“What’s wrong?” The sheriff looked over her shoulder. There in the drawer were all the letters, and a single flower lay on top of them along with a pair of pink thong panties.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her away from the drawer.
Chapter 7
“There’s nothing on this. I can’t get a print for shit and the dresser drawer has too many smudges on it from Paula, most likely. I think this person used gloves,” Detective Louis Parrone told the sheriff.
“Shit. I was afraid of this,” BJ replied as he and deputies Tommy and Vic Ollsen stood near the doorway. The entire house was covered with police and detectives. BJ wanted to be sure that the women were safe and no one was hiding out somewhere.
“We can open the letter and read it,” Louis told him and he nodded his head.
The four of them stood there and read the letter addressed to Paula.
You belong to me. I saw you first, wanted you first, yet you allowed others to touch you at that club. You will obey me and call me Master.
Practice it.
Practice saying the words.
Do not test my patience.
Do not talk to any other man again. I am coming for you soon.
Your Master…
BJ looked at Louis. “You say she didn’t think anything of the other notes? She didn’t get the feeling that this was a stalker or an ex-boyfriend or anything?”
“No. She wasn’t too concerned. You read the other letters. They basically just complimented her, said nice things, but this is different. This is something entirely different.”
“Yeah, he sounds pissed off and ready to do something,” Deputy T
ommy Ollsen stated. They looked at him.
“Let’s go talk to Paula. We’ll see if anyone has been bothering her at the club. We’ll see if anything he states in this letter triggers a memory,” BJ stated.
* * * *
Paula was sitting on the couch in the living room. There were police coming and going, looking around the entire place, trying to ensure that no one was hiding. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands as she gently rocked back and forth. She remembered the night after Sal cheated on her and the way he waited inside the closet of her bedroom and attacked her. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Oh, honey, please calm down. It’s going to be okay. The sheriff and his men will find out who did this.” Susanna caressed her hair and she looked up at her.
“I can’t go through this. I can handle something like this again.”
“Paula?”
Susanna and Paula looked up to see Matt and Tyler Depolis standing in the doorway. She cringed just thinking that he heard what she’d said.
She turned away and sat back on the couch.
“Hi, Tyler, Matt. Come on in,” Susanna said.
“What the hell is going on?” Tyler asked, and Paula could sense him standing directly in front of her in that commanding tone but she kept her head down. She didn’t want to face him. She felt her belly tighten.
“Someone broke into the house. Well, actually, into Paula’s bedroom, and left her a note.”
“You got letters like this before and didn’t tell anyone?” Tyler questioned her, and she nodded her head as she slowly looked up at him. She could see the anger in his eyes. He had warned her to not speak to any other men and to only pay attention to him and Matt. He was going to punish her for disobeying.
Her insides quivered and suddenly the fear was overcome by desire and arousal. She gave herself a mental shove. This was not a normal reaction. She had been abused and nearly killed by Sal, so why would she be turned on by two men who enjoyed punishing women and demanding complete control of her?