Blue Mirror (Corsair and Xana)

[Xanaphia]

Parked in front of the station, Claudia sat in her car and brooded. Guilt lingered in her mind, bringing with it a familiar self-loathing that bordered on self-flagellation. The first relationship of her adult life, and she was already sabotaging it.

“I grabbed you some lunch,” Claudia offered, falling in with Joe once he returned. Guilt urged her to confess her transgressions, to beg his forgiveness. To submit herself to whatever punishment he could devise. She deserved all of it, and worse. “I hope your afternoon went better than mine, because mine went nowhere.”

The elevator was filled with fellow officers, but for once, Claudia welcomed the presence. Otherwise she might have acted on the little voice in her head goading her into admitting her shame or trying to absolve herself by blowing Joe. The only safe avenue of conversation was the case at hand, and that needed her full attention right now. “We should try and set up some meetings with our other persons of interest for the next couple days, and see what we can squeeze out of them.

 

[TheCorsair]

“I grabbed you some lunch,” Claudia offered, displaying a sack as she joined him at the elevator. “I hope your afternoon went better than mine, because mine went nowhere.”

“No idea,” Joe laughed. “But our suspect clearly gets off on jerking people around. I’d have loved to kick his ass, if I had any probable cause.” He suppressed the itch to pull her against him and kiss her. “Did you get what you were looking for?”

The elevator door slid open, and they pushed inside. A glance at Claudia made it look like she had something on her mind, so he cocked a questioning eyebrow at her. “We should try and set up some meetings with our other persons of interest for the next couple days,” she said, “and see what we can squeeze out of them.”

“Sounds good,” he agreed. “And maybe we can cook up an excuse to strongarm our main person of interest.” A bark of laughter. “I’d really like to mess him up a little.”

The door slid open, and they made their way ho their desks. “Anyone you think we should squeeze first?” He helped himself to a burger. “Or do we just take it alphabetically?”

 

[Xanaphia]

Claudia paged through the profiles, absently munching on fries as she scanned. When the answer jumped out at her, she had to choke down her current bite. “Here, Jeremy Sanal. He was the only person to do any time in the Kale case. While he might have gotten a light six-month sentence, his criminal record still dampened his future prospects. He was kicked out of Eminence U, and had to finish his degree at a for-profit online school.”

Claudia flipped the page to keep reading his profile, and a pleased smirk spread over her lips. “You aren’t going to believe this: He works at BME. Middle management. He’s older than Ewan Downing, but he works under him. How much you want to bet that’s a pity position at Kelly’s insistence?”

As it turned out, Jeremy was out of town for a couple days yet. Which would give them an opportunity to dig up more dirt on him, before they put on the squeeze. Given how he was the best current link between all the various pieces they had and Matthew Kelly, they weren’t going to take any chances.

When Joe showed up her place after work, Claudia had completely shifted gears away from focused on the case. “I don’t want to talk about work. I don’t even want to think about it. I just want to veg out in front of the tv,” she explained, wrapping her arms around Joe’s neck. So they settled onto to the couch to watch TV while they ate dinner.

A few episodes in, and Claudia rested on Joe’s chest, utterly complacent. It turned out to be a great excuse to spend time together and not talk, because talking could only end badly tonight. As much as the show occupied her mind and chased away the guilty thoughts, Claudia found herself cognizant of Joe’s presence. Of his scent and the steady beat of his heart and the lazy pattern his fingers traced along her shoulder. All of it came together to soothe her, make her feel safe, and she hadn’t realized how much she craved that until she had it.

Another episode ended, and Claudia stretched, and brushed against Joe. Their eyes met, and the invitation in his inspired her to close the distance between them in a lingering kiss. Her body molded to his as she leaned in, savoring his affection and her own building desire. When they finally broke apart, she simpered, and nuzzled his nose with hers. “So, are we watching another episode?”

His response was to push her back onto the couch arm, and crawl over her. He initiated the kiss this time, deeper and hungrier, and she met his aggression by wrapping her legs around his waist. One hand went under her shirt to cup her breast, and when she arched her back to offer him more, his mouth traveled down her jaw to latch onto her throat.

Earlier guilt nearly forgotten, she worked open her pants with one hand. “Fuck Joe, I really want you.”

