by Dale Cadeau
“I know he was with us at the front door when we left the office, but I lost track of him after that,” Lance replied as he held the door for the crowd to reenter the entrance way leading to the bars.
Chapter Eight
Following the crowd through the door, they found Chase in the entranceway surrounded by a bunch of subs with their Doms standing behind them, looking none too pleased. Clay knew Chase was just being Chase, but the Doms didn’t know him. He was talking to the subs without their permission, and Clay could see this elevating into a dangerous situation for him. Chase wouldn’t even know what he did wrong. Clay made his way through the subs surrounding Chase, who looked mighty pleased with all the attention he was getting.
“Chase did you ask permission to talk to these subs? Can’t you see the Doms are not pleased?” Clay asked in a low voice as soon as he got close enough for Chase to hear.
Chase looked above the heads of the women surrounding him and at the pissed off faces of the Doms. “They’re just jealous.”
“No, Chase, you don’t understand. These Doms own the subs surrounding you. Now make nice or that pretty face of yours that you seem to hold so much stock in will be unrecognizable when they’re through. These Doms don’t play around.”
Chase, when he took in the serious look on Clay’s face and the Doms surrounding him, whispered, “I didn’t realize, Clay. Do something. This is your bag, not mine. And James would never forgive you if something happened to me, when I’m helping on a case.”
“OK, I’ll try. But I’d rather watch your ass get taken to task for being so stupid.”
Looking around at the Doms, Clay raised his voice. “This is one of my men from Braden Security and we’re working a case. He doesn’t know about the lifestyles protocols and shouldn’t be here. So for this once, I beg you to let it go. And remember, it takes two. You gentlemen should stop and think about your subs’ parts in all this. I think a spanking to all of them is needed to bring back control of your unruly subs.”
Once their attention was off Chase, Clay grabbed him and pulled him into Lance’s office. Lance slammed the door behind the three of them after watching the Doms lead their subs toward the spice bar.
“What the hell were you thinking, Chase? One of the rules we have at Braden Security is to blend in, not make a spectacle of ourselves. And that little display out there just blew our cover. I knew the Doms were already on edge, with the stalker out in the parking lot. Good thing for you they knew Lance was bringing in someone to deal with the problem. We didn’t want anyone to know who we were, but that’s all I could think of saying to get them to back down. That’s the only thing that saved you from getting beat within an inch of your life.” Clay had pushed Chase none too gently into one of the chairs in front of Lance’s desk.
“Sorry, I didn’t know. I guess I should have listened to Grant and not come out to help. He told me that I would only be in the way, but I really wanted to help like I did the last time. I just didn’t think a club in the outskirts of town would be so dangerous.”
Clay looked down at Chase’s dejected look and just gritted his teeth. Chase meant to help. He just wasn’t equipped to do it. “OK, Chase, here’s what we’ll do. The other side of the club is the vanilla bar. We will plant you there and maybe you can be our ears and eyes over there.”
Chase perked up at being included. He hadn’t said anything to the guys, but sitting behind a desk all day was getting boring. Working with the guys on their last case had been one of the most exciting things in a long time to happen to him. He wanted to experience the thrill again he had felt when they had out foxed the Feds and the drug lord and saved Avery. He didn’t want to blow it now and have James disbar him from future missions.
Lance, who was had been listening to their exchange walked over to his desk and picked up the ringing phone. He hung up as Clay got through talking to Chase. “That was Grant. He thinks we have something this time. He’ll be here soon with the feed from another camera.”
* * * *
Angel was starting to worry. Cinnamon hadn’t said a word since they had left the club, except to give him directions to her house. He couldn’t do anything to reassure her. He wanted to reach out and hold her, at least touch her and tell her everything would be OK. But he couldn’t as he was having a hard time driving a car with his knees up to his chest. He felt like a sardine in a packed can. His lady would have to get a new car if she expected him to ride in it. He was surprised that they lived in the same neighborhood. The houses were all small, cozy ranch houses. Angel had bought his because it reminded him of his grandmother’s small home on the reserve when he had first moved here. Back then, he didn’t know how long or even if their new business would take off. Now, even though money was no object, he still didn’t think to move from the small house that he was so comfortable living in.
Pulling in to a neat little bungalow with colorful flower beds surrounding the walkway to the house, Angel liked what he saw. It was trim, neat, and colorful, just like her, at least he thought she would be when not scared half to death. Cinnamon didn’t move and just kept staring out the widow even though the car was now parked in her driveway. Angel was starting to really get worried now.
He pulled himself out of the tin can and, after straightening up and shaking the cramps out of his body, he walked to her side of the door and opened it. Cinnamon seemed to come to her senses when he opened the door. Her eyes were wide open, as if he had startled her again. Angel gently reached in and removed her seat belt and helped her from the car. Holding her arm, he walked her up the well-groomed path to the front door. Cinnamon was now digging in her purse for the keys. Finding them, she reached out to unlock the door, but her hand was shaking so much she couldn’t get the key in the lock. Angel pried the keys out of her grip and took them and opened the door. Feeling for a light switch, he found it and flooded the living room with light.
