"What the fuck is going on, Reece?" he demanded. "Is Atlas okay?"
"Yes. Someone in this house failed to disconnect the television in her room," he growled.
Realization dawned.
"She just saw the news. Shit! I need to get in front of this from a PR point of view, I guess." Kade stared out the window, seeing nothing.
"Samantha?" Reece asked.
"Yeah. She'll know how to handle the media. The police already tried to help with a press conference saying it was just vandalism."
"Good. Call Ian and Jillian, they may be able to give some insight..." Reece started.
"I don't want to involve anyone I don't have to. I'm trying to keep this quiet and everything running to the best of my ability here, but I'm not her."
"Yes… I know." Reece sighed.
Kade could hear the chaos in the background on the other end of the phone.
"Dominick?"
"I haven't heard from him since we left Boston. We've got people looking for him. It was like he suddenly disappeared."
"Then FIND him! This is your wheelhouse, Kade. It's time we find this bastard and clean up this mess."
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Kade screamed back into the phone.
"Keep me informed."
Without another word, the phone went dead.
Anger, frustration, agitation, and a sense of being overwhelmed sent Kade over the edge. Slivers of failures to protect in the past pushed against his present. In the next instance, the cell phone went flying across the office and slammed against the wall with a satisfying crack as it bounced to the floor.
"Well," Tanner said as he walked into the room from the command center next door. "I don't know what that phone did to offend you, but I'm glad I'm not your cell phone."
His thick Southern drawl made each word flow like molasses into the next one.
Kade fell into his desk chair and huffed as he watched Tanner walk over and pick up the shattered phone. He tapped his radio and turned toward Kade.
"Folks, we've got a six six six by one. Repeat a six six six by one."
"Really? Please confirm a six six six by one."
Tanner chuckled as he flipped the broken phone through his hand.
"Confirmed."
"Rough day. Wide berth. Copy that."
With that, the radio went silent.
Kade glared at Tanner. It was a good thing they'd been friends for so long or he knew he'd rip into him at this very moment. Matthew Tanner had saved his hide more than once overseas. He swore nothing could rattle the Texas native, but he also knew the amount of demons the man carried.
"What the hell is a six six six by one?" Kade demanded.
"Ah, so you are still with us. I was wondering if that Hulk move meant you'd fallen off the edge. Besides, it's pretty obvious-the person in command just went all beast on a piece of helpless technology."
"Great, a wise guy. Just what I need today." Kade glared at him.
"You're the one who threw the phone just so it would stop ringing. Effective, but you realize it doesn't stop the problem. Right?" Tanner said with a shrug and tossed the phone on the desk in front of him.
Kade picked up the shattered piece of equipment and cringed. He could just hear Alexandra ripping into him for losing his temper and letting things overwhelm him. The military had left him with two important things: the discipline to push through any situation and the scars to give him enough guilt and nightmares to last a lifetime. In this moment, he wasn't sure which one of those things would win the war in the face of his current battles.
"That female detective looked like she's got some bite on her. I knew I should have pushed harder to get audio on these cameras and not just in certain areas." Tanner continued his own thoughts.
"She's not your type," Kade huffed.
"Someone's touchy. Guess you've got a good reason since she walked into your office and took your seat, though I have to admit she looked like a kid in that chair of yours." Tanner grinned.
"Keep it up, Tanner, and the phone won't be the only casualty of the day," Kade growled.
"Will it put you in a better frame of mind if I beat you to a pulp on the sparring mat?" Tanner goaded him.
"I can assure you you'll walk away with a limp."
With that, Tanner laughed. Even Kade knew they were evenly matched, and both would work hard to do any damage to the other.
"Seriously, though, are you going to let the detective help find the bastard who has the entire place on pins and needles? I, for one, am tired of playing by his rules."
"Alexandra would have a conniption if I let the police roam around in here," Kade said with a sigh.
"True, but she's not here. In fact, she's actually on the run from a stalker we can't seem to get close to. We're getting out of our depth here, boss. Don't get me wrong, you've got great people on this one, but we could really use some expensive resources who aren’t internally limited."
"The police are rarely limited in their searches," Kade shot back.
"True. But let her help you solve the knife in the door problem. Maybe it will give us enough leads to find out other information along the way. It can't hurt. At this rate, this bastard will run us right into the ground, and Alexandra will never be safe to come home, and that's not really an option. I mean, you can pull off the heels, but they've got to be murder on the feet." Tanner grinned and stuck a toothpick between his teeth.
"Do you just keep those things in your pocket? Every time I see you, there's a toothpick in your mouth."
"It's this or smoke a couple packs a day, and I never liked cigars."
"You don't like cigars? That's blasphemy."
"So when ya going to talk to that pretty detective again?" Tanner pushed.
"When are you going to review the tapes and find out who the hell stuck a knife in our front door?"