 

[TheCorsair]

Joe’s pulse was racing as he drew back, his flesh heated and his nerves tingling from desire. Fuck she looked good, with her shirt and bra pushed up over her tits and her jeans open. “Fuck Joe, I really want you.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “And I really want...”. He leaned in again, thumb circling a nipple as he drew her tongue into his mouth. She made a soft, gasping sound as his free hand fisted in her copper hair, pulling her tighter against him.

“I really want,” he breathed again, a cocky grin on his lips, “to finish this episode.” Still grinning, he settled back into the couch and - with difficulty - focused his attention on the screen.

“Still,” he said, undoing his belt, “I want you to understand that I’m not ignoring you.” He lifted his hips, shoving his jeans and boxers down. “I just want to see how this ends, first.” His fist closed around his cock. “Then, you know, I can fuck you long and hard without being distracted.”

His fist slid slowly up and down his shaft, squeezing lightly on the upstroke. “Be a pity if I got distracted,” he added, leaning back and arching his hips, pushing more of his meat into his hand.

 

[Xanaphia]

Anger was Claudia’s first response, as Joe pulled away, nearly ready to pounce on him and take what she wanted regardless.

“What, ‘cause I don’t blow you enough already?” she shot back, a touch archly. But damn if the sight of his cock, hard and twitching in his hand, didn’t make her mouth water. Fuck, she still wanted him, and the flash of anger in her mind further inflamed that lust.

He wanted to tease her? Fine, asshole, but two can play at that game. Besides, if she blew him until he came, he’d need some time to recover, and she’d be in a great position to make some demands of her own.

So, even though she slid down to the floor before him, she remained defiant “I don’t know, Joe. I would really hate to be a distraction.” Her hands slid up his firm thighs, drawing close to his hard cock, before retreating, raking thin white lines with dull nails.

“Maybe I should just leave you alone, let you really concentrate on this episode.” She leaned in close again, teasing him with the heat of her presence, and the weight of her breasts on his bare legs. “I could just jump in the shower, and take care of myself, so you don’t even have to worry about it.” Her breath caressed his cock, lips hovering just above his pulsing member. “I wonder if my water proof vibrator is charged…”

This time, when she pulled back, it was her turn to smirk. She moved as if to stand, purposely rubbing her body against his as she did, breasts brushing against his dick as she shifted to her knees. Once more she met his gaze, held his gaze, before leaning in close to his cock. Close enough to breath in the scent of his precum beading from the tip. Then, quite deliberately, she licked his length, from base to head, and swallowed half his shaft in one hungry motion.

From there, she stopped teasing him completely, stopped playing around. Now, she want to win, to utterly overwhelm him with that good head. That good, hard deep throat, the kind that make her throat bulge. The kind that made her eyes water, nearly choking her when she finally did come up for air. She didn’t relent, refused to relent as saliva drooling down his dick and her moans hummed along his shaft. Taking his full length each time her head bobbed up and down, and sucking harder with lips wrapped around the base of his cock.

She was going to swallow his cum if it fucking killed her.

 

[TheCorsair]

It was hard to keep up the pretense of watching television when Claudia slithered down to kneel between his legs. It got even harder when she started talking, because damn what she was saying sounded good. But he was committed to the idea of teasing her, making her drool for his duck.

“Might be the way to go,” he agreed, ignoring the moist heat of her breath on his head. The feel of her breasts on his shaft made him jump, though. “I mean, that way I can...”

Whatever it was he was going to say he could do was list in a groan of pleasure as her tongue caressed his length, and then in a second one as she swallowed him to the base. “Oh... oh fuck...” he moaned, one hand tangling in her hair and the other fisting in the fabric of her couch. “Oh... Jesus... fuck...”

Her hand joined in, pumping him into her mouth as her lips slid up and down his length, and his breath caught on his throat. “Oh, oh fuck,” he moaned, hips rocking up to meet her mouth. “Oh... oh fuck... fuck... me...”

He made a half-hearted effort to act like he was watching the television. His heart wasn’t in it, though. Not with Claudia daring up at him, adjusting her grip and speed to make sure he was watching her. Not with his dick, slick with her spit, sliding in and out of her lips and fist. Not with his balls tightening and his cock hardening and...

