Текст книги "Grace Street"

Автор книги: Ella Dominguez

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

“May I join you?” he asked.

Elsa’s mom looked bewildered and even a little flustered. It must be his cologne. Her mom had a thing for a nice smelling man, too.

Elsa hesitated and sputtered, not really wanting Victor to join them. If he did, then she would have to explain to her mother who he was. When she didn’t answer, he scooted in next to her, pressing his body against her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m Victor Laurenzo,” he reached a hand across the table to her mother.

“Oh, well… nice to meet you. I’m Elise,” Her mother took his hand and shot Elsa a nasty look for not introducing them.

“I know Elsa was really looking forward to seeing you. She even stated that she missed you,” Victor commented.

Elsa sat dumbstruck. This polite and sociable man was not the same one she knew from only a day ago.

Her mother took a drink of her wine and looked him over closely. “I wish I had something nice to say in return, however, Elsa hasn’t mentioned you at all. Are you two dating?”

Elsa followed suit and took a big gulp of wine. This would be interesting considering her mother was not known for being one who held back her feelings.

“Actually,” Victor began, but Elsa swiftly cut him off.

“No, we’re not. Mr. Black is a business associate,” she sipped on her wine some more, wishing she had stated that he was actually a ‘physical association.’

Her mother looked thoroughly puzzled. “I thought you said your name was Victor Laurenzo?”

Victor lifted an eyebrow and glared down at Elsa, but quickly recovered and flashed his pearly-white teeth, “It is. The Mr. Black thing is an inside joke.”

Elsa nearly choked on a mouthful of chardonnay. Joke? There was nothing funny about Mr. Black. He patted her on the back and smiled down at her. The silence lengthened between the three of them, making Elsa unbearably uncomfortable. She didn’t know what to say and suddenly her conversational skills were nonexistent. Her stomach growled loudly and Victor chuckled.

“I think someone needs to eat.”

She tittered nervously and looked to her mother, mentally pleading for her to speak up.

As if her mother read her mind, she asked, “So tell me, Mr. Laurenzo, what kind of work do you do exactly? Do you work with my daughter?”

His jaw tensed and Elsa spoke up for him again. “He doesn’t answer personal questions. It’s a rule of his.”

Victor’s head jerked to the side and he shot her a discomfited look. She almost laughed at the stunned look on his face, but she knew better. What the hell was he so self-conscious about? If he didn’t want to be called out about his unreasonable behaviors, then perhaps he shouldn’t be engaging in them.

“Really?” her mother asked incredulously. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” she waved her hand in his direction.

“Agreed,” Elsa dared to whisper.

He cleared his throat and casually slid his fingers across her shoulder blades. Resting his hand on neck, he gently squeezed, reminding her of her place.

“I suppose it might seem a little preposterous to someone who doesn’t know me,” he answered smoothly in his defense.

As usual, her mother was right on top of things. “And how exactly does someone go about getting to know you if you don’t answer personal questions?”

Victor simply smiled condescendingly and took a drink of water and answered without really answering. “That’s a good question, Mrs. Cassidy.”

“That’s Ms. Duchenne. I’m divorced and use my maiden name,” she politely corrected.

Elsa rolled her eyes. “He probably already knows that.” Her mother stared blankly at her. Elsa finished the last of her wine and answered her unspoken question sarcastically, “He knows everything about everyone.”

Victor’s fingertips grazed the nape of her neck again and he tugged her hair. Leaning into her ear he whispered huskily, “You are feeling brave, Ms. Cassidy. Perhaps you’ve had too much wine.”

“Perhaps,” she responded curtly as she pushed her wine glass away from her, but didn’t dare look into his eyes.

What the hell was Mr. Black doing here anyway? No doubt, making her feel uncomfortable in front of her mother was all part of the next phase of his game. Couldn’t she just get one day of rest without being submitted to a mind fuck? With her temper quickly rising, she squeezed past Victor.

“I need to use the ladies’ room.”

“Don’t be long,” he grumbled.

With each step to the restroom, Elsa was becoming more incensed that he had shown up when this time was supposed to be private time with a loved one. Apparently when he said to show her mom ‘the best of what Richmond has to offer,’ he was including himself. Egomaniac. Doesn’t he have any boundaries? Of course he didn’t. He had been stalking her for weeks.

As she stared at her reflection, she felt her mother’s familiar touch on her shoulder.

