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Chapter
7: A Kiss Divine
It took
a little less than ten minutes for Jake and Sara to reach the Plaza Hotel where
the second murder had taken place. Anastasia was already standing guard at the
door, her face pale white as she stood with her arms cross over her chest, her
body rocking back and forth.
“You,”
Sara said, pointing to Jake, “take her away from here and start questioning
her. I’ll check out the crime scene.”
Jake
nodded, not questioning Sara, and gently nudged Anastasia away from her post at
the door. Sara, on the other hand, went into the forth floor hotel room and
began her initial investigation of the crime scene. Scanning the room, she found
the dead man lying near the window, his head severed from his body. She knew she
was now dealing with a serial killer; there was no doubt about it.
Jake
slipped into the room as Sara continued to stare at the dead body. He tapped her
shoulder and she nearly jumped. “Shit, McCarty,” she yelled, turning towards
him.
“Sorry,
Pez,” he replied, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“So,
what did you find out from Anastasia?”
“Well,
a maid found the body when she was getting ready to clean the room. She called
Anastasia. Anastasia then called you,” Jake explained.
“What
was the guy’s name?”
“Leonard
Smith. Everybody called him Lee. Anastasia also says that you shouldn’t
confuse him with Darren’s bassist, Lee Novak. Um… He didn’t have very many
friends. Like Ryan, he was also a loner. Seems like we have a killer who knows
the people he’s killing. Maybe someone on the crew or the security staff,”
he summed up, starting to walk around the crime scene.
“But
with this murder, he might have left a little more evidence than before,” Sara
said as she stared at the body.
“What
do you mean?”
“Well,
the hotel has surveillance cameras on every floor by the elevator and stairs. We
could take a look through the tapes from today and yesterday, and weed out the
suspects.”
“Good
idea, Pez. I’ll go down and get them now.”
Sara
nodded, her eyes never moving from the body as she examined it. As she moved a
little closer to it, she caught something shimmering through the corner of her
eye. Moving her head in the direction of the light, she found something in the
corner of room. Taking out her gloves and a pair of tweezers, she bent down and
extracted the little piece of metal from the carpet. It was almost golden in
color, but a bit too dark. ‘Bronze maybe,’ she thought.
“McCarty,
get me an evidence bag!” Sara called as she got to her feet again. “I think
he left more evidence than we expected.”
*~*~*
Nearly
four hours later, Sara was back at the precinct, videos and the tiny piece of
metal in hand. Her first stop was Vicky’s office to get the metal examined,
then back upstairs to start watching the surveillance videos from the hotel. It
was going to be a long night for both her and Jake.
“Vic!”
Sara called as she entered the morgue.
“What,
Pez? I thought you were still pissed at me about earlier to day,” Vicky
replied from her desk as she stared down at the manila folder in front of her.
“Now
why would I still be pissed about that?” Sara retorted as she threw the piece
of metal onto her desk. “I need you to analyze that and get me the results
ASAP.”
“Is
this from the other decapitated guy that they brought in earlier?”
“Yep.
I’ll see you later,” Sara said, quickly exiting before she had to answer any
more questions. She was still a little angered by the fact that Vicky had
spilled almost everything about last night to Jake. At least no one else had
found out, otherwise she would have taken hell from everyone that entire day.
“McCarty,
hope you got a VCR in there. We need to get this finished by tomorrow,” Sara
yelled as she walked to her office. She pushed the half open door and stepped
inside to find someone sitting on her chair, back turned towards the window.
“How many times have I told you to stay out of my chair?” she asked,
thinking it was Jake.
“I’m
sorry, I didn’t know,” came the Aussie accent from behind it.
A
puzzled look came over Sara’s face as the chair turned to reveal Darren
sitting in it, his arms holding a bouquet of nearly two dozen red roses. Her jaw
nearly dropped as he stood up and handed them to her. “I know I’m a little
early, but I couldn’t wait until seven to see you,” he said.
