Lethal: an Off-Book Novel

opened the door and they both climbed out.
Kim smiled at me.
“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot for a minute.”
I winked at her, then they headed up the steps with me bringing

up the rear and still glancing around.
Kim knocked and then went inside. Kory and I followed.
She had not lied. It was not an easy place, but it was a special

place.
After making sure that my client faced no danger, I decided that it

was best for me not to be there. Too much of an intrusion under the
circumstances. So I stepped back out onto the porch for another
look around. Kim joined me shortly, moving to the far corner and
reaching into her pocket for a packet of cigarettes.

“You’re not smoking again?” I said.
She looked at me guiltily, taking one out of the pack and putting it
between her thin lips.
“Derrick, don’t you start now,” she said, pulling out her lighter. “I
get enough of that from Michael. One of the reasons we’re separated
now. These help keep me calm. I know it’s not a good excuse, but it’s
what I’ve got right now.”
I sighed and walked over, taking the lighter from her.
“You know, if I were a different person, I’d probably suggest other
things you could put in your mouth to keep your tongue occupied.”
Kim stared at me and her eyes widened a little, and she started
turning red.
“And what other things might those be, Mr. Olin?” she inquired.
I flicked the lighter to life.
“Well obviously you’re not interested because you want to light up
and puff on that cancer stick.”

She closed her hands around mine and blew out the lighter’s
flame.

She stared up into my eyes for a long time, her hands still on
mine.

“So what did you have in mind?” Kim said in a sensual tone that I
had never heard her use before.

I stared back for a long time before responding, feeling another
surge of warmth go through me. This was becoming a really bad
habit. Or maybe it wasn’t…

“Well, lollypops are really good,” I said. “Especially those with the
creamy center.”

Kim’s eyes flared and she pulled her hands away, pummeling me
about the chest and stomach.

I chuckled and easily deflected her blows. She continued for an-
other minute before collapsing against me and laughing uncontrol-
lably.

I held her close and kissed the top of her head.
“You’re in love and you don’t cheat,” she mumbled against my
chest. “I guess I can respect that. Wish everybody did.”
I kissed her again.
“And I wish our timing was better,” I blurted.
Kim raised her head and stared at me.
“You mean…”
I nodded.
“Yeah. I mean…”
She smiled.
“Well that’s good to know at least. That the feeling is not one-
sided.”

“Not by a long shot, luv,” I told her. “First time we met in your of-
fice I was wondering what you’d be like in bed.”

Kim grinned.
“With you I was wondering what it would be like on top of my
desk,” she said.
I laughed.
“Well Paige was there with us so it might have been a bit awk-
ward.”
Kim smiled and put her chin against mine.
“Not for me,” she said. “And hell, I might have let her join in.”
That remark caught me totally off-guard, just as she had intended.
For a few moments some very erotic—and extremely inappropriate
—thoughts filled my mind, but I managed to restore order and con-
trol before a physical reaction occurred.
“You know, luv,” I said. “You…”
Kim suddenly became serious.
“I know, Derrick. I know. And you should know this. Regardless of
what happens with me and Michael, or you and Traci, some day I
really hope to get together with you just once. Just one time. That’s
all I want.”
She paused.
“Well that’s not all I want,” she said, grinning. “But I’ll take what I
can get.”
I stared back at her for a few moments, then nodded.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” I said after a while. “As well as all of the
thoughts I’ve had about you bending over your desk throughout the
years.”
Kim opened her mouth and her eyes widened once more. She
started shaking with laughter.

I kissed her on the mouth and she squeezed herself to me.
A few minutes later we separated. Kim held the unlit cigarette in
her left hand looking down at it. After a while she made a decision,
put it back in the pack and crushed the whole thing, handing it to
me.
I took it and put it in my jacket pocket.
“Just so you know,” she said with an impish grin. “I like doggie
style as much as the next gal, but face-to-face with a lot of kissing is
my favorite way to get fucked. Preferably with the guy on top; but I
don’t mind being the rider from time to time.”

I nodded.
“That I’ll keep in mind, too.”
Forever, I thought, turning and walking toward the other end of
the porch.
Oh yeah. Monogamy is turning out to be a lot harder than I
thought. Maybe Traci wouldn’t mind if I… And maybe she would.
Perhaps she and Kim could…
Nope. And I’m not even going to ask.
But I will dream about it.
After all, I am a guy…

Chapter 22

Paige called Saturday afternoon to tell me that one of her detectives
had just missed Max Bandini at the Hampton Inn in Trussville. He
had stayed there two nights and checked out that morning. The
room was booked under another name and he paid cash. The hotel
requires photo ID for check-in and one of the clerks remembered
that he produced a California driver’s license, but they didn’t record
any of the information from it.

Paige had the alias and was now running it down. She had begun
by checking to see if a car had been rented under the alias but so far
had discovered nothing. There also wasn’t one rented under the
name Max Bandini either; at least not in Birmingham or the sur-
rounding municipalities. This was not a good development because
it meant that Bandini had access to false documents and was better
at concealing his activities than I had thought. And he appeared to
be changing hotels every few days. Birmingham was not the biggest
metro area in the world, but it wasn’t exactly small either. Searching
every hotel could take weeks, especially if the clerk who checked
him in wasn’t on duty when the police arrived.

I thanked Paige for the information and then sat back and
watched as my client and his business manager had lunch with a se-
nior vice president from Regions Bank and her husband, a construc-
tion contractor. Kory had been so moved by what he saw in the

house in Norwood yesterday that he decided he had to do something
to help those people immediately. Sam Rockford had made some
calls, and a short time later had been given the names of the bank
SVP and her husband. Now they were all together discussing plans
for improving the lives of ten families in desperate need of improve-
ment.

Good news for some people.
Still thousands more out there who needed help, though.
Quickly and badly.
The waiter came to my table and asked if he could get me any-
thing else. I thought about it a minute and then asked for the
dessert menu.
Might as well indulge just a little. But only a little. Every year it
seemed to require more and more effort to maintain my girlish fig-
ure. And the best way to do that was to lay off the desserts, except
every now and then.
Today was either now or then.
Which meant cheesecake!
Yeah, definitely now, next time would be then.

Chapter 23

Sunday morning I moved my client to another hotel. It was a simple
precaution, not because of any specific threat; beyond that already
posed by the elusive Max Bandini.

My client wasn’t exactly happy with the situation, but he relented,
and once he found out where he would be staying next, his mood
seemed to improve.

The Redmont Hotel is located on 5th Avenue North in downtown
Birmingham and is one of the city’s better luxury lodging establish-
ments, although not quite on the same level with the Wynfrey in
Hoover.

I had once again reserved a suite in an alias of mine, this time get-
ting a separate room for Sam Rockford. Both men seemed please
with this development. I got the feeling that they might just be get-
ting on each other’s nerves in close-quarters. Another reason for the
change.

The head of security for the Redmont is a friend of sorts, more a
close colleague. I had already filled him in on the situation and he
had promised to provide extra coverage to the floor where my client
was going to be staying. I also requested that he do his best to keep
my client’s true identity a secret if he could, knowing that it would
only be a matter of time before the truth leaked.

