by Hart, Eve R.
A few minutes later, I heard them approaching the office door.
I took a seat just as the door opened.
Garen carefully, but sternly, brought the girl to one of the chairs in front of me. She reluctantly sat after I flicked my eyes to the chair.
“Is there a reason why you have been sitting in your car for two hours on my street?” I asked in a tone that I wasn’t going to let her bullshit me.
She played with her fingers. She looked so nervous I was worried that she was going to pee herself and ruin my chair.
“I-I’m looking for my sister,” she answered.
I said nothing but my brow went up as if telling her to go on.
“Her name is Emily.”
Garen’s body went stiff at hearing Midori’s real name and I saw his hand twitch at his side. He was ready to draw his weapon if needed. I shot him a look telling him to relax. I didn’t think this girl could be a threat. I also knew better than to misjudge a situation, so I didn’t tell him to go.
“Why would you think this person is here?” I asked with no hint that I knew who she was talking about.
“I overheard my father and brother talking about coming to get her. Before my brother left, I went searching through his things. I found this address.”
I could tell she wasn’t lying to me. No, this girl wouldn’t know how to lie even if she wanted to. She was too scared, too young and naïve. I still wasn’t sure why she was here, and for that I kept quiet.
“Please,” the girl pleaded but it did nothing for me. “Our mother shot our father when she found out what was going on. She’s in jail and since Cody and Buck haven’t returned, they are trying to say she killed them too. They told me that they would open an investigation and look into it. I need Emily to get them to go back. Or at least tell the sheriff that they came here and she saw them.”
That wouldn’t be happening.
I knew by the identification the dead men had on them who they were. They wouldn’t be going home, breathing or not, because their bodies were currently chopped into tiny bits and made fish food. Or alligator. I hadn’t gone into great details with Garen where he’d disposed of them.
However, it seemed like this was getting more complicated. We weren’t out of the woods and now that someone had raised flags, it was a matter of time before people came sniffing around looking for answers. If this girl had found me, then they could too. I doubted she left without telling them where the two men were headed.
That was one answer I still didn’t have. How exactly did they get the information about the cell phone? What kind of connections did they have? I couldn’t imagine that they were smart enough to find it on their own. Then again, I knew better than to underestimate people.
I needed to sit down with Midori and get more answers. The problem was, she wasn’t wanting to talk about it anymore.
There was more damage control to be done. Which needed to be taken care of before I let this girl see her sister. I had to make it sternly known that no one could know about what happened in that room.
I got to my feet.
“Sit here,” I told her.
She opened her mouth to protest but snapped it shut when I gave her an icy glare.
I walked to the door and Garen followed me out.
“I’ll talk to Midori. You stay with the girl. Make sure they are watching the cameras downstairs because mine are off for the time being,” I told him, keeping my voice low. “Get me information on her. Now.”
He nodded and went back into the room.
“Um, what is this place?” I heard the girl ask right before the door closed again.
I walked to the elevator with confidence knowing that he wouldn’t even open his mouth to say one word to her.
Midori hadn’t left her apartment much. The few times she had, Garen had been the one to coax her out. And he stuck by her side when she did.
I knocked, then let myself in. I found her sitting on the couch, her gaze blankly staring out the window.
“We need to talk. We have a problem,” I said coming to stand in front of her.
Her face went pale as her eyes moved to mine.
“Your sister showed up here.”
“Amy’s here?” she asked looking like she wanted to jump off the couch with excitement and terrified at the same time.
I held my hand up. It was my time to talk and she needed to listen.
“Yes. She’s in my office. Your mother has killed your father. She’s in jail now and they are looking for the whereabouts of your brother and his friend.”
It hit her all at once what that could mean.
“I’m only going to say this once. You never saw them. They never made it here. And nothing happened in that building.”
Her chest caved as all the air rushed out of her lungs.
“I don’t think I need to tell you the consequences for us all if anyone found out,” I told her, my eyes staring into hers to further push my point.
“I understand,” she said with a nod. “Can I see her?”
I studied her for a long moment before I gave her my answer.
She followed me down and the moment she stepped into the room, the sisters had a… touching reunion. There were tears and hugging. I waited with little patience for it to be over.
Garen could sense my irritation, the tiny smile on his face as he stared me down was an obvious clue.
“What happened?” Midori asked her sister once they broke apart.
The girl started sobbing hard as she explained everything to her, giving more details and throwing out names of people I didn’t know.
I looked up at Garen and he got my silent message. He pulled out his phone and started typing on the screen. He would get the information I wanted but he wasn’t going to leave the room.
Neither one of us knew this girl and she wasn’t to be trusted. There were problems coming our way and though she didn’t know it, she’d given us the heads up. She also had been part of those problems, but I didn’t think she even realized it.
“Did you see them? Did Cody and Buck come for you?” her sister asked.
