Twisted Deception

Chapter Three-1

Chapter Three

“I want to go home, Paul. Please, take me home,”

Addie pleaded before curling into him as she sat on the cold marble floor.

“Addie, I’m so sorry.”

A loud commotion sounded outside the foyer of Integrated

Financial. Cleaning carts being pushed and a woman’s command to stop made

everyone freeze.

“Charlie One on scene. Can you send Medical? I have at

least one female vic—roger.”

Addie caught a flash of the badge on the woman’s dark-blue

uniform. “Can I have everyone step back, please?”

Addie jerked Paul down, keeping him rooted next to her

“You too, sir.”

“I’m her friend, Paul Winston. I’m not leaving her alone,”

Paul said. “Besides, the other officer that was just here told me to stay where

I was.”

“What other officer?” The cop looked around the small

confined area.

“He just went that way.” Paul pointed to the lobby of I.F.

“Said he saw someone running out of the building.”

The cleaning women parroted Paul’s actions and pointed

toward the front, too.

“Dispatch, do you have another officer reporting on

scene?” Before she got a reply she reprimanded Paul again. “Sir, you’re

standing right in the middle of a crime scene that you’ve just contaminated.

Step out.” It wasn’t a request. It was a command that demanded action.

“Actually, I think the crime scene is in there. We found

her lying here.” Paul’s tone deepened as he stood

“Paul…” Addie needed a lifeline.

“Ma’am, he’ll be right over there. Okay? I need him to

leave while I ask you some questions.” The officer pierced Paul with a glance.

“I’m not going anywhere. This is one of my closest

friends, and she needs someone.” Paul planted his hands firmly on his hips.

“I’ll arrest you for obstruction. Is that how you want to

help your friend?” The officer took a step closer to Paul, but he didn’t waver.

“Paul, it’s okay.”

“Okay, but I’ll be right over there. You just yell if you

need me. I’ll call Drake.”

“No…no…I…I…don’t want you to.” That was all she needed.

Her mind was already reeling. An out-of-control girlfriend would only add to

her anxiety. Besides, Drake wasn’t the warm-and-fuzzy type. She’d witnessed

Drake scrape layers of skin off her knuckles working on her car and barely let

a curse word fly, then continue working. If the sight of Drake’s own blood

didn’t get a response, Addie doubted seeing her battered face would.

“Ma’am, can you tell me who did this to you?” The officer

glanced away before Addie could say anything, pulling at the mic on her

shoulder. “I need additional units to Integrated Financial. Perp could still be

in the building.”

“We told you there was another policeman here a few

minutes ago,” Paul reminded the officer.

Addie stiffened as the words connected. She hadn’t thought

of that. Her attacker could still be nearby. A scream sat poised on her lips.

“Ma’am, I’m Officer Torres.” The woman ignored Paul and

softened her voice this time. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask this. Were you

raped?”

Addie flinched. She couldn’t bear to look at the officer,

much less answer her question. She’d asked for this, hadn’t she? The man had

said as much when he attacked her.

“Think you’re too good to talk to me?”

“You should’ve been nicer.”

Addie trembled. He’d wanted to kill her.

“Fight me and I’ll kill you. Understand?” His face had been inches away

from hers. “I know where you live.”

“Oh, God. He

knows where I live.” Addie’s shrill voice punctured the vibrating air in the

foyer.

“We’re not going to let that happen, Ms…” Officer Torres

stumbled for a name.

Addie didn’t offer hers, so Paul piped up. “Addie, Addie

Blake.”

“Ms. Blake, we aren’t going to let anything happen to

you.”

“How can you stop him? You couldn’t protect me here.”

Addie looked around the room and pointed at the cameras. “They couldn’t protect

me.” Addie screamed, “Paul, get me out of here.” She tried to stand, but her

body wasn’t cooperating, and her jerky movements kept her from getting any

purchase on the floor.

“Ms. Blake, please. You’re safe now. Let me ask you some

questions, and then we can get you out of here the minute the ambulance

arrives. Okay? Can we do that? The sooner I can get a B.O.L.O. out, the better

our chances of catching him are. You don’t want him to do this to someone else,

do you?”

Glancing down at her clothing, she saw that her stockings

were shredded and there was blood all over. The floor was littered with her

belongings—coat, shoes, and briefcase. Her mouth was dry, and her lips were cracked

and bleeding. She ran her tongue over her teeth just to make sure none were

missing and felt the stinging pain where his knife had nicked her ass. Addie

shook her head. No, she didn’t want another woman to go through this hell.

“Are you sure?”

Addie could only nod.

“Okay. So, did you lose consciousness at any point in the

attack?”

Addie searched the elevator as if it would cough up the

answers it had witnessed. Her mind wandered. What had just happened? “Could you

repeat the question?”

“Did you black out at any point during the attack?”

Officer Torres spoke more slowly this time.

Addie focused on the officer’s shoes and blew out a

painful breath before answering.

“At one point he hit me so hard…” She grabbed her head. “I

think I blacked out, but…” She squinted, then shielded her eyes. The bright

light of the foyer was making her headache worse. “But only briefly, I think.”

“Okay, can you give me a description of the man who

attacked you? I’m assuming it was a man, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did you recognize him?”

Addie shook her head.

“So, he didn’t look familiar? How about hair color?

Identifying marks? Tattoos? Scars? Anything?” Officer Torres sounded desperate.

Addie could only stare down at her bloodstained hands. How

had this happened? She’d worked late tons of times and never had a problem. Why

now? Why?

“Ma’am?”

“Big.”

“Big?”

“The buttons on his vest looked like they were about to

pop.”

“So he was fat?”

“Muscular.” Addie picked at the blood under her nails.

