Just as useless as she was.
*
Thane smashed his thumb with the hammer when his phone rang. Cursing up a blue streak, he shoved his throbbing digit in his mouth and sucked. Scowling, he figured a bruised thumb was better than a hole in his newly painted kitchen wall, but he'd have preferred to have a nail tapped into the plaster instead. He tossed the hammer onto the counter and retrieved his phone, answering with a curt, “What?”
He only had two more nails to put in here, then he could move to the living room. The walls were looking bare now that the furniture was all in the right places. Just some curtains to hang over the window above the sink, a couple of pictures on the walls either side of the back door, and he could finally check kitchen off his list of rooms to finish.
“Isaacson?”
Eyes narrowed, Thane dropped his phone from his ear and checked the screen. Private number. He rolled his eyes, reminding himself to check for an I.D. before he picked up next time. He returned the phone to his ear. “Who's asking?”
“Atticus Heisler. We met at Avalon last night.”
Huh. The big guy's voice was markedly different on the phone, Thane noted. “Hey. What can I do for you at…oh-one-hundred hours on a Sunday morning?”
“Shit, it's late. Sorry about that. Lost track of time. How did your scene end last night with Connie?” Atticus demanded. Demanded, as though he had a right to personal information about what had gone on between Thane and Connie. “Is she liable to throttle you if she sees you again?”
“That’s a negative, I think. Are you allowed to hack the club files for a member's phone number?” he asked with a touch of humor.
“In an emergency, yeah. Connie went missing this afternoon after a…well, disagreement seems to be the appropriate word. No one's been able to get hold of her for hours, but I tracked her phone to a beauty spot about forty minutes from here. The signal cut off ten minutes ago, I'm presuming the battery died.”
Missing? Thane's ears pricked up. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go get her.”
“Gonna need you to come with. It seems the disagreement might have put her back up, and I'm not sure she'll be happy to see any of us from Avalon. You're the only one I can think of who has a chance of getting near her without her doing something stupid like falling off a fucking rock and breaking her stubborn neck.”
“Not sure what use I'll be. She doesn't really know me. She might not appreciate me playing white knight.” Thane glanced at the clock he'd already hung across the room, calculated the travel time. “I can be with you in under an hour. Maybe you'd be better off with one of the subs?”
“If she's in Domme mode, she'll eat a submissive alive. I'm waiting for you outside, hurry up.” The line went dead.
Here's your hat, what's your hurry. Thane growled under his breath as he shoved his phone into his pocket, then checked the back door to make sure it was locked. He left the kitchen light on, then hobbled down the hallway to get his boots on and snag his jacket. He spotted the truck waiting as he opened the front door, made sure he had everything he needed, then locked the door and half-limped, half-jogged down the path.
Atticus put his foot on the gas before Thane's ass settled firmly in his seat. “Thanks for coming. Con's not in the best place emotionally at the moment, and she's likely to be in a bitch of a mood. A familiar face is good, but I think if any of us show ours, she'll claw it off.”
Fabulous, just what he needed to hear. “You mentioned a disagreement?”
“Yeah. There was an incident this afternoon between her and Braun. She punched him and took off, but Braun says she wasn't thinking straight when she left. I know where she is, but she needs an impartial face. I'd send Archie in if Jasper wouldn't have my balls for putting his sub in harm's way.” Atticus changed gear, the beast of an engine purring smoothly as it picked up speed as they cut through the darkness. “Let me tell you a story.”
Thane buckled his seatbelt and got comfortable in his seat, listening carefully as Atticus spun a tale of child cruelty and abuse, two dead criminals, and a paralyzed young woman in a wheelchair. He shook his head as the story continued, going over Connie's involvement in the care of the girl, the time and energies she put into looking after her.
“I hope you and your buddies have a plan to make this right,” he said eventually. “Braun insulted her caretaking skills, made her think she's not worthy of looking after the girl. She's put a year of her time into treating Alicia like a younger sister, and he's just ripped the rug out from under her feet and basically told her she's not good enough.”
