“Believe me when I say you don’t want to know. We need to focus on finding your sister, fast.”
“How are we going to do that? This guy, he got into their house, changed their security system, and God only knows what else.” When she looked at it like that, there wasn’t a lot of hope left.
He sighed and rubbed the side of his head.
“Port Said.”
“What about it?” She didn’t really care anymore.
“When we went into that op, we had seven guys to rescue two girls that were being held by a trafficking group. They controlled the area, took two of our guys hostage, and injured three others. That left me and another guy to make the call. I’m shit at field medicine, so he had to take care of the other three while I went to get our guys back and find the girls, but they’d moved them out of the city. I spent a couple days on my own, tracking them down to a fishing village where they were waiting for pickup.”
“Shut up.” Her mind painted the images—a beautiful, Mediterranean vista, white buildings, blue mosaics, and men with guns. Lots of guns. In the middle of it all was Travis. She doubted he wore camo paint on his face, but her brain supplied that feature anyway.
“Found the girls first, which was shitty luck, because they screamed every time they saw their shadow, but we all got out of there alive.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“How bad?”
“Took a couple bullets, broke my nose.” He shrugged as if it weren’t an issue.
“And you walked out of there?”
“Adrenaline works for you in an instance like that.”
She swallowed hard. Her brain wasn’t capable of comprehending what he’d done. It played in her head like an action flick, but it wasn’t entertainment. This was his life. He was the real deal.
“What were you? I mean, before Aegis?”
“I was a SEAL.”
“Working for Aegis is better?”
“It’s a good gig.” He shrugged. “My point is, if she’s out there, I’ll find her.”
Bliss chewed her lip. He might find Wendy, but would she be alive?
“You done?” He gestured to her folded wrapper and empty fry cup.
“Yeah.” She glanced at her phone. Yet another message marked urgent hovered in her notification bar. “I need to run by my office.”
“No problem. Can I ask you questions on the way?”
“What kind of questions?”
“About your sister. I’m looking for where the other victim’s lives intersect.”
“Sure. If it’ll help, I’ll answer what I can.”
“Good.”
Travis picked up her tray and scooted out of the booth. She followed, lagging behind a bit. He’d taken how many bullets and just kept going? He didn’t limp. There was a smoothness to his stride, and his posture spoke of confidence. What good thing had she done to randomly run into him like she had?
BLISS GAVE TRAVIS DIRECTIONS to her Blush Shoppe office. Their storefront was within easy walking distance of the Vegas strip. They often got foot traffic from vacationers looking for something crazy to add to their experience. The Blush Shoppe was by far the biggest retail store in the city.
She did her best to black out the little fact that she was about to bring this man into her workspace. Her very sexual and graphic workspace. Bliss’ office might be on the third story, far away from the retail areas, but they still had to go through the store and one of their storage areas. Instead, she focused on the questions Travis fired at her. They covered everything from where Wendy had gone to grade school to where she got her nails done.
“Tell me about the security system again,” he said.
“They got it installed right before Wendy gave birth.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Gosh, Paul is six months old, so probably eight or so months ago?”
“Who responds to the security calls?”
“I don’t know. The police?”
“There’s two basic kinds of security systems. Monitored and un-monitored. A monitored system will have someone who contacts the home owner, maybe through the control panel or a phone call. An un-monitored system is just that. Some of them will text the owner.”
“Monitored. In the beginning there were a few times Wendy didn’t arm it right, and someone would start talking to her.”
“Okay.”
“Why? What are you thinking?”
Travis glanced at her.
“What?” Bliss had the sneaking suspicion he wasn’t telling her everything. Again.
“Just seems strange, your brother-in-law adding security before his kid is born.”
“They were worried...” About what? “Is this somehow connected to Grayson?”
“I don’t know the man, but he knows about us. There are two types of people who hire Aegis. The kind that are scared shitless, and the kind that scare people.”
“So, what?”
“I’m not sure. But even if it’s unrelated, you might want to know more about what it is your brother-in-law does. As far as right now is concerned, I need to check the other victim’s files, see what I can dig up.”
“You have a theory though.” And she had questions.
He turned into the newly paved and painted Blush Shoppe parking lot. The three story brick structure had been painted white, with pink trim and an awning over the store front. Inviting and cheerful, or at least that’s what the owner was going for. The lights and mannequins decked out like porno showgirls were all Vegas. What the heck was Travis going to say once he got inside?
This was going to be fun.
He killed the engine and turned to dig something out of the back seat.
“I need to look at some things. Want me to wait out here, or would you mind if I came in?”
“If you think you can handle it, you can come inside.” But could she?
The store staff was a chatty, gossiping bunch. Travis was going to set them off, but on the other hand, she wouldn’t mind their assumptions. He was one beefcake she wouldn’t turn down.
She got out of the SUV and strode into the store, painfully aware of the man at her back. The bells chimed over the door, announcing their arrival. Two heads popped up from behind the glass display cases. Both sales associate’s brows shot up, neither looking at her.
