Chapter 25

Devlin was nearly back to the dorm when her cell phone rang. Wondering who it might be, she dug it out of her purse.

"Yes?"

"Devlin? It's Denise O'Connor."

"Hi, Denise, what's up?" She wondered what it could be. Maybe she was going to thank her for helping Gloria.

"I know this might be a funny question, but where are you right now?"

"Um, nearly at my dorm, why?"

"Have you been to the Athletic Club today?"

"I was just there. Gloria's order came in and she came over to pick it up."

"Ah. Are you going to be at your dorm for a bit? Something's happened, and I need to clarify a few things."

"Um, sure. Anything important?"

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

Puzzled, Devlin dropped her cell phone back in her purse. Was this related to that scream she'd heard at the Athletic Club? Or was it related to her getting drunk last night? She was underage, after all. She smiled to herself. There were a lot of things she'd been too young to do, and she could probably get in trouble for any of them.

She checked her mail--her profit check had arrived, along with a large manila envelope with the latest catalogs. She opened the envelope and smiled at the amount. This had been a very good month for her.

Connie was on the phone when she opened the door to her room. Connie gave her a smile, said something in the phone and hung up. "I think I'll answer the phone for the next few days," she said.

"Why? Who was it?"

"Who else, Jeff. That's the second time he's called since I got back from class."

"What does he want?"

"What do you expect? 'It's all a misunderstanding, can't we get together and talk about it?'"

"I hope you told him I'm not seeing him any more."

"He won't listen. Guys never do. He's in the denial stage right now, and I expect he'll keep calling. He'll probably try to see you after class, too."

Devlin sighed. "That's not what I need. I suppose I'll have to watch out for him and leave by some other door."

"Or leave with friends from class. That will help. It's hard for a guy to isolate you when you have several friends with you. So, anyway, if you don't mind, I'll answer the phone for the next few days."

"He knows my cell phone number," Devlin said. "I'll have to be careful about that, too."

"Aren't guys a pain? You'd think he'd understand a simple 'leave me alone'."

"Have you broken up with a guy?"

"At the end of high school. He wanted me to follow him to U of Iowa, and I wouldn't. He must have called me a dozen times before he finally got it through his thick head that I wasn't going there."

Devlin rubbed her face. Was she going to have to put up with Jeff for a while longer? She hoped not, she wanted things to be over and done with.

The phone rang, and Connie scooped it up. "Yes?" After a couple of seconds she put her hand over the mouthpiece. "A Denise O'Connor? She's downstairs. She's not--"

"She's not part of Jeff's church or anything. She's a customer I helped. Tell her I'll be right down."

Devlin took her accounting book and English Lit books with her. She had class in 30 minutes and didn't figure Denise would take anywhere that long.

Denise was sitting in one of the chairs watching the people in the lobby. She stood when she saw Devlin. "Sorry to impose on you like this," Denise said, "but there was an incident at the Athletic Club, and I had a few questions."

"What happened?" Devlin asked. "I heard a scream, but when I asked the girl at the front desk what was going on she told me not to worry about it, it was probably a mouse or something."

Denise shook her head. "Two masked men broke in on Dan and Sue Mitchell and took pictures of them. They were in bed together at the time."

Devlin sat down abruptly, her hand going to her mouth in shock. "Are they all right? Did you catch the men? What happened?"

"They're still at large," Denise said. "We're investigating and following up on any clues we have. As part of that, I have some questions for you, if you're ready."

"I suppose." Devlin composed herself. "Ask away."

Denise took out her notepad. "All right, were you in the Athletic Club today? I know you were, but this is for the record."

Devlin nodded. "Yes, I was. I was expecting several orders to come in today, and I called to find out if they had. When I was told they had I went over there to see which ones."

"All right. Did you go upstairs to your room?"

"Yes. After I saw which orders had come in I phoned Gloria, then went upstairs to get the order forms I'd filed. I needed them to finish the order."

"How did you get there, stairs or elevator?"

"Elevator."

