STYLIST: A Psycho-Sexual Thriller Read online

  “How nice. Does she talk to you?”

  “No. She doesn't even know who I am. She's not in my class. She's got a different teacher.”

  “Does she know your name?”

  “I don't know. I don't think so.”

  “Why don't you introduce yourself?”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No. I'm serious, Wellie. You really like her, don't you.”

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  “You're pretty crazy about her, aren't you.”

  “Yeah. But she'd never be interested in me.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don't know. She just wouldn't.”

  “You'll never know if you don't try. She may like you, too, and you don't even know it. Here comes your mom.”

  “Please don't tell her.”

  “I won't. Hi, Mildred. How are you? He's all ready to go.”

  “Oh, thank you, Sonia. It's so nice that he can walk over here after school. Ready, Wellie?”

  “I guess.”

  “'Bye, Wellie.”

  “'Bye, Sonia.”

  4

  Tammy

  “How's police work?”

  “Oh, it's there.”

  “Nothin' exciting since last time?”

  “We got a new captain.”

  “How's that going?”

  “Hard to tell. Seems like a nice enough guy.”

  “Got any new cases?”

  “Always?”

  “Anything spectacular?”

  “I got in a fight a couple a days ago.”

  “Get out. Really. A real fight? With your fists?”

  “Yep. Graveyards brought this drunk driver bitch in at three. She was a fighter, too. They had to take her over to detox on day watch, 'cause she was still drunk at shift change. Only problem was that she'd stripped off her jumpsuit during the night. When the transport guys opened the holding cell, she was standin' there in her birthday suit. So, they closed the door and called me back to deal with her. They didn’t have any other female uniforms on day shift. The guys stood around the corner, so they didn't have to see.”

  “My God. What happened?”

  “So she's got this look on her face like we're gonna go to blows. I told her, 'Look, I'm not gonna fuck around with you! Get your clothes on!' She took a swing at me. I beat the shit out of her. After she quit fightin' I said, ‘Now, put those goddamn clothes on!' So, she gets dressed and walks out to the car with the uniforms. She tells one of the transport guys, 'That bitch is pretty tough, isn't she.'’”

  “She was talking about you?”

  “Yeah. They told me later. Made me laugh.”

  “You want this cut really short again?”

  “Yes. Really short. I don't even want to comb it.”

  “Okay. Like a Bobby Hill short?”

  “Not that short. But short.”

  “Okay. How's Tina? You two still together?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “She still in the gym a lot?”

  “Two hours a day.”

  “You like that?”

  “You're kidding, right?”

  “Well, no. I'm not kidding.”

  “I love it.”

  “I wondered.”

  “Oh, yeah. Bein' in bed with her is like a mixed martial arts match.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Gina Carano said somethin' like that one time when she was talkin' about sex. In an interview. 'Course, she was talkin' about her boyfriend. She's straight.”

  “Who's stronger, you or Tina?”

  “She's got me beat with upper body, but I've still got the legs up on her.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  “It is.”

  “What do you two talk about?”

  “What? You mean when we're not in bed?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Sports. She likes soccer and I'm into tennis. We watch a lot of ESPN.”

  “So, you have something in common besides sex.”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she have tattoos and piercings?”

  “No. She's talks about it, but she always chickens out.”

  “Do you have any new ones since I saw you?”

  “I got one last week.”

  “Really? Where?”

  “On my right thigh. You wanna see it?”

  “No, thanks. I'm not crazy about tats, anyway. There. How's the length now?”

  “Good.”

  “You want a little streak in the front?”

  “Maybe. What color you thinkin' about?”

  “Mmm. Considering your natural color is brown, how about a nice auburn or dark red? Pretty subtle, but it'll be noticeable.”

  “Sounds good.”

  5

  Rick

  “So, how’s my retired naval engineer today?”

  “Mostly I’m just tired.”

  “Funny. You want to stick with that flat-top?”