The suite was located on the fifth floor west corner. The best ac-
commodation in the place with every amenity, including a well-
stocked wet bar. If I had taken the time to consider it more before-
hand, I probably would have tried to get a room without a wet bar.
Oh well…

Kory Levin went into the bedroom to drop his suitcase and then
go to the bathroom. Sam Rockford and I were in the front room.

“He’s doing better today,” Sam said to me once the bathroom door
closed. “That meeting he had at lunch yesterday really cheered him
up.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said. “Sorry to have had to move him again, but
I felt it was best.”

Rockford shook his head.
“Don’t worry about that,” he told me. “He’ll get over it. And I
think he likes this place better. Plus he got rid of me as his room-
mate.”
I nodded, reaching into my pocket and taking out a plastic card-
key.
“Your room’s down the hall. 5107.”
Rockford took the key and nodded.
“Thanks,” he said. “I need to go use the bathroom, too, so I’ll go
now and get settled in. Kory will probably want to go out to lunch
again today. And I don’t think I’ll be able to convince him other-
wise.”
I nodded.
“No problem,” I said. “Any particular place in mind?”
“Not that he’s mentioned, but I’m sure he’ll ask me to find a place
that serves good sushi.”

“Well in Birmingham the choices are kind of limited,” I told him.
“If you want good that is.”

Rockford grinned.
“Tell me about it. But I’ll find something. Probably check the in-
ternet.”
I nodded.
He left.
I went over and sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Seventy-
three channels and nothing on that I wanted to watch. I shut it off
and sat back, thinking, wondering where Max Bandini was at this
very moment and what he was up to.
And if he knew where my client was…

Chapter 24

Monday morning it rained. Heavy at first, but by nine it had slacked
off to an annoying drizzle. Despite the weather, my client was insis-
tent on going out today. Kim Sutton had arranged for him to tour
some of the unconventional and unsanctioned homeless communi-
ties around town.

Sam Rockford again chose to remain at the hotel and work on
something else. I drove Kory over to the Homeless Outreach Mis-
sion on 1st and 25th North, a little over half a mile from the Red-
mont, and we picked Kim up a few minutes past nine. Today she
had on faded blue jeans that were a little snug in the seat. I noted
this with a smile, not seeming to remember a time when she had
worn jeans like this. I wondered if she had done so just for me.

Kim grinned at me as I let her in the back of the SUV.
Maybe she had.
She told me we were going back to North Birmingham, but not to
the Norwood section. This time we were heading to a place called
Washington Heights near I-65 North and Trax Drive. When she
gave me the destination I decided to get on the interstate because it
would be quicker. Or so I thought.
Three accidents this morning and traffic was at a standstill in sev-
eral places. When I could get to an exit I took it and decided to take
side streets the rest of the way.

By ten-thirty we finally made it to Trax Drive. The rain and clouds
made everything seem dreary and depressing this morning, but I got
the feeling it seemed dreary and depressing even on bright and
sunny days.

The neighborhood was full of dilapidated buildings and houses,
some burned out, most of them falling down, no operating busi-
nesses anywhere in sight, not even a gas station or small conve-
nience store. Nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. There were people. Lots of people.
Some walking the streets probing through the plentiful trash every-
where you looked, some standing together around burning trash
barrels close to buildings, and a good number gathered under the
interstate overpass, trash barrel fires going, makeshift dwellings
erected.

Kim told me to drive past the overpass and take a right at the cor-
ner. When I did she told me to stop and I did that, too.

“Give me a few minutes,” Kim said, reaching for the door handle.
“I need to go and talk to them first. They know me here; I come by
and try to offer assistance when I can. But they don’t like outsiders
much. They’ll probably be willing to talk to you, Kory, but first I
need to make sure they understand that you’re a friend.”

She glanced at me. I had turned in the seat and was staring di-
rectly at her. Kim grinned.

“Don’t worry, Derrick. I’ll be okay.”
“I’m sure you will,” I told her. “But I’m not so sure Kory should go
into that place.”
“I’m going, Derrick,” my client said sternly. “That’s why I’m here.
I’m going in and I’m going to talk to those people. I need to hear

what they have to say, to learn their experiences. I don’t think I’ll be
in any danger there.”

“Of course you will be,” I told him. “Look, Kory, I know you feel
for these people, and so do I for that matter. But you can’t be blind
to the fact that some of the people around here are thugs who’d just
as soon cut your throat for your coat and shoes. And I’m going to tell
you this. If you do go in there, I’m going to be right there with you
every step of the way. The first sign of trouble, I’m pulling you out.
You can pout all you want, even fire me. Once I get you to safety
then you’ll be on your own. But not before.”

Kory Levin’s expression took on a hostile tint. I stared back at him
with an immovable expression on my face, eyes unblinking.

He tried to out-stare me, but failed miserably. I’ve been doing this
for more than two decades. Nobody has yet out-stared me, and cer-
tainly not some pretty-boy actor from Hollywood.

“Fine,” he relented, turning and looking out the window on his
right. “Whatever.”

I glanced at Kim. She smiled, then got out and started back
around the corner.

Chapter 25

Just as with any community, this one had a structured hierarchy,
and a leader. Her name was Madge and she was a forty-seven year
old black woman who had once been a high school math teacher.
When Kim came back with Kory and me, Madge was the first person
she introduced us to. Well actually she only introduced my client. I
suspected that Kim had already told them who I was but decided to
let me remain as uninvolved as possible. Everyone eyed me, some of
them with a certain hostility, but none made an attempt to engage
me in conversation. I wasn’t offended by this, I rather liked it. Small
talk wasn’t my thing, and in situations like this it was best to stay fo-
cused on my job and my client.

In my estimation there were maybe fifty to sixty people living in
the little tent community under the overpass. At least that was the
number I counted at present. There could be others that came back
at night after spending all day out looking for food, perhaps working
at some job that didn’t pay enough for them to be able to afford an
actual place to live somewhere else.

Madge showed Kory to a sitting area near the back of one of the
tent structures. There was a heavily soiled two person sofa, a card
table, and a couple of folding chairs. Madge asked Kory and Kim to
sit on the sofa, which they did, very carefully. Madge took one of the
folding chairs and the other was occupied by a heavyset white man

she introduced as Norman. From the way they behaved toward one
another it was probably a safe bet that Norman and Madge were
close. I guess love will find you no matter how far off the radar you
fall.

Since there were no more chairs, and I didn’t really feel like sitting
anyway, I found a corner to stand in where I could keep an eye on
everything and not seem too intrusive.

