Love Lost (7 page)

“I can’t say.”

Jason stood up and grabbed her by the arm.

“Someone is threatening you and murdered your friend, thinking it was you.  Who are you protecting?”

Selene looked up at Jason, teary eyed.

“I am protecting a victim.  Don’t you think I know Daphne was killed because of me?  I lost my best friend…”  Jason hugged her tightly as she cried.  Guilt washed over him for mentioning Daphne’s death.

Vin stood up and headed toward the door. 

“Look, to be on the safe side, I would have her stay here until we can find anything that will lead us to the shooter.  I need to get back to work.  Do you need anything else from me?”

Jason shook his head and thanked his friend before he left.  Selene was sitting on the couch, her knees pressed tightly against her chest.  Jason sat next to her and started to caress her back.

“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.  Look, you can stay here as long as you like.  If you need anything from your apartment, I’ll go pick it up, or I can have Vin pick it up for you.” 

She just nodded her head and leaned
toward him.  He sat there with her until she fell asleep.  He covered her and walked to his bedroom.  He called his captain.

“Sir, I need to take a few days off.  Something came up and I need to take care of it
,”  he told the captain about what happened at Selene’s building. 

“I will be heading up to my parent’s house for a few days to let her get her head together.” 

“That’s fine, Straiz.  I know how to reach you if I need you.”

After he hung up with his captain, he called Vin.  Vin would pick them up and they would all go to Selene’s to pick up some clothes.  He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.  As he looked at his phone, he had to make the most difficult call of all.  Having to tell his mother he was bringing a girl home was the most dangerous move in his life. 

Eddie tossed an envelope onto Lucio’s lap as he walked into the club.  The club hadn’t opened yet, so they were by themselves at the bar.  Rick poured a shot of Patron for Eddie, who gulped it down faster than you could blink.  Eddie usually enjoyed his drinks, so this was strange to see.

Lucio opened the envelope, and pulled out a stack of pictures.  He saw Selene and then he saw him.  A man making her laugh, and he had his arm around her.  He gripped the photo hard.

“Who the HELL is this?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders. 

“He’s a cop.  I’m working on getting more info-”

Lucio grabbed the bottle closest to him and smashed it against the counter. 

“WHY IS HE WITH HER?”

“Lucio, you need to calm down.”

Eddie approached him cautiously. Lucio still gripped the photo in his hand. 

“Does he only see her for coffee?”
he managed to ask without screaming.

“No.”

Lucio met his brother’s eyes.

“What do you mean, no?”

“I went to her apartment last night to grab the USB stick like you asked.  I made a copy of the new keys for the locks I installed.  I went in thinking I could grab her, too, while I was there.  She never came home, Lucio.”

“She may have come home late.”

“Lucio, I overheard the cops talking.  He took her to his house.  She stayed with him.”

Lucio gripped the bar counter hard.

“Find out where he lives,  who his family is, and who he is friends with.”

“I’m on it.”

Eddie left the club, and Rick looked at his boss.

“They are waiting for you in the back.”

Lucio looked up and grabbed his blazer before walking to the back.  He opened the back door and a large van was running.  The door opened and a young girl, not older than twelve, was sitting in the back.  She was bound, gagged, and pleading for help.

A small man approached him, holding out his hand.

“I am-”

Lucio waved him off.

“I don’t care who you are.  Did you wire the money?”

“Yes. One million is already there.”

Lucio looked on his phone to confirm the transfer.  Once satisfied, he returned his attention to the man in front of him.

“Good.  Take her and leave.”

The man jumped in the back and proceeded to shut the door as the girl screamed in the back.  The van took off and Lucio knew the girl would be found in a few days.  Raped and beheaded by the river.  The man’s victims were always found that way.  As long as they paid, he could care less what they did with the merchandise.

He walked over to the door of the club, debating what to do next with Selene.  He was angry with her and desired nothing more than to see her dead.  Yet, another part of him still wanted her by his side.  He was still going to make her suffer.  A thought occurred to him and made him smile.  He would let her be with this cop.  He would even let her fall in love with him.  When she did, he would take it all away from her.  He couldn’t wait to watch her break down and beg him, as she did before.  She was going to be his again.

When Jason told her they were going to his parent’s house for a few days, Selene thought he was joking.   When he drove her to her building to pick up some clothes, she realized he wasn’t kidding. The entrance was boarded up and taped off with yellow police tape.  She shuddered at the memory as she felt Jason close behind her.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.  I’m fine.”

