"Protect your good image from the eyes of negative viewers, who may look at your good appearance with an ugly fiendish eye, and ruin your positive qualities with their chemical infested tongues."
― Michael Bassey Johnson
Juan:
"So...uh...this is my place." I wish I had taken up more time to tidy up the place, but I barely had any visitors which resulted in things like books, papers, and random articles of clothing being sprawled across the room in no clear pattern.
Devin was behind me, so I couldn't tell how she was reacting to the sight of my home; that was until I turned around to look at her.
"It's really big." She commented after a while.
I nodded, "Yeah two bedrooms, two bathrooms, as big as a New York City apartment can get." I joked lightly.
She smiled softly and I cleared my throat.
"I'm using the other bedroom as an office so you can stay in my bedroom for now." I informed her.
Devin's eyes immediately widened as she waved her hands in front of her face.
"Oh no! I can't do that. This is your home...I will sleep on the couch." She suggested.
I shook my head, "I'm not having a lady sleep on the couch when I'm on a bed...I don't sleep all that much anyway, the bed would be more of use to you." I said.
Devin blushed lightly, "I don't want to intrude─." I cut her off.
"You're not intruding, you need help and I am helping you." I stated mater-of-factually.
I honestly think I was doing a lot more than that, but I was keeping that to myself.
It went silent for a moment.
"Where is the restroom?" Devin asked me abruptly.
"Uh...third door to the left." I said as I pointed out the hallway to her.
She thanked me and began walking in the direction of the bathroom before she stopped shortly to speak, "Thank you, detective." She said.
"Please call me, Juan." I corrected her.
She nodded, "Okay." She spun back around and disappeared to the bathroom.
I quickly made my way to my bedroom and began tidying it up as best as I could, I changed the sheets and what not before walking back out to the main area of the apartment only to hear Devin's yell come from the hallway.
My feet automatically took me back into the hall and I stopped as I spotted Devin standing in front of the bathroom door with a fear-struck face. In front of her was Lily happily panting and wagging her tail in glee.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
Devin looked at me nervously, "I'm scared of dogs." She whispered.
I looked at Lily, she seemed happy to have the new company at the house but Devin seemed uncomfortable with having her around so I whistled and Lily immediately was by my side.
"Sorry if she scared you, she's really friendly but if you don't want her around I can keep her away." I said.
Devin shook her head, "No I apologize...I just never had a pet at any time in my life and it is a very different experience for me." I noticed the change in tone of her accent-filled voice.
I scratched the back of my head, "Do you want to pet her? I promise she doesn't bite." I said to her.
She seemed a bit hesitant at first, but she slowly walked up to Lily and I. She hovered her hand above her head with fear. Lily's eyes and snout followed Devin's hand which only resulted in her raising her hand higher above Lily's head.
"It's okay." I assured Devin once more.
She took a deep breath and then placed her hand on head, Lily barked and Devin jumped.
I chuckled. "She gets really excited when she gets attention." I informed her.
She looked at me once more before attempting once more and placing her hand on Lily's head again. This time it stayed there and Lily remained calm as Devin continued to pat her head. I watched the small interaction between the two and it seemed that she was beginning to warm up to her.
"She's really soft." She murmured.
"Yeah." I responded.
I let Devin pet her a little more before I spoke again, "Are you hungry?" I asked her.
She stopped petting Lily and shook her head, "No I'm fine thank you. I'm just really tired. I had a long day." She said.
I could tell by the sagging look of her face that she indeed had a long day and needed a good amount of rest. I began showing her to my bedroom, I ushered her inside and showed her where the extra things like sheets were in case she got cold or something.
"Do you need clothes to wear?" I asked her with a hint of embarrassment, but I knew I had to ask her that because she was dressed in a dress and I doubt that was comfortable to sleep with at night.
She looked away shyly, "Uh...yes please." She said politely.
She had such a formal and respective nature about her that had me enticed and curious.
As I walked to the dresser in my bedroom, I decided that maybe I could ask her a couple of questions to break the ice between us.
"So Devin, where are you from?" I began.
She sounded as if she was walking around the room curiously.
"I'm from Amsterdam." She replied.
I picked out a t-shirt and some shorts, hopefully they would fit her close enough and keep her warm.
I shut the drawer and turned around. "Wow...that's far. What are you doing in Manhattan?" I asked.
She shrugged, "I needed a change of scenery." She was still looking around the room and stopped at one of the detective novels I had once spent my entire childhood reading: Who did it, Dr. Jones?
