Tailspin

Tailspin

soppingwetpanties

This story is the fifth in the timeline of twelve Max Pemberton detective stories. You're encouraged to read the stories preceding this one to give you additional background, though this story can stand on its own.

Thank you to migbird for helping me get inside Max's tortured mind.

Here's the chronological breakdown of Max's stories:

Maelstrom

Deception

Blindsided

Jackknifed

Tailspin

Cold Steel

Hot Steel

Pink Ice

Betrayal

Loss of Innocence

Revenge is Best Served Cold

To Hell ... And Back

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, merchandise, companies, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters in sexual situations are 18 years or older.

Chapter One

'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky

I was in the bathroom of my fleabag motel room, squinting at the mirror through bloodshot eyes, seeing a thirty-one year old woman with frizzy hair, pussy juice smeared all over her face, and a shit eating grin. I was drunk, high, and still savoring the lingering effects of a head splitting orgasm, courtesy of my beautiful young lover. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again, trying to focus.

I staggered back to bed, avoiding the empty vodka and whiskey bottles littering the floor, and seeing a vision of loveliness awaiting me.

"Kiss me one more time," said Sky, looking up at me with love struck eyes. Her outstretched arms welcomed me back. Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" was playing in my head.

Skylar "Sky" Hobson was a junior detective in Homicide who recently worked a cold case with me. Her light golden skin reflected her half Asian ancestry, and her emerald green eyes her Irish roots. We'd just made love but her pouty lips signaled she was far from satisfied. So goes a relationship with a twenty-something who never experienced the joys of lesbian sex until our hook-up a few months back. Her need was insatiable . . . but so was mine.

My hand ran down the smooth tanned skin of her shoulder to her breast, a small hillock of firm flesh topped with a pink hued nipple that was begging to be ravished once again. I bit down hard enough on her nipple to cause a sizzle of pain.

"Oh Max . . . " she moaned. She let her knees fall open, exposing her drenched pussy.

God, this sweet young thing was putty in my hands. Was I falling in love with her or was this another one of my adolescent fantasies come true?

I knew it was the exact wrong thing to tell her, but I did it anyway. Timing was never my forte.

"Sky, I think I'm falling for you."

She opened her eyes, but just barely.

"Like in love?" she asked, and not rhetorically.

"Uh huh," I answered in Max-like style.

"I've been meaning to tell you," she said.

"Tell me what?"

"That I love you too. It never seemed like the right time to tell you. But now it does," she said.

"When I'm about to bite your other nipple?" I asked.

"Precisely."

My teeth raked over her other nipple, seizing the engorged nub between my teeth. Her body writhed underneath me, but my impatience got the best of me because I so badly wanted to taste her. I sighed as I let go of her nipple and planted soft kisses down her flat belly to the cauldron of heat between her legs. She was mine and I took her. All of her. Sucking on the puffy lips like ripe fruit and using my tongue to dig deep into her pussy. Her fingers ran through my hair as I sampled the treasures between her legs, plundering her weeping slit first before venturing lower, to satiate my darkest desires.

Sky was now attuned to my carnal sin, and succumbed, emitting a guttural plea as my tongue touched her anus. She rolled over onto her hands and knees and used her hands to pull her ass cheeks apart.

"Oh Max . . . fuck yes . . . right there . . ." she wailed at me. I felt the hard muscle constrict as I swabbed her nether hole. I started fingering myself. The room reeked of sweat and sex.

"Ummmmm," I moaned, enjoying the bliss of kinky carnal pleasure. I didn't stop licking her delectable ass until the heat between us died down to a glowing ember.

I spooned against her and wrapped my arm around her waist.

"I love you Sky," I whispered into her ear.

This time it was the right time to say it.

* * *

"Let's get cleaned up and go to Bailey's," I said to my newest lover. Sky stretched her arms above her head and shook her hair. I couldn't help but admire her nude body, so soft and supple.

"Do we have to?" she asked, like a petulant child.

"Sky, we can't stay in my motel room forever." As much as I enjoyed the skeeziness of the Royal Palms, I had to get out and slake the thirst created from non-stop sex.

"If we must," she said with a sigh. She hoisted herself out of bed and padded over to the bathroom. She turned on the shower but left the door open. Ever vigilant for a sex opportunity, I took that as an open invitation and joined her in the shower. I squeezed into the stall with her.

