by Faye, Carmen
This would be a good time to have a goddamn phone number. Hudson had taken her phone along with her clothes. Another moment of shame and humiliation at the circumstances she'd allowed herself to fucking enjoy.
The light got closer and her hope blossomed. She started jogging again. Within only minutes she was at the end and saw a place to climb up. She made her way up and suddenly open air greeted her. The problem was, she wasn't sure what to do from there.
A quick glance around didn't tell her much. Where in the hell was she?
Fortunately, someone stopped a car nearby and she walked over to him.
"Excuse me," she asked as she approached.
The guy in the car was short, balding and kind of plump; but he looked friendly enough.
"Yes ma'am?”
"Where am I?"
The guy looked at her with a confused gaze that pushed her to explain herself.
"I've been jogging. I got lost. I'm kind of new here."
"Where are you trying to find?" he asked. "Do you need a ride?"
"The ATF office." she asked. "And if you don't mind that'd be great."
"Hop in," he offered. "I'll take you."
She tried to explain that she lived near the office as she slipped into the passenger seat. She leaned back, buckled her seatbelt and hoped for the best.
"So you're that missing agent?" the man asked and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.
"Yes," she nodded and hoped this man wasn't about to take her back where she'd just come from to meet her death a little early.
"Well, I'll be god damned. I thought you'd be dead.” He extended a meaty hand her way. “Detective Larson. Your friend Andy will be glad to see you. "
***
"What do you mean gone?"
"I did what you asked boss," Charlie was stammering. He was terrified of trouble. "Went up to see if she wanted to join you for breakfast."
"Is she in the library?"
"No," Charlie answered. "She's nowhere, boss. She's fucking gone."
Asher's face dropped and his heart sank. Had she been playing him? Was he a fool to have fallen for her? All the while she was gaining his trust, she was learning how to escape?
"Where the fuck is Dakota?" Hudson slid his plate away and stood up. "Get him in here. Now!"
Asher paced the floor. He wasn't certain if he was more hurt that he'd been that dumb or angry that he'd been that dumb. He just knew he was something. And he had to find her. He had to hope like hell that she hadn't convinced him to get close to her only so she could get out.
"What's up?"
"Did you lock the tunnel?" Asher slung the words like a knife at his face.
"The tunnel?"
“Behind the shelf, twist. There's a pathway to stairs that lead to the basement. From there you take tunnel out. Did you lock it?"
“I…" Dakota stammered.
Asher closed his eyes and whispered, his voice dangerous and low. “Get out. All of you.” When Dakota made the motion to join the other guys shuffling out, Asher grabbed him on the shoulder. “Not you.”
When all the other guys were gone, Dakota asked. "You love her?"
Asher wasn't sure what to say. The truth? He was an idiot. He loved her. He wanted her. Or a lie? No, she was just too smart for him. That was all. Yet…
"Yes," he confessed. "I do. Did. Thought I did. I don't fucking know anymore."
"Were you protecting her last night?" Dakota asked.
"What do you think? The boys would’ve gutted her if they had the chance. Of course I was protecting her. And all the while she was lying to me."
"I’m sorry, Asher."
"Do you think she played me?"
"What else could it be?"
"That fucking bitch." Asher whispered. "Worthless no good lying fucking bitch!"
"What now?" Dakota asked.
"What do you mean what now?" Asher looked at his friend.
"C’mon, man. You gotta get your head together. We’ve got an ATF agent on the loose that’s been missing for weeks. If nothing else, they got us on that one. We’ve got a goddamn Mexican drug lord thinking that the same goddamn agent is dead, and he’s about to find out that she's not. That we lied. That she's taking you down and possibly him as well."
"Send Charlie to check the roads to the field office," Asher said. "Call a meeting. Immediately. I'll be back in fifteen."
He waited to hear Dakota ascend the steps before he broke down. The tears flowed down his face. How could she have done this to him? Why would she have lied? Why the fuck was he crying? But he knew the answer right away, even if he didn’t want to admit it. He finally found a woman he loved and she was using that to get her way. Like he did with plenty of women in the past. Under other circumstances, he might’ve been laughing, but Asher Hudson only felt tears welling up in his eyes.
Alone with his back against the wall, Asher took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and walked out to where the other guys were waiting. No way in hell was he going to keep crying a female player. He was the idiot. He was the loser.
"Charlie saw her walk into the field office." Nelson said as soon as Asher walked in. "Ten minutes ago."
Goddamn bitch.
"We need a plan," he said to the guys and grabbed a chair to sit down. "We can't let this bitch win."
