STYLIST: A Psycho-Sexual Thriller Page 5
“I don’t know.”
“Yes you do. You know what you mean. Well, what is it? You think I might get more turned on with someone else? Or do you think she might have stronger orgasms than you do – that she might lose control?”
“I lose control.”
“I know. I love that.”
“I’m scared, Tim. Don’t you understand that? Is all this between us just about sex?”
“Would that be a bad thing?”
“I’m afraid of losing you. I can’t stop thinking about making love with you. It’s all I ever think about. I have dreams. They wake me at night.”
“That’s a good thing. I think it is. Are you worried because of our age difference?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I think you’ll find a younger woman and leave me.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know. I just do. I worry about it when we’re not together. I wonder if you’ve found someone else at your new gym. It drives me crazy.”
“Have we ever made promises to each other?”
“No.”
“Is that what you want? A promise?”
“I don’t know. I’m old enough to be your mother.”
“I know. I must have a really strong Oedipus complex.”
“I didn’t say I am your mother. I said I’m old enough to be your mother. Oedipus actually married his mother.”
“Pretty exciting. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even have any children. So I don’t know how I could be part of this Oedipus thing with you. I don’t think of you like a son. Ever.”
“I can’t give you any promises, Sonia. You know that.”
“I know. It’s not right of me to expect one. I just don’t know what I’d do if I found out you went to bed with another woman.”
“You have to know you’re not my first lover.”
“Do I ever. How many did you have, Tim?”
“How many what did I have?”
“Lovers.”
“I can’t remember all of them.”
“How old were you the first time?”
“I was fourteen.”
“Who was she?”
“My best friend’s mother.”
“How old was she?”
“She was thirty-nine.”
“Is she the one who taught you?”
“Yes.”
“How long were you lovers with her?”
“Three years.”
“That’s a lot of time. She must have gotten to know you pretty well.”
“Yes. And I knew her, too.”
“Did you figure out what really turned her on or did she have to tell you what to do?”
“Both. I was a good student.”
“I’ll bet you were a good student. What turned her on, Tim? Tell me. What really turned her on?”
“She liked me to talk to her.”
“You mean while you were fucking her?”
“Yes.”
What did she want you to say?”
“She liked to hear about when I masturbated. When I was just entering puberty. When I was twelve or thirteen.”
“Really?”
“Yes. That drove her crazy.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But it did. It made her into some kind of an animal. I’d start telling the story. She’d start whimpering. I just kept telling her more and more. That was all she ever wanted to hear about. She’d start having one orgasm after another. I couldn’t even count how many she had. After a while she’d be grunting every time she came. She didn’t even sound like a human being when she got that far into it. It was like she’d gone into a different world. She really sounded like an animal. I just keep talking. It was crazy what that did to her. I didn’t think a woman could make those kinds of sounds.”
“Oh, my God.”
“I know. It’s a turn-on, isn’t it. I loved taking her there.”
“Will you tell me about them?”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to know about all the women you fucked.”
“You really want to know all that?”
“Yes. I want you to tell me everything you can remember about every one of them.”
“Why? Is that going to turn you on, Sonia?”
“I’m already turned on. Yes. It’s going to drive me crazy. That’s what you like, isn’t it? You want me to go crazy. Right?”
“You’re sure you want me to do that?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“You want me to tell you about their bodies?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to tell you about their orgasms?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to tell you about the sounds they made? I made some of them beg, Sonia. Like I make you beg. Do you want to hear about that?”
“Yes. All of it.”
“While I’m inside you?”
“Yes.”
“If I tell you, will you tell me about your lovers?”
“Yes.”
“All of them? Everything?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Are you ready for bed now?”
“Yes.”
“Take your clothes off. I want to look at you.”
18
Therapy
“Tell me about Tim.”
“Where should I start?”
“Wherever you want to start.”
“He’s twenty years younger than I am. He works in a gym as an intern. He’s going to be a licensed personal trainer.”
“Is that where you met him?”
“Yes. He used to work in the gym where I work out. He was my trainer for a while.”
“And what attracted you to him?”
“This is so adolescent. I feel so foolish telling you. He’s handsome. He has an incredible body.”
“Lots of women are drawn to attractive men. That’s pretty common. And it’s normal. How did you get involved with him?”
“He asked me to have coffee with him. After one of my training sessions. So I went with him”
“And?”
“We talked. At first it was all about training and fitness stuff. We didn’t get into a lot of personal conversation. Then he asked me to take him home with me. He told me he wanted to have sex with me.”
“Just like that? Suddenly?”
“Yes. He completely caught me off guard. I didn’t know what to say. So, I said, but you’re just a baby. He said, but I could be a really good baby for you.”