Atticus's face was grim in the dim light. “You don't know Braun well yet, but he's not like that. Both he and Boadicea understand the sacrifices Connie's made for them and for Alicia. Without Connie, Alicia would be stuck in a care home somewhere, because Braun couldn't take her in, not then. This afternoon wasn't about trying to make Connie feel small and worthless—we want to take some of the fucking anvils off her goddamn shoulders before they sink her.”
“I think you added another dozen. You said she's in a beauty spot? Like a nature area? Does she go there often?”
“She doesn't have the goddamn time. I used some connections to trace her phone before it went dead. Location is pinpointed on what appears to be a ridge. A few rock formations, but otherwise nothing particularly interesting.” Atticus reached out and jabbed his finger at a screen attached to the dashboard. It lit up, greeted Atticus with a cheery series of beeps, then brought up a map when he ordered it on screen.
Thane studied the detailed map, noting the steady red dot in the middle of nowhere, and the flashing green one that was moving steadily. “She's red, we're green?”
“Red is the last known location of her phone. We're about ten minutes out, so keep your eye out for her car. Metallic gray sedan, four-door. Her credit card has a sizeable transaction logged at four p.m. from a liquor store. Connie doesn't drink heavily, and I'm positive she wouldn't drink and drive, but these aren't normal circumstances.” Atticus veered off the blacktop onto a rough track, killing his speed as the truck bounced erratically. “Her car could be anywhere.”
Thane peered out of the window, taking pleasure in the sheet of stars above them. Clouds masked a portion of the sky, but the moon kept playing peekaboo, lighting up the area with cold light. Despite the fact it was May, the night was chilly. He hoped Connie had enough common sense left beneath her pain to wrap up warm. “Are any of the others on their way?”
“No, they're on standby. If we need them, they'll be here. I don't want to spook her with a group of big guys tromping around in the dark. If we can't find her, I've got a guy stationed on the highway with a drone.” The track wound higher, grew steeper. “Her car could be around here. I'll be shocked if she got that heap of junk up this gradient.”
But as they bumped higher, Thane saw no evidence of another vehicle. Either Connie was angry enough to smash her car to pieces in an effort to get where she was going, or she hadn't driven up here at all. “You've got a lot of connections, Atticus. More than me, at a guess, and I have a few.”
“I've got enough to do what needs to be done,” Atticus replied grimly, cursing as the truck lurched into a deep rut.
“I don't think she drove up here. That rut would have ripped her undercarriage off. Can you get someone to put out an APB on the sedan? I think she dumped it somewhere down on the highway and hiked up here.” Which meant she could be anywhere, he thought with a twang of fear vibrating down his spine. One misstep up here didn't just equate to broken bones. Dying was a huge possibility. “Get that drone in the sky, and call in your backup.”
“You've seen something?” The truck slowed.
“No, just a gut feeling. I might be overreacting, but in case I'm not…you got a decent flashlight?”
“Yeah, in the back.” Atticus gave the tech system an order to call Jasper. It repeated the command, then began to ring.
“Let me out here. I'll take a flashlight and look arou
nd while you find somewhere to park.” Thane twisted in his seat, eyed the pile of equipment on the backseats. Oh yeah, Atticus knew how to be prepared. He reached over and snagged one of the heavy rucksacks, began to rummage through. Flashlight, extra batteries, flares, first aid kit, water, chocolate, thermal sheet, radio…the whole kit and kaboodle.
“Atticus? You got her?” A male voice crackled through the speakers.
“Just got here. I'm kicking Thane out on the track leading up to the spot, but he thinks we should bring you in. We're sending the drone up as a precaution. Anarchy's with Bodie?”
“The girls are hunkered down with Alicia. The girl who stays with her usually couldn't come, so we loaded Alicia up and took her to Braun's. I left Liam with them. Loki and Saul are with me, and we're about ten minutes out. Figured you'd need us,” Jasper told him. “No point being miles away if you decided to call us in. We're on your heels, brother.”
“The track isn't vehicle friendly,” Atticus advised, his eyes scanning the landscape. “I've got the kits. I'll wait for you where the signal died, and we can start from there.”