“Who is he, Elsa?”

“No one,” she choked out, shaking her head.

Her mother sighed loudly and pulled her by the hand into the handicapped stall and seated her on the toilet as she stood in front of her.

“Is he the reason you haven’t called?”

Again, she shook her head.

“I know he’s pretty to look at, but…”

“Please, Mom, don’t. It’s not about that.”

“Then what?” her mother smoothed Elsa’s hair behind an ear.

Elsa began nervously tapping her foot trying to find the words. “He needs my help.”

“Oh, El, look at me,” she kneeled in front of Elsa. “Some people can’t be helped.”

Elsa shook her head and felt as if her breath was cut off. “I don’t want to believe that.”

“Well, I don’t trust him. Any man who doesn’t answer personal questions has something to hide. I know you have the common sense to figure that out.”

She nodded. Of course she had the common sense and all along her inner voice had been screaming for her to forget about him.

“Sweetie, men are…”

Elsa couldn’t listen to her mom. “Mom, I appreciate your concern.”

“Take my advice, El. I’ve been where you’re at in your life. I’ve been hurt to…”

“I know you have, and I love you and your advice. Just not today.”

Her mother shook her head and hugged her tightly.

She gave her mom a weak smile. “I’ll work it out.”

***

Victor was getting impatient. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since Elsa and her mother disappeared. What the hell were they doing in there anyway? The Secret Lives of Women in the Restroom: that would be the title of his next book. What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall just to hear the private conversations of women. He shook his head and chuckled at his ridiculous thought.

Ridiculous. Elise was ballsy, too, and it wasn’t hard to see where Elsa got her cheekiness from.

The waitress brought the scotch that he had ordered right after the women left and he gulped it down quickly. Elsa was still angry with him and the sinking feeling that she may never forgive him had begun to creep into his thoughts. He meant what he said the previous day about hoping they could move forward. He crunched on a piece of ice and unconsciously frowned.

He had really fucked things up. He wasn’t learning anything from her and he sure as hell wasn’t helping her, but he couldn’t give up yet. He had given less worthy Chapters far more of his time and Elsa deserved more. He hadn’t planned on attending dinner with Elsa and her mother, but seeing how lovely she looked, he couldn’t resist the temptation. He also didn’t want to miss the opportunity to watch her interact with her mother.

When the women approached, Victor stood, allowing Elsa into the booth. She looked fantastically fuckable in her red silk mini dress. He noted she wasn’t wearing any panties or bra when she scooted in next to him and her compliance spoke to his cock and heart. The headband he bought her was just the perfect touch. He reached over and adjusted it on her head and she bristled. Yes, she was definitely still pissed.

“So what took you two so long?” he asked as he pushed a cranberry-sangria toward Elsa.

“How polite of you,” she glared at him when she realized it was nonalcoholic.

He quirked his head at Elsa. “So? What took you so long?”

Elise promptly chimed in. “We were having a heart-to-heart discussion.”

“Oh? About what?” his interest was piqued, especially when he saw the nervous glance Elsa threw her mother’s way.

“You,” Elise answered coolly.

Victor narrowed his eyes but held his composure. “And did you come to any conclusions?”

“Indeed, I did. I don’t trust you,” she stared at him contemptuously.

Wow. This woman really did have a set of balls on her. Elsa picked up her drink and sucked on the straw and kept her eyes on the table, obviously mortified with her mother’s brashness.

Victor leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. “Is that a fact?”

Elise smiled and sat back, unaffected by him. “It is.”

Frustrated where this was going and Elise’s patronizing tone, Victor leaned back in the booth and wrapped a possessive arm around Elsa’s shoulders, pulling her close. He didn’t give two fucks what her mother thought about him.

“You don’t even know me,” he puckered his mouth and tipped his head back to stare down at her.

She lifted her eyebrows and shook her head. “No, I don’t, but I have a good sense about people and what I sense is that you’re going to hurt my daughter. If you haven’t already.”

Un-fucking-believable.

Elsa choked on her drink again and cut in, “Mom, please!”

Elise put her hand up and continued. “I don’t take kindly to people harming the one’s I love, Mr. Laurenzo.”

This woman was seriously getting under his skin. When Elise sat forward, Victor cringed and prepared himself to get a drink thrown in his face. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“It’s never my intention to hurt anyone.” He looked away from her knowing he had just bold-faced lied.

