The Beast of Boston

by JL Mac

  “Kevin,” I greet him, praying he’s got something good to tell me.

  “Ena, how’s it going?”

  “Going good. Any news?”

  “Actually that’s exactly why I called. I haven’t said anything to your mom yet because I’m still checking into it but we got a tip.”

  “What? When?” I breathe suddenly hyper aware and pacing.

  “There was a tip claiming to have seen Lan in Toronto with a white, adult, male.”

  “What? Is local law enforcement checking up on this? Were they driving through or staying there? Do we know who the guy is? I mean—”

  “Slow down. I’m working on it. We’ve got it handled. I don’t want to tell your mom about this unless it ends up being legit.”

  “Right. Yeah. I get that. Okay,” I puff out a breath and prop my hand on my hip. “Maybe I should go there. Maybe a relative being local to work with the police there is a good idea.”

  “Pump the brakes. Like I said, let me see if this pans out. Listen, where are you? We could meet up and I can go over her case with you if you’re free.” He just told me to sit tight and now he offers to let me pick over the case with him? Doesn’t he know I’m “out of town?”

  “I’m travelling. I thought mom told you? I’m visiting Yosemite until tomorrow then I may go check out the Redwoods in northern California. Not sure yet.”

  “Oh, yes,” he clicks his tongue. “That’s right she did tell me that. Tell you what. Lack of sleep and age are really catching up.” He barks out a deep laugh.

  “Hey, take care of you. We need you working this case. Lan needs you.” He does sound tired. I’ve seen Dad battle the toll being a law enforcement officer often takes.

  “I know. I’ll give you a call when I know more. Be safe, E.”

  “I will, Kev. Thanks.”

  If I’m going to go on this trip with Beast I will need to go to the store for a few things.

  Am I going? I’m going.

  What if you need to go to Toronto? Wait. I can’t go to fucking Toronto. I don’t have a passport. I need a passport. Slip!

  I grab my phone and try calling him again. I now need three documents. I also make a mental note to myself to ask Beast when the fuck payday is because my funds are going to run out sooner rather than later.

  “Come on. Answer. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.” The call goes to a generic voicemail greeting and I hang up without leaving him a message. I groan and grab my bag. When I return from the pharmacy down the street I’m sitting at the intersection by my rental when I see someone in a black jacket with a black cap on, standing at my door. I can’t see who it is from here but he stands at the door then cups his hands attempting to peer in through the window. There’s no way that’s one of High Knoll’s men. I call Beast on his cell phone and he answers on the second ring.

  “Ms. Tally,” he greets.

  “Hey have you sent anyone to get me yet?” I ask as the light turns green and I decide to make a lap around the block while I figure out who this man is.

  “Not yet. Why?” Awareness in his tone seeps through the phone.

  “Oh. Nothing. I was actually wondering if I could just park my car at one of your places or something. I don’t want to leave it at my place for the whole weekend.” Beast sighs into the phone.

  “You’re lying to me, Ms. Tally,” he states like he’s bored with me.

  “Okay. It’s just me being paranoid. I thought I saw a guy looking into my duplex. I couldn’t tell who he was. Just spooked me a little is all. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “Where are you?” All traces of boredom have vanished from his voice and awareness is back.

  “I’m driving. I saw him there so I kept going.”

  “Okay. Go straight to the club. I’ll meet you there and I’ll go with you to your place.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Beast hangs up on me without saying anything else and I roll by my duplex to see that the man—whomever he was, is gone. I can’t go to the club to meet Beast. He will escort me here and I was in a hurry to run to the store. I didn’t put things away. “Goddammit,” I growl, frustrated with my sloppiness.

  I turn into my parking space in front and look around for any signs of trouble. Nothing stands out. Maybe it was someone with the wrong address.