“FUCK!” he roared as his climax erupted, catching him off guard with its intensity. Further words were lost in desperate gasping cries as he emptied his hot cum into her throat, and as he felt her greedily drink it down.

 

[Xanaphia]

Even with Joe’s cock shoved half way down her throat, Claudia managed a triumphant smirk when he came. Fingers dug into his thighs as she drank his seed down, struggling with just how hard and how much he came. Shit, maybe she had overdone it a little bit

By the third jet of cum, she could take no more, and pulled away. Hot spunk splattered her face and breasts, and one thick droplet rolled down her chin. Claudia covered her attempt at catching her breath in a laugh, and ran a single finger through the cum clinging to her cheeks. “Well, looks like I definitely need a shower now.” She made a show of sucking that finger clean, and leaned back to glance at the tv.

“Too bad your show isn’t over yet.” She stood then, once more rubbing her breasts against his body until she got to her feet. She had already unbuttoned her pants, and it didn’t take much to shimmy out of them now. Once she was completely nude, she yawned, and stretched exaggeratedly, arched her back to emphasis her lithe curves. “Guess I’ll just jump in the shower by myself, since you’re too busy to take care of me.”

 

[TheCorsair]

Fuck.

He thought he might need a few minutes to recover after climaxing that hard, but now? Feeling her half-naked body sliding over his, lubrucated by his own cum? Yeah, he could feel his cock twitching to life again.

Sure, he’d have to wash his shirt. But that was a small price to pay.

“Guess I’ll just jump in the shower by myself,” she declared, peeling her jeans off and showing off her body, “since you’re too busy to take care of me.”

“Guess so,” he agreed, stripping off his own jeans as he rose. His shirt followed, joining the denim in a heap. “I mean, I am planning on finishing.”

He watched her rear sway as he followed her into the bathroom, imagining how it would feel to just throw her down and fuck her riugh and hard on the carpet. But he had a better idea. “Here,” he said, turning on the shower. “Let me get that for you. And this as well.”

As he spoke, he handed her the waterproof vibrator she’d mentioned in the living room. “I mean, I don’t want you to be bored while I go back to watching...”

 

[Xanaphia]

Joe’s body brushed up against hers as he leaned in to turn on the shower, and the brief contact drove Claudia crazy. She wanted his body pressed against hers, pinning her to the wall while his hands explored her nude figure. Sucking his cock with his hands fisted in hair had stoked the flames of her desire, and now that sultry heat threatened to consume her.

Joe, however, had decided against lending her a hand, as he handed her the vibrator instead. Dammit, she wanted him, and bad, but he just had to call her bluff. Sure, it would be hot to get off while he watched, if she caught his meaning correctly, but she’d really hoped for a bit more reciprocation. Of course, admitting that would lead to more teasing form Joe, and perhaps even a demand to beg. That was fun, most of the time, it wasn’t enough tonight.

“You might want to watch closely,” she advised, leaning against one wall, braced against the other with her leg. Open to him, so he could see her dripping slit and blossoming, pink folds.Spray from the shower plastered her hair to her head, and streamed rivulets of water over her breasts and down her stomach. Her hands followed that spray, trailing the silicone head of her toy against her skin and between her thighs. Once it was well positioned, she turned it on, and released sharp gasp that melted in a hum of pleasure. “You might learn something useful.”

 

[TheCorsair]

“I might at that,” Joe agreed, carefully lowering himself to his knees on the wet tile. “I mean, I’m definitely willing to see just how well you can handle yourself.”

His eyes roamed her spray-soaked figure, tracing the water streaming over her breasts and down her stomach before returning to the play of the silicon toy over her slick folds. “Definitely learning something,” he agreed, rising to his feet. Then, still smiling, he gripped her shoulders and turned her around.

“Don’t stop,” he breathed into her ear. He let his erect shaft rest between the water-slick cheeks of her ass. “You were going to show me how well you can handle yourself,” he murmured, teeth scraping the back of her neck as he rocked his hips, grinding his length against her. “Don’t let me distract you.”

 

[Xanaphia]

Claudia’s resolve to taunt Joe wavered as he turned her around, and drew in close, close enough to feel the tremble that passed through her hungry body. She even whimpered, voice barely audible under the torrent from the showerhead, “Joe…”

His presence was torment; she wanted him inside her, filling her with cock and fucking her senseless. “Please” nearly spilled form her lips a dozen times, replaced barely by desperate moans and cries. Orgasm neared, and the anticipation in her depths ached and throbbed with growing need. So close, and closer still, tension coiling tight between her thighs.

