STYLIST: A Psycho-Sexual Thriller Page 10

  Terryfield and Sonia were sitting in a small Denver coffee shop. The sun had set behind the Rocky Mountains.

  “You’re in danger.”

  “What do you mean I’m in danger?”

  “I just did an interview with Tina Olivares a few hours ago.”

  “You did. What’d she say?”

  “Tim Travisec is the one who hired Tammy Lenkovsky to kill Emma Saunders. Jack paid him as a middle man, an agent, to find a killer.”

  Sonia’s face blanched. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

  “Oh, my God. Why would he do that?”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about Tim.”

  “Well, are you gonna tell me?”

  “He’s bi-sexual. He and Jack Saunders have been sexually involved for quite a while.”

  Sonia became angry. Very angry. She was hissing at Terryfield. “No! No! You can’t be serious!”

  “Sonia, I’m telling you the truth. Please don’t interrupt me now. Let me tell you everything. Jack Saunders and Tim are regulars in a lesbian-gay swingers club here in Denver. So are Tammy Lenkovsky and Tina Olivares. At least Tammy was a regular there. That’s where she and Olivares met your boyfriend and Jack. At the club. Jack offered to pay Tim and whoever he could find to kill Emma a lot of money from the insurance policy on Emma’s life. But Jack wasn’t directly tied to the hiring. He had your boyfriend do that. Tim was the middle man. He hired Tammy Lenkovsky. You were right about her.

  “So, your boyfriend hired Tammy to do the murder. When the insurance company paid the claim for Emma’s death, Jack paid Travisec first – a half-million dollars in cash. A little later he handed over Lenkovsky’s share for Tim to give to her. He gave the five-hundred thousand dollars in cash to Tammy. All of this money exchanging took place after the insurance company sent the payment for the death claim.”

  Sonia interrupted, “So, why am I in danger, Miles? Can I call you Miles, now?”

  “Yes. You can call me Miles. Someone in our records division was reading the transcriptions of your interviews. Whoever it is that was reading my reports told Lenkovsky that you’re the one who put her under suspicion when you started nosing around about her vacation story. You’re the one who really blew this case wide open. Tammy and Tina must have discussed all of this somewhere along the way. You know – in bed.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why would I be in danger?”

  “Tim came into the jail to visit Olivares – that was yesterday evening. During my meeting with Tina and her lawyer today, she said she told Tim everything – about the deal she’s getting to testify against Jack and about you talking with me.”

  “But, I’d already told Tim about talking to you. He promised to look out for me – to protect me. Why would what Tina said make a difference now?”

  “Because your boyfriend knows he’s about to become a fugitive from justice in a murder case – and that you’re the one who wrecked their plans by putting Tammy under suspicion. It’s all unraveled now. Emma’s dead. Tammy’s dead. Tina’s in jail. Jack’s in jail. Tim will soon be in jail, if we’re lucky. He’s vanished, right?”

  “Yes. I don’t know where he is. I haven’t heard from him for days now. He usually at least calls me.”

  “I sent the Fort Collins Police to his apartment to have him contact me for an interview. He’s not there, Sonia. The place is empty. He’s out in the world somewhere. And he knows that you’re the one that started this case rolling. Do you understand now why I’m telling you you’re in danger?”

  “Yes. Miles. But there’s more. I need to tell you something else about Tim.”

  “What?”

  “About our relationship.”

  “Okay. Tell me.”

  “I’ve been in counseling about it.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, it’s been bothering me for a long time.”

  “How so?”

  “Tim’s a controller. He takes it to an extreme.”

  “That makes sense. Especially in view of the fact that he got involved in hiring Lenkovsky to kill Emma Saunders.”

  “Yes. I suppose so. Anyway, our sex life has been sort of weird. That’s why I’m in counseling. I’m very uncomfortable with him, but at the same time I haven’t been able to bring myself to break up with him. And I know I should have done that a long time ago. I’m sort of addicted to him. He really doesn’t want any commitments and he doesn’t want to make any promises.”