Madge talked, Kory listened intently.
Norman talked, Kory listened intently.
Their stories were nothing new, they had been told and heard
thousands of times before in recent years, but I could tell that it re-
ally affected Kory, and Kim too. More than once I watched her look
away and wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
It wasn’t exactly easy for me to hear either, but being a hard bas-
tard with a tough-guy reputation to maintain, I was able to keep my
emotions in check.
Eventually Madge summoned others to come in and talk with
Kory. He listened to all of them, asked questions when he had them,
and told them how sorry he was for the situation they found them-
selves in.
A man named Jim came in after about ninety minutes. He was
big, bushy hair on his head and face, and there was something in his
eyes that I didn’t like. My hands had been clasped together in front
of me, but when Jim came in I moved them to my sides and began
to casually flex my fingers.
Madge asked Jim to sit down in the chair that Norman had now
vacated, but he refused, saying that he wanted to do his talking
standing up.

Kim glanced at me then, her thoughts probably moving in the
same direction as mine. I nodded at her, attempting reassurance.

“So this the big Hollywood actor gon’ come in here and save us
all,” Jim bellowed in a deep voice. “What you gonna do, make a
movie about all us poor homeless folk, tell our story, and then that
gonna make everything all right? We all gonna get houses and food
and health care? You gonna save us from all this!”

“Jim,” Madge said soothingly. “You don’t have to be so loud. Just
calm down. This man is here to listen, he wants to know our stories,
he wants to do something to help us. So you be nice to him.”

“Fuck him!” Jim bellowed. “He don’t know us! He don’t live like
we do! He come in here in a fancy car, got a driver and all. He don’t
look like he livin’ on the streets, like he missed no meals. He get sick
he get a doctor come to him. Why he care what happens to a bunch
of homeless dogs live in some tents under a fucking overpass?”

“Jim!” Madge raised her voice. “I will not have you speak to our
guest that way.”

“I’ll talk to him any fucking way I want to!” Jim retorted, heatedly
glancing at my client. “He don’t like it he can get his skinny little ass
outta here before I kick it.”

I moved from my spot in the corner and came to stand between
Jim and my client. He stared down at me with even more contempt.

“What the fuck you gonna do?” he spat. “Think you can stop me
fucking him up if I want to?”

“Yes, sir,” I told him evenly. “I believe I can.”
Jim grunted, glanced away briefly, and then took a swing at me.
I had been prepared for this, ducking under the widely tele-
graphed punch while at the same time driving the fore-knuckles of
my left hand into Jim’s huge midsection. Even though there was a

lot of flab, a good bit of it was pretty solid. The impact against my
hand stung, but I knew it stung him more because he groaned and
bent forward, clutching his stomach.

I stepped back, my hands once again down by my sides.
Madge had stood up and moved back as well.
“Jim Creighton, you will stop this right now!” she told him firmly.
“Are you out of your mind? You know the rules here. No violence.
Otherwise you can’t stay.”
Jim took a deep breath and stood up, his right hand still holding
his stomach. There was murder in his eyes, his face red.
“I’m gonna fuck you for that, boy!” he shouted, coming at me
again.
I stood still and let him come, then at the last moment struck out
with my left foot, the front part of my half-boot catching him in the
right knee. There was a loud pop and Jim Creighton dropped to the
concrete floor like a heavy sack of potatoes, grabbing for his knee
and sobbing as he fell.
Behind me, Kim and Kory were on their feet and over in the oppo-
site corner. Norman had come back into the sitting area now and he
glanced down at Jim, then over at Madge.
“You okay?” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She put her hand over his and nodded.
“Sure, honey,” she breathed. “Jim just being a fool again.” She
glanced over at me and smiled a little. “But this guy sure put him in
his place.”
I stared at her for a few moments, then offered a small smile of my
own, followed by a slight bow.
“All in a day’s work, my lady.”

On the floor, Mr. Creighton still lay curled up in agony, still hold-
ing his knee and whimpering. Norman went and got several other
men and they picked him up and carried him somewhere else.

Madge asked Kim and Kory to retake their seats, which they did.
She turned to me.

“And we haven’t been introduced,” she said. “Madge Lawson.”
I held out my hand.
“Derrick Olin,” I said.
We shook hands.
“Glad to know you, Derrick Olin,” she said. “Why don’t you have a
seat, too? I’ll see if we can get some more chairs in here.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Madge stepped out and I pulled one of the folding chairs into the
corner where I had previously stood.
Kory Levin glanced over at me, his expression a combination of
awe and revulsion. Kim Sutton was grinning.
“Well I always knew you were more than just another pretty face,”
Kim quipped as I sat.
I gave her a sardonic smirk.
She blew me a kiss.
A few minutes later Madge rejoined us, followed by three other
people, each carrying a rusty looking metal folding chair.

Chapter 26

Kim asked Kory to dinner at her house Monday night and he ac-
cepted. Sam Rockford had other plans so it was just the three of us.
I told Kim that I would be more than happy to sit out in the car
while they ate in private, but she would not hear of it.

I don’t know why it surprised me, but Kim was actually a very
good cook. The meal was delicious.

Kim and Kory shared a few bottles of wine during dinner but I
opted for water. They both tried to persuade me otherwise, but I
held firm. As I said before, I’m essentially a non-drinker, only taking
a drink every now and again on special occasions. This was not such
an occasion. And, of course, I was working.

This evening there was very little shop talk as we sat in Kim’s well-
decorated dining room. As the wine flowed both she and Kory
seemed to be less inhibited, talking about their personal lives, prob-
ably more than they would have normally. Especially Kim.

She spoke of her failing marriage to husband Michael. His indis-
cretion which had led to their first separation five years ago, her two
indiscretions since then, one to get back at him, and even a couple
of miscarriages that she had suffered early in life.

Kory talked about dating in Hollywood. How hard it was because
everyone was in the business or trying to break into it and you could
never be sure if they liked you for you or because of what they

thought they could get from you. He said that he had been close to
getting married twice, but then discovered that he liked the single
life too much. This realization was helped by the fact that he discov-
ered that both of the women he was getting serious about were
cheating on him with bigger actors or producers.

By nine p.m. Kim and Kory were sitting on the same side of the
dining table, very close together, touching a lot. I was almost forgot-
ten in the conversation, which I really didn’t mind. However I have
to admit that a part of me was a little jealous. Shouldn’t be really. If
I had wanted to…

But I didn’t want to.
Did I?
Well…
Nope. Not now.
Kim had her hand on his, stroking the back of his wrist with an in-
dex finger. Kory was grinning at her, saying something about one of
his first movie roles.
Kim suddenly roared with laughter and Kory sat back chuckling as
well.
I had no idea what was so funny, however I suspected the alcohol
had a good deal to do with it.
Kim covered her mouth with a hand, still giggling. Kory reached
for her other hand and spilled his drink in the process.
This caused even more raucous laughter. I got up and went into
the kitchen to get a wet towel. When I came back a minute later Kim
and Kory were making out, his left hand halfway up her blouse.
Okay, I thought, really didn’t see this coming last week.
I cleared my throat and they stopped, glancing at me, serious ex-
pressions in their eyes for a few moments, then they broke into

laughter again, the sides of their faces pressed together.
“That a wet towel in your hands, Derrick,” Kim said, “or are you

just glad to see me?”
They sank into another laughing fit, then turned back and started

sucking face again.
I sighed, dropped the towel on the table, then walked into the liv-

ing room and sat on the sofa.
I could hear them giggling like teenagers every now and then,

probably when they didn’t have their tongues down one another’s
throats. Suddenly this evening was starting to suck quite a lot.