“Not your intention?” she mocked. “You’re not a very good liar, Mr. Laurenzo,” she continued to smile smugly.

What the fuck was this woman’s problem with him?

Suddenly he had the inexplicable urge to explain himself to her, but he had no fucking idea why. “Would it make you feel better to know that I work for the FBI?” He felt Elsa swing her head around and through his peripheral vision he could see her eyes were as big as saucers. Elise sat quietly staring at him but remained impassive, prompting him to continue. “I’m a criminal profiler.”

“Well good for you, but I still don’t trust you,” she added and took a drink. “As a matter of fact, knowing you work for the government makes me distrust you even more,” she tossed her long, curled, gray mixed with auburn hair over her shoulder.

This was such bullshit. Can you say impossible? Like Elsa. Why the hell was he surprised? Victor rolled his eyes and shook his head. Elise was the ridiculous one and this conversation was seriously going nowhere.

Elise crossed her arms over her chest and cast her critical stare out the window.

With the tension still thick in the air, their dinners arrived and they ate in silence with only occasional comments made between Elsa and her mother.

It was intriguing to watch them interact. Her mother clearly cared for her deeply, as any parent should. He was glad to know Elsa had someone willing to stand up for her, even if the person in question was a major bitch.

As their conversation picked up, he watched intensely, taking mental notes. If only he could draw from his own experience what it felt like to have a strong connection with a parent, he might understand their relationship better.

Feeling the unexpected sting of jealousy, he waved to the waitress for another scotch on the rocks and told her to add it to his tab for the evening.

“Your drink, Mr. Laurenzo,” he heard next to him in a familiar raspy, female voice.

Without looking up he knew immediately who it was by her voice and scent. Dressed in her usual fashionable yet unrevealing attire, Five handed him his drink and smiled knowingly at him. His cock immediately twitched. After everything he had done to her, including fucking her countless times and doing the most debauched things to her body he could imagine, it was purely an instinctual response; unwanted, but natural.

Without responding, he grabbed the drink from her hand when her finger purposefully skimmed across the top of his hand. Uncomfortable with her physical contact, he glanced sideways to see if Elsa had noticed. She had. He draped his arm over her shoulder to put her ease since she was clearly affected negatively.

What in the hell was Peyton doing here anyway? It occurred to him that maybe she had purchased the establishment. He never even thought to check into that. Why would he? He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in over a year. He sighed irritably and shot Peyton a penetrating fuck-off look. They stared at each other across a sudden ringing silence for only a brief moment before she smiled and turned her attention to Elsa and Elise.

“Welcome to Juniper’s, ladies. I hope you’re finding everything to your satisfaction this evening,” she professionally addressed them. “I’m Peyton, the owner of this establishment and…” her words were drowned out by the sudden jerking of Elsa’s body.

Victor stared down at her and her eyes burned through him as the corner of her mouth twisted with some undefined emotion that looked a lot like rage. Confused by her reaction, he gave her a questioning look but her straight glance seemed to be accusing him coldly.

With Peyton finally gone, Elsa’s breathing became ragged and she reached for his drink and chugged it down in one swift motion. Victor’s mind whirled at her reaction and body language. He had no idea what she was fucking thinking, as usual, and therefore he had no idea how to console her or rein her in.

“El, honey, is everything okay?” her mother reached over the table when Elsa began to tremble.

Elsa gritted her teeth, but nodded and Victor watched as she took in a deep breath and steadied her body. Next she plastered that damned fake smile on her face. God he really hated that phony shit.

Her mother seemed to relax and excused herself once again to the ladies room. As she walked way, he took all of her in. She was an attractive older woman. She was the same size as Elsa in all respects: height, weight and breast size. They even shared the same laugh lines and eyes. Elsa clearly got her mother’s good genes. If only he had been as lucky.

When her mother was out of sight, Victor turned to face Elsa.

“Your mother is an attractive woman. It’s clear to see where you get your good looks and mouthiness from,” he lifted Elsa’s drink and swirled the ice around in it.

Narrowing her eyes, she countered derisively, “She’s a bit too old for you, don’t you think?”

What an absurd statement. He had never let something as unimportant as age stand in the way of what he wanted. Was she jealous of her own mother? He brought the drink to his mouth and laughed. This will be fun to play with.

“I don’t discriminate against age.”

