Unholy Shepherd by Robert Christian (rooftoppers txt) 📕

stack of papers for the fourteenth time, but as she got up and walked past him, Maureen caught him glance at her backside. She grinned and couldn’t deny the flattery she felt.

That’s right, she thought. Look all you want. I know I have a nice ass.

She grabbed a change of clothes out of the pillowcase and found the linen closet, pulling out two towels: one for her hair and one for her body. She mused about what a luxury it was to be able to dry different body parts with different towels as she stepped into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes. She turned on the shower, set the water to as hot as she could stand, and stepped in.

Maureen stood under the running water and tried to push the thoughts of the detective out of her head. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but wonder, if they had met under different circumstances, what they might be like together. The fact that she even entertained such an idea surprised her, as she rarely found herself thinking about a man in that way. All her life, she only sought them out when she needed a quick lay, and even then, she always made sure she was in charge of the encounter. Still, she suspected he might be different. Gentler. She imagined him kissing her neck, running his hands up her sides, laying her down—

“What the hell am I thinking!” Maureen said out loud, snapping herself out of her thoughts. She realized that her hand had begun to stray between her thighs, and she angrily pulled it away, cursing her weak, lustful thoughts. Maureen grabbed a bar of soap, scrubbed herself quickly, and rinsed off.

Maureen wiped off the steam-fogged mirror to reveal her rosy-skinned reflection staring back at her. She wasn’t familiar with this woman. Despite all her efforts, she was becoming involved with matters that she knew she shouldn’t. Maybe she wasn’t running away as she normally would because this time, young boys only a few years older than Braden were involved. Maybe she enjoyed the company and attention of the detective, as abrasive and self-assured as he was. She searched herself for the cold, hard logic that would permit her to try once again to escape from her situation and found none. She could only stand there and stare, trying to bend her reflection back to the person she recognized.

The sound of the knob turning snapped her out of her thoughts. She threw the towel around herself as best she could as Detective Benitez’s frame filled the doorway.

“Jesus!” she shouted at him as she retreated to the far end of the bathroom. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

“I did knock!” he protested, turning his head and half covering his eyes. “I heard the shower turn off a while ago and then nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. When I didn’t hear an answer, I decided to let myself in. I didn’t see much, honest.”

“Well close the door!” she demanded.

He quickly complied.

Maureen unfolded the towel and wrapped it around herself, covering up her excited nipples. She felt embarrassed by her body’s betrayal of her arousal at the idea of being seen the way she was. Maureen bundled up her hair in the second towel, picked up her pile of clothes, and walked out of the bathroom.

“All yours if you want it,” she said, making sure to brush up against him as she passed. “And by that, I mean the bathroom, you perv.”

Maureen smiled to herself as she strutted toward his bedroom to change. She hoped he was watching her walk away. She told herself it was because she wanted to show off what he couldn’t have, but deep down, she wasn’t sure that was one hundred percent true. She couldn’t resist the urge to take a peek over her shoulder, and she just caught a look at his eyes as he closed the bathroom door. She felt a tiny pang of sadness as she heard the sound of the shower starting.

I’ll bet he’ll be glad I took such a hot shower, she thought to herself as she dropped her towel and began to dress.

TWENTY-TWO

“What are we waiting for?” Maureen asked Manny as they sat in his truck parked in the lot of the County Coroner’s Office. “Why aren’t we just going in?”

He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. It was just after quarter to five.

“Just give it a few more minutes,” he said to her, keeping his eyes on the front door.

Manny’s plan was to wait until just before the office closed, feeling that it would give them the advantage of surprise. With luck, they’d run into a skeleton crew and few questions would be asked. He wasn’t completely sure if the news of him being thrown off the case had reached the coroner’s office, but he figured he would confront that issue if it came up. In any case, he’d find out very soon if Agent Layton was going to keep his promise to intervene if he got himself into any hot water.

What he was really hoping for was to see Stacey Winherst leave the building before he and Maureen made their entrance. She was the one person he didn’t want to run into, not because she intimidated him, but because he wasn’t in the mood for her attitude and their inevitable verbal jousting. He certainly began to think differently about the woman after his conversation with Layton. Manny could sympathize and maybe even empathize, but in the back of his mind, he still didn’t understand why she couldn’t just be polite sometimes.

“Maybe she’s different away from work,” he mumbled to himself, without realizing that he was vocalizing his thoughts.

“Huh?” Maureen said.

“Never mind,” he said, looking back at his cell phone for the time. “Let’s head in.”

Manny led Maureen through the hallways of the office as confidently as he could. He had only ever been there once before when he had