The Real Estate Connection Ch. 06

Pulling away, Stevie slid slowly down KJ's body and sat at the foot of the bed. Her eyes shone with a mixture of lust and love I was becoming very familiar with as she looked at me. Skirting around the prone body of KJ she crawled up the bed to kiss me softly. She brought her hand up to my lips as she pulled back.

"Taste her Craig. Doesn't she taste delicious?" I could smell the musky smell of excited woman on Stevie's glistening fingers. Gabbing Stevie by the wrist I brought her fingers to my mouth where I sucked the moist digits in and cleaned them off. She was right. KJ tasted delicious.

"She does taste great baby. You'll have to remind me to taste it fresh from the source one day soon." Her grin and wink told me that my suggestion had already become a certainty. With another soft kiss she turned back to KJ who was now up on her elbow watching us with a wide smile on her lovely face.

Suddenly the day caught up with me. A wave of weariness washed over me and I sagged back against the pillows. It must have showed on my face because Stevie was at my side in an instant, concern written all over her pretty face.

"Are you okay Craig? Can I get you anything baby? Are you hurting?" The questions came with machine gun rapidity. I smiled and shook my head.

"I'm okay honey. I think I've just overloaded for the day. I need a drink and some sleep."

"You stay with the man and I'll go and grab us some juice Stevie." KJ hopped up from the bed, grabbed a robe from the foot of the bed and left the room as Stevie carefully snuggled in next to me.

"I'm sorry baby. I should have waited for a while before bringing KJ into our bedroom. I was just so happy to have you home that I wanted to give you something special... a welcome home present."

"Stevie it's okay. There was no damage done and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy what happened tonight. Baby I'm even looking forward to sampling some of KJ's goodies in the near future myself. I'm just tired. If I didn't want this to happen I would have said so." She looked at me with a mixture of love and concern on her face. "Just remember baby that not every night has to be Mardi Gras. I'm just as comfortable veged out on the couch with a good book or a movie... just the two of us. In fact I'm looking forward to it." She grinned and leaned in close to kiss me softly and lovingly.

We stayed that way, kissing and cuddling for a while and were only brought back to awareness when KJ arrived back with three large glasses of juice gripped awkwardly in her hands.

"You two look so good together," she quipped as she distributed the refreshments. "A very cute couple." Her grin was infectious and in no time we were laughing along with her.

Soon goodnights were being murmured and kisses exchanged as we settled in for sleep. Stevie was cuddled in on my injured side and KJ was comfortable on my other side. As I drifted off to sleep the thought crossed my mind that I was truly in a place that most men would kill to be in. Then I was asleep.

The smell of breakfast woke me the next morning. Stevie bustled around propping up my pillows and helping me get organised before laying a tray of food across my lap, kissing me then wriggling into bed with me. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, coffee and juice. It was a meal fit for a king, and in the absence of royalty I felt it my duty to not let it go to waste. Stevie was content to just snuggle up and occasionally help herself from my plate. Finally with a loud heartfelt burp I was finished. As I lay there letting everything settle, Stevie jumped up and filled the spa bath. When it was ready I joined her for a leisurely bath. My aches and pains weren't too bad today but I was a bit stiff. I needed to get a bit of light exercise I decided as Stevie checked out my wounds. While we were in the bath I examined her tattoo. The little hummingbird was healing beautifully. Once again I admired KJ's work.

"Where is KJ?" I asked Stevie as we were drying off after our bath.

"She had a couple of early appointments at the shop and wanted to go to the gym before going to work. I said we might drop in and go to lunch with her if we were in town today. Hope that's okay baby?"

I had a quick mental add up of what I had planned for the day and found no fault with Stevie's plan. "Yep, it should fit in okay baby. I have to go and see Brian Clark at the hospital at 11.00 and I also want to do a few other errands in town but other than that I'm good to go."

"Great. I'll ring KJ and let her know."

The phone rang as we were dressing and Stevie rushed to answer it in the bedroom. As I finished dressing she brought the phone through to me.

"It's Detective Montecelli honey," she said as she passed me the handset. She carried on getting dressed.

"Hello Karen. How are you this fine sunny day?"

"Craig we need to talk. Can you come in this afternoon?" She was all business and the urgency in her voice instantly put me on guard.

"Anything you can talk about now?"

"No, I'm sorry Craig but we need to have a sit down. Can you come in here or would you like us to come out and meet you?"

"Sounds serious Karen." I thought for a second then, "Okay would you like to meet us at Killer Muffins at about 12.30? I'll have Stevie and KJ with me but if you want I'm pretty sure I could get them to give us some space. Will Lee be with you?"