“Hey Bliss, boss is looking for you,” the first girl said.
“I know. I know.” Bliss shouldered her purse and stopped abruptly.
“Need us to entertain your friend?” the other girl offered.
Christ. The mammoth butt plugs had arrived, and the boxes were arranged like a Christmas tree right in front of the door. She eyed the tacky string of lights casting ominous red light onto the black toy.
“Who did this?” She turned toward the two crawling out from behind the cases. The new hot and cold glass dildos were out, finally. Not like she’d asked for them to do that for a week or anything. “This is not a front of the store item. A casual shopper is not going to purchase a butt plug the size of a cantaloupe. Move this. Put the red and green vibes up here, some fuzzy handcuffs. And where did the naughty elf costumes go? Fix this. Now.”
Bliss didn’t wait for the two to respond. The shop wasn’t technically her responsibility, but damn it, they couldn’t scare people off the moment they walked through the door.
She took the shortcut through the masturbation section to the stairs. There was no way to avoid the bondage area, so she lifted her chin, pushed her shoulders back and strolled past some of their more intimidating gear to the Staff Only door. She breathed a little easier, at least until she caught a glimpse of partially inflated blow-up dolls. Christ. She didn’t want to know. The warehouse was not her area.
If she’d had her thinking cap on, measuring Travis’ reaction to the front display would have given her the perfect ammunition when the sales associates inevitably argued about switching out the merchandise. They wanted the shop to invite men just like Travis in t
o purchase items for themselves and their partners, but putting an extreme toy hardly anyone purchased front and center wasn’t the way to make it happen.
6.
Oh God, Travis had just seen the butt plugs. He couldn’t handle the idea of a vibrator, what was he going to think of a butt plug? Or the floggers? Or the sheep-shaped blow up dolls?
Calm down.
Bliss kept her gaze straight ahead and walked past the industrial shelves full of boxes and carefully inventoried sex toys.
What did it matter what he thought?
Okay, he was an attractive man once she got past the scary factor, but he was responsible for finding her missing sister. That was it. Besides, she was chubby and her vibrator collection would undoubtedly scare him away.
One more flight of stairs, a hallway, and she unlocked her office, stepping into her sanctuary. She held her office door open for Travis and shut it behind him. Hopefully everyone else would take the hint and leave her alone.
“Sorry about that,” she mumbled and retreated to her desk chair.
Her office was one of the more spacious ones, but that was because she was now in charge of order fulfillment to their bulk-buying clients. Namely, the adult film producers who sometimes liked an in-person meeting and demonstration of the products. Her desk was the size of Texas and she had two windows with a lovely view of the mountains. She turned on her desktop and waited for it to boot up.
“Do people...use those?” Travis sat across from her in one of the desk chairs. He had a few brown folders laid out in front of him and a frown on his face.
“Not enough to matter, and that’s the point.”
“But there are people who use them?”
“Yes.” She tried to not bristle, but she knew the condemnation was next, and she couldn’t help but take those comments personally. She might never want a cantaloupe sized thing shoved up her ass, but if she did, why judge?
“Christ...I don’t think I want to know. Different strokes I guess.”
Bliss glanced at him, waiting for Travis to tack on some other statement, but he was too busy looking at the walls. That was it?
“The BDSM practitioners who visit the store have a saying—Your kink isn’t my kink. I feel like the sentiment applies to most of the stuff we sell.” She relaxed marginally.
Not so bad.
She logged into her computer and brought up her email. Of course it had to be the holidays. Shipping was tricky and their sales volume was high, which was a good sign for the next year.
“Employee of the Year?” Travis’ voice broke her concentration from composing a carefully worded email.
“Uh, yeah.”
“How do you get that working here? Or do I not want to know?”
“What is it you think I do?” She turned to face him slightly. “You had your computer nerd run some sort of check on me. Why?”
She’d focused on the wrong part of that conversation. It wasn’t just that Gavin what’s-his-face knew she was chubby or that she worked in adult boutique. He had everything at his fingertips. He didn’t even need to ask her questions about Wendy because he probably already had it all in his email.
“Some of the messiest jobs I’ve been on involved a family member who came into a lot of money being kidnapped by their brother, cousin, uncle or whatever. It’s routine.”
“Don’t I have to sign something to let you do that?”
“No.”
“What else did you learn about me?”
“Nothing you haven’t told me. I haven’t had time to look.”
“But you have it.”
“Gavin would have sent it to me, yes.”
“If you want to know something, just ask. I’d do anything for my sister.” She didn’t have anything to hide, but it was an invasion of her privacy.
“That right there. It makes you a suspect.” He leaned forward, elbows on the arm rests. Somehow he made the chairs look child-size with his bulk and height. He couldn’t even stop taking up the space in her office.
“Because I love my sister?” She stared at him. That was the biggest load of bull she’d ever heard.
