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Tell Me You Love Me, Book One of The Kenya Clark GBI series, a paranormal romance novella series.
Be careful what you wish for...
The bodies of three men have been found dead in Atlanta, dried up like mummies with a certain part of their anatomy remaining perpendicular. The killer only goes after men who have lost a wife, lover or girlfriend. With each encounter, the killer says, "tell me you love me," to get the men to surrender.
Special Agent Kenya Clark of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Paranormal Crimes Investigation Unit, has been given the case. Her assigned partner, Darrin Selinsky, hates having anything to do with the supernatural. Kenya has a gift that allows her to see the crime through the eyes of the victim.
However, in this case, she sees through the eyes of the killer. What is Kenya's connection to the killer and will she and Darrin be able to solve the case without killing each other first?
Check out the first two chapters:
ONE
Atlanta, Georgia Wednesday night
Steven nervously shoved his briefcase under his bed. It contained files, bank statements, money transactions and other information he'd stolen from his father's computer. Steven spent the last three years searching everything, looking for something connecting his father to his wife's disappearance. He had not expected to find money laundering, stock manipulation, and price fixing. The old man didn't deserve another day of freedom as far as he was concerned and he was set to turn it in to a former classmate of his in the FBI tomorrow. He heard movement at his bedroom door and turned around quickly in fear to see who it was. He could not believe his eyes when the door opened and there stood Jayla, his wife, the woman he loved and lost three years ago. Was this by some miracle, that she stood before him now wearing the same white cotton sundress she wore on the last day he saw her on the beach in Jamaica? She was so beautiful then, standing barefoot in the sand, her cocoa brown skin glowing like bronze in the sunlight against the white of her dress, her dark hair in cornrows that stopped just below her breasts. She was smiling at him with deep brown eyes that seem to pierce his very soul. His parents had warned him not to marry her because she could not possibly fit into his world. He was heir to his father’s fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, handsome with an Ivy League education, the world at his feet. Jayla, on the other hand, had grown up in public housing and though she attended college and became an accountant, his parents still frowned on such a union. Not to mention her skin color, interracial marriages were still somewhat taboo, especially in the south even though this is the twenty-first century. Steven and Jayla had only been dating for two months when he whisked her off to Jamaica to elope behind his parent’s back. On the third day there, they were visiting a remote spot on the beach when Jayla went missing; he had only turned away for a second to adjust his camera. When he looked up again, Jayla was gone. The search for Jayla went on for months and many of his friends and family said it was fate; they should not have been together in the first place. Nothing and no one could console him after that. Though he was still successful and quite the catch with his stellar good looks, he spent the last three years being a recluse, obsessed with finding his beautiful wife and trying to prove his father's involvement. His mind raced as his pulse quickened. How could this be possible? After three years and no word, she just walked into his bedroom! Am I dreaming? He laid back still and quiet on his bed as she moved closer to him, her dark eyes shimmering like dark pools in the sliver of moonlight that shone through the bedroom blinds. Only, he was not asleep. She came closer and he sat upright on the edge of his bed dumbstruck, dressed only in his boxer briefs.
“Jayla, is it really you?” he whispered, he wanted to run to her, but fear and disbelief held him fast. “Yes, Steven, it’s me”, she smiled coyly. “It’s been so…long. They said there was no hope…how did…why didn’t you call?” “Hush baby, that was a long time ago, I’m here now, and that’s all that matters”, she said softly as she moved closer to him and pressed her long nailed index finger to his lips.
