PureIndulgenceVSue

by VictoriaSue

  He paused just before the top step. Fear clutched at him as the thought that Adam might not forgive him entered his head. Well fuck that, he would just tie Adam up until he listened. Joe ground his teeth at his own stupidity. He could have even marched him to the office, pretended he was mad at him...then when he got him in the office, pin him up against the door to tell him exactly what he was doing, and steal a kiss, or more... Hindsight was a fucker, really.

  Joe eyed the padlocked door, the tape from the cops. The cleaners were due in tomorrow, but Adam hadn’t been here. It hadn’t been touched, and there was no way Adam could be on the inside with the padlock fastened on the outside. Joe pulled his phone out as he jogged back down the steps.

  “Callum, Adam’s not at his apartment.” He heard Callum repeat the message to Lee.

  “Sir?” Lee came on the phone.

  “Lee, where else would he go?” There was a pause and worry snaked up Joe’s spine.

  “I’ll call some friends from college.”

  “Joe?” Callum had taken the phone back from Lee. “You might as well head back here while Lee does some phoning around.”

  Joe got in the truck. It made sense. Adam was due back at college tomorrow with Lee. He’d have rung one of his college buddies, got him to pick him up and stay the night. Even if Adam wouldn’t talk to him tonight, he’d camp out at college and be waiting for him in the morning.

  Joe headed back to Pure.

  ****

  Joe drove in at the same time as a black SUV. He was surprised at seeing Kinley. “I thought you’d gone back to Miami?

  Kinley shook his head. “Who told you that?”

  Joe grimaced. “Callaghan.” He should have known.

  Kinley walked in with him. “I heard you got a visit from your old sergeant.”

  Joe sighed; his day was unravelling fast. “You know Callaghan?”

  “I know of him.” The agent clipped the words out. Joe agreed.

  “Whatever he says, he isn’t involved in the investigation.”

  Joe hesitated before they went in. He didn’t like Callaghan, and he’d clearly lied for his own agenda. Callaghan’s words echoed around Joe’s brain. He was a homophobic asshole, but what if there was more to it? Joe had only just met Kinley, but his gut told him he was trustworthy. Joe detailed what he had passed on, and also told the agent about his suspicions of Kerrick.

  “You’re right. He could be just a private person. Not everyone likes their personal shit on display. You check out by the way. If the offer of help still stands, I’ll take it.” Kinley offered his hand, and Joe took it. “I have some more information. Can we talk privately for a few minutes?”

  Joe’s interest quickened, and he headed to the locker areas with the agent. “We can have Callum’s office upstairs if needed.”

  Kinley sat on one of the benches. “No, this is fine. I was talking to my brother-in-law a few hours ago. He knows I was coming here. You have a sub here—Adam Ortiz?”

  Every cell on Joe’s body went on alert. “Yes.”

  “This is one of the details left out of the investigation and to stay strictly between us two.”

  Joe held his breath as the agent paused.

  “The first boy that was murdered had his own apartment. He was the only one that had his own place. There was a police report filed two weeks before his disappearance to say that his apartment had been broken into.” Joe’s heart was beating so loud he was convinced Kinley could hear it. “Except, nothing was taken. The apartment was just trashed.”

  Joe sank to the bench. “Fuck.”

  Kinley nodded at the whisper. “Rodriguez told me about Adam’s apartment. He also told me about the letters.”

  “He’s missing.” Joe quickly told the agent what had happened. “We are just trying to trace his college buddies.”

  “I will issue an APB as soon as you rule out he’s not with friends.” Kinley must have caught Joe’s sickened look. “If you rule out he’s not with friends. It’s probable that’s where he is.”

  Joe stood. He didn’t need empty reassurances. “I’ll go see if Callum or Lee have managed to get hold of anyone.” He opened the door. “Callum’s wanting to shut the place down while this gets sorted.”

  Kinley followed him and sighed. “I don’t blame him. I’m going to see if this Damon Kerrick is around.” They walked into the bar area and Callum met them. He shook the agent’s hand.

