“When’s Harvey supposed to be here again?” Preston took a drink of the water sitting in front of him and glanced at me, awaiting my response. I couldn’t stop thinking about unleashing my pent up frustration on that fucker across the room.
“The people in the front said he usually comes in around eleven.”
“That was thirty minutes ago.”
I glanced at my watch. “Maybe he’s not coming. I say we go fucking find him, ourselves. Someone has to have a home address. I tried to get them to call, but they supposedly didn’t have the number.” I stood. “I’ll go try again.” Anything to get the hell out of here. How had Kaitlyn been able to stand it? That, I was sure, I was never going to understand.
The big room was a few thousand square feet. I passed the tables, crowded with all types of people, from ones wearing leather to others in jeans. It was quite the mix, and although I loved the lifestyle, I’d never been into coming to places so public. What I did was private. Personal.
A younger woman with light brown hair and black lipstick turned toward me, the lights playing off the latex as her body shifted.
“I need to get ahold of Harvey. It’s important.”
She shrugged and went back to eying some papers in front of her. My eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.
“Sorry, you’re going to have to get in line. He’ll be here if and when he gets here.”
My first clenched. “You have to have a number.”
“Listen, Mr., I’m kind of busy.”
I took a deep breath. “This is concerning Kaitlyn Summers. Do you know her?”
The girls light colored eyes rose, slowly. She seemed to battle with something. Fuck, I wish I knew what.
“I’d heard they found her. Is it her looking for Mr. Shultz, or you?”
My mind froze, but my mouth didn’t. “Her. She’s back and sent me to get ahold of him. Says she wants to see him.”
The woman’s hand reached for the phone and she nervously glanced at me. For the first time since my slave had disappeared, I felt like I was getting somewhere.
“Mr. Shultz.” Her voice lowered and I strained to hear. “There’s a man here who says Miss Summers is asking for you.” A range of emotions played on her face and she lowered the phone looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Confused. Scared.
She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Mr. Shultz doesn’t know who you’re referring to.”
My lips separated and I tilted my head. “Doesn’t know who Kaitlyn Summers is?”
The girl looked down and pretended to mess with the papers. “That’s right. That’s what he said.”
“But we both know he does. Why don’t you fill me in? How do they know each other?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe they don’t. I was wrong.”
Rage exploded inside of me. “Bullshit. My girl is missing, again, and you’re going to tell me how they know each other.”
A man stepped from the door, coming in our direction.
“Listen to me. Someone wants to hurt her. I need your help, please. Whatever you want. No one has to know you told me anything.”
The big man wearing a leather mask stopped next to me and I pleaded to her with my eyes. Me, who never begged for anything. It didn’t even faze me. I’d do whatever it took to save Kaitlyn, no matter how much it put me out of my comfort zone.
“Everything all right over here?” He stepped in closer, but I never took my eyes off of her. Preston approached on my other side and I waited. For the first time in my life…I prayed.
“We’re all good.” She nodded him off and I closed my eyes for a few seconds.
The sound of his heavy footsteps pounded against the thick rug and I looked up, facing her again.
“A grand and I tell you what I know.”
“Done.” I reached in my wallet, pulling out my card. She pointed behind me to an ATM and I twisted my mouth as I walked over. How fucking convenient. As I took out the money, I tried to calm myself. Kaitlyn was getting closer. I just knew it.
Preston was talking to her as I walked up. “Here.” I handed her the cash. “Now, tell me.”
“This is Melissa, by the way,” Preston said, flashing a smile at her. I was two seconds from snatching him up by his fancy white button up shirt. I didn’t have time to play the nice guy. Couldn’t they see how much I wanted my slave back? Wasn’t the heartbreak I felt obvious on my face? Was the intent to kill?
“Okay, Melissa, please tell me what you know.”
