Luna Tick: A Sunshine Novel (5 page)

"Wanna bet?" I challenge and watch her eyes trail down my body, settling on my already rock hard cock.

"You're as bad as a teenager," she said, taking hold of it.

"So are you and that's a good thing." I grabbed her roughly and pushed her back against the wall of the shower. "Wrap your legs around me," I ordered and lifted her ass up. Her long legs snake around my waist and I lean into her, the wall giving us leverage. I slid inside swiftly. "Your pussy is still wet and hungry for my cock."

"Always," she pants, hanging onto my shoulders tightly.

I fucked her hard, greedily, taking everything she had to give. She belonged to me, and I made sure she was aware of that. I claim her body with every thrust until she's a withering mess of orgasms quaking all around me. Her legs squeeze my waist tight. Her fingernails dug into my shoulders while her pussy grips my dick like a vice. Once I've sufficiently fucked her, I gently set her down and wash her body. Another ten minutes go by before I kiss her goodbye and head out to meet Dade.

I reluctantly left my wife in the capable hands of Trish and Ronin. I know she's safe with them but leaving her without me in a town where Nick could be leaves me with a serious fucking feeling of unease. I do what I have to do because as much as I don't want to leave Sunshine's side I know I have to find him. Stop him before he kills again.

"You okay, bro?" Dade says from the passenger seat. He's been my best friend since high school and the best partner a dude could ask for. I was relieved when he not only agreed to come on this trip but insisted he come. Can't trust anyone the way I trust Dade to watch my back.

"Yeah, dude. Just worried about leaving Sunshine ya know?" I admit honestly.

"I get it, bro. Not too thrilled about having Trish here either, but you know how those two are." He looked over at me. His eyebrow raised. Trish and Sunshine are like fire and rain. Don't cross them when they're together, one will light your ass on fire with just a look while the other drowns you with her sharp tongue. Their conflicting personalities are what mesh them together and together those two women can be fierce and damn stubborn. Sunshine wasn't letting me go alone and Trish sure as hell wasn't letting Sunshine out of her sight, so here we are, one big happy family in a desert fucking town trying, once again, to stop a killer.

"Yeah, I know. Stubborn is what they are. You saw Sunny's breakdown at practice, if I left her behind, I'd be coming back a single man. Think Ronin is good keeping them safe?" I looked over at Dade, though I already knew the answer.

"You know Ronin will die himself before he ever lets anyone get to my sister or your wife. They're safe, dude. I'm happy he's the one there with them. He may not be a cop," he said, knowing what I was thinking. "But he is tough as nails and smart, Matt. You know that." He nodded his head at me, looking for agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. I just … it's just..."

"I get it, dude. I feel that too. We'll catch Nick's sorry ass then we can all move on once and for all."

"Yeah, gotta focus on the end game. Looks like we're here. Come on, let's go meet these redneck cops," I joked trying to lighten the mood.

"You realize this town is bigger than Lincoln right?" Dade challenged. "Therefore, we could be the rednecks."

"No, we're surrounded by city, man. They got nothing here for miles. They may have more people, but this town is far more desolate."

"I guess but you can't call them rednecks just yet. Let's meet them first." He laughed, leading the way. Dade's a good guy, diplomatic and accepting of almost anyone, but you fuck with him or his family you better be sure you have a will made out because he doesn't play games. I've never met someone more caring and down to earth yet a fierce fucking machine when needed.

As always, I took in my surroundings. The bordering neighborhood looked run down. The concrete was cracked on both the street and the sidewalk, but the police station looked like a new building. That was one way to fight crime, plop a station right in the middle of the ghetto. I don't care how big a town is, every town has a ghetto, and we were in the thick of Klamath Falls’ ghetto.

The station was surrounded by a ten foot chain link fence where several squad cars parked. When we entered the station, we were greeted with organized chaos. The noise level was ridiculous as people yelled back and forth to each other, papers printed, phones rang, and fingers tapped on keyboards. They were panicked, as they should be. I was actually relieved to walk into a station that was actually doing something. I didn't care about the chaos. It's better than silence in the midst of turmoil.

"Not many black men in here, dude. Should I be worried about being the only black man in a redneck police station?" Dade asked in a hushed tone, only half joking.

"No judging remember? Wasn't it you that said no judging?" I replied, slapping him on the back with a laugh.

"You know I'm always full of shit," he tried.

"And you know there were no black people in Lincoln before your family, and you were welcomed as anyone would be. Give ‘em a chance." I threw his words back at him, and in return, he shot me an eat shit look.

"Now you wanna give them a chance. You're half redneck aren't you? I fucking knew it!" He laughed at me.

"Shut up, asshole. Come on, let's go find the chief of this place."

"After you, Mr. Foxworthy." His arm extended towards the narrow walkway, encouraging me to go first.

"Pussy." I moved past him, taking the lead, hearing him chuckle behind me.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" A small, round lady with a bun secured on top of her head asked as we weaved our way through the mess of desks and officers. They must have the whole force working. Even for a town bigger than Lincoln, this is a lot of people, especially for a night shift.

"Yes, actually maybe you can. I'm Matt Everly, and this is my partner Dade Johnson. We're here from Lincoln to help out with the Luna Tick case." I extended my hand to her in greeting which she quickly shook before leading us towards the back of the station and into what looked like an interrogation room. "The chief will be right in," she said before shutting the door.

"Nice lady," I said trying to sound like I believed it.

"Yeah, you keep feeding yourself that bullshit." Dade stood with his arms folded across his chest, obviously on guard.

"She was a little crass. I’ll admit it."

"I got a bad feeling about this, Matt. Something isn't right here." Dade ran a hand across his nearly bald head. I would have flicked him shit about being paranoid but one thing Dade was never wrong about–his instinct. I learned a long time ago to listen when he said those words.

