Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (7 page)

Sam eventually got to his apartment door and stopped outside it. He took a deep breath and said a silent prayer before turning the knob. The door was open and he knew what would happen next. There was no-one in the living room as he switched on the lights but he heard his voice echo from the bedroom.

“Is that you, Sam?”

“Yes, Ted.”

“About damn time, what took you so long?”

“I had to finish up on some work,” Sam answered.
And I was avoiding your ass,
he thought to himself as he took the much-calculated steps to his bedroom. He walked in on an unexpected scene and for some reason expected today’s session to be worse than the night’s before.

“Did you miss me?” Ted asked.

He was seated in a chair at the far end of the room wearing leather shorts and a grim smile. His hand was equipped with a leather whip and he had his legs crossed over the other.

“I asked you a question,” Ted said in an authoritative tone. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Yes, who?

“Yes, sir,” Sam answered timidly.

“Come closer.”

Sam stood his ground and looked in Ted’s direction; he clenched his palm in a fist and fed him a disgusted glare.

“What is that I see in your eyes?” Ted chuckled. “Is that a look of resentment?”

Sam did not reply, he went on staring at him and did not move.

“No, you would have already thrown something my way if you resented me,” Ted went on to say. “That is a look of disgust –– plain, simple disgust.”

“Leave.”

“What?”

“You heard me, I said
leave
,” Sam repeated with a more authoritative voice.

“It is always good to see this side of you,” Ted answered. He was still in his seat and fed Sam a knowing look. “To be honest I never thought it existed.”

The crack of his whip gave Sam a shiver and he blinked his eyes repeatedly before fixing his gaze on Ted.

“Now be a good boy and get on your knees.”

“I said ‘leave’.”

“Enough with the show of bravado, love, it is honestly beginning to irritate me and you know what happens when I get irritated.”

Sam stood his ground a second longer before slowly getting on his knees just as he had been asked to. He dared not look up and waited patiently for the next instruction.

“That’s a good boy, now come to me.”

He started moving slowly on his knees and headed towards him, still wearing a look of fear in his eyes as he wondered what would happen next.

“Now, dear,” Ted started. “I need to apologize.”

“For what, sir?” Sam asked, confused.

“About last night –– I got carried away. I should have been gentler and catered to all your needs with care.”

Sam felt his heart warm up to him as he made his apology; he wanted to smile up at him but knew how he would react to that.

“Come closer…”

He moved closer to Ted and obediently laid his head in his lap as directed. Ted combed his hand through his hair before seductively stroking his chin. His other hand then travelled down his spine and he rubbed his back gently.

“Do you like that?” Ted asked.

“Yes, sir.”

He then lifted Sam’s head from his lap and directed his mouth to his bare chest. Sam knew what to do and he placed his mouth on Ted’s nipple and started sucking on it and could feel the front of his pants pitch a tent.

“See how much I want you, Sam?” he teased.

Sam did not reply he knew how much he liked him to concentrate on pleasuring him.

“But you know what, Sam, I am ready to give you a pass today,” Ted went on. “I will not ravage you tonight.”

These words made Sam’s heart skip a beat as a wave of relief washed over him.

“And you know why I choose not to do that tonight?”

“No, sir.”

“I will tell you why. It is because I love you and I want to hold you tonight.”

Sam got to his feet after hearing these words; he knew the drill and slowly began to walk over to his bed. He pulled back the covers and slid right between them before curling himself into a ball and waiting on him. He heard him shift a few things around the room before walking over to the door and shutting it gently. He then switched off the lights and walked over to the bed where he slipped right behind him and pulled him closer.

“Good night my prince,” Ted echoed.

“Good night.”

****

Tracy got to work on time that day and reported to the front desk. She punched in her card after saying a polite hello to the reception and walked over to her locker. She changed into her usual janitor uniform and a smile lit up her face as she thought of the kind of fun she was about to have. She loved her day job and would always look forward to it. After perfectly fitting into her uniform, Tracy got the trolley from its rightful place and started pushing it out of the locker room. No one ever paid any attention to her when she was at work and that was how she liked it.

She rolled it to the elevator and pressed the button for underground. She then hoped no one would join her in the elevator as she waited for its doors to close. It was a short ride down to the morgue. She got out at the bottom and was greeted by the familiar silence which she had come to like and revel in. There was no-one at work yet since she had chosen to report very early that day. She placed her trolley in the usual corner and began unloading it. Her attention was however distracted as the door opened and she looked up from the trolley.

“Tracy Evans?” someone called from behind her and she took a while to turn her attention to him.

“Who wants to know?”

“Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“I am Detective Sam and I have a few questions for you this morning.”

“About what?”

“Is there anywhere we can have a seat and talk?”

“I am o.k. standing,” Tracy answered defensively and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Are you always this friendly?”

“Not a morning person,” Tracy replied.“I would really appreciate it if you get to the point. I have work to do, sir.”

“I have questions about your sister, Rita Sutter.”

Sam noticed the twitch in her left arm as soon as she mentioned her name. She looked at him closer and he hoped he would get the answers he was looking for from her.

“Seems to have gotten your attention.”

“What about Rita? What has she done now?”

“She is actually dead,” Sam answered. “Murdered, actually.”

“Really?”

“You sound shocked and not in the way I expected.”

“It finally happened.”

“What do you mean ‘finally happened’?” Sam asked, more curious than ever.

“Sir, Rita was not a pleasant person. It only looks like someone eventually threatened her and meant it.”

“Wait a minute,” Sam said and paused for a minute. “Are you trying to tell me that she was getting threats?”

“Yes.”

“From who?”

“Child, please – you asking me that question is like asking me to photocopy the yellow pages.”

“Well, you had better get right to it then.”