A smile was given to Preston while she looked at him through the thick mascara she wore. I snapped my fingers and she rolled her eyes, bringing her attention back to me. “Miss Summers used to call maybe once a month. Sometimes twice. She’d ring me or whoever was working and tell us she was coming. We then called Harvey. He…” she looked down, the worried expression coming back. “I don’t know if she knew it was Mr. Shultz who Domm’ed her. I mean…once when she called, she referred to him as someone else. Another name. I can’t remember what, but when I asked her about it, she said that’s what he’d called himself. Maybe she was blindfolded or, shit, who knows. Harvey gives me the creeps,” she said under her breath. “I mean, he’s not even really a Dom, yet Kaitlyn referred to him as Master…something. I think it was a letter. Master,” she laughed, sarcastically. “He’s not a true Dom. He just owns the place, coming in to play with some of the girls when he feels like it. But with Kaitlyn, that was different. She was the only one that ever was told to call. Only one he really kept around for more than a few weeks.”
Pain bit into my palms and I hadn’t even realized I’d been squeezing the countertop. “Did she call him Master X?”
Melissa frowned. “Yeah, I think that was it.”
That son of a bitch. “I need to find him. Like…right this moment. Do you have an address? Anything?”
She shook her head. “All I have is the number, but I can’t…he’d know.”
“Is it written down anywhere up here?”
Again, she shook her head.
“Fuck.” I ran my hand through my hair. “How much?”
“No.” Real fear had her stepping back. “I can’t.”
Preston leaned against the countertop. “Melissa, Kaitlyn is a dear friend of mine. I know you have friends that mean a lot to you. What if one of them went missing and could possibly be getting hurt this very moment? Wouldn’t you want someone to help them if they had chance? Please, you’re our only hope.”
Her fear melted away as she looked up adoringly at Pretty Boy. Damn, he was good.
“I would want someone to help.” She looked around the club and then glanced down. “No money. You never got this from me.” She picked a pen and scribbled down a number. “And I suggest you beat it before Harvey sends his men over here to check you out. They’re really big and scary. I’d hate to see anything happen to either of you.” Even as she said it, her eyes rose to Preston. “Here.” She lifted the paper and I took it, stuffing it in my pocket.
“Thank you. I won’t forget this Melissa.” I grabbed Preston’s arm, pulling him into the cool, dry air. “Hate to say it, but she’s right. We need to get the hell out of here.”
“You think he’s our guy?”
I let go of Preston’s arm as we jogged across the street to his car.
“No doubt. Blackmailer called himself Mr. X. Now, we just have to find this motherfucker. He’ll lead me to Kaitlyn. I need you to take me back to the hotel so I can research this number. Maybe I can get an address. Thanks for your help, Preston.”
The car came to life and he gunned it as we left the club. “Thanks for your help? Seriously? I haven’t invested this much time for you to ditch me now.”
I laughed under my breath. “What, are we dating? I can do this on my own.”
Preston glared. “I’m helping until we find her.”
“And get your pretty boy hands dirty?” I laughed louder. “Right. I can see that happening. I
bet Kaitlyn has more skill wielding a knife than you.”
Preston leaned toward the door and his hand shot out. I grabbed his wrist inches from my face. The blade had my eyes narrowing. He jerked his hand back and glared at me. “Never assume just because of my profession that you know who I am. You have no idea.”
Silence blanketed the interior and I couldn’t stop staring at the supermodel sitting inches away. Who was he really? I didn’t know him and from the beginning I’d picked up his darkness. But a killer? Someone who could take a life and have no remorse? I wasn’t so sure. “Enlighten me. Tell me why I should bring you? Why I should trust you with something that could place us both behind bars?”
Preston turned left and headed toward the water. I stared at it in the distance, waiting for his answer. Secretly hoping he was stronger than I’d assumed. I’d never relied on anyone. Maybe this time it could work.
“I grew up on the streets of New York. It wasn’t a pleasant life. My dad was a drunk. My mom, gone. Left us when I was five. Junkie, if what my dad said was the truth. Wouldn’t know. I really don’t remember her.”
