Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
No need to stress, baby. There’s no stress at CMA.
“There’s no need to stress right now,” she repeats, clearly trying to make it sound natural in her own words. “You’re on the phone with me, right?”
“You always make me feel better, Ruby,” Felix says, his voice calming noticeably.
“That’s my job,” Hannah says, but she digs her teeth nervously into her bottom lip before continuing. “To make you feel good. What makes you feel best?”
“You do, Ruby. Always you. I wish we could really be close.”
Hannah looks at me again, and I can actually see the pulse in her neck thumping at a rapid pace. I gently place my hand on hers for a beat and mouth toward her, “You’re doing good. Keep going.”
“We can . . . be close,” Hannah says, finding a rhythm. “We can be as close as you want.”
“Really?” Felix asks, relief in his voice. “I’d love that so much, Ruby. I wish I could put my head on your chest right now and listen to your heartbeat.”
“Then put your head on my chest, Felix. Listen to my heartbeat,” Hannah responds, guiding the conversation well. Even though the caller’s familiarity is clearly off-putting for her, his low-key mood appears to agree with her much more than all the callers before.
“Is it racing like mine?” he asks, his voice escalating slightly.
“Definitely,” Hannah comments. “My heart always races when I’m excited.”
“Mine too. Calling you always makes me feel less alone, Ruby.”
“I’m glad, Felix. No one should feel alone.”
“See, you get it. You understand. I’m just looking for companionship and company and to feel like I’m heard.”
There’s something about him I can’t quite put my finger on. Sure, he sounded a little confused by the change in Ruby’s voice, clearly surprised by the difference, but . . . he seems quite attached. And really focused on her instead of his own pleasure. It’s at odds with nearly every other caller we’ve listened in on so far.
I open my phone and text Shane.
Me: Is it just me or is there something about this guy that sounds off?
Shane: Already called in a trace with DFU seeing if we can find an address tied to his number.
DFU is our Digital Forensics Unit. Our go-to guys there are Jimmy Pagnotta and Watts Houser, the best civilian-contract analysts in the department. They’re both late-twenties whiz kids who know technology better than anyone I’ve ever met. We also have a Technical Investigations Unit at MNPD, but since these two cases have already involved other digital forensics needs, we’re sticking with Jimmy and Watts to keep things as cohesive as we can.
The fewer hands in the pot, the better.
Hannah eyes me suspiciously as I tuck my phone in my pocket and shake my head. I scribble a lie on the notepad to put her at ease.
Just texting about another case.
She refocuses on the call. “I hear you, Felix. You have all of my attention.”
Felix’s breathing turns labored and erratic on the line, and he groans and growls as he pretty obviously jerks off for us to hear. It’s disturbing given how PG the conversation between them has been thus far, but Hannah rambles on, trying to make the best of it.
She still seems a little nervous, understandably, but I feel the strangest sense of pride in how well she’s handling it all.
“Is that feeling good, Felix?” she asks.
“Oh yeah,” he grates, his voice unsteady.
“I’m so glad,” Hannah whispers into the headset. “I feel good when you feel good.”
“Oh, God, yeah,” he grunts, shouting into the line as he is very clearly getting close to climaxing. “Are you close like me, Ruby? Are you going to come too?”
“Yes. I’m so close,” Hannah says through a pretend moan, looking to me with broad eyes. I scratch out a reminder on the pad in front of her.
Stick to the basics
Hannah nods, closing her eyes and holding the microphone of her headset in front of her face. “Yes, Felix. Your penis feels so good in my vagina. And my boobs and butt feel good too.”
My head falls back, and she shrugs, throwing her hands in the air. Hannah May just isn’t a natural on the sex-phone waves—and maybe that’s not a bad thing. She seems to really hate the job.
Good news is that it’s enough for Felix. He keens and croons over how perfect his Ruby is and how much he wishes they could be together all the time. It’s a little desperate, but I imagine that’s not uncommon in the phone sex business at all.
I can’t deny this guy has raised some red flags for both Shane and me, even if he hasn’t said anything overtly incriminating yet. He’s definitely someone we need to keep a closer eye on.
My phone vibrates in my lap, Captain Leonard’s name on the screen. Our boss—a lazy fuck who prefers to be told what’s going on instead of going through files himself—has been on vacation for the past two weeks. I’m sure this call is him wanting an update on the cases that have required two of his homicide detectives to sit in a van outside a warehouse hosting a phone sex hotline.