"This has to be a real culture shock for you then, huh?" I asked her.
"Mhm." She replied her thumbs paged across the book lightly as she waited for me.
I cleared my throat and she turned to look at me. "I got something for you to wear." I held up the clothes.
Devin put the book down and walked over to where I stood and took the clothes from me.
"Thank you." She said shyly, a red color rose on her pale cheeks and I felt my heart beating at an unhealthy rhythm.
Who knew I had a thing for shy girls?
I scratched the back of my head and looked away, "There's an en-suite over there." I pointed to the closed door to the bathroom, "I'll be outside if you need anything else." I said.
She nodded and I walked out of the room making sure to take Lily with me in the process.
Once I reached the kitchen, I looked inside and grabbed a beer and cracked it open. I downed a quarter of it before setting it down onto the counter. Lily, who was beside me barked and wagged her tail rapidly for a treat.
I smirked, "No more treats for you. You're almost getting to big now." I teased her.
Lily barked again and I shook my head.
Before I left the kitchen I grabbed a quick protein bar and made my way into my office. I stopped by my bedroom door momentarily to see if Devin was okay, but she was still in the bathroom so I carried on with my main goal.
At first I was just sitting in my chair thinking about some potential creep following Devin around and then my mind turned to other things like the current cases on my lap. Not too soon after that thought erupted from my brain, I went waist-deep into looking over the cases and the correlation that had with one another.
Nothing seemed to make sense.
Woman ends up dead on apartment floor, drug-bust connection with Javier Muñoz leaves a few men dead....
I rubbed my hands against my face roughly and with frustration before picking up my beer and taking another gulp from it. My hands reached into the pocket of my pants and I dialed one of the main tech guys from the department working the shift this night.
"Randy speaking." Randy answered the phone in his high-pitched voice. I swear he sometimes sounded as if his balls never dropped, but he was damn good tech specialist, knowing how to break through firewalls, security camera, and most importantly computers.
"Hey Randy, its Juan. Did you manage to get any info on Jordan Rivers?" I asked him.
"The NYU student?" He asked.
"Yes. Her." I replied.
"I have actually. After getting her computer charged, I got through and searched around for some information that might seem valuable." I heard Randy typing in the background and I waited for him to continue his sentence.
"Here it is!" He exclaimed and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at how excited he got whenever he found or figured something out. Being in the force as long as I was, you get really used to personalities running around the system and had an idea if you messed with them or not.
"Okay, so before she died she was working on this article about crime in New York City." Randy stated.
"Okay?" I said probing him further to give me more information.
"Well, she was taking interviews with incarcerated mafia bosses and drug cartel kings. The last guy she spoke to was named Manuel Ortiz. He's been in and out of jail here, Venezuela, and Colombia. In her notes she wrote that some of the information he told her seemed fairly recent and dealing with future drug shipments and exports." He took a breath from speaking before resuming, I listened intently.
"She wrote how she convinced him to tell her the location of an upcoming deal and she snuck around to get pictures and first-hand experience. She said she got a couple of pictures of very important looking people and was excited to be able to write a piece that no one else had. Then in her later notes she wrote about how she felt like she was being followed." Randy stated.
My eyes narrowed, I could already feel the gears turning in my head, "What happened after that?" I inquired.
"She didn't write a couple of days. I got a hold of the text messages between her and a close friend of hers that went back and forth about how she needed to crash at her place because she felt like someone had been inside her apartment. A few days pass and she's back in her apartment writing the final pieces of the article, then her computer dies. Had to recover the files since they weren't saved and put them on a thumb drive for reference." Randy said.
I furrowed my brow, "I'm assuming that's around the time she was murdered?" I asked him.
"Correct. The dates and time match the time frame in which the department stated on the report." He agreed.
I nodded to myself, knowing well that Randy couldn't see me.
"Randy, I need you to send me those files and text messages so I can review them. Can you do that for me?" I asked.
"Sure thing, just give me a couple of seconds and everything will be sent in a folder to your email." He said.
"Thanks. Let me know if you find anything new." I said.
"Will do." I hung up right after.
I pulled out my Mac Book and signed into my email and found the files ready for me to view in a new incoming message. I got to work reviewing every piece of work; the gears were in fully turning in my head. I knew I would be here until the morning, I just couldn't rest easy with this case. There were just some things that were not adding up.
