by Liz Everly
“I’ll make some coffee,” Sasha said, fumbling around with the coffeepot.
After she got it going and the brewing-coffee scent filled the air, she exhaled and sat at the table. He ordered them some breakfast from room service.
“Chocolate waffles?” he asked.
She nodded. “I don’t know if I did the right thing,” she said after he finished the call.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe I should have gone to him. Look at this mess of people. They are certainly going to muck things up.”
“Just because it’s crazy in here doesn’t mean they aren’t coming up with some good planning. Josh has handled some very sticky situations for me and he thinks highly of D’Amico,” he said. “Besides, I really think this character will not release Maeve, even if you give yourself to him. He’ll kill you both.”
He walked over to the coffee and poured them both a cup.
“I think you need to level with me, though, and tell me what kind of hold he has on you. Why does he want you so badly?” He sat the coffee cup in front of her.
She smiled a weary smile. “He helped me out when I was a kid. I was seventeen, had been kicked out of my parents’ house because they found weed in my room. I was scared. He gave me a place to stay. Helped me find work.”
“But you’re a smart woman. You knew the work was illegal,” Sanj pointed out.
“Not at first,” she answered. “I modeled. But soon enough, I was turning tricks. Then he saw I had this talent for domination and he exploited it.”
“But still, that can’t be all,” Sanj said, nodding as if he knew this part of her story. “He’s chased you halfway around the world and has kidnapped Maeve Flannery because he wants you back.”
“I’m not sure he wants me back,” she replied. “At least not in the way you imagine. He wants to save face. He knew I was going to collar Paul. It’s not just about kink, you know, it’s a deep commitment. He knew Paul was helping me get straight. Which pissed him off because he considered me as an investment. Years of training and practice . . . you see?”
Sanj leaned back in his chair. A hubbub of activity could be heard from the next room. “You were a business problem. But still it seems as if he could find someone new to fulfill his requirements.”
“I’m sure he has, but he still wants revenge,” she said, setting her coffee down.
He leaned in toward her and kissed her gently. “You are so much more than that,” he said. “I want you to believe that.”
Suddenly tears, real tears, streamed down her face. Was this man really saying such thoughtful things to her? Was she dreaming? Did she deserve this? “Thank you,” she finally said, looking up at him through her wet eyelashes, managing a crooked half-smile.
Chapter 35
“We don’t have much time,” Josh said on entering the kitchen.
“What’s the plan?” Sanj asked.
“We’ve got an approximate fix on his location. We’re considering two options, which are up to you.” His eyes found Sasha.
“Me?”
“Yes, look, if you say you don’t want to do this, it’s fine.”
“No,” Sanj said. “I know where this is going. Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
“Sir, I—”
“I can speak for myself, Sanj,” Sasha said. “What is it? What are the options?”
Josh shot Sanj with a look that meant “this bitch is trouble.” After ten years of working with him, Sanj knew that expression well.
“We can either storm the area with a SWAT team or perhaps you go in, wired, with our team already in place. We see Maeve walk out and then we go after you.”
Sasha leaned her head on her hands.
“Sasha, I think it’s too dangerous for you,” Sanj said. “Just let them go in for her.”
“The trouble is if we do that it won’t pull him out of wherever he is. We’ll have to go inside, and that gives him the edge already.”
“There’s really no choice. Before I decided to come and get you and tell everybody about the photo, I was considering going on my own,” she told him.
“Whoa,” Josh said, as Sanj’s guts tightened.
“I decided not to because I don’t trust him. I think he’d kill us both,” she said.
“You’ve come so far,” Sanj said. “I’m glad you decided not to go back to him.”
“Well,” Josh said, straightening, looking as if he had developed a whole new respect for Sasha. “We only have a few minutes to prep you. Can you do this?”
Sanj’s heart pounded wildly in his chest.
“Of course I can do this,” she said. “You have my back, right?”
“We will all have your back,” another voice came in from outside the kitchen area. It was Detective D’Amico. “I already have some players in place,” he said, walking into the room.
“The goal is to get both of you out alive. Maeve walks out first. We secure her safety at the same time we go after Snake to secure yours. You will need to hit the ground as quickly as possible to stay out of the way of any stray shots. Do you understand?”
“What if they see you?” Sasha asked.
“I know the area fairly well. Plenty of huge rocks and boats and so on. The SWAT guys are pretty quiet and know what they are doing. In fact, between my team and Josh’s, we have some of the best guys I know. So don’t worry about it,” he said. He paused. “This is a highly unusual situation. In most cases, we don’t like to involve civilians. Your safety is our highest concern.”
Still, it could go horribly wrong.
“Can we have a minute?” Sasha asked.
“You’ll have to make it quick. We need to brief you,” Josh said.
She nodded.
“You don’t have to do this,” Sanj said, his jaw firm. “I’m serious. I forbid it.”
Was he angry? Kidding? How cute.
“Forbid it? I know it’s dangerous, Sanj,” she said. “But I want to do this. Maeve is in danger and I will never be completely free of this man if I don’t do something.”
“They are using you as bait!”