“Darren,
you… you… you really didn’t have to,” Sara stuttered, taking the roses
and taking a whiff of their intoxicating aroma. A smile crept onto her face as
she gazed into his deep sapphire eyes.
“Has
anyone ever told you how beautiful you look when you smile?” Darren asked as
his hand slowly made its way to her cheek, caressing it gently with his thumb.
Sara blushed. Darren grinned. “You’ve been on my mind all day, and it
didn’t appear that you would leave until I actually saw you.”
“Stop
making me blush,” Sara retorted, unable to wipe the smile off her face even if
she tried. She put the flowers down on her desk.
“I’m
not even trying,” he replied. She laughed lightly. “But there’s another
reason why I’m here.”
“And
that is?” Sara asked, noticing the gleam in his eyes.
“This,”
Darren answered, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in for a
kiss deeper than any she had ever experienced.
At first
Sara was surprised, almost wanting to pull away and slap him, but soon she
closed her eyes, her body telling her that this was right and that she
shouldn’t be afraid. She laced her fingers in his hair, keeping Darren in her
grasp as their tongues entwined. His hands gently made their way beneath her
shirt. She could feel the delicate touch of his fingers on her skin, the desire
to experience more burning deep within her soul.
Sara
didn’t dare pull away fearing that if she did, she’d lose Darren. This kiss
was the kind she had waited for all her life. It was perfect in every way,
sensual, and downright exciting. Her heart was pounding as her lungs burned for
air. Finally, she pulled away, breathless and dizzy. Stepping back with an
uneasy foot, she nearly tripped, but his hold prevented her from going anywhere.
As she dangled limply in his arms, she gazed up into those sapphire eyes, their
mesmerizing sheen urging her to kiss him again. Pulling herself back to his
lips, he kept her away by whispering into her ear, “Maybe we should save this
for later.”
Sara
turned around to find Jake and almost every cop in the homicide division staring
at them, their jaws dropped, their eyes almost popping out of their heads. She
pulled herself out of Darren’s grasp and walked over to the door. “There’s
nothing to see here. Go back to work!” she yelled at them. They started to
scatter, all except for Jake. He stayed at the door, still dumbfounded by the
sudden turn of events. “I wasn’t just talking to them. You too,” Sara said
as she pushed him out the door and closed it behind him. Walking back to Darren,
she added, “There’s never any privacy around here.”
“It’s
the same way on the tour bus,” Darren replied. “So, shall we continue?”
Sara
desperately wanted to explore another kiss, but her mind told her not to. “Not
until you tell me why you did that,” she answered, still standing beside the
closed door.
“Because
it’s been on my mind since I woke up this morning. I’ve been having these
dreams, and somehow, they’re all coming true. Like last night, I dreamed that
I was kissing this beautiful woman in a garden by a fountain. And here I am
today, kissing you in your office in front of all your coworkers. Does that make
any sense to you?” he desperately tried to explain.
“Actually,
it does,” Sara replied, looking down as she remembered her own dream. “The
same thing is happening to me. Same dream too.”
Darren
looked up at her sharply. He was beginning to put things together in his mind.
The connections were so clear to him now. He knew what was happening, and the
thought almost scared him out of his mind, but something deep inside told him
not to be afraid. Everything was going just the way it was supposed to.
Sara was
also coming to her own conclusions. She knew that Darren was someone from her
past, and was actually willing to bet that they had probably been lovers in a
previous lifetime, but wasn’t ready to say anything just yet. She had to make
sure that he was “the one,” and there was only one person in the world that
could possibly confirm her theory.
“Then
I’m not the only one?” Darren asked. “Then there is something deeper
between us than just physical attraction?”
“Maybe,”
Sara quietly responded, her mind still trying to process everything. She looked
up at him, her eyes catching his. They stared at each other for a couple of
moments before breaking their gaze. She turned towards the door and began to
open it.
“Where
are you going?” Darren asked in what seemed more like a whine.
“Don’t
worry, I’ll be back. How about I meet you later on tonight at your hotel?”
she suggested.
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