Unlawful Entry

Out in the parking lot Cade sat in the car, contemplating, replaying his meeting with the golden eyed Hildegarde Helvet. There were layers to this woman. She was playing with him, he could tell. Her answers were all very deliberate and carefully worded. The question was why? What was the point to the game? He very much wanted to unravel her mystery. Since she was at work, he made a decision, he was going to check out her home. Retrieving the paper Rebecca had given him earlier in the day from his suit jacket pocket, he studied it a moment then pulled the seatbelt across his chest and fastened it. He started the car and put it into gear. He didn’t know what he expected or hoped to find at her place, he just wanted to sniff around for anything that might help him fathom her and point him in the direction of a solid lead.

She lived in a very hoity-toity two story house off the Pacific Coast Highway, right on the beach. He wasn’t surprised given the fancy car she drove. Parking a short distance away, he walked back to her place. Given the upscale nature of the home, he was there didn’t appear to be a security system. A call to the security company could’ve circumvented the alarm, but he was pleased it would be an easy entry. Testing the handle of the door, locked. He smiled. Couldn’t have been that simple, he thought. Glancing around to see if there was anyone watching him, he pulled a set of lock picks from his pocket. The lock was straight forward and pretty easy to pick. Stealing one more furtive glance around, he slipped inside and closed the door behind him, before taking out a pair of latex examination gloves from the small case on his belt. The place very open and spacious and well appointed. There was an expansive kitchen with stainless steel appliances and nouveau modern glass furniture in the dining area. A fully stocked liquor cabinet. The living room area was banked with floor to ceiling windows opening onto a deck overlooking the beach and ocean. Again expensive furniture. In a display case against the wall opposite the windows, there was what looked like a plumed Spartan or Roman helmet and a short sword encased in glass. The things looked old. He pulled out his phone and took a picture. He clicked a few more pictures before checking out the other rooms in the back of the main floor. One looked like utilitarian office space, nothing catching his interest in any of the desk drawers, another room looked like an unused guest bedroom. A bathroom with shower and toilet. A room full of mats and exercise stuff. There was a strange wooden pillar with a number of wooden pegs in it, like something he’d seen out of an old kung fu movie. A door opened into the two car garage. Unlocking the door, he peeked inside. Her Audi was out, but there was a fancy black Ducati motorcycle parked in the second stall, and a mountain bike hanging on hooks on the wall.

Upstairs, he found another social looking gathering area, fancy chairs and divans, a giant smart TV anchored to the wall. There was a hall with a two doors at the end. On the right was the master bedroom. The room was absolutely huge. A door on the left wall led to an en suite bathroom. There was a large king sized bed up against the wall opposite the door, a blanket chest pushed up against the foot. There was a large black and white plush blanket with a pretty cool wolf design on top of her bed, antique looking wooden night tables to either side, and there were two dresser, a tall one and another a little broader but shorter. A mirrored vanity completed the furniture in the room. Checking out the dressers and the vanity produced nothing, other than she had expensive taste in her delicates. Walking beside the left side of the bed, he pulled open the drawer in the night table, inside were some sex toys. Lotions, lubricants, and three glass dildos of varying size and shape. Picking up the largest of the dildos, he brought it out held the clear glass toy up in front of his face. He’d seen similar types of toys before, but this one was odd. On the blunted handle end, there appeared to be some form of stopper that could be removed. Pulling it free, the toy itself was hollow and empty inside. Furling his brow, he looked at the two pieces before reassembling them. With the stopper in place, there was a three inch space inside the dildo. Odd. He wondered at the nature of the implement and what she might possibly put inside. Setting it back as he found it, he closed the drawer. The other drawer contained several books. The walk-in closet was filled with clothes, a host of dress suit, a handful of dresses, and a ton of shoes. The bathroom off the master bedroom was huge. A large marble looking tub dominated the room. There was also a glassed in shower area, as well as the other usual amenities. Back through the master bedroom and across the hall was another room that looked like it might have once been a library but was now being used for storage space. The walls were lined with row upon row of bookshelves, each filled with books in many different languages. He smiled to himself, the archetype librarian. Clustered around the rest of the room were a number of boxes all stacked up. Under a white sheet was a huge aquarium, no water or fish, but there was what looked like some type of child’s dollhouse in it. There was nothing that set the gears in his cop brain turning. No thread that would unravel the tangled skein. He felt he was missing something, overlooking some vital element. Walking back into the master bedroom, he looked from dresser to dresser. There was no jewelry box. Every woman loved jewelry, didn’t they. She must have had a safe. His first thought was the walk-in closet. Sure enough, there is was, a pretty big metal door in behind her clothes. He tested the handle, willing it to open, but it was locked. He stared at the five foot high door and wondered about the contents. It would take quite a stretch and an exceptionally forgiving judge to draft a warrant. Inwardly, he knew he was reaching and that trying to get such a warrant would be futile. Frustrated, he pushed the clothes back across the door and exited the room. Leaving the same way he came in, making sure to lock the door behind him, his mind lingered on what possible clues might be squirrelled away in that safe.