“Why are we starting below where the phone signal was last located?” Someone asked from Jasper's end of the line.
Thane answered. “You're not. I am. You guys work your way down, I'll head up. We need to cover as much ground as possible. If Connie is up on that ridge, she’s in danger. She's angry, possibly intoxicated. Temper doesn't sit still. Anger makes you want to move, it energizes.” He gave Atticus a nod. “What channel on the radio?”
“They're all synced. Hit the button and we'll have you. You okay hiking around with that leg?”
He shoved the door open, unfastening his belt. “I've put it through worse.” His boots hit the ground and he turned to grab his jacket and the rucksack. “We'll find her, Atticus.”
Thane closed the door, stepped back as the truck continued on its way up the incline. Taking a moment to gauge the terrain, he slipped into his jacket, removed the flashlight from the rucksack, then slung the bag over his shoulder. He flicked the powerful beam on, casting light over the dark edges of the track, then started following it up.
Ahead, the truck's taillights disappeared around a corner.
Where would a woman like Connie go when she was wounded? he mused, sweeping the flashlight from side to side. At a guess, she wasn't in a dominant mood. Dommes didn't hide, they attacked when they were hurt. They took the offensive position, but Connie had slunk off into the middle of nowhere. She wanted to curl up and nurse her wounds, away from those who had caused them.
It didn't mean she wasn't angry. Far from it. A furious submissive could be as difficult to handle as a raging Domme, maybe more so if someone wasn't expecting her to have claws.
“Connie!” Thane shouted, cocking his head as his voice echoed off the rocky terrain. Well, the acoustics were good, that was something. “Connie!”
An owl hooted. A gust of wind swirled past. But he didn't hear a response.
He continued up, sweeping the flashlight from left to right, left to right. Using the bright beam to light up the areas on either side of the track. It wasn't long before he heard the growl of an engine behind him, approaching steadily. He stepped to the side, out of the way, and waited for the big silver Dodge pickup to pull up alongside him. The window rolled down, and he found himself meeting a pair of pale, ice-blue eyes.
“Thane? Jasper.” The white-blond driver didn't hold his gaze for long. He was too busy scanning the wilderness behind him. “Thanks for coming out. Any sign of her?”
He shook his head. “Atticus is up ahead somewhere. Nothing on the radio to say he's found her up there. We need to spread out and cover ground.”
“We're on it.” Jasper jerked a thumb at the dark-haired silhouette beside him. “This is Loki.” The thumb jabbed toward the backseat. “Saul. You want me to kick Saul out here, give you a hand searching this area?”
“No, I'm good. Thanks.”
“Okay then. Let's go find ourselves a psychologist.” Jasper nodded sharply, then drove off at the same steady pace Atticus had. The track was getting rougher the higher it went, and it would play hell on the vehicles, no matter their speed.
Psychologist. Thane rubbed his hand over his face as he started walking again, shouting Connie's name again. Well, no wonder she thought she was expected to deal with her misery on her own. “Come on, sugar, you've got us all worried.”
Within thirty minutes, he started hearing more calls, and saw beams of light scattered over the dark hillside. Another ten minutes after that, the radio crackled in his rucksack. He swung it off his shoulder and dropped it on the ground, rooting through supplies until he found the communicator. “Atticus? Jasper?”
Static crackled again. “Got the phone. Halfway down the hillside under a bush. Covered in teeth marks and drool. Looks like a coyote's had it.”
Thane stared in disbelief at the radio in his hand. A coyote? Was the wildlife in this region more technologically advanced than he'd assumed? He pressed the button. “Any other trace of her?”
“Nothing. No trace at all.” Okay, that sounded like Jasper, he thought, concentrating on the voice beneath the static.
“Nothing here.” Atticus checked in.
“Sorry, guys. No sign of her.”
“All clear here.”
If they hadn't found the damn phone, Thane would have been all for getting the fuck off the damn ridge. They hadn't found her car, they hadn't stumbled across any evidence of Connie being up here at all. Where the hell had the fool woman taken herself off to?