"Did you notice anything unusual, any people lurking around there?"

Devlin shook her head. "No, but I really didn't look for anyone, either."

"Did you hear anything coming from the adjoining room?"

"I heard noises in the room. I thought it was too early for Sue to be back from her physical therapy session, so I listened."

"And you heard... ?"

"The sounds of a couple making love." She gave Denise a wry smile. "Believe me, I know what that sounds like."

"I bet. Did you lock your room when you left it?"

"Yes, just like I always do. I even tried the knob like the management asked me to so I could assure myself it was locked. It was."

"How did you get back downstairs, the elevator or stairs?"

"I waited for the elevator, but it seemed like it was taking forever, so I took the stairs. I had to come through the Women's Locker Room when I reached the main floor."

"What did you do then?"

"I'd called Gloria before going upstairs. After she showed up I sent her into the Women's Locker Room to try things on. She was in there when I heard the scream. After a couple of minutes I joined her. I'd seen the manager going upstairs, and there was nothing I could do, so I thought I'd see about Gloria."

"Dan Sullivan is threatening a law suit against the Athletic Club," Denise said as she closed her notepad. "Sue is hysterical, but calming down."

"I should probably call her."

"And not Dan?" Denise tilted her head quizzically. "Why not?"

"They're both friends, but Sue is the one in need; also, I empathize with her more."

Denise nodded. "I can see that. All right, thanks. I'll admit that for a moment I thought it might be you upstairs, and Sue and Dan were doing something to cover your activities."

"I talked extensively with the porter, he can confirm where I was."

Denise nodded. "I will, and I'll also talk with Gloria. I hope you don't mind, but it's my job."

Devlin smiled. "You'd do it whether I wanted you to or not."

"Well, true. That's what comes from knowing a cop. We do our job, partly because it's our job, but mostly it's because of who we are." Denise got up and stuffed her notepad in her purse. "Sue and Dan are at the station right now. I believe he's meeting with a lawyer."

Devlin checked her watch. "I've got a class in just a few minutes, but I'll give them a call."

"I'm sure they'd appreciate it. Thanks for your help."

"Did they catch whoever did this?"

Denise shook her head. "No, they appear to have gotten away. I'll give you a call in a day or two..."

"Or if you have more questions."

"That, too. Did Gloria like what you did for her?"

Devlin laughed. "She was ecstatic. Its things like that that makes this business of mine so worthwhile."

"I can imagine." She nodded. "Again, thanks for your help, and I'll give you a call in a day or two."

Devlin called Danny's cell phone, but it rolled over to voice mail right away. She left a brief message, and that she'd call again after her two classes. Then she picked up her books and headed for class.

She still got Danny's voice mail after her last class. Sighing, she went back to the dorm and changed. The overnight low was supposed to be in the upper 30's and she didn't fancy walking home from Krissi's in a skirt with it that cold. She did some studying, and at 7:00 sharp she knocked on Krissi's door.

Krissi was smiling when she opened the door. She was wearing a short denim miniskirt and a white blouse that was only buttoned across her breasts; it was obvious she wasn't wearing a bra, and Devlin suspected that wasn't all she wasn't wearing.

"You made it," Krissi said, hugging her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm still a little hungover," Devlin said, shrugging. She could smell food cooking on the stove. "What smells good? Don't tell me you're learning to cook."

Krissi laughed. "No, nothing like that." She stepped back, pulling Devlin into the apartment with her. "I have a cooking staff now." She waved at a guy standing next to the stove. "This is Steve."

He was just over 6' tall and thin, with brown hair and a lean face. He had a full-length apron on over his jeans and polo shirt, and was stirring something in a boiling pot.

"This is Devlin," Krissi said, stepping back to close the door. "She's the girl I've been telling you about."

"I'd shake hands or something," Steve said, "but this roux is nearly ready."

"What did you tell him?" Devlin asked as she took off her coat.

"Nothing too personal." Krissi gave her a mischievous smile. "Only that you have the softest breasts, the perkiest nipples, and you're one of the most orgasmic women I know."