Her lips thinned with irritation and her gaze scorched him. “Or gender.”

What the fuck?

21: Wrath

Victor was so taken aback with Elsa’s statement that he appeared to momentarily lose his ability to speak and almost lost his grip on the glass in his hand. Still angry at Victor for having let her sit in a jail cell while he sat at home not lifting a finger to help her, then inviting himself to her dinner with her mother so he could play with her and comment on her mother’s looks was already more than she could take. But this? To try and humiliate her in front of her mom by bringing her to a place Chapter Five owns? How dare he include her mother in his fucked up game.

She pushed against him to place distance between them as he sat staring at her like an idiot.

“The next time you make reservations for me and a member of my family, make it at a place where we won’t be accosted by one of your fucking Chapters!” she whisper yelled. “How dare you involve my mother in your sick game!”

Victor’s look of shock turned to quick anger and he gripped her upper arm and dragged her out of the restaurant. He moved so hastily she nearly fell over on her three inch heels as she stumbled behind him.

Once outside, Victor further dragged her to a darkened corner outside where Mr. Black verbally ripped into her.

“Say what’s on your mind.”

Elsa closed her mouth tight.

“Ten. Nine. Eight…” he began counting down. “Seven...” he narrowed his eyes. “Six…” he gritted his teeth. “Five…”

This was absurd. No one counts down. When she stood with her hands fisted at her sides defiantly, he ground his teeth loudly.

“Fucking say it, Elsa!”

“Don’t you mean Eight?”

“You lying, little cunt!” he yelled, causing several passersby to look over. “How fucking long have you known?”

Elsa lifted a hand to slap him for having called her something so despicable, but she stopped mid-air making Mr. Black laugh loudly.

“So I guess you are trainable after all.”

Not caring what the consequences would be, Elsa lifted her hand again and pulled her arm back as far as it would go and slapped him with such intensity she split his lip.

“I’m the fucking liar?” she shrieked. “You unbelievable hypocrite! I told you that if you showed me honesty you would get it in return! My God, you were going to allow a serial killer to read about me! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He stepped back and spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground and growled in such a terrifying way that Elsa suddenly felt like she was going to pass out. The look on his face was murderous. She suddenly remembered his written words and what his mother had done to him and though she didn’t know the details, she could only imagine.

“Oh, God, Victor…” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“That’s Mr. Fucking. Black.”

“Fine, I’m sorry, Mr. Black,” she swallowed hard.

“For what?” he ground out between his teeth. “For lying this whole time or for being a nosey, fucking bitch?” he belted out loudly.

She shook her head and tears filled her vision when she saw more blood begin to ooze from his mouth. “I’m not sorry for those things…”

“Fuck you, Eight,” he spat out.

“I’m sorry for hitting you when I promised myself I would never do that again.”

His eyes narrowed with confusion.

“You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry. I…” she couldn’t take anymore. “I just wanted to be the one to help you.”

His look of hatred changed to horror. “I don’t need to be helped.”

“Tell me how I can make this right. Tell me what you want from me,” she squeaked out.

A group of people walked by and Mr. Black quickly changed to Victor.

“We’ll finish with this later and by finish, I fucking mean finish.”

He walked double-time ahead of her and straight to his car, leaving her at the entrance. Her mother came out shortly looking for her. Elsa wiped her tears and explained that Victor had work to attend to. Her mother clearly knew she was lying, but let it be.

Her mother slept that night on her bed while she slept on the couch. As she lay there wondering what wrath she would suffer next, she couldn’t help but feel like she had let Victor down by not explaining herself from the beginning.

The cat was out of the bag and if she made it out of this thing alive, she promised herself two things: she would never allow any other man to treat her the way Mr. Black did, and no matter what, she would never give up the hope that people can be helped.

Elsa didn’t rest at all that night and drove in a sleepless daze to the airport on Wednesday with her mother. She bid her a bittersweet goodbye, wondering if it would be her last.

It would be another missed day of work.

Not bothering to change or freshen up, she drove directly to 2500 East Grace Street. She would prepare for her punishment there.

