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This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design: Vivian Vincent

Deadly Desire © 2009 Vivian Vincent

eXcessica publishing

All rights reserved

Deadly Desire

By Vivian Vincent

Chapter One

Tina Mackenzie sat behind the dispatcher’s desk for the Iosco County Sheriff’s office, fiddling with the blotter on her desk. Her job was boring; not much ever happened in this county. Most of the time, the only calls she got were for teen vandalism, or occasional domestic disturbances. Her mundane job, unfortunately, was about to change. The ringing phone startled her.

“Iosco County Sheriff. How can I help you?”

The voice on the other end sounded frantic. “I need to report a murder!”

Tina froze, unable to answer for a moment.

“Excuse me?”

“Someone’s been murdered! Send the police!”

“Sir, what’s your location?”

“The Days Inn on U.S. 23. I’m the night manager.”

Tina punched a few keys on the keyboard in front of her, bringing up the information and confirming his location. She put the man on hold, grabbed the microphone for the radio and called in the report.

“All units, all units. Possible 10-54 at the Days Inn on U.S. 23.”

“Unit 211. ETA from location five minutes.”

Tina took the information from the night manager and relayed it to the responding deputy. She felt her heart race. Finally some excitement. Of course, it was at the expense of human life, and made the excitement bittersweet.

“Confirmed Unit 211. Ambulance and coroner en route to same location.”

“Roger. Unit 211 out.”

“Are you still there, Sir?” Tina said to the night manager.

“Yeah.”

“A sheriff’s deputy and ambulance are en route to your location.”

“Okay.”

She took more information from the manager and ended the call. She checked in with the deputy who answered the call and answered two other calls from deputies who were in the area. She replaced the microphone and entered the necessary information into the computer.

Tina rose from her seat and headed for the bathroom. She needed to calm herself down. The news of the alleged homicide had her trembling. She splashed a bit of cold water on her face then went into a stall to relieve her bladder. She came back out, washed her hands and headed back to her desk. She’d just started her shift and knew it was gonna be a long night.

* * * *

Deputy Alan Penn entered the office of the Days Inn and saw the night manager behind the counter, an older man, probably in his late fifties with graying hair and a pot belly, pacing nervously. He approached the counter and identified himself.

“We had a call about a possible dead body, Sir. Are you the manager here?”

“Yeah. Name’s Tony Adams.” He reached out his hand to the deputy, and then pulled from his pocket master key card which would open any room in the motel. He motioned for the deputy to follow him and explained what had happened as they headed outside.

“The lady who was in room 145 checked in about a week ago. She was in here almost nightly the first few days she was here. She was quite young, I’d say no more than nineteen or twenty. She didn’t have a cell phone and couldn’t afford to make calls from her room so I didn’t see the harm in letting her use the phone in the office as long as she kept it brief.”

“Do you know who she was calling, Sir?” the deputy asked as he followed.

“No. It wasn’t any of my business really. I usually just handed her the phone then went into the backroom. Her calls were never more than five minutes.”

The deputy made a note to check the phone records of the motel for the nights the girl made her calls.

“Do you know if she had any family in the area?”

“I don’t know. I’m the night manager. She checked in during the day about a week ago. All I know is she was from Chicago originally and her name was Laura Dwyer.”

Deputy Penn took a few more notes and waited while the manager slipped the key card into the slot on room 145.

“Anyway, I hadn’t seen her in a couple days so I got worried. When I went to check on her, I found this.” The manager pushed open the door and stepped aside.

Laura Dwyer was sprawled naked on the bed, blood pooled beneath her head and a single gunshot wound right between her eyes. Deputy Penn made a few more notes then called into the sheriff’s office for further assistance. When he finished, he called his wife and told her he’d be late getting home. He sighed heavily as he followed the manager back to the office to wait. He knew it was gonna be a long night.

* * * *

Tina flopped down onto her couch exhausted. She’d never handled so many calls in one night before. This was the first homicide she could ever remember in the ten years she’d worked as a dispatcher for the Iosco County Sheriff. She reached for her remote and flipped on the TV.

The first thing she saw when the TV blared to life was an outside shot of the Days Inn.

“Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene last night when Tony Adams, the night manager of this Days Inn, reported a woman dead in one of the rooms of the motel. Investigators haven’t released the name of the victim or any further details. As information becomes available, we’ll bring it to you live.” The reporter on scene stepped aside as the camera scanned the area again. “Back to you in the studio.”

Tina shook her head then flipped over to another channel. She didn’t need anymore reminders of what’d happened. Just as she settled on her couch, her legs stretch out, there was a knock on her door. She glanced at the clock over the TV. It was approaching six a.m. She wondered who’d be knocking so early.

As she glanced through the peephole, she felt her heart rate increase when she saw her neighbor standing there holding a plain brown bag.

Michael Burns had only moved in a few months before, but he and Tina had become fast friends. He’d usually be found at her place or her at his place, watching movies or playing video games.

He towered over her tiny five foot four frame, standing an impressive six foot two. His short blond hair and vivid green eyes never failed to make her weak in the knees, especially when he smiled at her. She kept her feelings for him to herself for fear of ruining their friendship. Tina pulled open the door and smiled at him in greeting.

“I brought breakfast.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek then made his way inside when she stepped back, allowing him to enter. “Did you just get home?”

“Yeah,” Tina replied. “I worked late.” She crossed the living room and stopped in the kitchen. She wondered if she should tell him why she had to work late, but then figured he’d hear about it on the news sooner or later. “There was a murder at the Days Inn in Tawas City last night.” She pulled coffee filters out of the cupboard and began fixing a pot of coffee to accompany whatever it was Michael had brought for breakfast.

“Really? Wow!”

Tina didn’t notice his posture stiffen when she mentioned the murder at the motel. Michael reached into the cupboard beside Tina and pulled down two plates and took them to the table. Opening the bag from the bakery, Michael pulled out two bagels and two cinnamon buns and placed them on the plates.

“Yeah, I was busy most of the night with calls from deputies, the sheriff, the coroner and—god, I think every damn person who worked for the county called in.” She slumped into a chair at her tiny kitchen table. “You’d think this town has never had a crime before.”

“It hasn’t really. I mean other than a few runaway horses or teenagers causing a ruckus.”

“True. Still, it was a hectic night.” Tina bit into the still warm cinnamon bun and stifled a moan. “Oh god, this is so good. Thanks for bringing it, Mike.”

“No problem, T. I woke up about an hour ago. I heard you when you got home. I don’t have to work today so I thought I’d go get us breakfast.” He rose to his feet and poured them both a cup of coffee. He set a mug down in front of her then returned to his seat with his own mug.

“Well, nothing personal, but I think after we finish breakfast, I’m gonna kick you out and take a long, hot bubble bath. Then I’m gonna crash.” Tina sipped at her coffee, not noticing the look of anguish on Mike’s face.

The thought of her sprawled out in her tub, surrounded by nothing but suds had his dick standing at attention. He shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable. He reached for his coffee and nearly choked on it when Tina took another bite of her cinnamon roll and moaned.

Mike took a deep breath to compose himself. “Does the sheriff have any idea who the person was who was murdered?”

“Yeah. All her personal belongings were still in the room. They identified her and as we speak, they’re trying to locate any family. I don’t know much more than that.”

“Do they have any suspects?”

“I don’t know. From what I heard after the sheriff got back to the station, the girl was shot once at close range. They’ve called in the State Police to help investigate since they’ve never had a crime of this magnitude before.”

“Oh.”

Tina glanced at Michael then and saw a flash of something in his eyes. She studied the look on his face for a moment before turning away. She wasn’t sure what the expression on his face was, but it made her uneasy.

They finished their breakfast in silence and Michael headed back to his apartment with a promise to stop by later. Tina closed and locked the door behind him and headed into the bathroom. She couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness she had after she’d told Michael about the murder. She dismissed the negative thoughts regarding her neighbor as fatigue.

Stripping herself bare, she leaned in and turned on the water to fill it then added a liberal amount of lavender scented bubble bath. She placed a large, fluffy bath towel and tugged the elastic from her hair. The auburn strands caressed her shoulders as she stepped into the tub.