Nobody Girl (17 page)

The first thing Delia noticed when she sat down at Locke’s computer was all the Japanese anime art. He also had one of those Chinese Zen sand gardens and a picture of Jackie Chan. He was obviously obsessed with anything Asian. She felt bad for putting Donna Lee in this situation and momentarily forgot what she was so determined to accomplish. Then her cell phone rang. It was a text message from Donna Lee.

Pswrd
short starts with s

It took a moment for Delia to realize what this meant, but then she figured out that Donna Lee must have been looking over Locke’s shoulder as he worked at his computer. She had been able to see him punch in his password and was now trying to help Delia break into the system.

Okay, short word that starts with S
, Delia thought. What were his likes and passions?
Asians, marijuana.
She typed in Szechuan.
Nothing.
Samurai.
Shinto.
Nothing.
She decided to focus on marijuana for a while. What were some nicknames for Marijuana? She typed in ‘
spliff
’ and
voilà
. How predictable.

Her phone rang again with another text from Donna Lee.

Hes
spkng
Japanese help!

She closed the phone and continued.

After a few wrong turns landed her into Locke’s Asian porn stash, Delia found a way to enter the school’s network. She quickly made her way through the system files, not knowing exactly what she was looking for. She knew she wanted to find out more about Principal Howard and C.J. Mitchell. Then something caught her attention. A red flagged file marked Jason James. What did her husband have to do with this?

Delia scanned the documents in the file, pulling out key words.
Promise Stone client
,
high paying
,
sex addiction
. Tears came to her eyes when she saw
Marital Status: inconsequential
. Was that really what the last four years of her life were? She wiped a tear from her cheek and continued searching. She had to figure out how everything was connected.

In Jason’s file, she found a document about herself.

New Teacher: Delia Clark (formerly James)

Race: Unknown

Mental: Highly intelligent, insecure,
predictable

Prognosis: Easy target

Then there were pictures of her with Donna Lee, with Jason, and through the window of her apartment.  They knew everything about her. Now she just had to figure out who ‘they’ were.

The phone rang again.
Another text.

Get out coming back.

Delia closed all the files she’d opened and tried to leave Locke’s workstation exactly as it had been.

“What happened? Why are you back so soon?” she asked when Donna Lee met her in her classroom.

“I don’t know. We were at the Black Cat and Locke had just finished his first drink when he hopped up and said he had to go. He said he forgot to do something at work so we came back.”

Delia closed the door and eyed her classroom suspiciously. She wondered if there were perhaps hidden cameras or wire taps in her classroom. If they had pictures of her in her apartment, anything was possible.

 
“Good thing too.
That guy gives me the creeps. So did you find out anything?” Donna Lee continued.

“Only that somehow Jason is involved.”

“Jason?
Your dirty dog of an ex-husband?
How is that even possible? And why are you whispering?”

“They know everything about me. They even have pictures of me in my apartment. They could be listening to us now,” she whispered while turning on her Frank Sinatra computer program to cover up their conversation. “On the school’s network there was a file on Jason. It even talked about his apparent sex addiction and about me,” Delia said once “I’ve Got You
Under
My Skin” played loudly in the background.

“Now that’s weird. I thought you were crazy at first, but there is no reason for your school to know about your husband’s sex life. And why would they have pictures of you in your apartment?”
        “
And not just me.
Pictures of me and Jason and pictures of you and me.”

“Me? Good God, Dee, what have you gotten us into?”

“I don’t know.”

He didn’t know where she came from, but she was perfect.
Short, thin, fragile looking with long brown hair that she nervously tucked behind her ears every few seconds.
She was new to the program and he could tell immediately that she would need some coercing.

He wore only a towel around his waist as he took her coat and led her to the bed. He introduced himself and hoped that the power of his name would excite her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. She began trembling with fear. He put an arm around her to comfort her.

“It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. We’re going to have such a good time tonight.” His voice was reassuring, almost parental.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she practically whimpered, which excited him even more. He had to be sure not to rush this. He wanted to enjoy her fully.

He sat there stroking her hair, whispering words of reassurance for a full ten minutes before he made his move. Slowly, he reached for her hand and placed it inside the towel between his legs. She clumsily caressed him. He was making progress. Then he unbuttoned the shirt to her school uniform and slid his hand under her bra. She jerked away and covered herself. This was going to take more work than he was used to.