I glanced at my watch. Almost ten.
Kim shrieked and I started, then settled down after a few seconds,
realizing that there was nothing amiss, only passion. Perhaps lust.
Mercifully my mobile phone buzzed and I took it off my belt.
Paige Palmer.
“Well, Sergeant Palmer,” I said into the mouthpiece. “What a
pleasant surprise. Don’t tell me you’re still working this evening?”
“You know the city’s finest never sleep,” Paige said.
“Well there is no doubt that you are the city’s finest,” I replied
with a chuckle.
“And thank you so much, Mr. Olin,” she said. “Actually I’m at
home. Just got a call from one of my people. He got a call from a
friend in Vice-Narcotics. We know where Max Bandini is staying.”
I felt another jolt, this one welcomed and refreshing.
“That is good news, Paige,” I said. “Tell me.”
Which she did.
“So now that we know where he is,” Paige was saying. “You want I
should have him picked up?”
I thought a minute and then shook my head.

“I don’t think so, Paige,” I told her. “You probably couldn’t hold
him for long if you did. That trespass thing at the Marriott probably
wouldn’t hold up. How long has he been at this hotel?”

“According to the manager he checked in yesterday afternoon.
Scheduled for three days.”

I thought some more, nodding again.
“Okay, luv,” I said. “Let’s not do anything for now. We know
where he is. My client leaves at the end of the week. Maybe we can
keep him away from him until then.”
“I wish I had the manpower to do round-the-clock surveillance,
Derrick,” Paige said. “But I don’t. Even this little exercise was
stretching it a bit.”
“I understand, luv,” I told her. “And believe me, I appreciate this.
I’ll handle it from here. Although I might need your help later on, if
things develop.”
Paige was silent, then I heard chuckling.
“You sneaky bastard,” she said finally. “You’ve got something
cooking in that devious mind of yours, don’t you?”
“Why, Sergeant Palmer, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yeah, right. Sure you don’t. Okay, play it your way. Call me when
you need me.”
“Will do, luv,” I said, then hung up.
Suddenly I realized that I wasn’t hearing anything coming out of
the dining room anymore. Perhaps they had both passed out.
I stood up from the sofa and put my mobile phone back on my
belt, then carefully walked toward the entrance to the dining room. I
poked my head around the corner and saw that the room was
empty.
Well empty save for Kim’s blouse and black lace bra.

“Great,” I whispered. “Exactly what I needed to see tonight.
Fuck!”

I turned and went back into the living room, dropping heavily
onto the sofa.

“Oh well…”
I took my mobile phone back off my belt and made a call. The line
was answered on the third ring and I explained to the person on the
other end precisely what I needed them to do.

Chapter 27

Kory and Kim did not make a reappearance until nearly ten the next
morning, and both were quite hung-over. Kory seemed rather
pleased with the way things had gone the night before, but I could
tell Kim was not. She was embarrassed, and wouldn’t make direct
eye contact with me.

I had been angry, jealous actually, spending most of the night not
liking either of them very much. Now I felt bad. Kim was my friend
and she was free to do whatever she wanted with whomever she
wanted. But now she was regretting it, and I couldn’t hold a grudge
against her.

Kory went to take a shower after his second cup of coffee. Kim was
standing in the kitchen wearing a pink robe and blue fuzzy slippers,
leaning against the sink sipping her third cup of coffee.

I walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She
flinched and pulled away.

I waited a minute and then put my hand back on her shoulder.
This time she didn’t pull away.

“Luv, you don’t have any reason to be embarrassed,” I said in as
comforting a tone as I could manage. “You didn’t do anything
wrong.”

“I’m sure my husband would see it differently,” she retorted.

“You’re separated,” I pointed out. “And I don’t think it’s Michael
you’re worried about.”

Kim didn’t respond, sipped more coffee.
I squeezed her shoulder and moved closer.
“Kimmy, I’m not mad. I have no claim on you, or your body. You
and Kory are both adults, you got a little drunk, had some fun, I
don’t see the harm.”
Still more silence.
“Would you at least turn around and look at me?” I said.
She drank more coffee, but made no attempt to turn.
I squeezed her shoulder again, then moved around to face her.
She kept her eyes down. I reached out and lifted her chin until her
eyes were on level with mine. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were
wet.
“Look at it this way, at the ripe old age of forty you managed to
nail a hot thirty year old movie star. Imagine the bragging rights
you’ll have for years to come.”
That got to her.
Kim started shaking and had to put her cup down on the counter
before she spilled the contents. She was laughing uncontrollably
now and collapsed against my chest. I put my arms around her and
held her tightly. After a time I realized that she was not laughing
anymore, but crying.
I held on to her some more, for a long time.
When she regained control she pulled back a little and looked up
at me, wiping her eyes with her fingers.
“You always know what to say to me, Derrick,” she said in a soft,
sad voice. “I should have gotten you drunk last night.”
I kissed her forehead.

She put her hands on either side of my face and pulled my mouth
to hers.

I was very aware of the fact that all she had on at the moment was
a bathrobe, but I held firm, despite the image of her bra tossed on
the dining table last night and the feel of her un-tethered breasts
against me now.

Kory came out of the bedroom showered, dressed, and a little less
hung-over. I gave them a few minutes alone to say goodbye, then he
came out and we left.

Kory said he needed to go back to the hotel and take something
for his headache and then talk to Sam Rockford. After that he was
probably going to rest until evening and then go out for a while.

I said nothing as I drove from Kim’s place in Vestavia Hills back to
the Redmont Hotel downtown. For some reason I now harbored an
unhealthy urge to punch Kory Levin in the face very hard.

Several times!
I was probably a lot more jealous than I had let on.
Curious.
But not really.

Chapter 28

I had lunch with Traci at the Chick-Fil-A on Cahaba Valley Road.
She was dressed for work. Brown boots, blue jeans, a gray button-
down blouse, and a well-worn denim jacket. And she couldn’t have
been more cute.

I watched as she took a bite of her chicken sandwich, chewing
slowly, her mouth closed. She noticed me smiling and cocked her
head.

“What?” she said after swallowing.
“Oh, nothing,” I said. “Just love watching you eat. The way you
chew. Always prim and proper.”
Traci smirked and leaned across the table.
“I’ll show you prim and proper later on tonight when I’m swallow-
ing something else,” she whispered.
I chuckled.
“Now that sounds like a challenge,” I said, taking a bite of my
chicken sandwich, washing it down with lemonade. “Hope you’re up
for it.”
Traci took the straw from her cup between her lips, looking di-
rectly into my eyes. She sucked down some of her soda, smiling
wickedly.
“I’m not the one who has to be up for it, deary,” she teased. “And I
have no doubt that you will be. I’ll make sure of it.”

I grinned, watching her, feeling that familiar stir south of my belt-
line. Now all thoughts of Kim Sutton and Kory Levin had left me,
my mind filled with the thoughts that actually mattered.