Midori hesitated. I saw it. Garen saw it. But I wasn’t sure if her sister did too.
Rolling her lips between her teeth, Midori shook her head.
“No, Amy, I haven’t seen them since I left,” she finally said.
“Oh,” her sister said and her body sagged with disappointment.
She was young, I would have put her around sixteen or seventeen. Maybe she wasn’t aware of what kind of person her brother was. And from the sounds of it, their father wasn’t any better. It sounded like the mother knew and had finally reached her breaking point.
“You have to go home. You have to tell Teddy’s dad that you didn’t see them. Maybe something happened to them along the way.”
I resisted the urge to rub my temples. I had no clue why this guy’s dad was so important and what he had do to with the situation.
“I’m sure Sheriff Douglas has it handled,” Midori said to her sister but her eyes slid over to look at me.
With a small nod, I let her know I was following along now.
So she was from some small town. That was the feeling I was getting from listening to her sister talk.
That might have actually worked out in our favor. Small towns often didn’t have the money and resources to give a case like this the right attention. My hope was that they would try to find something and give up when they hit a few dead ends. But I was also smart enough that you couldn’t ever count on hope.
“So, what is this place?” Amy said. Clearly, she wasn’t going to let it go. I hoped Midori would give her enough to kill the curiosity without explaining too much. Or even a complete lie. As long as she didn’t have any real clue as to what was going on beyond this door.
Thankfully, I’d turned the feeds off.
“Oh, it’s a bar with upscale meeting rooms,” Midori said easily enough that it wouldn’t raise suspicion. At lea
st she had that lie nailed down.
“That sounds neat,” Amy said but I could see she didn’t really understand or care to. “So you like serve drinks, then?”
Garen cleared his throat and I cut my eyes to him. He didn’t look the least bit sorry.
“How did you get here?” Midori asked her sister not bothering to answer the question.
“I drove Mom’s car. I got my driver’s license a few months ago.” She was proud of that fact. Oh, to be so young and without worry. “I’m tired. Is there any way I could take a nap at your place?”
Midori stiffened, her eyes going from me to Garen, and then back again.
I gave a tiny nod to let her know it was fine.
Garen slipped out the door and I knew he was going to keep the hall clear of anyone that might come out of the rooms wearing things that would set off alarm bells even in this wide-eyed girl’s head.
“Come on, I’ll walk with you,” I said, slowly rising.
Midori looked nervous but I wasn’t going to acknowledge it.
The path up to her apartment was clear. I left them alone for now, meeting Garen in the hallway.
“Everything we could get is on your tablet,” he told me in a low voice as he scrolled through something on his phone. “The town isn’t even a dot on the map. They have a sheriff and two deputies. That’s all. They have one official car to share between the three of them.”
I wondered how easy it would be to make this all go away.
“I’ll let you read through the rest. There isn’t a whole lot but I’ll have them keep digging.” He put his phone in his front pocket and gave me his full attention. “You tell me what you want me to do.”
“You will stay with them. Do not leave that apartment. Call Rowan to see if she can come in for a little bit. If she can’t, tell Aurea she’s in charge until I get back.”
I finally gave in and let my fingers make hard circles on my temples. It did nothing to ease the pain and pressure in my head.
“I’m going to talk to Iron. He needs to know about this too,” I said as I let my eyes fall closed while continuing to rub my head. “It’s going to be a long night. Make sure Midori keeps quiet. If you hear anything else that I need to know, send me a text.”
He nodded and moved back to go into Midori’s apartment while I headed back to the elevator.
I went back up to my penthouse.
Once I was inside, I leaned against the cool wall just beside the elevator doors. Closing my eyes, I let out a long sigh.
I gave myself ten more seconds to ease the tension. Then I straightened, grabbed my purse and keys, and got back onto the elevator. After grabbing my tablet off of the desk in my office, I made my way to my car.
I typed out a text to Iron letting him know that I was on my way. I kept it brief and didn’t wait for a reply before I took off.
The faster I made it there, the faster I could maybe figure out what to do next.
All I knew was that I just needed to get there.
I needed to see him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Iron
Petra gave me a warning before she came to me. I knew that wasn’t a good sign. It also told me it wasn’t something she could talk about over the phone, which had me on my feet and waiting for her outside the front door.
“What’s wrong?” I asked the moment she stepped out of her car.
“Not here,” she said, her eyes scanning the area. “Inside.”
I nodded, took her hand, and led the way up to my apartment.
“Now, tell me,” I said after the door was closed behind us. I didn’t even bother taking a seat, I had a feeling I shouldn’t.
“We have a small problem,” she told me, her eyes closed off as they looked into mine. “Midori’s sister showed up today.”
“Okay,” I said. My mind was trying to figure out how bad of a problem this could be.
“Their mother is in jail for shooting the father. And now there is a missing son and a friend, as well.” Her brow went up like she somehow needed to silently convey who those people were. “The mother is being blamed for their disappearance and they have opened an investigation.”