"Ah, that's what I was coming in to tell ya when I heard this horrible bang and got all distracted with the phone."
Kade watched the other man shift under his gaze.
"I'll give it to ya straight, we've got nothin'."
"Say again." Kade looked at him, confusion etched across his face.
"We've got nothing. Whoever did this knew the range of the camera, where to put a magnet to knock us out, and covered up too much to get even the most basic facial outline."
He took a deep breath and leveled a glare at Tanner. "You mean to tell me we've got enough cameras around here to capture the sneeze of every high profile person in DC. A twenty-four by seven command center whose staff woke me up after less than three damn hours of sleep, and you can't tell me who put a fucking knife in our front door?" Kade roared.
Tanner took a large step back away from the desk. "That's exactly what I'm telling you, boss."
"You're all fired!" Kade screamed, but Tanner didn't move a muscle. "Did you hear me?"
"I heard the words, and I heard the frustration. I believed the frustration and ignored the words," Tanner said calmly. "When you're ready to listen, we got some information from the footage."
Kade slammed his both fists on his desk and closed his eyes. "Why didn't you start with that?" he boomed.
The constant lack of sleep was wearing on him. He took several deep breaths to find center before he looked back up at Tanner.
"What did you find?" he said with a forced calm.
"The perp was a female. I'd put her at about five foot six or so with long dark hair, though it could be a wig. She was wearing a hoodie and her fingernails were manicured," Tanner stated.
Everything in Kade paused at the report. "A female?"
"Yep. It's confusing us too. She knew exactly where to step to stay out of the line of all but the one edge camera on the porch. That one was taken out by some kind of magnetic device, but her movements were unsure."
For a long second Kade thought about the information.
"Well, this is an unexpected situation," Kade said thoughtfully.
Chapter Six
"What's got you all on edge, Lawson?" Ben Matthews asked.
"There's something about this case that's not sitting right," she replied absently.
"Which case?"
"The knife in the door."
"You mean the knife in the door at the sex club? You're the one that got handed that one? That's a riot. How was the sex club on the inside, anyway?"
"Beautiful. Luxurious. Amazing." She answered without thinking of the consequence.
"Hey, boys, I think our little detective over here liked her outing to our local dungeon."
"Wait. What?"
She spun on her heels and pointedly stared at him.
"You can't tell me you spent time in that place and didn't realize what it was," Ben said with a laugh.
"No. I thought maybe it was a swingers' club or something."
"You mean to tell me you talked to the head of security and walked around the place yet you didn't see any whips and chains?"
"Um, no." She felt the blush creep up her face and was positive every one of them could read her thoughts.
"Oh look, now you've gone and embarrassed her," Jake Malone, one of the beat cops from the scene, said to Ben. "Though to see her work some of those security types over, you'd think she had a whip in her hand."
Jessica groaned. She kept everything about her private life tightlipped and well-guarded. Her previous thoughts of Kade wrapped in her rope surfaced and added fuel to her already radiating skin.
"Lawson." The Captain's voice cut through the bullpen. "My office."
"Looks like someone's pissed off the money boys."
"Give it a rest, Matthews. Mine straps on and makes yours look microscopic," Jessica shot back as she headed for the captain's office. Behind, hoots and hollers followed her. She knew full well if she didn't return the volley and take whatever they dished, she'd forever be an outsider.
Jessica straightened her shoulders and summoned all of her confidence. Their captain was a great man, but there was something about him she found intimidating, but she'd not give him the satisfaction of knowing it any more than the rest of the department.
"Yes, Cap," she said as she stepped through the door.
"Where are you with the Empyrean case?" he asked without looking up from his computer monitor.
"Officially? It's a dead end. We have a mold of a footprint and the knife in the door contained mostly pigs’ blood with a trace of human blood. We're running the latter for DNA, but I'm not hopeful at this point. It can easily be ruled vandalism based on what we have in evidence."
"Now tell me what you think, unofficially," he said, leveling his intense gaze directly at her.
"Something's hinky."
"Hinky? Is that an official opinion?"
Jessica shook her head back and forth and looked out the window.
"It's more hunch? Gut feeling? Intuition?" Her explanation came out as questions rather than confident statements, and it irked her.
"So what's this hunch of yours?" he asked and leaned back in his chair. Everything in his movements and actions were done to exude power. Even down to making her stand because her short stature just made her look him in the eye when he was sitting. Reminding her of not only her size but the position in the department. She hated being a probey all over again, but paying dues was always a requirement.
"I think they are hiding something big, at least big to them."
"Explain," he said, leaning forward and resting his large arms on the desk.
"First, why would the owner of the club up and disappear? I talked to the newest member of the security team, and he indicated it wasn't a normal occurrence. Though taking his newness into account, it could be he's misunderstood the situation. But that doesn't explain why the head of security seems so unnerved. It's like he's carrying more than normal. It's not a lack of capability—he seems capable—but like it was foisted upon him." She collected her thoughts.
