“I have a feeling that may change someday soon,” Calum remarked cheerfully. “Anyway, I was just rooting for Iain ’cause he’s cuter. Adam’s hot, but a little on the pasty side. Still, I’d be thrilled to see two guys fighting over me like that.”
“Guys?” Alex queried with a mouth full of eggs. “Guys don’t survive getting stabbed with champagne flutes.”
“What are you two going to do now that you know the truth about Adam?” Haven asked. “Are you going to stay in the OS?”
“You’re joking, right?” Calum asked. “We all suspected there was something strange about Adam. Besides, who knows how long he’s going to stick around the Society, anyway? Speaking of which, did you hear about Milo?”
“Milo?” Haven asked.
Calum giggled. “It was announced this morning. As soon as Milo graduates from Halcyon Hall, he’s being shipped off to Brazil. Adam wants to open another school down there, and Milo’s going to oversee the plans. It’s supposed to be an ‘amazing opportunity,’ but everyone knows Milo’s been banished. Owen sounded as pleased as fruity punch when he told me. I can’t imagine why—Mr. Bell must not realize that he doesn’t have a job anymore.”
Haven studied Calum. “You don’t seem to be taking any of this very seriously. Shouldn’t you be worried about the threats Padma made last night? Don’t you have a skeleton or two in your closet?”
“In Calum’s case, it’s more like a mass grave.” Alex said.
“Yeah? Don’t act all prim and proper, Miss Harbridge. Everyone knows you must have done something wicked to keep your account in good standing.”
“Think what you like,” Alex snapped, though her face had turned as red as the ketchup on her plate.
“Anyhoo, Padma won’t have time to embarrass any of us,” Calum told Haven. “I bet she’ll be recycled before noon.”
“Recycled?” Haven said. “You think Adam is going to have her killed?”
Alex shook her head. “Adam doesn’t do that sort of stuff, but I’d volunteer myself if I didn’t have to catch a flight in two hours.”
“That’s right!” Calum exclaimed. “Oh, you must be so excited, Haven!”
“Excited?” Haven repeated, confused by the sudden shift in the conversation.
“It’s the Oscars, darling! Alex is going to be wearing your dress tonight!”
“And just in time too,” Alex said. “You could really use some good press.”
“What do you mean?” Haven asked.
“You didn’t see the papers this morning? They’ve got Iain Morrow all over them. You want my advice? Use those points Lucy Fredericks paid you to hire the Society’s PR men. They can make you look like one of Iain’s innocent victims. Otherwise people are going to think you’ve been hiding out with a murderer for the past eighteen months.”
“And forging wills,” Calum added. “You naughty girl.”
Haven stood up, her chair scraping against the tile floor.
“Where are you going?” Calum asked. “You aren’t running away again are you? We’re just trying to help.”
“I have to visit the ladies’ room. I’ll be back,” Haven said, leaving her phone facedown on the table to prove it. “Order me some coffee, would you?”
She wove around the tables and charged down a set of stairs toward the bathrooms in the basement of the restaurant. Even when Calum and Alex were well out of sight, Haven tried to keep the shock from showing on her face. Once she was in the ladies’ room, Haven turned on the sink’s faucet and splashed her cheeks with icy water, hoping to rouse herself from the terrible dream in which she was trapped. When she looked up at the mirror, there were two violet eyes staring back at her.
“How the hell did you get in here?” Haven demanded.
“The back door,” replied Padma Singh. Her dark wool dress could have used a good shearing, and a wide black belt had been wrapped twice around her emaciated waist. The rims of Padma’s eyes were red, and it had been a while since her glossy black mane had been tamed by scissors. She looked like a beautiful, hungry beast. “I followed you from your hotel.”
“You need to get out of here,” Haven snapped. “The Ouroboros Society is out for your blood.”
“So what? They’d be idiots to try anything,” Padma said. “The moment I disappear, my files will end up on the desks of every reporter in town.”
“What do you want from me, Padma? Does Iain know you’re here?”
