The Road to Sixville

(Informative note: My name is Father Luca di Pace. I am, in some small way, responsible for the welfare of Justine Dobbs. Her life has not been an easy one and it comforts me to realise that every time I see her she is a little more at peace.

It was Justine's idea to take all of the material recovered from Sixville and to convert it into readable narratives. I was reluctant at first, fearing for her mental health, but I spoke with her after she finished 'A Reluctant Welcome To Sixville' and I believe that the process is a kind of cathartic release.

The story that you are about to read is really the start of Justine's journey. It is not written in the first person sense. I believe that this was a wise decision as it grants some blessed distance between the victim that she was and the capable woman that I know and am fond of.

For the record the events related below took place in 1988, ten years before 'A Reluctant Welcome To Sixville' and are being recorded here, 18 years later.)

*

"Justine?" Fred Dobbs called out.

She was lying on the floor in a pool of paint and howling at the ceiling.

He wondered, just for a second, if she needed her medication.

"Fred! It's all shit. Shit!" She spat out when she saw him.

"Honey, what's the matter?" He replied, holding his arms out.

She ran into his arms so quickly that he nearly stumbled backwards.

"The piranha died and I can't fucking paint with him just floating there, lifeless...." She explained.

Fred looked over at the tank that nearly filled the studio and exact replica of Las Vegas that was submerged inside of it. Sanchez, the piranha, bobbed on the surface, like a black dead sun over the illuminated city.

"I don't know, he makes quite a statement like that, doesn't he?" He offered.

"Fred! My work is about life and nature, not dead fucking fish!" She said, but there was a trace of a laugh in her voice.

Fred didn't always understand what his wife's art but he loved to see her face light up when she discussed it.

"I've gotten paint all over you..." Justine whispered apologetically.

"It doesn't matter." He said and swept her, theatrically, into a passionate kiss.

He put a hand through her hair, giving her a streak of blue.

"You get me so hot, you know that?" He asked, once his tongue was released from her mouth.

"Likewise, baby." She breathed as she lay down on the floor and pulled her man down on top of her.

He struggled to keep his balance as he tried to undo his shirt.

"No, lets do it with our clothes on, like you need me so much that you can't wait, even a second." Justine implored huskily.

Fred gave a throaty laugh and locked his lips onto hers.

With an easy motion he pushed his hand under her skirt and tugged down her panties.

He hurriedly pulled out his erect cock and tried to insert himself. The slippery floor meant that Justine slid away from him every time that he made a thrust.

Justine laughed and Fred growled with impatient frustration.

"I think that you need a little help..." Justine teased as she rolled him off of her.

"No fair...I'd have gotten there..." Fred whined.

Justine sat on top of her strong, muscular man. He scooped up a handful of paint and held on to her covered tits. The wet liquid made the fabric of her blouse cling to her flesh and display her hard nipples.

"That feels so weird..." She giggled.

"Hmmm...." He moaned as, somewhere under her skirt, her pussy constricted around his dick.

She bent over him and gazed into his eyes. Her hair fell about him. For timeless minutes nothing existed in his world except Justine's perfect face and the welcome depth of her pussy.

Justine rode him; experimenting and varying her pace and angle. He could see that she was considering each sensation for preference thoughtfully.

He chuckled, put a red hand on her ass and squeezed.

"Ah. Ah. That's it.... whew...yeah." She groaned, and tore open her ruined shirt, buttons popping all over.

She lent over to the left, brought her right knee up and placed one hand on the floor.

Fred watched, breathing hard, as she shut her eyes and began tossing her head around.

"God. Aaaaaaaaaah." She cried.

"Cumming, baby?" Fred asked from below her.

She opened her eyes a fraction, bit her lip and nodded.

"Ohhhhhhhhh....God." She yelled as she climaxed.

Nothing turned Fred on more than seeing Justine reach ecstasy and he knew his orgasm was not far away.

He pulled himself up so that their bodies were rubbing and squelching together. He grabbed her ass and began to hump into her, wanting his own relief now.

He shot into her slick tunnel, rocking her till he was spent.

"We need to shower."

+++++++++

"How was your day?" Justine asked as she ran the soapy sponge over her husband's fit body.

"The Wardogz hit another liquor store. There was one casualty: the Korean guy who owned the place. His family were in pieces." He replied, sorrowfully.

"You'll catch them and put them away, Freddie." She assured her detective husband.