Emotion flooded Steven and he no longer protested as he stood and reached for her, feeling the silky skin of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss. She softly moaned as his kiss became more urgent and full of need. His mind raced with questions, but she was here and he was more than grateful. She pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him, pulling away from the kiss just long enough to pull the white dress over her head revealing her naked body beneath. She was exactly as he remembered her, full breasts with dark pointed nipples and slender waist. His body reacted as his member throbbed eagerly between her legs. She bent down to kiss him once more as she gently removed his briefs, took him in her hands, slipping his member expertly into her mouth. He swelled to fullness quickly in her warm mouth and she eased her way above him and mounted him slowly. He moaned as her warmth overwhelmed him and he began to thrust his hips ferociously upward as she rode him. His hunger and need so great, it was barely manageable. “Tell me you love me,” she whispered as she bent over him, her kisses soft and sweet. "I love you Jayla, god, how I’ve missed you,” he said sincerely as all consuming joy filled his body and mind. Jayla had returned and he was not going to let her out of his sight again. Jayla’s body pulsed and seemed to glow after a few moments. Steven felt his own body vibrate and closed his eyes, almost on the verge of release but he wanted this to last, so he forced himself to maintain control. Jayla writhed and moaned above him, her nails digging into his shoulders as she soaked his hardness with her warm juices, her body pulsing and tightening around his shaft with every movement of her hips. Steven, caught up in the heat of the moment, hardly noticed Jayla’s eyes that began to flash with a golden light.
She began to ride him harder and faster and soon Steven began to find it hard to breathe. "Hey, take it easy now babe,” he gasped. Jayla only laughed as she tilted her head back in abandon. Steven could not hold back anymore and released powerfully inside her. He felt so drained and weak he could hardly move, and when he tried to catch his breath, he began to choke. Fear and panic hit him as he tried to push her off, only she held him fast pressing her mouth firmly over his, swallowing his life essence until he became a lifeless corpse. Her body and eyes glowed white as her long tongue flickered out gingerly licking her full lips. Now sated, she dressed and headed for the door, pausing to gaze at herself in the dresser mirror. “You are beautiful my dear,” she whispered. Her appearance slowly began to change revealing her true self, her brown skin turned copper and scaly, the color of an old penny. Her long, wavy jet black hair falling smoothly to her waist. Her eyes golden in color, small black horns protruded both sides of her forehead, teeth long and sharp behind full lips. Her long tail with a small tuft of black hair at it's tip, swished behind her. Her body, curvy like a human woman in all of the right places, with the exception of her claws, which protruded through her fingertips like tiny black daggers. With a haunting laugh, she disappeared into the night. TWO
Conyers, Georgia Friday morning
Special Agent Kenya Clark leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes. It had been a long day already and it was only 10 am. The phones had been ringing off the hook with distractions of non-usable information for her caseload, so when they stopped for about thirty minutes or so, she hoped it would stay this way so she could get some real work done. In fact, she was so busy reading a file that she had not noticed anyone near her and jumped when the sound of a case file fell heavily on her desk. She looked up, surprised to see her boss, the Deputy Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Daniel Michaels, standing over her. He was usually in the Atlanta office in DeKalb County and hardly made rounds to the regional investigation offices unless it was important. Kenya felt a knot begin to form in her stomach, either she was in trouble or someone in her unit, either way, she just knew it was going to be a long day. “Oh, good morning sir,” she managed after a few awkward seconds, but seemed to go on forever. “Good morning, hope I’m not interrupting your morning nap,” he teased, “but I’ve got something for you Clark, and this one takes precedence over anything you’ve got going right now, it’s high profile. Some bigwig’s son was found murdered, but he’s not the first one, so local PD has asked for our help because the body is all drained to hell, no body fluids left! Looked like a well-preserved mummy if ya ask me! Forensics is out there now, so I need you to head out there and check out the crime scene, you know, use your mojo and whatnot so we can put this puppy to bed and get back to our other cases, alright?” Kenya leaned back in her chair. Like I don't have enough to do already? She thought to herself but smiled as pleasantly as she could. “I appreciate the vote of confidence sir, but can’t Johnson or Headly take it? I really don’t think I can do any high profile…” “Nonsense! You are the one I need and Darrin Selinsky is gonna ride shotgun on this one!” Kenya couldn't believe her ears. Mama Oshun, are you testing me? “But why Selinsky? He hates anything to do with the paranormal and besides, isn’t he on probation in GISAC in Atlanta?” she groaned. GISAC was the Georgia Information Sharing Analysis Center, basically a desk job that most active field agents didn't want to do. “Yes, but he’s been temporarily reassigned, not my call by the way, and he's on his way to the scene now.”