"Krissi! You didn't!"

"Well, all of that's true, isn't it?" She laughed. "Well, I didn't tell him that last bit, some things are a bit personal."

Devlin eyed the way Krissi was dressed. If the blonde was going to try to embarrass her, she'd return the favor. "So, are you sleeping with him yet?"

"I don't think either of us gets much sleep when we're near each other," Krissi replied, "about like the way you and I get."

"That bad? Or should I say that good?"

Krissi put her hand on Devlin's arm and laughed. "Don't worry, sweetcakes, he couldn't keep up with you no matter how hard he tried."

"Guys can't. And speaking of hard..."

"No, he's mine, and you can't have him."

"I didn't intend to take him. But that doesn't mean I'm not curious."

Krissi licked her lips. "He gets plenty hard enough for me." She started to lift Devlin's sweater. "Now why don't you get more comfortable?"

"I'm fine," Devlin said, pushing Krissi's hands away. "Wearing a bra is comfortable for me, you know that."

Krissi made a mock pout before smiling again. "I know, and we both know I don't like to wear one." She hefted her boobs. "Though I suppose I should, I don't want the girls staring at my feet when I'm old and droopy."

"Gravity always wins in the end," Devlin said. "That's why you should wear one."

"These last couple of days a bra would only have gotten in the way."

Devlin settled at the kitchen table and eyed Steve. His shoulders weren't bad, better than Jeff's but not like Danny's. His butt was cute, though, nice, tight and pretty small.

"So how did the two of you meet?"

"We've known each other for a couple of years," Krissi said... "Steve was teaching a class I took a couple of years ago, small business accounting or something."

"Accounting and Economics for Small Businesses," Steve said. "I taught it over the summer... You were that blonde with the long legs and long hair sitting in the front row."

"Right where she could flash her legs?" Devlin asked, with a sidelong glance at Krissi.

"Actually, if I recall right, she wore a long dress nearly every day of the term. I thought that was a little odd to wear during the summer."

"Yeah, and nothing on under it," Krissi said. "But you couldn't know that."

"So how did you meet this time?" Devlin looked back and forth between them.

"I was in the bookstore on... Monday? Sunday afternoon?"

"Early Sunday evening," Steve said. "You were in the Young Adult's section."

"I was trying to find my latest epic novel," Krissi said, "Rose and the Lunch Club. The bookstore didn't have it, though I'd seen it in Barnes & Noble only an hour before. He came up and asked me about it..."

"I remembered her because she'd identified herself as a writer," Steve said, "but she hadn't said what she wrote."

"We ended up talking until they kicked us out, and then went to that Waffle House over by the airport and resumed talking." She giggled. "I don't think I've ever talked so much." She looked at Devlin. "Well, except when you and I met. We talked a lot, too."

Devlin judged the way Krissi was looking at Steve. "I suppose that's not all you did."

Steve raised his eyebrows and stared into his pot. Krissi just laughed. "Oh, we came back here, more to change than anything else. That's when I showed him my other books."

"Other books?" Devlin glanced at the shelf next to Krissi's computer. Krissi had hinted that she'd written a few books that she was never going to try to publish; were those them?

Krissi took several trade paperbacks from her desk and handed them to Devlin. "I had these printed up at a local binder. You can see why I won't try to publish them."

"At least under your own name," Steve said.

Devlin looked at the first book. "Rose and the Boy with the Donkey Dick? Rose and the After School Orgy Club?" She thumbed through the third one, Rose and Her Kama Sutra Friends. "These are erotica."

"No," Krissi said, "they're out and out porn. When you write erotica you get into the character's feelings and you gloss over some of the more explicit details; think soft lighting and things like that. When you write porn you're more interested in who's doing what to whom..."

"And how often," Steve said, chuckling. "You're right, those aren't the things you'd want a 13 year-old to read."

"Oh, I don't know," Devlin said, "have you read some of the things teenagers are reading these days? When I was 14 I was reading some pretty explicit things."