  It was probably nothing, I attempt to convince myself. I hurry inside with my bags from the store and make quick work of throwing my things together for the trip with Beast. He’s going to be waiting for me at Eden. I’ll just meet him with my bags already with me and explain that the guy at the door was nothing. Without much thought I begin packing things including the new tube of toothpaste, razor, and lotion I bought at the store. Needing to make notes about the tip Kevin got.

  When I open my laptop and press the power button a blue box pops up.

  I thought about it. I’ll help. I’m waiting.

  I instantly know exactly who the message is from. The one and only Hack. A smile tugs at my lips and my heart swells despite my mood.

  “Oh, Hack,” I smile and open my document regarding Lan’s disappearance. Hurriedly I make note of what Kevin said about the tip and her being seen in Toronto. What the hell would she be in Toronto for? Better still, who the fuck is the guy she was seen with? With renewed drive my mood lightens and I close up my laptop feeling like progress is progress no matter how small. If she’s in Toronto—if that was truly her then I know she’s alive. I stow my laptop in my bag then snag my phone.

  Hack picks up on the third ring but says nothing. “You summoned me?”

  “I did. Glad you got the message.”

  “The weird text or the blue box?”

  “Both.”

  “How’d you manage that?”

  “The text was the Trojan horse. I hijacked your cellphone’s data, made a hotspot, hacked into your laptop and left you the message.” He says it like he’s reciting his grocery list.

  “I don’t even have data or… hotspot set up on my cellphone.”

  “You do now.”

  “Am I going to pay for that?”

  “No. You’re welcome. Now, onto why I contacted you. I can help but I don’t want details. None. I mean, as little as possible and I never assisted you in any capacity, okay?”

  “Got it. How can you help?” I ask getting up and peeking out the window. Still clear. No weirdo creeper outside.

  “I can pull phone records, browser history, surveillance from places people have been as long as there are working cameras and a cache of surveillance files to access.”

  “Okay. Can you access surveillance from closed circuit TV from say… a restaurant?”

  “Yes. Address?”

  “I’m not sure but close to Eden Gentlemen’s Club for sure.”

  “Got it. What about dates?”

  “Let’s go with the last week of March through April—I don’t know what if—”

  “Nuh-uh,” he scolds causing me to remember he doesn’t want to know more than he must. I can’t blame him and I’m eternally grateful for the risk he’s taking. “I’ll just take everything between six months ago up until now. That work for you?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “I’ll send the files to your laptop as soon as possible. Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” I say to myself because Hack has already hung up on me. With my head bent staring at my phone, my brain going a million miles per hour I nearly jump out of my skin when someone pounds on my door. I leap to my feet and stash my cell phone while grabbing my gun. With shaking hands I get to my feet.

  “Just a sec!” I yell tiptoeing to the door. “Who is it?” I demand.

  “Open the goddamn door, Ms. Tally.”

  I sigh in relief and look skyward, willing my heart to chill the fuck out. Shoving my gun back into its hiding place I scan the room for anything incriminating. The moment the door is cracked he pushes in just like Murphy had. “You know, you and Murphy really need to learn some manners. I was just about to head over to the club.”
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  “You weren’t answering your phone,” he growls.

  “What?”

  “Your cell phone. You didn’t show up. I tried calling. You never answered.”

  “Oh. Sorry. It’s dead.” I say holding up my iPhone like a shield against his penetrating gaze, realizing I left my burner Android cell phone in my car. Fuck.

  “Then who were you just talking to on your dead cellphone?”

  “It just died. I was talking to a friend.”

  “Anyone I know?” he asks nonchalantly as he prowls around my space, inspecting everything as he goes.

  “I can understand low batteries. It happens. It’s a good thing you have an apple and an android charging cable handy. Just in case a friend needs to charge their phone,” he says in a menacing voice, the stormiest gaze I’ve seen on him yet, lingering in his dark eyes as he picks up the set of apple and android cords hanging from the edge of the nightstand. One charges my real phone and the other charges my burner.

  Fuck.