Special Agent Darrin Selinsky fancied himself as the bureau’s golden boy, until he
became involved with a suspect, Selena Hawkins, during a joint FBI/GBI case. Cocksure with an itchy trigger finger, he just knew it would be an easy case, but he was no match for Selena's power of persuasion and had no idea that he was dealing with a very crafty witch. He truly believed she was innocent, so he shifted the investigation to another suspect who went to jail based on false evidence supplied by Selena. He fell hard and fast for Selena, he even introduced her to his family after a few months, thinking they would marry. However, after the case closed, Selena fled the country, taking a good amount of his savings with her. Since then, Darrin despised all witches, wanting nothing to do with the supernatural or paranormal. Darrin had no choice but to tell his supervisor about the relationship and Darrin, who could have been fired, was reassigned from the field in Special Operations to desk duty in the Georgia Information Sharing Analysis Center, collecting information on possible terrorist threats and working with Homeland Security and other government agencies.
“Look Clark, you’re the best I’ve got and besides, you’ve solved so many supernatural cases, you are the only one right for the job, the only one I trust! As for Selinsky, just think of it as his ‘sensitivity’ training”, Michaels chuckled. It was true, Kenya was good at her job and he knew she would not let him down. “Oh great, I’m sure he’s just gonna love that, not to mention, it feels like I’m the one who is being punished by having him tag along! Anyway sir, I’m a mambo, a Vodoun priestess, and it sounds like you need someone with an Egyptology background, which I don’t have”, Kenya folded her arms across her chest. Her frustration was obvious but Director Michaels only laughed, he was confident that she would would take the case and solve it.
Kenya was the only agent he preferred with something like this, she was always professional and he believed her gifts were nothing short of amazing. She had been his star pupil at one point and the main reason this branch of the bureau is not on the list of department cutbacks and reassignments for being a waste of money and resources. If anyone could solve this case without the press getting wind of it, it was Kenya.
So far, the press was only reporting that Steven Bartlett of Bartlett Pharmaceuticals died in his sleep by suffocation, thankfully, they had no pictures of the body or any other real information pertaining to the case. Steven’s father, Raymond Bartlett, though heartbroken that Steven was the third victim to die this way in two weeks, knew of the preternatural division of GBI and insisted they take the case and keep it out of the press. Better for his image and that of his company. Even though the supernatural was now an “everyday occurrence” and witches were accepted worldwide, most people still feared what they did not understand. Many witches feared things would become like the Salem witch trials so long ago.
“Yes, but Selinsky has a degree or something in Egyptology, minored in college, but you are also psychic and someone I can trust to keep this out of the press. Selinsky has a love of all things Egyptian, so it seems between the two of ya, this case can be solved quickly and discreetly. This will be a boost to the bureau, especially this unit and we could really use the good PR”, Daniel added as he playfully patted her short Afro and he began to head to the front door of the small house-like building. Most of the offices in the area looked like nice brick homes and this office was no different. “Sir, you do realize I am not a real psychic, technically, I just get a feeling or see things after the fact, not beforehand.” Kenya yelled as she stood up at her desk. The director just shook his head, “Semantics,” he yelled over his shoulder just before he
opened the door. Daniel Michaels smiled to himself as he remembered when he first asked Kenya to come and join him at the bureau as a pioneer for a new unit formed to solve paranormal crimes. She was as beautiful now as she had been thirteen years ago, even more so to him. Her cocoa brown skin accentuated by her short, natural curly hair and piercing dark eyes, and a smile that lit up the room. Dan was impressed with the way she carried herself, regal, as if she were royalty of some sort. She was in top physical condition but with feminine curves, her voice smooth and easy. Working with her was a joy and he had fallen deeply in love with her over the years, though he tried his best not to let it show. He would laugh and joke with her as he did with other agents but made sure not to give her any special treatment, at times being especially hard on her. His marriage had been rocky for years due to his wife’s infidelity, but he stuck it out thinking he had to stay married. By the time she finally left him for one of her lovers, he was not heartbroken; they had not shared a bed in ten years. He thought about Kenya a lot during those years, but it would have been unprofessional and even after the divorce, he could not bring himself to confess his feelings to her, after all, she was younger and what if she didn't feel the same? He thought she deserved someone younger and better than himself.