Somewhere in between reviewing files and making more calls and setting up meetings, I fell asleep. I woke up to the sounds of my doorbell ringing multiple times. Lily barked and I shushed her before groggily getting up from my seat and walking to the front door.
My body was sore from falling asleep in the office chair, I looked into the peep-hole of the front door and realized it was Opal. I cracked my tense neck before I opened the door to let her in. Opal looked refreshed and content as she walked in with a bag and a tray of hot coffee.
"Morning, partner." She walked over to the kitchen counter and laid what she had purchased down. I closed the door and walked over to the bar stool to take a seat. Opal smiled and handed me the cup of steaming hot coffee and I thanked her.
I definitely needed it because today was going to be a busy one.
"You look like hell, did you get any sleep last night?" She opened the plastic bag and took out a box full of breakfast food she had purchased. She walked over to my counters and pulled out some dish wear so we could have something to eat on. Opal always came in the morning breaking breakfast before we headed to the station to get some work done.
I was always grateful because if it wasn't for her I would probably neglect eating and taking care of myself. She was my partner for a reason.
I shook my head, "Not really. I looked over case files until I knocked." I stole a biscuit from the box as she was busy fixing my plate.
Opal shook her head, "You need more rest you can't work off 3-4 hours sleep." She scolded me.
"And beer." I added with a smirk.
"And beer." She added.
Opal finished fixing my plate before giving a little something to Lily who was patiently waiting for her; she also knew the routine and as a result became spoiled because of it.
"So what's the plan today?" Opal placed one of her hands on her waist as she asked me this. I took a break from scoffing down my food to look at her. Her blazing green and gray eyes blazed as she waited for an answer.
"I'll brief you on the way to the station, but I think we have a lead. I also set up a couple interviews with Jordan Rivers friend, and a trip down to Rikers Island." I drank some my coffee as I waited for her response.
She pursed her pouting lips, "Rikers, what are we doing there?" She questioned.
"I'll brief you later. I'm kind of hungry." I chuckled.
Opal rolled her eyes and grabbed a couple bites herself on her fixed place.
"Juan...?" My neck snapped as soon as I heard that voice.
I had almost forgotten that Devin was sleeping in my bedroom.
She had walked into the kitchen dressed just in my t-shirt and shorts and might I say she looked damn good in them. Her small frame was almost swallowed in my shirt and her luscious hair was tied up in a sloppy bun that rested at the top of her head.
She was stunning, I could see the splatters of freckles spread across her doll-like face that made her look even more unique than she already was.
Opal cleared her throat, clearly not expecting this. "Juan...you didn't tell me you had guests." She said.
I wiped my mouth off with a napkin and stood up from the stool.
"Uh...Opal this is Devin Cauller." I said introducing them.
Devin walked up shyly and held her hand out to Opal, who gave her a judging look before pulling her own hand out for a firm shake. "Opal Crowley." She stated.
"Nice to meet you." She replied.
"Devin was just staying with me since a man had been stalking her last night." I said.
"Stalking?" Opal asked.
I nodded.
"Why didn't you call the police?" She questioned her.
Devin blushed with embarrassment, "I do not like to draw attention to myself, miss." She said politely.
She was so polished and pristine, I admired that little trait about her.
Even in a t-shirt and shorts, she seemed the most elegant out Opal and I. Her head was held high, her shoulders relaxed but straight and aware, and her hands were folded in front of her body calmly.
The kitchen awkwardly went silent and to kill the odd tension surrounding the room—most of it coming from Opal, I offered Devin something to eat.
"Would you like something to eat?" I asked her.
She shook her head, "I just came out to tell you, I will be leaving soon." She explained.
I frowned, I didn't want her to leave even though I had really only officially met her a couple of nights ago. Devin began walking back into the bedroom and I quickly followed behind her.
"Hey...you don't have to leave so soon. Have something to eat." I suggested to her.
She shook her head again. "I have to go home. I've overstayed my welcome. Your girlfriend seems upset." She said nervously, I could tell because she was rubbing her hands together in a frantic manner.
I arched my eyebrow. "She's not my girlfriend. She's my partner." I informed her
"Oh."
Devin walked into my bedroom and shut the door, presumably to get dressed. I walked back to the kitchen with a heavy sigh and finished the rest of my coffee. Opal was cleaning up her plate and placing it into the sink so she could wash it.
"She seems off." Opal said after I took a seat.
"You don't even know her." I stated.
"Do you?"
I remained silent.