“Fuck,” I blew out.
“The only thing they know is that the two men came down here looking for Midori. They don’t know that they found her. However, they have my address.”
She handed me her tablet and after making it come to life, I was staring down at the information that she had gathered.
“This is what we could find, but my men are still searching for more,” she said and then closed her eyes for a few seconds. I knew she was trying to get herself under control.
I could see she wasn’t necessarily rattled, but she was unsure of what to do now. And I guess, it did come down on my club since we were involved and all. But not too many people could make that connection. Not unless they were trying to, that was.
I sighed as I stepped closer to her. Wrapping my arms around her, I brushed my face against hers. She was stiff for a few beats, but then she relaxed into my hold. Her arms remained stiffly at her side.
“I’ll call Connor. See what I can get on top of before they come lookin’,” I calmly told her.
“I don’t know what to do with this girl.”
“Where is she now?” I asked hesitantly.
I didn’t think Petra would have her chained up somewhere, but then again, I wasn’t all that sure. Petra was the type of person that wouldn’t hesitate if someone was a threat to what was hers. She had a need to protect those she cared about. Petra would make sure they were kept safe to the point that she would stop at nothing to make sure that happened.
Her eyes narrowed on me like she was trying to understand the tone of my question.
“In Midori’s apartment. Garen is keeping an eye on them,” she answered in a tone that said I should have figured that out on my own.
“What are you going to do about her?” I asked hoping that she’d figured out that much.
“I don’t think I have to do anything. She doesn’t know any more than what the authorities do.” Her head shook as she gave me her answer.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I didn’t know this girl or what her intentions coming here were, but as long as Petra didn’t see her as a threat, it was one less thing I had to worry about right now.
I pulled out my phone as I took a step back from her.
My eyes stayed on hers as I put the phone up to my ear.
“We have a problem,” I said after Connor answered.
“I don’t want to hear that shite,” he replied back, his tone clearly unhappy.
“Too bad. I’m sayin’ it and you’re hearin’ it.”
He let out a breath that almost sounded amused.
“Fine,” he gritted out. “I’m coming.”
He dropped the call and I knew it wouldn’t be long.
I sent Mason a text and within two minutes, he was knocking on my door.
“We might have a problem,” I started then quickly filled him in with what little details I had.
When Connor got there ten minutes later, Petra explained everything with more detail. The three of us stood there listening to her, exchanging glances every now and then.
“I’ll head back to the station. Keep an ear out and see if anyone has clued the department in yet. I’m sure if Mullins has gotten wind of anything, he’ll be all over it.” Connor eyed me with his warning. “I’ll see what I can find out about these guys. Maybe they are one of those lazy, half-wit, backwoods department and won’t look too hard.”
“We can only hope,” I said with a nod.
“If Mullins catches on to any of this, I don’t think there’s much that I can do,” he said with a grim look. “I can’t put my neck out there and pull my people into it.”
He didn’t say he was sorry but there was a hint of apology in his tone.
“I wouldn’t expect you to. Need to keep things the way they are right now,” I told him.
I didn’t want to owe any more debts or have any organization pissed off at us. This was my shit, I was going to handle it.
“Watch your back,” I told him as he headed for the door.
“Prepare yourselves. I’ll do what I can.”
Then he was gone.
Mason and I shared a look. It wasn’t a good one. But we both knew that whatever shit storm came our way, we’d dig ourselves out of it.
“Not much we can do for now,” Mason said with a shrug. “I’ll call everyone in, but it’s gonna be a few before everyone can get here.”
He gave me a small smirk. I didn’t miss what he was saying.
And what he wasn’t.
“Thanks,” I said and tried not to shake my head at him.
“I’ll let you know when everyone gets here.”
I turned to Petra after I locked the door.
“What do you need, Pet?” I asked as I saw the uncertainty in her eyes.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to get myself out of a situation. I’m not worried,” she told me, her head held high and I knew she was sure of her words. “I came here to let you know what was going on. That is all. I don’t need—”
“Tell me what you need, Pet,” I said a little more forcefully. I wasn’t going to let her bullshit me. While I had no doubt that we’d get this situation handled just like any other one I’d come up against, I could tell she was hesitant because she didn’t know what she was dealing with yet.
“On your knees,” she said sternly, her chin lifting slightly.
With a smirk, I lowered myself down onto my knees. I waited with my arms hanging at my sides for her next instruction.
Her hands inched up the edge of her dress, drawing it up until a hint of her jet black panties showed. My eyes stayed glued to the movements and the moment her arousal hit my nose, my tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip.
“Take them off,” she told me as she looked down at me with heat in her eyes. “With your teeth.”
My eyes stayed locked on her as long as they could. My tongue slid out and licked her puffy lips before I trapped the fabric between my teeth. Her breaths came out heavy and choppy.