Evil (closed)

[Maid of Marvels]

Sam was puzzled. She hadn't hit Ken all that hard -- at least she didn't think she had -- and the only plausible excuse she could come up with was that the guy had a glass jaw. Nevertheless, she was feeling horrible about this.

At a loss for words, and the lack of knowledge required to help, she nodded and headed for the showers. "Nice way to make friends and influence people, Sam" she muttered to herself as she undressed, though something told her deep down that this would not just blow over. The little she had discerned of Kendall Williams told her that he was just not that kind of guy.

Knowing that she didn't require the full twenty minutes that he'd gestured for her to take, Sam showered up and dressed, gathering her dampish hair and twisting it into a knot which she fastened in place with a wooden dowel which she threaded through a leather barrette. Clean and neat, Sam took a deep breath as she exited the locker-room, wishing that the flush of embarrassment still on her face would just disappear.

She heard the voice before she saw who it belonged to. The person Ken had phoned, obviously, but she didn't expect the body it belonged to. Sam had figured it was going to be a doc that showed, not... She was probably his girlfriend or something, Sam thought as she took the measure of the woman who was leaning over Williams. Her ass was framed perfectly in a too-short skirt that topped a pair of legs which seemed to go on forever. If she leaned just a little bit more...

Sam looked down at her clothes -- freshly pressed jeans with a tee shirt neatly tucked in beneath her belted waist -- and suddenly felt out of place, despite where she was and what she had just been doing.

Before she could quickly retreat, Ken's girlfriend glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The rear view had been something, but her face... she was drop-dead gorgeous and as much as Sam would have liked to say that her perfectly shaped nose and flawless features were man-made, and that her white-blonde hair was fresh from a bottle, Sam knew it wasn't so.

Three more steps and she'd be there and could politely excuse herself to go back to the reason she'd came out to Santa Barbara in the first place. This was beyond juvenile, Sam chided herself. He's just a guy. A cop. A tool.

"So you're the guy who did this to Ken, huh?" the woman asked with a smile that made her look even more beautiful than she already was. Sam hated her and was hard put not to check to see how many pimples had erupted on her own face before extending her hand to meet the one proffered.

"Pleased to meet you" Sam said, hoping her smile didn't look too feral, "Sam... Samantha Curtis."

"Just call me Joanne," the woman replied "though Ken here prefers to call me Doc."

Doc?? This... vision was a doctor? Gods she hoped her own jaw wasn't flapping like Ken's seemed to have been earlier. Not knowing what else to say, she said the first -- okay, the tenth -- thing that came to mind. "Is it broken?"[/COLOR]

 

[BLACK BART]

"Broken? No, But dislocated. Don't feel too bad though this wasn't the first time and the dumb lug over there should have told you before he asked you to spar with him. You'll have to step out into one of the other rooms if you're going to wait though, I think it best if only one of us watches this humiliation."

"His jaw has been dislocated before?"

"Broken, but you'll need to ask him for details, I promised to keep the details to myself when I treated him the first time. I'd like to talk with you later if you'd care to? Trade stories we can swap sort of things? But now..."

"Gotcha, I'll be through here when you're done or need help."

Ken rolled his eyes. There was nothing wrong with his hearing, only his jaw and as he clearly overheard the two woman’s conversation and watched Sam head for the one room he didn't care for her to be in he knew it was only going to get worse.

"New Barbie for Ken to play with?" Joanne appraised as she approached Ken, and then pushed him down into a metal chair before placing her hands on his jaw line. "NOT your usual type is she?

Ken cold only grunt and glare as Joanne used her own knees to push his inward and then stood over them, her skirt hiked up in order to straddle his legs as she continued to examine him.

"So this is the new hot-shot that's got everyone talking, the one that might finally break the string of unsolved murders not even YOU could figure out. She's cute, and tough...or did she do this to you with something other than her fist?"

The comment hurt Ken's already withering pride but a minute later as the stars cleared from his eyes he decided the Doc's words were the lesser of the two pains and he moved to rub his reset jaw line.

"Uh uhhh, ice packs and little or no talking...use a scratch pad if you need to speak and take several of what I'll give you before I leave to ease the swelling.

Joanne still stood straddled over his legs and her hands now moved through his hair, toying with the damp curls as she spoke in a hushed tone to him, the smell of her perfume and arousal coming quite clearly to Ken's nostrils.

"That's two you owe me officer. Next time you play I want to be involved...or I may break my oath of silence, understood?