"You were also swinging and having sex with an older man five times a week," Krissi said. "That makes you a lousy example."

"Well, true. But the stuff I was reading when I was 12 was pretty explicit, too. I got into my mother's stash of romance novels. Some of those are pretty detailed. I had a good idea of who was doing what, and how, and with what, well before I started trying it myself."

"They're called female porn for a reason," Krissi added. "Anyway, I showed him my other books and he seduced me."

Steve gave her a sidelong look. "I think we seduced each other," he said.

Krissi waved that away. "Well, somebody seduced somebody. We went to class to get a rest. I think this is the first time both of us have been vertical at the same time since Monday morning."

"The Boy with the Donkey Dick?" Devlin asked. She thumbed through the book. "He's a 14 year-old boy with a 14" dick?"

"And he fucks every girl in his high school," Krissi said, "and better than half of the teachers. Its porn, so it's always fantastic sex, none of the other boys are jealous, and nobody gets pregnant."

"You're fantasizing about big dicks again."

"Not after trying it with a couple of guys who were that big." Krissi turned to look at Steve. "There were these two guys, Henry and some other guy whose name I can't remember. Anyway, they both had big dicks, but only one of them knew how to use it. The other one would sprawl on top of you and expect you to do most of the work."

"Uh, Krissi?" Devlin asked. "Does he know about... ?"

"That I've been to bed with a few guys?" she asked. She nodded. "He knows."

"More than a few."

"Not as many as you."

"Well, true, but let's not go there."

"You started it."

Devlin nodded. "True. I couldn't help it, I'm a woman."

"And the little bitch cat is always close to the surface. Anyway, I like writing porn and erotica. I think the best part is there are never any consequences." Krissi laughed. "My conscience made me write a short story about what happened after the story ended. He knocked up everyone he had sex with, which meant every girl in the school, half the teachers, and even a few of the mothers of students. Fertile little bastard. The town had a massive population boom, only nobody was saying why."

"Maybe that's a little over realistic," Devlin said.

"Enough about how Steve and I got together." Krissi idly rearranged the silverware at one of the place settings. "What happened between you and Jeff?"

"Well..." Devlin told the story again, including the final argument. Krissi nodded at various points. Steve, after adding things to the pot, put a lid on it, turned down the heat and had a seat at the table.

"I think I know him," he said when Devlin finished. "Medium height, glasses, dark hair, a mechanical engineering major?"

"He's 5'11" to my 5'5"," Devlin said. "When I'm wearing heels I can rest my head on his shoulder." She scowled. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't remember things like that."

"Not unless you want to get drunk and drag it all out again," Krissi said.

Devlin shook her head. "No, I got drunk last night, and once was enough. I don't think I ever want to go through that again."

"The drinking? Or the hangover?" Krissi held her head and moaned theatrically.

"Well, the hangover. It's nice to know there are consequences to things, and a hangover sure is a consequence to drinking." Devlin glanced at Steve. "You say you've met him?"

"He's in one of my classes, and--"

"I didn't mention," Krissi said, cutting in, "but Steve is an Economics Grad and teaches several classes."

"Mostly the throw-away classes," Steve said. "Basic Economics for Engineers, Small Business Economics and things like that, classes the full professors don't want to handle."

"Does that include the School of Business?"

Steve laughed. "No, we get serious with Business Majors. You guys know the importance of economics. And it's not like teaching engineers, either. You don't dare make a math mistake in front of a room full of engineers. They'll call you on it in a heartbeat and do the integrals and derivatives in their heads."

"So what kind of student is he?" Krissi asked. "Jeff, I mean."

"Oh, he's about as serious as the other engineering students, which is to say not much. He does the homework, but I think it's just a time-filler for him. I think he barely understands cost-benefit analysis, and when I talked about marginal utility it went right over his head." He shrugged. "No surprise, it goes over the heads of most engineers. My opinion, most of the ones who don't understand how costs are derived will never be more than just your average engineer."