The her cell rang, and moments later, his did too. That could only mean only thing, this time of night. “Fuck!” she growled, desire melting away to unsatisfied irritation, bordering on anger. “Just stop. It’s not going to happen now.” Huffing, Claudia turned off the shower and pushed Joe away from her –his presence more annoying than enticing at the moment.

She got to her phone right before it went to voicemail, and kept her responses short to hide the agitation in her voice. Another body, Kelly’s MO. “Come on, let’s get dressed, go investigate a murder for the rest of the night. At least one of us got off.” Claudia didn’t bother hiding the resentment in her voice as she tore open drawers to put an outfit together this evening.

“Matthew Kelly must have brass fucking balls,” she snarled, pulling on her jacket and slipping into her shoes. “Dumping a body on the same day you paid him a visit. He’s fucking taunting us.” Phone and keys shoved into her jacket pocket, Claudia followed Joe out to his car. “You drive. I am too fucking pissed right now.”

 

[TheCorsair]

“Shit,” Joe growled, grabbing a towel and tossing anothe to Claudia. “Shit, shit, shit.” The same sentiments, if not the same words, followed as he hurriedly dressed and ran a comb through his hair. It had just been getting really good. He’d been about to fuck Claudia hard as she got herself off with her vibratory, and this fucking happened.

“Matthew Kelly must have brass fucking balls,” she snarled, pulling on her jacket and slipping into her shoes. “Dumping a body on the same day you paid him a visit. He’s fucking taunting us.”

“Fuck that son of a bitch,” Joe grumbled. “Maybe I shoulda put a bullet in him this afternoon.” It was bullshit talk, of course. He wouldn’t cross that line. But he needed to blow off steam sonehow.

Phone and keys shoved into her jacket pocket, Claudia followed Joe out to his car. “You drive. I am too fucking pissed right now.”

“Yeah. No fucking kidding.” He took the stairs two at a time, gritting his teeth in frustration. When the car roared to life, it was almost a relief to throw his siren in and burn stress by racing through traffic. Not that they had far to go, mind. But it was the spirit of the thing.

Their destination was the parking garage at Christ Hospital. The fourth level down, dimly lit by flickering neon tubes that couldn’t quite beat the dingy concrete walls. The air was stale, rank with damp and old exhaust. And the crime scene was obvious - just look for the patrol cars and the coroner’s van. “What do we have?” he asked, clipping his badge to his jacket as he climbed out.

“Another dead woman,” Maria replied, liking from him to Claudia and back. “Looks like your boy again.”

“Fuck,” Joe replied without any emotion, walking past the examiner to look at the corpse. She was probably pretty - maybe even smoking hot - before she’d been tortured and murdered. Lots of dark hair now matted with blood, sleek dark body, and....

And he froze. Froze, as he struggled to get ahold of himself. He hadn’t seen her in two years, and that last time hadn’t ended well. But... he wouldn’t have wished this on her. Not this.

“A... Aurelia?”

 

[Xanaphia]

The girlfriend in Claudia wanted to comfort Joe. Aurelia might have been an ex, but she knew Joe still cared about her. Cared enough to be hurt to find her like this. She had only met Aurelia a couple times, so most of what she knew about her came from Joe. They had a fiery relationship, with explosive sex and explosive fights.

But it was the detective in her that took over. “This… this doesn’t match his M.O. His victims are usually prostitutes. But isn’t, I mean, wasn’t Aurelia a personal trainer?”

“From her Instagram, it looks like she had a side hustle going on,” Maria explained, holding up her phone to explain. A picture of Aurelia, in skin tight workout gear, doing squats in a way that showed off her ass, with the caption “Check me out on Patreon for more pics!”

“Shit, look like she has 100k followers. So she probably gets a couple hundred nasty DMs a day. We’ll need the computer forensics team to get us a list of her Patreon subs, and anyone whose DMs she might have returned.”