And then she was away from Ken, the kiss she gave him on his lips a deliberate and painful move for him to endure, and with an elaborate sway of her hips she moved to the door Sam had disappeared through and rapped on it.

"I'm all done with him, you can come out and finish him off...and don't forget you promised me a girl to girl talk.... I’m a night owl and have a great selection of Sangria's...and Ken will give you my address."

Another look tossed over her shoulder and she was gone...the door opening and closing, the morning sunlight making Ken blink as he rose to his feet and faced his earlier guest...

"I need a drink"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Sam looked around the room the doc -- Joanne -- had suggested she wait in while she fixed Ken up. An office, looked like. Ken's office. Ken's unused office. She tilted her head, wondering why Joanne had wanted her to come in here; she'd lay odds that Ken did not. Placing her hands behind her back, Sam intertwined her fingers to prevent herself from touching anything.

It was an interesting room, she thought. Bits and pieces of the man she'd decided to let partner with her -- on this case at least. Its centerpiece was a desk made of dark wood; mahogany was her guess. And it was enormous, almost completely filling half of the small space. Definitely an antique but glaringly out of place. An inheritance? Sam didn't understand why he didn't have it in his own home. Maybe it was just too big.

The other furnishings consisted of two leather chairs placed on the "visitor" side of the desk -- definitely not ValueCity stuff, though not as ancient as the desk. Unable to resist, she knelt and then sidled herself beneath one of them to see if she'd be able to locate a manufacturer's mark, careful not to touch anything as she did so. No... No... Wait! Voilà! There it was. Sam squinted up at the symbols in the dim light -- she'd remember what she saw and check it out later.

More modern were the filing cabinets; most probably locked, but she wasn't going to check. At least not yet.

In all of this there were only five objects in the entire room that smacked of Kendall Williams on a personal level. And those were the photographs. The frame on the largest, like the desk it sat on, was ornate and most definitely an antique -- size being the only overt difference between this and the others.

The subjects in each were a young, sickly looking boy. Ken, no doubt. The other, an older woman -- quite possibly his mother, though she could be an aunt or even a grand; there was definitely a resemblance of a sort. There was a regal air about her, and if Sam was right, she reeked of breeding and money. Also interesting was the fact that there were no men in any of the photos -- just the little boy and the woman.

Sam sighed, figuring she'd been in here long enough for Joanne (why did she feel like sneering when she thought of her?) to have accomplished the task at hand. And what was the deal with her anyhow? She wanted to "talk"? About what... and why? Hopefully Sam would get a clue before the woman took off.

Just about to leave on her own, there was a knock on the door. Joanne, of course. "I'm all done with him, you can come out and finish him off...and don't forget you promised me a girl to girl talk.... I’m a night owl and have a great selection of Sangria's...and Ken will give you my address."

Yeah, yeah, Sam said under her breath as she walked back out into the gym. The doc was gone as quickly as she had arrived -- and none too soon in Sam's mind. Something about her both irked her and made her curious for more.

Ken was on his feet and facing her, grumbling something about needing a drink. "You're not supposed to talk she said. Lucky for you, I have a notepad in my bag."

Grinning, as much because of her chagrin at having really hurt Ken and the realization that she didn't even come close to anyone that he could remotely be interested in personally, Sam made a show of rummaging for the aforementioned notepad. She had several, in fact... but it was one of the blank ones she was after. "There," she said at last, presenting it to him with a pen and a curt bow of her head.

"You obviously can't eat, and I'm certain alcohol isn't the best idea -- especially if... Joanne... gave you anything for pain. Aside from that, it looks like your carriage awaits and I'm driving. As soon as you shower up and change, that is. Where to?"

 

[BLACK BART]

"You obviously can't eat, and I'm certain alcohol isn't the best idea -- especially if... Joanne... gave you anything for pain. Aside from that, it looks like your carriage awaits and I'm driving. As soon as you shower up and change, that is. Where to?"

Ken's jaw hurt and his head rang...and through it all it came to him that he had to report in.

He scooped up the tablet and wrote a quick note, then without looking at Sam made for the bathrooms and a much needed shower...

The water felt good and he turned the heat up, his mind wandering as he relaxed and leaving him dwelling on the idea of what it would be like to get a particular woman in the sack.

As fit as she was it would be lively he was sure...and not something that lasted a few short rounds either...and at that comparison he sobered, shutting the water off and toweling himself off, then dressing.