“You think you’ll be able to come by tonight then?” Traci asked.
“I’m going to try like hell,” I told her. “Something I need to take
care of later this afternoon. Then my client may want to go out
tonight. Hopefully not the whole night though. How late do you plan
on being up.”
Traci set her cup down and folded her hands on the table behind
her plate.
“I’ll be up all night if you want me to, babe,” she said. “As a matter
of fact, if you were to ask me to slip into the bathroom with you right
now I’d probably go for that, too.”
My smile grew wider, as did the erection in my jeans.
“Traci, you’re going to get us arrested if you keep looking at me
like that.”
Her expression did not change, and she did not look away.
She was really good at staring too, and it might just be possible
that one day she would get to the point where she could out-stare
me.
I took a deep breath and started in on my lunch again. After a
minute Traci picked up the remainder of her sandwich and took an-
other bite, her eyes remaining on mine the entire time she chewed.
Neither of us said another thing as we ate, but we both knew what
the other was thinking. My jeans were so tight now that I wasn’t
sure I’d ever be able to stand up again.
Traci finished her lunch before me and sat back, still staring, her
grin becoming more mischievous with each passing second.

Her left foot bumped against my leg under the table. I knew that
wasn’t an accident because it happened again a few seconds later.

I finished my sandwich, drank the last of my lemonade, then
leaned across the table and dropped my voice to a whisper.

“Keep this up and I may have to spank you unmercifully later on
this evening.”

Traci’s voice took on the same tone as she responded.
“Why wait?”
Good question, I thought, why wait?
I also thought that maybe getting arrested for indecency in a pub-
lic restroom wasn’t such a terrible thing after all. And would it really
be indecent?
Perhaps this was something that required further exploration. In-
depth exploration with a willing and uninhibited exploratory part-
ner.
As luck would have it, there just happened to be a beautiful and
sexy one seated across from me at this very moment.
I smiled and was poised to deliver a bitingly witty retort.
But then my mobile phone buzzed…

Chapter 29

Max Bandini was currently renting a room at the Fairfield Inn in a
small municipality west of Birmingham known as Fairfield. Imagine
that.

Paige Palmer’s detective had discovered and verified this, and af-
ter that I had asked a friend to go there and keep an eye on him, fol-
lowing him wherever he went, but taking no action—unless deemed
necessary of course.

The call I had received during lunch with Traci was from my
watcher. Bandini had been out all morning, spending most of his
time going into hotels down along Highway 280 in Vestavia and
Hoover. Each time he came out of one he seemed to be more frus-
trated.

He had lunch at a McDonald’s in Homewood; drove around some
more, then went back to the Fairfield, where he was now.

I arrived there at two-thirty, pulling around to the back where the
watcher was sitting and waiting, keeping an eye on the rental car
that Max Bandini had rented under an alias.

I had gone back to my place and retrieved my own SUV, a two
year old dark blue Jeep Grand Cherokee, and now pulled it into the
empty space next to the watcher’s car. As I shut off my engine I
smiled to myself, knowing that the car probably didn’t belong to the

watcher, but was more likely a loaner from somewhere. Absolutely
untraceable.

I got out of my jeep and walked around to the passenger’s side,
climbing in and shutting the door.

“Well hello there, young lady,” I said.
The small black woman seated behind the wheel of the nonde-
script Buick turned and glanced at me, her dark eyes showing noth-
ing.
“Hello, sir,” Sheila said.
A woman of few words, one of the many reasons I liked her so
much.
“Anything since you called?” I said.
She shook her head, glancing back toward the building.
“No, sir. No sign of him since he went in. That’s his car over there,
the gray Honda.”
I looked at the car.
“And you said all he did was go to hotels along 280 today?” I said.
“Yes, sir,” she said. “And then had lunch before coming back
here.”
“You also mentioned that he seemed to be very frustrated.”
“Yes, sir. More so as the morning went on. Like he wasn’t having
any luck finding out what he wanted to know.”
“He wasn’t,” I told her. “He was looking in the wrong part of town.
And even if he was looking in the right part he wouldn’t have gotten
anywhere. He doesn’t know what name my client is registered un-
der. Or the business manager. Plus he’d have a hard time getting in-
formation out of the desk people anyway. Probably why he’s so frus-
trated.”
Sheila was quiet.

I stared at the back of the hotel and the rental car some more.
“So you say he a stalker, sir?” Sheila said after a while.
“Yep,” I said. “Stalking my client, a big Hollywood movie star.”
Sheila turned toward me once more, an inquisitive look on her
smooth face.
“Who, sir?”
I told her.
She nodded, even smiling a little.
“A fan?” I said.
“He cute,” she said, her smile growing wider.
Well this was a side of Sheila I had never seen before; wasn’t sure
I was happy to see it now.
Another period of silence ensued and passed after a few minutes.
Sheila turned back toward me.
“Would you like me to go in and shoot him, sir? Save you and your
client a lot of trouble.”
I smiled.
“And then Kory would owe you one, huh?” I said. “I think not. I
want to try something else first. But I’ll keep your offer in mind just
in case. Would you hang in here while I go inside and see Mr. Ban-
dini?”
“Of course, sir,” Sheila said.
I stared at her for a few moments more, shaking my head slowly.
Then I got out of the car and walked toward the building.

Chapter 30

Max Bandini had a room in back of the third floor. I went up the
backstairs, casually glancing around as I did so, noting that there
were no surveillance cameras in the stairwell or on the floors. Not so
good for security, but good for somebody intent on nefarious deeds.
Such as myself on this fine day.

The hallway was empty as I approached the room. I stopped in
front of the door, looked around once more, then knocked loudly.

“Maintenance,” I announced.
A few seconds went by and I knocked again, making the same an-
nouncement.
“Yes?” I heard a voice call through the door. “What is it?”
“Hotel maintenance, sir,” I said, my face turned away from the
peephole. “There’s a leak in the room up above you and we think it
might be getting in through your bathroom ceiling. I need to come
in and check. Won’t take but a few seconds.”
“I haven’t noticed any leak,” the voice said.
“You probably wouldn’t right away,” I said. “But there will be
some signs that I might be able to detect. And if it is leaking we need
to fix the problem before it becomes bigger. As I said, it won’t take
but a few seconds to check.”
Silence. A smart person, one who wasn’t up to no good himself,
would probably insist on contacting the front desk first to verify my

story, but somehow I didn’t think Bandini would do that.
I was right.
The door opened, but on the chain.
Good enough for me.
I shouldered the door open, snapping the chain, and forcing my

way into the room.
“What the fuck is going on?” Max Bandini demanded, stumbling

back toward the bed. “Who are you?”
I shut and locked the door, then turned to face Bandini again. He

looked like his picture, maybe a little older, but easily recognizable.
He wasn’t very large, but he did have good muscle development. I

could tell he liked to keep in shape, probably belonged to a gym,
maybe had a personal trainer. But he wasn’t a tough guy. He might
have been intimidating to someone like Kory Levin, but to some-
body who dealt with violence on a daily basis, Max Bandini was
barely an annoyance.

