“What’s that?”
“The moment you leave, all these doubts and stupid thoughts are going to start bouncing around in my head.” She tilted that same, beautiful head slightly, watching him with big, rounded eyes. “Downstairs . . . maybe I took advantage of a moment that I shouldn’t have. Some of the things you said—”
“I think we both misread each other, Quinn.”
“Did we? Did I misread it when you implied that you were married?”
Calder smiled, the concern that she was about to bring up her father and some of the things he’d said about him melting away. He didn’t want to get into a long discussion about that man now, because if they did he would give away the fact that he’d looked under her blouse, and he knew she wasn’t ready for that. But realizing that her fears were simple, almost mundane, and bordering on jealousy, was not only a relief but flattering.
“I’m not married. Not now or ever.”
“You’re not?”
“No.”
Relief brought a smile to her lips and light to her eyes.
“I do, however, have a daughter. She’s three.”
Quinn’s smile disappeared, but the light stayed in her eyes. “But you and her mother…?”
“Ree Ann left. She couldn’t handle the requirements of motherhood, so my mother moved in and takes care of both of us.”
Quinn nodded as she slowly processed that information. “Are there other things I need to know? Do you have girlfriends hiding in the closet? An addiction to Internet porn?”
Calder laughed. “I have a three-year-old daughter. I barely have time to sleep.”
Her smile came back, wider than before. “I guess that’s true.”
He crossed back to the bed, snagging her arm and pulling her up on her knees. He kissed her almost roughly, but gentle enough not to scare her. And she responded with equal passion, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck.
“We have a lot to talk about,” he said against her lips. “But it’ll have to wait. I have to get to the office.”
“Okay,” she answered just as softly against his lips. “I’m looking forward to it.”
He kissed her again, then reluctantly pulled himself free from her grasp. Once again, he could feel her watching as he headed for the door, but he didn’t turn around this time. He was afraid if he did, he’d never leave.
* * *
Calder slipped into the large conference room as Axel began to speak, nodding to a few of the other operatives who’d also been called in from the field to attend this meeting. It seemed almost everyone in the building was there, except for the secretarial pool, the ladies who manned the emergency services, and the scientists working on new and better ways to trap the bad guys down in the labs. Most of the operatives, security personnel, and the ladies from human resources were there.
Calder slipped up beside Gracie where she stood against one wall, a deeply concerned look on her pretty face.
“What’s going on?”
She shook her head, clearly as in the dark as the rest of them.
“Thank you everyone for coming in. I realize this puts some of you in a tight spot with your current cases, so I’ll be brief.” Axel looked around the room for a long moment. “Some of you may not be aware, and this was not how Durango wanted to make this announcement, but circumstances have forced our hands.” He paused again, focusing on the top of the table for a second. “In light of Kyle Peters’ death, someone had to take over as head of operations to try and fill a tiny portion of the huge role she played here at Mastiff Security. Durango chose me to fill that position.”
A few gasps went up around the room. Calder looked around, met a few of the guys’ eyes, satisfied in the fact that many of them obviously agreed that Axel was less than qualified for the job.
“As head of operations,” Axel continued, raising his voice a little to be heard over the murmur of conversation that had begun, “Durango has asked me to take charge of the firm for the next few days in his absence. Therefore, I’d appreciate if everyone will please report to me with updates on your open cases. I will also be assigning several new cases at the beginning of the business day tomorrow.”
“Where’s Durango?” someone called out.
Axel hesitated, clearly uncomfortable answering that question. And his hesitation caused the murmur to turn into a roar as everyone began talking all at the same time.
Axel was clearly in over his head. He was a quiet man at the best of times, not the kind who knew how to charm a room full of angry and confused employees. Watching him go down in flames was entertaining to Calder, but he also realized that allowing that to happen would send the firm into utter chaos. That was not something this firm needed right now. Anybody with experience in the workplace knew that the death of a leader would most certainly lead to the demise of their empire if someone strong and confident didn’t step in immediately. Without Durango to do so, this place was rushing toward failure if someone didn’t step up.
Gracie grabbed Calder’s hand and squeezed. She clearly understood this, too.
Calder made his way to the front of the room and took up a position beside Axel. When the room continued to erupt in chaos, he slammed his hands, palm down, on the table top, startling those close to him enough that silence began to fall like dominoes around the room.
“Listen up, people,” he called in his deepest, loudest voice, the one his mother called his dad voice. “This meeting is not over. You need to pay attention and listen to what Axel has to say!”
There were quite a few dirty looks shot his way, but the room remained silent as Calder stepped back and gestured to Axel to take over.
Axel stepped up to the head of the table again and looked around, his arms crossed over his chest.
“You’ll probably hear about in the papers pretty soon.” His voice was a little low, forcing a few to move in closer to hear him. “Durango was arrested this morning in connection with the murder of a detective who was working Kyle’s case.”