"I don't know, babe. We're not catching any breaks at the moment. These guys are good, Vincenzi especially."

She put her comforting arms around him and they swayed together under the hot water.

"You always make me feel better, honey." Fred told his wife and rubbed her back.

++++++++++

"Hey Dobbs!" Detective Fletcher shouted across the room to where his partner was sitting on the phone.

"What's up?" Fred asked, hanging up the phone.

"Some kind citizen just sent us something you should see." Fletcher said back, waving an envelope in the air.

Fletcher sat down and pulled out a photo.

Detective Fred Dobbs pulled his chair closer to get a better look.

"That's Vincenzi coming out of a restaurant. We've got hundreds like this!" He moaned.

"Ah, patience, young Dobbs..." Fletcher teased as he pulled out another photo.

"Whoa, who's the woman?" Fred exclaimed.

" She's a stunner, huh? She looks a bit high class to be hanging around with a thug like Vincenzi, don't she?" Fletcher postulated.

"You called the restaurant, to see if they know who she is?" Fred said, spitting on his desk in his enthusiasm.

"Believe it or not Dobbs, I do know how to do my job." Fletcher informed him and went for coffee.

"Fletcher!" Fred cried, jumping to his feet and chasing after the older man. "Who is she?"

"Claudine Stempton." Fletcher surrendered and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Like the Own-Half-Of-The-City Stemptons?!" Fred groaned.

"Think she might be a friend of your wife's? She used to rank amongst the city elite, dint she? They're about the right age."

"Justine never wanted anything to do with all that lot." Fred said coldly.

"Still, ask her, won't you, when you get back home tonight." Fletcher instructed.

Fred glared at him, but let his anger pass.

"Any idea where Miss Stempton is now, oh Great Wise Man?" He asked with a trace of sarcasm.

"As a matter of fact...I do!"

+++++++++++

"Hello Miss Stempton, Detectives Fletcher and Dobbs." Fletcher said, as they flashed their badges. "Can we come in?"

"Anything for the law, detectives." She answered in a clipped, polished accent. She stepped back and held the door wide.

"Nice apartment you have here, Miss Stempton." Fletcher said, looking around.

"Claudine, please." She asked them.

"Do you recognise this man?" Fletcher said and withdrew the photo of Vincenzi.

"Of course. I'm currently dating Paulo Vincenzi." She answered with a friendly tone.

"Slumming it a bit, ain't you? Maybe you like a bit of rough now and again?" Fletcher proposed.

Fred successfully repressed the urge to swear as Claudine's eyes narrowed and her stance shifted.

"Would either of you like some tea?" She smiled insincerely.

Dobbs nodded.

"Coffee, if you don't mind." Fletcher requested.

The two detectives watched as the young, elegant and expensively dressed woman pivoted on her heels and left the room.

"Fletcher! She's the first lead we've had in months..." Dobbs hissed though taut lips.

"What!? Go and speak to her whilst I poke around!" Fletcher growled back, forcefully.

+++++++++++

"Hello Miss Stempton, anything I can help with?"

"Oh Detective Dobbs, wasn't it? I told you to call me Claudine. And I think I can handle two teas and a coffee by myself." She laughed as she opened her porcelain tea caddy. "Your partner is small, vulgar man, Detective."

She turned and watched the expression run over Dobbs' handsome and boyish face.

"He is a little grating..." Dobbs' agreed.

" I really want to help you anyway I can, you know." She stated, as she moved closer to him and handed him his hot drink.

She smiled when she saw his expression, asking himself if she was flirting with him. His face was quite the open book.

"Well, shall we go and see what Fletcher has found." She suggested and stalked out of the kitchen, leaving Dobbs' to flush slightly.

++++++++++++

"You know what your 'friend' gets up to, Miss Stempton?" Fletcher interrogated meaningfully.

"I know what it is that you keep accusing him of. I've always found him to be quite charming and misunderstood." Claudine responded, blinking glacially.

"We'd be grateful for any information regarding any of his acquaintances that you might have met when you were with him..." Dobbs spoke quietly.

"Detectives, when I am with Paulo, we do not see or speak to other people, if you know what I mean..." She said emphatically.

Her whole body language suggested that she had grown tired of their questions.

"If you change your mind about talking to us, our numbers are on this." Detective Fletcher informed her gruffly as he handed her a card.

"If I do then I will." Claudine agreed.

+++++++++++

"How's your investigation going?" Detective Olson asked Dobbs' a couple of weeks later.