  “I see.”

  “And now, with all you’ve told me about him, I don’t even know how to process all of this. To think he knew all along about Emma’s murder and played like he didn’t know anything when I told him I’d spoken with you. That just makes me so angry.”

  Terryfield reached across the table and touched Sonia’s hand.

  “There’s no way you could have known he was behind it, Sonia. This whole scheme was very carefully thought out. If you hadn’t done all that supposing you did about Tammy, even though you were just speculating, they might have gotten away with it. You’re the one who made the case. That’s why I’ll say it again. You’re in danger now. My guess is that Tim is going to come after you, in some way or another.”

  “Yes. Okay. Well, what should I do? I can’t go anywhere right now. I can’t just leave all my clients.”

  “You have my pager number and cell phone numbers. Right? Use them. I’ll tell my sergeant, so there’s no secret about it. I want you to keep in touch with me every night, so I know you’re okay. Until we find Tim and get him into custody.”

  “Thank you, Miles. You’re so kind.”

  “If I don’t hear from you, then I’m going to call you. If you don’t answer, I’m going to come to your house and check on you. Is that okay?”

  “Of course. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The detective and his witness sat for just a moment, looking into each other’s eyes. And in that moment something indescribable happened between them. It wasn’t anything they could put their hands on. It couldn’t be put into words. But it had happened.

  Terryfield sensed that this was not the time to do or say anything that could compromise either his position or the case he was building. But he knew there was something about this woman that was so attractive to him that some day, some day, he wanted to spend more time with her.

  Sonia felt it, too. She had experienced an inner peace during that brief look into his eyes. She wanted so much more of that – and so much more than that. She knew deep in her heart that this meeting was just the very beginning of something wonderful.

  When they parted ways in the parking lot, she put her arms around him and kissed him tenderly on his cheek. He responded and held her closely, his mouth touching her fragrant hair.

  “I don’t want to let go of you, Miles.”

  “I know. But we have to let go of each other – for now, anyway.”

  And their embrace ended, slowly, reluctantly. He watched her drive out of the parking lot before he got into his unmarked police car and started the engine.

  At nine o’clock his phone beeped. He was lying in his bed.

  “Terryfield here.”

  “Hi. As promised. I’m fine. My house is all locked for the night.”

  “Good. I’m glad you called. Thank you. I was about to call you.”

  “No. Thank you, Miles.”

  “Good night, Sonia.”

  “Good night, Miles.”

  35

  Sonia

  She tossed and turned for about an hour, adjusting and re-fluffing her pillow. She couldn’t get her legs and feet into a comfortable position. She turned on some music. Then she tried to listen to some mindless blather on a radio talk show. None of it was working.

  Sonia gave up on sleeping for a while and moved downstairs to her living room couch. She turned on the television and tried to concentrate on a Sci-Fi Channel movie. She turned the TV off, sat in the darkness, and thought about Miles. He
had such a way about him. She felt so comfortable and safe with him, especially when he had put his arms around her and held her close to him.

  Eventually she began to get drowsy. Picking herself up from the couch, she put one foot in front of the other and made her way up the stairs. She lay down on the bed, pulled the covers up over her shoulders and thought some more about Detective Miles Terryfield.

  This time she fell into a deep sleep. And she dreamed. They were dancing to an old song. She didn’t know the name of the tune, but it was a good one for dancing slowly. Her right hand was in his, her left on his shoulder. She was pressed closely to him, feeling the warmth of his body and the strength in his arms and shoulders. She lifted her head and looked up into his handsome face.

  She wanted this moment to go on forever – dancing in his arms, her head resting against his chest. It was sublime. It was tranquil. It was everything she’d ever dreamed. She was in love.

  Sonia awoke with a start. She looked at her alarm clock on the nightstand to her left. It was ten minutes after three in the morning. She rolled her eyes downward toward her bedroom window.

