Chapter One
Opening the front door of her home she lived at with several other women her age, Ella riley walked out onto the front porch with her white and light pink sneakers causing thudding sounds with each stop she took on the hardwood floor of it. She took the time to straighten out her white tank top, and her light pink and white flared track pants before her hands moved up to where a black ponytail holder kept her long, curly, thick hair up and off of her shoulders.
Today looks like a great day to go for a run. The sun is out…there isn't a cloud in the sky…and the early autumn air makes today the opportune time for me to head out before I have to be back in time to get ready for my dinner date with my mom and dad.
Ella looked forward to spending time with her mom and dad that night. She lived near them in the suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky, but missed staying with them and waking up to seeing their loving smiles as they laughed at one another from doing something stupid with each other the previous evening. They showed her how to stand on her own two feet with no one else helping her, and to not be too proud to ask for assistance when the time arose for her to need help in doing something that she knew she wouldn't be able to deal with on her own.
After finding her hair to be tight like she wanted it to be, Ella pulled the door shut behind her with a little force to it. She reached into one of her pockets on her pants, and retrieved her mp3 player and black ear buds. Ella placed her headphones on her ears as she began moving down the front stairs of the home with her music device in one of her hands.
"Good morning, Ella!"
She caught the sound of someone shouting at her before she started to turn on her mp3 player. Ella focused her attention in the direction of where the sound had come from.
Her eyes discovered Mrs. Nelson, a kind, little old lady, waving at her with her usual gardening clothes, as well as the large straw that she wore most of the time outside, on her body. She flashed a warm, friendly smile from where her body was on the other side of the white fence that separated their properties.
A smile danced across the soft, fair skin of her face from discovering the source of the voice to be that of her neighbor that she liked to spend time with sometimes, helping her around her home, and playing a game of cards with her. Ella lifted up her free hand, and waved towards her as she called back over to her from where she stood.
"Good morning, Mrs. Nelson." Ella said, loudly. Her southern accent drifted to the surface of her friendly tone in her voice, causing it to sound much louder than what it truly was at the moment. Bringing her hand back down by her side, she walked across the front lawn of her shared residence to the white fence as she spoke to her elderly friend. "How are you doing this fine day?"
"Well, I am doing a lot better now than how I was earlier that's for sure."
"Oh really?" Reaching the fence, Ella placed her arms across the top of it, lightly, while she maintained the conversation with her. "What happened earlier?"
"Well," Mrs. Nelson said, "for starters, Mr. Nelson woke up in his usual grumpy ass mood, and went off on everything from his clothes not being comfortable on his pudgy body to his coffee not being the right temperature until he finally left the house to visit with some friends. Then…It went from that to having to deal with these rude ass telemarketers that would not take the hint to leave me the hell alone."
Ella struggled to keep from letting out a loud laugh due to how her elderly neighbor was behaving towards her at the moment due to her husband's grouchy behavior and dealing with some customer service reps that wouldn't leave her alone. Her smile widened a little bit more towards her as she spoke up with a slight chuckle in her voice.
"I see…I am sorry that you have not had a good morning, Mrs. Nelson."
"It's all right, Ella. You don't need to apologize." Mrs. Nelson replied, calmly, with her southern accent causing her voice to come across very friendly, matching her body language to her. "So…How is your day going for you, my dear?"
"I am about to head off on a run before I have to get ready for dinner with my folks later on tonight."
"Where are they taking you to?"
"We are planning to go to the Black Stallion tonight, and get some steak-"
She stopped speaking, abruptly, to her neighbor due to the sound of sirens coming into the neighborhood. Ella turned her focus in the direction of the road that stretched out in front of her place.
Speeding past her, as well as her Neighbor's, residence, an ambulance raced down the stretch of roadway with two police cars following it from behind in the direction of her parent's place.
Oh no…I don't like how this looks. I better go make sure that my parents are okay.
Stepping away from the conversation with Mrs. Nelson, Ella broke into a desperate run. She dropped her mp3 to the cement sidewalk in front of her home after she had yanked her ear buds out of her ears. Her body moved like an Olympic track star in the direction of where the emergency vehicles had went in.
Keeping her eyes on the paramedics and police officers, she watched in horror as they pulled out in front of her mom and dad's home, and brought them to an abrupt stop.
No…It can't be. Nothing bad could ever happen to my parents in this neighborhood…right?