Over the course of the next half an hour the guys sat and debated what to do. They had to face both the ATF and Manny. Neither were a picnic and both could end them in a heartbeat. Dakota proposed that they leave town, but it wasn’t a possibility. If the ATF didn’t find them, Manny sure as hell would.
"Why'd ya do it boss?" Charlie asked.
Asher looked at his brother with surprised. "Do what?" he asked.
"Lie about it," Charlie said. "You love her. She was playing you, but you love her anyway."
"I wanted her to be safe. And you guys were making that damn near impossible."
"Wish we had now?" Nelson smirked.
"No," he answered. "I wish she was who I thought."
"They never are." Dakota mentioned. "They never fucking are."
"So we wait?" Asher asked the guys and they all nodded. "Fan-fucking-tastic. We all wait, and hope like hell we aren't waiting for our own deaths."
Epilogue
"Baby," her voice was grinding into his eardrum. What the fuck was her problem? He was at her apartment wasn't he? He was fucking her wasn't he? Hell, he was even doing it all without earplugs. What more did she want from him.
"Yes?" He faked sincerity.
"When are you going to leave your wife?" She asked.
Goddamn. He knew it'd come, but this soon? It'd only been a few weeks. There was no way he was going to tell her the truth. He wasn't. His wife was an amazing woman and mother. She just didn't like sex. She certainly didn't let him bend her over and ram it into her without foreplay. Amanda would never be his wife. She would be his whore.
"We have kids," he cooed at her, hoping to appease her. "It makes it hard."
"I'm beginning to think it's never."
Logan did not have time to be babysitting a grown woman today.
"C'mere." He reached an arm out and took her into it. "You’re beautiful, you know that?" he smiled at her and played with her red hair.
"You think so?" She beamed from ear to ear.
God, she’s as stupid as she’s annoying. "Absolutely." He smiled. "You make me feel like I'm the luckiest man on earth. But you gotta understand me, y’know? Divorce with kids involved? That’s complicated. Let’s just, let’s just keep it simple for now."
That seemed to be enough to get her back into the right place. Her head dropped to his lap and she took him into her mouth. All that she’s good for, the goddamn dumb slut.
He heard himself groan a few times as she teased the head of his cock. He wasn't going to lie. He’d like to have her around more.
"Hey," he pulled her hair to lift her up.
"You don't like it?"
"I love it actually." He smil
ed. "I was thinking, actually."
"About what?" she ran a finger along his chest.
"Do you like kids?" he asked sincerely.
Her eyes lit up. “Are you suggesting—"
He pressed his finger to her lips and cut her off. “No, let me finish. I was thinking. How’d you like to help me babysit my kids sometimes? Like a live-in nanny?”
"You want me to watch your kids?"
Didn’t you hear what I fucking said? Christ, woman! "Well, there’s other perks to the job." He answered and fondled her breast. "For starters, there’s going to be a hell of a lot more of this if you’re right there in my house."
She smiled and agreed without even considering the offer. Getting blown anywhere he wanted, anytime he wanted? What’s not to love about that? Plus, it’s not like his wife would even know. God knows they needed a nanny to look after the kids.
Before they could discuss it any further, Logan's phone went off. He didn't stop to see who it was before he picked it up.
"Logan?" the voice on the other end wasn't familiar. " Detective Larson, LVPD."
"What do you want?"
"I met one of your colleagues the other day," he continued. "I talked to him about Agent Fuller, the one who went missing a few weeks ago?"
"Yeah, and?" Logan pretended he knew what the hell the man was getting to.
"She's alive." With those words Logan's ears stood up. "I just dropped her off at the office. They said you weren't there. But I wanted to say, give that kid an apology for me. He said he thought she was alive and I didn't believe him. I'm real sorry."
"Are you sure it was her?" Logan asked
"No doubt about it," Larson said. "She seemed upset. You might want to check on her."
"That I will do." Logan replied. "Thank you Detective Larson."
The phone shut off before he sat it down. Everything inside of him froze. She was out. How the fuck did she get out? That backwards hillbilly was supposed to have taken care of this. He was supposed to make sure she was no longer a problem.
"I've gotta go," Logan stood up and pushed Amanda off of him. "Work calls."
"Anything I can help with?" She asked.
"No. Pack your shit and get to my house. You’re fired."
"I love you, baby," She gave his cock a squeeze.
“I’ll see you later."
Logan threw on his pants and ran out the door. He had to get to the office before anyone else did. By coming out of hiding, Fuller was putting them all in danger. As he started his car in a panic, he made a mental list of people to take care of. Hudson's redneck towel boy was first.