  A thunderstorm had rolled in from across the Rockies. Lightning intermittently illuminated the interior of her bedroom. Hailstones mixed with rain drops blown nearly sideways pelted violently against the side of her home. The wind howled and the lightning flashed. As the storm raged, through the window she could see the trees outside her bedroom bending in the gale. Thunder claps sounded like they were exploding in her back yard. The bedroom window rattled. Her entire house shook with the force of the storm.

  She rolled over onto her right side, pulled the covers up more snugly over her shoulders and looked at the doorway to her bedroom. Another huge bolt of lightning flashed. The entire room lit up for a brief second.

  And she saw him.

  Tim Travisec was standing there.

  Her entire body froze, paralyzed in terror. She needed to scream. As her mouth opened and she took in a huge breath to shriek, he flipped a light switch on the wall upward, turning on a bedside lamp.

  He pointed a revolver at her.

  “Don’t make a sound, bitch.”

  Fighting down the wave of panic that was rising inside her, she whispered hoarsely, “What are you doing here? What do you want?”

  “What do you think I want, Sonia? What do you think I want? I want to talk with you.”

  “Oh, God, Tim. You’ve scared me. Please. Talk about what? What do you want to talk about?”

  “Now, what do you think what? C’mon, Sonia. Don’t play dumb with me. You got too nosy, Sonia. You just had to keep looking into other people’s business. You couldn’t leave things alone.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, don’t run that one on me. What do you mean, Tim? What do you mean, Tim? What are you talking about? You know exactly what I mean. You had to go to Terryfield and tell him your crazy idea about Tammy killing Emma. He probably told you that you were crazy. Right, Sonia? Only it didn’t turn out to be so crazy, did it.”

  “Tim.”

  “Shut up! Then you had to do your little interrogation number with Tammy’s vacation. And then it was run back to Terryfield with what she told you, wasn’t it. Is he your hero now? You think he’s going to rescue his darling little heroine who’s really got herself into a jam?”

  “Please.”

  “Shut your mouth! Until I tell you to open it!”

  “Please. I’ll do anything you want me to. Please don’t kill me.”

  “Please. Please. I’ll do anything. Do you really believe I’m going to prison, Sonia? Do you think I’d allow that to happen? My father died in prison! You think I’m going to do that?”

  “I don’t know. Tim. Please. Let me live.”

  ‘I don’t think so, Sonia. You’re gonna die and then I’m leaving the country.”

  Her mind was racing in high-speed survival mode. “Do you want sex, Tim? Is that what you want? Sex?”

  “Of course I want sex. I always want sex. I’m going to have some sex with you. And then I’m going to shoot you dead.”

  Another lightning flash and thunder clap put the lights out. With her right hand Sonia reached beneath her pillow – and found her cell phone. She’d left it turned on, with the sound muted. Another lightning bolt struck, followed by a huge booming explosion. This one was much, much closer.

  The lamp lit the room again as the electrical power came back.

  “Okay, Tim. I’ll have sex with you. How do you want it tonight?”

  Another blinding flash crackled and the lights went out again. She lifted her shoulders, pulled her nightie up over her head with both hands and rolled out of the bed. She carried the nightie draped over the phone – in her left hand. She walked slowly toward him, her breasts moving with each step, until they stood facing each other inside the doorway. Her entire body shaking in fear, she put her arms around his neck and tenderly kissed his cheek.

  She pressed her breasts and belly against him and whispered into his ear. “Where have you been, honey? I’ve missed you.”

  His left hand found its way around her waist. She felt the cold steel muzzle of the revolver pressed against her ribs. She stood up on her toes as far as she possibly could. She could see the cell phone contact list over Tim’s shoulder. With her right thumb she pushed the icon for Terryfield’s pager and turned the LED light off.

  The power came back on and the lamp lit the room again.

  She dropped her heels back so her feet were flat on the floor. With her arms still around his neck she pulled her head backward, away from his face, and looked up into his eyes.

  “Come on, Tim. Let’s see what you have for me tonight.”

  “Sure. Let’s see what I have for you tonight.”