Ella pushed her body even harder down the sidewalk. Her need to get to her family home fueled the increased speed in her pace. The urge to make sure that her parents were safe and sound begun to engulf her entire being.
She pushed her way through a crowd of people that had formed on the sidewalk to see what was going on. Her hands shoved at them in desperation as she struggled to get through the people that were blocking her way. Getting out of the group, her body was stopped by an officer pressing one of his hands firmly against the abdomen of her body.
"I am sorry, miss." The officer said, calmly, while he did his best to keep her back from the crime scene with everyone else trying to get closer. "You can't go any further."
"You have to let me pass!" Ella exclaimed. She spoke with heartache in her voice as her eyes filled up with tears. "This is my parent's home! Are they okay? What is going on? What has happened?"
"Miss…You need to stay back right now."
Her heart leaped up into her throat from the hesitant answer she got from the officer. A fear that something horrible had happened there ran rampant through her entire physique.
Looking around his body, Ella discovered the paramedics to be wheeling out two bodies in black body bags in the direction of where a nearby ambulance was nestled. The sight nearly caused her heart to stop working almost instantly. Her voice struggled to get out of her mouth for several moments before she released a loud cry that echoed to the heavens.
"Mom! Dad!" She screamed out in anger and sadness from the discovery of her parents no longer being alive, and inside body bags that would be taken to the local morgue.
Tears begun to fill her eyes as she held her stare on the paramedics wheeling her parents' bodies over to an awaiting ambulance that would take their corpses away. Her body trembled with unbridled sadness and anger. The knowledge that she had lost the two people she loved with all of her heart hit her hard with such intense emotions that she was nearly knocked down by them.
They're gone…My parents…The people who have brought me into this world, and showed me unconditional love and support for all I have done…are dead.
Ella's body locked up on the spot, prohibiting her to look away from the scene that was in front of her gaze or even move a few feet without help from someone else. Shock consumed her entire body, and left no area untouched.
Slowly, she began to register the officer's hand that had been on her abdomen moving to one of her shoulders, and pressing against the backside of them. Her eyes slowly managed to regain control, and turned their focus in his direction.
"Step over here with me, Miss Adams. " He said, politely, motioning her towards where a patrol car was parked. "I believe it would be best if we discussed about what happened in private."
Ella found the officer's words to make sense to her. She wanted to know more, but she didn't want her whole neighborhood hearing all the gory details as to how her parents died and if anyone was responsible for it.
Nodding her head, she walked with him over to where the parked vehicle was nestled as she held her arms, rubbing them up and down with her hands. She softly sniffled while her eyes blinked the last of her tears from her eyes that had started to form there. Ella pressed her back against a side of it, and watched the officer move in front of her with a somber look upon his face.
"Now that we are away from the people," She said, lowering her voice, "will you please tell me what happened to my parents so that way I might know what in the hell happened to them?"
"Ella," he said, removing his hat, and showing signs of nervousness in her direction, "your parents were found in the house with their wrists tied behind their backs with gunshot wounds to the backs of their heads."
"My…My parents were shot execution style?"
"Yes…Ella. It seems that whoever did this to your parents were trying to get some twisted point across by shooting like that…and also leaving a message on a wall that was written with their own blood."
Her heart jumped all the way up into her throat, nearly causing her to choke out a gasp. Finding out that someone was sick enough to execute her parents was one thing, but she found that their killer had wrote a message out on a wall in their own blood showed her the level of depravity that these people had went to.
She used all of her strength to get her vocal chords clear before her mouth managed to get her words out while her eyes were displaying an emotion of uncertainty that exuded from her inner self.
"Can…Can you please tell me what the message was that this sick asshole left behind?" Instead of her voice coming across as being soft like it had been a few moments prior, an unbridled tone of underlying anger started to drift into it. "What did it say?"
"The message the killer left behind said: Good people always think they are right about everything. You were not right about me, but I will take really good care of your sweet, beautiful daughter in your place."
She cringed in disgust at what the officer revealed to her. Her hands came to her face, and rubbed against the sides of it as she had started to pace back and forth along the side of his vehicle. Ella glanced over to the officer every few moments before she brought herself to stop in front of him with hatred pouring out in her speech.
"Please tell me that you have some idea as to who the hell this monster is."
"We are looking into some leads right now from the neighbors, and finding out from anyone in the area if they had seen someone go into the home before, during or after your parents stay inside the house."
