Love Lost (5 page)

A thought occurred to Jason and he reached for his cell phone. 

“Who are you calling?” his Captain inquired.

Vin answered quickly to Jason’s surprise.

“Yeah?”

“Vin, I need a favor.”

“What do you need?”

Even though they were not in a good place, Jason knew that Vin would be there for him, regardless of any fight.  Jason hoped he would be able to patch things up with his friend soon. 

“I need you to head over to The Pink Bunny and find out some information for me.  I am sending you over some info on what just went down. Just keep me in the loop.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks.”

The captain was looking a bit skeptical when Jason hung up the phone after talking to Vin. 

“Vin, as in Vincent Arroyo?”

“Yeah.  He is in narcotics now.  He was my partner until a few months ago.” 

“And he can be trusted?”

Jason frowned and added defensively, “I trust Vin with my life.  If you trust me, then trust him.”

“I hope so, Straiz. I really hope so.” 

Hours had passed by the time Jason climbed into his car, and it still smelled like Selene’s perfume.  He reached over to his phone, and sent her a text
.

She responded almost instantly.

Jason clicked to call her and she answered after 2 rings.  Her voice was soft, as though she was waking from a deep sleep.

“Can’t sleep, Detective?”

Selene was stirring feelings in him that he never thought existed.  He’d only known her a few days.  He needed to get a grip before he scared her away.

“Nope.  I’m just heading home now and wanted to see if you would like to have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“Sure.  I have to run a few errands tomorrow, so I won’t be here for most of the day.  Where do you want me to meet you?”

“Can you meet me at my place?”

There was a slight pause on both their parts.

“Selene, I just want to make up for tonight’s interruption.  I want to cook dinner for you.  I will let you handcuff me, if it will make you feel safer.”

Her laughter was contagious, even through the phone.

“Really?  I am going to hold you up to that, Jay.”

“No one has ever called me that before.”

“What?  Jay?  I’m sorry. I didn’t-“

It was Jason’s turn to laugh.  

“It’s fine.  I kinda like it.”

Jason could picture her smiling through the phone.  He loved being the reason behind what was making her smile.  He wanted to do it more often.

“I should go.  I have a lot to do tomorrow.  Can you text me the directions?”

“Sure.  Goodnight, Selene.  Sweet Dreams.”

Jason sent her a text once he parked the car in the garage. Jason felt elated knowing he was going to be seeing Selene again. Tomorrow night could not come soon enough.

Selene cradled her phone in her hands for a few minutes after she hung up with Jason. She was in bed when he had called her. She couldn’t stop smiling.  He was going to cook for her.  No one had ever done that for her.  Jason was different and she could see herself falling for him, if her life wasn’t so complicated.  But things weren’t and she needed to remind herself that she needed to remain focused.

She reached for her phone, but couldn’t dial his number.  She should cancel this dinner date, and avoid seeing Jason again.  She knew what she had to do, but again, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Her reflection in the mirror caught her attention.  She was wearing her loose shorts and a sports bra.  The scars on her stomach brought her to reality.  She remembered the horrible day she got them, and would for the rest of her life. These scars were her reason for bringing Lucio down.

She walked over to her desk in her room and grabbed the USB stick that was given to her by the barista.  She was glad that once Mimi testified about all that she endured with Lucio and all the evidence, the trial would be a slam dunk.

The laptop beeped and a screen opened up.  It contained videos.  LOTS of them.  It was copies of what   looked like security footage from different angles and all from the clubs.  Selene closed her eyes, unable to watch what she already knew happened in the clubs.  She loaded the files to her online storage account she created under a fake persona.  She needed to protect this with her life, if it came to that.

She closed her laptop and placed the stick in her purse.  She crawled into bed, and hoped she would sleep and avoid the nightmares.  She hugged her pillow and dreamed of having Jason’s arms around her as she slept.

Lucio kicked the punching bag several times before switching from kicks to full blows.  The sweat gleamed off his tan skin, and he barely noticed.  He was angry, and this meant he was deadly.   He punched the bag so hard, it hit the wall and fell down onto the floor with a thud. 

“What’s bothering you, brother?”

Lucio didn’t have to turn around to know Eddie was the one addressing him.

“What do you need, Eddie?”

Lucio didn’t want or need anything from anyone, including his brother. 

“There is someone upstairs asking for the barista.”

Lucio snickered.  “Send him down here.”

Eddie disappeared up the stairs and came back a few minutes with the gentleman, who was visibly annoyed.

“What the fuck, man?!  I didn’t ask for a tour, did I?”

Lucio liked his lack of fear, but he didn’t trust him.

“You are?”

“Vin.  You?”

“No one you need to worry about.  Your friend isn’t here.  You should leave.”

“Fine.  He owes me money and I came to collect.”

Lucio looked at Vin, trying to see if he was lying or not.  He couldn’t tell.  He showed no signs of being nervous.

