Crazy Seduction(erotica)

There was a team working on welding in new rebar in place to rebuild the floors.

“According to the report, the floors just fell in last night. Wouldn’t a safety inspector have to inspect the building and sign off on it before it could be fixed?” Hillsdale asked.

“I got the inspector’s certificate. I wouldn’t send my crew into an unsafe worksite.” Reggie insisted. “The building is sound. It’s built like a bunker! That’s what makes this so weird! I have no idea how these two floors failed so spectacularly. The damage is so localized!”

The cops looked themselves but aside from the obviously missing floors they could see no evidence of a blast or shockwave.

“Who ordered the repairs?” Harmon asked.

“I’d have to check the work order. It’s in my truck. I think the company was Ulysses something. The check came from a numbered company and it was good. We were paid in full to do an expedited repair. Replace two damaged floors,” Reggie explained.

“Let’s go look at that work order,” Harmon suggested.

They made their way back outside and Reggie pulled the documents out of the cab of his truck. “Yeah, here it is. Ulysses Global Investments.” He handed the work order to Detective Harmon who added the name and address into his notes.

“Are we ok to continue working here?” Reggie asked.

“Is there going to be access to the debris at the bottom when you are done replacing the floors?” Morris asked.

“Yeah.”

Morris looked at Harmon who nodded. He turned to the site foreman. “The crime scene, if there is one, was professionally cleaned. We may send some people to look for evidence in the rubble but that’s it. You can repair the floors.”

With a nod to Reggie the detectives made their way back to their cars.

“Mob?” Hillsdale asked the others.

“Possible but it doesn’t feel like their work. Everything is moving much too fast. Too efficient but there are too many loose ends. I don’t buy the kidnapping victim’s story about his escape. It’s too clean,” Harmon complained.

“Clean like the crime scene,” Morris growled and his partner nodded.

“We’ll check out this ‘Ulysses Global Investments’ tomorrow and see what their connection is.” Harmon said.

“Hey, you guys keep me in the loop. I’m curious to hear what actually went down here.” Hillsdale said.

“Sure Ken! Have a good night. Say hello to the missus for me,” Morris said bouncing his eyebrows at the other detective as he leered.

“Yeah, just you never mind my missus. She’s too good for the likes of you, Morris!” Hillsdale barked at the man with a grin.

They got into their cars and went their separate ways.

As he drove back through the Holland tunnel to the island Harmon brooded over the weird direction this case was now taking. He had a bad feeling about that. He glanced over at his partner who was smiling out the window.

No doubt thinking about Ken’s wife. Lech.

Stanley was relieved to hear from Camila in the morning that Mr. Zhou had been successful in reaching the Fae Council and the Hidden Races Council and arranged for both sides to hold off until a meeting on Monday morning. So, Stanley had the weekend to decompress.

He listened to and erased the messages in his voice mail. There wasn’t anything he needed to do about them now. Felix would have reached Camila by now anyway.

He spent the rest of the morning and afternoon connected to the office catching up on some work. Reviewing the backup logs and debugging the trend analysis software for Mr. Constantin soothed his nerves with their mundane nature.

He yelped ‘Eureka’ when he finally tracked down the errant bit of code responsible for the bad math. He put the fix in place and recompiled the application. Once it was in place he sent a note to the leader of the Asset Management Team letting him know it was fixed.

Glancing at the clock he saw he had about an hour to get ready for Sandy’s party so he took a nice hot shower, groomed, and dressed himself in something nice. A black dress shirt and grey jeans.

He took the wine from the fridge. He’d put it in just before his shower as he’d read that the proper temperature for red wine was in the low to mid-sixties Fahrenheit. The bottles went into the carrying bag and he slipped the DVD into one of the empty slots in the bag as well.

After one final look at himself in the mirror he grabbed his keys and phone and moved to his front door. He peered through the peep hole to confirm the hall was empty as he still carried a little bit of anxiety. He let himself out of his condo and locked the door. He heard the rattle of keys and turned to see his nearest neighbor locking up after herself.

In the nervous glance Stanley gave her, his heightened perception of her flashed into his mind.

Her skin was palest white. Her straight, jet black hair curled in to touch the base of her long slim neck. Full sensual lips of deepest ruby and eyes so dark he swore they were all pupil. She had a slim nose and high cheekbones which made her eyes appear larger in her heart shaped face.

She had to be at least 5′ 10″ and she was very slim. The smart, tailored black suit she was wearing just made her skin seem that much whiter. She had a red, open necked blouse under the jacket and the cuffs showed slightly beyond the jacket sleeves. This drew his attention to her hands which were slim and long fingered with long nails matching the color of her lips.

