Hacker Auction: Bodyguard Romance, page 6
My jaw clenched at the man’s words. The man had no remorse for the young woman who had lost her life. No matter how much I wished he was the culprit, it wouldn’t fit. The landlord seemed messy and disorganized. Whoever took the other three women was skilled. Not a slob.
Higgins crossed his arms. “I want to know the name of the company that owns the building and a contact.”
The fat guy shook his head. “Already told them she died. You don’t need to be calling my boss and trying to get me in trouble.”
“We’re not. I’d also like to see her place.” I cut in.
His nostrils flared before he waved to the apartment on the end. When we reached the door, he pulled out a large key ring and unlocked the door. “Nothing in there.”
I stepped around the man into the empty apartment. The smell of bleach assaulted me with each step I took into the apartment. Higgins walked in and closed the door before the landlord followed. “You think they clean all the places this much.”
The Detective snorted. “Nope. It was like this when we showed up, and the landlord said he never saw her leave. Either the woman who lived here was a clean freak like the other three women or whoever took them is.”
If I had to guess, it was the kidnappers. I walked into the master bedroom. Nobody lived in this kind of neighborhood and kept everything in the open. Behind the bed, I caught sight of a large vent. I shoved her bed to the side and leaned down. The screws fell out as I tugged on the metal. Hidden behind the vent was a wooden box and a leather-bound notebook. “I need gloves.”
Higgins handed me a pair, and I pulled the two items out before I sat them on the bed. I flipped the leather-bound notebook to the last page. Higgins pulled out trinkets from the box as I turned back to what she had written.
Today was no different from the last few weeks. No matter how much I tried, it felt like someone was watching me. My safe place was Club Rose with Master Reynolds, who promised me I would be safe, but why do I feel even more detached and now paranoid? His treatment hasn’t helped me escape my nightmares. If anything, I think the parasomnia has set in more.
My only escape from the thoughts in my head is when I’m in a deep subspace, but I can’t find anyone I can trust. Especially not after what happened the last time I went to the club.
“I have a lead.” I tapped on the notebook. “She went to a BDSM club. It’s not one I’ve heard Brock talk about, but I’m sure he will be able to have some answers for me. You find anything?”
Higgins held up a couple of pictures. “Only these. From our research and the records we pulled, she didn’t have friends or family. I’ll dig into this, and you find out what you can in regards to the club. I’ll be in touch tomorrow. I’m going to have to take that journal with me.”
I let out an aggravated sigh but knew he was only doing his job. “Let me take a few pictures.” I snapped the last two months’ worth of entries so I could study everything that happened because the women’s life we found online and in the apartment didn’t add up to what was in the file.
My phone rang on my way back to my car. “Hey, boss.”
“Find anything,” Brock asked.
“Yea, she went to a club called Rose. Also, pictures of her with other people were in the box. I have to wonder if the other women had the same thing, and the police missed looking, or the people who cleared out the houses took it.”
“You on your way back to the office?”
“Yes.”
“I have some new information. I’m not ready to share it with the police yet. I dug deeper into her financials. The stuff the police have is all fake. The job is even fake. They might have called in her disappearance, but that’s not where she works. Whoever is behind these kidnappings has deep pockets. Do I think the woman has a sheltered life, yes, but not to the extent we think, someone’s looking for her.”
“I’ll be back to the office soon.” I turned to Higgins with the phone still pressed to my ear. “I’ll call you later.”
The man nodded as I walked out of the apartment. When the humid Florid heat hit my face I caught sight of the landlord out of the corner of my eye, his phone pressed to his ear and staring in my direction.
Brock’s voice flipped over to the speakerphone in the SUV when I turned it on. “I can get you into Club Rose. It’s an exclusive club but I know the owners.”
“Really?”
“The Renold brothers are good men and run things tight like we do. I’m in their servers now looking around. From the looks of it all members have to get their medical evaluation done at Alexander General Hospital. Which is strange because the last victim’s information wasn’t in the hospitals database besides her current visit.”
“You thinking they all went to the same club?”
“I’m digging through their database now. I’m going to have to have a long talk with the brothers about their cyber security. A two year old could hack this server. Which would make it easy for who ever took the last victim.”
“You think you can get me in tomorrow?”
“I’ll make some calls.” Brock clicked off the phone.
My mind went back to Rachelle and our impending date. The last two weeks dragged on, and I couldn’t wait to spend some time with her.
CHAPTER 6
Rachelle
Sage screamed in my ear as I paced the living room of my new house. Over the prior two weeks I moved from my parents’ home into the one the gifted me near the hospital. Half of mine and Sage’s things were still in boxes. No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find his favorite toy. The one that made him smile.
“It’s okay honey.” His little hands wrapped around my hair and tugged. I needed to find my phone and call off my date. I wasn’t even close to being ready. I also needed to call Mom and tell her not to bother coming. “Mommy isn’t going anywhere,” I mumbled out loud, and Sage stopped screaming.