"Yes and no. He'll be there but not in any official capacity. Look I can't get free at lunch time but I was wondering if you could meet me a bit later... say about 4.00? There is a bar called Beagles. Stevie should know about it. If you could meet us there that would be great. Stevie and KJ being there shouldn't be a problem. Is that okay with you?" I asked her to wait while I asked Stevie about the location of Beagle's and wondered briefly about the funny look I got when I mentioned the name of the bar.

"Yeah that shouldn't be a problem Karen. We'll see you there at 4.00."

"Okay thanks Craig. See you at 4.00." With that she rang off leaving me more than a little puzzled at the strange call.

"What was all that about?" Stevie asked me as we wandered down to the kitchen. I was desperate for a caffeine top up and headed straight to the coffee pot.

"I'm not sure baby but it sounded very mysterious. Lee and Karen are going to meet us at this Beagle's at 4.00. All will be revealed then I suppose. Hey why the funny look when I asked you about Beagle's?"

"What funny look babe?" With that she got busy pouring a coffee for herself. I could tell I was going to get nothing more out of her on the subject so with a good natured shrug I dropped it.

The trip into town passed without incident although it didn't take a trained operative to spot the chase car that was shadowing us from our front gate. I recognised two of Lee's boys in the car so I wasn't too worried. I naturally assumed they were an extension of the security I enjoyed in the hospital.

Dr. Brian Clark was very happy to see me alive and well. I guess it's like instant validation for a doctor, when a former patient who was brought in out cold and bleeding manages to walk back in a couple of days later under his own steam. After prodding and probing for a while he sat me down and declared himself happy with my progress.

"You still need to take care of that head of yours Craig. I know you only have a hairline fracture but it is still a pretty serious injury. You doing okay for pain medication?"

I assure him that all was well on the drug front and he seemed happy with that. Then, with the medical portion of the meeting out of the way, the conversation took a slightly surprising turn. He fidgeted for a couple of minutes and hung his head like an embarrassed schoolboy before finally speaking.

"Ummm... I was wondering where KJ was today? I mean you three were like a matched set while you were here... I just... ahh... I just thought she might have been with you today." His speech trailed off and he looked up with a sheepish grin on his face. Beside me Stevie stopped herself from laughing just in time while I struggled to keep a straight face.

"Actually Brian we're meeting her for lunch after this. Care to join us?" Stevie's invitation was completely without guile; obviously designed to put the poor pill roller at ease.

"I wish I could but I have surgery scheduled for this afternoon." His hangdog look had me feeling sorry for the guy immediately. Obviously KJ had made a huge impression on the poor doc. Once again Stevie came to the rescue.

"Why don't you come out to dinner at our place tomorrow night? KJ will be there and we'd love to see you. Craig doesn't know many people in town and he may need a tame medic from time to time. I'll even let him cook... he's better than me." Her sexy grin had both the doctor and me laughing in no time at all.

"Yeah that would be nice. Actually you'd already invited me. Did you forget so soon? I'd love to come to dinner. What should I bring?"

"Just an appetite Brian... just an appetite." It took a few more moments to sort out the details then we were out of there. As we walked to the car I slipped my arm around Stevie and pulled her close.

"You could start a dating service honey. Nicely done in there." She chuckled and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Let's go and get KJ."

Lunch at Killer Muffins was once again a roaring success. KJ seemed more than a little excited when we told her about the dinner date we had arranged for her. In no time at all the two girls had their heads together planning what they would wear and what I would cook. My input was pointedly but politely ignored. Since I had other errands to run and the girls had things to plan, I suggested that I leave them to their own devices for a while. When my suggestion met with no argument I was off to join the gym that Lee and Matt had recommended. After the gym membership was organised I drove to the security firm that had installed my home alarm and arranged for a low Jack system to be added to my Tahoe. This would provide GPS tracking of the car if it or we were snatched while we were in it. I would have to bring the car back the next day to have the system installed but that was fine. By the time I was finished it was nearly 4.00. I had to hurry to meet Stevie and KJ if I was going to make my meeting with Karen at Beagles. On the drive to pick up the girls I wondered about the cryptic conversation I'd had with Karen this morning. I also briefly puzzled over Stevie's reaction to the mention of Beagles as the meeting place. I supposed I would have the answers soon enough.

As it was we made it with only a few minutes to spare. The mystery over why Stevie reacted the way she did to the bar meeting was solved the minute I pulled up outside Beagles. It was a strip club. Both girls got a good giggle out of the flummoxed look on my face as I critically viewed the less than amazing exterior of the place. Aside from the stereotypical signs advertising the fact that the girls got all their laundry off, the place could have been a small warehouse. Its brown brick, windowless exterior with its small entrance gave nothing away. The bouncer was obviously expecting us as he waved us through and directed us to a table away from the main stage without charging us the normal cover charge of $20 each.