"Yeah, I can see that. I don't feel super comfortable here either, but we came here for one thing and one thing only. Catch Nick. We don't give a fuck what other issues this place has. We catch Nick then we go home. Okay?"

"Yeah, you're right." He hung his arms down, shaking them out trying to relax a bit.

After what seemed like forever, a large, bald white man with a 1970’s Magnum PI mustache walked in. "Hello, gentlemen. Thanks for coming down to lend a hand. I'm Chief White, and this is Officer Lonnie Shaw." He introduced them to Dade and I while both men reached out their hands. "Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Matt, and this is Dade. We're happy to help." I smiled at him as did Dade before we all took a seat around the small round table.

"So, what can you tell us about his guy?" I started, wanting to waste no time.

"I don't know where to start. Honestly, we've never seen anything like this," Chief White admitted while Lonnie shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Let's start with the first murder. When did it happen?" Dade asked, pulling out his notepad and pen. He was big on note taking. I was big on listening. I was good at retaining shit but it was nice to have Dade to write it all down, just in case.

"Well, the first body was discovered a few years ago. We closed the case chalking it up to someone passing through. But more recently, in the last two years, we've found seven bodies. Three of them in the last six months."

"Have you alerted the FBI? Or a larger crime unit?" Dade asked, I'm sure wondering how the hell that many murders happened without anyone raising an eyebrow. I know I was wondering the same damn thing.

"No, we thought we could handle it. It wasn't until a reporter got wind of the murders that we realized this is maybe beyond our capabilities. I was actually going to put a call into the FBI when you called, Matt. I thought I'd hear what you boys had to say before we do that." He admitted and looked down, clearly somewhat ashamed for allowing things to go on this long. "Until we find the son of a bitch, we've enacted a citywide curfew."

"Where are the bodies being found?" I asked, pushing past the fact that he hadn't called in for help or reported the murders to the FBI when he should have. I glanced over at Dade who looked less than thrilled but kept writing.

"Mostly out towards Lake of the Woods. He doesn't leave the bodies in the campground directly, but in the forest that surrounds it. One was found on the side of the road heading south out of town. That was one of the more obvious places this psycho has dumped his victims."

"What do the victims look like when you find them? Is he leaving his mark on them?" We knew the answers from the reports, but wanted him to confirm them.

"What do you mean mark?" Lonnie, the nervous officer, asked.

Dade spoke up, "Well, our guy used to bleach the women from head to toe, inside and out. That's why he was called The Bleach Killer. Most serial killers leave a mark or something. It's like bragging rights."

"Oh, well he burns them. Not deep burns, just the first layer of skin and their hair. He burns all of their hair off. It appears he also burns their genitalia," he explained in horror, and I felt bad for the man. He was clearly not a cop that was in it to chase the bad guys. I guessed he spent most of his days behind a desk doing the paperwork all the other officers didn't want to do.

"We've discovered he only kills when there's a full moon. That's why he's called the Luna Tick Killer."

Dade and I look at each other, both knowing what the other is thinking. This is definitely Nick applying Joe's tricks. He's replaced bleach with fire and found his own little niche–a full moon. We continue asking questions, they continue to answer and we're left with very little to go on. A man targeting drug addicted women who he kills on a full moon, then burns away any DNA. There are no eyewitness and no leads. Fucking perfect.

"I think that's all we need for tonight, guys. Thanks so much for all the information. Can I count on one of your men showing us the crime scenes tomorrow?" I ask, ready to get the hell out of there. The small room seems to be getting smaller and the air is growing thicker.

"Absolutely. Thank you both for coming. We really would like to find this guy before the FBI shows up."

"We will do our best to help you." Dade reaches out to shake their hands again. We say our thanks then make a quick exit. Once we're in the car, Dade lets out a big puff of air.

"Motherfucker, it’s him. I mean I know we suspected it, but now we know. It's fucking Nick! Jesus, Matt, this town is fucking small. How hard can it be to find him? We have to find him before he finds out we're here."

"Yeah, it's Nick and yes, we gotta find that son of a bitch and we will. Let's go get the others then drive around town, and see if we notice anything suspicious."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

***

After exploring as much of the town as possible before exhaustion took over, we all parted ways back at the hotel. Dade and I had plans to head into the police station early. We wanted a good night's sleep, and I wanted to be in the arms of my wife.

"Alone again, finally," I said pulling her close to me. She smelled like berries and cold air. Burying my face in the crook of her neck, I inhaled deeply, allowing her scent to intoxicate me. Her arms held me close to her. As always, she knows exactly what I need–her.

"You're my sanity, you know that?" I pull away to look into her emerald eyes. Those eyes have always held me captive. When she was a teenager, they were playful and mischievous, always keeping me on my toes. When she became a mother, they were soft and caring. Then I fucked up and took the beauty and love out of them, replacing the beauty I'd always loved with hurt and hatred. Sunshine and I worked hard over the years to get back what we had, and I will die before I ever see that pain in her green eyes again. Tonight, as I look into them, I see understanding. I see a hint of fear. Mostly, I see my love reflected in her eyes.

"This isn't going to be easy, babe. This town is small and Nick is out of his mind. If he finds out we're here, he is going to come for us, for you."

"Then you better find his ass fast, huh?" she challenged.

"I'll try my best, babe. There's only so many places he can hide but I will be able to do my job more efficiently if I know you're safe."

"Matt, I promise I'll be okay."

"Promise when I'm not around you stay with Trish and Ronin. Buddy system. You three always stay together okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Sunny, promise me. Please," I begged, my heart constricting at the thought of anything happening to her.