He gripped tighter to the steering wheel while he stared forward. “Modeling was my escape. I got my ass beat more than once for my looks. I used to hate them. Tried my best to hide behind big hoodies and hats. Mickey found me completely by accident. In his apartment, no less. I was there robbing the place. After he knocked me into next week with a right hook, he gave me a way out. I was seventeen, in a gang, but far from a kid. I was one of his first clients. Haven’t looked back since.” He glanced over at me. “But, that truly doesn’t scratch the surface. I’ve killed people before, Blake. I can do it again.”
Slowly, I nodded. Why had I thought he’d lived some pampered life? My reading skills were way off with him. That wasn’t like me. Damn, I was losing my touch, but my jealousy had blinded me.
“Fine, but after this, we never talk again. We walk away from it all and pretend nothing ever happened.”
Preston looked at me and rolled his eyes. “You’re seeing Kaitlyn. You can’t expect me to go along with that. She’s my friend.”
“A friend you happen to love,” I said, bitterly. My eyes closed and I lifted my hand. “Ignore that.”
“No. You’re right. I do love her, but it appears I’m not the only one. Am I right?”
I rolled my window down, basking in the salty sea air. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. There was no defining the way I felt for my slave. “Love her…that’s putting it lightly. Kaitlyn is everything to me. Without her, I’m just,” I shook my head, “nothing.”
Preston’s eyes widened, but he turned back to the road. We were pulling in front of my hotel before either of us could figure out what to say next. The Maserati was thrown into park and Preston opened his door, talking to the concierge as I got out.
“Let’s go see what we can find. Partner.”
Shit. Was I ready to deal with this? I sighed and headed inside, leaving Preston behind. It didn’t take long for him to catch up. The ride up to my room was uncomfortable as fuck, but I tried to ignore him as I walked down the hall and pulled out the keycard, unlocking my door. A gasp behind me was followed by Preston flying past, deeper into my room.
“What is all this? There’s like three different computers here.”
“Don’t touch anything.” I pulled the number out of my pocket, heading to my laptop on the desk.
“What exactly do you do, Blake? Are you like some sort of spy or something?”
I laughed. “I’m a lot of things. I’m not sure spy is in the job title, though. I used to be a detective until my partner’s daughter got taken by traffickers. Now I devote my life to saving girls who’ve been sold.”
“Wow, like independently?”
“Yep.” I logged in, pulling up the browser. Preston was suddenly at my side and I looked up, annoyed. “Are you going to be like this the whole time?”
“Yep,” he said, mocking me. “So how do you get paid? Do you even get money for saving them? How does that work out? You just track them, kill the bad guys, and hop on a flight back home?”
I pulled up the site I used and typed in the number. “You can say that. Look, back up. I need space. You’re hovering.”
“Whoa.” He leaned more over my shoulder to get a view of the screen. “That address is like two blocks away.”
My eyes jerked back to the monitor. There were perks for having him here. I knew nothing about the city. He could help me find Harvey faster, and from what I saw, he did know his way around a knife. I reached over, grabbed a pen, and wrote the address down.
“Let’s go.” I stood, walking over to my black bag. It was time to gun up and get my slave back. There wasn’t a limit to what I was willing to do. I wasn’t sure what type of location the address was taking us to, but I didn’t care. I’d walk through hell for Kaitlyn, and I was ready to prove it.
Chapter 20
Kaitlyn
One by one, the girls disappeared until all that was left was me. That had been what felt like a few days ago. We had clung to each other until the bitter end, each one braver than the next. I promised them a million times that I wouldn’t stop searching for them. They had believed me. The moment I got out of here, I’d scour the depths of the earth for the seven whose names and home towns were scabbed onto my skin. Tara, Amanda, Jessica, Tamera, Claudia, Hannah, and Raquel. Seven girls. The oldest, nineteen. The youngest, thirteen.