Claudia approached the body as she snapped on a pair of gloves. Aurelia hardly resembled the gorgeous fitness model from her selfies. Battered face was swollen and purple around her eyes, lower lip busted open. Even on her dark skin, harsh red marks stood out on her throat. On the ground, half hidden under her hand, was a long, thin golden chain, with a simple onyx pendant. Ignoring the nagging memory of helping Joe pick it out for her, Claudia palmed it, and slipped it into her pocket.

 

[TheCorsair]

Joe clenched his fists as he looked at the picture and at the corpse. Just another victim, he told himself as he tried not to remember her. Just another piece of evidence. Just...

He and Aurelia had been, well, explosive. The sex and the fights and the after-fight sex. She’d been vivacious, and alive. And neither one of them had hated one another, even when they broke up. Hell, each of them had been the other’s drunken booty call multiple times since then. They’d been amazing, but they hadn’t been good for each other.

And now she was dead. He was going to kill the bastard.

Claudia tapped him on the shoulder, giving a faint signal that she’d found what they needed. “Right,” he managed, trying to focus on Marie. “Send is the report, when it’s ready.” Then he turned and stalked towards the car. “Let’s get out of here.”

 

[Xanaphia]

“You okay?”

Claudia winced as soon as the words left her lips. God, what a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t okay with finding his ex-girlfriend brutalized. Blowing out a long breath, she tried again. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

The rest of the car ride home was awkward. Arriving back at her place, with their clothes still strewn all over the floor was awkward. And the idea of reliving Aurelia’s last moments, and relaying those impressions to Joe, felt extremely awkward.

“You sure you want to be here for this? I could just set my phone to record me,” she offered, but Claudia could see his answer in anger in his eyes. He wanted to catch Kelly more than ever, now. So She settled in beside him, on the couch where they’d fooled around on just an hour ago, and thumbed the pendant around her palm.

Ewan rose up over her, shirtless, with one of her ankles in each hand. “Downing’s here, he’s… he’s raping her now.” He wasn’t as thick as Kelly, but stroked hard into her, as if to make up the difference. The victim’s tender walls ached, and it echoed her own ache from her failed orgasm.

Strong hands pulled her head back, forcing her into an awkward position that left her head hanging over the other side of the mattress. Even upside down, she could tell it was him. “Kelly’s here too. I think he’s going to…” He pried open her mouth, and she shuddered as he shoved half his cock in her mouth in one motion. Ewan didn’t stop, each slam driving her further along Kelly’s shaft, and in this position, he easily fit his full length down her throat.

“Both, both of them, together…” she managed, fitting the words between her gasping breaths. Each moment, it was harder to think, harder to concentrate, harder to disengage her experience from the victims. Now, especially, all that was distant, and falling away, as if she were truly the one raped and abused in this moment.

Strong, thick fingers wrapped around her throat, around the bulge of his swollen cock. Gripping her throat around his cock and cutting off her air completely. And not just the victim’s, but hers too. She fought for air, but nothing happed as she tried to inhale, tried to gasp. No air filled her lungs. Claudia clawed at her own throat, clawed at phantom fingers constricting her breathing, but it didn’t work, didn’t help. Kelly gripped her tighter, thumb pushing in her windpipe, and Downing fucked her harder through her desperate convulsions. Terror set in, cutting through the haze of lust.

 

[TheCorsair]

Joe sat and watched as Claudia went into her half trance, phone set to record her words and notebook out to make notes and track his thoughts. All the thoughts that weren’t just the burning need to gun Kelly down in cold blood. Because fuck him and...

And he drew a ragged breath, trying to control himself. He was a cop. And not a bullshit “plays by his own rules” movie cop, either. He talked big, but he’d always played by the rules. It was the only way to make a busy stick.

So he focused on Claudia, watching and listening. He could hear and see the arousal in her as the vision played out. It was something that seemed really strange to him, even though he knew that rape fantasies were common enough among women. It was something Aurelia had explained once.

Although what had happened was no fantasy.

“Both, both of them, together…” she gasped out, and the terror in her voice brought him back to the moment. Her eyes were wide open, which was brand new, but she wasn’t focused on anything. Or... no, she was focused on something only she could see. And she was starting to hyperventilate as her body jerked in time with an unseen attack.

“Fuck this!” he growled, grabbing the chain of the onyx pendant and tearing it out of her grip. Claudia sagged, and he caught her before she could fall. “It’s all right,” he said, cradling her against his chest. “You’re here. It’s all right.”