The interior was a total shock after the almost dingy exterior. To start with the music wasn't overpowering like I was used to in most strip bars I had been to. It was loud enough to give a comfortable listening level and create a nightclub type ambience but not so loud that you would have to shout to make yourself heard. Then, even in the low lighting I could see that this place was furnished with pride and care. The carpeting was plush and clean. Round tables were scattered seemingly at random throughout the middle of the room and were surrounded by what looked like very comfortable seats. The main stage was T-shaped like a models' runway with a narrow table running around the perimeter. Comfortable bar stools were dotted beneath the table along the runway and there were quite a few occupied by the afternoon crowd which was oblivious to anything except the enthusiastic gyrations of the spectacularly assembled and very limber dancer currently occupying the stage. Looking around I spotted Karen sitting in one of the large comfortable looking booths that were spaced around the outside of the room. The booths had large oval tables and enough seating to comfortably accommodate 5 or 6 people. We made our way over to the booth and as the ladies sat down I took drink orders for everyone and went to the bar. I could see there was a waitress circling the room but in places like this I preferred to watch the bartender mix the drinks. It was a habit I'd picked up during my stint as a bodyguard.

The bar was immaculately clean and beautifully laid out as was the pneumatic, g-string bikini wearing barmaid who very cheerfully took my order and nearly blinded me with her 50,000 watt smile. A lady who obviously enjoyed her work. As she very efficiently mixed the drinks, she explained to me that there would be no charge and offered to bring the drinks over to our table. I wasn't about to argue with the lady and thanked her before returning to the booth where I found the ladies still chortling at my consternation. It hadn't taken me long to figure out that there was no threat present that needed me to supervise the mixing of the drinks.

"I've gotta say Karen, that as a meeting place this takes a lot of beating. And what's with the no charge thing? We weren't charged to come in and I was told that our drinks are on the house."

She grinned. "My brother owns this place and another like it in Williamsburg. He runs a good clean operation and from time to time the Richmond PD makes use of the facilities to run meetings and the like. So do you like it?"

"What's not to like?" I quipped as our drinks arrived courtesy of a very hot looking large breasted waitress in a miniscule g-string bikini. I looked on in awe as her breasts struggled to make a break for it from their flimsy fabric prison when she placed our drinks in front of us. My open admiration of the lady's well developed pectorals earned me a good natured slap from Stevie and chuckles from KJ and Karen. The waitress joined in with the laughter and gave me a grin and a wink before wriggling her way back to the bar. I sighed in mock longing as I watched her go which just earned me another slap and more chuckles. I sipped on my drink and relaxed in the comfortable seat while I waited for Karen to tell us her news.

"Thanks for meeting me here you guys. Lee is going to be here in a couple of minutes so if it's okay we'll hold off talking business until he gets here."

"No problem here Karen. I'll just watch the show." I ducked but wasn't quick enough as Stevie delivered another slap to my already punished arm. I just knew I was going to have a bruise there by the end of the day. I was saved from further torture by Lee's arrival. He slipped quickly into the booth, looked around to see who was in the club then leaned over and kissed Karen with what I can only describe as something a little more than workmate affection. I grinned when he looked over at me with a sheepish grin. What the hell... they were a cute couple and I could only imagine their night time antics, tossing a coin to see who cuffs whom on a nightly basis. Greetings were exchanged then it was time for business. Lee kicked it off in a spectacular fashion.

"Craig, I don't want you to go anywhere near the Chief again. I don't know what is happening but he's not dancing to the Richmond PD tune when it comes to you. Buddy he has his own agenda or he's following someone else's. I'm not saying he's bent Craig but he's not following procedure with anything that has to do with you, and I don't think it has anything to do with the way you yanked his chain out at your place. Have you noticed the guys tailing you?" When I nodded he continued. "Usually assignments like that are given to the surveillance squad. Not this time. He has a couple of guys from internal affairs running the show with a couple of my guys doing the donkey work. Just watch yourself Craig. I've got a bad feeling about all this."

I nodded and took a sip of my drink as I digested what he had told me. He held my stare for a few moments then nodded himself to signify that he knew I was taking his warning seriously. Stevie and KJ looked on in silence, all laughter now absent from their faces. What came next really ruined the day. Karen spoke up.

"Craig, we got the ballistics results back from the rounds we recovered from the scene of the shooting the other day. We didn't have a rush on the report as it seemed to be cut and dried. Elizabeth Graeme shot at you, wounding you twice, and you shot and killed Elizabeth Graeme, right?"

Again I nodded, this time woodenly as a cold lump was rapidly forming in the pit of my stomach.

"Wrong. The round we recovered from Elizabeth Graeme's head didn't come from your gun. There was another shooter on the street that day. You didn't kill her Craig."

"Oh just fucking lovely," I thought to myself. "Just what we need... another player."