Waiting on Tuesday

by Bella Settarra

  Dan smiled, realizing he had used his Dom voice. “You never know.” He shrugged. It felt good to know that he knew her better than her brother, in one respect at least.

  Her file was very thin as there was hardly any information on the little sub. He dismissed the rest of it and fastened it again before replacing it on his shelf.

  “How did you get in here?” He frowned at Padric, who pulled a slightly bent credit card from his pocket rather sheepishly.

  “You broke in?”

  “I had to. It wasn’t easy, mind you. You’ve got state of the art security in this place.” Padric looked impressed.

  Dan sighed. “There’s a good reason for that.”

  “Oh I hear you, friend. I’m glad my sister’s records are being kept safe, you know?”

  Dan frowned. “Did you get in here before?”

  Padric sighed, holding his hands up in surrender. “Busted. It took me ages to figure out the lock the first time and by then I heard one of the cleaners coming. I had a quick look, but I couldn’t find the right file. Didn’t help I was looking for the wrong name.” He sniggered.

  Dan frowned.

  “It wasn’t until I rang Kathleen and told her we must have got the wrong club that she bothered to inform me that Caoimhe was calling herself Tuesday these days. What kind of a name is that anyhow?” Padric shook his head incredulously, and Dan grinned.

  “Come on, let’s get a drink. You can explain to me how you managed to pick my damn lock as well so I can make sure it can’t happen again.” He looked sternly at the guy, who just grinned cheekily back. Dan was finding it hard to be completely mad at him.

  “Fair enough, but can I get changed first? I don’t know how you lot wear these damn pants, but they’re playing havoc with my wedding tackle, if you catch my drift?” He shuffled uncomfortably in his leathers, trying to adjust his groin.

  Dan shook his head. “I think you’d better. What in hell do you think you look like anyhow?”

  Padric chuckled. “Hey, don’t you knock my disguise, man. I thought I looked quite the Dominant in these togs!” He feigned indignation and Dan laughed, carefully locking his office before leading the stranger to the elevator.

  Once they were comfortably in the Bottom Bar with a couple of beers, Dan started to relax a little.

  “When did you last hear from Tuesday?”

  Padric frowned. “It’s been ages. I thought she’d come back for our Daddy’s funeral, you know? Ashling said she’d told her, but she wasn’t interested. I knew that wasn’t the case.” Padric took a pull from his beer and composed himself. “Caoimhe hated him for what he did to her, and I couldn’t blame her. I’d tried talking to him about it, but he wasn’t having any of it. Threw me out, he did. Told me to mind me own business and get on with me own life. I did.

  “I didn’t bother much with the family after that—I’d had me marching orders. Kathleen told me he was still locking her away every time she played up. I know she’d even tried to stick up for her, but the old man hit her. I blame meself. I should have done more. I was so damn angry with the bastard I just stayed out of the way when I should have been back there sticking up for the poor lass.”

  He took another sip of his beer, glancing at his watch. “Jesus! I know when you yanks drink you always claim it’s five o’ clock somewhere, but I didn’t realize you meant five in the morning!”

  Dan grinned. It still felt like the middle of the night to him.

  “Anyhow,” Padric continued, “we were all hoping she’d come home once she knew the old man was out of the way. I asked Kathleen to call her. I thought one of the girls might get through to her better than me, you know? And she’d always been closer to Kath than any of the others.

  Dan sighed. “Let me guess, she wasn’t interested?”

  “That’s putting it mildly.” Padric grimaced, “We’d all let her down and she wasn’t having any of it. I couldn’t blame her, but I had to come and see for meself that she was all right. I felt really odd about losing our dad and I knew she would too. It’s funny when someone dies and you know you should be sad, but a part of you actually feels relieved that they’re gone. You feel dead guilty, so you do. He was a violent drunk, and we were well rid of him—especially Caoimhe and me—but it doesn’t alter the fact that he was still our dad.”

