The American Soldier Collection 7: Their Sin City Showgirl (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Maybe you should, J.J.,” Brook stated, and then sat down on the bed. Calder and Lincoln came over too and Calder sat on the other side of Conway.

  “It might help if you talk about what happened to you. Obviously it was traumatic,” Calder added.

  She shook her head and tried to get up again. Conway pulled her snugly against him.

  “Please, Conway. I don’t want to talk about any of it. I’ll deal with this.”

  “No. You’ve been dealing with it on your own now for weeks, probably even before you arrived here. We can help you,” Calder said as he reached up and caressed her cheek. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “I’m used to taking care of things alone. It’s better this way.”

  Conway immediately felt angry. “How can you say that, after what we just shared? We care about you and want to help you any way we can. Seeing you in pain, or feeling alone, is upsetting.”

  “Conway, it has to be like this.”

  “No. It doesn’t. What will get you to trust us, and accept that we have deep feelings for you? What?” Lincoln asked, raising his voice.

  She looked at them and shook her head.

  “I don’t know. I just can’t let my guard down.”

  “It’s the training. You’ve worked undercover for years. You have to rely on your gut instinct and your own experiences to survive. You’re stuck in survival mode,” Conway said, and her eyes widened in surprise.

  “How do you—”

  “The war, being Special Forces, and all the shit we experienced. You think it was easy to become civilians again?” Conway asked her.

  “Why do you think we take on special requests, like watching over people with bull’s-eyes on their heads?” Calder asked as he caressed her forehead with his thumb. She shook her head and smirked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe you like whisking the unknowing scared females off their feet and into your lair? You know, seduce them with your muscles and charms,” she teased.

  “You’re not an unknowing female,” Conway sated.

  “Nor some damsel in distress,” Brook added.

  “No other woman has ever been in this room, and we’ve never shared one woman together like we did with you,” Calder stated very seriously.

  She held Calder’s gaze and nibbled her bottom lip again.

  She seemed to be thinking about what they were saying. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead lightly against Conway’s chin as she rubbed her hands toward the back of his neck to hold him tight.

  “If I’m going to explain what happened, I’d like to be dressed.”

  “Why is that? I kind of thought we would keep you just like this,” Conway teased and then cupped her breast making the towel fall away from her body further.

  She pushed at his chest. “Like that would happen.”

  “You disobey an order, ma’am, and a spanking or two may be in order,” Lincoln teased, and Conway chuckled as J.J.’s cheeks turned a nice shade of red.

  “Here. This is all you’re getting. No excuses. We want to know what went down so we can help you,” Brook said as he handed over one of Conway’s T-shirts.

  She looked at Brook.

  “Panties?” she asked.

  “I don’t think you’ll ever see any again around here,” Calder stated, and she shook her head as she began to pull the T-shirt on, and Conway, Lincoln, and Brook chuckled, but Calder kept a very serious expression on his face.

  * * * *

  They each sat around the room. Calder and Lincoln were sitting on the bed, Brook in a chair he pulled over closer to the bed, and Conway held J.J. on his lap in another chair next to the bed.

  Conway was caressing her thigh, under the shirt she wore, and she kept pushing his hand down.

  “How am I supposed to concentrate with you doing that?” she asked.

  “I can’t help it. I enjoy touching you,” he said, and she rolled her eyes and gave him one of her annoyed expressions he was getting to know so well. She wasn’t all girly and dainty. She was strong and sexy, independent and capable. So why was his heart pounding as he waited with the others for her to tell her story? He feared what she would reveal. He knew whatever it was, it would make him and his team even more protective.

  “So, was it your undercover job that landed you in the middle of this situation?” Brook asked.

  “Yes. Uhm, just to give you a little background information, the local police department had investigated the disappearance of a young woman from one of the local casinos. A witness saw the woman leave with a male. Two days later her body was found.”

  “Damn,” Conway stated. She looked at him and then continued.

  “After a third woman went missing, the detectives had some tips that someone who either worked or hung out at this one casino was involved somehow. There was a certain type of woman that fit the profile, or so the investigators thought. They figured young, struggling to make ends meet, and trying to make some quick cash. The Nevada State Police has a program where they receive assistance from the federal government on cases involving crimes committed on or near casinos. With there being multiple murders, the feds stepped in. In the interim, Marlee went undercover.”

  “Marlee?” Calder asked.

  J.J. looked away a moment and took a deep breath. Conway had a bad feeling in his gut. He had been over some things online with Sandman, who filled him in on part of this case she was talking about. They were guessing this was part of J.J.’s situation but they weren’t certain. Conway was insisting on more information the more he and his team became personally interested in J.J.

  “She worked in the same department that I did. She was really pretty, very gung ho about being a good cop. But she was new to the department and the force. The Commander thought she could ease her way into the casino and maybe get some inside information. But before she even got close, her identity was detected.”

  “What happened to her?” Brook asked.

  J.J. got off Conway’s lap and stood up. She nodded her head as she spoke, as if trying to act unaffected.