He knew he needed to be careful. Knew with this woman he would be better to leave her alone and let her run her own investigation, but for several perverse reasons he knew as well he wouldn't.

Dress slack and a sweater, dark shoes and glasses and he was ready, moving back to where he had left Sam and seeing she was just laying the phone on the cradle in his office.

"I had to use the phone in there...my cell doesn't receive in here and I didn't know where there was another?"

Ken held his hand up and managed a smile, then nodded, as he had wrote down he hoped she had called in and explained they would be working the majority of the day together...and out of the office.

Another quick scribble and he had jotted the name of a 24 cafe and lounge down with direstions then handed it to Sam and took the time to study her as she read it.

She wasn't bad looking at all...and without makeup or her hair pulled back she was softer....more appealing.

And all the more dangerous because of it.

"OK, Got it...lets go, I could use some breakfast as well"

Sam grinned and responded, then took the lead out the door and to her car.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Sam tried not to think of what she'd done to Ken as they drove, wondering if she had only imagined seeing that quick flash of resentment... or was it anger... in his eyes before he had suppressed it. It seemed, to her at least, that he was quite practiced at disguising, or at least hiding, his emotions. The image of the photographs in his office, flickering back into her mind's eye.

"I guess this is it," she said, pulling the car into the parking lot that announced it was for diner patrons only and that all others would be towed. "How in the world are you going to eat?"

She'd spoken the words without thinking, feeling a flush spread over her face. Gods! Was she ever going to make it right with him? Then again, why did it matter so much if she did? He was only a means to an end in her search for the madman who was killing women at...

Ken mumbled something unintelligible through clenched teeth as Sam shut off the car and opened the door. She almost asked him to repeat, but thought better of it, hoping the distraction of the diner and its patrons would ease the sting of embarrassment she was feeling.

Judging from the contents of the plates she could see as the hostess led them to a booth, it was a combination of late breakfasts and early lunches. Sam was starving and said so, biting back the words as she turned her cup over for the waitress and asked for a large orange juice while she perused the menu. "Maybe soft boiled eggs? Oatmeal? No that's lumpy. Cream of wheat."

"You want all that?" the waitress asked, unable to hide the astonishment in her voice.

"Erm... no," Sam replied, wishing she'd learned how to keep her trap shut. "Just suggestions. Give us a sec, huh?"

Once she'd walked out of earshot, Sam glanced sheepishly at Ken. "Sorry. I seem to be digging myself in deeper and deeper with every word I say. I have to admit that going out to eat is the last thing I'd expected you to suggest."

Her stomach growled its impatience at not being attended to quickly enough, making her feel even worse. "Sorry. Sorry." Christ! Not usually at a loss for words, Sam why she couldn't think of anything else to say. Maybe once their order was taken she could sidle around to Doctor Legs-to-Die-For and what she could possibly want to speak with her about.

 

[BLACK BART]

It was difficult not being grumpy as the pain began to wash over Ken, but the need for food and something to quell his own grumbling gut gave him a purpose...

They sat and Ken ignored Sams attempts to find food for him...instead he pulled the notepad she had supplied him and scribbled a note before handing it to the already confused waitress.

The confusion changed to shock as she read the note, then disbeleif as she looked to Ken and saw the glare in his eyes.

"If I ask the cook to do THAT he'll toss ME and YOU both out!"

Ken scribbled another note and then dug in his pocket, pulling a bill from it to jam both in the waitresses hand.

"Ok, OK...I'll try" She bobbed her head and turned to Sam without words, her face telling her she was ready for ANY thing. It was with a relieved look she left after getting a normal order from Sam...and within minutes she returned.

"Here ya go. I dunno whacha wrote but Jacko back there made it up and here it is, complete with a straw."

Content Ken took the oversized mug from her and poked the straw into it, then began to suck away...his eyes looking over the converted blender jug and squinting.

"What's in there?" Sam finally gave in as she sipped at her glass and received a pained grin in return, then the note he had scribbled to the cook.

Eggs...Steak...and three shots of bourbon was all it read.

The laugh that came from Ken's throat was more like a grunt as he watched Sam's face contort...and her eyes roll as her imagination told her what the blended mass must take like.

"Bleh" Was her reply and with the single word Ken managed a smile...and then another grunt.

Another scribbled note and Ken had conveyed his wish to be taken to the drug store around the corner as well as his ability to catch a cab back to his place afterwards, leaving Sam with a car to use and no worries over him...and Ken the chance to rest.