He stood and secured the towel around his waist. “Okay, maybe I’m moving too fast.” He tried to hide the anger in his voice and appear nonchalant about the matter. The truth was
,
he was frustrated. He went to the fully stocked bar of the hotel room and prepared drinks for the both of them.

“What’s your poison?” he called to her from across the deluxe suite.

She shrugged. “I don’t really drink so I’m not sure.”

“No problem. I’ll mix you something sweet. Something you can’t resist.”

He made sure to add a special concoction of drugs he’d tried out a couple nights ago before handing her the drink. Then he sat a few feet away from her and made polite conversation as he waited for the medicine to take hold.

It worked quickly. This girl obviously couldn’t hold her liquor. Within moments, she had removed her sweater, shoes, and tights after complaining about how hot it was in the room. He had gotten a glimpse of her pink panties when she took off her tights and didn’t know how much longer he could wait.

“How would you like to take a bath with me? It will help you relax.”

“Okay,” she giggled.

He stood and went to the bathroom to run the water. This would work out perfectly. They would sit together naked in a warm bath, becoming more and more aroused by the touch of each other’s skin, then make love repeatedly in every room of the suite.

He slipped off his towel then walked to the bed to find her passed out. He lifted her arm and tapped her cheek, but she was out cold. This wouldn’t do. He wanted a willing participant, not this. He was too good for rape.

He sighed then reached for his cell phone. “Amanda, you’re going to need to send over a replacement.”

“Oh, God, what did she do?”

“It was probably my fault. I think I gave her too much to drink. Just get another girl over here, one with experience, to hold me over until this one comes to.”

“You got it. Someone will be there in ten minutes.”

The replacement pleasured him quickly and efficiently in the adjoining room. But it wasn’t enough. He still wanted the fresh meat that lay waiting for him in the bed. Two hours passed and the girl still hadn’t awakened.

He had another run with the replacement, gave her a few dollars for her trouble then sent her on her way. Really, he wasn’t obligated to pay the girls at all. Amanda took care of their reimbursement, something to do with educational costs, but he always gave them something extra. The money, the control he had with his money, aroused him.

He sat next to the passed out teenager on his bed, stroked her hair and whispered in her ear hoping to awaken her, but she didn’t move. 

It was getting late. He needed to get home.

He felt her pulse. It was really weak.
Too weak.
What if he had given her too much of the concoction? His pulse quickened. He couldn’t deal with a dead girl. He picked up his phone and called his bodyguard. He would know how to handle this situation discreetly.

***

At three o’clock in the morning, the phone rang. At first, Delia thought she was dreaming. Who would be calling her at three o’clock in the morning? But then again, a phone call in the middle of the night was the least of the strange things in her life recently.

“Ms. Clark?”

“Yes.”

“Can you come get me? I … I’m in trouble. I need your help.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Lena.”

Delia cringed when Lena gave
her the
address to where she was. That part of D.C. scared her to death. She didn’t even like looking at it on a map, let alone going there at three in the morning. But she had to. It was Lena.

She thought about calling Donna Lee to go with her, but she lived twenty minutes away and was a very deep sleeper. By the time she went to her apartment, woke her up, and made it down to where Lena was
,
it would be over an hour. Delia didn’t know what was going on, but from the tone in Lena’s voice she knew an hour would be too long. So, she slipped some jeans on under her nightgown, grabbed the stun gun Chase had given her and headed out.

She found Lena shivering on a street corner in Southeast D.C.  Lena had on her Saxon Arms uniform and no coat. Tears had streaked her overly made up face.

“I’m s … sorry to get you out
offff
bed this early in the
mmm
… morning, Ms. Clark.” Lena was shivering so badly she could barely speak clearly. Delia didn’t know whether the shaking came from the cold or from the fear she noted in Lena’s eyes.

“It’s all right. I’m just glad you’re okay.” She reached out and wrapped an arm around her while simultaneously locking the car door. “What are you doing out here?”

“I … I had a date … and, um, it didn’t turn out too well … and he just left me,” Lena said after a few minutes of silence.

“You had a date? Here?”