  “Yes. I like my flat-top. See if you can make me look like Michael Douglas in that movie.”

  “Oh, come on, now. You mean Falling Down?”

  “Yeah. I love that movie. That’s me. Falling down. Hard.”

  “Rick. Quit it. You’re too young to be tired yet.”

  “That’s easy for a stylist to say.”

  “What is it? Is your daughter still giving you headaches?”

  “Yeah. She’s still goin’ at it with her ex. They can’t figure out how to divide everything and they’re fighting over all of it. Twenty-four-seven.”

  “I’m sorry, Rick. How are the grandkids doing?”

  “The youngest has been in trouble at school. He got suspended for fighting. The police were at our house two days ago. He got charged with assault. He beat the hell outta some sixth grader. All of this damned bickering with Linda on the phone all the time with her ex – I think they’re reacting to all the turmoil.”

  “Where are they living? They’re still with you – right?”

  “Downstairs, mostly. The kids have two rooms and Linda has her own. But I can hear them all the time. It’s hard to get to sleep at night. They make a lot of noise.”

  “That’s what all my clients say. Kids make a lot of noise.”

  “Yeah. Well, what Linda forgets is that her mother and I raised her and her brothers. Now she’s given me herself and all of her kids to support and I don’t have her mother to help me.”

  “That’s gotta be difficult. She should be more considerate.”

  “Yeah. Well, considering others was never one of her strong suits. Ever since she was little. She had to be the center of attention.”

  “I see.”

  “Sometimes I just feel so tired.”

  “Maybe you should take a vacation.”

  “Maybe I should.”

  “Yeah. Just leave all of it and go somewhere for a couple of weeks.”

  “I’ll have to think about that.”

  “How’s that look? Flat enough?”

  “Yes. Perfect. Just like when I was in the navy.”

  “How long were you in the service?”

  “Twenty years.”

  “That’s a long time.”

  “Yes. I guess it was. Didn’t seem that long, sometimes. I liked it. I used to swing a big stick on a battleship. I know it was hard on Barb, bein’ home alone with the kids when I was at sea. She was such a good mother. I miss her.”

  “How long’s she been gone now?”

  “Ten years.”

  “Well, I hope things get better for you with Linda and your grandkids. I know it’s hard.”

  “Thanks, Sonia.”

  “There ya go, Rick. See you in a couple of weeks?”

  “Sure.”

  6

  Tim and Sonia

  “Oh, God. My God. You’re driving me crazy. No more. Please. Hurry. Come up here. I need you now.”

  “No. Lay still. Quit fighting me.”

  “I can’t. My God. Please.”

  “You�
�ll have to wait. It’s better to wait.”

  “Please.”

  “Be patient. This is good for you.”

  “Tim. Please. I’m begging you. I need you now. My insides are shaking.”

  “Okay. But let’s take it nice and slow. There. Is that what you need?”

  “Oh, Jesus. Oh, God, oh, my God. Please. Don’t stop.”

  “That’s it. A little closer now. Can you wait?”

  “Please don’t make me wait.”

  “Let’s stop.”

  “You bastard!”

  “Just for a minute. Let’s let it build.”

  “Please. Please. I can’t stand it.”

  “Yes you can. Okay. Are you ready?”

  “Oh, God. Yes.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe we should wait some more.”

  “No! Now! Please. Hurry!”

  “Wrap your legs around me.”

  “Oh, Jesus God!”

  “Look at the mirror.”

  “Oh, oh, oh, God in Heaven have mercy! Oh, Christ!”

  “Oooooh, Sonia. There. Now. Is that better? Wasn’t that worth the wait?”

  “I hate you.”

  7

  News Item – The Roberts County Star

  A fifty-three year old Roberts County woman is missing and presumed dead after she failed to disembark from a cruise ship at the Santa Apolonia Port of Lisbon, Portugal.