“So, what happened?”
“He was so good looking. I was turned on. He came home with me.”
“And?”
“We ended up in my bed.”
“And how was that?”
“He really surprised me. I’ve had younger lovers before. They’re usually so quick, they don’t last long. They lose control. He took control. I didn’t know where he learned how to do what he did. He took his time. He nearly drove me crazy. He made me beg. I’ve never been so sexually charged up. I couldn’t believe how I responded to him. I’d never responded to a lover like that.”
“And how did you feel afterwards?”
“I was shaking. He was so strong. And I knew I had to have him again. He stayed all night. We made love all night. I couldn’t get enough of him. I’ve never had sex like that.”
“So, why have you come to me, Sonia?”
“I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“He’s so controlling when we make love. He enjoys making me beg him for release.”
“By release, do you mean orgasm?”
“Yes. He takes me right to the edge. Then he makes me wait and plead with him. I’m afraid because I get so desperate. He makes me frantic. He enjoys that.”
“How do you know?”
“He told me.”
“Do you enjoy the teasing?”
/>
“Yes, but it scares me being so out of control.”
“What else are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid he’ll find a younger woman. I don’t think I could bear that.”
“Why? You know, of course, that’s always a possibility. How old is he?”
“Twenty-one.”
“And how old are you?”
“Forty-two.”
“That’s quite a difference in ages.”
“I know.”
“It’s an entire generation’s difference.”
“I know.”
“What would it mean to you if he did find a younger woman?”
“It’d kill me. I don’t think I could stand the pain.”
“Tell me more about that. Tell me about the pain. Why would Tim finding a younger woman cause you so much pain?”
“I’m afraid he’d find her more exciting. I’d be so jealous knowing that she’s in his arms, having her orgasms with him inside her. It’d kill me.”
“Why would it kill you?”
“I’d just be so afraid he’d find her more of a female than I am. I’d be so jealous.”
“Jealousy is a terrible emotion. It’s very painful. Do you have jealous thoughts about Tim?”
“Yes. Sometimes I’m already jealous that he works with other women in his gym. I wonder if any of them are coming on to him.”
“You know that’s possible. You’ve said he’s young and strong and handsome. Do you worry a lot about that?”
“Yes. Not when we’re together, but when we’re apart. Yes. I worry about it.”
“Can you control other people’s emotions, Sonia?”
“No.”
“Can you control other people’s basic instincts?”
“No.”
“It’s difficult to write others’ scripts in life.”
“Yes.”
“Do you see where your jealousy is based?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, is it possible that you’re really trying to control Tim and all the women around him?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought of it that way.”
“Well, do you see how your fear and all the worrying you’re doing about who might be talking to him or who might be coming on to him in a sexual way is really based in your need to control him – and others?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that.”
“Is your relationship with Tim based primarily on sex?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have other common interests?”
“I don’t know. We rarely get beyond sex.”
“Even in your conversations?”
“Yes. It’s always about sex. I guess that’s pretty much it.”
“Yes. You told me. What do you think about that?”
“I know. I have thought about that. Other than exploring our libidos, there’s not much there. It’s not like we enjoy art or music or theater or social gatherings. It’s all just sex.”
“Did you hear what you just told me?”
“Yes.”
“There are successful couples with such disparate ages as yours and Tim’s, but it’s not the norm. A successful long-term commitment with the two partners so far apart in age is an anomaly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It’s highly unusual.”
“Oh.”
“It sounds like you’re not comfortable with the relationship. Is that right?”
“I don’t know. The sex is out of this world. I love the sex.”
“I got that. What I mean is it sounds like you’re uncomfortable with the overall situation. Sounds like you’re worried that he has such power over you, that you have no control.”
“I guess that’s right.”
“Is that all there is for the two of you. Sex?”
“I asked him that very question the other night.”
“What did he say?”
“He said something like we haven’t made any promises to each other.”
“Do you want a promise? Are you looking for a commitment?”
“I don’t know.”
“You might want to do some thinking about that. You have to decide if that’s what you need, or if the sex is enough.”
“Yes. I suppose that’s right.”
“Where does Tim live?”
“Fort Collins.”
“Have you been to his place?”
“No. He always comes to my apartment.”
“So, you’ve never seen how he lives?”
“No.”
“Let me ask you this. Have you thought about ending the relationship?”
“No, but he brought it up the other night.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said I couldn’t stand to let him go. I just can’t stand the thought of not making love with him.”
