King of Clubs

I stooped to pick it up and hesitated. There appeared to be two cigarette butts about four feet apart - one in the grass and the other beside a bush below the window. At first glance they appeared to be the same brand. Perhaps one of Roger's friends was smoking on the patio and flicked the stubs over this way. However under closer examination, the one under the bush had about a half an inch of ash on the end. It had continued to burn after it was dropped. Nothing unusual about that except for the fact that it was fairly windy yesterday. I doubted the ash would have remained intact for more than a day. It must have been dropped there last night after the wind had calmed down. Roger was with me at the club until long after dark. Who could have been here in the back yard smoking while we were still at work?

I squatted down on my haunches for a closer examination of the area. There were footprints under one of the windows. The toe prints in the dirt between the small shrubs were deep and pointing toward the house. Someone was standing on tiptoe peeking into Roger's windows. I raised up as high as I could to peer inside.

It was his bedroom.

Someone had stood outside the window and spied on me last night. If the person had enough time to smoke two cigarettes he undoubtedly had seen me naked as I changed into the flannel shirt.

Filthy pervert.

I checked the shoe prints again. Pointed and narrow with only the front part of the shoe making a mark. It wasn't from standing on tiptoe. There was a smaller indentation of a semicircle about an inch and a half across that looked like the heel of the shoe. Too narrow to be from a man's boot. A lady's shoe with a slim two inch heel was my guess.

A woman in high heels had watched me through Roger's bedroom window last night.

I picked up one of the cigarette butts. No lipstick. And yet the gal was tall enough to see in the bedroom window. I was five foot four and could barely peer over the sill on tiptoe. That meant woman was at least five foot six. Nobody would stand outside that long watching if they had to strain to see in the open window.

Now we were getting somewhere. Our antagonist was a woman who was tall, smoked cigarettes, and was jealous enough to stand outside the man's bedroom window half the night. A woman scorned, I pondered.

I suddenly felt a cold shiver run up my spine. This lady was patient, determined, and focused. I no longer considered those letters to be an idle threat. I felt quite certain that this broad would have harmed Roger if I hadn't stayed there overnight.

I walked back into the house to find my boss in the kitchen wearing only a pair of tight denim jeans as he poured himself a cup of coffee. For an ex-athlete, he still looked pretty buff.

"Good morning, boss!" I lilted cheerily.

Roger grunted. "Dear God, a morning person."

"Only after I've had my coffee." I rested my hand on the countertop and regarded him thoughtfully. I wasn't sure how much information I wanted to reveal at this time. If I told the man about the crazy dame and her all-night vigil, it might put Roger on the defensive. He may change his schedule or maybe leave town for a while. That would only delay the inevitable confrontation with his antagonist. I needed Roger to continue his normal routine if we had any chance of catching this lunatic.

"Did you have any company over in the past few days?" I asked.

"Only you."

"Do you have any friends who smoke? Any lady friends in particular?"

Roger narrowed his eyes with a curious expression. "Why do you ask?"

"I found a couple of cigarette butts outside. I thought maybe you might know who they belonged to."

My boss shook his head. "No clue."

I nodded soberly. "I have some checking to do. I suggest you stay home today. Do some housecleaning. Read a book. Watch TV. I'll come back later this evening."

The man gave me a disapproving scowl. "Is that all?"

"No." I grinned mischievously. "I'm keeping this flannel shirt as partial payment for services rendered."

I borrowed Roger's truck and drove home. It was quite an interesting experience maneuvering that huge monster through the morning traffic. For the time being I wasn't overly concerned about Roger's safety. I suspected our mystery woman intended to assault my boss last night but was thwarted when I decided to stay over. No doubt she'd return that evening. I toyed with the notion of notifying the police, but was concerned the cops would botch the stakeout and our quarry would slip through our fingers. As much as I hated to use my client as bait, we needed to catch this gal in the act of assault in order to be able press charges that would stick.

My biggest concern at the moment was the reaction I would receive from Carla when she discovered the boss' truck parked in our driveway. I resigned myself to tell her the truth; Roger didn't want me driving home so late at night and I spent the night at his place. No big deal. We're all adults here.

