There Will Be Time Ch. 03

Lacey moaned at the contact and began pressing small kisses all over the faint mat of soft hairs on his chest. "I want you," she panted. He grasped the back of her neck and brought her lips to his and kissed her deeply.

He thought about how that would sound coming from Adina's lips but violently stomped that idea away hurriedly. He hadn't been prepared for that, knew that it was unfair and fucked up to think such a thought.

At some point during his retreating thoughts Lacey had removed her skirt and was now jerking him off enthusiastically, he guessed to keep him hard and focused. He couldn't deal with looking at her face right then when his brain kept conjuring up someone else.

Cupping her ass cheeks in his hands he pressed his mouth into the crevice between her neck and shoulder and guided her over to the small space between the couch and the coffee table. The entire living room was carpeted, and he did not exactly want to fuck her on a pile of mail on the kitchen table.

A low growl bubbled in Andrew's chest, and even though he wanted to give his mind over completely to pleasure, he couldn't get two things off his mind; and that was why young women kept getting snatched from his county, and would Adina agree to help out with the case by recounting the events of her kidnapping and apparent torture. He choked down the thoughts of how it might play out negatively—considering that when she first recounted her ordeal to him it didn't go over so well. Deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea, he focused on the naked women in front him as he urged her down onto her hands and knees.

This time he couldn't help but groan appreciatively when he beheld Lacey's shaved sopping pussy. He reached for a pair of jeans nearby hoping that there was a wrapper inside the pocket. When his fingers came in contact with the foil, his excitement went up a few notches.

She felt him trail his hand up and down her nylon clad thigh and she visibly shuddered in anticipation. Lacey couldn't wait for him to touch her all day long and now that she was with him she was anxious. She pushed her ass out at him inviting him to touch her more, and she just about came when she felt his fingers begin to explore her lower lips.

"Oh shit," she shivered.

He laughed softly, twirling his finger against her slick inner lips, stimulating her entrance, coating two of his fingers with her juice, and smearing it against her outer labia. He could hear her panting and knew that she was ready by the way her hips were swaying. "You like that, honey?"

"Mm-hmm. More please," she moaned tilting her head up, her long hair falling luxuriously over her shoulders and back. He held his wet fingers to her open mouth and shoved them gently in, making a sound of pleasure as he remembered the way her tongue had felt only moments ago.

Her tongue curled around his fingers sucking them clean of her own juices. Grinning down at her, Andrew removed his digits from her eager mouth and quickly grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled. Lacey shrieked heaving in large breaths of air as her pussy grew wetter, and then just as quickly the air went out of her when he thrust his swollen member into her love nest.

"Unh! I love it when you do that," she ground out against the shock of slight pain.

A loud moan slipped from her throat as he impaled her slowly and deeply. "Look at me," he demanded, leaning over her.

Lacey's eyes opened. "Oh my gosh," she gasped.

She felt trapped in the small place between the sofa and the coffee table, bent over on all fours, being held in place with his hand in her hair staring up at him; it was so erotic and sent shivers throughout her body. "Faster," she managed to say between moans.

Grunting his assent, he started plowing her faster clasping her hip in his large hand holding her still. A light sheen of sweat was on his brow as he focused on making sure she sought her pleasure first. The sound of his thighs slapping against her ass made him swell even more making him want to come. He pulled harder on her hair, forcing her to arch her back further.

"Oh, don't, Andr— Andrew!"

He didn't realize that he was probably hurting her with the tight grip he had on her hair. All he could hear was her weak attempts at calling his name, all he could feel was the pull of muscles in the depths of her hot pussy trying to milk him for everything he was worth.

"Are you going to cum for me, Lace?" he grunted admiring the pinkness of her ass cheeks. Her pussy squeezed him, making him moan. "Are you trying to make me cum?"

Lacey could hardly keep up with him. His movements were growing so erratic and the feeling of him filling her up was so intense, because she couldn't crawl away. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly trying absorbed the stirrings in her belly.

"Fuck!" she screamed almost angrily but mostly in ecstasy as her body began trembling. She wanted their sex to last longer, but he was already forcing her to orgasm before she was ready.