***

Victor sat at his desk staring at the wall. He had been there most of the night. His office was in shambles. He had torn it apart in a rage when he returned home the previous night. He hadn’t moved from his chair in six hours and he still couldn’t believe that he hadn’t seen the signs of her deception. He had gotten lax and was so blinded by work and Anthony, that the signs that kept popping up were completely ignored. Her smell in his house, things slightly out of place, the disappearance of his key that was perfectly placed in plain view... She had even found the spare key to his home. He had to give it to her, she had done a fair job at hiding her tracks, except for the video footage at the brownstone and the missing journal notes from the envelope. He had simply tossed the envelope into a drawer when he arrived home without looking inside of it. He had no reason to. But surely she knew she would be caught. Maybe she wanted to be caught.

She knew everything about him. Every. Fucking. Thing. All his deepest, darkest and most repulsive secrets. No one knew everything. Not even Anthony. Victor had limited what he allowed Ant to read, but Elsa read it all and knew every single ugly detail of the horrible person he was. He didn’t understand her. He never would. She had read all the ghastly minutiae of his debauchery and cruelty, and still she had stayed and came back for more. She was no masochist, he knew that. But then what was she? Fucking insane like he was? She knew he was a sadist who had murderous nightmares and still she was asking him how she could make it right…

The inner voice that he thought had died long ago reared its sentimental head. She’s fallen for you. Hell, she all but admitted it.

His phone chirped with a message.

C8: I’m waiting for you.

He laid his head over his crossed arms on the desk. What the hell was she waiting for? What did she think this thing with him would lead to? A fucking happily ever after? There was no such thing. All things ended eventually, some of them amicably, most miserably, and in the case of Chapter One – horrifyingly.

She wanted to know what would make it right? He would show her. And then she would see once and for all who he really was, whether he wanted to be or not: Mr. Black.

***

Elsa showered and dressed in only her silk robe as she waited on the staircase. When she heard the key in the lock, she stepped off the bottom step and disrobed quickly and kneeled by the door.

When he entered, his movements halted and she heard a sharp intake of air. When she looked up, she immediately noticed his swollen lip and grief almost overcame her. His eyes were wide as he stared down at her and he appeared scared. But scared of what? Her?

He promptly recovered and moved past her without saying anything and put his briefcase down. She stood and followed him when he still didn’t speak.

He sighed loudly when she brushed up against him.

“Wait over there,” he pointed to the chaise.

She seated herself and wrapped her arms around her body for warmth.

He settled himself in the duchess chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“First things first: I didn’t know Chapter Five owned Juniper’s. Not that I need to fucking explain myself….” he grumbled under his breath. “And I never intended to mail those notes about you to Anthony Bruce.” He sighed irritably and pushed his hair off his forehead. “Nevertheless, it wasn’t my intention to include your mother in this game. I do have standards, however fucked-up they may seem to you.” Barely keeping his anger in check, he continued. “That being said: I want to know why you did what you did.”

Elsa shrugged to hide her embarrassment and guilt at having assumed the worst. She swallowed tightly and licked her lips. It was confession time. “I just wanted to know more about you.”

Victor’s malachite colored eyes darkened as he held her gaze. “So you thought breaking into my house and stealing an extremely personal item was a reasonable way to make that happen?” he said louder, his temper flaring.

“I tried to do things the right way by asking you questions and you made a ridiculous rule about not asking you anything. And what about you? You’ve been stalking me and watching me since the very beginning. You know absolutely everything about me.”

“That’s how I work,” he answered without really addressing her statement logically.

His stare drilled into her as he sat motionless. “Did you learn everything you wanted to learn?”

“No.”

“No?!” he huffed and sat forward. “So you fucking read my personal journal files and you still didn’t learn everything you wanted? You greedy whore.”

Mr. Black was now present. She knew it wasn’t Victor talking, but she still lowered her eyes to hide her hurt.

“What the hell do you want to know?” he barked as he threw his hands up and paced in front of her.

“Who made you like this?”

He walked forward, stopping in front of her and gripped her chin, forcing her head back. “No one made me like this, Eight. I was born like this.”

God, she detested being called a number. It was so impersonal and cold. He had to know that. “I don’t believe that.”

Backing away, he glared at her scornfully. “I already told you once; I don’t give a fuck what you think.”

“I don’t believe that either,” she pushed her chin out.

His jaw muscle quivered. “Again with your audacity?”

“Was it Chapter One?” She wasn’t really sure why had asked the question, but by the look on his face, she knew she had hit a nerve.

He stood motionless in the middle of the room with his hands fisted at his sides as a tense silence enveloped the room. Even though he didn’t speak, Elsa knew that the answer was a resounding yes.