He swallowed as she looked back at him. She seemed equally nervous so he forced a smile onto his lips. “Hello.”

“Hello,” she replied quietly.

“I’m Stanley.”

“Michelle.”

“I just moved in not that long ago. You’re the first neighbor on this floor I’ve met.

“I work nights. I should be going or I’ll be late.” She nodded with a small smile and made her way to the elevator. Stanley joined her in waiting. They stepped inside and she pressed the ground floor button and he pressed 4. She glanced at him then down at the bag of wine.

He smiled. “I’m going to a friend’s party.”

Her eyes went wide as she looked at the number again. He realized there were probably few people from odd numbered floors interacting with the tenants of the even numbered floors. He sighed.

“Yeah, but their good people,” he said and she looked closer at him in surprise.

The elevator stopped and he stepped off. “Have a good night!” he said back to her and she nodded to him as the door closed.

He hoped he hadn’t offended his first neighbor.

Making his way over to Sandy’s door he glanced at his phone. He was one minute early. He stopped outside the door and fidgeted.

The door suddenly opened and Sandy was standing there with a surprised look on her face. “Oh! Hi Stanley!” She glanced down the hall.

“Hi Sandy!” he said. “You look very nice!”

She blushed and twirled her sun dress for him a little and they both grinned. “Come in!” she said.

He followed her in and pulled the DVD from the bag. “I got the movie.”

“Ooo! It’s one of my favorites!” Sandy gushed.

He held the bag out. “I brought more of that nice wine too. I chilled it.”

‘Thank you, Stanley. Come have a seat.”

They walked into the living room and sat next to each other on the couch.

“How are you feeling today?” she asked gently.

“Much better, thank you! I just stayed inside and worked on debugging a program for work and that was really relaxing,” he said with a smile and she giggled. “What?”

She held up her hands and shook her head with a smile. “If that’s what relaxes you, good for you!”

The doorbell rang and Sandy jumped to her feet and went to answer it.

Stanley got up as well and carried the bag of wine into the kitchen. He touched the bottles and felt they could use a little more time in the fridge.

He was closing the fridge and heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a stranger dressed in a tan coat.

“AHHHH!” Stanley yelled and threw himself back against the far counter.

The stranger also jumped in fright. “FUCKIN HELL! GEEZUS, you fuckin’ scared me! I almost dropped this!”

Stanley’s heart was pounding as he stared wide eyed at the courier holding a crate against his chest.

“It’s fuckin’ heavy! Where am I putting it?” the man growled.

Sandy came around the corner to give Stanley a concerned look then spoke to the courier. “Just put it on the counter there. Thank you.”

The man set the heavy box on the counter and with a final glare at Stanley he left.

As Sandy went to lock up, Stanley turned to the sink and washed his hands. It gave him a chance to still their shaking.

“Stanley, are you alright?” Sandy said gently from the entrance to the small kitchen.

“I- I guess I’m not as alright as I thought I was,” he said facing the sink.

The phone rang and Sandy answered it, keeping her eyes on him. “Hello?… ok, I’ll buzz you in.”

She looked back at Stanley. “The gangs arrived. Most of them anyway. Vanna and Gary went upstate this weekend for a little couple’s getaway.”

“They’re together?” Stanley asked, struggling to get back to a calm state.

Sandy smiled. “Yes, they’ve been kind of courting for a few years. They only recently decided to see if they could be a couple.”

“That’s nice,” Stanley said with a smile.

The doorbell rang and Sandy went to open it. Stanley heard the happy voices of Tish, Dayshia and, of course, Roger.

“We bringa da fooda!” Roger boomed in a terrible Italian accent.

They came around the corner and smiled at Stanley.

“Stanley! My man! Looking sharp!” Roger said cheerfully and loudly. He had two large insulated bags in his hands which he proceeded to carry in and put on the counter.

“Thanks,” Stanley replied with a smile. “Something smells delicious!”

“Itsa spaghetti ala bolognaise anda garlica breada!”

“Someone please stop him… or hit him. Either is fine,” Tish groaned as she walked into the kitchen with two more bags. The small kitchen had reached capacity with three people so Stanley eased out to walk into the living room where Sandy was speaking quietly with Dayshia.

“We have sorbetto for dessert!” Roger cheered and Stanley grinned back at the man’s enthusiasm.

He turned back and found his face planted in Dayshia’s bosom as she gave him a firm hug.