ear, showing her pearl stud.
“Did he bother you?” Connie asked.
“He bothered most of the women there.” Tara shivered, wiggling her petite nose. “The good-looking ones anyway and his aunt did nothing about it. Either you ended up having to move, or you’d get no peace. One night I was coming in from work and CeCe was in the parking lot.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He’d been asking me out and I kept telling him no. He’d been following me too.”
Winston leaned his hip against the desk.
“What happened in the parking lot?” Connie asked.
“He attacked me.” Tara took a deep breath. “He grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I fought him off and ran inside. When I saw him the next morning, he said nothing. He just gave me this eerie stare. I told his aunt, but she threatened me saying she’d do anything to protect her nephew.”
“She didn’t believe you?”
She looked at Winston. “The twisted part is I think she did but didn’t care.”
“There’s something else going on.” Winston scratched his arm. “I can’t believe this man is doing this to women and no one’s calling the police or anything?”
“They don’t want to rock the boat,” Tara said. “Ms. Kachel is lenient with the rent so she lets tenants get away with not paying if they’re having a hard month or whatever.”
“Ah,” Winston said. “The women are indebted to Ms. Kachel.”
“Most of the women who live there are single and some with kids,” Tara acknowledged. “The Bay Bridge House is the best they can afford without living in a motel. Most of the tenants there are working low wage jobs, just trying to make ends meet.”
“We appreciate you telling us this.” Connie smiled. “If there’s anything else we need to know please don’t hesitate.”
Tara nodded as she turned to leave and then stopped. “Have you spoken to him yet?”
Connie sipped coffee. “Yes.”
“So, he’s seen you?” Tara asked Connie.
“Yes,” she answered.
“Watch yourself, Detective. He gets fixated on every attractive woman he sees.” Tara straightened her back, squinting. “I think he killed Prisha.”
****
Winston gave up after researching CeCe on Dee’s computer again. “I’ve looked CeCe up left and right.” He leaned back in the seat. “Still no record or anything suspicious.”
Connie scrolled through files at her desk. “I was hoping maybe we’d missed something the first time we checked.”
“Not having a record doesn’t mean you’re innocent.”
“True.” Connie chewed the eraser of her pencil. “He doesn’t even have a parking ticket though.”
“Think the women are blowing this out of proportion and maybe it’s like what his aunt says?” Winston swayed in the seat. “That women misunderstand him because he’s different?”
“No way. When I met him, I got the same creepy feeling these women got.” She shivered, scowling. “It reminded me of Garfield Larose.”
“I’m sorry again for what that bastard tried to do to you, Connie.”
“Thank god I could fight him off. Most women aren’t so lucky.” She stared at the computer screen. “Nothing like almost being raped and killed to remind a female cop she’s still a woman.”
“Do me a favor, don’t confront a possible suspect without backup or a partner again.”
“Deal.”
“I got an idea.” Winston leaned up, snapping his fingers. “Let’s put a tail on CeCe and that might lead to something.”
Connie dropped her pencil on her mousepad. “It’s worth a shot.”