Red Ribbons in Her Hair Ch. 08

Gabe walked into the bull pen tired and cranky and more than a little frustrated. He'd spent most of the day at the lab chasing down results and calling film manufacturers. He did have one piece of information, the store where their killer bought his film. Luckily the manufacturer had a lot number printed upon each package and on the film inside. The lot number could be put into a computer and that gave him the information he needed.

The only thing was, he already knew the man shopped at the store, for that is where Kaylee first ran into him.

Gabe needed to update the murder board and he needed to call the lab and see if the blood tests done on the scrap of material were back. He looked over at the empty desk before going to his office and was surprised to see that Kaylee wasn't there.

Neither was Campbell, he thought, staring over at Dean's desk. Where had the two of them run off to? Kaylee had better not have worked her wiles on Dean, gotten him to take her somewhere where she could do something stupid, like be out in public. Damn it!

Still fuming, he opened his office door and walked in, reaching out and snapping on the lights. He walked the few steps to his desk, sat down and picked up his phone and then sat there, staring at his couch and the small figure curled up in a ball upon it.

Kaylee looked so tiny, so fragile, asleep with her dark lashes lying like fragile wings against her pale cheeks. She had to be exhausted to be able to sleep so easily on that lumpy thing. He stood, shedding his coat and taking it over, covering her with it.

Gabe watched as she murmured and snuggled into the warmth of the material, smiling in her dreams as her hand smoothed across the fabric. She brought her legs up a little more, the skirt she'd put back on today rising along the line of her creamy thighs. Crouching next to her, he carefully pulled a strand of hair from her face, smoothing it away from her brow.

She was so beautiful. He couldn't help but think that and about how much he would like to kiss her lush lips, hold her in his arms, make love with her. His dreams last night had made that pretty clear to him. After she'd climbed in bed with him, he'd been hard pressed not to roll over and kiss her, especially knowing that she wouldn't be adverse to his advances.

But he hadn't, turning to his side to try and ease the temptation she represented. He'd faked sleep, listening for any sounds that would indicate someone breaking into the house. And then she'd fallen to sleep and turned, curling up against his back. He thought his heart would burst from his chest when her small hand had slipped over his side and slid to his chest, her fingers caressing his skin.

To stop them, he'd grabbed her hand, and then found himself holding it, finally falling asleep with her behind him.

He must have made some sound because she stirred, her eyes opening, blinking with the sleepy wonder of first waking. She stretched under his coat, smiling up at him. "Hi," she said, yawning widely.

"Hi yourself. I was wondering where you'd gotten to. I thought maybe you'd managed to con Dean into taking you someplace."

"No, and it wasn't from the lack of trying." She sat up still cuddling his jacket. "So have you found out anything new?"

"Well, we know the store where he got the film."

"Bushes, on Third Street? I'm right, aren't I?" Her hand reached out and grabbed his arm. "Why can't we go there? Let me see if I can spot him?"

"It might come to that. But not tonight. We're both tired and hungry. And I feel like my brain's fried. I think a good dinner and an early night will do both of us a world of good." He patted her hand, letting his rest upon hers. "I do have some good news for you. I rescued your bag and your purse from the lab. They're in my trunk."

Kaylee smiled. Just the thought of clean underwear and her own brush helped to make her feel good, until she thought about Tina again.

Gabe saw her smile and then saw the instant she started thinking of her friend as the smile disappeared as quickly as it came.

"I feel so guilty," she said, sighing and sitting back on the couch. "I'm free, and safe, and Tina is in the hands of that monster. Who knows what he's doing to her now?"

Gabe slipped up to sit next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Kaylee, you can't let yourself think that way. You've got to be strong for her and for you."

"It's just hard thinking any other way," she said, standing and handing him back his coat. "Were your ready to go?"

"Yeah, I've just got to outline to the captain what I found out today and then I'll be ready. Should only take a few minutes so don't go getting to comfortable on me." He rose and took his jacket, slipping it back over his broad shoulders. He picked up the files he'd brought in with him and left for the captain's office.

Kaylee slumped back on the couch, her mind on Tina. What was that monster doing to her?

* * * *

The wet cloth felt wonderful against her cheeks, Tina opened her eyes, staring at the man holding it.

"You need a good cleaning, little girl," he said, rinsing out the wash cloth in the small pan of hot soapy water he'd brought down stairs with him. "And then something to eat. I don't know how long you'll be my guest but you might as well be comfortable doing it."

Tina didn't answer, though he'd already removed the heavy gag he'd had buckled over her mouth. She felt a sting on her wrist as the warm cloth moved over the open cuts there, cuts made by the heavy zip ties that bound her to the chair she sat in.

"Those look painful. Hold on for a moment, sweet one, let me see if we can make you more comfortable."

She heard him moving behind her, the clanking of metal against metal, a drawer being opened and shut heavily and then the soft sound of his feet as he approached her again.

