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Toxic Delights: Part 7

Darkside Seduction Series

By Sharlene AlbaPublished 6 years ago 9 min read
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Photo by Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash

You've exceeded all of my expectations, Elle. You took the bait, and held onto it so desperately, I managed to blindside you, despite your keen sense of judgement. Sebastian Hale, Leah James, Happy Mike, Stella, and Noah Dubois. They were all pawns in a game you started the day you broke your vow of purity, and entered my lion's den. How does it feel to fail? Are your hands trembling yet? Do they feel the urge to wrap themselves around my throat? You're almost there, right where I want you. Don't let me down this time. Carter Murphy's life depends on it.

With love,

Your best kept secret.

Elle couldn't think straight. Her mind was a fog filled with malice and chaos and God help whoever got in her way. She slipped through the doors of the emergency room at Miami Hospital, and demanded the nurse tell her what Carter's status was. When the nurse began spilling excuses, she reached for the badge in her back pocket and showed it to her, repeating her demand once again. The older woman nodded nervously and began to relay the information she had asked for, letting her know Carter was still in surgery, and wouldn't be out for another couple of hours.

"He's safe in there. No one can get to him. You need to calm down, Agent Dubois," Camilla ordered, as if it were that easy. She had no idea what it felt like being helpless, unable to fix the mistakes of her past that had caused all of this to happen. She finally knew who this asshole was, thanks to the final letter Sarah had emailed to her during her flight back to Miami. She just hoped she'd catch him in time, before he decided to skip town.

"I know who he is," Elle announced to detective Nieves as they took their seats in the waiting room area of the hospital.

"The man who hurt your friend? Who is it?" Camilla asked, as she placed a comforting hand over hers and Elle's eyes began to water as her rage only increased at the thought of that sick pervert.

"He changed his name to James Holland. He works as the janitor at the hotel. I should've seen this coming. Even with all the plastic surgery he did to his face," she claimed, blinking away the tears that threatened to show everyone around her how weak she'd gotten, how this bastard had managed to break her down in a matter of days.

"You won't always see them coming. Your only duty is to report your findings and let us do the rest. If anything, its my fault. If I weren't so hesitant to work with you, then maybe—"

"Did I scare you off too? It's my specialty," Elle stated, with a humorless laugh, as she sniffled and looked away.

"Quite the opposite actually." Camilla paused and took her chin in between her fingers, turning her to face her. The woman was only a few years older than her, but her aging didn't show on her naturally supple skin. "I was jealous," she confessed. Elle looked at her in confusion and watched the detective lower her gaze down to the floor in shame.

"Jealous? Why? We're on the same team."

"You have a gift, Agent. The academy only enhanced it and you have no idea how bad you made the rest of us on this case look."

"That wasn't my intention. I just—"

"Wanted to help us take down the bad guy. I know. I realize that now. So try and put aside your personal feelings about this asshole, and profile him like you would any other criminal," Camilla suggested, and Elle nodded in response, exhaling deeply before she continued.

"His real name is Donald McKee. White, male, in his late fifties. He most likely drives a van, muted in color, that wouldn't draw any attention. That's how he's able to abduct and keep his victims without detection. He's also slightly disabled, which would explain why he needed to recruit the brainless former mob employee, Happy Mike. The women he targeted were part of the O'Leary clan, and he knew I'd go to my parents for information. He was watching, waiting for me to leave so he could make his move against Carter. And he wanted to make this as painful as possible, so he blackmailed Sarah into delivering these notes to me. Sarah looks exactly like Leah James, the girl my parents forced me to beat to death with my own fists. And it was the final nail in my coffin. He's waiting to bury me, just like I buried him," Elle described vividly, as she brought out her phone from her pocket and showed her the letter McKee had written for her.

"Is he...is he the same man you sent to jail all those years ago?" Camilla asked as she finished reading the letter and handed her back her phone.

"Yes. I was the one who got away in his twisted mind. He completely romanticized the situation. The man is delusional and dangerous and when you find him, I'm going to blow his fucking brains out. So you might as well take my badge now," Elle admitted hastily, taking her badge out from her back pocket and placed it in the detective's hands. Camilla stared at her, opening her mouth to say something, but she quickly looked away and handed it back to her.