“Your sister sounds like a nice person, but she can’t take care of herself. She needs you, her husband, family and even staff to get her through a day. I’m assuming this was true before the baby and pregnancy. Dependence like that breeds discontent. Especially now that she has money and doesn’t have to work for anything. Someone like you could see it as a way to scheme some money out of them, since you’ve done so much for her and you’re still having to work here.”
Her jaw dropped. Was he serious? White-hot rage burned through her.
“That’s not true,” she blurted. “Any of it. I love my sister, and I’m glad she has Grayson in her life. And I like my job.”
But was she being completely honest? Weren’t there nights she lay in bed, alone and a tiny bit bitter that things worked out so easily for Wendy?
“Bliss, I’m not saying that’s the case here. We know it isn’t, but I’ve seen it happen. I want to clear that line of investigation so we can focus on finding her. You are not a suspect.”
She jabbed the keys on her computer, pounding out the messages that had to be handled. She wasn’t ready to stop being angry with him. He was still going to tromp through her life. He hadn’t said he wouldn’t.
“I’m not trying to say anything bad about your situation. Shit. This is why I don’t talk to clients.” He flipped through one of the folders in his lap. The silence drew out for several minutes, neither of them speaking. “You mind if I make a few calls?”
“Go ahead.”
Bliss kept her eyes on the screen. Why the heck were producers working this close to Christmas? And clearly it was too much to ask her boss to deal with them right now.
I love my job.
“Yeah, hi, my wife and I wanted some information on getting a new system installed.” Travis had one of her pens and a sticky note in front of him. Had he noticed the phallic designs yet? She didn’t think so. “Do you monitor your system yourself? Or do you have a company that does that? ...Yeah... Oh...I understand, but we can’t in good faith make a decision without knowing who we’re talking to... That would be great, thank you. Compliance Systems? Got it. And what are your rates? ...Perfect. I’ll talk it over with the wife and get back to you.”
“What was that about?” she asked.
“2008. The only reason authorities knew Mindy was missing was because her alarm was set off by her cat trying to get outside. He’d been locked in the house for a week without food.”
“Is that a lead?”
“Maybe.” He held his phone up to his hear. “We’ll find out.”
How was she supposed to concentrate on dildos right now?
DANIEL TWISTED THE key in the padlock until the tumblers gave way. He’d debated disposing of his latest projects. Two of them were such good subjects. The third didn’t have much promise. He wouldn’t be surprised if that one expired on its own. In truth, it was fairer to terminate them now. His new wife would be taking up much of his time while they set about starting their new family.
He lifted the door and opened it by force. Time and age had worn the wood down. He was considering widening the path and installing a better door, but that would mean putting in more permanent electricity. Right now, he flipped a switch at the house, and power flowed out to his workshop. Three lights illuminated the honeymoon suite, his holding cells, and the workshop. There was only one outlet for his power tools—everything else was done by hand.
“Good afternoon, dear. Sleep well?” He closed the door behind him to keep the wind out and shed his jacket. The keys were a heavy weight against his hip.
Wendy had her back against the bars on the far side of the suite. He hoped she liked his house and would be a good mother to his other children. He’d made sure to dust them all off in preparation for the introductions.
The subject in cell one whispered something to her, and she jumped.
His Wendy was so delicate.
“I slept well,” she said.
“Good. Good. One last bit of housekeeping and we can finally be together.” He smiled at her and unlocked the door to her suite. It was a bit on the rustic side. Some of his previous wives hadn’t liked it much, but Wendy had good breeding and manners. She could appreciate the aesthetic.
“What are you doing?” Wendy’s dark eyes widened, and she pushed to her feet. She was so thin she swayed and had to grip the bars for support. That wouldn’t do. He’d need her strong and healthy, so she could give him a son.
“Taking care of some loose ends.”
He locked the door behind him and strode across to the workshop entrance. Wendy thoughtfully kept out of his way, which was good.
He could not wait for their honeymoon.
“Loose ends? What does that mean?” Her voice raise in pitch, reverberating off the stone.
“He means he’s going to kill us,” the subject in cell one said. He was an older man, roughly sixty years old, who Daniel had picked up off a street corner. The subject was hardy and had held on, despite being separated from every major limb. It was a shame to dispose of him, but Daniel had more important things to think about.
“You’re what? You can’t kill them.” Wendy’s voice wavered.
He hated the wavering. It lead to tears, and not the regal, quiet ones Wendy had shed last night. The ones that turned noses and eyes red and shook bodies.
“Be quiet,” he snarled and banged the gate.
“It’s okay, Wendy,” the subject in cell two said. He was younger, an addict with a resilient body.
“Do not speak to my wife.” Daniel thrust his finger at subject two, who merely stared at him.
Daniel peered in at the subject in cell four, but the body was an empty husk. A pity, since that took all the fun out of it, but not having to deal with a squirming subject would be easier in the long run, and he was still healing from the knife wound.
He opened the cell and dragged the body to his workshop in the back. The old wooden table had supported many such projects over the years. Deep gouges scored the wood from blades and nails alike.
It was time to put these subjects to rest with the others. Then, and only then, could he get on with the business of starting his new family.
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