Again, a murmur went up, but this one was filled with shock at the news Axel had to deliver, not toward Axel himself.
“I don’t have any details, but Durango will be out of the office for some time, possibly days, possibly weeks. But I have every confidence the charges will be dropped, and he will retake the reign here at Mastiff. That’s why we need to come together to keep this place working smoothly. Durango has been fiercely loyal to us these past three years. It’s our turn to show our loyalty to him.”
Another murmur, this one clearly supporting Durango, made the room almost deafening. A few people came over and patted Axel on the back, shaking his hand, congratulating him on his new position. Calder stepped back, catching Gracie leaving the room out of the corner of his eye. He suspected she was headed to the police station. Everyone knew that Gracie was in love with Durango even if Durango himself couldn’t see it. And it broke Calder’s heart because Gracie was like everyone’s little sister, the one everyone went to when they needed something, the one everyone loved to hang out with, but the one no one seemed to notice was a beautiful woman under those glasses and frumpy clothes. Calder could see her rushing toward heartbreak and felt helpless to do anything about it.
The room quickly emptied out. Calder stopped to talk to a couple of other operatives and was about to leave himself when Axel came up behind him.
“Calder, can I have a minute?”
He turned and looked over Axel, taking in the shadows under his eyes. This job must be more stressful than he’d assumed.
Axel waited for the last of the stragglers to leave before focusing on Calder. He sat on the edge of the table, his hands caught between his knees as he leaned forward a little.
“Durango is convinced that the man who killed Kyle is the same man who killed his fiancée in Chicago.”
Calder’s eyebrows rose. “Is that right?”
Axel nodded. “The cops think Durango’s responsible for both murders, which is probably why the
y suspect him in this new one as well.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a news article, handing it to Calder. “It looks like she was strangled just like the others. But they also hint that there was a sexual assault, which is unusual in these cases from what I understand.”
“Do you think he’s guilty?”
Axel shrugged. “No. But if the cops keep arresting him every time someone dies, I’ll be the only one.”
Calder handed the phone back and crossed his arms over his chest, watching Axel. What the hell did he want with him?
Axel tilted his head, his eyes focused on something on the floor. “It’s going to be utter chaos here until this thing is over. That means most of the day-to-day running of the firm will fall on my shoulders.”
“I guess that comes with the job.”
Axel nodded. “With Durango gone, I have to make a few executive decisions. One of those is based on the fact that I know I can’t do this alone. I’ll need someone to help me run the day-to-day operations of the entire business.”
“Okay.”
Axel looked up, meeting Calder’s eye. “I’d like you to take the position. You’re the most qualified of all the operatives here, and I believe you and I can work well together. It’ll come with a raise, of course, and you’ll be taken off field work for the foreseeable future. But, I think—”
“I need to finish the case I’m working now.”
Axel hesitated. “How close are you to wrapping it up?”
“Pretty close.”
Axel nodded. “All right.”
“Okay.” Calder held out his hand. “You have a deal.”
“Great. Come by the office when you finish your case, and we’ll work out the details.”
They shook on it. As Calder walked out of the building, he found there was a new spring in his step. This was going to be a good move for him, for his family. All he had to do now was save Quinn.
At the moment, he felt like he could do anything.
Chapter 15
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield Police Department
“Durango!”
Gracie came rushing down the corridor ahead of the beat cop escorting her to the holding cell, her hands reaching out for him despite the bars that separated them. He moved to the bars and took her hands, holding them tight for a long moment, relieved to see a familiar face.
“What are you doing here?”
“I had to come. Why didn’t you call anyone?”
“I called Axel.”
She nodded, a cloud floating over her eyes for a second. “He held a meeting and announced that he was the new head of operations. He said you’d be out for a few days, and that everyone was to report to him.”
“Yeah. We were going to make the announcement this afternoon, but, obviously, that’s not going to happen.”
He started to pull his hands away, but she held on, refusing to let him let go. “He said that a detective working Kyle’s case was killed?”
Durango nodded. What else was there to say?
“Why did they arrest you?”
“It’s complicated, Gracie.”
She tilted her head slightly, a glare touching on her glasses from the overhead lights. “When you say something’s complicated, I know there’s trouble coming.”
“I think trouble has already arrived.”
She squeezed his hands, her plain pink lips parting slightly as if she was about to say something. But then they were interrupted by the arrival of another beat cop.
“You’re being released, Masters.”
Durango stepped back from the bars as the cop began working his key into the lock, too shocked to ask questions.
“What’s happening?” Gracie demanded.
The cop looked at Durango with all the disgust and anger that could fit in his tall, thin body. “Someone alibied him.”
“An alibi? Who?”
The cop just shook his head. “I’m sure they’ll eventually find a hole in it. But, until then, Cap says we have to let him go.”