"There's an abandoned warehouse, near the glades. The swamp surrounds it and I'm pretty sure it'll take us weeks to find the body. If the alligators don't eat them first, that is," Camilla whispered into her ear, Elle began to smile for the first time since the truth of who her stalker was came to light, and she held onto the woman's hand out of gratitude.

"You have your profile. Go find that son of a bitch."

Carter had been transferred to his own private room when he got out of surgery, and Elle had been sitting in a chair, beside his bed for the past four and a half hours, waiting for him to wake up. She needed to apologize profusely for bringing him into her fucked up vendetta against a sociopathic pedophile. She failed Carter. Just like she failed Leah. It had been McKee's goal all along to paralyze her with defeat. And seeing Carter like this, hooked up to all of these machines, breathing out of a tube from a beating so bad, his head had practically split open, made her feel chained, unable to move past her guilt.

That had to have been Happy Mike's handy work. He was notorious for his brutal and violent beatings back in the day. She would know. Her parents hired him to teach her how to defend herself when she was only five. By the time she hit puberty, she was practically an expert at hand-to-hand combat.

Now she understood why he'd gotten so angry the night she called him by someone else's name. He might've had a low IQ, but the pride he held within his name and reputation were just as valuable as any other prized possession.

The vibration of her phone dancing in her pocket made her curse out loud, and she quickly brought it out of her pocket, glancing at the screen before she held it against her ear and walked out of the room.

"I want you off this case immediately," Captain Hall stated sharply on the other end and Elle practically growled in protest.

"Do I need to remind you who assigned me to your department to begin with, Cap?" Elle asked, as her hand balled into a tight fist.

"You withheld information from your superiors, myself included, and people got caught in the crossfire because of it. You've become a liability, Agent Dubois. One we cannot afford to keep any longer. You've been suspended until further notice. But not without pay. We still value your work, despite its recent outcome," Hall informed and while Elle wanted to fight him on this one, she took one glance back at her friend, lying in that hospital bed, and pictured the rest of her family in his position. Lily, Hazel, Sarah even. Then decided it wasn't worth losing them for it.

"I'll stop by to turn in my gun and badge in the morning," she said in resignation. And it killed her to say it, but there were more important things at stake here than her revenge. That little girl inside of her that still craved a normal family was screaming out for her to take a step back, before she lost sight of what she really fought for.

"I'll see you then," Captain Hall said before the line went dead. Elle felt the last of her resistance slip away as her body slumped down against the wall and she ended up sitting on the sterile hospital floor. Her hands caught her head as her eyes closed and she wished she and Carter were anywhere else but there. Maybe on a beach in Hawaii, with the cool ocean breeze hitting their naked bodies, as they got lost in each other's naturally lust-filled chemistry.

"Elle," the sound of her name being called by the one person she needed the most right now, caused her to break down in silent sobs.

"What are you doing here?" Elle asked Hazel Nash, her best friend, as she sat next to her on the hospital floor and held her head against her chest. She smelled like honey and coffee and Elle held onto her as if her life depended on it.

"Carter called me. He said you might need me and that I'd find you here. I had no idea what was going on until the nurse out front told me about his condition," Hazel explained as she pulled her head up and wiped her tears away with her thumbs.

"He called you? When? He just got out of surgery," Elle asked in confusion.

"He called me this morning. How could he possibly know you would need me now?" her best friend questioned, puzzled by Carter's actions just as much as she was. They both looked into Carter's room, and stared at their brilliant but strange friend. They were lucky to have him watching out for them.

Elle wouldn't take him for granted ever again.

"He must've figured this all out before I did. The killer got to him before he could make a move and bam, blitz attack from behind..." Elle explained, trailing off as she pictured how Happy Mike might've attacked Carter.

"Well, why aren't you out there looking for this guy?" Hazel asked, bringing her attention back to reality.

"I've been fired until further notice," she responded, defeat strangling her from the inside.

"Even better. The gun and badge are just a formality anyway. Elle Dubois without the law holding her hands tied is a force to be reckoned with." Hazel reminded her with a small smile. And she was right. The law helped put the crooks behind bars, but it didn't help the rest of the population from suffering from their wrath when they were released.

All she had to do now was wait to beat McKee at his own game.

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About the Creator

Sharlene Alba

Full of raw and unfiltered fluid poems, short stories and prompts on love, sex, relationships and life. I also review haircare, skincare and other beauty products. Instagram: grungefirepoetry MissBeautyBargain Facebook: grungefirepoetry

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