Padma leaned against the sink counter with an arrogant smirk and tried to impersonate her former self. “I couldn’t believe you’d abandoned Iain until I saw you and Adam together last night. So you’re really with the boss again. I guess it was only a matter of time. You sat back and judged the rest of us, but I knew you would join the party one day.”
“Jesus, Padma, haven’t you learned your lesson?” Haven asked. “Look in the mirror and see what happened the last time you messed with me. How’s poverty treating you, anyway? Is it everything you hoped it would be?”
“I’m not going to be broke for long,” Padma said. “I wasted too much time trying to win my way back into the Society. Now it’s in trouble, and I have all the information I need to deliver the death knell. Tell Adam I want to be paid well for my silence.”
“Tell him yourself,” Haven snarled. “I’d rather cut off a finger than lift one to help you. I’m the only reason you’re alive, Padma. I think I’ve done more than enough for you. Now get the hell away from me.”
“Tell Adam, Haven, or the first people I’ll take down are your two buddies upstairs. I have enough dirt on Alex Harbridge and Calum Daniels to keep them on the front page of the National Enquirer for the next twenty years.”
“What do I care? Embarrass them while you can. Soon there won’t be any more scandals to expose,” Haven said. “The Ouroboros Society is going legit.”
“I can’t believe you bought Adam’s BS,” Padma snickered.
“What are you getting at?” Haven demanded.
Padma twirled a strand of hair around one finger. “Oh, I don’t think I want to tell you. See, that’s the thing about adults, they can be so difficult to persuade sometimes. Children, on the other hand, do what they’re told.”
“You’re talking about the kids at Halcyon Hall?”
“That’s his big project these days, isn’t it? That’s why Adam doesn’t care if he has to clean up the Society to impress you. All the action’s moved upstate.”
“I’ve been to Halcyon Hall. I’ve seen it for myself. I know what Adam has planned for the children. So unless you’ve got some concrete information to share, I’m not interested in hearing any more half-baked theories.”
“If you want the real scoop, just ask your friends. They know better than anyone what happens to kids at the Ouroboros Society. They were two of Adam’s first experiments.”
“Come on. Calum and Alex have never even been to Halcyon Hall,” Haven said.
“You’re right. But Calum was the first child Adam recruited. Alex was the second. They’re his little lapdogs. They do whatever he tells them. If they’re your friends, it’s only because he made them play nice with you.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Believe what you want,” Padma said with a shrug. “I don’t give a damn about you or anyone’s kids. Just make sure I get my money.”
Padma left Haven standing at the bathroom sink, listening to the faucet drip into a pool of murky water that still hadn’t drained from the sink’s basin.
HER HEAD THROBBING, Haven charged upstairs to find a young man sitting in her chair at the end of Calum and Alex’s booth. Haven could tell in an instant that he wasn’t a member of the club. It might have been his overeager smile or his less than luxurious clothing. Calum looked thrilled to entertain the stranger, though Alex seemed bored out of her mind. She jumped up as soon as she caught sight of Haven and headed toward the stairs to the bathroom.
“Save yourself,” Alex warned in a whisper. “Calum’s getting his daily affirmation. Fanboy o
ver there is giving him a verbal blow job. It’s about to get really revolting. I’d steer clear if I were you.”
Heeding Alex’s advice, Haven avoided Calum and went to stand at the diner’s Formica counter, where she pretended to examine the day-old doughnuts inside a smudged cake dome. She could hear the conversation back at the table, and she might have laughed if her sense of humor hadn’t been drowned in the bathroom.
“ . . . and you were so fabulous in that cameo you did in Promises, Promises. Don’t tell Alex I said so, but that Oscar should have been yours, not hers. You were such an amazing frat boy that I was almost convinced you were straight. Not that it would have made any difference to me. I’ve been dying to meet you since the first season of The Glittering World.”
“God, I’m impressed!” Calum laughed. “I didn’t think anyone watched the first season. I had to call in a million favors just to keep the show from being canceled.”
“Well, I was watching. I even bought the DVD. My favorite episode is the one where your sister brings her boyfriend home from boarding school. You pretend to be some neighbor named Roy, get the guy nice and drunk, and then seduce him in your parents’ bed. I had a serious crush on you after that. I still dream about that scene sometimes! I can’t believe I’m finally getting a chance to meet you in person!”