“I didn’t know collection companies hired thugs like you, Vin. It seems your talents are of better use elsewhere.”

“I didn’t know that anyone cared about my business.”

Lucio picked up a weight and lifted it, ignoring Vin’s snide remark.

“I could give you a better job, but I need to know you can be trusted.  My friend will see you out.”

Vin didn’t move.

“I thought you said you had a job for me.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Vin frowned but left nonetheless. Lucio watched him leave, and reached for his cell phone.

“Rick, I need you to pick up Carina from my place.  She has somewhere to go.  Eddie will tell you where.”

Lucio smiled and resumed lifting weights.  He would soon see if this Vin character was trustworthy or not.

Selene was making breakfast when Daphne walked into the kitchen.

“How was the date with Jason?”

“It was going good until we were interrupted when he got a call from work. He’s a detective, so he will always be on call. I guess that’s something I have to get used to.”

“Something you have to get used to? Really now? Do tell,” Daphne teased.

She stuck her tongue out in response to her friend.  “He’s a sweet guy.  I like him.”

Daphne grabbed a chair and sat down, giving Selene her undivided attention.

“And here I thought I would never see this day.  Good to know I was wrong.” 

“WHOA!  Daphne is wrong about something.  Hell has frozen over!  Where is my phone?  I need to record this and post it on YouTube.” 

“Ha! Ha! I just want you to be happy, Selene. You deserve to be happy after-.”  She paused as though debating whether to go there.  “Never mind.  Every lock is being changed this morning, here and in our office, as a precaution. The exterminator will be in later so we won’t be able to be here for a few hours once he comes to spray the place.”

“Ok, sounds good to me.  I have some work to do, so I’m just going to work up here until the exterminator comes. Afterward, I’m meeting Jason at his place.”

Daphne looked at her sideways.  “His place?”

She laughed. “He’s making dinner.  That’s all.  Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Daphne responded quickly, “Hot body and he knows how to cook.  Damn.  I’d be in heaven. Or his bedroom.” 

She raised her eyebrow at her friend.

“There’s more to him than good looks, D.  I don’t know what it is
, but he’s different.  I just have this feeling about him.”

“I know what that feeling is.  It’s called HORNY!  Enjoy some hot sex with Jason.  You won’t regret it, and neither will he.  I’m almost sure about that.”

She laughed and they finished having breakfast together.

Jason rushed through the day at work, or at least it seemed that way.  He felt on edge until Selene arrived at his place.  He was prepping dinner when the doorbell rang.  She was standing at the door wearing dark blue jeans that hugged every curve, a simple red shirt, and had her hair up in a twist with a butterfly hair clip.  She was looking downright edible.  She gave him the once over and then smiled. He was wearing his faded blue jeans and one of his tight muscle shirts, which Selene was obviously appreciating by her lingering gaze.

He walked her up the stairs to his apartment and guided her
toward the kitchen. 

“Smells good!” 
she said, taking a deep sniff.

“Thanks, I hope you like it.  Family recipe.”

“If it tastes as good as it smells, I should be fine.  I can’t wait to see what you have for dessert.”

Jason stopped in the middle of the kitchen.

“What?” Selene asked.

“I’m not much of a baker.”

“AHHH.   I see your kryptonite, Superman.”

He laughed as she walked over to his fridge and pulled out strawberries, apples, chocolate dip
, and some cake mix.  She looked over at him.

“Watch me work my magic.”

“Gladly.”  Jason crossed his arms and watched her walk around his kitchen looking for what she needed. She turned up the volume on the music he was listening to.  Dancing around and humming to the music, she prepped the dessert.  Jason felt strangely comfortable watching her stand in his apartment.  It was almost like she belonged there.  It was crazy to be this attached. 
Right?
 

She placed the dipped fruit in the fridge to harden and started to mix the cake batter. When she was ready to put it in the oven, he had dinner already set on the table.  They sat and started to have dinner while the cake baked.

“Dinner looks good.  Where did you learn to cook?”  Jason poured some wine for Selene and grabbed a beer for himself.

“My mother always wanted girls, which of course meant she had only boys.  She felt that her boys were going to learn to cook and clean, since she didn’t have a girl to teach.  My father, on the other hand, was old fashioned and didn’t think it was needed. In the end, my mother won that battle.”

Selene laughed and replied, “Poor Jason.”  She pouted her lips and he was slightly distracted. 

He sipped his beer. “Not really.  I enjoy being on my own and not dependent on anyone.  I’m glad my mom taught me to be independent.  One day, some beautiful woman is going to be very lucky to have me for a husband.” 

She couldn’t miss the cocky yet playful smile on his face.  She tipped her head to the side and locked eyes with Jason. “I bet she will.”