"Why do you care so much?" I asked after another wave of silence hit us.
She shrugged.
"Just watch your back."
After Devin got dressed, I left Opal in the apartment to wait for me as I drove her back to her apartment. I really didn't want her to be staying there as she mentioned that this man probably knew where she lived, but I had to respect her wishes and let her live her life. Before she left I made sure she understood that if anything happened to her, that she call the police immediately and call me; I wanted to make sure she was okay. Devin was like a dainty little flower that needed to be taken care of and I oddly enough felt obligated to do so. I probably should watch my back, but somewhere deep in my heart. I didn't want to.
Valeria
"Nicolas! I can't believe you would do this to me!"
What I saw before me would forever shatter me to the core. Is this what women meant when they said that men couldn't be trusted? I was truly stunned, shocked even. How could he do this to me?
Did he not love me?
"Victor are you fucking serious right now?!" Caroline shouted as she stormed over to the couch and pulled Victor's ear.
"Cara. Cazzo, non è quello che sembra. Ow! Fa male!" Victor cursed, I stared at him with shame.
Both of them? (Fuck, it's not what it looks like. Ow! That hurts!)
Honestly.
I shut the door behind me and walked in, my heels clicking against the marble of our home.
"You piece of shits!" Cara bopped Nicolas upside the head which caused him to curse out as well.
I stopped and walked in front of the television, disgusted with the site before me.
"You two are really going to watch Mi segunda vida amorosa without us!" I shouted.
"Valeria wait! Let me explain." Nicolas held up his hands in surrender as he pleaded with me.
I turned my head.
Mi Segunda Vida Amorosa, otherwise known in this household as: My Second Love Life was a Spanish drama on Telemundo that we all got hooked on watching thanks to Carmen. We all found a hobby in watching it together, because it was so good, cliché yes, but entertaining nonetheless.
But to see Nicolas and Victor both watching it without Cara and I filled my heart with betrayal!
"Stop!" I held my hand up. "I don't want to hear your lies and excuses." I sniffled dramatically.
"Mia bella." Nicolas cooed, I felt my insides heat up as he tried to get back in my good graces. But I knew better I wasn't going to let his Italian charm fool me.
"How far?" I asked him.
"Che cosa?" He cocked his head to the side. "How far what?" He questioned.
Cara bopped him upside the head again and he turned and glared at her.
"That's what you get cheater!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
I shook my head in dismay, "How far did you two watch?" This time the question was geared to the both of them. Victor was leaned back against the couch with a slick grin on his face and it took everything in me not to chew and spit him back up.
"Bella―." I cut him off.
"How far?!"
Nicolas took a deep sigh.
"Season two."
I nearly fainted.
"Cara catch me." I said dramatically as she quickly skipped over and held onto my body in my dramatic scene of passing out.
Victor sarcastically clapped his hands together. "Oscar! Oscar!" He shouted.
"Fuck you, Victor!" I stood back up properly and shook my head at both men.
"I hope you two are happy with watching this with each other. Cause that's all you'll be able to do for a week!" I said.
"Mhm." Cara co-signed with a nod of her head.
Now this got the both of their attention. "What?!" They both said at the same time.
That'll teach em.
"Val and I need to catch up thanks to you two, so be patient!" Cara warned them.
"I should have never listened to you. You always get me into trouble." Nicolas began blaming Victor for his misfortunes and I couldn't help but smirk, they were like little children being scolded by their mother as they pointed fingers at one another.
"My fault? It was your choice to follow me, idiota. I could have watched it myself!" Victor argued.
Nicolas scoffed, "Yeah right. You always need someone to drag into your mess!" They both went back and forth in Italian. That's when Cara and I looked at one another and slowly crept out before they noticed we were gone.
In the kitchen, I grabbed a container of fruit from the fridge to snack on. I had to watch what I was eating now that I could stomach food and I didn't want to blow up like a gigantic balloon during my pregnancy as told by my prenatal fitness trainer.
I still graved a juicy hamburger here and there though, and sometimes I couldn't help it. Like last night I woke up around ten at night and I got this instant craving for cheesecake. And not just any cheesecake, so what did I do? I made Nicolas call up my favorite restaurant to give me an entire cake from their store.
Not only that but I got another craving for fried chicken smeared with peanut butter, and chocolate covered strawberries to have along with it. Nicolas ran out to get the chicken while I sat and waited for the cheesecake to come.