“Is there another way in?”

“Behind the building, through the fire escape.”

Vin led them to the back of the building as Jason stayed behind them. As they reached the back, Vin reached up and grabbed the fire escape ladder.  He yanked it down, and started up the stairs.  Selene looked up and saw her window open.  Her blood froze.  

“Vin, WAIT!” 

Vin looked down at Selene.  “What?”

“My window’s open.”

“Good.  It’s easier for me to climb in.  I don’t have to break it.”

She looked at Jason. 

“I never keep my window open.  I lock them shut.”

“Are you sure?  Maybe you forgot.”

“Jason, I’m sure.”

Jason looked at Vin, who was already climbing down the ladder.

“We need to see if someone is up there before we can go in there.”

Vin and Jason both looked at Selene.

“Don’t give me that look.  I’m going with you.  You need the alarm-” 

An idea suddenly popped into her head, and she reached into her purse to pull out her cell phone as Vin tried to stop her.

“Um, you don’t have to call the cops.  We’re it!”

Selene gave Vin a look that was equal to a few choice words.

“Daphne had a new alarm system setup.  We have video surveillance now and I should be able to access a live feed from my phone. Here
, I got it.”  

Jason and Vin surrounded her to watch the video.  It gave her snapshots of every room in the apartment. It was a shock to see her things thrown about.  Someone had ransacked her apartment, but whoever did it was long gone.

“No one is there,”  Vin said as he started to climb up the ladder again.

Selene was about to follow him, when Jason pulled her back. 

“Whatever they want from you, they are willing to kill for it.  What are you working on, Selene?” 

“Jason, I can’t tell you.  A life depends on it.  I just can’t risk it.”

Jason remained quiet and she waited to see if he would let it go.

“We are not done talking about this.” 

With that said, he pointed toward the ladder and they made their way up to her apartment.  Vin was already inside, with his gun out.

“It’s all clear.”

Selene looked around to find everything she owned, along with Daphne’s things, thrown if not broken.  They were looking for something.  She walked toward her bedroom.  Jason started to follow her.

“I need a few minutes.  I need to pack some clothes, and other things I would rather not have you see.”

Jason raised his eyebrow at her.

“Like what?”

She went to the bathroom, and came back to throw something at him.  He looked down at a pack of tampons. 

“Would you like to see some more lady things like that?”

“Nope. Got it.  I will be out here with Vin.  Do you want us to call this in?”

“No.  I don’t need more police tape in here.”

He kissed her forehead and handed her back the tampons.

“We will start to clean up out there while you get what you need in here.”

She gave him a weak smile before closing the door behind her.  She needed to act fast.  She grabbed her travel bag and went to the hidden drawer under her bed.  She grabbed the file on Lucio and the gun Daphne had given her.  She put the gun in her purse and the file in the travel bag.  She grabbed some clothes and toiletries before heading out to the living room.  They were still rummaging through the mess.

“I can call our cleaning service to clean this up.  We use them often enough that they know where everything goes.”

Vin gave Jason a look that Selene couldn’t read.  Jason responded.  “Are you sure you don’t want to call this in?”

“I’m sure.  Nothing was stolen.”

He seemed to want to say more, but didn’t.

“Ok, let’s go.  You can call your cleaning service from the car.”

Vin reached for her travel bag, but she pulled back quickly. 

“I got it.  It’s not heavy.”

Vin snorted.  “Worried I might go through your thongs? Or worse, find your sex toys?”

Selene felt herself getting angry.

“You know, for someone that is supposed to be such a ladies man, I can’t imagine any woman wanting to do anything to you besides smack the shit out of you.”

She walked out of the apartment and headed for the elevators, leaving both men stunned.

The car ride over to his parents was uncomfortably quiet.  Selene was sitting in the back seat when they reached the car.  She was clearly upset, but refused to say anything.  Jason had tried to make small talk, but nothing worked.  Vin was fuming in his own seat, more over how Selene spoke to him.  No one ever spoke to him that way.  This was going to be one heck of a weekend.