 

[Xanaphia]

It took several gasping breaths before Claudia was sure she wouldn’t die form asphyxiation. Several more before she realized she wasn’t the victim whose memories she relived. She was alive, and mostly unharmed, but ache lingered in her throat, as real as a rough session with Joe. Once she could speak, all that came was “I’m sorry.” Over and over she repeated the words and clung to Joe, until she could swallow down her own fear.

At some point that night, they fell asleep, but there wasn’t much sleep to be had, as nightmares of nearly choking to death woke her up barely an hour later. Each time it was harder to surrender to sleep, harder to shake the feeling that she wouldn’t wake up this time. But she did awake once morning arrived, and got ready for work beside Joe with very little conversation.

Once they arrived at the station, Brandon, one of the computer forensic scientists, was waiting by their desks with his laptop. “I have some good news,” he announced as they approached. Neither she nor Joe responded, but she stared daggers at him, and she imagined Joe looked just as pissed. Either way, it was enough to make Brandon wince, and start again. “That is, I think I was able to find you guys a clue.”

“What do you have?”

“Well, digging through the victim’s Patreon account, it looks like she was involved in mora than just modelling. She had a Patreon’s only cam show she put on a couple times a week, including private shows for big Patreons. And it also looks like she was willing to turn private shows into a date, for the right price.”

“So, she was hooking?”

“For 5-10k a pop, it seems. Not a ton, once every couple months, it seems. But she had a date set up for earlier this week.”

Sitting on Claudia’s desk, he pulled up some chat logs on his computer. “Here is the date she arranged this week. You can see he tries to offer her 20k in cash to come out, but she isn’t having it. Insisted on a down payment from a credit card.”

An actual smile curled on Claudia’s lips. “So we have a name?”

“Yep. One Jeremy Sanal.”

It wasn’t quite as good as getting Matthew Kelly, but it sure as hell was a step in the right direction. Turning her smirk towards Joe, she simpered. “Why don’t we have a serious talk with Mr. Sanal?”

 

[TheCorsair]

It had been a rough night. Claudia kept waking up, shaking and breathless, and it had to be from her vision. But he was guessing, there. She refused to talk about it at all. Breakfast and the drive to work were full of tired yawns and monosyllabic grunts. Getting to work was a relief, really.

At least, it had been until Brandon and his bombshell. Aurelia had been hooking. She’d been hooking, and it had gotten her killed, and sure he’d put it together last night. But it still hurt to hear it spelled out.

But they had a name. A name that had come up as an associate of Ewan Downing.

Claudia gave him a smirk. “Why don’t we have a serious talk with Mr. Sanal?””

“Oh, yes,” Joe agreed, grabbing his jacket as he rose. “Yes I do.”

-*-

Twenty minutes later, Joe stared as the elevator numbers ticked by. Mr. Sanal was a junior partner in the firm of Bath and Miel, a high-powered corporate law agency that did a lot of contract work for Matthew Kelly. “So,” he said. “We’ve got probable cause, and we can charge him with solicitation at least. We should be able to squeeze him hard.”

Then he blinked. “Shit. Was he one of the suits in that penthouse?”

 

[Xanaphia]

Claudia frowned, and shook her head. “I… No, I don’t think so,” she insisted, unable to keep the uncertainty out of her voice. That night had become a blur, just hours of being passed around a group of men. Even now, their faces –except Kelly’s– were vague and indistinct. But the concern nagged at her as they entered Jeremy’s office.

Jeremy Sanal could have been the first result in a google image search for corporate lawyer. A generically handsome man with short blond hair gelled into a neat part. His dark suit was well tailored to his active physique, impeccable, even if it weren’t authentic Italian. He was the sort of man who could project higher status than he was. “Good morning, Detective Ross, Detective Nassir. How can I help you?”

She took his hand in a quick shake. “We would like to discuss the death of Aurelia Freeman. Are you willing to answer some questions for us?”

“You think I would talk to you without a lawyer present?”

“Well then, why don’t you call up your lawyer then, and have them meet you at the station. Let them know you are under arrest for solicitation of prostitution.”

“Wait, what?”

“Well, I mean, if you don’t want to cooperate, we will be forced to drag you out of here in handcuffs, which will be embarrassing for the entire firm. And of course, once you are in custody, we will be taking a DNA sample. Just to test it against any open or cold cases we may currently have.”

