Two women had been walking home from work, chatting about everyday things and trying to beat the incoming storm, at least according to the one who’d survived. The storm had been a good ways in the distance, or so it seemed, and then one of them dropped their phone in a storm drain. It had saved her life. Because while she was on the ground trying to reach her phone, the other was standing beneath a metal awning using her own phone to call her friend so she could see the phone light up in the darkness and pinpoint the location. One strike of lightning from the sky was all it took to catapult the woman into the empty baseball field across the street. She’d been dead in an instant.
But I had a feeling Kevin Schwartzman hadn’t been dead in an instant. There had been topical burns that looked as if they’d spread across the skin. It hadn’t been a direct hit from a single bolt.
I was lost in thought, watching the coffee drip slowly into my cup, so I was startled when someone came up close behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.
“Oh, Blake,” I said, taking a step back. “I didn’t know you’d still be here.”
“I called your name, but I guess you were thinking about something else,” he said, giving me a sympathetic smile.
“Yeah, I guess I was,” I said. “You can go on home. There’s a viewing tonight and people will start showing up soon. There’s nothing for you to do quite yet.”
“I was hoping I could observe you in the lab,” he said. “That’s why I hung around.”
I opened the fridge to get the cream, and when I closed it again it felt like he was standing closer.
“I don’t think so,” I said sharper than I meant, so I softened it by saying, “I’ve got a long night ahead of me, and most of my time is going to be spent preparing the body. There’s a possibility I might not get to the autopsy until tomorrow, and if that’s the case then you can observe. But tonight it’s going to be a lot of tedious prep work.”
I moved to get my cup from the Keurig and add cream, and I felt him shift closer again. Little red flags were starting to go off in my brain, and I grabbed my cup and the carton of creamer and moved to the island, but he followed.
“I really don’t mind the tedious work,” he said, moving in close again. “I’ve found I excel in seeing to the details.”
He rested his hand on my hip, and I think it was the audacity of the move that had my mouth dropping open in shock and my feet feeling like there was lead in my shoes.
“Have you been drinking?” I asked, appalled.
He chuckled and his fingers squeezed against the flesh at my hip. “Nothing but coffee. I swear.” The way he said it was as if we were a part of some inside joke, only he was the only one on the inside. I was somewhere in the Twilight Zone.
“You’re going to want to move your hand right now,” I said, my words slow and deliberate. “And then you’re going to want to take a step way back.”
He laughed as if I’d told the most hilarious joke he’d ever heard. “Don’t be a tease, Jaye. I saw how you were looking at me today. I know when a woman wants me, and I could see it in your eyes. The eyes never lie. But I also knew you could never make the first move. It wouldn’t be professional. So many lawsuits and complaints nowadays about fraternizing with employees.
That was fast thinking on your part to let me know you were with your husband today. But don’t worry. I know how to keep a secret.”
I felt the color drain from my face and took a step back out of his grasp, but again, he followed.
“I think you’re done here,” I told him, grasping his wrist before he could touch me again. “I’ll call Dr. Helmlich in the morning and let him know things aren’t going to work out for you as an intern.”
“Stop playing coy, Jaye,” he said. “The chase is fun for a little while, but we’re both adults, and I’ve been thinking about this moment since I was given the opportunity to choose where I wanted to do my internship. There’s a lot of information about you online. And I knew we’d be a perfect fit. Like I said, I know when a woman wants me.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you do,” I said stiffly.
“I’m an up-front kind of guy,” he said, gaze narrowing, and the mean coming into his eyes. Just in that one glance I could see exactly what Jack had been talking about. This kid was trouble.
“I don’t like to play games,” he said, his smile sharp. “I’m taking you up on your offer. We’re here right now, and everyone else is busy. I saw you have an office back there. Why don’t we move somewhere more comfortable?”
He stepped into me again, and I let go of his wrist so I could move freely. I could feel the tightness in my chest and the anxiety taking hold. I’d been attacked before. Felt the powerlessness of being held down while the life had been choked out of me. And I knew I couldn’t go through that again. Not and keep my sanity.
“First of all,” I said, trying to keep my voice smooth so he couldn’t hear the fear. “You’ve got to be some kind of moron to make a move like this on a cop’s wife. And second, if you touch me again, I’m going to break your face. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear the first time, but you’re fired. You’re done here. I don’t want to see you anywhere near me again.”
His face flushed red and he exploded with anger. “You’re the one who came on to me! You think anyone is going to believe your poor little me routine? Like you didn’t want this? You probably have a whole string of interns you jerk around and tease, but not me, you bitch.” He moved in fast so I was trapped against the island, and his pelvis was pressed hard against mine. “I don’t put up with that crap from any woman.”
I brought the back of my wrist up hard under his chin, snapping his teeth together, and then I immediately followed through with a knee to his groin and a jab in his gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him. I quickly moved to the opposite side of the island and wrapped my shaking hands around my forgotten coffee mug. My cell phone was in my pocket, and I toyed with the idea of calling 911, but I didn’t want to cause a scene for the family who was coming soon to honor their loved one.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Emmy Lu said, coming in the kitchen to stand beside me. She put her hand on my back and stroked in soothing circles. “Makes you wonder how many women he’s tried that same routine on. Good thing I was standing right there watching the whole thing. Other women probably weren’t so lucky as to have a witness that would have no problem helping you hide his body right now.”
I’d already had the same thought. If Blake was bold enough to try this with me, he had probably wreaked havoc across campus with less-experienced girls. Boy, had Jack won that two hundred dollars fair and square.
“Listen up, Blake,” I said. “You’re an entitled creep, and you’re about to find out what it’s like to have law enforcement watching your every move. How many women have you forced yourself on? How many complaints are we going to find once we start digging?”
He was hunched over, grasping the edge of the island, but he managed to shoot me a daggered glare.
“I’m guessing we’re going to find a pattern,” I said. “Men like you make me sick, and jail is too good for you. Maybe you’ll think about your bruised balls the next time you try to pull something like this. And if you don’t think about it, maybe you’ll get lucky and the next woman will slit your throat instead of using her fists.”