"Now, you and I have to come to an agreement. If we can, then I'll let you get up out of that chair, and you can even be allowed some freedom while I'm not around. If not, then I'll put the gag back on and you can stay right where you are until your arms and legs become infected from the cuts. Which is it to be?"

"I... I'll behave," Tina said, her voice hoarse from screaming and the horrid taste of the leather gag he'd thrust into her mouth.

"Good girl," he said, patting her on top of the head as he would a dog or a small child. Then he brought his other hand from behind his back and she saw the strip of leather he held. "This is a collar, it will be attached to a chain. You won't be able to take it off of your neck but it will allow you some freedom and you'll be able to get up and walk around." He slipped it around her neck, clasping it with a small gold lock. "But, if you at any time give me any grief, it'll be back in the chair with you and you won't enjoy the punishment."

"I understand," she murmured, her eyes downcast.

"Wonderful!" he said, smiling.

She felt a painful scraping tug on her wrists as he cut through each of the ties, whisking away the broken pieces into a small bin. He let her move her arms and legs a bit, getting the blood to flow in them again before he brought forth a small medical kit that was well supplied with bandages and salves.

Tina let him clean and bandage her wounds, feeling oddly grateful to him for that small favor. He'd been brutal to her earlier, he'd forced himself upon her, using his fingers first to push into her dry sex, finally thrusting his body into her, calling her names that she'd never imagined being called before. He'd slapped her, leaving red hand prints on her body, taking pictures of them while insane giggles escaped from between his lips. The slaps had hurt, the rape had been demeaning, but those giggles had been terrifying.

Opening the door to a cell in the center of the room, he pushed her gently inside. "This I was saving for your friend, but since she isn't here and you are, you might as well break it in for her." He pushed her down on the small cot, forcing her to sit in front of him while he reached for her breast.

Tina wanted badly to push his hand away but she was afraid. If she did, what would he do?

He played with her for a while, seeing her cringe, hearing her soft sobs of pain and embarrassment. "I want you to suck me," he said to her, finally.

"W... what?"

"I want you to suck my cock and make me come. If you do that, well than I'll let you sleep the rest of the night in peace. If not, well then I'll need someplace else to get off in." He slipped his hand down between her thighs, feeling the wetness from his rape of her earlier still coating her slick little lips.

"I'll suck you," she said quickly, staring up at him. "Please, I hurt down there. Let me suck you instead?"

He stood in front of her, his hands on his hips. "Then get to it, and do it right. No biting if you don't want to lose all your teeth."

Tina tried to close her mind from her actions, closing her eyes as she reached out to undo his pants. She pulled him out, opening her mouth, feeling the foulness of him slide inside. She could taste both his juices and the blood from her ravaged pussy in her mouth now and was disgusted by it and the foul thing she was being forced to do. With a sob, she tried to control her gag reflex, knowing that if she couldn't and vomited on him, he'd probably hurt her worse than she could imagine.

* * * *

Kaylee stood up from the small stool, taking her plate to the kitchen sink and rinsing it off before stacking it with the rest of them in the small dishwasher.

"You don't need to do that," Gabe said, watching her. She'd been moving non stop since they'd gotten back to his place, as if she were to sit still too long, her thoughts might catch up with her and bury her.

"I don't mind. Besides, it's the least I can do considering the fact that you're feeding me and putting me up." She reached under the sink and found the small box of dish soap, shaking the power into the right cup and closing it before coming to take his plate. "Finished?"

"Yeah, thanks." He let her finish the dishes because she seemed so determined too, but when she started straightening the piles of magazines and picking up things around his apartment, he had to stop her.

"Kaylee, stop. You're doing this just so you don't think. Come on, sweetheart, come over here and sit with me."

She went, sinking down on the sofa to curl up her legs under her. He picked up the remote, switching channels on the huge TV until he found something he thought she might like, a light hearted comedy that didn't call for thinking to follow the plotline.

Kaylee watched the show, but she couldn't have told you what she watched, her mind was racing over everything that had happened the past few days. Her brain seemed to be working in circles, not allowing her to light on one thing, to dissect it the way that she wanted too. When her eyes closed and she fell asleep, she couldn't have told you, all she knew was suddenly she was alone in his apartment, the television still on.

Kaylee sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Gabe?" she called, hearing her voice echo eerily in the empty apartment. "Gabe!"

She got up, her legs feeling like they had cement blocks holding them down, every step was an effort. It seemed to take forever for her to check every room, finally ending in his bedroom. Gabe was there, standing by the closet, his body naked from the waist up as it had been last night. He turned as she came in, holding his arms out to her.

Kaylee rushed to them, almost crying in her relief. "Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me you were going to bed?"

He lifted her chin with his finger, touching his mouth lightly to hers. "Shush, love."

"Wha..." she began only to be stopped by his mouth.

It was hot and wet, the kiss changing, his tongue finding hers, caressing and claiming her mouth until she could barely breath. She moaned, finding her bottom lip captured between his teeth as he nibbled upon it like it was a succulent treat to be savored. Then his lips moved to her jaw, roaming over her neck, pulling the blouse she wore away from her skin to capture even more of her skin.