At least, I was hoping she'd take it that way.

Carla and I lived in a small 2-bedroom ranch house on the Southwest side of town. It was painted terra cotta brown with chocolate shutters and trim. Personally I would have preferred something a shade lighter and cheerier, but that was what the color of the house was painted when we moved in. We left it as it was because Carla and I could never agree on an acceptable color combination to change it. Plus we'd rather not sink a lot of money into repainting the whole house if we didn't have to.

It was late in the morning and I hoped I could still slip into the house before Carla was awake. No such luck. I entered the kitchen through the side door and met my partner as she was putting an English muffin into the toaster. "Hello my love," Carla lilted happily. The girl paused as she noticed the oversized flannel shirt I was wearing. "That's an interesting fashion statement."

"It's Roger's," I stated unemotionally. "He loaned it to me to sleep in."

Her gaze became cool. "Naturally. Did you cuddle with the man all warm and snuggly in his big comfy bed while your lady lover slept all cold and lonely in yours?"

"I slept alone, if you must know." I moved to the woman and slipped my arms around her waist. "You know you're very sexy when you're jealous."

"Of course I'm jealous," Carla frowned as she wrapped her arms around my back. "You and the boss have a pajama party together and you come home wearing the man's clothes."

I met her lips in a lingering kiss. "You can assist me in removing my clothes if they bother you," I growled seductively. "Then we can have some wild savage sex to make up for your missing me last night."

Carla kissed me hungrily and slid her hands under the hem of Roger's shirt to grope my butt. "God, Linda, you are such a tease."

"I love you, baby," I panted into her mouth as I ground my mouth to hers. "Let's take this party into the bedroom and have some hot sex."

The hot muffin popped from the toaster as Carla gradually eased me down onto the linoleum floor. "I say let's get this party started right here."

Chapter 4

We polished the kitchen floor with our naked bodies and then took a long passionate shower together. When the hot water eventually ran out, Carla and I moved into the bedroom and made love once again. I believe absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. From the amorous reception Carla gave me after being away for only one night, I vowed to leave my partner alone more often.

As we cuddled naked under the rumpled bed sheets I told Carla about the discarded cigarette butts and our late night voyeur. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a start. Carla left me alone in bed to get catch shuteye and as she conducted some internet research.

After a short nap I was ready to work on the case again. I wandered into the living room wearing my short blue silk robe to find Carla lying on the sofa long ways typing away at her laptop computer. "Find anything?" I asked.

"Quite a bit, actually." I alit onto the sofa cushion at her feet. "There's a lot about our boss. Roger King is a pretty famous guy."

"Anything there about a psycho fan?"

"Nope. No mention of a girlfriend in any of these articles either. Not even a quick fling. You'd think a big tough football player would have chicks standing in line for him."

"Roger told me last night he never really got serious about anyone. Maybe he had a casual affair, a one-time fling that never made the papers. Maybe a girl took a one-night stand to mean something more than it was."

"Could be. Which means as far as clues for this case, we got squat."

I sighed dolefully and lifted Carla's legs into my lap. "This may be our first unsolvable case, sweetheart."

"Until Roger receives another threatening letter."

"Or until some nut job tries to do him in. Personally, I don't want to wait that long."

"I have an idea. I can go to the courthouse and the police station and see if any restraining orders were filed by Roger or by any other players on his team. Maybe our mystery woman had a fatal attraction for several of the team members. After being rejected by one, she moved on to another. That can explain why the lady waited so long after Roger retired to threaten him. It's been what, four years? You'd have thought she'd have made contact with him before now."

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds plausible." I lowered her feet to the floor and stretched my body to lie on top of hers. "You bring up a good point with the delay factor."

Carla set her laptop on the floor and wrapped her arms around my back. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?"

"Clean the house. You know that busying myself with mundane activity helps my brain to focus."

"The house needs it." Carla caressed her hands over my back. "You're a very sexy woman, Miss Pearl."

I kissed her lightly on the lips. "You're a very horny lady, Miss McBain."

"Only for you, honey." Carla moved her hands between our bodies and opened my robe. She slipped her hands inside and groped my bare breasts. "I missed you last night."