  “She was raped, beaten, and murdered. We found her body way out in the middle of nowhere. It hardly even looked like her.”

  “That’s awful, J.J. I’m so sorry,” Lincoln stated. Conway reached out and pulled on her T-shirt.

  “You were there when her body was discovered?”

  “I was involved with this case along with the detectives. The agents sent one of their own in next, and she wound up dead. But instead of witnesses seeing Denise leave with someone from the casino, witnesses saw her leave, smiling and hugging some guy that we never found. They got into a limo, so we thought he had money and was maybe a regular. There wasn’t too much to go by.”

  “So they couldn’t get some guys in there as security or even maintenance workers?” Calder asked.

  “No. It wasn’t until I was asked to go in undercover in a completely different position than the others, because of my background. It was a huge risk, but some informants from the casino had said that some sort of illegal prostitution business was going on.”

  “What do you mean with your background? What was the position you had to fake?” Calder asked.

  She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders.

  “I was a Vegas showgirl. I had a stage name, wore sexy gorgeous outfits, and sang and danced. I was a huge hit, actually. The public responded to me so well and so quickly that I was noticed immediately.”

  “Wow, our own little sin city showgirl,” Brook teased.

  “That’s impressive. You can’t fake that kind of talent. You must be really good at performing and singing?” Lincoln asked.

  “I had a lot of practice as a kid and in high school. I loved it. I probably could have gone professional maybe, but law enforcement was my calling.”

  “Why is that?” Conway asked.

  “My dad was killed in the line of duty. My mom died during a conveni
ence store robbery when I was thirteen. I guess I wanted to help stop criminals like that before they hurt or killed someone. I don’t know.”

  “That’s commendable, J.J.,” Conway told her.

  “Well, I fit the role, and I did such a good job that I attracted the men responsible for the murders.”

  J.J. began to explain about the owners of the club, the McCues, and then about how Tara approached her. She went on to describe the scene with Tara and the man in black who was acting out a role.

  “Wait. Where were you when this was going on?” Conway asked.

  * * * *

  J.J. felt her body begin to shake and a chill run over her flesh. She clasped her hands together as she looked away from them. She walked over by the dresser and ran her hand across the carved wood. The furniture was absolutely stunning. She had never seen anything like it before.

  “This furniture is gorgeous,” she said, turning toward them.

  “Brook made it,” Lincoln told her and she was pleasantly surprised.

  “Brook, you made this? You mean carved it by hand and everything?” she asked and he nodded his head. She was so impressed. What wonderful hands and a creative mind he must have to do such intricate work. She looked at him and held his gaze. He was so big and muscular up top. He had wide shoulders and those gorgeous brown eyes that more often looked sad than happy. She felt something inside her tingle like an awareness of some deeper emotion.

  Then she thought about their question.

  “Where were you when this guy was touching Tara and acting out some sort of game?” Conway asked her.

  She turned back toward the dresser.

  “I was caught between Martin and Dexter.”

  “Caught between them?” Calder asked.

  She didn’t look at them but continued to explore the room.

  “I was escorted to a booth. Both men sat on either side of me. They talked about me earning extra money. I was focusing on their words and trying to decipher if they were in fact trying to get me to prostitute myself for them.”

  “Shit,” Brook whispered.

  “I heard the commotion going on across the room, and at first I thought the man was serious. Ya know, that he showed up and found his woman cheating on him. But nobody moved and when I asked Martin and Dexter if Tara was okay and thought that maybe I should help, they kept me where I was.”

  She didn’t want to say how. Although something told her that getting this all out with them would be good for her.

  “How did they keep you in place?” Conway asked, coming up behind her.

  She gripped the dresser as he gently rubbed her back.

  She pulled away.

  “They held me by my inner thighs. They each used their hands to press against my thigh under the table.”

  “They touched you?” Conway asked.

  She turned to look up at him. Standing at six feet four and filled with muscles, he was quite intimidating. She nodded her head and his eyes darkened.

  She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and then released it.

  “Martin was stroking his fingers up and down against the material over my mound. He used his other hand to keep my hand over his crotch while the guy in black knocked over the other man and grabbed Tara, ripped her dress, and bent her over the table. Everything happened so quickly, and I couldn’t move. When I tried they pressed harder.” She was feeling her body shake again, and from there on out she rumbled through the story telling them everything about what happened next, and how they talked about taking her upstairs to their suite. She told them about Prentice, and how he went to check on Tara.

  “What happened when they realized that Tara was dead?” Calder asked.

  “The guy looked at me. He stated that the others couldn’t handle him, and he had someone better in mind. He wanted me.”

  “What?” Brook asked, standing up.

  “I–I can’t tell you who the guy was. I can’t. If I do then you’re in as much danger as I am. He admitted to killing the other women. He said he killed them. That meant Marlee, Denise, and the others. It was some sick fetish he had about coming in and beating a woman then forcing himself on her over and over again. Those other women were forced to play a part.”

  “How the hell did you get out of there?” Conway asked.