“Well, Mr. Bandini,” I said amiably, clasping my hands together as
I slowly walked toward him. “My name is actually unimportant. But
what I have come here to tell you today is.”

“I don’t know who you are,” he said, now standing against the
front of the bed, an expression of deep worry on his tanned face.
“You can’t just come in here like this. I don’t care if you do work for
the hotel.”

“I don’t work for the hotel, Max,” I said in the same amiable voice,
now just a couple feet from him. “And I’m sure you know that.”

Before he could respond I drove my left fist into his gut, twisting
and pushing upward on contact. The blow caused him to gasp and
double up, clutching his midsection. I pushed him back on the bed
and he sat down hard.

He could not speak, he sat whimpering and holding himself
tightly, fighting for breath.

I glanced around the room, stepping back near the dresser and
watching him.

“Once you get your breath back we can continue,” I told him. “Just
needed to get your attention, Max. Make sure we understood each
other. No need for bullshit between us. Take your time.”

He was rocking now, and trying to get air in through his mouth. I
waited, watching him closely. I didn’t know if he had any weapons
in the room, but if he did he’d probably be stupid enough to try and
grab one if he thought he could.

Two minutes went by and the rocking stopped. He sat up but
would not look at me, his face red, his eyes wet.

“Well that’s better, Max,” I said. “Now we can have our talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” he said in as defiant a tone
as he could muster. Sounded more like a stubborn five year old as
opposed to a thirty-five year old man with an engineering degree
from UCLA.
“Well good,” I said. “Then you can just sit there and listen. I work
for Kory Levin. I believe you are quite familiar with Mr. Levin. You
should be, seeing as how you’ve been stalking him for the last few
years.”
“I have never…” he was indignant, but shut up quickly after glanc-
ing at me and seeing the blank stare in my eyes.
“Of course you have, Max,” I told him. “You got arrested for
breaking into his place in Brentwood. And there’s a restraining or-
der against you. Not supposed to come within five hundred feet of
him. But we both know you’ve violated that order a lot of times.”
“You can’t prove that,” he retorted.

“I don’t have to prove it, Max,” I replied patiently. “But I can
prove that you were in his hotel room at the Marriott last week.
Mini-bar attendant identified you from your picture. Now that’s
trespassing any way you look at it. And the gifts you left… Pal, you’re
in the south now. A judge hears what kind of a sick shit you are and
he’s liable to sentence you to fifty years in the pen just because.”

Bandini was about to object, but then kept his mouth closed, his
eyes now burning.

I took a couple of steps toward him and he flinched, sitting back
on the bed.

“Max, I don’t know what your problem is, what your hang-ups are,
and I don’t care. Really, I don’t. What I do care about is your contin-
ued harassment of my client. I want it to stop. And I want it to stop
now. So hear and understand this. You will leave Kory Levin alone
from now on. And not just while he’s here in Birmingham, but for-
ever and for good. I found you very easily this time, despite the
aliases you used. A good trick, by the way, but not good enough. I’m
better, got lots of resources. Trust me, I need to, I’ll find you again.”

“You can’t threaten me like this,” Bandini’s tone was suddenly a
lot stronger, more confident.

I nodded slowly, smiling, then kicked him in the left kneecap and
he bent forward groaning hard. Before his groan became a full-
fledged scream I slapped him hard across the face and he rolled
back on the bed.

I reached for the front of his shirt and pulled him up, holding him
with my left hand, smacking him hard across the face two more
times with my right. Then I let him fall back on the bed.

He was holding his face with one hand, his knee with the other.
There were tears in his eyes, and he moaned and whimpered, star-

ing up at me in agony.
I leaned down very close to him and he tried to pull away.
“Now you listen to me you little fairy-pussy-puke. Kory Levin is

tired of you and your shit. He isn’t a faggot like you. And even if he
was he wouldn’t want to be with a piece of shit loser like you. You’re
a joke to him. Nothing but a sick joke. You couldn’t have a guy like
him in a million years. You’re nothing. Truth be told, Kory sits
around and laughs about you all the time, saying what a loser you
are, how pathetic you are. You’re nothing to him. So why don’t you
just stop, go away. Find a new hobby. Because if you bother Kory
again, you little booty-bandit, I’m gonna come see you again. And
maybe then I’ll cut off your little pecker and shove it up your own
ass.”

I stood back up, turned around, then turned back suddenly and
kicked him in the other knee.

He was rolling around on the bed and yelling when I walked out
and closed the door. By the time I reached the end of the corridor
and the back stairs I couldn’t hear him anymore.

But I’m pretty sure someone could, or soon would.

Chapter 31

Kory Levin decided that before he left Birmingham he needed to do
something for the homeless people he had met. Something to bring
more immediate attention to their situation.

Sam Rockford suggested a press conference but Kory said that
wasn’t good enough. He wanted more. He wanted bigger. And that’s
why on Friday evening there was an impromptu, highly publicized,
charity benefit in the grand ballroom at the Redmont Hotel, invitees
being the wealthiest and most famous who were available on such
short notice. Surprisingly there were quite a few of them, some that
even I knew.

The banquet staff at the Redmont had not been prepared for such
an event, but they were real pros and were able to pull it together
with barely two days notice. There were problems, of course, but
nothing that they didn’t seem able to handle.

In addition to the great and the good, the media was invited as
well, local as well as national. I recognized quite a bit of them, in-
cluding one very familiar local correspondent with whom I was
rather… familiar.

It was a gala but the attire was informal. Casual dresses for the
women, slacks or jeans for the men, some of them wearing blazers,
as was my client. I, too, wore slacks and a blazer, mine more so to
cover my weapons as opposed to a fashion statement.

Traci had accompanied me tonight as well, looking stunning in a
knee-length short sleeve blue dress that showed off a lot of her
chest. When I had introduced her to my client I noticed him notic-
ing her chest. For a moment I thought about punching him, but
then decided it would be bad form. Traci also observed his eyes drop
to her chest and found it very amusing, almost blushing. We’d have
to talk about that later. Probably when we were both naked.

Kim Sutton put in an appearance too, arriving with Bridgett
Lemons and her husband. This was the first time that I had seen
Kim in a dress. Quite a pleasing sight. Simple, black, just above her
knees. First time I had seen her legs. Not bad either. I was careful
not to let Traci see me noticing Kim. She’d probably find it amusing,
but later I’d hear about it in spades. Likely when we were both
naked and I was at a vulnerable disadvantage.

I introduced Traci to Kim and Bridgett and they all shook hands.
“Derrick has mentioned you a lot,” Kim was saying to Traci. “And
I have to admit that I was very curious to find out what kind of
woman it would take to capture Derrick’s heart and soul.”
Traci smiled, glancing at me briefly.
“He’s told me a lot about you, too,” she said to Kim. “About the
work you do, how good you are at it. I think what you do is very im-
portant and it helps a lot of people.”
“We try,” Kim said.
Kory Levin was standing a few feet away from me talking to the
Regions Bank senior VP that he had been having lunch with last Sat-
urday. She was wearing a stunning red dress that expertly defined
her supple frame, her raven hair hanging free around her shoulders.
I didn’t see her husband anywhere around, and Kory didn’t appear
to mind. Actually, I don’t think the SVP minded much either.