The cop opened the cell door and gestured for Durango to walk out. Gracie grabbed his hand as he stepped out, moving her body close to his side as they walked together toward the doors at the end of the corridor. When they stepped through, Durango found himself wishing they’d take him back.
His father, all tall and Hollywood looking, was sitting with Detective Fedor at a desk across the room.
“Fuck me,” he whispered under his breath.
“Who is that?” Gracie asked.
“Jackson Chamberlain.”
She was quiet for a second. “Who is that?”
He glanced at her, surprised she wasn’t flustered, all awed to be in the same space with the famed Hollywood director. But she seemed genuinely confused as to who he was.
“My father,” he finally answered her.
She just nodded, her eyes moving back to Jackson’s face. He could almost see her trying to find the resemblance between them. Durango knew, logically, there probably was some. But he always believed he looked more like his mother than his father.
Fedor stood and came over, his entire body seething with rage.
“I will prove it was you, asshole,” he said in a low, steady voice. “I don’t know how you keep walking away from these things, but I will find the answer, and I will make sure you pay for what you’ve done.”
Durango couldn’t let that go unanswered. He stepped forward and said in a low, hard voice, “The only thing I’m guilty of, asshole, is showing your partner a damn good time, something I’m sure you wanted to do, but you weren’t exactly her type.”
Fedor punched him, slamming him into the floor. Then he followed, kneeling beside him to land a few more punches before his friends managed to pull him off.
“Get out of here, Masters!” Weller yelled at him.
Gracie was immediately at his side, helping him to his feet. He stumbled a little, more out of shape than he’d thought. But he’d gotten what he needed. They’d have to think long and hard before they arrested him again.
They’d just handed Durango perfect grounds for an assault and police brutality lawsuit.
Gracie drove him home, not speaking a word the entire drive. She followed him inside, her nose turning up at the stale scent of old tequila that permeated every corner of the downstairs rooms.
“You don’t have to stick around.”
She didn’t respond. She simply went into the kitchen and gathered up the empty bottles that were hanging out there, placing them in the trash and taking them out to the can in the backyard. Then she came back inside and broke out the cleaning supplies, scrubbing down the counters as he stood there and watched.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s better than doing the same thing to you that you goaded the cop into doing.”
“I was just trying to keep him off me.”
“Didn’t look like it to me.”
“If he ever comes to arrest me again, he’d have to have some serious evidence or I could cry harassment.”
“Yeah? It seems like they had some pretty serious evidence this time.”
Durango’s eyebrows rose. “What do you know about it?”
She stopped mid scrub, pulled out her phone and handed it to him. Already pulled up was an article from the local papers describing the scene of Hyde’s murder. It mentioned sexual assault as well as the t-shirt found wrapped around her throat.
“You slept with her?”
Durango set the phone on the counter and went to the cupboard where he kept his booze, disappointed to discover he no longer had any tequila. He pulled down a bottle of sherry someone had given him as a gift and popped the top, taking a long swallow as he felt her eyes heavy on him.
“You are too smart to be such a fucking ass. Are you trying to ruin your life?”
“I’m trying to fucking survive!”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
She turned back to her cle
aning. Durango took another swallow of the sherry before setting it down and moving up behind her, grabbing her arms to still her cleaning.
“I don’t want you to clean my house, Gracie. I don’t want you here, don’t want you getting involved in this insanity.”
“You’ve made that pretty clear.”
“Have I? Then why are you still here?”
“I don’t know.”
She pulled away, dropping the rag she’d been using on the floor. Then she thought better of it, reaching down to snatch it up, tossing it into the sink.
“I just . . .” She stopped, biting her bottom lip as she fought some emotion hidden behind those damn glasses. “I can’t stand to see you do this to yourself, Durango. You’re imploding, and all everyone can do is watch it happen.”
“I’m not doing this to myself. Some asshole is killing all the women in my life!”
“Yeah. But you’re handing him the weapon on a silver platter!”
“How am I doing that?”
“You drink too much. You act irresponsibly, going out sleeping with any and every woman who crosses your path! Sleeping with the detective investigating the case?” She shook her head, clearly outraged at the idea. “Why would you do that?”
“It wasn’t planned.”
“But you were there. You could have stopped it.”
“Why? Why should I have stopped it? She was a beautiful woman who came here and threw herself at me. Why should I walk away from that?”
“Because it was inappropriate! Because it landed you in jail!”
“I couldn’t have seen that coming.”
“You should have.”
Durango shook his head. “No one knew about us. No one could have known about us. How could he have known?”
“How did he know about Kyle? How did he know he could get close to her? How did he know about your fiancée? How did he know that she would let him in the apartment?” Gracie shook her head. “I don’t know, Durango. But surely you’ve realized that this guy knows things he shouldn’t, that he’s just waiting for you to fuck up so he can take advantage of it!”
Mastiff Security: The Complete 5 Books Series Page 33