Andrew sucked in a breath when she spasmed and squirted around his dick. "That's my girl," he hissed.

She felt her cum dripping down her inner thighs and her throat felt raw as she continued to cry out wishing that her climax would cease, but it was drawn out longer than usual as Andrew kept pounding his meat into her quivering tunnel.

She wanted to yell "No!" and "Stop!" but could barely manage the satisfaction she felt as she tried to get ahold of herself as tears trickled down her cheeks. She was coming a lot, a first for her and Andrew. They had barely started fifteen minutes ago. She couldn't deny that she didn't like how quickly he made her cum, but it was new and thrilling even, by far the longest orgasm of her life. She was happy that Andrew was the man who could give it to her.

Gritting his teeth, he remained mindful to not lose control of himself and kept his thrust at the same pace. The last thing he wanted was for Lacey to get mad at him for pushing her face into the carpet. The bed was more appropriate for that he reminded himself for next time. The first stream of his pearly cum shot from the tip of his penis into the condom, then another and another followed.

~*~

Not too long after the two of them caught their breath, they dressed themselves again were sitting comfortably close together on the couch looking over the files. Andrew had her going over the medical report on Kelli Seon's remains. Every now and then Lacey would cover her mouth with her hand in shock. He wondered grimly how she would react when seeing the photos of Adina's condition after they had found her.

"So, what I'm gathering by reading all this," Lacey began suddenly in a slow thoughtful voice, "Is that all of these women go through the same things. I don't just see sadism here in this report. These people can't just be grabbing these girls for kicks. Whoever is taking these women is angry at them for some reason. I think you're dealing with person or persons full of rage, who hates women. But why do they hate women is what needs to be answered. And in particular, why eighteen-year-olds," she finished by tossing the file back into the box with a loud sigh.

Andrew could see the frustration creased into her brow, and he was glad that she was angry too that something like this was happening. "Sure, it's clear that there's a great deal of anger in this murder, but I'm not all the way sure it's only because the killers abhor women. There is obviously something that all these young women have in common that we cannot discern at the moment. We just don't have enough evidence to point us in the right direction."

"Then why don't we talk to your friend Ms. Richards?" Lacey said leaning forward to dig inside the box.

Andrew stared at her shocked and dumbfounded. He hadn't told her that Adina was a victim of that particular crime.

"I saw her file in here somewhere," she said unperturbed answering the question apparent on his face.

Whoever these perverts were, Lacey was certain that they had a purpose for meticulously targeting two different women every year. There was something that she and Andrew didn't know, but maybe Adina could tell them something that would be helpful to the case, she thought as Andrew pulled the file from behind his back and handed it to her.

"Thanks." The word came out sounding just as confused as she felt. Lacey wondered why he had been hiding it as she thumbed through the thick folder. Did he not want her to see it?

Andrew's hand clasped around her wrist and he squeezed it gently, a worrisome expression in his hazel eyes. Lacey froze, staring at him expectantly, thinking that it was that look he was giving her that made her feel some strange emotions about him.

"There's something you need to know before you look at Adina's file." He released her wrist and dragged a hand through his brown short locks and breathed heavily before continuing. "What they did to her—to all of the women. No one should ever have to go through what they did. There are photos in there that make even men with an iron cast stomachs, like me, cringe. I have never seen anything so gruesome, so heartless in all my ten years as a cop. I can't even find anything that is worth comparing it to, except maybe when soldiers torture a hostage from enemy lines almost to the brink of death.

"Adina's case was a complicated one for two reasons. One, she didn't want to talk about what had happened to her; she said it was like reliving everything they did to her. And two, when she finally did talk, Adina's first statement sounded a little farfetched to the ears of the investigators and prosecutor, and in the end, she was forced to change it."

She stared down at the manila folder for a moment, a sense of trepidation settling in her chest and she asked in a breathy whisper, "Why?"

"Because they would have deemed her mentally incompetent and put her away." Andrew inhaled piercing his lips together and frowned deeply as if remembering what had been so unbelievable in Adina's statement.

Lacey was extremely hesitant at that point.

"Look," was the only thing he said as he nudged her in her side encouragingly.