"I can see that," I breathed lustfully. I kissed her with growing passion. "Let me make it up to you . . . again."

Chapter 5

I spent the day dusting and vacuuming and turning possibilities over in my mind. Two things continued to nag at me; the obsessed woman and the time delay. If Roger was correct and this wasn't an old flame out for revenge, then why her manic fixation? And why wait four years to make her move? I texted Carla to also check for people who were recently released from jail or mental institutions. Perhaps our aggressor had been under wraps all this time and had years to brood over Roger King.

It was early evening when I drove Roger's truck back to his house. I parked in his driveway and shut off the engine. There were some lights on in the house so I suspected he was still at home. That was a good thing. I called Roger earlier in the day and told him to let the gals at the club know he and I and Carla were not going to be in to work that night. That should add a little more fodder to the rumor mill.

I tried the front door and found it locked. I guessed that was a good thing. I didn't want the man to leave his doors unlocked if there was a maniac on the loose intent on doing him harm. I refrained from knocking or ringing the doorbell. If there was some suspicious activity going on inside, I didn't want to alert anyone to my presence just yet. I peeked in the window beside the door. Roger was sitting in a wooden arm chair with his back to me. All appeared normal until I spotted the silver duct tape around his wrist. The man was bound to the chair!

I slipped the revolver from my purse. Shooting the lock off the front door and storming inside would be a reckless move. If Roger's assailant had a gun or a knife, my boss would be dead before I reached him. I circled around to the back of the house hoping my boss hadn't replaced the damaged lock on the patio door. Apparently it wasn't. I found the door was partly ajar.

I eased the door open and quietly crept into the kitchen. There were voices coming from the front room. I tiptoed around the corner and pressed my back to the wall, inching closer. I could hear the man's voice more clearly. It was Roger's. "You don't have to do this," King said nervously.

"You didn't leave me much choice."

The other sounded like a woman but with a raspy voice. Our voyeuristic smoker was my guess.

I peeked around the corner. A tall blonde woman stood in the middle of the room wearing a light blue long sleeve blouse and knee length pleated cream skirt. She stood with her back to me so I couldn't see her face. Just as well; she couldn't see me either. Roger sat in a wooden chair, his wrists bound to the arms and ankles lashed together. His eyes were fixed upon the semi-automatic clutched in the woman's hand.

I caught a glimpse of the lady's profile and thought she looked vaguely familiar. Her face reminded me of someone but I couldn't quite place who it was. I didn't notice any other people in the room. That was good. The woman was obviously working alone.

"We were a team!" the lady cursed hotly. "We were perfect together and you ruined it!"

Roger tried to keep his voice calm. "Put the gun down and we'll talk this thing over."

"There's no point in talking," the lady cursed. "You broke your promise and you have to be punished."

I debated calling the police for backup, but didn't know how much time I had. This broad was obviously agitated and it was only a matter of time before she snapped.

I had to do something. I doubted I could overpower the woman on my own. She was taller and bigger than I was. If I charged wildly into the room I might end up getting Roger shot. Or yours truly, for that matter.

I suddenly came up with a stupid idea that was just crazy enough to work. I moved quietly back to the kitchen and tucked my gun into my purse. "Rogie-poo?" I lilted from the doorway. "Yoo hoo! Pookie! Are you home?" I bounced enthusiastically into the living room and over to my boss. "Oh there you are, honey bunny!" I chirped in my best bubble-brained bimbo voice. "Silly me, I forgot my key to the front door so I had to go around to the back." I gave him a great big noisy wet smooch on the cheek.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman with the gun demanded.

I turned with feigned surprise to our startled assailant. "Oh! I didn't know you had company!" I offered my hand to the woman. "Hiya! My name is Peaches! Peaches A'Plenty they call me. Pleased ta' meetcha!"

The woman scowled at me and extended her arm with the gun to my chest. "Get lost, sister!"

I quickly snapped my foot up and kicked the weapon from her grip. It flew across the room and landed on the floor by the sofa. The woman stood stunned a moment, staring at where the gun had fallen. My police defensive training instantly kicked in. I quickly twirled around on the ball of my foot, whipping my leg up and whacking the broad hard on the side of the head with my shoe. The woman spun around and collapsed unconscious in a pile on the floor.

