Monica liked Ace’s the moment she walked in. It was a real honky tonk. A bar that served great bar food, and beer, and played music you could actually dance to. Pool tables took up one corner of the large establishment. There were dart boards along one wall, a juke box, a few TV’s over the bar, but what she liked best was the camaraderie. People came here to hang out and have fun. And they were doing just that as evidenced by the size of the crowd and the laughter.
Victor had brought that into her life when she met him. FUN! She’d been a real loner before him, due to her rape. But being a lifer in the military, he’d shown her what true friendship was in his huge military family. These men and woman, who risked their lives for their country, loved hard. They were passionate and took nothing for granted. They put their lives on the line, so when it came to letting loose, they could do that with the best of them. She knew the moment she walked in that she was in for a fun night.
Introductions were made again. Orders were taken and soon drinks arrived. After a while, Victor took his wife onto the dance floor. It brought back memories for Monica of the evening they met at that bar in Tampa her sister had dragged her to against her will. It was the Blue Martini. They danced that night. And that night sealed her fate. This was the man she was meant to be with.
Victor’s hand strayed to her waist and then lower. Monica danced close as the dance floor crowded. Not far away, Julie and Patrick moved in time to the music together. Other couples soon joined them. Victor lowered his head to Monica’s ear. “Do you have them in?” he asked. His voice was sexy as hell when he spoke that way.
“Yes,” she purred back.
He knew she had them in, and was asking to tease her further, torment her. He had ordered her some new Ben Wa balls. Small silver marbles attached to a chain. With each gyration of her hips, she could feel them moving. It was pure pleasure and had her feeling wanton. Only the two of them knew she had them inside of her. It left her feeling excited and full of anticipation of what would come later that evening. He had ordered other toys that would be waiting for them in their room tonight to make her pleasure last. It’s what he liked to do. It was the anticipation that would make her release, when it finally came, exceed her wildest imagination.
“I wish it were me inside of you right now, Monica.” The words he whispered in her ear further excited her. His eyes were alight with a fire that burned for her. He truly was a master at playing these games.
After one more dance, he led her back to the table where several of the couples were seated. When she scooted on the bench to allow Victor to sit next to her, Julie was already there.
“I’m so glad we got to shop a little bit this afternoon and I have to thank you again for agreeing to come out to lunch with me tomorrow.”
“Not a problem. I also loved your little shop, Sister’s Keeper. What a great place! And for such a worthy cause,” Monica replied, laughing and trying to stay focused despite her husband’s hand creeping up her thigh under the table. He was stroking it until his hand settled between her legs and he found the chain. He gave it a little tug and she had to bite her lip in order not to let out a small exhalation of pleasure. “And Fiona’s coming, too?” she asked, trying to keep her mind off of her husband’s sweet torture.
Julie nodded. “Yes. She agreed to come. It would be wonderful if we could get Congressman Reynolds on board. We have enough donations to run the center for a year, but fundraising is a constant process. I’m always on the lookout for new sources of revenue.”
“I get that,” Monica replied. In her years of teaching school, she had to participate in many fundraising endeavors for the children she taught. State cutbacks had whittled away at a lot of the programs that used to be part of the school budget. It was a never ending battle. Her explanation was met by nods across the table. And to her relief, Victor got pulled into a conversation with a SEAL named Dude of all things. She was now more able to concentrate on what the others were saying.
“It is also a problem for a lot of the schools in California. It’s definitely a national problem,” Caroline reiterated.
When Fiona and Cookie joined them a little bit later, the crowd at their table was still growing. And the beers were being refilled by Jessyka’s staff as quickly as they drank them. She owned the place and was also married to a SEAL on Matthew’s team. The evening passed all too quickly, but Victor kept reminding her of what was to come with an occasional tug.
Alabama and her husband were the first to leave. They had three children at home and then Benny and Jessyka left.
It was about 10 PM when Victor finally suggested they head to their suite. Cookie offered them a ride as he hadn’t been drinking much that evening and they accepted in lieu of the cab they had planned to take. They hadn’t brought the rental because both had decided to enjoy a few drinks. She and Victor made their goodbyes to Caroline and Matthew and Julie and Patrick, and the others who remained.
Monica enjoyed the short drive from Ace’s to her suite at the Hilton Garden Inn in Riverton. It was just four short blocks from the pier and shared the same view as the bar they just left, but it gave her an opportunity to get to know Cookie and Fiona a little better.
“Are you enjoying our town?” asked Fiona politely from the front seat.
Monica looked at the stunning woman who was about her own age. “I am. Julie has been showing me around and it reminds me of home a little bit. If you guys are ever in Tampa, you’ll have to look us up.”
“I have heard great things about Tampa from Wolf.” Wolf was Matthew Steele’s nickname to his team. “He was there last year when one of our friends was honored in a ceremony for Fight for the Fallen.” Cookie wished he could have been at the event honoring Tex.
Victor spoke up suddenly. “Really? My cousin’s wife does the fundraising for that on the base? Her name is Katarina Marino.”
“Whoa. Really? What a small world! She’s the woman who honored our friend, Tex.”