  “The guy recognized me.”

  “The killer? The one who just raped and killed Tara?” Lincoln asked, and J.J. gripped the dresser as she tried to keep the tears at bay. She wasn’t a crier. Never had been.

  “I said I felt like I was going to puke. They figured it was because of what I just witnessed. There were more of them than me, and the three undercover agents were in the surveillance room, so I needed to get to one of the cameras. I was nowhere near them. As soon as I started stepping away, the guy recognized me. I struck Dexter and took off down the hallway. I slammed through the exit and into the parking lot, but I still wasn’t near the cameras. There was no backup, no one coming to help. I was all alone. I ducked down behind some cars to catch my breath and see if they were following. I figured I would grab a cab, you know, and get to the safe house. As I stood up and went to run, Dexter was there.”

  “What happened next?” Conway asked, staying right behind her as she held on to the dresser.

  “These,” she stated, pointing to her neck.

  “He tried to choke you?” Calder asked.

  “He nearly did, but I had a switchblade on me. I was holding it just in case and got it out of my purse. I stabbed him in the side with it. He struck me and I struck him back, and we fought. Hence the other bruises and then I took off. I ran and I got away.”

  Conway wrapped his arms around her from behind. She lowered her head to the dresser and absorbed the feel of his arms holding her.

  “You were so brave, baby. So brave,” he whispered.

  “Who was the killer? Who could it be that you weren’t safe in federal protection?” Calder asked as he approached.

  She remained silent. She feared telling them. “It has to be someone important. Why else would feds take a bribe?” Brook asked.

  “Tell us. Tell us so we understand and can help you get through this,” Conway whispered as he squeezed her again. She turned in his arms and hugged him tight.

  “I can’t tell you. He wants me dead. He has more power and connections than anyone. My commander and the friends he has in the government and the Nevada State Police department are working on the evidence and building a case.”

  “But you’re the eyewitness to a murder and his confession to the others,” Brook said.

  “That’s why they want her dead. Who the fuck is this guy?” Lincoln asked.

  “We need to know. We can’t fully protect you if we don’t know what we’re up against. This is more than just you being a witness to a murder or testifying about a drug deal or something. This is way more serious, so tell us so we can help,” Conway demanded.

  “Who is someone in the spotlight, a public figure who loves and supports soldiers, police, and all first responders? Who’s known all over the place as the guy who gets the job done even with all the red tape and bureaucracy? What position is someone like that in?” she asked.

  “Sounds like a politician,” Lincoln stated with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  She swallowed hard.

  “What would you say if I told you that it was a politician? A congressman.”

  “Holy fuck,” Calder said.

  Conway placed his fingers under her chin and stared down into her eyes. She felt the tears fill up but not fall.

  “Baby, is the killer a congressman? Is it Congressman Dooley?” he asked, and she widened her eyes and shoved away from him.

  “You know him? You knew this all along. You work for him?” she asked in a panic. She was stepping farther away, and trying to head toward the door.

  “No. No, I don’t know him and we don’t work for him.”

  She went to take off but Brook grabbed her.

>   “Calm down, J.J. We’re not the bad guys. My God, you’re so paranoid and distrusting. We care about you. We want to help you.”

  “You can’t help me. Let me go. Oh, God, you know him. You know what he’s capable of and how hard it’s going to be to prove anything.” She carried on until Lincoln placed his hands on her shoulders.

  “He’s a killer. It doesn’t matter what his profession is or how much fucking money he has. He’ll get caught, he’ll be charged, and this will be behind you,” Calder stated confidently.

  She shook her head.

  “It’s not that simple. I witnessed him rape, beat, and kill Tara. He wanted me. He still wants me because now I stand to take everything away form him and destroy his life, his family, and his career. Everybody loves him. Even the feds were hitting walls as they tried to make the arrest and press charges. I was nearly shot outside of the precinct.”

  “What?” Calder asked.

  “It’s just a matter of time. Can’t you see that? He’s coming for me, and now that I told you, now that I’m here, he’ll kill you, too.”

  Brook hugged her to him and held her head against his chest despite her attempts at pushing away.

  “He won’t hurt you. He’ll never get his hands on you,” Brook whispered.

  “We’re in this together. We can help, baby,” Calder stated.

  “We have our own very special connections,” Lincoln said.

  “Starting with Sandman and then with our closest friends and family. We’ll help bring justice to those families and to you. We’ll do it together,” Conway said as he gently caressed her cheek.

  J.J. didn’t know if she could believe them or not. She wanted to. She didn’t want to face all of this and her fears alone anymore. She wanted to give into the comfort of their touch, their embrace, and the power behind their words.

  “I’m sorry that Frank got you involved with this. You were all living normal lives and then I come along and—”

  Calder placed his hands against her face.

  “And you walked into our home and our hearts. You’re ours and we take care of what’s ours.” He kissed her, and she felt the tear roll down her cheek, and a little feeling of hope fill her heart. Perhaps these four American soldiers could save her from a fate she had already accepted.