Thin Ice 6 - Hangman & Socrates (24 page)

“
No need,” Stefan returned amiably, kissing her cheek and rising to leave. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay,” he told her standing in the doorstop.

“
Sure, I’d like that,” Hope returned smiling as he kissed her cheek again and bid her goodnight.

Hope returned to the living room tidying up a bit before heading to the kitchen and doing the same. She’d just finished the couple dishes in the sink, making her way toward her bedroom when the knock came to the door.
Who could this be,
Hope pondered going to the door asking who it was. There was no response, but the knock came again. Irritated, Hope opened the door and her mouth dropped.

“
Hi,” Roderick greeted her softly.

Quickly gathering herself, Hope stepped aside as he asked to come in.

“
What do you want Roderick,” Hope threw out curtly.

She didn’t want him to think she was glad to see him, even if she was. Truthfully just looking at him had her panties drenched and her nipples hardening. He sighed deeply before turning and walking back to her, standing right in front of her, looking into her eyes.

“
I wanted to see you, to make sure you were all right,” he told her calmly.

That was only partially true. Roderick was meeting with some people tomorrow concerning a new assignment he was undertaking. He also wasn’t very happy about the man he’d seen leaving her apartment a few moments earlier, making a mental note to find out who he was and investigate him.

Hope laughed a short bitter laugh before addressing him. “Oh, so now you’re worried about how I am,” she retorted. “You didn’t seem all that damned worried six years ago when you left my ass,” Hope told him angrily.

Roderick reached out to touch her face and she slapped his hand away.

“
Do not touch me again, ever,” she told him, teeth clenched.

Roderick continued to regard her, fire in her eyes as she watched him. He thought about their daughter and how much he honestly missed the woman he’d made her with.

“
Shit,” Roderick said grabbing Hope and forcefully pulling her to him as he kissed her deeply.

Hope was pulling away, hands on his chest trying to force Roderick to let her go. It wasn’t working out well for her considering his size advantage. Hope had to also truthfully admit his touch and his taste were intoxicating to her. She felt her resolve melting as she found herself with her arms around his neck, kissing him back with matched fervor.

“
Hope, baby, I need you,” Roderick told her as he stripped her clothing from her, picking her up and putting her on her own couch, his head quickly buried between her legs.

Hope moaned deeply, loving what he was doing, but furious he was tearing down her defenses.

Roderick felt her begin to tug as his clothing helping him undress as well. Naked finally they continued kissing and caressing each other. Hope took Roderick’s hardness into her mouth pleasuring him like he’d done her moments earlier. He groaned deeply loving the sensations she was bringing.

“
Come here,” he told her, pulling her away and putting his mouth on hers again.

Roderick’s tongue was probing her mouth deeply as he pushed her legs open and himself between them, entering Hope again for the first time in almost seven years.

“
Mmm, yes,” Hope cried as the orgasm ripped through her.

It’d been a long time since she allowed a man inside her and she was needy. Roderick couldn’t describe the sensation of loving her again as he slowly and passionately consumed her.

“
Hope, baby,” he moaned, kissing her neck gently giving her every inch of him.

They began to kiss again as Hope felt another orgasm overtaking her. Roderick felt her pleasure as her inside grew warmer and wetter. Roderick’s body began heating up as his own end loomed closer. Hope felt him begin to pulsate inside her and knew he was close.
Please, yes, please,
she prayed silently hoping he would stay inside her and she would again miraculously conceive his child. Roderick groaned loudly and she felt him finish. Hope stroked his back gently; smiling inwardly that man she loved was giving her another chance at being a mother.