"Tight quarters here Max," she said as my soapy breasts rubbed against her back. There is no better feeling than rubbing skin against soap slickened skin. My nipples were already rock hard.

"Is that a problem?" I asked as the hot spray steamed up the glass enclosure. I reached around and cupped her breasts in the palms of my hands.

"On second thought no," she replied. "I like to feel your nipples rubbing against my back."

One of my hands left the comfort of her breast to the promised land between her tight little thighs. "Your pussy is dirty," I told her.

"Not as dirty as your mind."

"You can't wash my mind out with soap."

"OK then, wash me," she said.

I lathered up my hands and rubbed them against her slit. One (or was it two?) of my fingers "accidentally" slipped inside her velvet channel.

"That's an HR violation Officer Pemberton," she said sternly.

"So are you going to arrest me?" I asked, though my fingers were still busy inside her. Her legs were getting wobbly.

"Worse," she answered, her voice wavering a bit.

"Worse? What could be worse?"

"You have to love me . . . unconditionally."

"Should that be a problem for me?" I asked, maybe not wanting to know the answer.

She was getting close to cumming. I could tell. Her legs were rubbery and the sound of the running water couldn't mask her heavy breathing.

"It is, according to Lesley . . . and Maddy . . . and Nicky . . . and Alessandra," she said between panting breaths.

"That's almost everyone I care about."

"That's why I said it."

"You didn't have to drag all of them into this," I protested.

"Max . . . you have commitment issues . . ."

Her pussy clamped down on my fingers like a vise. She let out a animal-like moan.

"You win Max," she croaked.

I licked the inside of her ear and made her body shudder once again. "I always win," I told her.

* * *

Wednesday night was Ladies Night at Bailey's. My best friend Maddy Bailey was the owner and proprietor of the upscale bar, located in a gentrified section of Cincinnati. Her younger sister Candy was the creative force behind Ladies Night, which quickly became the most popular event at the bar. Candy came out in high school, much to the surprise of her avowedly heterosexual sister, and was an outspoken member of the gay community.

When Sky and I arrived around nine the place was hopping. Women were three deep at the antique bar, and the dance floor was packed with lesbians gyrating to a Bee Gees cover band. Maddy was holding court as usual at the end of the bar and Candy was making a rare appearance as well. Candy was a full-time dental hygienist and usually begged off from midweek partying, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her there.

Candy, a vivacious blonde, was doing shooters with some friends from work when she spotted me.

"Hey Max," she called out above the din of the band and loud conversation. "Who's that foxy lady you have with you?"

Sky blushed as I pulled her forward. "This is my friend Sky. She works in Homicide."

"Explains the 'killer' body, doesn't it?" she quipped. Candy was the jokester in the family.

"Very funny Candy. Isn't it past your bedtime?" I asked her.

"Office is closed tomorrow for repainting. Boss has given us the day off, with pay, so we're celebrating, right girls?" she said to the two women who were doing shooters with her.

"You got that right Candygram!" shouted a short big breasted brunette in a voice about ten decibels too loud. She clearly reached her drink limit.

Candy pointed to me. "Max here is a detective in Vice. She kicks ass and takes names. We had some good times, didn't we Maxie?"

Candy was referring to our hookup a few years back after I'd come out after my divorce from my husband Ron. She was a firecracker. Our sex was hot but our chemistry wasn't. She was a good one time fling and it was fortunate we remained good friends ever since. Maddy came down from the end of the bar to interrupt our conversation.

"Giving my sister a hard time?" she asked me, leaning her elbow on the bar.

"If anything it's the other way around," I told her.

"I was just kidding her about Sky," Candy chimed in.

"Sky's a gem," said Maddy. "Besides, she's in Homicide. You haven't killed anyone recently, have you Candy?"

"Only this vodka shooter," she said, holding up an empty glass.

"Coming up," said Maddy.

"And two Hudepohl longnecks for Sky and me," I added.

Maddy stopped in her tracks. "We're a bit short staffed tonight. Max, would you mind going downstairs and bringing up a case?" She pointed to her shoulder.

Maddy had a bum shoulder from her lacrosse days in college. She had her collarbone broken twice, and was told by her orthopedic surgeon not to lift heavy objects.