Kim glanced over and saw Kory and then looked away. I was
pretty sure she still regretted what had happened the other night,
but a part of her probably didn’t. She was conflicted and it showed.
Probably take some time to settle in her mind.

“So this is what show business is like,” Bridgett said to her hus-
band. “Look at all these people. I’ve seen a lot of them on TV. Hard
to believe they’re all here in little old Birmingham tonight.”

“Yeah well that’s all thanks to Mr. Kory Levin over there,” Kim
said, glancing at him once more. “He made some calls, spent some
bucks, and got it all done. I’ll say this for him, he sure knows how to
get what he wants when he sets his mind to it.”

I looked into her eyes. Being the only one in our group who knew
what had happened between them, I knew there was more meaning
in her statement than the obvious. Kim held my gaze for a moment,
then glanced away.

Drinks flowed, the meal was buffet style, and once everyone had
had time for both, Kory Levin took center stage and began to speak.
He was passionate, every word from the heart, using not a single
note.

When he concluded there was thunderous applause and he stood
there with a solemn expression on his broodingly handsome face.

Oh yeah, this guy was good. And what was more, he believed ev-
erything he had said. There would be big checks written this night,
and I suspected that the Homeless Outreach Mission of Birming-
ham would be the big recipient of most of those funds.

Just a few seconds after this thought passed through my mind,
Kory called for Kim to join him. She did so, but I could sense just a
bit of reluctance in her manner.

Kory reached for her arm and pulled her to his side, introducing
her to everyone and telling them about the work she had been doing
for years. There was further applause and Kim looked embarrassed.
Kory leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She didn’t exactly
flinch, but her body language suggested that she would rather not be
this close to him at the moment.

Kory continued to extol Kim’s many virtues, apparently only leav-
ing out what she was like in bed, and then he passed the mike to her
and she spoke for a few minutes.

Traci stood to my right, leaning over and saying something to me
that I didn’t quite catch because I was listening to something else
through the micro-receiver in my left ear.

“Babe, would you excuse me for a few minutes,” I said, leaning
over and kissing her on the cheek. “Have to take care of something.”

Traci stared at me for a moment, curious, but nodded.
I smiled, then moved off quickly.
The service door in the west corner of the room was behind where
Kory and Kim stood. A thick cluster of guests stood between it and
me. I moved through the crowd as gently as I could, moving people
out of my way with as little force as possible, but making it clear that
I was not stopping.
I reached the service door just as it burst open.
Max Bandini stood there wearing dark jeans, a black polo, and a
black windbreaker. When he saw me his eyes were incredulous.
“Hi, Max,” I said casually.
He had frozen momentarily, but had now recovered, moving his
right hand toward the right pocket of the windbreaker. I moved in
quickly and punched him in the solar plexus, then followed up with

an elbow to the right side of the face. This knocked him back
through the door and into the corridor beyond.

I’m sure some of the guests must have noticed something, but it
had happened so quickly that they weren’t sure what was going on.

I stepped into the service corridor and closed the door behind me.
Bandini had slammed into the wall opposite the door but now he
pushed off and continued to reach for his pocket. I grabbed his wrist
and twisted it as he brought his hand out of the pocket holding a
small semiautomatic pistol.
He groaned in pain and his fingers involuntarily twitched, the
weapon falling from numbed fingers. I kept twisting the wrist up-
ward until he spun around backwards, grunting and gasping, then I
slammed him into the wall once more and punched him in the mid-
dle of the back.
He slid down to his knees as I stepped back.
“Max, we really do have to stop meeting like this,” I said.
He was whimpering again, and I stood waiting. This did not last
long because in a sudden rage Max Bandini pushed to his feet and
spun back to face me, charging at me like a mad bull.
I hit him with a right-handed vertical fist punch, catching him on
the left side of his chest and hammering through his body. This
stopped him dead in his tracks and he went down on one knee. I
raised my left knee into his face and knocked him back against the
opposite wall yet again, his head impacting hard.
At that moment Paige Palmer appeared to my left, and behind her
were two uniformed police officers. Paige came over to me and then
nodded at the uniforms.
“Place him under arrest,” she told them. “First charge will be vio-
lating a restraining order from Los Angeles County, California,

which is binding here by the way. This corridor is exactly fifty-two
feet away from where Mr. Kory Levin is standing right now. Second
charge will be carrying a weapon without a license. Probably an ille-
gal one as well. Third charge will be the attempted assault on Mr.
Olin here.”

The two cops got Bandini to his feet and one put cuffs on him
while the other searched him. Paige bent down and picked up his
pistol and unloaded it, then handed it to one of the officers.

“He had a knife on him,” the cop who did the search announced.
“Switchblade.”

Paige whistled and shook her head.
“And the charges just keep on coming for this guy,” she said. “Add
that to the list, please. Get him out of here. I’ll be along to do the pa-
perwork in a bit.”
“Sure thing, Sarge,” one of the officers said, then they left with
Bandini in tow.
Paige turned toward me and grinned.
“Pretty neat, Mr. Olin,” she said. “Might I ask just how you knew
he would come here tonight and try to kill your client; seeing as how
he had never escalated this far before?”
I put a hand on her arm and turned her toward the service door.
“No, Sergeant, you may not,” I told her. “And now would you like
to go in and meet a real Hollywood movie star?”
Paige grinned and reached into her purse, pulling out a small
compact.
“You bet your sexy ass,” she said, then opened the compact and
checked her hair and makeup.
She closed the compact and put it away, grinning still.
“Let’s go.”

So we went.

Chapter 32

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Traci took a week off from work at the first of April and we drove up
to Chattanooga for a spring vacation. The weather had improved
greatly over March, warmer, less rain for the moment, and the drive
was both pleasant and refreshing.

We didn’t really have a plan, just decided to get away to a different
place and see what developed. For me the development would be
simple, and involve very little clothing, but Traci was probably hop-
ing for a little more, so I’d see what could be arranged once we got
there.

We checked into the Hampton Inn on Hamil Road in Hixon, just
north of Chattanooga proper. Traci went ahead to the room on the
second floor while I got our bags out of the car. When I arrived at
the room I noticed the door had been left partially open, just a tad.

“You know anybody could just wander in here and take advantage
of your limber limbs, my love,” I said, pushing the door open with
my foot and walking in.

Traci was on her right side in the middle of the king-sized bed
staring at me coolly.

“That’s kind of the point,” she said, bending her left knee. “Why
don’t you come in and close the door?”

Which I did, setting our suitcases down on the floor and smiling.
Madam Brenner was not wearing one stitch of clothing. She pat-
ted the spot next to her on the bed.

