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Fiona Sapiro dialed her girlfriend’s number again, and then, she called the precinct. Sophie Andrews had left work six hours ago, and there were no pending cases needing her attention. That was unusual. In the beginning, Sophie had often neglected to call Fiona. They had talked about it extensively, ironing out all those little details a long time ago. They both agreed to text if unexpected events delayed them. She sat down on her sofa, staring at the wall across from her and drifting to the dark dungeons of her mind. What if a criminal that Sophie had previously apprehended had returned and gone after her? Revenge was as powerful as hate, with roots that ran deep. She felt revenge creeping in when she killed Phil’s mother. That was the only time Fiona had lost it and let her feelings interfere in her work. She did not care if she was killed, so long as Sophie was saved. She got up and grabbed her gym bag. She had to blow off some steam before she created havoc at Sophie’s precinct. Fiona had promised to stay away from her work place, and she kept her promise. She called her girlfriend a few more times, to no avail. Her voice mail persisted, so she did not have a choice. She would travel to Queens and talk to the other detectives. “Fuck the gym for now,” she whispered as she let her gym bag go from her hand. Some promises were meant to be broken. This was serious. She felt it in her gut, and it was destroying her. Her mind wasn’t co-operating either and panic, dark and devious, was spreading. Only the day before, she had been happy. She felt as though she could touch the deep blues of the sky when Sophie said yes. They were in bed, and Fiona’s arms were holding Sophie like a precious doll when the words escaped her lips.
“I want to marry you.”
“Are you serious? Do you want to talk about it?” Sophie’s voice was even, almost emotionless. Was she afraid of commitment?
“What’s there to talk about? I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Fiona’s tone was a bit tense. She was terrified of what the answer might be.
“Yes.”
“Yes, you’ll marry me?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Fiona realized that what she feared most had happened. She was in love with a police detective, and her emotions were implanted and stretched into her whole being. She was full of Sophie’s essence, and she could sense her girlfriend’s distress, unhappiness, and melancholy. Was that just her imagination? No, it wasn’t. Sophie was in trouble and she had to do something ... anything.
When she met Mark Davidson, the captain of the precinct, her mood was already dark. “We can’t trace her phone. It’s off the grid,” he muttered, but Fiona heard every word that came out of his mouth. Now her mind was frantic and confused. No, no, no! She was sliding into a big hole, and she wanted to disappear. This despair was new, and it felt like death. “We are going to find her,” he continued with confidence. She sat on the chair across from Mark, urgently trying to pull herself together.
“We located her car,” a tall police officer announced as he entered the inner office. “We traced her badge.” Fiona looked up, her eyes filled with hope and light. That was the jolt she needed to regain what she lacked: courage to face whatever life had in store for her. The captain got up and she followed. She drove to the scene, her heart pounding. Sophie’s car was parallel parked between two other cars in an industrial area of Queens close to the 59th Street bridge. There were short buildings on both sides of the street that were just a couple stories high and vandalized with graffiti. She stepped out of the cruiser and approached Sophie’s car. When she saw the blood, her whole world collapsed.
A few police officers held her back as the tears flowed down her face and landed on her lips. There was blood, not a lot, just a few droplets on the steering wheel. Sophie was hurting, and Fiona was incapable of helping her. She saw the CSI van approaching and moved towards it.
“Sam, please,” she pleaded and took his hands in hers.
“Fiona, I got this. If anything is left in the car, I’ll find it. I promise.”
She stayed away, observing Sam’s team working on Sophie’s car while her dark thoughts consumed her. She could not stay still, fearing the news that might come. She had to do something, anything, to erase the thoughts that repeatedly crossed her mind. She talked to the captain and then drove away as fast as possible, heading back to the precinct. She sat on Sophie’s chair, gazing at the messy desk and trying to figure out what she was working on. She picked up the top manila folder up and read the contents. There was nothing enlightening in the file. It was a cold case, and Sophie’s notes indicated a dead end. The last few months had been quiet, and her girlfriend had not mentioned anything pending in her workload. Fiona let her gaze rest on the mini Christmas tree she had purchased for Sophie, recalling their last Christmas when she had traveled upstate to bring her home. It was the best holiday she had ever shared with anyone, and she was looking forward to this year’s holiday. Who had taken her? Why had they taken her?