He picked her up, laying her on his bed as if she were the most fragile of china dolls, his fingers seeming to magical dispense with her blouse and skirt, unhooking the tiny white lace bra she wore and pulling it from her arms, leaving her naked but for the matching panties. He stared at her, at the picture she made with her dark hair and tawny skin against his dark blue comforter.

"You are so beautiful," he groaned, dropping down next to her on the bed

His hands reached for her, hard and intoxicatingly gentle upon her skin, pulling her to him and rolling with her. Her hair wrapped around them, seeming to cocoon them in a layer of silk, drawing them into a world of their own where only pleasure and desire remained. He found the soft pink tip of her breast with his mouth, pulling on it with his teeth and tongue, swirling heat around that peak until it hardened and she whimpered beneath him.

He moved lower than, despite her urgings to kiss her, his hands pushing her thighs together then pulling her panties off her body, leaving her naked to his eyes. Holding her that way with her thighs pressed together, the steamy heat of her pink cunt hidden by the dark curls that covered her sex. His tongue explored the line where her thigh met her body, making her squirm and cry out, begging him to love her. He rose and yanked down his sweats, pushing her thighs apart.

She knew he was looking at her, seeing her most intimate flesh exposed to his eyes. She was wet, almost desperately so, needing him to fill her, to make her feel things other than the fear and the worry that had become such a huge part of her life. "Please, Gabe," she called to him, watching as his eyes traveled her body. "Please fuck me!" she begged.

She could see his cock, hard and throbbing, beautiful in its aroused state. She wanted to touch it, to kiss it, to take him in her mouth and make him feel all the things that she did. She wanted to give him pleasure, more than anything else in this world, right now, she wanted that.

But as she watched, he turned from her, pulling his sweats up over his erection. He walked towards the door, while she lay in the bed, staring at him in confusion. "Wait," she called. "Gabe, wait. Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, Kaylee. I'd love to fuck you, you know that. But you aren't for me."

Kaylee sat up in the bed, her arm covering her naked breasts. "What do you mean, I'm not for you?"

Gabe pulled open the door, stepping back as a shadowed figure entered the room. "You're for him," he said. And then he screamed in pain as the figure stepped by him, slashing a knife across his throat.

Kaylee watched in shocked horror as Gabe clutched at his throat, seeing the accusations in his eyes as he silently blamed her for his death. She tried to scramble back in the bed, to crawl off the other side, but it was as if she were frozen. She could do nothing but wait while death stalked her, death in the form of the killer.

"Did you really think you'd get away from me so easily, Kaylee? Don't you know that I will do anything to get to you; I'll kill anyone that gets between us. Your friend Gabe, Tina, Ruthie and Ann, no one is safe until you come to me."

"Why?" she cried. "Why me?"

He laughed, a horrid, ugly sound. "Because I can and because I want you. You'd never even look at me if you saw me out in public. You couldn't even remember my face after bumping into me. I'm nothing to you, less than nothing. But now, you'll remember me. My face will be the last one you see on this Earth."

He stepped towards her, reaching out his hand to slide it over her body, stopping to play with her nipples before sliding down toward the soft pale, perfect flesh between her thighs.

"No," she cried, shaking her head. "No, don't touch me."

"You're mine, Kaylee. Mine to do with as I please and what I please is to fuck you, right now. I want you screaming, I want your voice in my ears when I push inside of you. I want to hear your pain." He dropped his hands from her body, reaching for his pants, ignoring the blood that smeared on them. They dropped to the floor, and she saw his cock for the first time, hard and full, and straining to reach her.

His hand reached out, grasping her shoulder, his other hand was on his cock, and she could feel it brush against her softness, ready to rip into it. "Are you ready for me, Kaylee? Kaylee?" he asked again, shaking her.

"Kaylee? Wake up, Kaylee? God, love, wake up!" He wrapped his arms around her when she flailed at him

"He's here!" she screamed into his shoulder. "He's here! He killed you," she said, finally calming down enough to quit screaming. "He killed you and was going to rape me," she sobbed.

"Shh," Gabe said, stroking her hair as she clung to him. He could feel her tears soaking into his shirt and it tore him apart. "It was just a dream, love. It was only a dream."

"But, it seemed so real. He seemed so real. He said that he could do anything he wanted with me, because I ignored him the first time we met." She grabbed a hold of his shirt, unable to force herself to let him loose, needing the feel of his hard body against hers.

"It was just a dream," Gabe repeated. "They can seem pretty real, sweetheart."

"This one was," she finally pushed back far enough to wipe her eyes with her sleeves. "Oh, I got your shirt soaked," she said, reaching out to wipe at the wet spot on his shoulder.

"It's okay, it washes." He reached up and wiped away a stray tear. "Wanna tell me about the dream?"

Kaylee could feel the blush that heated her face. How could she tell him she was dreaming a wonderful dream of making love with him until the killer came in and turned the dream so dark? "No, I'd rather forget about it," she said finally. "It was just a dream and it didn't mean anything."