"I appreciate that…I have to go back to my home." Her mind found itself under siege by the discovery of her parents' death and by the fact that some unknown assailant was now stalking her, and coming for her next. "I need to get back, and warn my friends about this deranged-"
"I am afraid that I cannot let you go back to your place, Ella."
She changed her facial expression to be that of curiosity with a hint of anger coming to the surface of it while her eyes remained focused upon the officer's eyes. Remaining in front of him, Ella moved her hands onto her curvy hips, and took a more defiant stand against him.
"Why am I not allowed to go back to my home that I share with my friends to even warn them about what is going on?"
"Since you are in danger, the police chief has decided that I am to take you to the home of someone that will be able to keep a sharp eye out for whoever this may be."
"I don't need a babysitter."
"I am quite aware of the fact that you don't need a sitter, Ella, and that you are a grown woman. However…I am afraid that this time you cannot talk your way out of doing something like you used to do when you were little with your parents."
"You have no idea how I was with my parents!"
"Calm down, Ella. I only wish to escort you there myself before some idiot tries to hound you for information."
He is right. I shouldn't be getting so worked up over this like I am. I know that the police will do the best they can in solving the case as fast as they can, and me being out here in the open will endanger my life to a greater extent.
Taking in what the man said to her, Ella managed to nod her head up and down with ease before she turned in the direction of where the rear passenger side door of the vehicle was positioned. She caught the sound of tires squealing, and turned her head in the direction of the noise to discover it belonging to that of a black and red 2013 Charger.
Oh no…It can't be him. Please don't let it be Aidan Byrne. I really don't need to deal with my ex-boyfriend right now. It is bad enough that he left town two years ago, and dumped me on the very same day, but I really do not want to see his face on the day that I lose my parents.
"Um…" Ella spoke towards the direction of the officer before her eyes focused in his direction. "That vehicle wouldn't happen to belong to Mark Callaway…would it?"
"Actually…It is Mark's vehicle. He is the person that my superior is wanting you to stay with until we find the person responsible for the murder of your parents."
Great…Just fucking great…
A soft groan of frustration escaped from her mouth as she leaned her back up against the vehicle, and lowered her head into her hands, refusing to look in the direction of the vehicle that just parked on the other side of the street opposite of where she stood.
Why on earth does it have to be HIM? Why do I have to stay with the one person that broke my heart, and left me all alone on the same day? I don't want to be anywhere near him, but I am being forced to staying with him because of this maniac that killed my parents in such a cold way being on the loose.
Her parents…The mere thought of them caused the image of them being carried out of their house in body bags to flash across her eyes. The realization that she wouldn't have them to go to and talk about what is going on with her or any issues hitting her that she would need their help with caused the waterworks to turn on in her eyes.
Unable to control herself, Ella softly cried against the palm side of her hands. She did her best to keep her cries softly as to not draw attention to herself. Her ears caught the sound of quickened footsteps in her direction and caused her to freeze like she was with her hands on her face.
"Officer Jenkins," Mark's voice said, calmly, "I have it from here. You can go on inside and see if the other officers need any help with the crime scene."
She hadn't seen him yet, but already a visual image of what he looked like appeared in her eyes. Ella could already see him being the attractive country boy that she fell hard in love with, and the same one that broke her heart just as hard. His piercing eyes could easily see right through any lie she would give him while his muscular physique took her breath every time she would see him without a shirt on. Ella could still feel the ends of the soft strands of his hair brushing across her face as they did the first time she had sex with him in the bed of his pick-up truck on the fourth of July weekend the previous year.
"Ella…"
Ella caught the sound of his deep, southern voice speaking to her in a soft, kind way. She could tell that he did not want to push this onto her from the way he spoke, but there was no doubt in her mind that the moment her eyes fell upon him that her tears would start to flow once again. She had such strong feelings for the man that hurt her that it caused her intense pain to be anywhere near him.
"Ella," Mark said, whispering to where only she could hear him, "I am sorry about what happened to your parents. It baffles my mind that someone would be so cruel and vicious to the two most kind hearted souls that I have ever known."
A soft gasp of frustration left her mouth upon catching him talking about how her parents were since he had walked out on her life and never so much a called her during the last two years, or even spoke to her parents. Keeping her hands over her face, she trembled while her voice shook on its way out of her mouth.
"That is something that I never thought I would hear from someone that never called them to chit chat with them…or even talk to me to let me know how you were doing in Los Angeles."
She wanted to be furious with him like she felt inside of herself. He had caused her many sleepless nights after he broke up with her, and left for California without so much as telling her a few minutes after he brought her home from the last date they had been on. Ella's face trembled slightly against the palms of her hands.