His little cheeks were beet red, but at least he’d stopped crying. The doorbell rang, which caused Sage to start right back up. I was close to crying right alongside my perfect little boy. My hand rubbed over his back as I opened the front door to find the sexiest man standing there. “You’re early.” I wasn’t sure he could hear me over Sage’s wails.
I rubbed circles up and down Sage’s back, trying desperately to calm him down.
Wes’s mouth opened, but I didn’t hear anything he said as vomit splashed against my neck, followed by a little hand pushing it down my shirt. If the world was ever going to open and swallow me whole, this would be the best time. Nope, still here and now covered in baby throw up. “I don’t think the date is going to work.”
The sexy man cocked his head to the side. “Oh, I’ve dealt with much more than a little spit-up.” Wes grabbed Sage from my arms, and my baby stopped crying and started giggling.
My shirt was now close to see through, and I hadn’t even had time to put a bra on. When I glanced at my shirt, my cheeks burned with embarrassment. My nipples poked through the white shirt. I quickly crossed my arms. “Really, we can reschedule.”
“How about I change this little guy, and you can clean up?”
I blinked at the tall sexy man as he cradled my son in his arms like he was a fricken baby whisper. “You know how to change a baby.”
A smile spread across his face. He didn’t look offended by my words. “I’ve cleaned up after my niece a few times over the years. If I can handle her glitter bombs. I can handle this.” He shut the front door I’d left open, too distracted by the sexy man with a baby in his arms. “Which way to his room.”
“It’s not unpacked yet. Follow me.” I turned toward the hallway a little hurt. My baby boy was giggling in the stranger’s arms and only cried in mine. When we got to the door next to my bedroom, I pushed it open. Boxes covered the floor. “I’ll be fast.”
“Take your time. I promise not to break him.”
I hesitated for a moment. I was worried about leaving him alone with Wes. We talked for the past week, and I knew who he worked for, but I still worried about leaving my boy alone. I must have taken too long.
Wes rolled his eyes. “I’m serious. He will be okay.”
Wanting to get out of my shirt, I disappeared into my room and tossed it to the side. I slipped into the shower and scrubbed the vomit off my body. When I got out of the shower, I threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I didn’t bother with doing my makeup or hair. He’d already seen me at my lowest.
When I stepped into the hallway, I heard Sage’s laughter coming from his room. I pushed open the door to find Wes on the ground with him. He had pulled out a few toys from a blue container near the wall.
Sage held out his little arms when he saw me.
Wes looked over his shoulder. “Feel better?”
I took two steps into the room and swooped my son into my arms. I nodded and shifted Sage in my arms. He pressed his slobbery lips to my cheek.
Wes stood up. “I can order food, and we can have dinner here.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’m fine with changing our date to another night. Mom was supposed—” the doorbell echoed through the house. “I guess she is here now. Let me tell her she can go home, and we can schedule another night.” I hurried to the front door and swung it open to find Mom dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. An outsider would never realize by looking at her, she was extremely rich. Mostly because she still had dirt on her shirt and jeans.
“I’m so sorry, dear. I got working in the garden and lost track of time.” Mom held out her arms, and Sage pulled away from me and leaned toward her.
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. I was about to call, anyway. My little guy has an upset stomach. He just got sick, so I think it’s best I stay in.”
Sage clung to my mother and rested his head against her shoulder. “Why don’t you take the night to yourself, hun. Your father told me how busy you’ve been at work the last week. I can watch this little guy for the weekend. Remember, the date is part of a charity.”
I closed my eyes and counted to five. When I opened them, the sexy man was still in the living room dressed in black slacks, a white button-down shirt, and at the bottom of his sleeves, I caught sight of his tattoo. “I can pick him up after dinner.”
Mom tilted her head to the side and glanced between Wes and me. Growing up, Mom shoved romance novels at me. She always said I would find my perfect man as she had found hers. I knew that wasn’t the case for me. Especially since I had Sage, my boy would always come first.
“Why not take the weekend to unpack. I really wish you would have let the moving company do that for you.” Mom and I argued over that for a few days. I didn’t like people digging through my things. I was perfectly capable of unpacking. “Okay, but if he gets sick again, please call.”
“Honey, I raised two kids, plus your father is a world-renowned doctor. People fly all over the world to have him look at them.”
“He was a neurosurgeon, not a family doctor.”
Mom grabbed the diaper bag I had near the door. “I got this.” She turned to Wes and smiled. “Make sure my daughter has a fun night. She doesn’t go out very often.”
God, let’s tell the sexy man I have no friends. Before I could counter my mom, she walked out the door, leaving me alone with Wes. He reached over and pushed the stray hair that fell from my bun behind my ear. “You ready to go?”
“This feels so strange.”
Wes leaned against the wall like he was posing for a GQ magazine. My eyes couldn’t help but trail down his body. I was happy he didn’t call me out. “To go on a date?”
“I paid two million dollars for this date. Can’t we just say we went on it?”
“No.” He was in front of me a second later. His fingers trailed down my jaw. “I haven’t been able to get you off my mind all week. Since I already have a rule about one date, I promise not to stalk you, but I want one night with you.”
“Nobody said anything about sex.”
“You’re correct.” Wes countered; his lips turned up.