She flipped open the file to find the fantastical statement, but she stopped at a photo startled at what it illustrated.

The woman there was covered in coagulated blood caked with soil, her left eye swollen shut, her mouth sorely swollen. She was thin as bones as if she hadn't been fed properly in months, but Adina was only missing for two weeks.

In the second photograph two EMTs were trying to keep her hands away from her stomach which Lacey now realized with utter horror was almost completely slashed open.

Skipping over a few of them, those that followed showed a much cleaner Adina with bandages covering the majority of her body. She lay in a hospital bed with one lifeless eye looking away from the camera, an eye patch covering the injured one. There were more photos that focused on each wound individually. She stopped at an image that spoke to her of unbearable pain that she herself thought she could probably never live through. Not only was Adina's right arm in a sling, but her fingers were splinted.

Lacey had to stop for a moment to catch her breath. It was terrible enough that her arm had been fractured.

"They broke her fingers," Lacey gasped, tears welling in her eyes as she took a deep shivering breath.

"Now you see," he muttered as an intense gravity developed in his chest. "I had considered it, and just this evening after remembering how joyous she was today, I have decided that it is not the right approach. We can't question her again about this. There is a high possibility that she will refuse. There's no point in even asking."

Lacey took in the apparent sentiment she heard in his voice and saw in his eyes. He was downcast, worried about his friend, she understood, but still; she strongly believed Adina held the key to figuring out where Hannah Montgomery was being kept. Nonetheless all Lacey could say on the subject for now was, "Okay."

"Monsters," she spat closing the folder not wanting to see any more, rage gripping her heart as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I understand your anger, Lace. I was angry too."

"What did she ever do to deserve something like this?" Lacey asked in a disgusted passionate voice that shocked even her. Adina had been through a lot, and it gave Lacey a new evaluation of the woman. "By looking at her, you'd never know," Lacey wept, and Andrew put his hand comforting on the small of her back.

Her recorded statement was even more painful to hear than viewing the photos, Andrew recollected. "But I want you to look at the two statements. Please Lacey."

Andrew's gaze remained grave. "Read the statements, or," he exhaled shakily clutching his bottom lip between his teeth looking away. "Or we can watch the recording of her testimony in the interview room... with me."

Lacey inhaled sharply. She had never seen him look so troubled before and she didn't quite know how to react to that except by offering him comfort. She slid closer to him and put her arms around him to pull him into a hug.

Pressing a soft kiss to his forehead she answered sniffling, "Okay, but you don't have to watch it with me." For a moment, Andrew didn't say anything more and Lacey continued to caress his scalp with her slender fingers.

Andrew lifted his head suddenly eyes averted from Lacey's surprised face saying, "I'm going to step out for a moment. I'll go grab us some burgers."

"Okay," she replied with uncertainty. While he was gone she would watch the tape, but she couldn't comprehend how bad it could possibly be that he had go out to "grab some burgers." Before she knew it, he was shutting the door behind him.

Lacey sighed heavily and began digging through the box for the tape that Andrew had mentioned, images of a frail and injured Adina fresh in her mind. In her heart she felt like she was closer to her. She wished that this hadn't happened to her.

After retrieving the tape and putting it inside the VCR/DVD player, Lacey's heart began to pound so hard she thought it would jump out of her chest. "Okay," she exhaled. "I can do this. I can watch this interview."

The film quality was horrible, but she could make out the frame of Adina sitting across the steal table from Andrew. Lacey frowned at his image; he used to be a scrawny son of bitch she thought. The tape of the two of them switched to just framing Adina's face. Lacey could hardly recognize the woman who was so gaunt and clearly sleep-deprived on the television screen. Her eye had healed at least before they decided to do the interview. The navy-blue sweatshirt she was wearing was ill fitted, consuming her, but she could see that her arm was still in a sling beneath it.

"How are you, Ms. Richards?" came Andrew's powerful but soft voice.

The smile she gave him seemed reflexive, not matching at all how she looked. It was scary. "I'm alive," she quipped gently.

"I'm Detective Greene and I'm here to take your statement. Please begin whenever you are ready."

