“Great,” Kane said. “Me too, that diner makes really great omelets and home fries, if you like them.”
“I do,” John said, a grin creasing his face as the three of them made their way back down the street,” My doctor hates them though. He swears they will be the death of me.”
“He must not know what line of work you’re in,” Kane joked, making them all laugh.
Sophie was not laughing. She raced into her apartment and slammed the door. Sassy came to her and she picked the warm bundle of fur up and held her close, her tears soaking into Sassy’s coat. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she sobbed out, “He was just some guy I met!”
But that wasn’t true and she knew it. There was an aching hollow feeling inside her rib cage and she could not stop weeping for a long time.
***
It was after nine and Kane wondered if Sophie had to work early the next morning or if she were out. He stood outside her door and raised his hand to knock, paused, lowered it and then raised it again a bit sheepishly. He wanted to see her, he wanted to talk to her and he wasn’t sure why he felt so driven to do so.
Sophie peeked through her peephole and her hand went to her mouth. Her eyes darted around the apartment; it was pin neat as usual. She looked down at the flannel pajamas pants and sloppy tee shirt she wore and she spun around, poised to run to the bedroom to change. Then anger took over, how dare he show up on her doorstep? He probably expected that she would just let him in and f**k him! Color hit her face as she realized she wanted him to do just that.
He was turned toward the stairs, about to leave and when he heard the click of the locks he felt his heart beat a little faster but the sight of her face: Tear swollen and angry made him bite back the words he had been about to say.
“Can I help you?” She asked haughtily.
He opened his mouth to say something then he saw the madly cavorting purple ducks on the bright orange pajama bottoms and he forgot what had been about to roll off of his tongue.
“Nice pajamas,” was all he could manage.
“Maybe the blonde you were with today is waiting for you in something more seductive,” she snapped, her hand coming up to slam the door.
“What blonde?” He yelped as the door closed on his hand, then he batted it open.
“The one you were with!”
“Janelle?” He shook his head, “Where the hell did you see her? Why are you so angry?”
“Why are you here?” Sophie countered.
“I wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry if this is a bad time.”
“Talk about what and why don’t you go talk to Janelle?”
Kane was utterly perplexed. He had never had a woman slam a door on him before, nor had he ever seen a woman look so adorable in such ugly garments, he honestly wondered if he would go blind by just looking at the oddly contrasting colors she had on.
“Janelle is likely in her hotel room sifting through crime scene photos with John. I have had enough of that case for one day. I wanted to talk to you, I wanted to see you…shit I have no idea why…” anger flashed through him and he turned to leave.
“Wait!” Sophie took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t…do…that…a lot. With people, I mean with other people, not that I do it without people…er….”
Her obvious embarrassment broke the tension. “May I come in?” Kane asked and she nodded, stepping back to allow him entrance to her apartment. “You have a lot of room here. This is a Pre-War place; they’re hard as hell to get. Did you knock off a listing agent or something?’
Sophie actually laughed at that one. “No. My …Susan…I had a friend and she wanted to move here. We wanted to move here. We had a plan and everything but she…”
“She died.”
Sophie blinked. “How did you know?”
“You gave me a fake name. You used her ID at the club, you two look a lot alike, or you did in the beginning. I was going over your report and …well I checked it out.”
Sophie patted the deep recliner nervously, “Do you want to sit down? I have some coffee if you want a cup.”
“That sounds great.”
He watched her making the brew, she seemed less nervous when she was working and when she brought it to him she served to him in a way that was telling and she did it without asking. The cup sat on a small saucer, the handle turned toward him. She had put just enough cream into it and he took an appreciative sip before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”
She did. That surprised her; she had never felt the need to tell her secrets. Sitting down on the other chair she reached for Sassy, who gave her a wounded look and jumped up on Kane’s lap instead. Kane gave the pooch a few pats and she settled down, shooting her owner a satisfied glare.
“Susan was my sister. Foster sister. We ended up in foster together, at a home that belonged to a preacher and his wife. They were the kind of people that had two faces – one for the public and their true face, one that was darker than anyone would ever believe.”
The way her lips thinned told him the rest, that and the knowledge of Susan’s downward spiral but he sat quietly, waiting to learn how much she trusted him.
“Susan got the worst of it, she wanted to protect me. She did protect me. She…she had been in homes like that before and she was, this sounds so wrong but she was hard even then. Please don’t take that to mean she was …”
Words failed her. Kane reached for her hand and she looked down at his long elegant fingers, surprised by the gracefulness and strength of them. She knew he understood what she was trying to say so she took a long breath and went on.