"We've rounded up some of the Wardogz' street guys but they haven't uttered a word between them. The Chief is seriously beginning to ride our asses. I've heard that you're not in his good books either." Fred said.

"Two bank robberies and two clean getaways. We got the inside men but the rest of the crew are proving elusive..." Olson shook his head woefully.

"How'd the bad guys get so wise, huh?" Fred enquired.

"Television. CSI is the worst in my opinion. You going to finish the rest of that sandwich?"

"I've lost my appetite." He affirmed.

"Hey Dobbs, call for you over here." A colleague shouted over.

+++++++++++

Dobbs looked around the nearly deserted café and noticed Claudine Stempton seated outside in a corner of the garden.

"Claudine, thanks for calling." He said.

"No, thank you Fred, for leaving the jerk behind."

Fred smiled and sat down.

"I know you, Detective Dobbs." She uttered before taking a sip of her latte.

"Really?" The detective gasped, astounded.

"Oh, only second hand, of course. You married Justine Price and caused all that scandal eight years ago."

"Nine years and it wasn't much of a scandal." He protested.

"Fred, Justine was the only daughter of Congresswoman Price! Okay, so you didn't have anything to do with her decision to drop out of business school and take up art but you can't deny that you were the reason that she disowned her daughter!"

"We loved each other and that was all that mattered." Fred sputtered, embarrassedly.

"I remember that my parents thought it a bit hypocritical, considering the way that your mother in law walked up the aisle six months pregnant...no idea who the father was. Shame about the money, though wasn't it, huh? Wait...I'm sorry...that was uncalled for. You're clearly not that kind of guy." Claudine said apologetically.

"The money was unimportant. We have enough to do all right. Justine's been getting a few commissions." Fred explained, earnestly.

"Forgive me. The kinds of people I mix with get so caught up in all that stuff."

"People like Vincenzi?" He questioned, desperate to turn the conversation back onto familiar ground.

"I suppose..." She replied.

"That is why you called me?" He threw back.

"Yeah. Lets just say that things between me and Paulo have cooled a bit since you came to my apartment."

"Listen, if you decide to inform on Vincenzi we can protect you. We do this all the time and know what we're doing."

"I think I trust you." She whispered after a moment's reflection. "Come to my apartment next Tuesday and I might be able to give you a name to work with." She added as she stood up.

"You'll be all right?" He asked, concern filling his eyes.

"I always have been, so far anyway." She threw over her shoulder as she sashayed away.

+++++++++++

"I met Claudine Stempton today." Fred told his wife later that night. "She said that she knew you."

A strange emotion crossed Justine's face and Fred leant closer.

"That was a whole other life..." She said determinedly. "This to do with the case?"

Her husband nodded and forked some cannelloni into his mouth.

"You should be careful. She used to be pretty creepy." His wife warned him.

Fred finished chewing.

"Creepy?" He said, surprised that that word was being used to describe the confident and assured woman he had met earlier.

"I'm just being silly. I know what a load of shit all that gossip was." Justine answered, stepping down. "Hey, you know what I meant to tell you?!" She said, getting excited.

"What?"

"I floored Kimo at jujitsu today. You should have seen the look on her face!" She explained.

"Ha, good for you, Just. Maybe she'll think twice about badmouthing you in the locker rooms again." He smiled and gave her hand a proud squeeze.

+++++++++++++

"Hello, Fred, come in." Claudine greeted him.

"How are you feeling about this?" Dobbs asked.

"Okay, I guess. I did find something that might be of use to you." She said, inclining her head to a folder that rested on her glass dining room table.

He started towards it when Claudine stopped him.

"You have to sleep with me before you get to take a look." She said matter-of-factly.

"You're not serious!?" He yelped.

"Deadly serious." She replied, raising her eyebrows.

"You're out of your mind!" He hissed, shaking his head.

"Not at all. We could have fun..." She reasoned.

"This is totally fucked up." He muttered to himself.

"I'm a very sexy woman, Fred. I could do things to you that you wouldn't believe."

"I already don't believe this." He snorted. "I'm not going to sleep with you for information. Just give it to me!" He cried.

"My mind is made up." She huffed, scowling.

"Well, I guess there's nothing more to say then." He yelled as he spun round and headed out the door, slamming the door behind him.

He headed to the gym and pummelled the punch bag until his frustration and anger were fully released.