  Emma Louise Saunders, a long-time resident of Colorado, a wife and the mother of one son, apparently disappeared during a recent one week Mediterranean cruise aboard the Portuguese cruise ship Estevao da Gama. Saunders’ husband, Jack Saunders, also of Roberts County, called sheriff’s deputies to the couple’s home and reported his wife missing last Tuesday, after Ms. Saunders did not call to let him know she’d arrived in Lisbon.

  Saunders told The Star that cruise ship officials informed him by telephone that his wife’s passport, all of her clothing and personal effects were found inside her state room, and that members of the ship’s crew did not have her on the list of departing passengers at the end of the cruise.

  The Star attempted to contact officials with the Portuguese maritime company which owns and operates the Estevao da Gama for comment. Phone messages were not acknowledged, nor were calls returned.

  A spokesperson for the Roberts County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Ms. Saunders is presumed dead and that the investigation is being handled by the Portuguese Navy as an accidental maritime death.

  Mr. Saunders told The Star that his wife was traveling alone at the time of her disappearance.

  Sheriff’s officials are asking anyone in Roberts County who may have spoken by phone with Ms. Saunders during her vacation, or who may have received any kind of correspondence from her, to contact Detective Miles Terryfield and provide that information for forwarding to law enforcement authorities in Portugal. Mr. Saunders told The Star that he will depart on Friday for Lisbon, hoping to gather more information about his wife’s disappearance.

  8

  Terryfield

  From fiscal 2002 through February 2007, the FBI opened 258 cases of crime on the high seas, or approximately 50 cases being opened annually. Of these 258 cases, 184 or 71 percent occurred on cruise ships. The remaining cases involved private vessels, commercial ships and oil platforms. Of the 184 cases that occurred aboard a cruise ship, 84—or 46 percent—involved employees as suspects. (Source: Salvador Hernandez, Deputy Assistant Director – U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation - 2007)

  Detective Miles Terryfield sat staring at a cup of stale coffee, nervously tapping a mechanical pencil eraser on his desk top. A thick stack of paper with all of the available information about Emma Saunders’ disappearance contained therein awaited his action. The institutional-grey fabric walls of his cubicle in the investigations division were decorated with photos of his two children and their mother. She’d died of cancer twelve years ago, leaving him to get the kids from their teens to adulthood. And somehow, alone, he’d accomplished the mission.

  His daughter, Holly, was teaching fourth grade in Des Moines. His son, Zack, was a successful sports betting handicapper in Las Vegas.

  Now he mused over his new assignment – to assist a naval officer thousands of miles away, on another continent, with a murder investigation. It seemed fairly simple, as murders go. But then, murders aren’t usually that difficult to solve. Most are very mundane. The killer is usually someone the victim knows – sometimes intimately.

  The husband. It’s always the husband.

  Terryfield had just spent an hour on the telephone with Capitao-Tenente Alfredo Candido of the Portuguese Navy, listening to the officer’s report about all that had been done to figure out exactly what happened to Emma Saunders aboard the cruise ship Estevao da Gama. The Lieutenant and his subordinates had interviewed every member of the crew, then cleared them one and all of suspicion.

  By the time the crew of the Estevao da Gama realized that Emma Saunders did not show up at the point of debarkation, most of the departing passengers had already grabbed taxis, buses, or private transportation – and scattered like leaves in the wind. Thus, Candido told Terryfield he’d reached a dead end in the investigation. He appealed to the American detective to gather whatever information could be uncovered about Emma Saunders’ life at home and send it on to the Portuguese Navy – in the hope of finding a clue.

  Good idea, Alfredo. It’s always the husband.

  Terryfield already knew that most murders on cruise ships are never prosecuted. With crew members and passengers coming and going from all points on the Earth and the ships sailing from one nation while often flying the flag of another nation, criminal investigations nearly always get so complicated that solving a death at sea is next to impossible. Often there is an argument over which law enforcement agency, or agencies, have jurisdiction to conduct the investigation.