  Dan could certainly see the family resemblance in attitude as well as looks. This Irish guy told it as it was. Dan admired him for that.

  “So you came over to find her?”

  Padric nodded. “Yeah, I came right away when Kathleen told me. Caoimhe wouldn’t tell any of us where she was living or working though. We knew she’d left the first place, the Irish bar, but we didn’t have a clue where she’d gone. I went back there and tried to retrace her steps. They told me she’d got work at a BDSM club, but they sent me to the wrong one. I found this place by chance, but I didn’t see her so I thought I might have the wrong club again. That’s why I was dressed up like a prize prick, you know? In disguise.” He chuckled.

  “You’re not a Dom, then?” Dan giggled.

  Padric shook his head. “Nah. I’m not into all that pain and stuff. Those fucking pants were punishment enough in themselves. I tell ya, if I hadn’t found the lass soon I’d be saying good-bye to me sex life for good!”

  They laughed.

  “So where did they send you?” Dan asked as he grabbed another couple of cans from behind the bar.

  “Well, they said she’d gone to this place in town, so I went to Ropes. It was the only one I could find local to the pub. It’s not half as nice as here. Anyway, I asked around and they told me about this place and the great membership deal they’ve got with you. I thought it was worth a chance that Caoimhe was here, so I took them up on the offer. Lucky I did.”

  Dan frowned as Padric paused to drink his beer.

  “What membership deal?”

  Padric smacked his lips together. “Well, they said that Ropes was going to be turned into some kind of casino soon, so they’d negotiated a special rate for members to come here instead. They said it costs a lot more over here, as you’ve got such good facilities, but if you apply through them they were offering a huge discount.”

  “I’ll bet they were. A casino, eh? Excuse me a second.” Dan hailed Steve Ratner and explained his findings to him.

  “Well hell! So it is money laundering they’re up to! And they’re trying to get all the members over here so they still get the revenue by blackmailing Dexter—and even more when they try to take over the place themselves! I’ll check for any gambling license applications later. I’d put money on the Hummingbird going the same way too. Oh, and by the way, we were right about Sweetwater. They’ve had a couple of unfriendly takeovers there too.”

  Dan nodded and went back to his place at the bar. Things seemed to be adding up at last, but he was still no closer to finding his sub.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Tuesday awoke with a crick in her neck from her awkward position on the bus seat. She had hardly slept anyway, as there were some rowdy passengers who got on not long after her and proceeded to shout to each other all night. She guessed she should have expected it. It was Friday night after all.

  She quickly checked her cell and was surprised to see that Dan had managed to find her number and left her a message. The sound of his voice warmed her insides, and she suddenly longed to be back in his arms. There were a couple of missed calls from Padric too, who she guessed had been calling to ask her why she hadn’t turned up for Daddy’s funeral. She was in no mood to be going through all that again, so she quickly stuffed the phone back in her pocket.

  It was getting light and she had no idea where she was, but she was desperate to find a bathroom. As soon as she saw a sign for Denny’s she got off the bus and headed for it. The smell of bacon invited her into the diner and she was surprised how busy it was already. She had her toothbrush with her so she had a quick wash, change of underwear, and combed her hair. She stared at her pale refle
ction in the mirror. What in hell was she doing? With a heavy sigh, she gathered her things and went out to the counter. A bacon bap and a large coffee were just what she needed, and she dug in eagerly.

  Men in business suits lined the counter, so she had taken her breakfast over to a comfy chair by the window. She felt a little sorry for them having to work office hours at the weekend, although all the managers at the club always did, she supposed. She peered out into the dull morning. It was just after seven and the town was slowly starting to wake up. Snuggling into the chair, she let her mind drift back to last night. Dan loved her. She loved him. Why the hell did it have to be this difficult? It would never work, she told herself. She had nothing to offer him.