Now he could see her clearly. He could make out that her pale face was covered in sweat. She looked like she was going to pass out. Angel scooped her up in his arms and made his way to a couch he could see on one wall. Gently laying her down on the couch, he looked around for the kitchen. He found an archway, and after making sure that she was fully laid out on the couch, he walked to the room, turned on the light, and searched her kitchen for a glass. Filling it with water from the sink, he hurried back to Cinnamon. Cinnamon was now sitting up and was holding her head with trembling hands. Maybe he should have taken her to the hospital.
Dropping to his knees in front of her, after he pushed the coffee table out of the way, he took one of his hands and put it on the back of her head and tried to give her some comfort. After a few minutes of him petting her hair, she finally took her hands from her face and looked up at him with eyes that seemed too big for her face. Holding the glass of water up to her mouth, Angel urged her to take a sip. Finally she grasped Angel’s hand holding the glass and took a sip. Taking another, she pushed the glass away and dislodged his hand from her hair when she went to brush it back from her face.
“I’m OK, Angel. I just needed to get my bearing. Thank you for seeing me home. You can leave now. I’m perfectly OK to look after myself. Oh wait, you have no way to leave. I wasn’t thinking in allowing you to drive my car here. Take my car. I’ll get Lance to pick me up in the morning. Just bring the car to the club in the morning and I’ll get it there.”
Angel looked down at her with a thunderstruck expression on his face. “You can’t think too much of me if you think I would leave you alone after the scare that you just had. And you’re also not thinking straight. What if the man knows where you live? You’re in no shape to defend yourself tonight. There is no way I’m leaving.”
Putting the glass down on the coffee table, he rose from his knees and looked down at her sitting on the couch. Cinnamon looked at the angry warrior staring down at her. She could picture him watch over his tribe of old. No one was going to hurt her tonight or even get close to her with him on
watch. While it made her feel safe in a way, she also was becoming aware of the large presence he made in her living room. Standing there with his hand holding his hips, he made a fine specimen of a man. Why did this man turn her thoughts to things she shouldn’t be thinking about after having such a scare and still feeling the grips of the panic attack?
When Cinnamon looked like she would start protesting again, Angel spoke up with a no-nonsense voice. “I’m not leaving. You’re in no condition to dictate what you want. You’re white as a ghost and we should have taken you to the hospital. Do you have anything stronger than water? I think you need something to warm you up.”
“If you look in the fridge, there’s a half bottle of wine. Anything stronger you would have to go out for. I don’t believe in hard liquor. I don’t like anything that would fog my thinking. I really don’t need a drink, I just need to get some rest. I’m sure the guy didn’t follow us home, so please feel free to leave.” Cinnamon wanted Angel to leave before her hormones started acting up and she would beg him to stay. He was everything she thought she wanted in a man but knew that she could never have. If it got out what had happened to her, nobody would want her.
A frustrated Angel just walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of wine from the fridge. He wished it was James’s Scotch. He knew she needed to get some sleep and her mind off the scare tonight. Pulling the cork from the bottle, he took a glass out of the cupboards and filled it with the wine.
When he approached Cinnamon, still sitting on the couch, he could tell that her color was better and she wasn’t trembling as much. Sitting beside her he handed her the glass. “Drink this and then we’ll see about getting you to bed. And don’t argue. I’m staying tonight. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Cinnamon glanced up at Angel sitting beside her. She wondered if he would judge her if he knew her secret. He seemed like a man that would make up his own mind. Taking the glass from him, she took a drink and felt the warmth spread over her body. She didn’t know if it was the wine or because Angel was sitting so close to her.
Handing the glass back to him, still three quarters full of wine, she knew she had to get away from him and think. She told Angel there were sheets in the closet and she was going to bed. She knew she was being rude, but right now she had to escape and find space to be allowed to think. Every time the man’s voice from the parking lot came to mind, she had the feeling that she had heard that voice before. She just needed time to relive the moment in the parking lot and maybe she would remember. It might mean nothing but until she had time to go over it, she couldn’t disregard her feelings. Angel’s closeness to her made her want to forget the man back at the club, and she just wanted to snuggle up with him and absorb the warmth radiating off his large body.
Had she not learnt her lesson, she told herself. Men could not be trusted. Getting angry at herself, she pushed off the couch and away from Angel, making her way down the hall to her small bedroom. There were larger bedrooms in her house, but her time spent at the compound had gotten her used to sleeping in a small contained room. It somehow made her feel safe. Large spaces bothered her now. Tossing her clothes on the floor, she made her way to her bed and climbed in and pulled the covers over her head. She just needed to think without the distraction of Angel. Maybe he would take her rudeness as not interested and leave. After all she hadn’t even said goodnight to him. But she really didn’t think so. She could tell that it would take a lot more than rudeness from her to get rid of a man like Angel. Part of her hoped he would just leave and the other part hoped that he wouldn’t. She didn’t want to acknowledge to herself that she wanted him in bed beside her.