“Sometimes it helps to make list of benefits and drawbacks in a relationship. On a piece of paper. Putting it down in black and white can sort of create a visual scale, or a balance. It’s easier to see which way the scale is tipping – toward the negatives or the positives. It helps you to decide if the relationship is benefitting you more than it’s hurting you. Or vice versa.”
“Yes. Maybe I should do that.”
“Do you want to schedule another appointment?”
“Yes.”
19
Out of Ideas
Miles Terryfield had done nearly everything he could do to find a link – any link – between Emma Saunders’ death and her husband Jack. By all appearances it looked to the world like a fifty-three year old matronly woman in a troubled alcoholic marriage had taken a Mediterranean cruise to temporarily escape the turmoil of her every-day life – and simply disappeared.
A couple of facts were particularly troubling for the detective. Emma Saunders was no drinker. At least that’s what her friends and associates had told Terryfield. That made it highly unlikely that she’d wandered about on the deck in a state of extreme inebriation, somehow accidentally fallen over a railing during the dark early hours of the morning, and been forever swallowed by the sea.
Not because she’d been drinking. That would be very out of her character. Someone helped her over the top of that railing. But who was it?
And there was the life insurance policy. The two-million dollar face value wasn’t so much a cause for concern. It was the five-million dollar accidental death rider which had drawn Terryfield’s attention. He could understand one spouse taking out a substantial life insurance policy on the other. But why would the spouse who purchased the policy, in this case Jack Saunders, ask for an accidental death bonus in such a large amount? Or, taking the idea even further, why would he want an accidental death rider at all? Unless he knew something terrible was going to befall his wife?
Whatever happened, he’s in on it.
Two days later Terryfield sent an email request to Capitao-Tenente Alfredo Candido of the Portuguese Navy. By the next morning, the detective sat at his desk, staring at a printout of the passenger manifest from Emma Saunders’ ill-fated cruise aboard the ocean liner Estevao d Gama. Methodically he began to comb through the hundreds upon hundreds of names. His telephone interrupted him. The detective secretary interrupted him. He had to go to a staff meeting in the conference room with the rest of the investigations division. He had a stack of seventy-something other criminal files on his desk, which he’d been neglecting because of the Saunders case. He had to drive downtown to the courthouse to testify in an assault case. His son called and talked about coming in for a visit a couple of weeks hence.
By the day’s end Terryfield had given up on searching the manifest, looking for he knew not what. There were just too many other things going on. He put the passenger list inside the Saunders file and decided it would have to wait until he had more time and energy. And who knew when that would be?
At this moment the task was just too onerous.
Why waste my time?
It’s futile.
Two days later the conversations with Sonia Lovello resurfaced in his thinking. Out of sheer curiosity he picked up the telephone and called the Roberts County District Attorney’s Office.
20
Subpoena
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What the hell are you doing, Miles?”
“I’m doing my job. Look. I’ve been assigned to assist the Portuguese Navy in Emma Saunders’ death investigation. You must have heard about that one. It was in the Star and it’s been on radio and television. She disappeared during a cruise in the Mediterranean.”
“Of course I know about it. But I don’t understand how you can expect me to justify multiple subpoenas for airlines’ ticketing records on one of your own deputies. Explain to me how we’re going to do that without a major media event or a lawsuit for invasion of privacy.”
“Aren’t passenger ticketing records open for public inspection?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to check.”
“You may have to go to a judge and ask for a temporary seal on the file or something. Lots of court records are sealed while cases are under investigation. Arrest affidavits get sealed all the time. Search warrant affidavits get sealed. Look. Mike. I have an indirect accounting for Tammy Lenkovsky’s whereabouts during the time that Emma disappeared while she was aboard that cruise ship. I just want to eliminate any possibility that our cop was involved in any way. I want to clear her. All I want is to verify that she was where she said she was when Saunders was killed.”
“Tell me what you mean by an indirect accounting.”
“Okay. I’ve interviewed all of Emma’s known friends and acquaintances. Jack Saunders gave me a list. Mike. He’s the one I’m really looking at. But one of my witnesses, Sonia Lovello, brought up Tammy’s name. Sonia was Emma’s hair stylist. She’s also Tammy’s stylist. Sonia told me that Tammy missed her regular hair appointment while Emma was overseas. And she never told Sonia about her vacation plans until she came back, when Sonia asked her where she’d been. Sonia says her clients tell her everything that’s going on in their lives. She said there’s no way Tammy wouldn’t have mentioned her plan to go on vacation, unless she had some reason to hide it.”
“Wow. I sure hope you have more than that. I can’t justify subpoenas for ticketing records based on a hair stylist’s nagging suspicion. C’mon, Miles, give me something to work with here. Have you interviewed Lenkovsky?”