“It will be fine. I’m tougher than you think,” she said, reaching out and touching his face. “Let’s not argue about it. I need to tell you something.” She found the cool mask in herself. The part that allowed her to perform acts she sometimes despised to men she found completely unappealing. She needed Sanj to see her cool, calm, and collected.
He turned his head and brought her hand to his lips, breathing in her scent, audibly.
“Whatever happens . . .”
“Stop. I won’t hear of it,” he said, his voice cracking.
“There is a possibility, you know, that things will go wrong. And I thank you for everything. You’ve no idea,” she said, swallowing a sob. “You’ve no idea what you’ve given me.”
She leaned into him and kissed him. She wanted to remember the way it made her feel—everything from his rough, not-yet-shaven cheek against her to his hands, so strong, large, and yet tender. It was as if everything in her body opened, ached, yearned. Yes. That’s what he had given her. She was feeling again.
“Sasha,” Sanj said, and kissed her back. It was the kind of a kiss that gave her a sinking, delicious, fuck-me feeling—it was one that Sasha would remember—which was a good thing as they were being interrupted.
“What is going on here?” Jennifer said. “Do you have some coffee?”
“Help yourself,” Sasha said.
In walked Josh. When he saw Jennifer he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Hello, Josh,” Jennifer said.
“I understand you have the notebook. I need to see it again,” he said, ignoring her greeting.
“I do,” she said. “It’s in my bag.” She fished around for it and handed it to him.
“You ready?” He said to Sasha.
She nodded.
“Jennifer, Sanj will explain everything to you,” Sasha said, standing up, feeling a little shaky in
her legs. Was she really going to do this? Why did she suddenly feel like a character in a James Bond movie?
Josh took her arm and the started to walk out of the room, then he turned to Sanj and said, “By the way, we’re working with authorities all over the world to shut down his operations. Since we have a positive ID on him, Sam Everidge is going down. One way or the other.”
“Thank God someone is doing something,” Jennifer said. “How about Mozingo?”
“We are still searching his property and he’s being held by the authorities,” Josh said. Then he took Sasha out of the room.
Chapter 36
Briefed and wired, Sasha was almost at her destiny. This man who considered himself her savior would either be her destroyer today or her victim. She wasn’t going down without a fight. Her life hadn’t been much until she met Paul. He helped her give it meaning—now it was his memory keeping her going strong. What his view of her was—she was beginning to see herself that way, too.
What of Sanj? She shrugged. If only she knew. She liked him. A lot. But needed to stand strong, alone, without a partner for a while, to prove to herself that she could. She swallowed away a sob. She may not even have the chance to explore what could have happened between them. What was she doing?
“You all right?” Josh said.
He was beside her in the car. A handsome, brown-eyed guy. Seemed nice, even if a bit too serious.
She nodded.
“We’ll try our best to bring you back alive,” he said. “Sanj will have my balls if I don’t.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Think that’s funny? You have no idea what the man has threatened to do to me,” he said. “He’s mean.”
Sasha laughed even harder.
“No. Seriously, Sanj is the best human being I’ve ever known,” he said with a serious note.
Sasha bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, a good guy.”
“And you . . .” He looked at her with uncertainty.
“Don’t worry,” Sasha said, glancing out the window. “If I survive this, I can promise you I won’t hurt him. Is that your concern?”
“Not exactly. But it’s a good place to start,” he said. “I’ve worked for him for ten years. But we were playmates as boys. His family means the world to me.”
“We will be arriving at the location momentarily,” D’Amico said. “Now, we’ll be pulling over and letting you out.”
They rode in a fake taxicab. When she left the vehicle, walking down toward the harbor, she tried not to look back at Josh. It would almost be as bad as looking at Sanj. She was glad now they would not allow him to come.
She watched groups of people go by. A family with two kids—the little girls so lovely with huge, dark eyes. The elderly man with a cane. A group of young men—one glancing her way—were they sailors? She’d known quite a few sailors.
The sky was pristine blue, with few clouds, and it wasn’t yet too hot. It was a gorgeous day. Come what may.
Only one block from the harbor, she looked off to her left to see one of the men strategically posted. He wore a gray hat. Josh had told her he would be at that spot.
The sea stretched in front of her and she remembered the first time she saw the ocean. It was in England and her parents had taken her for a holiday that turned into a drunken special for them. A cold night locked out of her hotel room for her.
But that didn’t stop her love of the ocean. She breathed in the scent. Sand and sea. Felt the pull and rhythm. Alluring. Left her in awe. Every time.
She noted the sign for the cove.
Now, on a boardwalk, her shoes thumping on the boards, she saw the rocks D’Amico told her about along the edge of the cove. She walked up to the space and looked around.
Nobody was there.
She glanced at her watch. Two minutes until the meeting time. All was going well.
A sailboat glided along the water in the not-too-faraway distance. A motorboat sounded from somewhere close by. Clouds stretched before her in big white cumulus patterns.
She was breathing. She was calm. She had expected to be a nervous wreck.
