Tainted Pictures (18 page)

           He opened his jacket and pulled her into him, wrapping it around her to keep her warm and they kissed again.  She wrapped her arms around his warm body and pressed herself as close to him as she could, wanting to feel every bit of him.  It wasn’t long before she felt him pressing against her pelvis and she smiled as she kissed him, knowing what he was thinking.  

           Derrick became more passionate with each passing second as he thought of how eager he was to have this woman in front of him be his wife. He knew that he would never be content with anyone else and she was all he ever wanted.  He turned them around and pressed her back up against the ships railing, pressing further into her.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with the same ferocity.  Her leg slipped up the side of his, clutching against his thigh and tucked around behind him as she steeled herself against him.  

           Derrick looked up and glanced around, there were no windows pointed towards the front from the inside so no one inside the cabin could see them.  However, there were people roaming the decks further down on each side.  He thought about it for a second and then decided it didn’t matter, he would just try to be discreet.  He wrapped his coat around either side of Kate, completely covering her body from view and yanked at the knot that held her dress closed, allowing it to fall open and expose herself to him.  

           Knowing what was going to happen, Kate eagerly unbuttoned his pants and he sprung out eagerly, ready for action.  With one hand below her bum, he picked her up so she was sitting on one of the higher railings which lined her short frame up with his tall body, her one leg dangled towards the ground and the other was underneath his coat wrapped around his back.  

           She popped the collar of his coat up which partially hid their faces from view as they devoured each others’ lips and Derrick pressed against her.  He didn’t go further and she groaned, complaining, since all she wanted was to feel every inch of him immediately and fully.  She scooted towards him in an attempt to get what she wanted but he pulled away and chuckled, enjoying teasing her.  He swept down and kissed her lips again, suckling her bottom lip and then moving further down to kiss her neck.  

           She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him for support as she heard the waves crashing behind her since she was partially leaning over the edge of the boat.  He decided not to torture her any longer and pressed into her just as another wave slammed the side of the ship.  She gasped in his ear, always surprised at the sudden sensation, but then quickly moaned in pleasure as they began moving rhythmically with the waves below them.  

           Kate heard people walking past but she was concealed and she guessed it just looked like he was keeping her warm from the cold.  At least she hoped that is what they were thinking.  She didn’t have time to focus on that anyways since she was quickly transported back to the building sensitivity.  She held onto him tighter as she felt her body tensing and anticipation building.  Something about the danger of leaning over the edge of a ship with only the black, murky water below her made it even more exciting.  Derrick was her lifeline, the only thing holding her to the boat, and she trusted him completely.  
           Only a few moments later, she succumbed to the trembling waves radiating through her body as Derrick also released and exhaled, holding her tight against him.  Her warm body against his was not just sensuous right now, but also comforting and perfection.  It was like a part of his body that had been missing and was now back where it belonged.  Her quivering body clinging to him was everything he had ever wanted and he kissed her softly and deeply, pressing against her as much as humanly possible.  

           Kate’s feet lowered to the ground as Derrick slowly let her go and she tied her dress back up, giggling and looking up at Derrick with a mischievous look.  He buttoned himself back up and once they looked put together again, he removed his coat from around her and the two walked down the side of the boat on its deck while holding hands.  

           “I can’t believe we just did that!”  Kate whispered to him, leaning up on her toes so that he could hear and giggling.  He flashed her a smile and pulled her close against him for a hug.  

           “Believe it, Mrs. Kane.”  He kissed the top of her head and she looked down at her hand on his chest, admiring the glistening ring shining in the starlight.  She was going to marry the love of her life and the sparkling glint of the moonbeams on her diamond engagement ring was the perfect ending to a perfect evening.  

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

           Detectives Liz Snow and Mike McCraig walked into the precinct and immediately went to one of the back interview rooms that they had confiscated and turned into their personal office for this case.  Every surface was covered in photographs and files relating to The Photographer.  

           “Okay so where are Craig’s academic files and who was the witness against him during his trial that said he saw Craig date rape Holly Castel?”  Liz said as Mike shuffled through some papers until she found the one that she was looking for.

           “Here it is.  Oh shit.  Liz.” Mike looked up at her, surprised.

           “What?” Liz stared at him.

           “You know I speak a little German from when I had a tour in Berlin while I was in the service?”  Mike asked her.

           “Yeah, why?”  Liz asked, crossing her arms.  

           “Francis Bild.  That’s the name of the witness who put Craig away.  Bild is picture in German.  This is our guy, Liz.  Holy fuck, this is our guy!”  Mike shoved the file at her and she grabbed it, scanning quickly.

           “Picture?  The Photographer?  That can’t be a coincidence.  This has to be him.  But where is he now and what does he have to do with Kate?  There has to be a connection between him and Kate.”  Liz said rushing out of the interview room towards their desks to search for him on the computer.  

           The duo furiously tapped their keyboards and stared at the screens, trying to find an answer.  Nothing was coming up, the guy had wiped himself clear off every electronic record.  

           “Well his academics confirm it.  Look at this, he was a non-degree student and all he took were art classes.  Look what he was taking at the time Craig got arrested.”  Mike said to her, pointing to his screen.  She came around to look.

           “Photography 301.  Looks like this is our guy.  Holy crap.  Well then what happened?  What’s his record say?”  Liz peered over his shoulder.

           “Looks like he dropped out halfway through that semester.  His address is, holy shit, Eldersburg, Maryland.  That’s where Clara McConnelly’s family lived.  They lived in the same town and went to the same school.  She must have been his first kill, the obsession.  Once he got a taste of it, he couldn’t stop.  That’s where all these cases then came into play.” He tapped a stack of files.

           “So, maybe he went home after he dropped out?”  Liz asked him, picking up some files.  