“And now why don’t you join me?”
My smile was even larger now.
I hurriedly undressed and moved to the bed. Traci pushed me
down and climbed on top of me, pressing her mouth to mine, her
tongue greedily probing my mouth.
I put my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. She re-
sponded by moaning and pressing her pelvis against me. I could al-
ready feel her wetness, suddenly wanting to do more than just feel
it.
I sat up and turned her around, her head dropping onto the pillow
that I had been lying on. I kissed her lips, then moved down her
body, kissing both erect nipples, then her chest, then her bellybut-
ton, finally making my way down to the soft mound of light brown
hair between her thighs. Here I would remain for a very long time…
Traci experienced two very expressive orgasms before I was done,
and would have experienced a third had she not grabbed my ears
and pulled me up, kissing me hard on the mouth, reaching for my
throbbing erection and guiding it into her womb…
She mounted me with ease, pressing down hard, taking me all the
way inside of her, groaning as I felt her tighten around me. I
reached up and cupped her breasts, stroking her nipples. She cov-
ered my hands with hers and began to rotate her hips slowly, the
pressure on my organ growing more intense with each second.
We had our eyes open, staring at one another, watching the plea-
sure that we each gave and received, enjoying our mutual lust and
passion.
Traci started to pant, and then she moaned throatily, her grip on
me intensifying. She closed her eyes and put her head back, the

tempo of her slender hips increasing, and then she was trembling;
coming again…

I sat up and encircled her with my arms, pressing the side of my
face to her naked chest and feeling her heart beating strongly. She
gripped my head fiercely and rocked back and forth, still pressing
down hard with her pelvis, my hardness moving deeply inside her…

Traci (like Kim Sutton, apparently) is a fan of doggie style, too.
She says she likes the way it makes her feel when being taken from
behind, visceral, animal-like, even a little depraved.

But she is never submissive, and this excites me, drives me insane
with wanton desire.

I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back toward me,
my erection sliding deeply into her.

She pressed her lean rear end back against me, squeezing me in-
side her, holding me tightly before releasing. From time to time she
would glance back over her shoulder and I could see the utter lust in
her eyes. This caused something deep inside me to growl like a lion,
to want to take her harder and harder, to make her moan, to make
her scream…

She obliges me, unrestrained, uninhibited, unashamed. Filled
with and fueled by the same fire inside me.

We are slick with perspiration, my hands slippery as I try to hold
onto her. This makes us both laugh, but we don’t slow down.

Traci pushes off the bed and comes into my arms, her back
against my chest.

I cup her breasts, squeezing her nipples, rubbing them as I nibble
on her neck, then gently tug her hair.

“You like fucking me like this?” she demands. “You love having
my tight little ass up against you like this, don’t you?”

I grunt and push deeply into her.
“You bet your tight little ass I do,” I said in a husky, guttural voice.
“I love filling up your wet little pussy just like this!” That statement
being punctuated by a fierce forward thrust.
Traci shrieked, then inhaled deeply, placing her hand on top of
the one I had on her left breast, squeezing it. With her other hand
she reached down between us and slipped her fingers around my
erection, pulling it out of her womb.
She looked back over her right shoulder, her face very close to
mine, her expression absolutely iniquitous.
“I know what you like fucking more than my wet little pussy,” she
teased, kissing the side of my face.
I kissed her neck.
“I know you do,” I whispered, my lust almost dangerously beyond
control.
She grinned, then pulled me forward, placing the head of my cock
along the tight crease of her buttocks.
I pulled back a little, wet the tips of my fingers with my tongue,
then used them to lubricate her already slick backside. That’s one of
the things I love about using Astroglide Gel, one application is usu-
ally good for a long time. Traci dropped back down to her hands and
knees and waited, panting with anticipation as my fingers probed
inside her.
I kissed the middle of her back, then took my swollen erection in
one hand and used the other to open her once more, carefully slid-
ing all the way inside and filling her…
Traci moaned so loud that I was pretty sure everyone on the entire
floor had heard. And her head shot straight up.

“Oh gaaaaawd!” she screamed, her southern accent more obvious
than normal, and I loved it! “Oh fucking gaaaaaawd!”

“Don’t go anywhere,” I said breathlessly, putting one hand on her
back and the other on her waist. “Stay right here with me. ‘Cause
now I’m gonna fuck this tight little ass of yours till we both cum.”

She tightened around me, inhaling deeply, then glanced back over
her shoulder again, her expression both wanton and bold, challeng-
ing.

“Then what the fuck are you waiting for?” she said, her eyes defi-
ant.

I pushed deeply and Traci’s eyes closed, her mouth falling open.
The moan that escaped her lips was the most intense that I’ve ever
heard. The animal inside of me liked that, wanted to hear it again.

So I did it again.
And again, and again, and again, my reward instantaneous and
delightfully wicked. Just like Traci Brenner…

Chapter 33

I don’t have much of an interest in history, least of all Civil War his-
tory. However, Traci does have this interest and one of the reasons
she wanted to come to Chattanooga was so we could tour some of
the Civil War sites, cemeteries included. The weather cooperated
and this made our sightseeing that much easier.

Traci had mapped out everything she wanted to see, and, being
the good boyfriend that I am, I pretended to be enthusiastic in my
support. I walked, I listened, I nodded, I appeared interested, and
best of all, I got to spend a lot of time with the woman I loved. What
could be better?

In the mornings and early afternoons we’d go out, take tours,
sometimes just wander around on our own, and then in the late af-
ternoons we’d go back to our room at the Hampton and make love.
Well, sometimes it was making love, others it was just good old
fashion fucking. We found both to be quite satisfying.

In the evenings we’d go out and have dinner. There were several
places around town that offered great southern cuisine and dinner
theater, mostly Civil War themed. Not surprisingly, Traci had made
arrangements for us to have dinner at a few of them.

The food was excellent, if a bit heavy, and the shows were interest-
ing, although I really wished southerners would stop trying to re-

write the history of the Civil War. The South lost. End of story. Get
over it!

When dinner was finished we usually found ourselves in one park
or another, holding hands as we walked along the well-lit grounds.
Traci would read every placard, make comments, then look at me
and grin. She knew I wasn’t having as much fun as she, but she
knew I enjoyed the time we spent together. And there was always
the possibility of a late evening carnal engagement once we returned
to the hotel.

One evening we were getting ready to leave a park near the
Chickamauga Dam when Traci suddenly stopped. I glanced at her
and saw that she was as white as a sheet.

Following her line of sight, I saw what she had seen, and instantly
knew what was wrong.

A family. Mother, father, two kids. And their dog. The dog was a
black and white Jack Russell Terrier. It was running between the
legs of the children and they were laughing and playing as the par-
ents stood smiling and watched.

I took Traci’s hand and squeezed it. A single tear rolled from her
left eye and she turned into my chest. I slipped my arms around her
and held her close.

A year ago JJ had died. He was a Jack Russell Terrier almost iden-
tical to the one those kids were playing with now. Twelve at the end,
had been with Traci since he was six weeks old. The death had hit
her hard, he was a member of the family, almost like her second kid.
Since JJ had died she hadn’t talked much about him, he’d been very
sick for the last year of his life, but there were still pictures of him in
her house, and she even kept his old leash and food bowls. I knew
she missed him terribly and probably thought of him from time to