Clearly he was calculating just how badly this could go for him. “And if I do cooperate?”

“We want to work with you Jeremy. We want to solve this case. Put the real monsters behind bars.” Claudia took a seat then, and leaned onto the desk. “That’s not you, is it?

“No.”

“We both know who the real monster is, don’t we?”

His eyes flickered up, flashing briefly with terror, before he steeled himself. “Possibly.”

Claudia shook her head. “No, don’t cover for him. Not this time. You don’t want to take the fall for him, this time. We want to help you, but you have to be honest with us. Completely honest.”

“I need assurances, first.”

“Well, I can’t make any promises, until I know just how much you can help us. But I can tell you we wouldn’t throw you under the bus.” She made a show of pulling out her notepad. “So, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what happened with Aurelia.”

 

[TheCorsair]

They’d agreed that she’d handle most of the questioning. Because Aurelia was - despite the weird connection made with her death - just another victim to her. But it was hard, looking at this rich little Aryan bastard. Joe wanted to hurt him, adrenaline coursing through his blood demanding he do something.

Claudia made a show of pulling out her notepad. “So, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what happened with Aurelia.”

Jeremy hesitated, then deflated a little. “All right,” he sighed, gesturing for them to take seats as he slumped back down behind his desk. “My office should be private enough.”

He leaned forward, glumly resting his chin on his hands. “It’s, well...”

“It’s what?” Joe snarled

Jeremy flinched back at the tone. “So I’m part of, well, a club. A kind of Old Boy’s Network. In rotation, one of us is responsible for supplying... entertainment.”

He stared at a point in the wall behind them. “Three das ago, it was my turn. So, I hired Aurelia.” He sighed. “I’m engaged her services before, and explained what she’d be doing and what it would pay. In cash.” He shrugged. “She was down for it. And, if she didn’t actually enjoy it, she put on a hell of an act. But then, afterwards... Kelly took a fancy to her.”

He hesitated. “How... how much detail do you want?”

 

[Xanaphia]

Claudia shot Joe a quick glance, concern writ on her brow, before going back to Jeremy. As much as the girlfriend in her wanted to comfort Joe, the best thing she could do for him now was to catch the bastard that did this. And that meant she had to be Detective Ross for now.

“How... how much detail do you want?”

“We need everything, if we are going to get Kelly on this.”

They didn’t need to actually hear the grisly details from Jeremy, except to confirm that her visions had indeed occurred. But since her visions could be used as evidence to secure a warrant, they did need an official statement from him confirming what they already knew.

As Jeremy recounted the night, she relived it. Relived Aurelia’s memories yet again, even without the necklace that had served as a conduit. Again, she felt Ewan ravaging her, felt Kelly force himself inside her, felt his grip tighten over her engorged throat until she couldn’t breathe. She had to dig her nails into her palms hard enemy to draw blood to escape the resurgent memories, drawing ragged breaths through her nose to keep calm.

Worst of all was her body’s response to the violation, the chafing heat that demanded satisfaction. As if reminding her that she hadn’t gotten off last night. She wanted it all, the punishing strokes, the forceful deepthroating, the strong hand wrapped around her neck.

Clearing her throat, Claudia turned her attention back to the case at hand.“What about Gwynn Gibby? Or Fayette Cerylia? Or Delinda Farone? Or Esmeralda Soriano?”

“That’s not the deal.”

“The deal is whatever I say it is!” Claudia snapped, rage and arousal driving her to the limits of her patience. “Or we could drag you in on Aurelia’s murder, and see if your dna matches any of those women. What kind of deal do you think you’re going to get when you’re the prime suspect in five murders?”

“It’s Kelly, alright? He’s the sicko you want!”

“Yeah, and I am sure you only participate because he puts a gun to your head,” she scoffed. “Look, if you want a deal, you got 48 hours to get us something good, something that proves that Kelly is the mastermind here. Otherwise, you are going to want to get your affairs in order quick. And don’t think about leaving town, unless you want to check right into a jail cell.”