Stefan was furious as he listened to them making love.
Who the hell is this damned jackass,
he wondered as he smoked the cigarette, dark thoughts dancing in his mind. All he knew was Roderick. It was what she’d said when he arrived at her apartment. Obviously he was someone from her past and they’d shared a relationship at one time. He didn’t think Hope was the type to just have a one night stand. Stefan made a mental note to check the files when he got back to the station tomorrow. Maybe he would get lucky and the name Roderick would show up in them somewhere. For now he headed over to the South side, hoping to find a quick twenty buck blowjob. Listening to another man making love to his woman angered him true enough, but thinking of Hope naked with him encased inside her turned him on like hell and Stefan desperately needed release. Starting the car he drove, finally spotting what he was looking forward, pulling into the dark alley. As the unnamed woman sucked his manhood through the condom, Stefan dreamed of Hope and the day it was his name she was calling as she came hard.

22

Rait blinked several times trying to focus. The light was hurting his eyes, the suddenness of it taking him by surprise.

“
Welcome back doc,” Carlo told him calmly as Rait finally clarified his surroundings taking in the man in front of him.

“
You’re probably still a bit disoriented hmm,” Carlo again asked, without reply from Rait.

Sighing lightly, he walked closer to the man and sat down.

“
Being in solitary for long periods of time will do that too you,” he spoke once more as Rait opened his mouth finally.

“
You are out of your mind,” he told him the fear once again returning. “You can’t keep me here, there are people looking for me,” Rait told him as Carlo chuckled again.

“
There were, people looking for you,” he corrected as Rait’s heart began to race.

He was still trying to grasp what happened that fateful night three months ago when he’d come to visit Carlo for the last time.
Rait was visiting Carlo for the last time, getting some last minute notations to go along with his presentation to Roderick and his article submission to the Journal. “Hello Carlo,” Rait greeted his patient as he casually walked inside. He should have known something was awry when the guard accompanied Carlo to the small therapy room.

“
Hi doc,” Carlo returned, sitting down across from him, watching him carefully. Rait thought to himself how drawn and sickly the man still looked, but he didn’t let his guard down, knowing still how dangerous Carlo was. “What do you write about me in that notebook,” Carlo asked, nodding toward the closed spiral bound tablet. “I only write notes from our sessions Carlo, you know that,” Rait replied calmly as Carlo grunted. “May I see the notes,” he asked still regarding the psychiatrist. Rait swallowed hard knowing he couldn’t show the man holding his gaze what he’d written inside. “It’s only the things you’ve shared with me Carlo,” he tried as Carlo again nodded without comment. Sighing softly he sat back in the chair and crossed his legs. Rait couldn’t react quickly enough before the guard whom accompanied Carlo, had him subdued and was handcuffing him. “You can’t do this,” Rait yelled at the guard. “Are you nuts, you’re a sworn detention officer,” he continued to rant as the guard remained emotionless and awaited further instruction from Carlo.

Carlo calmly reached over and took the notebook, opening it and began to read. Rait watched him, hoping his facial expressions would lend clue to his mood. They sat in silence as Carlo calmly read each and every page, his expression still bland and unreadable. Two hours later he’d reached the end, when he finally looked up and regarded the psychiatrist. “You do realize I can’t allow you to publish this nonsense right,” he said calmly as Rait swallowed hard. Though his tone was level, his eyes blazed, the anger evident in them. “Carlo, it’s simply a theory,” Rait tried. “One I wanted to share with the psychiatric community.” Carlo chuckled then. “It says here you think I’m paranoid schizophrenic,” he told him as Rait wisely remained mute. “That you think I have a personality disorder, using, as you put it, the Hangman persona to cover my own weakness and inability to deal with my realities,” Carlo threw at the doctor. Rait was paralyzed with fear. Looking into Carlo Cisneros’s eyes right now, he wasn’t sure of anything, except his patient didn’t like the diagnosis. “I propose that you need some time to think about you diagnosis,” Carlo began again. “Then you and I will talk and we’ll see if we’re finally on the same page,” he finished as the guard yanked him from the chair and dragged him kicking and screaming to the solitary confinement cell, pushing him inside and closing the door, the darkness immediately descending as Rait continued to scream.