  He reached up behind her and roughly grabbed her hair with his left hand, jerking her head painfully backwards. He walked her to the bed and threw her down onto the mattress. She managed to hang onto the phone and her nightie. She lay on her back, then raised her arms slowly above her head. She let go of the nightie. With the phone folded within, it fell onto the carpeting behind her head. Tim stood there, looking at her heaving breasts and belly. He held a clump of her hair in his left hand.

  The revolver was pointed at her again.

  “Be really quiet, Sonia. Don’t make a sound. If you do, I’ll shoot you and then I’ll have sex with your dead body.”

  Whispering again, she said, “I’ll be quiet, Tim. I promise. Don’t shoot me. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

  “I know you will. Turn over on your belly.”

  “Okay.”

  She rolled over and lay there as he mounted her. With his knees on the mattress he straddled her naked buttocks. He laid the revolver beside his right knee and leaned forward. He grabbed her wrists, pulled them up behind her back and handcuffed her.

  She felt his weight lift from her hips. He was standing up beside the bed.

  “Roll over, now, Sonia. On your back.”

  Somehow she managed to comply. The handcuffs hurt her wrists and dug into the small of her back.

  Tim pulled his shirt up over his head. He kicked his shoes off and began to unbuckle his belt.

  The lights went out again. This time they didn’t come back on. Something caught his attention. On the far side of the mattress a dim light cast its glow upward into the darkness. He walked around the foot of the bed. Sonia’s nightie lay on the carpet where she’d dropped it. One spot within the nearly transparent material glowed faintly off and on.

  He bent over, lifted the nightie, and found her cell phone. He picked it up and looked at the LED display.

  “You fuckin’ bitch. What do you think you’re doing? You think he’s going to save you?”

  The display flashed an incoming call from Miles Terryfield. Sonia’s eyes were wide open in terror. She was sobbing.

  “Tim. Please. Don’t kill me.”

  He placed the phone on her nightstand and watched it until
the flashing stopped. Then it started again. He ignored it.

  He continued undressing. Naked now, he grabbed her by an elbow and roughly flipped her over, turning her face-down. He walked to her dresser and rifled through a couple of drawers until her found her t-shirts. He pulled one of them out and twisted it like a wet cloth that’s being wrung dry. Moving back to the bed and behind her, he got on top again, straddling her haunches. She felt his erection. He slid forward until he was sitting on her buttocks.

  Holding the rolled t-shirt, he pressed his left hand into her upper back and leaned forward. Grabbing her hair in his right hand, he jerked her head upward. He lifted his left hand from her back and dropped the t-shirt into position – beneath her face. He pushed her head down.

  “Open. Put your mouth on it. Bite it.”

  She opened her mouth as widely as she could and bit the tight roll of dry cotton. He released her hair. Pulling on the ends of the shirt, he forced the fabric deeply into her mouth, and tied it tightly behind her neck, gagging her. The merciless tension put the corners of her mouth into excruciating pain.

  Now he shifted his position backward and put his full weight onto his right knee, digging it and rolling it into her calf muscle. She squealed into the gag in agony.

  “Open. Open your legs, bitch.”

  Sonia made a whimpering sound into the gag. She moved her left leg outward.

  “That’s it.”

  He lifted his knee from her calf and she spread both her legs for him. Her tears flowed onto the bedsheet.

  Tim moved himself into position between her thighs.

  36

  Terryfield

  Miles Terryfield disconnected his second outgoing call. His pager had awakened him. Struggling to get his eyes focused at 3:15 in the morning, he recognized Sonia’s phone number and tried to call her. She wasn’t answering. His call went to her voice mail. He didn’t bother to leave a message. He dialed a second time. Voice mail again.

  The next thought jolted him fully awake.

  Something’s wrong. Travisec is there.

  He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He got to his feet and pulled on a pair of jeans. His mussed hair didn’t matter at the moment. He tugged a t-shirt over his head and tied his sneakers without putting on any socks.