  “In the car,” he orders, jerking the cords hard so they fly from the wall. This charade is growing more and more impossible to continue. I know it’s destined to end badly, but for now, I have one more half lie, half-truth up my sleeve to cover my ass.

  “Let me just grab my Kindle charger first,” I snap back at him, tearing the android cord from his hand and shoving it down into my purse. I storm out of my duplex flipping the lock on the knob before I march right to my car and discretely toss my burner phone into the inside zipper pocket of my purse, silently thanking God I covered my ass. Again.

  How many more times will that work for you?

  A voice that sounds an awful lot like my dad taunts me in the back of my mind. Beast opens my door and slams it before rounding his car and getting in. I look in the side mirror and realize Murphy is parked a few yards away.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumble. “I didn’t mean to frighten everyone and cause a scene.”

  “Frighten? No one was frightened, Abigail Tally. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re merely my possession until the time I decide I have no further use for you which may come a lot sooner than previously expected. You are very much temporary, but for now, you are mine and in case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not exactly keen on people fucking with me and mine.”

  Ouch.

  Beast’s car growls out onto the street and he hits the gas taking us… who knows where. I ride in silence mulling over what he said, the information I got today, the guy peeping in the windows and the fact that whether I want to admit it or not, what he said has killed my mood completely and has me feeling wounded. Before Beast, I was a human being, but these days I have been demoted to a thing and that does ugly things to my ego.

  Yeah, well, fuck you too, Beast.

  Murphy follows us all the way to the airport where we enter through a private entrance leading to a hangar where a private jet is sitting. The pilot and co-pilot—I assume—are doing a preflight checklist as I follow Beast up the small stairs leading onboard. Beast tosses his keys to Murphy.

  “Be back in a couple days. Hold down the fort. If you need me you know where I’ll be.”

  “Yep,” Murphy nods giving Beast a serious nod, leaving me curious as to what that was all about.

  “This way, miss,” says a middle-aged blonde woman in typical flight attendant attire complete with a kerchief tied neatly at her neck. I glance back at Beast to find him leaning into the cockpit to speak with the pilot. I can’t hear them and I still haven’t the faintest idea where in the world we’re going.

  “Sit where you please. Is there anything I can get you?” she asks with the mask of professionalism firmly in place. Surely she knows exactly whom she works for?

  “No thank you,” I say settling into the cream colored over sized seat. I clasp my seatbelt over my hips and cinch it down then look out the window still lost in thought.

  A moment later Beast sits in the seat on the other side of the jet, but facing my direction.

  “I don't have a passport,” I whisper without looking at him.

  “Here,” he says calmly handing me the small navy blue passport folder in his hand. My eyebrows arch high and I look at his dubiously.

  “I—thank you?”

  “Thank Slip,” he mumbles.

  “What?” My heart stops.

  “Nothing. No one you would know. I have to work,” he announces his dismissal, causing me to huff a humorless laugh. As we taxi down the runway and prepare to take off, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll make it back. I’ve only known him for this very short period of time, but I’d be a liar if I said his hateful words hadn’t cut me bone deep. I hate him for it. I hate me more for my hurt reaction. I hate that even with his cruel words rolling around in my head, I don’t want him to be the person responsible for Lan’s disappearance and that would mean I am wishing for this whole mess I’m in to be a fruitless endeavor. Dad was right, I am on par with the criminals he used to lock up.

  A sense of falling jars me awake just as the wheels of the jet touchdown. I sit up with a start and realize I’ve got a blanket covering me. I glance around and blink my eyes to ease the dryness these stupid fucking contacts cause. I’m not supposed to sleep with them on but given my current situation I’m not sure what the hell else I can do. Beast thinks I have blue eyes and dark auburn hair. The jet continues to slow and we taxi to another hangar. I unclip my seatbelt and stand, slinging my purse over my shoulder. Beast steps in front of me before I can make my exit. I still don’t even know where we are but the air coming in through the open door smells very different than Boston air. He brings his hand to my chin and urges me to look up at him. I do, and find his face is much softer than it was when we boarded the flight. Before I can say anything, he leans down, pulling me closer and kisses me soft and gentle, inviting and warm. I refuse to kiss him back though every cell in my body is screaming at me to jump on him. The sexual tension between us is becoming an entirely separate entity in this thing we have going. Beast breaks away from my unmoving lips and looks down at me with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

  “What was that?” I ask in a flat, serious tone.