"Sure," I said, following her to the entrance to the downstairs storage area. "Candy, keep Sky entertained while I'm gone," I said over my shoulder.

"Will do," said Candy, "though I can't guarantee we'll be here when you get back."

I gave Candy the one finger salute. She laughed at me.

* * *

The storage area was a musty, subterranean space that once housed a gravity furnace for the former Victorian mansion. Though the furnace was long gone, there were still traces of coal dust clinging to the walls and exposed plumbing. I grabbed a case of longnecks from the walk-in cooler and trudged up the long expanse of wooden stairs to the bar. Huffing and puffing, I dropped the case in front of the undercounter refrigerator, reloaded it, and took out the last two cold ones in the box.

"Thanks!" said Maddy, who was finishing off a couple of mixed drinks with a lemon twist. "Those are on the house."

I tipped my hand to Maddy and carried the beers back to Sky, who had already done a vodka shooter with Candy while I was gone.

"Your friends are fun," said Sky, grabbing the cold beer from my hand. "You didn't tell me about Candy."

"I didn't tell you a lot of stuff," I said. "I haven't seen a whole lot of Candy because she's working all the time."

It was true. Candy was saving up for a house, and was working all the overtime she could handle. It was great to see her blowing off some steam.

Sky put her arm around Candy. "If I wasn't with you Max . . ."

"But you are," I said. "And spoken for."

"So are we a thing?" she asked.

"I guess so," I acknowledged.

"I'll drink to that," she said, hoisting up her beer. I clanged the neck of my beer against hers and we both took a long draw. She looked at me in that "I love you" way.

* * *

As we were leaving, my nemesis DaVanna Caruso decided to show her face in Bailey's for the first time since she was let out of prison. I put her there, and but for a technicality on "tainted" evidence used to convict her, she would still be in jail. I was still smarting over the her release, as I strongly suspected she had someone on the inside of City Hall tamper with the evidence. I was never able to prove it.

DaVanna was born into a wealthy old line Cincinnati family with an Italian father and an African-American mother. She was blessed with movie star good looks. She leveraged her beauty, intellect as a top flight lawyer, and limitless ambition to become the Hamilton County Prosecutor, the highest law enforcement position in the greater Cincinnati area. Her lack of morals allowed her to manipulate her younger sister Alessandra as well as others in her orbit to consolidate her considerable power base. I was able to prove that she had blackmailed her boss and former Hamilton County Prosecutor, Maureen McCormick, in order to assume Maureen's position.

After being released from jail, DaVanna hooked up with Lily Chao, the crime lord controlling the West End drug trade. The West End was the poorest, and most violent, neighborhood in Cincinnati. DaVanna and I had many scores to settle between the two of us, so seeing her in Bailey's jolted me back to reality. Interestingly enough, DaVanna made her appearance without Lily, but instead with Jasmine, Lily's "personal assistant," who doubled as Lily's sex slave. I wondered if Lily, DaVanna and Jasmine had a three-way relationship. DaVanna was dressed to the nines in a slinky red cocktail dress and the shorter Jasmine was wearing a tight fitting white top and a black mini-skirt. Both women were wearing their version of "fuck me" pumps with four inch stiletto heels.

DaVanna also had two brawny men flanking her as her personal security force. One of the men, Jackson "Chili" Jenkins, was Lily's security chief. Chili played high school football before blowing out his knee. Both he and his companion looked like they tipped the scales at three hundred pounds or more.

DaVanna spotted me before I saw her.

"Hey, Max Pemberton, long time no see," she shouted over the hubbub in the bar. She sashayed up to me along with her posse. She was looking mighty fine, but it was a pretty wrapper around a rotten core. She had stolen my then girlfriend Courtney just to prove she could. That's just the kind of person DaVanna was - - arrogant, willful, and most of all dangerously attractive.

I decided I'd start with a good poke in the eye.

"Hey DaVanna. Looks like prison did you some good. Have any good sex while you were inside?"

Her fake smile vanished and her voice lowered in register. "Look Max, it's only a matter of time before I fuck you over good. You know it and I know it."

I took one step towards her before Chili stood between us. My blood pressure had already hit the roof. She was the embodiment of everything I was against. I let anger get the best of me.