My eyes went to the mattress. The blonde was dead. We’d discovered that when she had never woken up and rigor mortis had set in. The kidnappers left her there. Left her with me. The smell was unbelievably sickening and the bugs had come in by the droves. Flies and gnats. I couldn’t move from my corner. Couldn’t bear to go anywhere close to the body. The silence and constant buzzing that surrounded me was driving me crazy and I found I was talking to myself just to stop the sudden panic attacks that left me shaking for hours.
As for tears, I hadn’t shed a single one. I was past the point of crying. My emotions were spent. Gone. Numb from the sights I’d seen. It didn’t stop my body from going through the motions that I should have felt though. The trouble breathing. The nausea. The feeling of impending doom. They hit hard. Making me rock back and forth and shake until I dry heaved. When they passed, I slept. At least until swatting the bugs woke me up. I had to get out of here. Had to at least hear something aside from the door opening and stale bread getting thrown in once a day. They hadn’t given me fresh water in, I couldn’t remember when. The small dirty amount that swished at the bottom was a combination of germs from my and the other girls’ hands.
I stood, facing the wall as I side-stepped to the door. To walk normally would allow me to see the rotting body out of my peripheral vision. I couldn’t do that again. I’d done it once, and like a dumbass, had to glance over. The caved in cheekbone with maggots crawling from the skin haunted my nightmares. No, I couldn’t turn.
My hands trailed against the wall as I got closer to the door. I was still sore, but nowhere near as bad as I had been. I was healing and it was time for me to try to escape. That was, if anyone would come to the door.
“Hello?” I gave three hard knocks. “Hello?”
Nothing. My hand gripped around the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. I banged some more. “Open the door.” My fist continued to pound and my screaming got louder. “Open the fucking door!” With one last hit, I stepped back. My hand throbbed as I placed my palms against the wall and leaned my head down. What I wouldn’t do for some fresh air.
My eyes stared down. My blue dress was more light brown now. My hair felt like an oily, dirty mess. My skin even darker due to the filthy surroundings. I was half surprised I didn’t have an infection again. Between the cuts I knew I’d had on my face, down to the deliberate earring incident, I was sure the fever would have come. It didn’t. So far, I’d been lucky.
“Get me out of here!” I screamed before I realized I had even wanted to. My mind was hanging on by
a thread. I knew this, but I tried not to face the facts that I wasn’t strong enough to cope. I wouldn’t last this long just to turn into some broken slave for Blake. I wouldn’t. He deserved better than that. He was looking for me right now, and I wouldn’t make it a failed mission on his part. He’d have me. Whole. Not crazy. Not…ruined for good.
I saw that now. Appearances were nothing. I’d keep the scar and be happy for the rest of my life if it meant being with Blake. I would. I’d have him. That was all that was important. If my looks didn’t bother him, why should it bother me? I loved him, and I knew he had to love me. He had to. If not, he at least cared for me a lot. I could work with that. I could try to make him love me.
“Please!” I sank down and leaned into wall directly next to the door, hugging my legs up close to my chest. I’d wait until they brought my food. Then, I’d fight. I’d run and escape. I could do it. I’d find my way back to Blake.
My eyes closed and I let myself doze. Flashes of my Master taunted me. He appeared in the distance and I ran to him, but I could never reach him before he disappeared. Darkness once again took over until I heard him again.
“Crawl to me, kitten.” Blake crouched in the distance, his crooked finger motioning for me to come. I smiled, feeling my heart leap in my chest. I started forward, watching as I got closer. “That’s my girl. God, I love you, slave. Come to me. Keep coming.” I tried to crawl faster, but my legs felt like they were sinking in quicksand. My body leaned forward and I fought to make headway. “Such a good girl.” His hand reached out and I made a sound of frustration as my legs got stuck.
BLAKE: Captive to the Dark Page 24