Haven ducked around the counter and squatted out of sight. Roy? Roy Bradford. The movie star name. The name of the man Beau had come to New York to meet. Could it have been Calum? Haven stayed low and out of sight. A confused waiter stepped around her but didn’t blow her cover. A phone rang once in the dining area. She heard Calum answer.
“What? That’s not possible! . . . Okay, fine. I’ll be right there. But make sure she knows this wasn’t part of the deal,” Calum snipped. Then his tone sweetened abruptly. “Look, I’m sorry, handsome, but I didn’t catch your name.”
“Gavin,” Haven heard his fan say.
“Gavin, it’s been great talking to you, but I’m late for an audition uptown. Why don’t I give you a ride?”
“Thanks,” Gavin gushed. “But I live just around the corner.”
“So?” Calum asked, his meaning perfectly clear.
“Then sure,” Gavin replied, his voice low and conspiratorial.
“Hey!” It was Alex. “Calum, you big whore. Were you about to leave while I was still in the bathroom?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back for the food,” Calum said.
“That’s what you always say. Where are you going?”
“On a pleasure cruise,” Calum told her. “Tell Haven I said sayonara.”
“Where is that girl?” Haven heard Alex ask. “She left her phone.”
“Give it to me. I’ll make sure that she gets it,” Calum said.
CHAPTER FORTY
Haven made it out the back door of the restaurant and around the corner just in time to see Calum and his boy toy tumble into a cab. Haven jumped in the next available taxi. Her car followed Calum’s for ten blocks before the first cab pulled over to the side of the road. Gavin stumbled out of the curbside door. The pitiful expression on his cherubic face made it clear that all his dreams had been crushed.
“Don’t stop yet,” Haven told her driver. “Looks like we have a bit farther to go.”
The meter read $35.15 when the cab finally pulled up behind Calum’s car on the corner of 114th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
“You getting out, lady?” the driver inquired.
“In a second,” Haven said passing two twenties and a ten through the partition. “You can keep the change if you tell me which building that guy enters.”
“Isn’t that the TV star? You some sorta stalker?”
“You want the fifteen-dollar tip or what?”
“West side of the street, two doors down. Whoa!” the man suddenly yelped.
“What?” Haven demanded.
“Looks like your friend has a few unexpected guests.” Haven peeked out the window. Five police officers had surrounded Calum with their guns drawn. Slowly, he sank to his knees and placed his hands behind his neck. The cops handcuffed Calum and dragged him back to his feet. His beautiful green pants were blackened with winter sludge. “Holy shit,” said the cab driver, holding his phone out the window. “I gotta get a picture of this.”
Haven jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the scene. Calum saw her heading for him and smirked. He didn’t appear to be shocked or chagrined. The police were guiding him toward a patrol car when Haven finally reached him.
“Back up, miss,” one of the cops ordered.
“It’s okay,” a voice said behind her. Haven didn’t need to turn around. She recognized the Brooklyn accent. “Give the girl a second.”
“Where’s Beau, you asshole?” she growled. She wanted to punch him, kick him, break his pretty little nose.
Calum looked back at the house behind him. “Gone,” he said, completely unruffled. “I guess you’ll need to keep looking.”
“Gone?” Haven asked. “What do you mean gone? If something’s happened to him, I swear I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Have your boyfriend kill me? Just because I’ve been playing house with a big blond stud?”
“But why, Calum? Why would you do something like this?”
“Don’t act like a poor little victim, Haven. No one is innocent here. Especially not you.”
Haven was about to demand what he meant when inspiration struck. “I have twenty OS points. I can hire someone to beat the truth out of you. I’ll have him do things that plastic surgery won’t be able to fix.”
“Isn’t that sweet?” Calum cackled. “So willing to turn to the dark side to save her best friend. Go ahead and try, Haven. Soon, no one will dare take that job no matter how many points you offer.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Moore. They’ll make Mr. Daniels talk at the station,” Commissioner Williams assured her.