  She had told Paulette how she had been made to feel worthless. The counselor was a good listener and had told her not to be so hard on herself. Although she had only half-listened to the woman’s advice, she had to admit that a lot of it made sense. Her daddy had a drinking problem, and she bore the brunt of it. It was his problem, not hers. And she had only been a child; she was told to remember that. As she mulled over her conversations with the older woman, Tuesday started to sit a little more upright. Perhaps things weren’t as they had seemed, after all. What if she hadn’t been a troublesome child? What if she had deserved the attention she had craved? What if she wasn’t the person she thought she was at all?

  Finishing her coffee, she left the diner and went back to find the bus stop. Paulette might just be able to help her after all. If she could just get back to the hospital and find her, maybe the counselor could help her straighten it all out in her head. After all, she had certainly made a good start!

  She had to wait until half past eight for the bus to arrive and was glad of the warmth when she finally boarded. It was full of commuters and she had to sit next to an old lady with knobbly elbows for the first part of her journey. The chattering all around her finally dissipated as she got out of the town and back toward familiar territory. As soon as a seat became vacant, she jumped into it, relieved to get that woman’s bones out of her side.

  Staring out of the window, she watched the world come to life. Shops and offices opened and the traffic became busier. Feeling a little more relaxed, she allowed herself to lean against the window and drift off to sleep.

  “Having a nice dream?”

  A familiar voice cut into her thoughts and she sprang up, staring at the bastard who had taken the seat next to her.

  “W-what are you doing here?”

  “You owe me, bitch, and I think it’s time to collect my payment,” Jenner growled menacingly into her ear.

  Tuesday tried to stand up, but he held her tight.

  “Don’t even think about causing a scene.”

  She felt a sharp dig in her ribs, not unlike the old lady’s elbow, and realized he had a gun. Shit!

  She felt her whole body glow hot as panic rippled through her system and she fought for her breath.

  “You caused me a lot of trouble, you know,” he murmured into her ear. His hot breath permeated her, filling her with dread.

  “I-I didn’t do anything,” she stammered, her mind reliving that nightmare.

  “Oh, but you did. Not only did you get me arrested, but you wrecked my whole mission. Saunders took me right off the job because of you!”

  He was muttering through gritted teeth, but she heard. She felt her heart beat a little faster as she tried to focus on the conversation and not the growing panic threatening to attack her head on.

  “What mission?” She sneered, hoping he wouldn’t notice her interest.

  “You don’t know fucking anything!” he snarled. “You haven’t got a clue what’s going on in that place, have you?”

  She shook her head, not daring to look him in the eye.

  He sneered triumphantly. “Well, let’s just say the place is either about to be taken over or taken out!”

  She frowned, her mind whirling. “Someone’s buying Dexter out?” she whispered, feigning innocence.

  He chortled, causing one or two passengers to look their way. Jenner waited until they lost interest before muttering into her ear, “No one’s buying anything. Your dear boss is about to give it away.”

  Sickness roiled in her stomach as she heard him snigger.

  “Why in heaven would he do that, now?”

  He tutted, rolling his eyes. “Because he won’t have a fucking choice!” He spat the words into her ear, and she shuddered.

  “He’s a millionaire. Why don’t you just take his money?” She stared at him, willing him to explain the plan.

  He shook his head, as though reading her thoughts. “Oh, we’ll get his money all right. And that damn club!”

  A terrifying thought struck her, and she felt her heart race. “But what’s it got to do with me? I mean, it’s just a business deal, right?” She knew her voice was shaky, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  He jeered. “Well, since you made me lose face last time we met, I kinda figured you could make amends. So I been keeping tabs on you, waiting for you to get away from that big fellow. Who knew midnight runs to crappy diners were your vice?” He laughed at his own joke again.

  “You’ve been following me?”

  “Ever since the cops let me out. I had a lot of free time after you went and got me kicked out of that damn club! I got to thinking, I bet Dexter’s got a soft spot for his staff. And even if he hasn’t, I’m sure he won’t welcome the publicity if he gets one of them killed because of a bad decision. We get to put some extra pressure on the old idiot to hurry up with the cash, and I get some sweet, sweet revenge to boot. Win-win.”