Hilde enjoyed a leisurely drive home, with Clarissa otherwise occupied, her day consisted of ensuring all components of Heller International continued to move fluidly. Pulling the R8 into the garage, she got out and walked to the door. Digging keys out of her purse, she hit the garage door button and slid the key in the lock as the door came down. Stepping into her home, she halted immediately, something was amiss. Lingering in the air, barely noticeable, she detected a hint of a man’s cologne. Closing her eyes, she inhaled through her nose, she recognized the scent. Detective McKissik, Cade had been here, in her house. A smile touched her face and she nodded approvingly. She hadn’t anticipated this move. He had taken the game to a whole other level and in so doing, he’d inadvertently cleared the articles of the Covenant, permitting her to now play with him as she wanted, no restrictions. Dropping her keys back into the purse, she walked down the hall and set the bag on the kitchen table. Closing her eyes, she allowed power to flow through her. In her mind’s eye, she could visualize the policeman’s movements through her home, like a heat signature of everywhere he roamed after he had violated her private sanctum. Following the spectral image of Cade, she traced his path, looking where he looked to see what he might have seen. She wondered how he processed hi s information, what did he perceive, interpret the elements of her long life? She knew he lingered at Agrippa’s helmet and sword. In the master bedroom she noticed his ghostly image pause at the night table, pulling open her fun drawer. He had looked in here. Looking down into the drawer herself, she could see the slowly fading remnants of his touch on her pleasure giving device. Removing the toy he had held, she traced a finger along its smooth length and then set it back. There was no way he could know the secret of the toy and how she used it, would use it, until he was within it, and it was within her. The thought brought a small smile to her face as she closed the drawer. She moved to the other room, he had moved the sheet, seen the pen for little ones.

Returning to the master bedroom, she disrobed and walked into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, she stepped into the warm jet. She imagined reducing the policeman, the look of disbelief on his face, the defiant spirit as she slid him into her glass toy and closed the stopper behind him. Touching her sensitive place, she envisioned the pleasure to come. She brought herself to edge of release several times, hovering just at the threshold of ecstasy. She decided she was going to go out for the night.

Another piece of the puzzle

Driving back into the city proper, Cade mulled over what he saw in Hilde’s house. Something nagged at his inner cop voice, the pieces were there, but he just couldn’t assemble them into some order that made sense. pulled out his cell phone when it rang. Little Train’s number appeared on the screen.

Answering the phone. “Cade,” he said.

“It’s Arvin. Thought you might be interested to know, one of Cyrus’ boys, bone breaker named Vince, wandered into the club this afternoon. Got an interesting story to tell, says he was here the day my boys went AWOL.”

“Okay,” Cade replied.

“He said the day everybody disappeared, three women showed up here at the club in the early afternoon, two blondes and a redhead,” Arvin said.

“Okay, but I’m not following you. Is that an unusual time for your girls or do they come and go?” Cade asked.

“Little early in the day for the talent. Anyway, Vince says one of the blondes introduced herself as Hildegarde, a woman who he said looked like an accountant did all the taking. Says she never batted an eye at the shooters. Never flinched or twitched when Cyrus said he was going to rape her and cut her throat. Vince says he got a real bad feel for the whole thing. Broad asks if anybody wants to leave, Vince says he wants out and they let him go. He has no idea of what happened next, he just got out of there, laid low since. Any of this mean anything to you detective?” Arvin asked.

Cade hesitated a split second. Quid pro quo. “Woman named Hildegarde was the last one to see my missing lawyer,” he provided.

“Well, well, well, ain’t that a coincidence,” Little Train said. “Don’t suppose you know off the top of your head where I might find this Hildegarde?”

“I questioned her earlier today, don’t know how much help she might be,” Cade replied.

Arvin chuckled, a menacing sound. “I wouldn’t mind a little Q & A with her, we got different ways of asking questions you and me.”

Cade knew what these animals were capable of, they would torture her, get her to talk, then kill her. It would be ugly. The white knight in him wanted to protect her.

“Come now Cade, I thought we were friends, working together to sort this shit out. I tell you what. You tell me where I can find this Hildegarde, and I’ll tell you a little something about what Cyrus was running. It involves an old pal of yours,” Arvin offered.

“Oh, who?” Cade asked.

“The Hammer,” Little Train answered, infusing drama in his response.

Jack fucking Dalton. Cade let out a breath. They’d had a couple of petty run-ins before, nothing major until the Wells Fargo job. One of the informants dropped Dalton’s name, so Cade brought him in. He knew Jack knew who the principal players were, but Dalton didn’t say a goddamn word. They beat him for two days trying to crack him, but he never rolled. In the end, there was enough circumstantial evidence, with a little collusion to send the Hammer up the river for a deuce. That was before Cade shot the kid. Didn’t much matter, there would definitely be no love lost as far as Jack was concerned.

“I thought Jack was flying solo these days?” Cade asked, hoping for another kernel of information.

“Tell me where I can find this Hildegarde,” Arvin said, voice flat, unyielding.

“Fuck. She’s working at Heller International, you know, that building,” Cade relented, he would warn her.

“I know the building, but it’s getting on in the day. You maybe got a home address?” he asked.

“No,” Cade lied.

“One phone call, you could find out for me,” Arvin suggested.

“Tell me why Dalton was working with Cyrus,” Case replied.

“Maybe you should come down here,” Arvin encouraged. “I still got me some of that great scotch and I sent a couple of boys over to Jack’s place. He wasn’t in, but they’ll stick around and see if he comes back. What do you say?”

Dammit, thought Cade. “Yeah, sure,” he said, disconnecting the call. Pulling into the other lane, he changed his destination from home to the club.