Chapter 9

The harsh knock at the door pulls her violently from sleep. “What?” Yulia calls out.

“It is Curtis,” the voice comes from the other side of the door. “Are you decent?”

“As decent as I get at this hour,” she replies.

The knob turns and then the door almost slams open. Curtis bursts into the room, a little unkempt and looking slightly irritated. “We have another murder, if you’re keeping score,” he says.

“What does that mean?” Yulia asks, sitting up in the bed.

“It means that while you’re out wherever the hell you are, this case is going to shit,” the man explains.

“You are not babysitter,” she reminds him.

“No I am not,” he agrees. “But while I’m having to keep track of you while trying to work this case, you’re out either having the time of your life or working the case behind my back.”

“You had time of life yesterday,” she accuses. “Besides, it was my case first.”

“That was...” he begins trying to find the right words and then just as quickly abandoning his case. “Whether it was your case first or not, that was Russia, this is my turf.”

“You are grumpy in morning,” Yulia says, trying to change the subject while keeping control of the situation—one that she is not prepared for.

“Yeah well you’d be too if you were having to watch out for me and I was in your country,” Curtis retorts. “Now, are you going to get your skinny ass out of that bed and head to the crime scene with me?”

“Da,” Yulia says. “I take quick shower first.”

“Skip the shower,” he says quickly.

A short laugh burst from her throat. “You kidding me?” Normally in dire situations she could forgo taking a shower, but after yesterday and the filthy things she did with her homeless and nameless stranger, the need for a shower is needed badly.

“I don’t know how it works over there in Russia, but here we get to the scene as soon as possible,” Curtis huffs. “This isn’t a take your time, grab a bite to eat thing. The longer it takes to look at the evidence that more time the asshole out there has time to murder more people.”

“Erlos isn’t going anywhere,” she says offhandedly. And though chasing the beast is a priority he is not at the top of her list.

“So far you’re damn right about that,” Curtis remarks sarcastically. “I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into you, but I don’t have time to play daddy.”

“Good, because I don’t need one,” she says. “I take shower, then we go.”

“Captain Andrews is going to have my ass if we’re not on top of this,” the man says, shaking his head. “Fuck, he’s gonna have my ass if you’re running around playing Dirty Fucking Harry.”

“I don’t know this Harry,” Yulia replies.

“Doesn’t matter,” he says with a frown. “You coming or are you going to take that damn shower?”

“I take shower,” she insists.

“Fine,” Curtis says shaking his head. “Have it your fucking way. I guess I’ll fill you in on the details later.”

When Yulia hears the door to the apartment slam shut, she pulls her legs out from under the covers. She slips into the shower and when she is done and back in the room, she finds a piece of paper with a scrawled message on it. For a moment the woman is on guard. Grabbing her gun, Yulia systematically goes from room to room stark naked, ensuring that she is alone and then she checks the door only to find it locked. Back in the bedroom she reads the note again and then begins locating her clothes. She pulls on a pair of black panties and fastens a matching bra. She puts on a blouse and pants and then she is out the door.

Twenty minutes later the yellow cab pulls up to a vacant looking house. She pays the taxi driver and steps out. The neighborhood looks just as deserted. There are not even any cars of the street! She double checks the note to make sure that this is the right place. Of course if it is not she is going to have to walk because she has no way of calling another taxi.

As though he had been waiting for her the man from the alley steps out the front door and motions for Yulia to go toward him. “How did you leave note?” she asks.

“I have my ways,” the man says. “Come...”

His voice seems so different than yesterday, and yet so familiar ... the quiver she feels in between her thighs tells her not to look too deep into it. As her eyes wander around the dilapidated house the man grabs her hand and intertwines their fingers together.

“The view is much better up higher,” he says. “The city is much more spectacular than Moscow.”

Yulia has seen pictures taken, but she has never thought it better than Moscow. Perhaps seeing it in person makes the difference, but still she doubts it. She trails behind him, walking through the front door. As they pass through the front entry, something on an unstable table to the side catches the woman’s attention. She clears her throat and points toward the object. “What is that used for?”

A shrug of the man’s shoulders and tug a on their intertwined hands moves her feet forward so that she is once again being led through the house. After climbing the stairs, which feel like they are ready to give way at any moment, Yulia steps through a set of broken and cracked glass doors and is met with an exquisite view. It is certainly a commanding view and rivals even that of Moscow. She doesn’t want to admit it, but at least from this view the city does look a little grander.

Yulia’s belly presses against the balcony’s railing when the man steps behind her to wrap his arms around her mid-section. His chin rests on her shoulder and she feels his lips press a kiss to the side of her neck. She also smells him. The smell is repulsive, something she has noticed before, but the allure of sex made it a distant annoyance. Now it is heavy and makes it hard to breath. Even so, she doesn’t try to pull away or push back. Instead, she welcomes it repulsively.

“What is this spell... ?” she begins to question.

“Do not worry about anything,” the man says as one of his hands trails up and cups her breast through her shirt. “Although I wanted to share this view of a kingdom waiting to be taken, I also wanted to fuck you right here.”

“We cannot...” she pleads. “I am police officer in foreign country. I could...”

“Like hell we can’t,” he counters before nipping at her neck. And before she can protest again, Yulia feels his hand leave her breast only to reappear a moment later after reaching up under her shirt. He quickly pulls the cup of the bra down and allows her breast to spill out into his waiting palm. While his thumb and forefinger rolled her nipple gently, his other hand trails down her body and reaches between her legs to rub her softly through her pants.

“I do not understand...” Yulia breathes.

“You may not, and it is not important. You want this. You know you do,” the man murmurs against her ear. He continues to rub her pussy through the fabric of her pants and Yulia feels a growing wetness between her thighs.

Breathlessly, she asks, “How do you know what I want?”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t know you?” he asks softly nibbling softly on her ear. “I do not particularly like to share what’s mine.” His hand moves toward her other breast, freeing it from the confines of her bra. Her nipple hardens instantly.

A soft moan flows from the woman’s lips as she feels his hand reach between the waistband of her pants and skin and then down the front of her panties. He nimbly pushes the fabric to the side and his fingers brush across her folds.

“What a greedy little cunt,” he comments as his fingers press into her slit, dragging through her wetness. “You made sure to cover everything today.”

Yulia rolls her hips softly, urging his fingers deeper. Why she made sure to wear panties and a bra she doesn’t know. It was like something inside her told her too, like it would be some kind of fun game to play later. Maybe it is provenance that she did and here she is playing that particular game with the homeless stranger. But is he really stranger still? The man’s thumb finds her clit and brushes across it softly while his forefinger pushes into her. Yulia lets out a satisfied whimper when she feels his lips collide with her neck again.