Dark Knight of the Skye by Robin Renee Ray Page A

to be a long night,” she commented, pushing past him, snagging her bag from his grip as she did. As soon as the door was unlocked, she was in and closing the bathroom door. Grady shook his head and flopped down on the bed closest to the door. He waited, letting her have her alone time in what would be the only free space she would get without him, no matter how hard she protested tonight.
    He was about to dose off and would have if the cell phone in his jean pocket hadn’t started vibrating. He took the phone out and sat up on the side of the bed, looking over to make sure the bathroom door was closed before he answered it.
    “Yeah.”
    “We got two on the south side, there’s no doubt,” the voice on the other end said.
    “Give me a minute,” he replied and walked to the bathroom door. He placed his ear to the door and waited until he heard the water in the tub slosh about before he walked over to the window, moving the curtain just enough to peer out at the parking lot. He leaned back into the corner and put the phone to his ear. “Talk.”
    “Looks like two teens, one boy, one girl. They were forcibly pulled out of their car, same M.O. as the rest. Probably just came up here to make out.”
    “How long ago?”
    “Couldn’t be more than two, maybe three hours.”
    “Well, add another one to the list. Older woman, at priority one’s location.”
    “And the main objective?”
    “Secure. Don’t contact me, I’ll contact you.” He walked back over to the bed as he hung up the phone.
    D`nae came out of the bathroom to find Grady propped up on the pillows on the bed closest to the door. She was wearing a light pink tank top and dark pink boxers with a white towel on the top of her head. Grady pretended not to stare by rubbing his eyes as she moved across the room.
    “Hope that was okay, things were kind of all over the place,” he said sitting up and stretching his arms above his head.
    “You did really good. It’s kind of weird because all I sleep in is tanks and boxers. Strange that you would pick these.”
    “I figured most girls are alike and I have been known to have a girlfriend from time to time,” he said and started toward the bathroom.
    “I bet you have, Detective,” she called out as he shut the door. She hopped onto her bed, brushed out her hair and fell sound asleep, all before he came back out of the bathroom. When he did, she was curled up on her side with the sheet draped over the bottom half of her legs, leaving the rest her body in full view of his already yearning eyes. He turned the television off but left the small lamp beside his bed on. He took the towel from around his shirtless shoulders and tossed it across the back of the chair.
    He walked over and checked the parking lot one more time before returning to his bed and getting comfortable. He lay back, closing his eyes as his mind outlined the shape of her body under the pale glow coming from the lamp. His eyes slowly opened as his head uncontrollably moved to the side, watching her. She moaned and moved her shoulders back just enough to show the soft movement of her large breasts, and growth became a factor he could no longer deny. He reached down his grey sweatpants and adjusted his manhood as his eyes molested the nipple that lay in a perfect tantalizing peak under the material that he so wished he was at that very moment.
    The night was indeed a long one, just as D`nae had said it would be; only she slept like a log. It was Grady who slept on the edge of a fantasy that was smeared with the flashback shots of dream piercing memories, which entailed night after night investigating brutal decapitations and dismemberments. He woke to a horrible thought of finding the woman he fell asleep masturbating to lying in a heap of crumpled flesh, missing one beautiful head. It was certainly enough of a thought to put the mind back on track.
    * * *
    Once they left the station that morning, Grady wanted to secure a safe place for D`nae to