“When he came into our room she would throw herself at him, she used to pretend she liked it so he would leave me alone. It didn’t always work, but sometimes it did.
“We were both working and plotting to get the hell out of that place, to move here. Then she…our foster father came for a visit one afternoon while I was at work. It seems he decided our leaving was not going to stop him from seeing her. She fought him, hard, but it didn’t stop him.”
She paused for a moment but knew that if she wanted to explain her life to him she dared not stop for too long, otherwise she’d never have the guts to continue.
“He stole whatever dreams she had because if he could touch her…hurt her, even though she believed she was finally free of him, then she felt she had nowhere to hide. I think she just gave up entirely. After that day, she got into the drugs, then the prostitution. She was running away from it all and I knew it. I tried so hard to help her. I wanted her to be whole and happy. This apartment was like our Mecca, well, not this particular apartment but the city. She would get clean and then it would all go wrong. One Sunday morning I found her on the floor in front of the TV watching the broadcast from our foster father’s church. She was laughing hysterically and singing. She had a knife and her arms were hacked all to pieces. I think I knew then that she was never going to recover. I tried to get her to move then, she wouldn’t and I couldn’t leave her. I love her, and I owe her…owed her.”
Swallowing, she inhaled sharply before squeezing her eyes shut in a forced attempt to continue on.
“I knew she needed more help and I didn’t do anything. Don’t tell me not to feel guilty; I know how I failed her. If I had just been willing to go with her, to drag her into counseling she might have gone. I was afraid to do that because I didn’t want to have to confront my own past. After she died I decided it was time to go. She even encouraged me then, she left me a note.” Her lips curled into a thin smile. “I found this place out of sheer luck. The couple it belongs to took a missionary posting. I hate to say I was not above using my years in the church to help forward my application.”
“It must have been hard for you to lose her.”
“It was.”
Silence spun out between them for a few minutes. Finally Kane spoke, “Why did you use her name at the club and a fake one for the report?”
“I don’t really know. Too many years spent living in the system makes me suspicious I suppose. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, I knew where you lived.”
Sophie chuckled. “Would you like more coffee?”
“No, I should go.”
He held the saucer and cup out to her, she reached for it. Their fingers met and electricity sparked between them. Goose pimples rose along her arms and she heard the long inhale of her own breath. Their eyes met and held.
Kane knew he should leave. Sophie was everything he had been waiting for, her beauty and her natural tendency to serve, her feistiness, it all made her incredibly appealing. With that thought he remembered the reason why he had left the Bureau.
He stood, intending to leave. He knew if he stayed he would never let her go, he wanted her that badly. “You’re a cop and she will never be happy living the life of a cop’s wife,” he told himself sternly.
Sophie set the cup on the table and took one step closer to him. His black hair drew her attention and she raised a finger, stroking it lightly along the coarse and short strands. He reached up, running his fingers along the nape of her neck before tangling them into her thick black hair.
He jerked her face forward none too gently and she started then opened her mouth eagerly. Her n**ples tightened and wetness soaked into her panties. He plundered her mouth, his tongue probing every corner and crease. Her eyes closed and she slumped against his hard and strong body, surrendering to him totally.
“Do you trust me?” At her nod he asked, “Are you very fond of what you’re wearing?”
“Huh? No, they are just warm is all.”
“Good,” an impish and devilish grim creased his sensual lips. “Wait here.”
Sophie heard him rattling around in her kitchen drawers but she was not sure what it was he had in mind until he came back holding a knife. Fear exploded into her bloodstream and she had to fight the urge to run. Kane went to her window, yanked the drapes aside and then came back to where she stood.
“Close your eyes,” he commanded.
It was a struggle and every part of her resisted. Ingrained fear and experience told her to fight, to flee, and to resist but she couldn’t. She took one long breath and closed her eyes. Darkness, tinted by red, surrounded her. She held her breath, waiting for his next move.
Kane knew exactly how hard she had just fought. Passion ignited in him, as did another stronger emotion. He took a small step toward her and ran one finger along the curve of her pale cheek, feeling her shiver under his fingertips.
He kissed her ear then he reached for the collar of the shirt she wore.
Sophie moaned as the shirt bunched against the back of her neck. A long purring sound made her knees go weak, she understood that he was cutting her shirt off but it was not until cool air caressed her bare br**sts that she realized exactly what that meant. The blade rested against her aureole, making her tremble and pant. Her p**sy grew wetter and she felt slightly dizzy.
“Good girl,” Kane said and the knife sawed into the waistband of her pajama bottoms.