Jason pulled up to the driveway and Selene leaned forward to look.  His parent’s house was at least 3 floors with a roundabout where cars drove up to drop people off at the entrance of the home.  As Jason parked his car in the driveway, Selene could see a huge lake behind it along with a long stretch of land. The view was breathtaking. She climbed out as Vin walked
toward the house.  Jason walked over to her and reached in the car to grab her bag.

“I got it, Jason.”

Jason threw his hands up in defense and backed away.  She grabbed the bag and waited for him.  She seemed nervous, but still angry.  He needed to set her at ease.

“Hey, about Vin
:  He likes to play around a lot, but he didn’t mean anything by it.”

“He just seems pushy.  I knew someone like that once, and I try to avoid men like that. I think I avoid men in general.”

“Oh, really?” 

He faked a hurt expression.  She laughed and pushed him slightly. 

“I can’t explain you, Jay.  You just seem different; in a good way, though.”

He pulled her close and put his arm around her. 

“I get it.”

They walked slowly to the front door and two men stood at the doorway.  Jason rushed forward, and put one of them in a headlock.  He quickly got out of it, and threw a light punch to Jason’s stomach.  The other man just stood there and laughed.  A feminine, yet commanding voice interrupted their rough housing.

“Come on now, boys.  I thought you outgrew the fighting stage.”

A beautiful woman stood in the door frame.  She had dark brown hair that was curled in delicate waves, half was pinned back elegantly.  She smiled and Selene recognized the smile immediately.

Jason ran over and hugged the woman, leaving a few kisses on her check.  He walked back to Selene and grabbed her hand.

“Selene, this is my mother.  Those two goofballs over there are my brothers, Julian and Jesse.”

His mother came over and pulled her into a hug. 

“Call me Maribel.”

The man Jason put in a headlock walked forward first.  He was taller than Jason, and looked like he could bench press 200 lbs easily.

“I’m Jesse, his younger brother.  Jason likes to show off a bit, but I can take him anytime.”

Julian approached her next. 

“Sure you can, little brother.  I’m Julian, the oldest, smartest, and unfortunate witness to these two and their shenanigans.”

Selene was ushered into the house, with everyone at her heel.  Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs.

“I am going to show her to her room.  She needs to rest before dinner.”

Before they could say another word in protest, Jason shot up the stairs with Selene in tow.  He walked into one of the rooms, and closed the door behind him.  He set down his bags, and sat on the bed.

She put her bag down, but stood close to it.  He needed her to trust him, but he quickly realized that it needed to be at her pace.  He got up and walked toward the closet.  He opened the door and showed her a safe on the floor.  The keys were hanging from the lock on the safe.

“Whatever you have in that bag means something to you, so you should put it in the safe.  Those are the only keys to the safe, so you can trust that no one will go in there.” 

Selene looked at her bag and flicked nervously on a loose string. 

“Jason, I know you mean well, but I just can’t afford to risk losing this case.”

He leaned against the door frame.

“Sel, I can’t tell you what to do, and I never plan to either.  You need to trust someone, but it will be when you are ready.  Whatever you went through has taken a toll on you, but I can’t help you unless you talk to me.”

When Selene remained silent, Jason nodded and started to leave the room.

“Dinner is around 7, so you have a few hours to relax.”

Jason picked up his bags and left the room.  He walked down the hall and settled into his old room.  He reached into the closet and pulled out some basketball shorts and a jersey.  He threw them on and walked out of the room.  As he was about to go out to the backyard to jog by the lake, his mother stopped him.

“Jason Alexander.”

Crap!  

“Mom.” 

He smiled at her with the hope she wouldn’t ask.  His smile usually worked like a get out of jail free card, but the look on his mother’s face told him he was SOL.

“Your father will be home soon, so do you want to tell me what is going on
?  You called to tell me you were coming home with Vincent, and that you were also bringing a friend.”

“Mom, I just met her.  Her friend was killed at a shooting in her building and it might have been meant for her.  I needed to bring her to a safe place, and I thought of home.”

“You don’t look at her like you’re just friends.”

Jason smiled again, unable to argue with his mother.

“Mom, you are the only woman who has my heart. For now.”

She swatted him with a towel, and he ran out to start his run.  His brothers were outside, hanging out with Vin on the deck. Jason signaled to Vin to keep an eye on Selene, and took off in a quick jog.  He found his path and kept in a steady speed.  He was torn about Selene.  They just met and she was obviously caught in a case that involved more than what she was saying.

He was getting a bad feeling and it was only going to get worse.