“You’re a lying cunt,” he quickly changed the subject.

“Stop calling me that!” she yelled, catching him off guard and causing him to back away from her. “You really are a hypocrite! You told me that if I was going to lie then to make it believable, so I did!” She stood and rushed at him. “You’re pissed because the tables got turned, aren’t you?” she hollered and pounded her fists on his chest. “I played your game the way you designed it and now I’m going to be punished for it?”

“Yes, you are,” he gripped her wrists to rein her in and spun her around, pinning her wrists behind her back and rendering her immobile.

She began to sob when he forced her to her knees. “I just wanted to know the real Victor. I just wanted…” she dropped her chin to her chest, letting her hair fall in her face to hide her despair. “I just wanted to know the real Victor.”

“Then you will, Peach,” he leaned down and whispered into her ear.

Roughly, he pushed her away from him making her fall onto her stomach. Elsa rose up and looked over her shoulder to see him digging into his briefcase. When he approached her, he had an old, worn and tattered, black-leather bound journal. She hadn’t seen this one before. Tossing it on the floor in front of her face, she touched it and peered questioningly at him.

What she saw next sent panic rioting through her. Slowly he began removing his belt, but by the look on his face, it wasn’t going to be used to bind her.

“Victor…” she pleaded as she tried to crawl away.

“Call me that one more time, Eight, and see what happens,” he growled as he grabbed a handful of her hair and halted her movements. “You want to know who I am and what started all this? Then your wish is my command. Read,” he snapped the leather belt on the floor next to her.

Fear and anxiety knotted inside of her and for a split second, she thought she would vomit.

Elsa rose to her knees and reached for the journal and opened it to the first page as she tried to keep her fragile control in check.

Herein contain the notes of Victor Laurenzo, Special Agent for the FBI and criminal profiler.

I have been tasked with my first big case and the intention of this journal is to document my feelings and thoughts as it progresses so that they can be clearly defined later if necessary.

Elsa looked up at Mr. Black, not understanding what exactly she was reading. The snap of leather startled her and she dropped the journal.

“Read it out loud. Every time you hesitate or stop, you’ll meet the real Victor.”

Although his statement was veiled, there was no ambiguity in its meaning. He intended to whip her. The thought filled her with disturbing images and she began to shake. She hated pain. She reached a quaking hand out and reopened the journal to begin reading aloud.

The case in question is file #23249 regarding the murder of two individuals who are not related or connected in any way other than being suspected of being killed by the same perpetrator. It’s an interesting case and one I’m lucky to be involved in. I look forward to being able to stretch my wings and really learn from the other agents and detectives involved. I genuinely believe that this will be an excellent learning experience. I digress.

Murder victim #1: A 32-year-old husband and father of three, Gerald McKinney.

Method of homicide: Strangulation.

Thoughts: It was personal. Perhaps sexual asphyxiation? Will note more on this as more facts are available.

Particulars: Staged murder scene. Clean. Killer has clearly done this before or at least done their homework. No forensics to speak of regarding traceable DNA. Loose clothing fibers found linked to victim #2. See below.

Murder victim #2: Jonathan Gonzalez, Age 24, university student majoring in Pre-Law.

Method of homicide: Jugular artery laceration leading to exsanguination.

Thoughts: Again, personal.

Particulars: Pattern of blood spatter consistent with no struggle, patient in resting position. Unique, red clothing fibers found at the scene and identified to be that of a scarf sold only in the Virginia Beach, Virginia vicinity. Only 1000 units of this particular scarf were manufactured and sold exclusively at a small custom boutique at the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

Suspect 1:

Scarlett Greenwood, Age 29, Law Student

Elsa reread the name to herself. It was vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t place it. It was hard to miss the hopeful tone of the journal and Elsa wondered how old Victor was when all this happened. She paused to read the name again, trying to jog her memory when she felt the sting of the leather. The pain scorched across her back and she dropped the journal again as she screamed out.

My God, he was serious about whipping her. Raw and primitive fear jolted her system and her self-preservation instincts kicked in. It was fight or flight time and she knew she couldn’t hold a candle to Mr. Black. Instantly she jumped to her feet and bolted toward the door, not giving a damn if she was clothed or not. Mr. Black was quick on her heels and grabbed a handful of her hair at the nape her neck and dragged her back.