“But you said only one night.” My face felt like it was on fire. I’d never been the type to mention sex or pursue it. From what Calvin told me, I was shitty about it.
Wes pulled me against his hard chest. His head dipped, and I thought the sexiest man I’d ever seen was about to kiss me, but instead, he pressed his lips to my ear. “I only do one date. Even if it doesn’t end in sex.”
The damn sexual tension had my brain in a fog, and I had to take a step back. “That sounds sad.” I wasn’t looking to find my next love, but not even opening yourself to the chance it might happen sounded heartbreaking.
“Believe me, I’ve never had a date complain.”
From one look at the man, he made my heart thud against my chest when he walked into a room. I’m sure no woman would complain about one night with him. He was sexy as hell. “This conversation has taken a whole different direction. Let’s go have dinner.”
“But you’re so sexy when your cheeks turn bright red. It makes me wonder if your ass would turn the same way if I spanked it.”
I had a feeling he was into kinky sex. Most of the men and women associated with the Ross family were. I overheard Daisy and Jessica, two of the women in the group, talking in the bathroom of the county club one night. It was a year ago I was in the stall, and Daisy talked about how her two men tied her to the bed and kept her on edge for an hour. The conversation between the two women was so hot I rushed home to my empty bed and couldn’t think of anything but the story. That was also when my addiction to BDSM romance novels started.
“Uh…I’m not even sure what to say.”
Wes chuckled and dragged his fingers across my cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Your tablet was in Sage’s room, and I bumped it. I might have looked at what you were reading.”
“I like romance.” I’m not going to make excuses for what I like to read. All I had to do was get through the one date. “Also I live alone and like dirty romance.”
“Sylvia Johnson writes real-life situational BDSM. I’m glad you’re reading her. She practices in the real world as well.”
“You know her?” She was my dream author, the one I wanted to meet her one day. I’d followed her group, and she talked about being in a dungeon, but she was a dominatrix. I already knew I was submissive. “She seems like a really nice person.”
“I don’t know about a nice person.” Wes visually blanched. “I watched her put a man’s penis in a cage. As long as I’m not at the end of her whip, I like her. This conversation did really take a turn. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“Embarrassed yes, uncomfortable no. Let’s go so you can mark off your obligation.” The talk about sex with this man had turned me on, so I couldn’t wait to get home by myself.
“Going on a date with you is not an obligation,” Wes growled. “If I didn’t think I would scare you away, I would pull you into my arms and taste those pretty lips you keep running your tongue over.”
“Yes, please.” I wasn’t even sure I said the words out loud until Wes wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me in close. His lips crashed down against mine. The world around me faded away, and all I could think about was him. My mouth welcomed him as his tongue pushed against the seam of my lips.
With each swipe, I felt my body melt into his hard chest.
Wes broke the kiss. My mind was still fogged as he spoke. “You taste better than I ever imaged.” He gave me a peck on my lips before he pulled back. “Now, let’s get some food before I pull you down the hall.”
“I don’t know how you can go from a mind-blowing kiss, talking about spanking, to let’s go eat.” I wanted to strip the man down and have sex in the entryway.
“Mind-blowing?”
“Do you really need your ego stroked? Your sexy, you can kiss, you have a job, and I bet you even have a retirement plan. It’s not often you find someone with that many good qualities. Something is always wrong with them.”
His eyes dimmed, and I wanted to kick myself for opening my mouth.
“We all have issues. But you want in on a little secret.”
“Sure.”
“I thought the kiss was mind-blowing as well. I’m going to have to sit through dinner with my dick hard as hell and won’t be able to take care of it until later.” Wes captured my chin with his fingers, and I was lost in his eyes as he continued. “And later tonight, that kiss is all I will think about as I wrap my hand around my cock.” He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Now, let’s go eat.”
Wes held open the door, and I was left speechless. I grabbed my keys from the table and walked out. Parked next to my SUV was a Range Rover. “You want to tell me where to meet you?”
“I’m driving.” He countered.
Worry about Sage was still in the back of my mind. “I need to take my car in case my mom calls. I have a car seat, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to come with me.”
“How about I drive your car?” He swiped the keys out of my hand. “I’ll promise if you need to get your son, we will.”
Miss Richardson from across the street waved at me. In her hand was a package. She rushed across the street, and I met her at the end of the driveway. “The mailman delivered your package to me again. I think the young man just likes to see me.”
Miss Richardson was in her late eighties. She watched me few times over the years when I was younger. “Thank you!”
She glanced over at Wes, who was standing next to the SUV. “He’s a hot one.”
“Oh, this is Wes, we are going out for charity. I better get going.” I turned to walk back up the driveway when Miss Richardson’s words hit me. “I would ride him.”
My feet stumbled, and the package flew through the air and landed right behind the car. The cardboard box broke open, and the dildo inside rolled onto the driveway.
It got worse when Wes squatted down next to me and picked up the toy I planned to use. “Purple?”
I grabbed it out of his hand and grabbed the box off the ground. My hand hit a wet fluid at the bottom of the box. I glanced down to see a little river coming from my car.