  “An apology,” he shrugs. “But when someone kisses you, you are supposed to kiss them back,”

  “Did you want me to kiss you back?” I ask.

  “Ideally,” he says flatly, obviously unhappy with my response.

  I get up on my toes and take his face in my hands, kissing him the same way he kissed me. Soft, gentle, inviting, warm. I break away and look up at him.

  “What was that?”

  “Me doing my job,” I say curtly then step around his big frame feeling a lot less brave than I just put on. I can hear his growl from the stairs I’m climbing down.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Beast

  Not the best start to the trip. Definitely not what the fuck I had envisioned. Still. Her lips against mine did something to me. I need more of that but I want the real deal now. I want her to kiss me like I know she wants to. I get it. I blew up and acted like the dick I am, but I can’t take it back now. She’s the one in deep shit, so why am I the one sitting here trying to figure out how to make it up to her. I called her temporary. I’d said I was going to get rid of her when I felt like it. It obviously upset her, but what the fuck am I supposed to do about it? I’m no goddamn altar boy and my little liar is no saint either. I did my best to look apologetic and she all but spat in my face.

  “Where are we?” she asks still looking out the window of the car. We’ve been driving a while already and she has just now decided to speak to me.

  “Washington,” I say. That gets her attention.

  “State? Where?”

  “Northeast of Seattle.” She sits up straighter in her seat and tries to see more outside her window but night is rapidly falling.

  “Wow,” she laughs lightly and smiles causing something in my gut to twist uncomfortably. Jesus Christ. The woman is undeniably gorgeous but just that small hin
t at a genuine smile and laugh made her light up like fucking dawn after the longest night in history.

  “What’s funny?” I ask, truly intrigued.

  “I—” she begins then pauses to look over at me. There is reservation written on her delicate face, and I find myself holding my breath waiting to see if she’ll give up whatever she was about to hold back. “It’s just… my family doesn’t know where I am or what I’m doing but coincidentally enough, I told them I was… in this area. They think I’m on the west coast. Now I am. Just ironic is all,” she shakes her head again.

  “You don’t have a relationship with your family?”

  “Not really,” she says to the window. “What about you?”

  “Orin is my only family,” I say with finality not willing to even consider discussing anything else on that front. It reminds me I have a duty to protect my family, and the truth of it is I know Abigail Tally is a liar and that fact means she’s potentially a danger to those I care most about. I can’t guarantee she’s not planning something and based on the twisting in my gut, she’s already under my skin. She’s already compromised me as the leader of High Knoll. That cannot stand. She cannot stay. I covered her with a fucking blanket when she fell asleep on the flight here. Why the fuck did I do that? I clench my fist and scramble to come up with a plan to extinguish any insane notions of having her then keeping her. She is temporary. She has to be.

  Cooling her nerves overnight at the ritziest fucking hotel in Seattle did little to help her attitude. Plying her with the luxuries that this place is appointed with hasn’t improved her disposition and the noose tightens. If I had taken filthy fuckin’ Kate here, put her in the best place my coin can get, she would have been the most agreeable woman on the planet. Eden girls are typical dancers. They like nice shit and they especially like it when a man is showering them with nice shit that they don’t have to do much—if anything for. My little liar? My mysterious, infuriating, blue-ballin’, perfect bangin’ body, little liar? Not her. She’d rather keep digging her own grave, being moody as fuck and driving me insane than give me anything—even an inch, or any semblance of truth and pliability. What’s more rage inducing? A voice deep in my brain is asking me why the fuck I even care if she’s in a bitchy mood?