"Logan!" Andy was all smiles when Logan walked in. "Did you hear?"
Logan nodded and walked right past him. He didn't know where she was, but he had to find out what she knew.
"Not happy to see me?" Her voice caught him before he looked in her direction.
"Of course I am, Fuller," he answered. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Not sure," she answered. "You seem flustered about me being here."
"I was out running." He lied.
Logan didn't have the time for this conversation. He had things to take care of. Like why she was free and how to stop what was about to happen.
"Aren't you gonna ask if I'm okay?" she asked him.
"You’re alive, aren’t you? I assume given your living circumstances that this is more than okay?"
"Yes," she answered. "It is."
"Anything else I can do for you, Fuller?"
"Absolutely," she answered.
"What's that?"
She thought long and hard before she replied. She wanted to make sure the decision she carried out was the right one. Once she felt confident in her choice, she made the decision to say it.
"I know where the Nomads are, I know who’s there, I know my way around the house." She spoke quickly. "I want to take them down. Today."
CHAPTER 14
“Can you tell us what happened?” the voice softened a bit to ask the question, but Melissa Fuller could sense the hostility underneath.
She may be new to the area, but she wasn’t new to the ATF. She was a damned good agent and that meant being able to read what wasn’t being said. In this case, it was disbelief.
It’d been a couple of weeks since she returned to the office, and Logan was still having her questioned. His hope, as he told her, was that she would remember more detail and be able to help them out. His tactic, however, was to keep her from her job.
Sure, she was still employed. But he’d shot down her hope of storming into Hudson’s house and taking them down. She hadn’t received any new assignments in the meantime either. Listening to the questions for the fifteenth time since she emerged from captivity, she thought back to that day and the conversation she’d had with Logan.
***
“Take them down for what?” Logan had stopped what he was doing and paid close attention to her words. “What did you see, Fuller?”
Melissa had been afraid to say much. She recalled Asher’s conversation about Logan and she wasn’t sure how accurate it was. There was no way she wanted to risk her own life or the life of anyone else.
“Nothing,” she had replied. “They’re criminals and I want to take them down.” Her own desires started to dwindle. She may have held a grudge against Asher Hudson, but something kept her from turning on him when he’d confided in her. Something told her that his story had been true even if his intentions were not.
“Well as of now we have nothing other than the kidnapping. If you saw something while you were there, that could change. If not, then we need to focus on that. It’s a start.”
Fuller toyed with her feelings on the matter. Logan was hiding something. He couldn’t be trusted. She knew that much. So she wasn’t sure she was ready to clue him in. Or anyone for that matter. Hell, would it be considered professional misconduct to fuck her captor? Or to fall in love with him?
It wasn’t like she could tell him about the drugs and guns. Then he’d know she was roaming free. If she was roaming free, then it meant she knew more than she had told anyone. That put her life in jeopardy as well. Especially if Logan was as crooked as Hudson had told her.
“I don’t know anything.” She shrugged.
“I thought you’d remember something this important,” he’d stated as if he didn’t believe her.
“I doubt it. I wasn’t really able to do much investigating.” She had laughed and walked off towards her desk, doing her best to hide the flutter in her heart each time she thought about Asher.
***
“Miss Fuller.” The voice brought her out of the thought. “Can we start from the beginning and work through it again?”
“Sure,” she answered and sat back against the chair. “I was on the mike with Wallaby and he said he’d be right back. Next thing I know, I’m being taken somewhere else”
“Who took you Miss Fuller?” The voice was pressuring again. “Where did they take you? Where were you at when you were talking to Agent Wallaby?”
“I was in a closet. I had gone through a tunnel to get there. But I was stuck.” She answered honestly.
“What closet?” The questions were always the same.
“It was supposed to be Asher Hudson’s,” Melissa answered with facts everyone knew. “But I’ve never been to his house so I can’t say it was or wasn’t.”
“Why were you in Mr. Hudson’s closet?” Yet another familiar question.
“I was leading a case on Mr. Hudson and his alleged involvement in criminal activities,” she answered. “I was given the plans to catch him in a meeting with some major weapons dealers.”
“Was he meeting with those dealers?”
“I don’t know. I was in the closet and then I wasn’t.” She repeated the same words she’d been saying for weeks.
“Who took you, Miss Fuller?”
“I really don’t know, Mr. Shepard,” she addressed him by the name she’d always known him as. “I was blindfolded and ne
ver saw their faces.”
“There was more than one?”
“Yes. There were two.”
“Can you describe them?”
“It was dark when they came in,” she continued, “and then I was blindfolded. But one of them had cold and clammy hands. The other didn’t say or do much.”