  “Two alcoholic drink max and preferably not until after any scenes. Everything else is covered in the documents you received.” Callum was businesslike, conscious of maintaining the agent’s cover.

  “Looks a good set up here,” said Kinley. Callum introduced him to a couple of the Doms sat at the bar. Callum motioned for Joe to follow him, and they headed to the office.

  “Lee’s tried as many of their buddies as he can think of. He hasn’t been able to get hold of three of them. One’s away on vacation, and he’s left messages for the other two. I called Derek Jameson for ideas. Couldn’t get hold of him either, left a message.”

  Joe paced. He’d promised the agent he wouldn’t repeat the information about the break-in. “When you said he’d taken off, I expected to pick him up in a few minutes and do a lot of groveling.” He sighed. “Then we’d be good. Shit, Callum. You should have seen his face.” Joe sank to one of the chairs. “Last year? Last year I thought you were mad. But...”

  “They worm their way in? Hook you before you even realize?” Callum grinned and clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll find him, Joe. I’m going to go behind the bar so Lee can carry on phoning.”

  Joe stood. “I’m going to drive around.”

  Callum frowned and looked like he was going to say something. His phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. “It’s Derek.”

  Joe gave up listening as it became obvious from what he heard that Derek Jameson hadn’t been in touch with Adam. He followed Callum back to the bar. Lee was talking to someone on his phone and Joe looked at him hopefully. Lee caught the look and shook his head.

  Callum and Lee rang off at the same time.

  “Joe, I’ve got hold of everyone except two. No one’s seen him.” Lee chewed his lip.

  “The two boys you can’t get hold of, are they friends of Adam?”

  Lee nodded. “Harry especially. They did art together last year.”

  “Write the address down.” Joe turned to Callum. “I’m going around to this kid’s house.” There was no way he could wait around doing nothing. He looked at Lee. “Does Harry live with his family?” Lee nodded. “Good. Just because he wasn’t answering his cell phone doesn’t mean there might not be anyone to talk to.” Joe headed back out to his truck.

  He entered the address that Lee had given him. It was a nice area, a good half an hour away though. Joe glanced at the clock on the dash. It was past six o’clock already. He kept checking in with Lee, but no more luck contacting the other boy.

  It took Joe an hour before he found out Adam’s friend was on vacation with his family. It was concerned neighbors that had finally turned up when they had spotted Joe’s truck parked outside. Joe dialed Adam’s phone one more time before he headed back to Pure. He’d been calling Adam’s cell constantly, but it seemed to be turned off. That in itself he didn’t like. In fact, the more he thought about the whole thing, he didn’t like it at all. How could Adam have disappeared so quickly when he was on foot? They had all been assuming he had called a cab or a friend, but there simply wasn’t time for one of his friends to pick him up. Pure was in an industrial area. The nature of the club meant it wasn’t allowed in a residential zone. All Adam’s friends lived quite a distance away. Joe pushed the truck a little faster. He needed to get back and start calling cab companies.

  Joe walked back into Pure a little after eight. The club was fairly busy. Both Lee and Callum were on the bar. He stiffened. Master Gabriel was over by the cross doing a demonstration with a signal
whip. Joe was fairly skilled himself, but Gabriel was exceptional. Each line on the sub’s back was the exact distance apart, and not a drop of blood. Joe blinked when he saw it was Daniel tied to the cross; he hadn’t known he was gay. God, Joe felt like he’d been walking around in a fog for months. How could all this have happened without him being aware of it? His ex-wife had a lot to answer for. He needed to get his shit together. He pulled his lips in a straight line. He also needed to stop blaming everyone else for his apparent ability to walk around with his eyes shut. He’d thought Adam was only playing at being a sub; what he should really be doing was concentrating on his own failures as a Dom.

  He noticed Kinley was over watching the demonstration. Joe had a feeling it wasn’t just Gabriel’s craftsmanship he was observing though.

  Callum was wiping down the bar when he came in and he pushed a Coke towards Joe as he sat down. “No luck?”