The sound of paper being flipped over, and a pad being set on the table could be heard and Adina looked to be watching him carefully, nervously. "I have to tell you everything?" she murmured eyes widening, as if they could get any wider.

Lacey frowned at that. Why did she seem more apprehensive than afraid?

"Yes, every detail. Every sound, every smell, anything you can remember," was his answer.

Adina's eyes fell to looking at her lap and she began her story in a soft shaking voice:

"I was leaving work when a man grabbed me. I was supposed to meet my mother and bother for lunch the next day. There was another guy who I saw with my purse and keys before I passed out from the rag they put over my mouth and nose. It burned. When I came to, I was laying down on a dirty mattress in a dark room with no windows."

"What was the room like?"

She closed her eyes. "No light. It smelled musty and wet and it was cold. There was a chain around my ankle chained to some kind of metal piping. The only things in the small room were the mattress and a bucket... for me to 'go' in."

"And when you came to, what were your thoughts?"

"I remember thinking about my family and how I was supposed to meet them. I'm not sure how long I was there, I only hoped that they would see that something was wrong when I didn't show up... I was crying when I heard one of them open the door. I tried to run... It didn't help. It was dark. One held me down while the other r-r-" A tear ran down her cheek. "And then after he was done, they switched." The last, she said quickly and stopped catching her lip between her teeth.

"Did they say anything to you?"

Adina nodded her head and said, "The last one said that they had a few days to- to 'eff' me before their boss arrived. So, I'd better be good. They... I fought them each time and in return they would hit me. One time, they punched me so hard in my stomach, I thought I was going to throw up. After a few days they didn't touch me like that. Guess their boss had arrived. Instead they beat me and threatened to cut me with a big knife. Told me how they would do it."

A thoughtful look crossed her features. "They never hit me in the face. It got worse when the boss finally did come."

"Did you see any of the men at any of these times?"

Her glazed eyes were distant, and her lips trembled. "Yes."

"Okay," Andrew said soothingly. "We can set you up with a sketch artist after the interview. What about the boss? Did you see his face at all?"

"No, he wore a red mask that covered most of his face. He spoke a different language to his men—Hungarian maybe—and English to me. He called me his Black Beauty," she spat with look of distaste, like there was something bitter in her mouth.

"The things he did to me... I was hoping to die... because I had never been treated like..." Adina took a deep breath to calm down. "He wanted to be called 'Master,' but when I refused, he bit me. That was his thing. And he always broke through skin. I had to fight with him sometimes, too. At first, he just played around with me, threw me around the room and ripped what little clothes they gave me to shreds. He let me get a few punches in, but he was so fast. Then after toying with me, he started fighting serious, even dislocated my shoulder a few times, but then surprised me when he popped it into place. He said he was training me."

"Training you? For what exactly?"

"To defend myself. And then afterwards he humiliated me in the worst possible way," she said bitterly.

Andrew cleared his throat. "Defend yourself against him?"

"No," she replied shaking her head. "My upcoming fight."

Adina leaned forward frowning at Andrew, eyes so tortured it hurt Lacey to watch. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she continued wearily, "The night you found me, I was taken from the room to a larger one. There was light there, but it was dim at first. Then the lights got really bright and I realized I was standing in a steel caged arena. People, well-dressed with all their faces covered, were watching. I was tired and bruised from earlier that I couldn't stand properly... until I saw what it was I had to fight."

"'What?'"

"He wanted me to fight a wolf."

"A... I'm sorry, did you say a wolf?"

Adina lifted her good hand and made a motion for Andrew to take it. "Detective, I need you to listen carefully and take me seriously."

She stared at him for a long time before he finally answered "Okay."

Nodding her head, she continued. "He gave me a knife saying I was at a disadvantage. I can't describe what it was like. I was scared, and yet I didn't want it to kill me. I knew I had to kill it. I stabbed it as soon as it jumped on top of me. I thought I had killed it. I thought I had won. I was this close, Detective," she said demonstrating with her fingers, "This close to his heart. I don't know what happened after that, but I didn't have the knife anymore, and it was choking me. There was a pain in my stomach I had never felt before. I thought I was dying. When I came to, I was in an ambulance."