Normally she'd go for a swim to work out a puzzle, but with her current schedule there was little time for such indulgences, which made her mind race and words tumble forth in a stream of consciousness. She hated being called out when she was still in the middle of the process.
The silence filled the room. Behind his large wooden desk, the captain sat waiting for her to continue.
"And why a knife? Why a bloody knife? And the note- 'If I can't have you, I'll destroy you.' That's not a hoax, that's a threat. We don't know if it is credible, but Mr. Kinkaid knows and he's hiding it. Then there was the reporter at the press conference. He asked about a stalker. None of the interviews on-site brought this piece of information forward. If someone is being stalked, then who and why?"
Jessica let her gaze lose focus as the pieces formed a visual puzzle across her mind. Some of them connected with possibilities while others left more questions.
"Doesn't sound like you're ready to close the case," the captain said with a satisfied smirk.
"But I thought that's what you wanted. A quick close, process it as a vandalism so the money wouldn't scream," Jessica asked, confused.
"You need to learn something fast out here in the civilian world. What we tell the world is a lie, a half truth or done for our own purposes. You did all three in your first press conference," he said with a grin.
"This was a set-up? Throw the probey into the fire and see if she walks or gets scorched? Worse, throw her into a sex club case to see if she squirms?" She seethed but controlled her tone.
"Either you make it or you don't. You knew what this was when I hired you."
Jessica nodded in resignation. She'd fought her entire life for everything she got, and this would be no different.
"What's your next move?" he asked as he turned back to his computer.
"I want to call the reporter who asked about the stalking. Then I dig into the club owner’s background before I meet with Mr. Kinkaid to go over the security tapes and see what they found."
The captain nodded. "I think you should attend a couple events there. See how security works, get a read on the members."
"You want me to go to a sex club event?"
"No, I want you to go to the Empyrean Club and see what you find during an event."
"Oh, I'm sure their security will love it."
The captain chuckled. "Kade will hate you being on his turf. He'll see you as a club security risk and a pain in his ass. Either you handle it or deal with what happens."
"Do I have permission to blend into the party in any way necessary?"
"I think that's the only way you'll get anything out of this assignment."
Jessica stifled a grin and attempted to look shocked at his innuendo.
"Now get out of here. I've got work to do," he said with a wave of dismissal.
Jessica walked back to her desk in a cloud of confusion and thought. Nothing was adding up other than the nagging thought that someone was in real trouble, and she didn't like who, based on her hunch.
"I see you survived the captain," Ben started in on her.
"Can it, Matthews! I get the whole women are fragile crap, but if you ever want to go toe to toe on the mat, you'd better bring it because you're going to need it to pick up your bruised ego up when I slam your ass on it," she said, glaring at him.
"Big talk," Ben shot back.
She looked down at her watch.
"How's six this evening sound?"
The entire department got quiet, and suddenly all eyes turned toward them in anticipation.
"I don't fight girls," he mumbled.
"Scared?" she challenged.
Jessica knew she should give him a way out, but if she didn't establish herself, they'd continue to be merciless and think she’d been hired because she was a woman, not because she was up to the task. The
re was nothing she hated more than being told she’d gotten somewhere because of her size or gender. They didn't have to like her, but they needed to respect her in order for her to get anything done.
"I don't want to hurt you."
She forced a smile. "Maybe I like bruises or is it the fact I like giving them? I always get those two a little confused." She smiled at him. "Come on, big man. You outweigh me by what, almost a hundred and twenty pounds with almost a foot of height. Let's play. Get it out of your system so we can all get back to work."
Nothing in her wanted to fight this man. She abhorred this kind of barbarianism. The whole chest-beating ritual to prove she was less than and needed to be put in her place was annoying, but when the situation called for it, she'd do whatever it took to win.
"Fine," Ben growled. "But if you think I'm going easy on you after this little display, you've got another think coming."
"As long as you can explain my time off to the captain, what do I care? See you at six," she tossed over her shoulder as she headed out of the bullpen.
The entire room lit up in an excited murmur. Everywhere she turned, someone made a comment in her favor or about her demise. She shook her head at the whole spectacle as she made her way to a private phone alcove at the other end of the station.
She pulled her notepad out of her pocket and picked up the phone. With a quick dial of the number, she held her breath.
"Bob Baxter," the voice said on the other end.
"Mr. Baxter, this is Detective Lawson. I was wondering if you had a few minutes. I'd like to ask some questions from the press conference the other morning."
"Is this on the record?"
Jessica smiled at his attempt to get a scoop even in an odd position.
"I'm afraid this is completely off the record. You asked me a question about someone being stalked. Why did you ask that specific question?"
"Ah, it got your attention, did it?"
"Yes. Is there anything to the question or were you fishing in the dark?"
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