++++++++

The next day Fred was called to stationhouse's reception area.

"This was dropped off for you, detective." The clerk informed Dobbs.

"Thanks." He said as he took receipt of the package.

++++++++

"This is enough to get a warrant for this Manfredi's place." Fletcher told the chief.

His boss reviewed the file Dobbs had provided and Manfredi's record on his computer screen.

"There was nothing to link between Manfredi and Vincenzi before?" He asked.

"Manfredi has been suspected of supplying arms for awhile but he's discreet and no one could get anything on him." Dobbs explained.

"Bring this guy in and search his place." The Chief ordered.

++++++++++

"Well?" The Chief inquired.

"We found enough weapons and drugs to put him away but he clammed up once his lawyer turned up. He won't say anything about his involvement with the Wardogz." Dobbs said ruefully.

"What about offering a deal? Vincenzi for a lighter sentence?" The Chief asked.

"Not going to happen. Manfredi's the fucking loyal type." Fletcher answered.

"God damn it!!" Their superior cried and struck his desk. "I want progress on this and I want it yesterday, you hear me!"

+++++++++++

"So, you got Manfredi?" Claudine asked Fred sweetly as he stood in her doorway. "Want what else I've got?"

"Yes. Thank you for seeing sense and giving me the information." He replied.

"Don't thank me just yet." She said as she let him into the apartment.

"What do you mean?" He asked, groaning.

"You still don't want to fuck me?" She countered.

"Jesus! What's with you?! I am never going to fu...have sex...with you!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Why?" Came her rejoinder.

"Er I'm married!" He responded, thinking the answer should have been obvious.

"Fair enough." She yielded eventually.

Fred Dobbs watched her warily but his stance dropped from battle readiness.

"Sit down, please." Claudine said, walking to the open plan living room.

He sat down on the plush chair and Claudine perched herself on the table in front of him.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a very highly sexed woman, not that I think that's anything to be ashamed of..." She said.

Fred didn't believe her contrite attitude: it never quite made it into her eyes.

"So, you've never been unfaithful?" She asked, as if she were just making conversation.

Fred stood up.

"You're amazing. No, I haven't, if you must know!" He sputtered angrily.

"Funny thing, fidelity. I don't think I'll ever understand it." She laughed.

"Well that's the difference between you and me! I can't even conceive of cheating on Justine." He hissed.

"Really? Why don't you sit back down and tell me about it?" She stated calmly.

Fred's eyes narrowed but he relented.

"What do you want to know?" He croaked.

"So neither of you consider any other people sexually?"

"Yeah. See, it's not that hard to grasp." He said sarcastically.

"Have you ever been to strip club, since you got married, I mean?" She asked blandly.

"Once or twice. Why?" He replied, carefully.

"And your wife, she didn't mind?"

"It's a guy thing. I went with some mates from the station." He explained. "Justine knows that it's strictly visual and hands off."

"So you can look and still be faithful?"

"Umm...I suppose." He said, swallowing hard. Any other answer would have been to undermine his own argument.

"How about if I danced for you? You wouldn't be allowed to touch, not that you would want to, of course..."

"No, it would be wrong..." He choked out.

"You just said that it wouldn't be. Just watch me undress for you and you get the details of the Wardogz next hit..." She said, as she removed her cashmere sweater.

He couldn't help looking as he saw her nipples poked against the fabric of her t-shirt. His head was pounding with conflict. It just seemed so reasonable...

"All right..." He said, under his breath.

She stood in front of him.

She began to sway and twist, as if to music only she could hear.

She stroked her neck with the back of her left hand and slid it down her chest, pushing her t-shirt down to emphasize her huge breasts. With her right hand she undid her hair and shook it loose.

Fred gazed at her long legs and her short skirt had ridden up as she'd moved so her crotch was barely covered. She was moving her hips in a subtle thrusting motion so that he thought he'd be able to see between her legs each time.

He looked up, blushing.

She licked her left index finger slowly and slid her hand under her top. Her arm made the material ride up until her right tit was exposed. She pinched her hard nipple and gave a soft moan.

"This is turning me on so much." Claudine sighed, looking him in the eyes.

Fred coughed and turned his gaze out of the expansive window and towards the sea.

"Oh, no, you have to watch." Claudine chided him, using two wet fingers on his chin to turn his head back to her.

He licked his lips.

Claudine smiled and ran her hand over her slender belly. She hooked her hands under her top and pulled it off gracefully.