Initiations (Carpenter/Harding Book 5)

by Barbara Winkes

  Meanwhile, Lilah seemed in deep conversation with the man who had taken a seat beside her.

  Nobody was approaching Ellie. Jordan would be more than happy with that.

  The other woman got to her feet. She seemed unsteady as she walked to the stairs that led down to the restrooms. The man on whose lap she’d been sitting got up a moment later, laughing with his friends before he followed her. Ellie cast another glance at Lilah Strickland who seemed to be doing just fine, and got up as well, walking across the room and down the stairs. The couple was standing in front of the door to the Ladies’ room, kissing, but it didn’t take her long to hear faint protest from the woman. She could barely hold herself up, let alone push him back.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  “She’s fine,” the man answered for her. “Mind your own business.”

  “I would, if you didn’t block the door.”

  Grudgingly, he stepped aside. “Now get lost. Nothing to see here.”

  Ellie knew all to well that she needed to be careful, not to blow Lilah’s cover, Russo’s, and her own—but there was no way she’d let her alone with him.

  “Oh, I think your friend needs to touch up her make-up, right? Why don’t you come with me for a moment?”

  She could tell by the relief clearly showing on the woman’s face that she was on the right path. The man, however, wasn’t so accomodating.

  “Bitch, get lost!” He pushed her, finding himself facing the wall up close the next moment. “Are you crazy?”

  “Now let her do her make-up in peace, all right? You don’t want any trouble. Neither do I. You,” she addressed the woman, “is there someone you can call?”

  A timid shake of the head was the answer. “It’s okay. We’ll find someone.” She let go of the man, taking a step back. “Why don’t you get lost?”

  To her surprise, he spun around and headed back up the stairs. Ellie’s charge stumbled into the bathroom and sank back against the wall, sliding to the floor.

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “You’re welcome,” Ellie said as she closed the door. “Please, don’t pass out. What’s your name?”

  “Fiona.”

  “Fiona. Good. I’ll make sure you get home safely, just give me a moment, okay?”

  Ellie scrolled through the numbers in her phone. Obviously, she could call neither Kate nor Libby—both of them had accompanied Jordan and Bethany to Daniel Deane’s. After a moment of hesitation, she hit Derek Henderson’s number, hoping he would be inclined to do her a favor.

  “Ellie,” he said, surprised. “Aren’t you working with Jordan and Dr. Roberts right now?”

  “Yes. Sort of. Well, not sort of, but there’s a small problem. I’m here in the Ladies’ room with a woman who’s almost passed out, and I need someone to drive her home. Obviously, I can’t do it myself, or ask any of the other cops here. Kate was with Jordan when they went to see Deane, so I was hoping you could…”

  “No problem. Just give me directions.”

  “Wow, thanks. I owe you.”

  “That’s okay. Think of it as paying for coffee, beer and hot water.”

  “That works. Thank you.” Ellie described the way to the bar, fairly amused at his reference to the odd arrangement the four of them had. The truth was, it was practical for everyone. Jordan might grumble about it from time to time, but she didn’t really mind. Both Kate and Derek were easygoing and uncomplicated. For the time being, this was the best solution.

  After ending the call, she turned back to Fiona, crouching in front of her and shaking her slightly.

  “Hey. Can you stand up?”

  “I want to sleep,” Fiona muttered.

  “Soon, I promise. Can you tell me where you live?”

  “I don’t feel so good.”

  “Oh no. Not now.”

  “I’m sorry. Sorry.”

  When Fiona leaned forward and threw up, Ellie all but jumped back, fortunately in time. She grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to Fiona who cleaned herself up with shaking hands. In her purse, Ellie found a package of gum.

  “All right. We should get you out of here. My colleague will be here soon.”

  She didn’t get much of a reaction from the distraught woman.

  About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Fiona jumped.

  “Don’t worry,” Ellie told her and opened the door to Derek who cast a quick glance at her companion.

  “I don’t think Dr. Roberts will be happy about all this.”

  “Everything else is going as planned.” Ellie shrugged. “I’ll go back in there in a moment, but I wanted to make sure she’s okay. This is Fiona. One of the guys upstairs got a little too hands-on.”

  “I feel funny,” Fiona said miserably. “This is strange. I only had one beer. Just one, I swear.”

  Ellie exchanged a look with Derek, assuming he was thinking the same.

  “Fiona, maybe we should stop by the hospital,” he said.

  “She said I could go home and sleep. Who are you anyway?”

  “He’s a cop,” Ellie said. “I need to stay here, but please, go with him. You’ll be safe.”

  She waited until both of them were out of her sight, then another moment before she made her way back up. Lilah was sitting alone at the bar. The table where Fiona had sat with the group of men was empty, but a few newcomers had arrived.

  It didn’t take long for one of them to pass by her table where her untouched beer was warm by now.

  “Hey, baby…You’re not here all by yourself?”

  From the looks of his clothes, he was part of the Prophets of Better Days family.

  “I’m waiting for my boyfriend,” Ellie said.