The sound of a new email brought her back, and she looked at the screen. It was an email from the IT department informing her of new security patches to the system. She closed the email and scanned the others in Sophie’s inbox. She opened the one right below the IT message, and her heart dropped. Sophie was meeting another woman, someone she had never heard about before. She would have remembered the name Josette Givens. There wasn’t any suspicious interaction between the two women. Fiona read their four previous messages, knowing she was invading her girlfriend’s privacy, but she had to know ... Who was Josette, and why were they meeting? An idea was taking shape in Fiona’s head, and she wanted to deny it. Could her girlfriend, the one who said yes to her proposal, be having an affair? The mere thought of it made her sick to her stomach.
She ran to the bathroom, and after emptying the contents of her stomach in a toilet bowl, she rinsed her mouth. She observed her white, ghost-like face in the mirror for a second, then erased her thoughts. First, she had to find Sophie, and then, she could ask the questions. When she returned to Sophie’s desk, the captain was standing in front of it.
“We have a development.” A dread washed over her, one so big and dark that it made her own existence unimportant. “Did Sophie ever tell you that she was almost kidnapped by someone who had obsessed over her many years ago?”
“No. She never mentioned that to me.”
“The woman is out on parole, and she has gone missing. She never reported to her halfway house or her parole officer. We strongly believe she may have abducted Sophie.”
“We have to find her.”
“We will. You should go home and rest. We’re going to need you.”
“Not before you give me the woman’s name ....”
Fiona exited the precinct holding a crushed piece of paper with a name written on it. She would use everything at her disposal to locate the woman behind Sophie’s disappearance, and when she did, she would make it her personal business to destroy the woman. Fiona drove to the city and parked her car. She sat there for a while, strategizing and utilizing all her mental capacities to figure out how she might find Josette Givens. When she walked into the crisp night air, a plan had been formed, and she was certain she would find Sophie ... She only hoped she would not be too late!
Also by Maria Siopis:
The world where the straights are hated for hundreds of years is about to turn for the worse, and shatter to pieces. The involvement of Eliza X, a police officer, in the killing of a straight, Jeffrey Antinoro, becomes the singular event and the catalyst that sends humanity into a tailspin. A revolution erupts and Eliza is the sole cause of it. Nevertheless, her journey forces her to rediscover herself and find love in the arms of her professor Linda Pelc. Together they’ll try to redefine the human capacity of acceptance and denounce a world that is full of lies, deception and hatred. Are they going to save the straights or are the forces that seek their demise stronger? Who is going to be victorious when the revolution erupts between the gays and straights? Is the fiber of humanity saved at last or will the dark powers of prejudice and hate prevail?
Rachael O’Connor is a repeat offender in the mortal realm, and no matter how hard she tries she never accomplishes her goal of crossing the divine end. She is sent to different eras to correct her sinister and cruel human behavior. Nevertheless, she now finds herself in the same predicament as many other times before, in front of a divine judge who scrutinizes her human behavior. Her proclamation of innocence is dismissed, resulting in yet another journey to another era. Is she going to learn this time what constitutes a decent human being, or is she destined to commit the same sins with Elizabeth who seems to be part of all her previous lives? This time may just be different in the open ocean on board a pirate ship.
Danielle, a New York media executive and owner, Melina, a Greek singer, and Vickie, a flight attendant, will unexpectedly meet, and their lives will change forever. Danielle believes that the island of Santorini is the perfect getaway and where she hopes to find tranquility. All elements are there to grant her wish, the vastness of the Aegean Sea stretches in front of her for miles, and the rented villa is luxurious and minutes from the town of Oia where the most stunning sunsets occur, and where exquisite white homes with blue domed roofs climbing the mountainside. What she doesn’t expect is to lose her serenity within hours of arrival to the island. Nevertheless, she completely surrenders herself when she meets Melina who threatens to destroy her inane beliefs about love. Melina is curious about Danielle, the intriguing woman she meets backstage after her concert, but she keeps her distance. Her life is settled, she has a fiancé she adores, and a career that’s taking off. That’s her destiny, yet, a brief moment, a tiny nanosecond changed everything. Her path is crossed, and she is too late to change course. She collides with her destiny, the perfect mate who is right in front of her. Can she make a choice that is truthful to her heart or is she going to allow accusations and lies destroy her better judgment? Vickie stands between the two lovers claiming Melina’s heart when the dark secrets and lies are exposed. Is Melina going to give in to the gorgeous flight attendant or will her heart be taken by Danielle? In a moment of hurt and disbelief Melina takes the wrong path. Yet, music cures broken hearts, music mends broken souls. Or so Melina believes.
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