When they all were finally placed in front of me I chomped down like it was my last meal. Especially the fried chicken. Who know peanut butter would make the best sauce for it?
Ah, it was heaven. But I knew I was going to be in trouble if I kept up habits like that.
"Look at you eating all healthy and shit." Cara leaned against the counter and smirked at me with a knowing smile. She along with Daphne were the first to detect my odd cravings whenever we went out to lunch or whatever.
"I'm really trying." I said a I popped another grape into my mouth.
"Mama! Those are my grapes!" Mila came running into the kitchen with Mashel, the nanny in tow behind her.
What?
"These are mine." I teased her.
She shook her head and her curls bounced all around her face as she did that. "I love green grapes. You're eating all of them!" She pouted. She then quickly ran into the living room shouting, "Papa where is mama's caramel popcorn!"
Caroline busted out with laughter and I joined her not a second later.
Kids man...
I'd be having another addition to deal with soon enough and my heart almost fluttered with the endless possibilities of what could happen.
Later that night when the house had settled down and Mila was fast asleep, it was Nicolas and I in the bedroom getting ready for bed. The television was blasting with the latest and local news. I was in the bathroom taking care of my skin with my nightly routine as I overheard the breaking news.
"Another young college student from NYU has been found stabbed in their college apartment. Police say that this might have a correlation with the earlier death of Jordan Rivers a young 22 year old Journalism major found strangled, beaten, and raped in her apartment. More news to follow."
Another one?
The streets of New York were not as safe as everyone thought.
I finished patting my face with a moisturizer and walked back into the bedroom where Nicolas was reading another baby and parenting book intently. He was so cute with his focused gaze and his nerdy glasses plugged onto his face. Nicolas was really cracking down on this baby thing and it was really impressing me, who would've thought he had it in him? I shrugged off my silk robe and hung it against the bed frame before sliding into the bed with my handsome husband.
I was still salty about earlier, but he definitely convinced me on why I should forgive not too soon after Victor and Cara left. He left my body tingling and singing to the heavens, he was always so good at taking care of me.
I snuggled up beside him and his hands instantly went around my waist to pull me to him.
"You're really into that book, huh?" I said.
"Mhm." He muttered his eyes still remained trained on the words as she answered.
"Any good facts you're learning?"
"The baby should be burped immediately after she has been breastfed." He reiterated to me.
I chuckled. "You sounded like a robot for a second there." I said.
Nicolas smirked and closed the book. He sat it lightly against the night stand before pulling off his reading glasses and setting that on the table as well.
"I really want to make sure I know everything about our baby before she comes." He shifted and wrapped both of his hands around my body.
I basked in the comfort of his strong arms protecting me from harm.
Thank God I was safe in Nicolas's arms and not like those poor girls who lost their lives to these monster murders with no remorse.
"Babe turn off the television I don't wanna hear anymore sad stories." I mumbled into chest.
Nicolas quickly shut the television and with that the room lights came off as well.
"Nic?"
"Yeah."
"What do you think we should name the baby?" I asked him curiously.
This was something we hadn't really spoken about since we found out the gender a couple of weeks ago. But now I was 16 weeks pregnant, so four months pregnant and really getting into the groove of pregnancy. I had been looking at nursery designers, even went on a couple of shopping trips to take a look at things like cribs and bassinets for the room; it was going to be perfect but I always liked to laid the foundation for each one of my projects.
A name.
"A name?" Nicolas questioned himself more than me.
"Yeah, what are we going to name our little princess?" I gushed.
"Hm." He thought, he was silent for a while.
"I don't know. Something nice...you can name her if you want." He said.
I gave Nicolas although I'm sure he couldn't see that. "Nic! Really? This is your child to, don't you want to name her?" I asked him.
"I'm bad with names. I'm sure you'll come up with something beautiful." He laid a warm kiss upon my forehead relaxing me a little.
"I want something pretty and unique. Something that will stand out and that no one has, you know?" I thought to myself for a second. "How about I give her the first name and you come up with a middle name?" I suggested.
"That seems fine." Nicolas yawned, I assumed he was getting tired.
"How about Arelia?" I asked.
"Pretty." He said.
"That's gonna be her middle name?" I asked with a bit of sass.
Nicolas chuckled. "No peanut butter will." He mocked me.
I shoved him lightly which caused him to laugh harder.
"Very funny. Go to bed, Italy."
"Of course, my love." He kissed my temple and then rubbed his hands against my growing stomach.
"Good night baby peanut butter."