  Shortly after his phone conversation with Alfredo Candido, the Colorado detective received an email which contained the Portuguese Navy’s entire file of the case – fortunately translated into English. Missing was the cruise manifest, an immense list of hundreds of passengers who had boarded the luxury liner in Lisbon – and departed therefrom as the voyage ended. The printout of that emailed case now lay on Terryfield’s desk. It looked like a daunting task, even for a seasoned detective such as he.

  He picked up the telephone to begin calling people whom the newly-widowed Jack Saunders had provided as friends or associates of his deceased wife. Scanning downward the detective looked for names and relationships he knew would be most likely to yield valuable information. Near the bottom of Saunders’ list was Sonia Lovello’s name – Emma’s hair stylist. A murder investigation, and that was how Terryfield was proceeding with this case, always includes a fastidious background investigation of the victim.

  Stylist. That’s a really good place to start. Sonia should know pretty much everything about Emma Saunders.

  At fifty-two years old, his head of thick dark brown hair was beginning to grey at the temples. He wore silver-framed glasses. Standing a little more than six feet tall, he was an imposing figure with broad shoulders. Regular workouts at the local gym kept him in good physical condition. He had steel-blue eyes, high cheeks and a broad smile – when he found reason to display that. And he hadn’t much cause for smiling since the Chief of Detectives had assigned him to assist the Portuguese Navy with gathering some background information on Emma Saunders.

  With his tan blazer draped over the chair back, he used his index finger to punch the telephone numbers that would connect him with the woman who should know as much as anyone in the county would know about the missing and presumed-dead woman.

  “Sonia’s Salon, this is Sonia.”

  “Hello, Sonia. My name is Miles Terryfield. I’m a detective with the Roberts County Sheriff’s Office. Have I called at a bad time? I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

  “Oh, no, detective, you didn’t interrupt at all. What can I do for you?”

>   “Well, I’ve been assigned to collect some information on Emma Saunders and forward it to the Portuguese Navy. They’re investigating her disappearance at sea. I assume you know about that.”

  “Yes. I read about it in the paper and it’s been on the news.”

  “Right. I understand that Emma was one of your clients in the salon.”

  “Yes. She was. How did you find out?”

  “Her husband, Jack, told me when I asked him for a list of her friends and associates.”

  “Ah. Yes. She was a regular here. She came in every couple of weeks for styling and coloring. I was shocked when I read about her death. This is horrible.”

  “Uh-huh. I’m getting the same reaction from a lot of people I speak to. The reason I’m calling is that I’d like you to come for a video-recorded interview. I need to talk with everyone who knew her well. And I’m taking a guess that as her hair stylist you knew a lot about her life. I hope you’re willing to do that.”

  “Well, I can’t tell you I know everything about Emma’s life, but she did share a lot with me. I’ll be happy to come in, detective. I didn’t quite catch your last name. I’m sorry.”

  “Terryfield. Miles Terryfield. When’s the best time for you to come in? I’ll try to schedule this when it’s convenient for you. I know you’re busy with your shop.”

  “I’m available this afternoon, after four. That’s when my last appointment’ll be finished.”

  “Great. Is four-thirty okay? You know where the Sheriff’s Office is?”

  “Yes. It’s on Third Street.”

  “Right. East of Kellog Avenue. Just tell whichever records tech is working at the front desk that you’re here to see me.”

  “I will.”

  “Thanks, Sonia. See you at four-thirty. Goodbye.”

  “Bye.”

  Terryfield hung the phone up on its cradle and returned to his case file.

  It’s the husband. But why?

  9

  Terryfield and Sonia

  The drive from her home-based salon took about fifteen minutes in the rush hour traffic. Sonia parked her yellow Volkswagen bug in the public lot at the back of the building. She walked into the brightly lit lobby of the Roberts County Sheriff’s Office and encountered a slim, attractive records clerk at the front desk. The laminated tag on her left breast lapel said that her name was Susan Clarke.