The oven timer rang, breaking the moment
, and Selene got up to take the cake out.  She cut the cake into slices and as it cooled, she started to wash and cut the remaining strawberries.  She grabbed some ice cream from the fridge, scooped some on top of two slices, and placed some of the fruit on top to finish it. Jason cleaned up the table and as he finished washing the dishes, she removed the chocolate dipped fruit from the fridge.  He walked over to her and lifted one from the plate to her mouth.

“Ladies first?”  Jason smiled as Selene took a slow bite.  She grabbed some of the fudge from the bowl and touched his nose.

“I’m so sorry.  It was an accident,”  she replied, laughing the whole time.  She started to back into a corner as Jason stalked toward her.

“Really?  An accident?”  He grabbed her and rubbed his nose to her cheek. The chocolate fudge smeared on her face.  She laughed and tried to run, but he had her by the wrists. He didn’t let her go as he grabbed a nearby towel. He started to wipe her face.  She looked up at him
. He started to lean in to kiss her when his phone rang.  Selene looked away, disappointed, and started to clean up.  Jason grabbed his phone and walked out to the living room to answer it.

“Hello
?”

“Yo, it’s Vin.  I need your help.  I’m in a jam, can you swing by my place?”  Jason looked over at Selene, who was still cleaning in the kitchen.

“Vin, you have horrible timing.  Can this wait?”

He heard a loud commotion in the background, and then the phone died.  Jason felt like something was really wrong.

Selene walked over.  “Everything ok?” 

He gave her a look that Selene already knew what the answer was going to be.

“You have to go.  I’ll just let myself out.”

Jason stopped her.  “No.  Wait.  It won’t take me that long. He probably just locked himself out.  Just pop in a movie and relax.  I’ll be right back.  Please.”

She looked around. “One movie and then I leave.”

Jason drove like a demon
toward Vin’s place.  It was only a few miles away, but it seemed like it was taking forever.  He pulled up and he noticed the door was wide open.  He pulled out his gun from the holster and started toward the door.

“Yo! Vin. Where are you?” He walked into the apartment and Vin was standing over a woman lying still on the floor. As he got closer, he saw that she was badly beaten with two shots to the head, just like the barista. Vin had his gun out and pointed
toward the body.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jason walked over to him, and reached for the weapon.  Vin looked surprised to see him there. 

“Jason, how’d you get here so fast?  I didn’t even think you’d show up.” 

Jason knelt by the woman. He checked her vitals and confirmed she was dead. Vin walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. He offered one to Jason.  Jason was growing more and more impatient with him.

“What happened, Vin?  Why do you have a dead woman on your floor?”

Vin shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Don’t know.  She was here when I got home.”  Jason noticed a tattoo on the woman’s ankle.  It was a pink bunny.  Could she be related to his case? 

“Did you go check on the leads at the Pink Bunny?”  

Vin huffed.  “Yeah.  I went in and was talking to the bartender about Mike, like you asked.   Some guy comes out from behind the bar and drags me to the basement. Then some other guy wants to know why I was asking for him.  I lied and told him Mike owed me money.  The guy looked at me up and down, before telling me to leave.  They must have sent someone to follow me home.  I am glad I came home and not the station.”

“How did the body get here?”

“I went to the store to get some beer.”  He lift
ed the beer for emphasis.  

“They must have brought her here to see if I am a rat.  We need to keep this quiet.  I don’t know what is going on in that club, but whatever it is…it’s big.  I have an in now if I keep this quiet.” He pointed to the corpse.

Jason wanted to tell him the truth, but decided to run it by the captain instead. He placed a call to his captain and they waited for everyone to arrive.  Jason kept looking at him for a clue as to what was going on, but he seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world.

His captain arrived alone and Jason told him about what Vin had mentioned.

Kayhill walked over and asked, “Why did you go out to get beer, right after getting home?  Did you know what they were planning on doing?”

Vin frowned and replied angrily, “I came home and went to my fridge.  I was out of beer.  What are you, my PO?”

Jason grabbed his friend by the arm.

“Vin, this is serious.  We have a dead body and you sound-”

Vin rolled his eyes and pulled his arm from Jason’s grasp. “What?  You think I killed her?” 

He roughly pushed Jason away from him. 

“You have balls.  You get yourself promoted and now you think you’re better than me.   You asked me to go to that club and get info.  I am getting the info.  Thanks for having my back, bro.” 

With that said, Vin pushed Jason out of the way and walked into his house. He slammed the door behind him.

Jason tried to follow, but his captain grabbed his arm. “Stop.  He is making a mess of his life and his career.  Don’t do the same.  Go home.  I’ll take care of this.”  Jason looked back at the house and then walked away, not sure of anything anymore. 

By the time Jason got back to his apartment, he found Selene wrapped up in a blanket on his bed fast asleep.  He sat on the bed and gently touched her face.  She stirred and opened her eyes.