"Need to hide behind your bodyguard DaVanna? Want to go outside and settle this here and now?"

DaVanna ducked out from behind Chili and struck a sexy pose while smirking at me.

"Why would I do that when you have a new girlfriend to steal?" She pointed to Sky, who had joined me by my side.

"That's Sky, isn't it? Lily wasn't kidding when she said you had a sweet young thing."

"Now DaVanna," I said, pointing to Jasmine, who was sporting Lily's diamond studded obedience collar, "you don't need to do that when you have your girlfriend's pretty sex toy. And anyway, aren't you just another slut in Lily's harem?"

"My, my," DaVanna said to me, "Max has grown some claws."

Then she turned her attention to Sky. "Hey, sweet thing, if you ever want to experience some real female loving, give me a call."

She turned away from me and left before I could reply. Sky was furious.

"So that's DaVanna, the bitch you've been telling me about?" she said angrily. Sky showed real spunk.

"The very same," I answered.

"Now I know why you hate her."

"She was being nice," I said. "At least we still have all our body parts intact."

"I presume it's not the last time we're going to see her."

"You can count on it."

"She can fight me if she doesn't want to fight you. I'll kick her pretty little ass," my little spitfire vowed.

"Me first tiger," I said to her.

* * *

The next morning my partner Lesley was polishing her shoes to a mirror shine when I got to the station. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her uniform was clean and crisp. The locker room was half empty as it was a half hour before shift change. Lesley had really snapped back into shape after shaking the Oxy addiction she'd picked up after her gunshot wound. I was happy to see the old Lesley and not the drug addicted one who was constantly fucking up.

"I just saw Odette in the hallway," she said to me as she laced up her shiny shoes.

Odette was Lieutenant Billy Odette, our direct report and the head of Vice. She'd been running our section for the past year, and proved herself to be a capable leader. She didn't take shit from me, which made our relationship sometime fractious, as I've never been good with authority figures.

"What did Billy have to say?" I asked.

"Word from the Prosecuting Attorney's office is they're going to drop the drug charge against Jumbo Williams. Apparently he can prove the drugs were planted in his mother's house."

That was bad news for me. I'd been instrumental in his bust because of a tip I received from Lily. Lily conveniently assumed Jumbo's mantle as the drug lord of the West End after he went to jail. I'd complicated matters (as I always did) by having a sexual relationship with Lily. My guess was that Lily had a hand in planting the drugs.

"So will the gun charge still stick?" I asked.

The raid yielded a fair number of illegal firearms, which was a bonus in the raid.

"She thinks so. But Jumbo should only get three to five on those charges, and with good behavior he could be out in as little as two years," said Lesley.

"Fuck. That means that Jumbo's going to be gunning for me when he gets out," I lamented.

"Max, half of the West End wants a piece of your ass."

"Ain't that the truth."

* * *

The news motivated me to pay Lily a visit. It was always a cat and mouse game with her, but sometimes I was able to glean valuable information from our interactions. In fact, just a few months prior, Lily produced the bloody jackknife that cleared Alessandra Caruso, Lesley's paramour, of a potential murder charge. Though Lily was my sworn enemy, she did have an innate sense of justice, and gave me the jackknife much to the chagrin of Lily's girlfriend, DaVanna Caruso, Alessandra's older sister, and also her blackmailer. I was floored when I found out that Lily and DaVanna were having an affair.

Lily's office was in the bowels of a nondescript Asian grocery store located in the heart of the West End. With Lily taking over the majority of the drug trade in the West End, the grocery store was now a fortress. Fortunately Lily and I had an understanding of sorts which allowed me access to her inner sanctum. I went there that morning after finding out she probably framed Jumbo Williams. I went to the back entrance, where I wouldn't be seen, having parked the cruiser a block away and walking to keep a low profile. The entrance, as usual, was guarded by a swarthy Asian male with a menacing dragon tattoo that curled around his right forearm. I'd done battle with him more than once. He saw me approach down the back alley.

"That's far enough," he told me. I stopped about twenty feet from the back entrance. I knew it was protocol for him to check inside before he let me in. I waited for a few minutes before he emerged from the store.

"Five minutes," he said. He opened the armored steel door.

I knew my way through the back storeroom to a second door that led downstairs to a suite of offices. I knocked on the door and someone inside opened it for me.