He crouched to tuck the radio back into the rucksack, his flashlight bobbing. He heard a distant buzz and glanced up to search the skies for Atticus's drone. It took him a minute to spot the flashing lights hovering over one of the distant flashlights before it continued on its journey. Ground and air coverage, he thought. She was going to have her ass spanked by every Dom in the club if she wasn't up here.
Hell, she'd be getting a spanking anyway for causing this amount of worry.
He caught a glint further up the track and frowned. Slinging the rucksack onto his shoulder, he hobbled twenty feet to a bottle laid on its side in a divot. The light had caught the edge of the glass. He bent and picked it up. It was almost full, he noted. Old Forester Bourbon Whiskey. The label was fresh, no signs of weathering. At a guess, Connie had tripped, fallen maybe, and lost one of her alcoholic crutches.
“Okay, sugar. I've got a starting point. Which way did you go?” Thane set the bottle on the edge of the track as a marker, then studied his surroundings. The hill to his left was bordering on hostile territory, the incline far steeper than anyone should try climbing. He turned his attention to the decline on his right. Not quite as steep, a lot of big boulders and a few lone trees. His gut tugged him that way.
He moved slowly, unwilling to risk slipping and breaking something, taking time away from the search. Honestly, he'd prefer to be sneaking around a dark alley rather than coyote-infested wilderness, but he was a man experienced with adapting to new challenges. The ground beneath his boots turned looser, almost like sand.
Perfect for sending someone tumbling down the hill.
“Connie!” he yelled, swinging the flashlight. All he could see were shadows and the plume of his breath as the air dropped colder. “Goddamn it, woman!”
He found what looked to be an animal path and started following it. It ran along the hillside rather than down, leading him to beneath the overhang of the ridge. There were footprints in the soft earth, just gentle imprints, but enough to give him hope. The striding was uneven, and there were a few skid marks here and there where careless feet had slipped.
A few feet ahead of him, on its side against the base of a rock, was an empty bottle of Canadian Mist Whisky. Oh, she liked that one. Not a drop wasted, he thought, limping over to pick it up. His stomach dropped when he saw the blood smeared on the glass. “Connie! Connie!”
His voice boomed off the rocks, echoing craz
ily. Thane winced against the noise, listening for a reply. He thought he heard a feminine laugh bounce back at him, but the wind took it before he could pinpoint a location. Goddamn her.
Before he went any further, he radioed in to the others, giving them the marker location and directions. Jasper was the closest, already working his way around the bottom of the ridge from the other side. This time, he hooked the radio into the waistband of his jeans for easy access, and continued to trace the partial footprints around the base of the ridge. Solid rock on his left opened up into a low, deep cavern as he rounded the corner, and as he swept his flashlight over the interior, relief kissed his heart.
Connie squinted and lifted her hand against the glare. “Turn the lights off, asshole,” she slurred. “Drinkin' here.”
As if to prove she was indeed drinking here, she lifted an almost full bottle of Canadian Mist and chugged, gasping around the mouth of the bottle between swallows.
Unable to speak for a moment, Thane directed the beam over her. Her pants were torn at the knees, and streaked with dirt. Her hands were bloody, and there were streaks of it on her face where she'd swiped at tears, by his guess. But she looked otherwise unharmed. “You are in so much trouble, sugar. You have no idea what's about to come down on you.”
She made a pffft sound and chugged again. “Go 'way. Leave me 'lone.”
First things first. Tugging the radio free, he called in his find. He swore he heard whoops of delight from his fellow searchers, but not all of them were coming over the line. He got confirmation from Jasper that he was only a few minutes away, and Thane updated his location as accurately as he could. A few moments later, the drone peeled away, heading back to wherever it had been launched from.
“Okay then, that's the reinforcements on their way. Let's take a look at your hands, sugar.” Thane slipped the rucksack off his shoulder and dragged it into the cavern behind him, crouching low so he didn't smack his head on the low rock ceiling.
Talk For Me: Club Avalon Book 3 Page 13