           “Where is Tracy Glen’s file?  They are brothers, there must be something that links them that will lead us to who Francis Bild is now and where he is.”  Mike asked her.  She pushed some papers and files around until she found one with a giant label on the top saying
Tracy GLEN-HOMICIDE
.  
           “Eldersburg, Maryland.  Again, how the fuck did we not pick up on this?  Grew up there with his half-brother, mother, and grandmother.  Looks like a social worker took the boys from the house when the grandmother died because the grandmother was doing all the care.  The mother was apparently a junkie and wasn’t taking care of them after the grandmother died.  It doesn’t say much about the father, just that he had a criminal past and killed himself when Francis and Tracy were in high school.  He is two years younger than Tracy.”  Liz read off the report to Mike.  

           “So, they go into the system, no parents or role models.  Tracy ends up in jail and Francis ends up a serial killer.  Sounds like the right formula for a screwed up family.  Does it say why Tracy was in jail?”  Mike asked her, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on his desk.  

           “Yeah, robbery.  Armed with a knife.  Was serving a sentence of ten years, but looking at getting out on good behavior after seven if he was lucky.  He had only been locked up for four and a half years.  Do you think he knew what his brother was doing?”  Liz spoke to Mike as she thumbed through the pages of the file.  

           “Well, Francis killed him so he either knew something or he would have led us to Francis.  There really is no way to know that until we can find the son of a bitch and talk to him ourselves.” Mike told her as he stood up and stretched.  

           “Alright, let’s look up anything remotely similar to a “Francis Bild” near NYU, near Eldersburg, or near Washington DC.  There has to be something in the motor vehicle database or real estate listing, something!”  Mike said as he walked away to go make a fresh pot of coffee.   

           “I feel like it sounds familiar.  I think we have everything here,”  Liz said pointing to the pile of papers and files.  

           “I just think we have no idea how to put it together.”  Liz finished.

           “Yeah, but Francis is the glue.”  Mike said, nodding at her in confidence as he fiddled with the coffee machine.   

~~~~

           “Yeah around seven o’clock in the morning, so maybe an hour from now?  I’ll be at Union Station probably by a quarter to seven, what time will you be there? Or do you want to meet us at a restaurant for breakfast?”  Kate asked her Uncle Lenny over the phone as she folded clothes from her closet and put them in a box.  She was holding the phone between her shoulder and her ear, balancing it, as she continued packing up her belongings to move entirely over to Derrick’s house.  

           She had been up most of the night packing.  She didn’t like being alone but she figured that she could survive one night without his sensuous, strong arms around her.  After all, she did have a lifetime of nights with him to look forward to.  So she had spent her time packing instead which had worked in keeping her busy.  

           Derrick had left yesterday morning for a case he was handling up in New York City and was there all day Friday.  Then he planned to ride the train down with her sister, Annie this morning.  They had already texted her and told her that they were on the train safe and sound.  She was excited to see Annie, even though she had been pushing her away the last two months since the attack.  She didn’t want to put any of her problems on her sister.  She had spent her entire life protecting her and she still was even now.    

           The plan was for Lenny and Kate to meet Annie and Derrick and then they would all go have breakfast together.  She was excited because this would be the first time that Lenny would be meeting Derrick and also the perfect opportunity to tell Lenny and Annie together about their recent engagement.  Kate looked down at the glistening ring on her finger and smiled, feeling a warming sensation tingle through her limbs at the thought of Derrick.  

           “How are you doing, little Katey?  How are you feeling?”  Lenny asked her in a softer tone.  He had been trying his best to avoid the topic of her attack but he always made special care to ask her how she was feeling and she knew that he was still worried about her.

           “I’m doing fine, Uncle Lenny.  You really don’t need to worry about me.  Derrick has just been so wonderful taking care of me and the police are really hopeful that they will solve this.  Liz, the lead detective, called me earlier in the day yesterday and said they were closing in on a suspect.  They may have already gotten closer for all I know.  So things are going well, you know?  I am not letting this take over my life.  Derrick and I are doing well and I decided to start applying to social work programs.  I am moving forward.”  Kate said, trying her best to sound more confident than she really was.  

           She wasn’t lying because she really was doing all those things and trying to move forward with her life, but that didn’t mean that the fear or memories were gone.  They crept up on her unexpectedly at any time, the middle of the night all alone or even in a crowded room during the day.  Just little triggers brought her back to that moment like a flood engulfing her, the undertow pulling her down making it impossible to climb out until the wave shoved her back up and it was gone.  

           Sometimes it was a smell, like a copper scent reminiscent of blood, that reminded her of the brutal attack.  There had been so much blood, so much blood that even the color red could remind her of him.  Cameras, those were her worst enemy now.  She was afraid of what she would see in every photograph that she looked at or every flash that went off.

           “I am excited to meet this Derrick I have heard so much about.  If he is half as wonderful as you describe him, I am sure I will love him.”  Lenny told her and Kate smiled at being reminded of Derrick.  

           “He really is wonderful, you will love him.” Kate reassured him.

           “He still will never deserve you though.” Lenny commented, only being a little sarcastic.

           “You say that about everybody I have ever dated, Uncle Lenny.”  Kate laughed and switched the phone from one shoulder to the other, loosening the tension in her bent neck.  

           “Well, it has never stopped being true, Katey.”  She could hear him smiling into the phone and she found herself  getting excited for the upcoming breakfast.  She would be together with the only family that she had in the entire world, and now Derrick.  He was the best addition and hopefully their breakfast would be the first of many family occasions.  

           “Well, I can’t wait for you to see him today.  You know, if you wouldn’t mind, could you just come pick me up on your way so we can ride together and I don’t have to drive?  I’m sure it will be fine if we are a few minutes late.”  Kate asked her uncle.