 

[TheCorsair]

“Fuck,” Joe growled, gripping the steering wheel tight enough to make the vinyl creak. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

He’d been silent as they left Jeremy’s office. Silent and grim, glaring at everyone they passed. Now he sat in the druver’s seat of his car, staring blindly out the windshield and swearing timelessly. Finally, he sighed heavily. “The Captain would take me off this case if he knew I was connected to one of the victims,” he said. “And he’d be right to do it. Because I’m too damn close, now.”

Finally, he turned the ignition and intended to the car sputter to life. “Come on. Let’s go get lunch. And a couple of beers. I need to wash a taste out of my mouth.”

-*-

A message arrived on bedpage.com:

Hey, Curvy Redhead! Yo up for a party? I don’t do “quick”, but I can sure do hard and dirty. And I got a few friends that’d be down for it as well.

 

[Xanaphia]

“The Captain would take me off this case if he knew I was connected to one of the victims,” he said. “And he’d be right to do it. Because I’m too damn close, now.”

“Maybe we both are,” Claudia agreed, staring out the passenger side window. After all, she had fucked the main suspect. On top of fucking her partner. “I mean, it’s bullshit to get this close to cracking it wide open, just to give it away, but…”She trailed off and sighed.

“Come on. Let’s go get lunch. And a couple of beers. I need to wash a taste out of my mouth.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good.”

Lunch was at a hole in the wall Mexican place with bad lighting and greasy burritos. But the beers were cheap, and they came often enough that the staff offered them a fairly private booth. The vinyl creaked as they squeezed in, and waitress set down two menus before rushing back to another table.

“So, uh…” Claudia started, half heartedly looking over the menu. She already knew what she wanted, so this was merely an exercise in familiarity. “How are you holding up?”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to probe too deeply. The relationship was still new, after all, based mostly on a mutual desire to keep things simple, and casual. Hashing out Joe’s feelings for another woman, a recently dead woman, seemed counterintuitive to all that. There were certainly questions she didn’t want to the answer, while she navigated the complexities of help her lover mourn the death of his ex.

Putting the menu down, she offered a half smile and a shrug. “Wanna talk about it?”

 

[TheCorsair]

“So, uh…” Claudia started, sounding uncomfortable. “How are you holding up?”

Joe shrugged noncommittally, staring blankly at his menu. “Been better, you know?”

Putting the menu down, she offered a half smile and a shrug. “Wanna talk about it?”

He shrugged again, then glanced away as the waiter arrived. “Bud light, and a Coke. And the shrimp tacos.” Once Claudia ordered and the waiter left, he looked back at her. “I... yeah.” Absently, he ate a tortilla chip. “I’m, confused, I think. About how I feel.”

Sighing, he ate a few more chips. “Figured I was over her, you know? We broke up about the time you got assigned as my partner. She was kind of a jealous control freak, and didn’t really like me being a cop, and I think you were the last straw.” He laughed, once. “She was probably the first to assume we were fucking.”

He drummed his fingers on the table, staring off into space. “When she walked out, I stuffed all her shit into garbage bags and tossed them out the window. She came back while I was at work, broke in, and spray-painted ‘bastard’ on my mattress before taking my tv - she claimed it was hers.”

He ate another chip. “I liked her, but I was glad to see her go - don’t stick your dick in crazy, and all that. But... fuck. I sure as hell didn’t want to see her dead.”

 

[Xanaphia]

“Of course, you didn’t want to see her dead,” Claudia replied, dipping her chip into salsa. “You’re not a monster. And well, it makes sense that you still might have feelings for her. You don’t get a break up that messy without strong feelings attached.”

Conversation died away as their food arrived. Claudia searched for words in her bottle of Bud, something that could ease his mind or soothe the hurt in his soul. Something that would make her feel less guilty about everything, even knowing none of it was her fault.

“Fuck, I don’t know. I wish I were better at this. I wish I had a better answer than ‘it gets easier with time,’ or whatever.” Another swig of beer didn’t cool her anger. “All I know for sure is that we are going to get that bastard. He’s going to fucking pay, Joe, for everything. We’re too fucking close now, for his to slip away.”

Pushing aside the half-eaten plate of carnitas nachos, Claudia killed her beer and considered ordering another. She didn’t usually drink on the job, but everything about this case left a bad taste in her mouth and a maddening ache between her thighs. Feelings that didn’t lend themselves well to playing the role of supportive, comforting girlfriend. Not unless he thought another bathroom quickie could mend his heart.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”