  Joe sighed. He looked across at the telephone hanging on the wall by the bar and the list of cab companies next to it. Lee came over. “There’s no way he could have gone with a friend, really. I followed him after what, ten minutes? Max.” Lee nodded. “All his friends are too far away to have got here in that time. Pass me the list of the cab companies, Lee.” Lee gave him the list from the wall and went to serve someone else.

  “That makes sense.” Callum agreed. “Do you want me to call some?” Joe nodded and pushed the list towards Callum.

  It didn’t take them long. Joe was just finishing what was his last call when he caught Callum’s excited glance. “They took a call from someone in this area for a pick up. But apparently the caller changed his mind half way through the conversation. It wasn’t logged but apparently it was only a few minutes after this lady had started. Around three thirty-ish.”

  “That makes sense.” Joe reached out for the phone automatically, but the lady couldn’t give him any more information. They hadn’t logged the call.

  “Why would Adam change his mind though?” Callum wondered out loud.

  “Change his mind about what?” Kinley had joined them.

  Joe related what was happening.

  “Could someone have just given him a lift from here?”

  Joe suddenly wanted to slap his head at Kinley’s reasonable assumption. Then a cold feeling came over him as he mentally scanned the people that were present that afternoon.

  “Shit. Damon Kerrick was in here this afternoon.” Callum spoke the words at the same time that realization landed sickly in Joe’s stomach. “He saw the whole scene with Callaghan. And he left about the same time as Adam.”

  “Can we take this to the office?” Kinley suggested.

  Callum, Joe, and Kinley trooped upstairs.

  Kinley walked to the desk. “May I?” He bent over the computer as Callum tersely told the agent his passwords. He wasn’t long. “We don’t have anything on a Damon Kerrick.” Callum slid the file he’d just got out of the locked cabinet over to Kinley, and Kinley got on his phone requesting background info. He glanced over. “What’s Adam’s cell number?”

  Joe quickly repeated it. He knew the FBI could remotely turn cell phones on and track them.

  Kinley hung up and shook his head. “The battery must have been removed.”

  Shit.

  Callum passed over Damon’s file, after Joe had taken a quick look at the address. Swanky part of town, all penthouses in a newly developed area.

  “Did you know Damon Kerrick grew up in foster care?” Kinley hands flew over the keyboard. He paused. “Sealed juvie records. Could get a court order, but would need something else.”

  Joe raised his eyebrows. “What, the FBI needs a pesky court order?”

  Callum leaned over. “Just to be reasonable here, I did a thorough background check, and there were no red flags. If the guy did grow up in foster care and something happened causing his records to be sealed, it explains the manic privacy thing the guy’s got going on.”

  Joe realized he was pacing when he saw the look Callum shot him. “I’m going around there.”

  “You don’t want to call the guy first?”

  Joe shook his head at Callum. “I’d just rather turn up.”

  Kinley got back on the phone as Joe grabbed his car keys and headed downstairs, both Callum and Kinley following him.

  “Joe, be careful. I can’t leave here, but I’ve decided I’m closing early. I’ll give it an hour for people to wind up their scenes then I’m calling it.”

  Joe nodded at Callum. He knew his friend needed to stay with Lee. The club was getting busy, and Kevin wasn’t in.

  Kinley put his phone away. “Okay, so lover’s quarrel. You’re talking to anyone who might have seen where Adam went this afternoon. Does Damon know your truck?” Joe nodded. “Good. I’m going to follow in my car. I have another car that will be parked waiting to see if Kerrick goes anywhere after you talk. If this is him, there’s no way the boy or boys are in his apartment. We’ll use my car in tandem to follow him.”

  Joe looked at Kinley. “So we still have the one boy missing then?”

  The agent grimaced. “Yeah, but it’s been over two weeks already.” Joe knew what that meant. “I’m hoping you turning up will spook him enough to go check on his acquisition.” Kinley paused. “That is of course, if he has one.”