*****

Stefan was on a mission. He’d heard lots of useful information from the bugs he’d planted inside Hope’s apartment. He found out that she and Roderick were an item years ago and that they’d had a child together. He recalled the pain in her voice as she told the man of the stillborn daughter and how he’d comforted her, assuring her he held no ill will against her for it. Stefan decided to follow him when he left that day. There was mention of a Roderick Aames in the case file of Carlo Cisneros, but it was the carefully crafted identity that bothered his gut. Roderick Aames seemingly appeared and then disappeared overnight. He had no record, no real credit history, no family, no friends to connect him to anything other than the trial. Something smelled rotten and Stefan wanted to know exactly what it was. His suspicious nature paid off when he followed Roderick to the luxury condo he was apparently living in and saw him meeting with several known CI’s or confidential informants. Stefan knew then the man was a cop, he just didn’t know what branch or what he was up too.

Continuing to follow Roderick, he did something else that was extremely curious to Stefan. He visited the hospital where Hope told him she’d given birth to their child. Stefan casually entered the hospital following Roderick at an extreme distance when he saw him greet Drs. Keith Promise and Jake Cook, OB/GYN and coroner, respectively. He also knew both men were as shady as they come. For the right price you could get anything you needed from either of them. Stefan’s interest was definitely piqued now as he watched them all interact, smiling and nodding, before shaking hands and dispersing. Dismissing the thoughts, Stefan returned his attention to the parking lot in front of him. It was dusk, just dark enough for him to pull of what he had in mind as he continued to wait for Dr. Promise to exit the building. He wouldn’t need wait too long as the gangly, disheveled looking man emerged from the rear entrance of the emergency room some ten minutes later, jacket thrown casually across his arm. Starting his car, Stefan casually drove behind the doctor as he entered the parking garage to retrieve his car.

Stefan parked quickly throwing the official police vehicle parking sticker in the window and stealthily entering the darkened structure. He heard the clacking of the doctor’s shoes as the taps he’d added, sounded loudly inside the deserted concrete fortress. Stefan quickly closed the gap, his own gym shoes almost soundless as he got within five feet of the man now unlocking the door to his showroom white BMW. With precision Stefan grabbed the doctor, slamming him against the European import, knife to his throat as he looked into his eyes.

“
Evening Keith,” Stefan growled as the doctor’s eyes grew big with fear.

“
Wh-wh-what is going on Stefan,” he managed, knowing exactly who he was dealing with and trying to rack his brain as to what may have set the man off.

“
I want to know about the deal you and Jake have with one Roderick Aames,” he fired as the tanning booth complexion on the doctor, visibly paled.

“
Please Stefan, I can’t,” he began to wail as the police Captain pressed the knife a little deeper into his throat.

“
If you don’t tell me, they will find your dead corpse here tonight, and I will personally see to it that Constance takes the fall and spends the rest of her life in prison,” he threatened, knowing he’d hit a nerve.

Keith and Constance had been having an extramarital affair for the last three years and Stefan knew the man loved her deeply.

“
No, Stefan don’t do that,” Dr. Promise begged.

“
Hmph, then you need to start talking and you need to start from the damned beginning,” Stefan growled as Keith sighed deeply and opened his mouth to speak.

*****

“
What do you mean people were looking for me,” Rait finally found courage to ask.

=Carlo smiled slightly again as the doctor took him in. He looked healthier and his weight had returned. His skin was no longer gaunt or tight on his body, looking as if he’d actually gained a few pounds. Instead of an answer, Carlo slid the newspaper across the table to him. Rait lifted it with shaking hands, noting the date was three months ago to the day. His mouth dropped as he read the news caption. ‘Noted Psychiatrist Rait Powell killed in tragic auto accident’, it blared in dark bold ink. Rait continued to read the story of his car careening off the highway and into the Missouri river as he drove back to his home in the wee hours of the morning. The story went on to say that a body was never recovered, though it wasn’t an unusual occurrence with the constantly shifting tides and flow of the river, and the murkiness of the waters. Rait read about his memorial service as well as a list of notable attendees. Finishing the article, and completely defeated, he laid the newspaper down and once again regarded Carlo.