  He whipped out his cell and called someone to meet him at the next bus stop. Tuesday wished she could do the same, but he still had her locked in place with one arm.

  “We’re getting off. Don’t you dare try anything!” he warned her.

  Tuesday swallowed hard. She was trying hard to quell her panic and straighten out her thoughts. She knew better than to make a move with that damn pistol digging into her side though, so she just nodded.

  He was still holding her close to him as they got off the bus, and she saw a car waiting for them as soon as they hit the sidewalk. They weren’t far from the hospital now, and she longed to be there instead of here with this creep. Ropes was just down the road from here too.

  Jenner pushed her into the backseat and climbed in after her.

  “We’ve got another hostage, Frankie,” he announced triumphantly to the driver. Let’s find Saunders.”

  The driver chuckled and they sped off.

  She didn’t recognize the part of the neighborhood they went through, and didn’t have a clue where they ended up.

  “Out!”

  They were at the back of a derelict building in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere when they finally stopped.

  Tuesday scanned the area. There was nothing but run-down buildings with a dirt track leading up to them. She climbed out carefully and was led into what looked like an old shop.

  “What the fuck’s going on?” A man with a dark beard glared at them as they arrived.

  “I’ve got another hostage, boss. This is the girl who wrecked everything the other night. Thought we could use her.”

  Tuesday didn’t like the glint in the ugly fucker’s eye and felt her heart sink even lower.

  “We’re having enough trouble with the one we’ve got!” he moaned.

  “What the fuck’s his problem? Not every hostage gets treated to a five star hotel!”

  “Oh, he’s happy enough with the accommodation, he’s just getting restless, that’s all. Daddy’s taking too long getting the readies together and I think he’s afraid that dear old Dad might decide he’s not worth it after all!”

  Both men burst out laughing.

  “So what’s this one worth?” Beardy looked her up and down, obviously realizing that her daddy wasn’t going to be a millionaire.

  “Not much. We won’t have to shell out fo
r a fancy hotel to keep this one sweet. She’s one of the staff at Collar and Cuffs—the bitch that botched up the plan the other night.” Jenner snorted.

  “The one who stopped you letting us in, you mean? We were all waiting outside for fucking ages with a damn bomb in our hands. What in hell were you thinking, fuckwad?” Beardy raged. From his tone, it seemed like this wasn’t the first time they’d had this argument.

  “It wasn’t my fault! I was doing a fucking good job until someone came looking for this bitch! She made such a damn fuss, the cops carted me off. I had no way of letting you guys know!” Jenner jabbed his gun deeper into her ribs, and she yelped.

  “Oh, so you’re the one to blame then?” Beardy sneered at her.

  A mixture of panic and outrage flooded her, and she thought she was about to pass out. She also thought it best to stay quiet.

  “So what’s the plan? We tell Dexter to hurry up and pay or we’ll kill this one? That should entice him to get on with it. Then we’ll do the same to his precious son if he doesn’t give up the damn club?” Beardy was looking thoughtful as he stared at her.

  “Yup. We might not have to worry about that fucking bomb, after all,” Jenner concurred proudly.

  “That’s a shame,” Beardy pouted. “After all that trouble it would be a shame to waste it.”

  Jenner’s eyes lit up. “You got it in, then?”

  “Yup. Last night. That bartender you were making friends with turned out to be quite useful. Belcher went in and told him he’d heard the gossip about you. The guy was quite happy to tell him all about it while Foggarty sneaked behind the bar and lifted the key. The guy didn’t even know it had gone.” Beardy sniggered.

  “So he let you all in?”

  Beardy nodded, that glint back in his eyes.

  “Good work. So it’s all laid?” Jenner seemed impressed.

  “Planted it right where we wanted to. Saturday night’s real busy in there usually. It’ll certainly go with a bang this week!”

  Tuesday felt her heart thud. Tonight! That didn’t give her long to figure a way out of this dang mess.