“It might be time to hire security to watch over the church,” I suggest. “The girl is obviously smart enough to not get caught. We need to be smarter than her.”
I can tell Wesley doesn’t like my suggestion, but he nods anyway. “I hate to use the church’s funds for something like that, but I agree. It’s obvious the girl needs food. If she would come to the church and explain her situation, we could provide it to her the right way. My concern now is if she’ll start taking other things.”
I flip my notebook closed and put it back in my jacket pocket.
“Call the station if she comes back. I’ll ask the chief if he can spare another squad to do a drive by a couple more times a day. Between that and the security you hire, hopefully we’ll be able to catch her.”
Wesley turns to face me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I don’t want to press charges. I just want her to get the help she apparently needs.”
“Are you sure?”
He inclines his head. “Yes.”
He leads me out of the food storage room and back into the hall. My eyes move to the confessional booths as we pass by them. I’m not a church goer and have never used one of the booths before. But the sudden urge to do so now hits me. I should be in one of those booths confessing all of the sinful thoughts I’ve had of my step-daughter lately. There’s not a chance I’ll do it though. Saying the words out loud will make it real, and I’m still in denial.
After saying goodbye to Wesley outside the church doors, I get in my car and head back to the station. It’s right after lunch time, so the precinct is bustling with activity. I go to the small office I was assigned to a few years ago when a fellow detective retired and add my new notes to Wesley’s case file.
While I love being a detective, the job comes with more paperwork than I like. I’d much rather be out in the field than sitting here pushing papers.
A slight tap on my door has me lifting my head. Carla Fallons, another detective, smiles and walks inside.
“How did it go at St Mathews?” she asks, taking a seat in the chair on the other side of my desk.
I drop the pen and scrub the back of my head. “The same as the last three times I was there. I just got the results back from the lab. The prints are the same as before, which means they aren’t in the system.”
“She’ll mess up eventually and we’ll get her.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“A few of us are going out for drinks on Friday after work. You wanna come with?”
I look at Carla, knowing the real reason she’s asking me to go. She and I have spent a few nights together in her bed. It’s always casual and just a way to scratch an itch. Blonde hair, ice-blue eyes, a lithe body she knows how to use, and looking for nothing but the simple pleasures of sex. Carla is the perfect woman for those times I need to let off some sexual steam. It’s been over six months since the last time we fucked.
I think about her offer, and surprisingly, my initial thought is to say no. For some reason, having Carla under me isn’t appealing like it normally would be. Instead, thoughts of dark-brown hair, caramel eyes, and a young and toned body comes to mind.
It’s those thoughts that change my mind.
“Sure.”
Carla smiles suggestively and the dimple in her left cheek pops out. “Great. It’s been too long.” She winks as she gets up from her chair. “We’ll make a night of it.”
I tip my chin up and my eyes follow her as she leaves the room. Sex with Carla has always been damn good. She’s adventurous, dexterous, and knows all the right moves to get my blood pumping.
I should be looking forward to a night spent between her thighs. But all I can wonder is if I made a mistake taking her up on her offer.
Guilt tries to worm its way inside me. This Friday is Aleah’s birthday. Bryan and I offered to take her out to dinner like we normally do, but she refused, saying she already had plans with some friends. I didn’t let her refusal bother me. On the outside at least. The inside was a different story.
All I could think about is if by “friends”, she meant a guy.
Several weeks ago, while at a party at her friend’s house, one of the guys from school tried to force himself on her. It wasn’t until recently that I found out it was Dillon when he attempted to rape Luna, one of Aleah’s friends. Apparently, one of Dillon’s friends got rough with Luna a while back, and in return, August rewarded him with a black eye and a bruised jaw. To get back at Luna, Aaron, Dillon, and a bitch girl named Brooklyn cornered her in the girls’ locker room. Dillon is out on bail, but he’s facing sexual assault and attempted rape charges. With the evidence found on Luna, and Aaron and Brooklyn cutting a deal by testifying they witnessed the assault, Dillon has no chance of getting off. Unfortunately, with the deal they made, Aaron and Brooklyn will get off with a light sentence.
You would think with Aleah’s own experience and what happened to Luna, it would scare her off boys, but it hasn’t. It both amazes me of her strength and worries me about her recklessness. It also pisses me off. My anger spikes anytime I think about Aleah with some boy.
My dick screams mine, but my mind says stay the fuck away.
Only time will tell which one will win.
Chapter 4