Fiona spoke again and reiterated her husband’s words. “Matthew told us all about that event and what a beautiful ceremony it was. It seems your Katarina and our Tex go way back. He rescued her when she was still just a teenager.”
Cookie was thrilled to know Victor and his wife, Monica, were connected to the Marino family. He had heard all about them from Caroline and Matthew. There was a lot of respect for that family across the country. All former boys in blue who operated their own Bail Bonds and Bounty service. The more he got to know Victor, the more he liked him. He was Army and a career military man. He respected that choice. Hell, he had made a similar decision. A lot of the guys he knew did their time and got out, but not him. Not Victor, and not his brothers in arms on his SEAL team.
Cookie pulled up in front of the Hilton and got out of the car to shake Victor’s hand. Fiona got out, too, and gave Monica a quick hug promising her she would see her tomorrow for lunch. Monica really liked Fiona and she reminded her a lot of herself. There was an air of fragility about her, but she knew inside there was also an inner strength to have survived what she had gone through. She’d heard a little bit about her story from Julie, but not too much, because as Julie had said while shopping this afternoon, and she agreed, it was not her story to tell. She hoped she got a chance to hear it.
* * *
He followed them from the bar in his vehicle. He hadn’t been able to get close. The girl, Julie, had been there and he had followed her to the bathroom at one point in the evening, but hadn’t been able to get close as another woman caught up to her.
He’d been trying to get information about these women, who they were, and where they lived. He wanted to get to all of them, especially Monica. He needed to finish what he started all those years ago.
But their crowd had been too big to gain entrance and so he had watched from afar. When he saw Monica dancing with a man he presumed was her husband, the same man he had seen her with the night before, he had seen red. He had never pictured her with somebody else before. And seeing another man’s hands on the woman he had always wanted angered him more than anything had ever angered him in his entire life. He almost sputtered curses at a waitress behind the bar for asking him if wanted anything, but held back the litany that threatened to spill forth from his lips. “Beer, Heineken,” he snapped, watching her scamper off to get his order among others.
Yes, he had been angry before. Mostly at women who looked like Monica but never were. After he raped her the first time, he had been paranoid that she would point the finger at him and he would go to jail. But she hadn’t reported it. He left town for six months just in case. But he had come back and by then she had gone off to college. He wanted to go and find her, but he had been arrested on a DUI charge and went to prison. It had been his second arrest and the cops also found drugs in his car. By the time he got out of prison, she had been lost to him. And he hadn’t been able to find out where she had gone. Her sister had moved and he never had the courage to approach her father or her aunts to ask about her whereabouts. He wasn’t in their circle.
But a year later he saw a girl who looked like Monica. And he had to have her. And then there was another girl. That girl had threatened him and he ran. And for the last 15 years, he had been running and raping AND killing. By his count there had been 23 girls. For a decade he had lived on the road. It hadn’t been easy. He’d tried to stop several times, but then he’d see a brunette with long hair, and the urges would get so bad he would have to act on them. He’d never stayed in one place long enough to get caught until he had arrived in Riverton two years ago. Years of hard living and drugs had diminished his urges; he was trying to be good. For now.
Seeing her again, all these years later, brought it all rushing back. He had to possess her. Completely.
But how? He sipped the beer the waitress set before him and dropped a five dollar bill on the bar. He got up and went to the dart board closest to where they were sitting. He picked up three darts making sure Monica didn’t see him. It had been a long time ago, but still she could recognize him though he did not look much like the younger man he had been then.
He let one dart fly. Fourteen points. One of the men was talking about giving them a lift to their hotel. He let another dart fly. Five points. When he heard them say it wasn’t necessary, but the other guy say the Hilton was on his way, he let the last dart fly. 0. Center circle. Bull’s eye. He knew where she was staying. He grabbed his beer and began to walk to the exit. Down the hatch. He threw back his beer and discarded the empty in the trash on his way out the door. He hightailed it out of there wanting to beat them to their hotel. He didn’t know what he would do when he got there. But at least he knew where she was staying. He got into his car and made it to the hotel in no time at all. He did not know what to do. He couldn’t nab her here.
He was about to panic. He needed more information. He got out of his car and headed to the lobby, just as a large SUV came rolling up. He quickly hustled over to a crowd of people waiting for taxis and hoped he hadn’t been noticed while the drop off had been made.
From this vantage point, he had a clear view of the two couples. And when they all got out of the car, it was even better. He could overhear what they were saying. The pretty brunette was telling Monica she would see her tomorrow for lunch at the Riverton Golf Club. BINGO! The girls would be there without their men. He might just get the chance he was hoping for.
He didn’t know how he would do it, but he knew he’d have to be there. He needed a plan and a van. The van would be the easy part. He’d borrow one from his boss.
As soon as Monica and her husband went into the hotel and the other couple got into their car and left, he hurriedly jumped out of the queue waiting for cabs. He rushed to his beat up car, wanting nothing more than to get to his stupid dingy apartment and plan. He had a lot to do tonight to get ready for his rendezvous with his beautiful brunette.