Kenya hated when he patted her head like that, it made her feel like that little girl who had a crush on him so long ago, but the Director meant no harm by it and she knew that. He was her mentor and she admired him. She had been around him all of her life. When Kenya first met Daniel, she was ten years old, and he was a twenty-one year old patrol officer with the Atlanta Police Department. She had the biggest crush on the handsome blue eyed, dark haired patrol officer and swore one day to marry him, even though he married a woman from Texas when Kenya was fifteen. Over the years, her feelings deepened and though she pursued a few relationships, she remained single. She jumped at the chance to work with him when he asked her and even after his divorce became final two years ago, Kenya kept things professional between them. If anything happened between them now, those who suspected there was something between them all along would say that was the only reason Kenya got to where she is today. She also did not want anyone to lose respect for him because of her, she would never risk that, they both worked too hard and too long, besides, she had basically given up having a personal life, she was married to her career. Besides, most men she came in contact with seemed to have issues she didn't want or have the time or energy to deal with.
Kenya’s father, Thelonious Clark, saved Daniel from an oncoming car that came too close to the officer after Daniel pulled him over for a speeding ticket. Daniel tore up the ticket, after which he and “Theo”, as he was called by all who knew him, became fast friends. Theo was a seer and the houngan (priest) of a Yoruban/Haitian Temple in Atlanta. When Daniel became a detective, Theo began to help him solve unsolvable and cold cases by walking the crime scene or holding an object of the victims, reliving the events of the crime through the eyes of the victim. An ability that he passed on to Kenya. In addition to her supernatural abilities, she chose to study criminal justice and became a police officer before going on to join the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Due to Georgia’s high population of magical practitioners, both good and evil, local and state law enforcement were baffled as to how to investigate the growing number of supernatural crimes that sometimes left no trace of real physical evidence, so Daniel found a way to fill the void. It had been difficult, but with a handful of good people from all aspects of magical practices and faiths who were willing to work in law enforcement, the Paranormal Crimes Investigation Unit came into existence in 2008.
****
Kenya looked over the Bartlett case notes along with the files of the two other victims, Dean Phillips and Martin Moore. Dean was an executive and Martin was a scientist, all three men were employees of Bartlett Pharmaceuticals. All three were also Caucasian and mid to late thirties; wealthy, but only one, Steven Bartlett, was the son of Raymond Bartlett, the CEO of Bartlett Pharmaceuticals. Kenya remembered something in the papers about Steven defying his family and running off to marry a beautiful black woman a few years ago. She followed their fairy tale romance in the news and felt sorry for the interracial couple when his wife went missing and Kenya suspected his family had something to do with it, not that she could prove it from Georgia. Besides, the director would not approve her to fly to Jamaica to investigate; it was out of their jurisdiction. She shrugged and continued to look over the files.
The bodies were all naked and the most interesting thing about them was that the penis of each victim remained perpendicular to the body, which drew Kenya to suspect that all three died during consensual sexual intercourse. This had nothing to do with Egyptian mummifying because all the organs were intact according to the medical examiner’s reports. Kenya thought for a moment of every demon she could remember or legend she came across in her magical and spiritual studies. A Succubus maybe? However, not everything that Kenya knew about succubus demons added up, they do not usually kill their victims, just take their sperm. They would never drain the body of all fluids, so what kind of demon could this be? Copyright © 2019 by Mahogany SilverRain
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