“Don’t.” Officer Torres grabbed Addie’s hand and pulled it

away. “You might have evidence under your fingernails. Don’t.”

Officer Torres’s voice brought her back to her harsh new

reality. She’d been attacked, brutalized, and for what? She looked over at the

elevator again. Her purse was missing. Was robbery the motive? It didn’t

matter. She didn’t keep anything of value in it. Her briefcase was still there

and closed. So why her? Why?

“I’m not sure I can be of much help. It all happened so

fast, and I was…” God. Why hadn’t she been paying attention instead of texting?

“You were what?”

“I was texting, and a man got on the elevator. I guess I

wasn’t really paying attention.” Addie’s eyes welled up with tears. She was her

own worst enemy right now. It had all happened in a flash.

Officer Torres peppered her with questions again. “Can you

tell me anything? Height? Weight? Hair color? Anything that can help us look

for this guy?”

Addie wracked her brain. Squeezing her eyes shut she

forced herself to remember what had happened after she texted Tara. The smell

of her gran-gran’s house flashed in her mind.

“He smelled like an old person?”

“Huh?” Officer Torres stopped writing on her small pad.

“Old person?”

“Yeah…he…mothballs.” She tried to cough, her throat

constricting as the partial memory flashed. “The smell reminded me of my

grandmother’s house.”

Paul knelt and tilted the water bottle so Addie could take

a drink.

“Sir.” Torres lanced him with a commanding look. “Crime

scene.” She pointed at the pool of blood he’d just knelt in.

“She needs some water,” he said.

Addie shrank under the weight of everyone staring at her,

gagging at the taste of blood mixing with the water as she gingerly sipped from

the bottle. She covered her mouth, trying to keep the liquid down, but

backwashed into the bottle. Red swirls mixed with the pure water.

She pushed the bottle away and whispered, “Thanks.”

Paul stroked her head and then placed a soft kiss on her

forehead before he stood and rejoined the cleaning women still gawking at her.

She suddenly wished Drake could be more like Paul.

“Okay. Did he have dark hair?”

Addie nodded.

“Black or brown?”

“Brown.”

Torres scribbled on her pad. “How about height? Was he as

tall as you?”

Addie shook her head.

“Taller?”

Addie nodded. “I think so.” She couldn’t help the sob that

escaped, so she covered her mouth to muffle any more that might slip out.

“You’re doing fine, miss.” A gentle pat on the shoulder

was her only comfort from the officer.

Addie nervously bit her lip and cringed in pain as blood

oozed into her mouth. Another memory flashed.

“Blood,” she blurted out. “I hit his nose with my

forehead. His blood splattered on my face.” She reached up to touch her

battered face, but the officer grabbed her wrist, stopping her again. Addie

flinched at the contact, her bruised wrist still gripped in Officer Torres’s

hand.

“Sorry,” Torres said. “But don’t touch anything. Maybe we

can get something from his blood.” The

officer turned Addie’s wrist over and examined her hand. “Did you hit him or

scratch him?”

“Scratched.”

“Okay, good. You’re a fighter.”

Addie closed her eyes. She could hear the pencil being

pushed against the paper of the notepad. Someone said something about a suit

leaving the elevator earlier. Just the mention of a possible suspect made Addie

shake so violently, she could barely control her movements. Looking over, she

caught the outline of three people as her vision started wavering. She

recognized Paul’s familiar form but barely made out the two women in cleaning

uniforms.

“I’m…cold.” Addie pulled Paul’s jacket tighter around

herself.

“You’re pretty pale. You’re probably going into shock,

ma’am.” Officer Torres spoke into her mic. “ETA on that ambulance. And did you

find out who was here earlier?”

“Two minutes. Negative. I think it was Travers.”

“Roger.” Turning back to Addie, she repeated the message.

“The ambulance is close, ma’am. Can you remember anything else? Anything?”

“Spit shine,” she blurted out. She’d spent four years in

the army and recognized a spit shine when she saw it.

“What?”

“His shoes. They looked brand-new.”

“What color were his suit and his shoes?”

“Black.”

“Anything else?”

Addie shook her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and curled

further into herself, wishing she could disappear. She just wanted to go home

and hide behind the protection of her locked door. She wanted to take a hot

shower, crawl under her covers, and forget about what had just happened.

Boots squeaked on the clean tile floor, and the noisy

jiggling of wheels caught her attention. She tensed at all the commotion

surrounding her.

“It’s okay. It’s just a few more officers and the

ambulance arriving.” Officer Torres gently touched her arm, and she opened her

eyes. “Don’t worry. You’ll remember more later. A detective will probably come

to the hospital to take your statement.”

“Can’t I just go home? I want to go home.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that, miss. You’ve been

assaulted, and I recommend you get checked out.”

The offered smile was weak at best. Addie almost felt bad

for her but suspected the officer was trained to see people at their worst. She

definitely fit the bill, especially if the reaction of the cleaning women was

any indication of how bad she looked.

“You’ve been through a very traumatic event. You’ll

remember, and when you do, write it down. Every little bit helps.”

The jiggling sound of wheels grew nearer, and Officer

Torres stepped away.

Addie focused on a blood smear on the back wall of the

elevator. Her blood. She couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with the

enthusiastic medic gauging her. Thankfully, he made quick work of taking her

vitals, assessing her injuries, establishing an IV line, all without disturbing

possible evidence on her body.

“Okay. Let’s get her loaded and to the hospital.”

“Paul.” Addie reached out toward him. Grabbing his hand,

she pulled him closer. “Don’t leave me, please.”

“I’m right here, Addie.”

“Sir, we have to leave.”

“I want him to ride with me in the ambulance.”

“But ma’am—ˮ

“Get me off

this thing then.” She started pulling at the straps that anchored her on the

gurney.