“Will there be a cavity search, Gordon?” Calum winked at the police chief. “I’ve always wanted to try one of those.”
“Just get him in the damn car,” Commissioner Williams growled at his men.
“How did you know it was Calum Daniels?” Haven asked the police chief once Calum was locked inside the police car.
“We got an anonymous tip an hour ago. The caller suggested we check out this building. We found belongings and identification belonging to Beau Decker in one of the apartments, but he was already gone. The super told us the apartment belongs to Calum Daniels. It’s not his primary residence, just a crash pad.”
“Where’s Beau now?”
“We don’t know, Miss Moore. But we’ll find him. Calum Daniels won’t last an hour under interrogation.”
“Would it be okay if I took a look inside his apartment?”
Although he didn’t appear too fond of the idea, Gordon Williams could hardly refuse. “Just wait until all my guys are gone and go up to the fourth floor,” he said, barely moving his lips. “But don’t touch anything, okay?”
Haven marched over to a stoop across the street and waited for the cops to vacate the scene. The crowd of civilians on the sidewalk had scattered after the handsome television actor had been dragged away in handcuffs. Haven stared at the building where Beau had passed the previous weeks, and tried to arrange the facts she’d gathered into some sort of order. If Calum Daniels had been holding Beau captive, why wasn’t he still in there? Where had he gone?
“Mind if I join you?” Haven glanced up to find Mia Michalski, looking like she’d just stepped out of a shampoo ad. “I’m Mia. We never officially met.”
“Oh!” Haven exclaimed, feeling awkward and exposed. “Right! Yeah, sure, have a seat,” she said, making room for Mia and hoping the beautiful girl wouldn’t attract too much attention from male passersby.
“Did they find Beau?”
“No. But he’s been here. All his stuff is inside. I’m waiting to check out the apartment for myself.”
“I’m sorry this took so long,�
� Mia said. “I wish I’d found the address quicker.”
“Wait—you were the one who called the police?” If she hadn’t been sitting down, the news would have knocked Haven off her feet. Iain’s girl detective had succeeded where everyone else had failed. The meetings with the Horae, the evenings with Adam—none of them had been necessary.
“My partner and I broke into Beau’s accounts,” Mia said. “E-mail, Facebook, all the rest. He’d deleted his conversations with Roy Bradford, but nothing ever really disappears online. We found what we were looking for early this morning.”
“Why didn’t the police think of that? Or the FBI?”
“The authorities have to play by certain rules. I don’t. I’m part of the best hacking team in the business. If one of us can’t do something, the other one usually can. But both of us are too young to work for the cops, and my partner prefers to be paid in sexual favors.”
“What?” Haven blurted out.
Mia winked at her. “It’s my girlfriend. She’s a genius.”
“Girlfriend?”
Mia seemed to enjoy Haven’s bewilderment. “Ha! I think your head might implode any second now. Iain told me you asked if we’d ever hooked up. I had a good laugh about that, but I bet you didn’t find the idea so funny. When I saw you here, I figured I should set a few things straight. So did Iain even tell you why I took this case? I mean, aside from the fact that he begs so sweetly?”
“No.”
“I figured. He’s like that. Getting himself into trouble just to protect a girl’s honor. You see, a while back, I had a little, bitty drug problem. I snorted through all my OS points and found myself on Padma Singh’s hit list. She told me to make my body available to high-ranking members, or I could face the gray men. I was seventeen years old. I didn’t know what to do. I tried begging Adam for help, but he wouldn’t give me the time of day. I didn’t even know Iain back then. He heard about my problem from Padma, and he gave me the points I needed to survive. He told Padma they were payment for sex, but Iain only asked me to do two things—get off the drugs and promise I’d never set foot in the OS again. Believe it or not, I actually tried to argue. I was hooked on the Society’s sick little game. So Iain took a chance and told me all about Adam and his club. He could have been executed if I’d ratted him out, but Iain knew the truth was what I needed to hear. To this day, I don’t understand why he risked his life to help someone he barely knew.”
All You Desire Page 31