  Joe drove to Damon’s block of apartments. He parked in one of the visitor’s bays and buzzed the front door. A security guard asked for his name and who he was visiting. After a few minutes, Joe was buzzed through. Part of him was surprised Damon had let him in. They weren’t exactly buddies, although he supposed if Damon was guilty he wouldn’t want to show anything other than normal behavior around other people.

  Joe took the elevator up to the top floor. Kerrick opened the door to his apartment before Joe even knocked. The guy looked surprised. He was wiping his face with a towel and was sweating through a running shirt.

  “You only just caught me. I’ve been in the gym.” He stepped back to let Joe into the apartment. Joe took in the high class penthouse, including the wall of glass that gave incredible views over the city.

  “Unless it’s urgent, can you give me five while I take a shower?” He nodded to the kitchen. “Coffee’s on.”

  Very clever, thought Joe. Act pleasant, reasonable, to throw him off. Joe almost scowled at Damon’s retreating back. He poured himself a coffee and went to stand next to the window. In a few minutes he heard the shower stop and in a couple more, Damon came out and headed for the kitchen.

  “So, what’s up?” Kerrick came back in, sipping his own coffee.

  Chapter 13

  “Adam’s missing.”

  Damon’s eyes shot up to his hairline. “Missing as in you can’t find him, or missing as in somebody took him?”

  Joe gasped. Damon’s bluntness shocked the fuck out of him. He saw the smirk on the bastard’s face, and suddenly he wanted to wipe it off, forcefully.

  Damon sat on the cream leather sofa. “Cut the crap, Halloran. What do you really want?”

  Joe’s mind was spinning. Whatever he was expecting it wasn’t this. “Adam went missing after he left the club this afternoon.”

  Damon put his cup down on the coffee table. “I take it you didn’t have a chance to explain your big policeman buddy act with Callaghan?”

  Joe sat, floored.

  “Where’s the feds? Followed you in a different car?”

  Joe got his mouth working. “What?”

  Damon stood up and went to the desk. He pulled a wallet out just as Joe stiffened and wished for the third time that weekend he had a gun. Damon smirked again. He’d seen Joe’s reaction. He passed Joe an ID.

  “You’re a...”

  Damon nodded. “A PI. The first kid that went missing in Miami, his parents hired me. I’ve been sniffing around the clubs. Pure’s an obvious hunting ground. Tell me what happened with Adam.” He looked hard at Joe and Joe felt a glimmer of respect. “I know—or can guess—what y
ou were doing with Callaghan. The guy’s a jerk. I take it Adam left?”

  “He hasn’t been seen since around three thirty. He called a cab company we think, but it wasn’t logged since halfway through the call he changed his mind.”

  “Cell?”

  “Battery removed.”

  Damon raised his eyebrows. “I take it you’re thinking he got a lift. Friends?”

  “I followed no more than ten minutes after. There would be no time for anyone to come from even the closest residential area to pick him up.”

  Damon frowned. “I see. That’s why you’re here. You think someone from the club picked him up.”

  Joe sighed. “He was still wearing his club clothes. His denim jacket’s missing.”

  “The kid from Orlando hasn’t turned up yet?”

  Joe gave up; it seemed Damon knew everything about the case. “No, and it’s been over two weeks. He went missing from Ecstasy, but he wasn’t reported missing for over a week.”

  “I can give you contact details proving where I was when I left the club. Do you want to get Kinley up here so we can plan?”

  Joe grimaced.

  “I have friends. Besides which, Kinley was a bit obvious earlier.”

  Joe called the agent while Damon disappeared to make more coffee.

  Kinley was buzzed into the apartment five minutes later. He headed to where Damon was seated and stuck out his hand. “I was just cleared to work with you. Although—” He paused as they shook hands. “—the level of clearance you just got, I think it was more me being cleared to work with you.” Kinley turned to Joe. “We can tell him anything.”

  “We don’t know anything,” Joe ground out. This love fest was all peachy, but Adam was still fuck knows where. His phone vibrated, and he read out Callum’s message. “Lee has got hold of the last of Adam’s friends. No one has seen him.”

  Kinley got on his phone. “I’m calling Callum. I need a complete list of everyone present at the club this afternoon.”