  “Let me know if he doesn’t show up. I can give you a ride home.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure that he will show up, but thanks.”

  “No problem. Please, don’t be shy to ask. It’s not safe for women to be out alone. I guess you heard about the one that got murdered.”

  “I did, but now you really got me worried about getting in a car with anyone…”

  He laughed. “You don’t have to. I am married, but we take care of our neighbors. I am Seth.”

  “Nice to meet you. Ellie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too. Can I?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but pulled himself a chair.

  “Sure. What do you mean, you take care of your neighbors?”

  “We try to educate. Look, someone like her…” He nodded towards Lilah. “She’s a beautiful girl, don’t you think? Why does she have to draw attention to herself, being dressed like that?”

  For a brief moment, Ellie was speechless.

  “Well, I’d think that is her business. I hear she’s had a tough time, so maybe she just wants to enjoy a night out.”

  “But what if something happens to her, and then all of a sudden, it’s everybody’s business?”

  “What can you do?”

  “Talk to her, help her understand? In any case, it never harms to monitor the situation.”

  As in stalking. This was certainly informative. “You come here often? To make sure everyone’s all right?”

  “Every once in a while.”

  “Well, it’s good to know we can hang out here safely, but you might be right. My boyfriend’s not going to come—I’ll call a cab. Thanks for the conversation.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ellie said and got up. “Maybe you can help her. She could use some…guidance.”

  His gaze was on Lilah/Lilly when she left the bar. Ellie wondered if Derek had gotten any helpful information from Fiona.

  Chapter Six

  Spending the evening with her ex in a non-descript van, spying on people hitting on each other, wasn’t Jordan’s first choice for a Friday evening. On the bright side, the space didn’t feel nearly as claustrophobic as she’d feared. This was about the job and nothing else.

  Agent Strickland couldn’t appear too easy, so she started a
conversation with the first guy, but didn’t push too hard on the seeking-guidance story. He didn’t say anything incriminating. The second one did.

  Jordan acknowledged with a wry smile when Bethany groaned in frustration.

  “And this is why we can’t have nice things. Who does this guy think he is?”

  She couldn’t agree more. This one was beyond annoying, starting out with dubious compliments, then rapidly heading down the slippery slope to full-on insults.

  “Hey, what’s it to you how I dress?” Lilah said. She was good, a hundred percent in character. The star of the show.

  “Well, I can’t not see it, can I? You do it on purpose. Do you have a price?”

  “Here we go,” Jordan said, shaking her head.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, you know what I mean.”

  The conversation continued in that vein, nothing surprising yet. The surprise was when Derek’s car pulled up in frony of the bar.

  Bethany frowned. “What is he doing here?”

  “Don’t look at me, I have no idea.”

  “This better not be work. Lilah is doing well. I don’t want any of the locals screwing this up.”

  “Easy. There’s a local sitting right next to you.”

  “I’m not talking about you,” Bethany muttered.

  “For all we know, he’s just going to have a beer.”

  “Right. And for that, he had to come here of all places.”

  Jordan had to admit that her partner’s appearance in this place was odd. She doubted he even knew they were here tonight. And hadn’t he been talking about going out with McCarthy tonight? The story became even stranger when a few minutes after, he returned with a woman by his side who could barely walk upright. Jordan cringed at the image. He’d once come to pick her up after a drunken binge, but at least, she’d made it home without incident.

  “I wonder if his girlfriend knows about this,” Bethany remarked.

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions, all right?”

  They returned to listening to the conversation Lilah and her acquaintance were having.

  The tone had changed again, becoming more conversational, friendlier as Lilah pretended to see reason in the man’s out of line behavior.

  “I’m sorry, you misunderstood,” she said. “I’ve really had a bad time. Sometimes it feels like no one cares—and no one would mind if I was gone.”

  “Then you need to change who you’re with, find people who respect you for who you are.”

  “Sounds great. I’m not sure that species actually exists.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  “That means you know better people, or are you just really hopeful?”

  “I never lose hope in people’s ability to change,” he said proudly. “Lilly, can I see you again?”

  A pause. “Maybe.”

  “I’ll be here tomorrow. Will you?”

  “I might. I enjoyed talking with you, but I need to go home. I have to work tomorrow.”

  “Come back and we’ll talk some more.”

  Jordan pressed Derek’s number on her cell phone, surprised when he answered right away.

  “I know what you’re going to ask me, but we have a bit of a situation here,” he said.

  “Where are you?”

  “At the hospital with a woman named Fiona Grayson. It appears that she has been drugged.”

  “The woman from the bar? How did you know?”

  “Ellie called me.”

  “Oh.”

  “That’s all you have to say? She handled the situation pretty well, getting Grayson out without raising anyone’s suspicion.”

  “No, it’s great she did that. Look, we’re busy here, you catch me up later?”

  “Sure.”

  Jordan ended the call, wondering whether Bethany would share Derek’s assessment of the situation.

  They met back at the station where Lilah was first to report, then Russo stated his observations. Apparently, Raphael had told the truth. Some of the male cult members frequented the place to meet women, to berate them and hook up with them equally. They were looking for the vulnerable ones.