“Are you serious sir?” Tracy said. “What part of ‘I am working’ don’t you get?”|

“Tracy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your sister was murdered.”

“Did the sun stop shining?”

Sam ran his hand through his hair and gave Tracy a long, hard stare. He had not expected his morning to be so foul but at the same time he remembered Lohan’s words:
“Expect anything when on a murder case.”

“
What time do you get off work?”

“In about two hours.”

“I will wait for you.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel there is a lot of information you can tell me that will help me on this case.”

“Will you buy me breakfast?”

“Will that get you talking?”

“I will sing like a canary,” Tracy answered.

“I will be in the parking lot waiting on you,” Sam said and gave her a card with his cell phone number on it.

“O.k.,” Tracy answered and went on unloading her trolley. She took out her mops and brooms and multiple bottles of detergents and got right to work.

Sam walked out of the morgue and headed for his car. His whole mind was on the case at hand before a cell phone came through for him.

“Did you find her?” Lohan’s voice roared on the phone.

“Yes, I did.”

“And?”

“I am on my way up, will fill you in when I arrive.”

Sam hung up the phone and walked on to the parking lot where Lohan was seated in the passenger’s seat of his car with his sunglasses on.

“So did you talk to her?”

“I did,” Sam answered.

“How did it go?”

“Well,” Sam hesitated with his answer, “I am waiting on her to finish her morning shift.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I wish I was.”

Lohan opened the door from his side of the car and stood out in the cold morning air. He had his hands placed firmly on his waist as his beer belly stood out. Sam got out of the car too and from the look on his partner’s face, he knew he was in trouble.

“Sam.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Need I remind you that you are a police officer?”

“No you need not”

“Do you know the kind of authority that a police officer has?” he asked and scratched his bald head. “You rookies make me mad sometimes.”

“I will go fetch her,” Sam asked and began walking towards the morgue again. He knew what he would be told next and was not really in the mood. The distance to the underground morgue was faster with the new motivation he got from Lohan. He found Tracy busy cleaning the place and the look on her face when she saw him was not inviting at all.

“I told you two hours.”

“I heard that.”

“So what the hell are you doing back here after exactly half an hour?”

“Ummmm,” Sam took a while to respond before scratching his chin. “Would you mind hurrying up?”

“Excuse you?”

“It’s just that my boss is really on my case and…”

“Would you mind grabbing a mop?” Tracy interrupted.

A smile lit up her face for the first time that day when he saw Sam roll up his sleeves and move closer to where her trolley was. He pulled out a mop from the trolley and a disinfectant bottle and mimicked what Tracy was doing.

“Are you sure you’re a cop?”

“Damn sure,” he answered. “Certificate and training and all that crap.”

“Why aren’t you using your authority to make me talk to you?” Tracy asked. “You could be scaring me with fancy legal lines that make me shiver.”

“I would do that,” he said. “But I think you would open up to me more if I helped you work.”

“I think you have lost your damn mind.”

“That is debatable,” Sam answered and started working beside her.

“Can I ask you a strange question?”

“Go right ahead.”

“Why on earth would you want to work in a morgue?”

“There is no noise among the dead,” Tracy answered. “Have you ever seen a dead body”

“I see them all the time. I am a cop, remember?”

“I will need you to keep reminding me that as we carry out this conversation,” Tracy pointed out in reference to him grabbing the mop. “You missed a spot, by the way.”

“Where?”

“I am just messing with you,” Tracy giggled. “You are actually good at this.”

“Thank you,” Sam said and blushed from the compliment before returning his attention to the topic at hand. “You were asking if I had ever seen a dead body.”

“Right,” Tracy went on as she made neat stroke with her mop across the floor. “Ever noticed how peaceful they look? I envy that.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I do,” she answered. “Imagine how it would be like to never wake up to deal with your problems.”

“That does sound peaceful.”

“That is why I chose to work here,” she went on. “For two hours or more in my day, I get to relish in the idea of peace. To be among the dead and quiet and imagine how it would be like to be dead and at peace.”

“How was your relationship with Rita?”

“Rita was always the smarter one of us two,” Tracy went on to answer. “We were raised in not-so-favorable circumstances.”

“How so?”

“You really sound like a shrink there, detective.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“No, it’s a simple observation,” Tracy answered.

“It’s part of the job, I guess.”

“You really are a sweet guy. I would date you if you were not gay.”

“How did you know?”

“Aaah, still in the closet I see,” Tracy said with a weird smile. “Like I said, just an observation.”

“Please do not take this the wrong way but I could use you.”

“How?”

“You have a keen eye.”

“I am not cheap.”

“I do not expect you to be.”

They went on cleaning the place in silence, Tracy wondering what he was going to ask next and Sam wondering how he would frame his next question.

“When was the last time you saw Rita?”

“On her wedding day,” Tracy answered. “Her kids do not even know I exist.”

“Did you try reaching out and forging a relationship with her or the kids?”

“Detective, you will soon realize one thing about me as you go on with this interrogation.”

“What’s that?”

“I do not attach myself to people or things. I do not have that bone in my body.”

“In that case, you will not feel a damn thing if I tell you Rita’s body was stolen.”

“Stolen?”

“Yes ma’am, right in this morgue.”

“What the hell are you trying to say, Detective?”

“After Rita was discovered murdered in her apartment, her body was brought here but disappeared the very next day.”

Sam looked at her reaction and couldn’t tell what she was really thinking. He however noticed how she clenched her grip on the mop she was still holding and wanted her to say something.

“That is sad. I have always wished the worst for her but this never crossed my mind.”

“Didn’t you hear about it?”

“Why would I hear about it?”

“You work here.”

“I do but I hardly know anyone here other than the sweet fiancé lady who gives me my paycheck at the end of the month.”

Sam looked around at the morgue and admired the good job he had done on the floor.