Vice Cop Ch. 04

The door to the hotel room burst open, and a team of cops stormed into the room. There were three of them and they took immediate action. They seized the man with the hook, not allowing him any chance for escape. He cursed and writhed, resisting arrest but the cops put the handcuffs on him instantly. Lexa was still panting; overwhelmed by what had just happened and her bright eyes took in the scene. She turned to see that Detective Mason was among the cops, dressed in his dressy shirt, tie and slacks and their eyes met.

"Untie her, quick," Mason ordered the cops.

One cop obeyed his orders and removed the ropes from Lexa's arms and legs. She did not move, but only stirred slightly and tried to look brave.

"Oh, Miss O'Neil, I'm so sorry," Mason said to her, looking at her condition.

She got up slowly and then realized she was in the nude. The cops in the room however were busy with the serial killer and not looking at her nudity, all except for Mason Holmes. He grinned.

"Find Miss O'Neil some clothes pronto," he said to one officer, "and you –"

He turned to the serial killer and stared him in the face angrily.

"You're Jack Benson the psychopath we've been looking for. You think you're Jack the Ripper, don't you? I know all about you. I've been on your case for a while. You came back from Vietnam and went plumb crazy didn't you? Hearing voices telling you to kill hookers. You won't rape and kill any girl ever again. You'll spend the rest of your miserable shitty life in jail or you'll get the chair. You make me sick."

He punched him in the face quickly before the cops took him away. Lexa, conscious of her nudity, stood behind some drapes by the window. Mason looked at her with a soft expression in his face, different from the look he had just given the serial killer. He approached Lexa.

"Did he hurt you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, "I'm fine."

"No, Miss O'Neil you're not fine."

Lexa burst into tears; the first time in all the time she had been a cop.

* * * *

Clothed and still in the hotel room, Lexa and Mason Holmes embraced one another. She was crying on his shoulder and he comforted her by soothingly caressing her dark hair.

"I don't remember a thing," she said, "but I'm so afraid that he might have violated me when I passed out. He really was going to kill me. If you hadn't come in when you did –"

"There, there, Miss O'Neil," he said, "I mean, Lexa. Don't cry anymore. It's all over. I'm here. It's going to be alright. It's all behind you now."

She finished crying and then she let go of him. She sat down on the bed and looked at him standing over her. She was beginning to notice how attractive Mason Holmes was. He had the exact same build as Hudson – tall, strong, muscular, sturdy, but whereas Hudson had dark Italian features and swarthy skin, Mason was fair skinned and blonde. He had grown a bushy, big blonde mustache.

"How did you know where to find me? How did you know the killer was here in this hotel?" Lexa said to him, eager to know the truth, "the crazy bastard beat me up and took me phone. Who called you to inform you he was here?"

Mason thought of Hudson, who had called the Chief who then called him with the report that Lexa had been seen with a suspicious man going up an elevator to a higher floor in the Atlantis Hotel. He did not want to tell her that Hudson Banach had made the call that it was thanks to him that she had been rescued and the serial killer finally caught. He only knew that Lexa was looking at him like no woman had ever looked at him, and not one as beautiful as Lexa O'Neil. And what was wrong with a little lie that made him look like the hero? Besides, Mason had always disliked Hudson Banach in silence. Hudson had hated his smug attitude and how he lorded himself over other cops. In the past, though they had never said much to each other, there had always been a silent bad blood between them. Hudson didn't seem to care for detectives and investigators, perhaps out of jealousy for their higher paid position or perhaps for other reasons. He only respected the Chief. He didn't like Hudson and he sensed that there was a strange attraction between Hudson and Lexa, a palpable sexual longing between them. He didn't want any other guy touching Lexa, whom he had begun to have feelings for.

"I made the call," he said, "I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"Oh, thank you, Mason," she said and they hugged tightly once more

"You've very welcome, beautiful one," he said to her.

ELEVEN

Hudson awoke in his hotel room to find that Sonya Romandini had gone. On the side of the bed where she had slept was a note. It read:

"Hudson, I can't return to New York City with you. I won't return to LA either as there's no chance of my becoming a big time super model. I know you'll never forgive me and we'll never see me again. I've gone to Las Vegas where I will take my business as masseuse there. Your salary as a cop wouldn't be enough to keep us happy. Know that I'll always remember our past............Sonya Romandini.

Just my luck, thought Hudson and sighed in his sadness.

He walked about the hotel room for a moment, and remembered their night of passionate sex. The reason it had been so beautiful and intense was because she had already made up her mind to leave Atlantic City for Las Vegas, never to see him again. She had been saying farewell during sex. Hudson once again succumbed to a bittersweet sadness. He had a good time in Atlantic City, loved that he had beaten Lexa at poker but he was not happy about how things worked out between him and Sonya. Now it was back to working as a cop in the Big Apple with no prospect of promotion. He hated that. Back to whatever else waited for him, back to the loneliness, back to the dullness of it all. Putting on his clothes, he looked out the window. Atlantic City was an adult fantasy land and he had fun but it was time to face the real world yet again and do his job. It was time to go home.

To Be Continued.................