  “So far, lots of bad manners, no crimes though he wants to see me again. Maybe I’ll be introduced to the family,” Lilah concluded.

  “Excuse me, no crime?” Ellie said incredulously.

  “Yeah, about that.” Bethany crossed her arms across her chest. “You had clear instructions. Eyes on Lilah at all times, pushing her story if the occasion arises. Don’t, and I think I told you that a couple of times, don’t draw attention to yourself.”

  “What was I supposed to do? He was feeling her up in the hallway, against her will, and now we know she was drugged! We can quickly follow up on this. Both Fiona and I can identify him.”

  Bethany looked frustrated, and Jordan could easily guess why. If the Prophets got tipped off about the police presence in their favorite hangout, they might not come out again. However, she couldn’t tell them not to follow up on a crime.

  “You do that, but you be careful. It would be easy to screw this up right now and lose the only chance we have.”

  “It fits the pattern,” Ellie insisted. “This is exactly how they treat women, and you wanted proof that they use more than words. You’re welcome.”

  Jordan hid a smile, secretly thrilled that Ellie was standing her ground. She might be treading a line though, judging from Bethany’s expression.

  “Do your job. Don’t ever get cocky. It could get you killed, or someone you care about.”

  Ellie held her head up.

  “I’m aware. So are we bringing him in for questioning?”

  “Not you, that could compromise Lilah’s cover.”

  “Speaking of which, I almost forgot—the guy who was talking to me, Seth? He gave me his number and offered me a ride. He also told me he was married. It’s like they can’t control themselves the moment they see a single woman.”

  “Okay, guys, same time tomorrow,” Bethany said, effectively dismissing Ellie. She hadn’t forgotten about her though. “You don’t need to come, Harding. It’s too much of a risk. Talk to Raphael about this Seth guy. Other than that, don’t draw any more attention to yourself.”

  “But…”

  “That’s all. Have a good night.”

  Jordan had predicted Ellie would not be happy with this outcome. She’d been right.

  “What is wrong with her?” she exclaimed once they were in Jordan’s car. “I did nothing wrong. In fact, I prevented a crime from happening, and I did it without jeopardizing the operation. Does she want me to help or not?”

  “It’s not personal.”

  Ellie snorted.

  “I swear. She’s up for a promotion, so she has to consider every step very carefully.”

  “Again. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I agree. Once we start to pick up people, things could get messy though. Strickland needs to create more of a rapport. She’s doing okay, but I think you got more out of Seth.”

  “So we wait until one of them actually goes through with an assault? We—” She broke off her sentence as she’d probably come to the same chilling conclusion Jordan had. It might have already happened.

  “We don’t wait, but we have to be careful,” Jordan said. “With all the things they suspect going on inside…those people are pretty nuts already, and it will be worse if they feel cornered.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Ellie sighed. “It’s only been a few days, and already…dealing with this stuff, it’s icky. I mean we know that kind of attitude exists, but concentrated like that…”

  “I know what you mean. Makes you want to take a long hot shower to wash it off.”

  Jordan was aware of Ellie’s quick sideways glance, indicating she knew that Jordan’s mind had briefly wondered to a place that had nothing to do with the Prophets of Better Days.

  “It’s late,” she said, trying to make the conversation a little lighter again. “So maybe
in order to save time, you’d like to take that shower with me?”

  Ellie smiled gratefully. “That’s a great idea. Especially since we never know how long the hot water will last.”

  “That’s a reason.”

  “Yeah, but I have many more.”

  * * * *

  The apartment was dark and silent when they came home. In all likelihood, they would have the place to themselves for a while, if not for the whole night. It didn’t take long for the bathroom floor to be littered with clothes. Ellie leaned back against the cold tile, closing her eyes as the hot water came rushing down, giving over her body to Jordan’s warm confident touch, her hands slick with the peach-scented shower gel, washing away the last bit of tension and frustration. Eventually, their mission went from comforting to exciting, and Ellie followed easily. She shivered with the pleasant sensations, each brush of fingertips, each movement bringing her closer to the edge. Jordan kissed her deeply and urgently when her body was ready for the free fall, pulling her closer. For several moments, all she could do was try to stay upright and breathe. Ellie wasn’t yet ready to have a conversation in which she’d have to admit that Bethany made the right call. In fact, she didn’t want to talk about Bethany at all.

  There was no time to waste, especially considering that they could run out of hot water sometime soon. She went to her knees, enjoying the feel of Jordan’s fingers tangling in her hair as she struggled to anchor herself.

  They were together, and they were okay, no matter what personal or professional challenges might wait. The water raining down on them started to turn tepid, and then cold, but only moments away from her goal, Ellie didn’t give up. She wasn’t a quitter.

  Shivering and laughing, they got out of the shower a couple of minutes later.

  Kate returned by the time they had put on robes and prepared a late night snack.

  “What a day,” she said. Neither Ellie nor Jordan had anything to argue.

  * * * *