It was then I discovered the woman was certainly no lady. Her wig fell off revealing that she was actually a man. "What the hell!" I gaped incredulous.

"My old football teammate," Roger grunted. "Tom Bender."

I quickly fetched the gun from the floor and tucked it in the waistband of my jeans. "Why the getup?" I asked, furiously clawing at the tape securing his wrists.

"It's no getup," Roger explained. "Tom realized years ago that his feelings for me were more than mere teammate camaraderie. There was a sexual attraction as well. After I left the team years ago Tom became more obsessed than ever. The man thought he was in love with me, that we were meant to be together. Bender left the game two years ago and had a sex change operation. Apparently the hormone injections caused his mind to be obsessed with us being a couple. He met me at the club and introduced himself as Tammy Benson. I had no idea it was Bender."

I released my boss and tenderly touched the bleeding wound on his forehead. "You're hurt."

"He caught me by surprise," Roger said. "Bender jumped me and whacked me in the head with his gun."

I retrieved the roll of duct tape from the side table. "You tie him up and I'll call the cops."

Roger grunted in disgust as he moved to our unconscious assailant. "No doubt I'm gonna have a hard time living this one down," he scowled.

"Oh, I don't know about that," I mused as I dialed my cell phone. "I can imagine how a lady can be smitten by a handsome fellah like you."

"Very funny."

A couple days later things were back to normal at the Doll House. The newspapers made little fuss over Roger's assailant. They reported that a disturbed woman broke into his house and assaulted the man. Good thing I still had some friends on the police force who managed to keep the embarrassing matter discrete.

Muffy caught me as I came out of the bathroom. "Roger wants to see you in his office," she said.

"Not again," I groaned. Someone must have seen me necking with Carla in the back room. Roger had a no fraternization policy with the customers. I took that to mean between the employees as well. I couldn't help myself. Seeing my lady lover half naked and so close by often proved too tempting to resist.

"Close the door," my boss stated soberly. I shut the office door behind me and crossed to the chair before his desk. "Please," he said, nodding to a chair. I tentatively sat on the edge, not knowing once again if I was about to receive a reprimand or high praise.

"I want to thank you for all you've done for me," Roger stated soberly. "You not only helped me out of a pickle, but you also saved my life."

His genuine sincerity left me speechless. I didn't want to respond with a flippant comment like, "It was nothing," or "Don't mention it," so I remained silent.

Roger reached into the top drawer of his desk and drew out a long white envelope. "Here's a check for your services," he said, handing it across the desk to me. "Plus a little extra for keeping the whole affair under wraps."

I accepted the envelope and fought the urge to peek inside to see just how little the extra pay really was. "Thank you, Mister King."

"No, thank you."

We sat in silence for a brief moment. "Is there anything else?" I asked, hoping he would not mention the pawing of my partner during working hours.

"Only that I prefer you not tell anyone about this experience."

"Of course." I rose to stand. "Well then, I suppose I'll get back to work."

I headed for the door. "Miss Pearl," Roger added to my back. "I'll give you the same warning I give to all our customers; please try to keep your hands off the ladies."

I glanced over my shoulder at him to catch a playful gleam in his eyes. I grinned with amusement and said, "I'll try my best."

Carla met me as I crossed the room to the bar. "Another secret meeting with the boss?"

"Don't be jealous, darling," I said. "You know you're the only woman for me."

"I like to think so."

"You are." I patted my hand on her bare butt. "No competition from anyone in that department."

"I'm glad."

"You'll also be glad to know that I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight."

Carla smiled seductively. "I doubt either of us will be sleeping right away."

I raised my hand to stroke her naked breast. "You got that right."

My lover slipped her arm around my waist and held me close to her chest. "What happened to not being able to make out in front of the customers?"

"To hell with the customers," I growled lustfully. I kissed Carla hungrily on the mouth. "I can kiss my partner if I want."

Carla grinned happily when I let her up for air. "Since you're in so tight with the boss, maybe we can slip out and go home early."