Her body froze all movement due to the warmth of Mark's hands moving across the backside of her hands, and slipping his fingers under them enough to get a hold on them. She watched them being removed from her face before her gaze could focus upon where he was standing before her with the tears still visible in her eyes.
Standing before her in a white button up short and black trousers, Mark's chiseled face displayed a look of pain and sadness upon seeing her to be crying in front of him. He hated it when she cried, and it killed him to leave her two years ago crying on the front porch of her parents place.
Ella's tears started to trick down the soft skin of her cheeks while her bottom lip quivered. Her emotions got the best of her as she started to speak to him in a shaky tone.
"Why did this have to happen, Mark?" She asked. "Why did my parents have to die in such a cruel way?"
She couldn't contain the feelings that burned deep within her from coming out of her. The death of her parents made her yearn for him to console her like he did when her grandmother passed away several years ago. She had a feeling that she would regret showing her weakness to him, but that didn't matter. All she wanted was him to hold her.
"They would never hurt anyone, Mark. Why…"
Instead of receiving a verbal request for him to hold her, Ella found his arms pulling her against his body, and sliding his hands around to the backside of her curvaceous frame. She slightly trembled due to one of his palms pressing against the small of her back while the fingers on his other hand worked their way into her curly hair. Her eyes blinked in awe of the situation she was in while she listened to the sound of his voice.
"I am sorry, Ella." Mark's deep voice didn't go above a whisper as he spoke to her. He released a soft sigh that dripped with the inner turmoil that was ravaging his body. "I wish that this never happened to your parents. They were good people…and you are the result of their kindness, caring, and loving acts towards the others in this community. From the bottom of my heart…I am so sorry for your loss."
Deep down inside of herself, Ella understood that she was playing with fire. There was no way that she could dance around the subject. The closer she was to his body, the more she craved for his affectionate kisses that took her breath away.
Her arms slowly started to move their way around the back of his body, and pressed her hands against the middle of his back with the gentlest of touches. She turned her head, and let her right cheek rest against the soft fabric of his shirt that he wore. With herself nestled within his arms, Ella released a soft sigh from the inside of her mouth, and let herself slip into the moment, focusing on only him and her.
"Thank you, Mark." She whispered, replying back to him with compassion dripping from every syllable she uttered. "I am very grateful that you would offer your regards when we lost touch with one another for such a long time."
"That is going to be changing as of now."
"What do you mean?" Ella straightened herself up upon catching what he said to her. She looked to him with her expression changing to exude curiosity and less sadness. "I don't quite understand what you are-"
"I am not going to be losing touch with you again now that you are to be staying with me."
"Yeah…but that is only temporarily, Mark. I am to only stay with you until the person who did this is put behind bars, and brought to justice."
"Are you willing to stand here right in front of me, and tell me that over the last two years that you never thought once about perhaps what it would be like if we were together out in L.A?"
The thought had crossed her mind many times. On the day he took off to Los Angeles, Ella had day dreams about him making the call to her that he was coming for her, and that he was going to take her to Los Angeles for them to be together for the rest of their lives. However, it was only a fantasy since he never came for her or even bothered to call her to let her know how he was holding up in California.
"I am not going to lie, Mark. I have thought of what it would have been like to go to Los Angeles with you on the day you left, and see how life would have went for the two of us. However…We are not together anymore, and that sort of puts a damper on any kind of idea you had going on in your head of some sort of reunion between the two of us."
Before she could get a response out of him, Ella caught the sound of someone shouting from the doorway of her parents' home in her direction. She focused upon the form of a police officer in the doorway for a brief moment before her eyes focused back onto him for another second as she spoke to him.
"Looks like you better get back to work, Mark."
"Yeah…The job of a detective is never done." Pulling his eyes away from the direction of the house, Mark put all of his focus upon her. He slid one of his hands on a side of her face, and gently rubbed his thumb against her skin in a gentle caress. "However…I am not done having this conversation with you, Ella. We will talk more about this when I get you to my home."
Her body shivered right to the core with unbridled desires boiling to the surface. She loved the way he touched her with the tips of his fingers, and how his words could cause her to go into the beginnings of a building orgasm. There seemed to be nothing about this man that couldn't turn her on.
Ella watched him slowly back away from her and head in the direction of the house with a sense of power and control in the long strides that he had took across the lush, green front yard.