But here she was. Facing her demons. She knew within every fiber of her being she was strong enough to face him. She was ready for whatever happened. Even if it meant her dying. She’d made her peace with the world. Hell, maybe, if life after death existed, she’d be with Paul again. The thought filled her with warmth.
A bird cawed and about scared her half to death. Glancing at her watch again, she saw it was one minute after.
“A watched pot never boils,” her mother used to say.
Still, Snake was a punctual man. And nothing seemed to be happening. Now her heart began to race. She heard the thump of a foot and turned to see where it came from. A strange man walked by her. That was all.
A quarter of an hour later, she sat down on the nearest rock, sweating, hardly in command of herself at all. Snake had made a fool of her again. She stared off into the distance.
Chapter 37
“What?” Sanj said into his cell phone.
“Something has gone wrong,” Josh said. “The guy never showed.”
“Shit,” Sanj said. “Sasha?”
“She’s okay,” Josh said. “But a bit . . . down or something.”
“I see.”
“She’s a . . . a hell of a woman, Sanj,” Josh said.
Sanj knew that. But it didn’t make things any simpler. He was still who he was. And she was . . . Sasha, the woman posing in the photos on the Internet, the woman who was a paid dominatrix.
“We’ll be back within the hour. We are regrouping,” Josh said and hung up the phone.
Sanj could not believe it. This Sam Everidge—Snake—had made a fool out of all of them. What kind of game was he playing? Would any of them ever see Maeve alive again? Was she still alive?
“A woman for a woman,” he said out loud. He wants Sasha; he won’t kill Maeve because he’d never get his hands on Sasha that way. At least that’s what he told himself.
He found himself drawn to his laptop. He opened it and turned it on. The sea sparkled right outside his window. So calm and so blue it could break your heart.
He typed in the words “Sam Everidge.”
This should keep his mind occupied so he wouldn’t think about Sasha. It as clear to him whatever was between them would have to finish soon. He didn’t want to drag her into his complicated life. But he also didn’t want to hurt her. The trouble was . . . the thought of finishing with her hurt him. He didn’t want to let her go.
From one blogger:
Sam Everidge, owner of the Ever Casinos and Restaurants, has been implicated in the assault of photographer Jackson Dodds. Unfortunately the trail is cold. There are no witnesses and no money trail, leaving the authorities to pick through hearsay tidbits.
From another blogger:
Looks like Sam Everidge has gone into hiding again.
Nobody can find him anywhere. When you have money like that, it’s easy to disappear.
Sanj shut his laptop. Okay, the guy was rich and powerful. And mean. Very probably a psychopath. Why would he not show up to collect Sasha?
He’s messing with her. Trying to put her in her place—once again.
A ripple of panic shot through him: Was the man even still on the island?
A knock sounded at the door. When he opened it, Jennifer greeted him with a bottle of wine. “Hey,” she said. “Can I come in?”
He hesitated, looked at the security officer, who didn’t even seem to be paying attention, so he assumed it was okay for her to enter his room. But what was she up to?
“Sure,” he said. “I was researching this guy Sam Everidge.”
“Doesn’t he seem like something out of a movie?” Jennifer said, walking into the kitchen, pulling out some wineglasses from the cupboard and looking lost.
“What do you need?”
“A wine-bottle opener. This is really good,” she said.
“It�
�s in the drawer,” Sanj said. “It’s kind of early for wine, don’t you think?”
“This is special wine and it’s almost noon. So, any news?” she said as she opened the bottle.
“Yes,” Sanj said. “Whoa, that is a beautiful color. What is that?”
The wine was a dark red shade—almost brown.
“Chocolate wine,” she said. “I went out for a little while yesterday and found this. Of course, my bodyguard came along with me.” Her eyes rolled. “So?”
“Everidge never showed up,” Sanj said, lifting his glass, smelling the wine. “Interesting scent. Very rich. Sasha would love this.”
Jennifer’s smile vanished.
“He never showed?” She said setting her glass on the counter. “What the hell?”
Sanj shrugged. “I was just looking him up on the Internet. Seems like a real ass.”
“Cheers,” Jennifer said, lifting the glass to her lips.
“Cheers,” Sanj said, breathing in the chocolate-orange scent, then sipping the wine, swishing it around in his mouth. “Wow,” he said, after he swallowed it. The depth of chocolate, set off by a subtle orange flavor, was surprising.
“It’s good, eh?” Jennifer said, walking over to his couch and plopping her lovely behind down on it.
“Very,” he said, sitting down in the chair across from the couch. “It’s like drinking truffles.” He took another sip.
“So what kind of game is he playing?” she asked, leaning into a pillow.
“I wondered the same thing. In fact, I was wondering if he is still even on the island.”
“Which would mean . . . he could be anywhere in the world . . .” Jennifer said, looking as if she were going to cry. “I’m so frustrated,” she said, downing her wine. “I keep thinking about everything. The mass grave. The DDT. Most of all, Maeve. I need another glass.”
“Whoa, Jen,” Sanj said to her. “Are you sure?”
She stood, hands on hips. “Look, some asshole has my best friend and you’re going give me some speech about how I can’t handle my alcohol?”
“Well—”