Chapter Nine
Angel pulled his cell phone out of his pants as he watched Cinnamon walk down the hall and into her bedroom. She looked a little better, but not enough for Angel to leave her alone, no matter how rude she was being. He couldn’t be sure if the man from the club parking lot had followed them home. He didn’t think so, but between worrying about Cinnamon and trying to drive her tin can of a car, his attention had been distracted and he hadn’t put much effort into watching the cars behind him. He knew he could protect her and keep her safe, if the need arose.
Clay answered on the first ring. “Clay here. Angel, is everything all right? Is Cinnamon OK?”
“Cinnamon is OK. We’re at her house now and she just left to go to bed. Did you find out anything from the camera feed tonight?”
“Well, he did come closer to the club than he usually does, so we have a partial facial picture, but really not much else. Grant is going to try and put it through the Feds’ data base and see if anything pops up. I don’t hold up too much hope, as the picture is dark, and like I said, only part of his face is showing.” Angel could hear the frustration in Clay’s voice.
“Well, that’s more than we had before. Hopefully Grant can clean it up and maybe we’ll get lucky. Can you ask Brad to go to my house and bring my truck over and a change of clothes? These leathers are sticking to me like glue. I don’t want to leave Cinnamon alone for the time it would take me to run to my house. Her house is not that far from mine but I don’t want to take the chance that maybe the guy knows where she lives.”
Angel could hear the guys talking in the background. He knew they would still be in Lance’s office going over every inch of the camera feed. “It can wait until you are done looking over the pictures. I’m not going anywhere.”
Suddenly he heard Chase’s voice over the phone, not Clay’s. “I’ll grab Brad and be right over. Lance and Clay are mulling over the pictures of the guy. See you in twenty.”
The phone call was dropped and Angel stared at it. The last person he wanted to have to go over things tonight with was Chase. He hoped that James hurried back and took his brother under control. Dropping down to the couch, he grabbed up the remote on the coffee table as he righted it in-front of the couch and turned on the TV.
There was nothing he could do until Chase got here with his truck and clothes. He resisted the urge to look in on Cinnamon. Not enough time had passed for her to fall asleep yet and he didn’t know if he saw her in bed if he could resist the temptation she would make. Keeping the volume low, he watched a police show already in progress and picked up the rest of the wine that Cinnamon had left in her glass and swallowed it down.
* * * *
Angel looked out the window of the front door. He had just about given up of ever seeing his truck or Chase this night. Finally, he spotted his truck turning into the driveway. Over two hours had passed since he had spoken to Chase. Opening the door, he watched as a limo also pulled up to the curb behind his now parked truck as he walked down the driveway. Chase jumped out of the truck and met him halfway up the driveway.
“Sorry to be so long, but Clay was called to the hospital, something about Laura. Brad was watching her at the time and all I know is that Clay left the office like the devil was on his tail. With all the guys busy, it took me some time to contact my driver, who I had given the night off to come and pick me up. I also don’t have your break and enter skills, so I had to go to the Braden office downtown and get your keys after Grant told me where you kept them. I like your house by the way,” Chase rattled off to him as he walked past him and into Cinnamon’s house. Angel just shook his head as he was left to retrieve his suitcase on the front seat of his truck and follow behind him.
Chase was already in the kitchen by the time Angel had gotten his suitcase out of the truck and entered the house. “What happened to Laura?” Angel asked as he watched Chase look through Cinnamon’s cupboards.
Finally finding glasses, Chase turned and walked to the small kitchen table. “Don’t know. I thought we would call as soon as I got here. While I was in the offices I found some of James’s Scotch and brought it over. I thought we could use a drink.” Chase opened the bottle and poured Scotch into each glass to its brim.
Angel took out his cell phone and called Clay as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table. Chase
put a glass in front of him as he also took a seat, and Angel picked the glass up and took a long swig of the liquor.
“Clay here. What do you need? I don’t have time to deal with anything right now.”
“Angel here. Chase just told me about Laura. Is she OK? Is there anything we can do?”
“Thanks, but I’m just waiting for the doctor to come out and tell me. Some ass-wipe delivered a package to Laura’s place today. When she shook it, something exploded and her hands were burned with whatever was in the package. Brad took her to the hospital and that’s all I know right now. God, I’m glad now I didn’t listen to you when you said I couldn’t have Brad watch Laura’s house. Will keep you updated. Have to go.” The call was abruptly dropped with Clay’s voice sounding rushed and under stress.
Picking up his glass of Scotch, Angel took a long swallow and updated Chase on what he knew about Laura.
“Hope it all turns out OK. I’d hate for the big guy to finally find a lady and lose her.” Chase’s hands fiddled with his glass of Scotch in front of him on the table.
“How’s your lady? Before Clay left he said that Cinnamon was really shaken up after being grabbed by the guy in the parking lot.”
“I was just going to check on her when you arrived. She was pale and still in shock when we got here. I persuaded her to have some wine and she went to bed. I don’t like that the guy came so close to the club this time. I know it allowed us to get a partial face picture, but he usually stays farther in the back of the lot. He seemed to be upping his game and getting bolder. We have to find this guy soon.” Angel looked at Chase and finally clued in the something else that was bothering him besides the incident tonight. Chase was staring into his Scotch and being unusually quiet for Chase.