by Jane Henry
"God, I'm glad you're here," she said, handing him a note with shaking hands. "He was here, Matt. Right here. He bought me this drink and gave me this note."
One arm holding her tightly against his chest, with his free hand he opened the note and read it.
"Son of a fucking bitch," he growled. He was tempted to crumple the paper in his hands and throw it but they'd need that fucking paper.
He had the sudden realization that he'd only thought he was angry before. Now, he felt fury so powerful it was a raging animal, pounding its hoofs with the hammering of his heart, rearing its head as it charged full force, ready to destroy, ravage, and plunder.
"He was here," she repeated.
Was?
Was the bastard still hiding, watching her terror unfold with glee, as her rescuer came riding in to save her? Did he get off on playing cat and mouse?
"Sit," he ordered, and though her eyes flickered at her momentary temptation to balk—he knew she wanted to remain gripped firmly in his arms—she'd been trained well enough to obey. She sat, but he still gripped her hand tightly as he looked to Heidi.
"Dom?" he asked as she hung up her phone.
"He's on his way," Heidi said.
Matteo nodded as he looked to Hillary. "How'd you get the note, baby?"
"Nicole gave it to me," Hillary whispered.
Matteo scanned the restaurant until he saw Nicole a few tables away, scribbling down an order. As he went to let go of Hillary's hand, she held on tighter and her eyes widened.
"Don't let go," she whispered.
"Baby, I just need to go get—"
"I'll get Nicole," Heidi interrupted, with a quick glance at the way Hillary's hand gripped his before she fled.
"Let's go to the break room," Matteo said. "This bastard's gotta be long gone." He led Hillary to the back room as Heidi followed with Nicole. Matteo gestured for Hillary to sit down as Nicole and Heidi came in the room.
"Hi, Matt," Nicole said, as she approached the table. He nodded and held up the napkin.
"Who gave this to you? I want every fucking detail," he said.
Nicole's eyes widened.
"What's the matter?" she whispered. He handed it to her to read. As she did, she lifted a trembling hand to her mouth.
"Oh my God," she said. "Hillary, I am so sorry. I had no idea that—"
"Who gave it to her?" Matteo repeated. "Think, Nicole. It's important." He turned quickly to Heidi. "Get Tony," he ordered before he turned back to Nicole.
"I—now that you ask, I really don't know," she whispered. "He was… tall, wearing jeans and a black sweater, glasses… oh! He had a scar on his right hand and a tattoo on his wrist."
Hillary's eyes closed. "That's him," she whispered. "Knife cut scar and a scorpion tat. He was here. Right here. Didn't even send his henchmen this time. He doesn't wear glasses, but they were probably just a prop."
Matteo's hands massaged her shoulders.
"This time?" Nicole whispered, as Tony and Dom burst through the doors of the break room.
Matteo filled them in as quickly as he could, and if he thought he'd been angry, he was pleased to see his fury matched when Tony and Dom read the note. All of them together would make a much better team of skull-crackers than him alone, though he felt he could rip the fucker's limbs with his bare hands.
"Fucking little shit," Dom swore vehemently. "I'll fucking kill him."
"Easy, Dom," Matteo said. He had to be careful to let his own reaction not give him away, and if there was one thing he'd learned in his years in both the Marines and as a dominant, it was how essential it was to stay calm in the face of danger and emotionally-charged situations.
"We can't kill him until we fucking find him."
"You call the police?" Tony asked and Matteo shook his head.
"No," Matteo said with conviction. "I'll explain in a minute. First, Tony, you go lock the doors discreetly and no one goes in or out until Dom and I scour the place and lot to make sure he's gone." Tony ran to do what Matteo said.
He pointed to Nicole and Heidi. "You two stand on either side of her until Tony gets here. Got it?"
They nodded and assumed standing positions on either side of Hillary, who scowled.
"I don't need them to stand next to me," she protested. "I—"
Matteo interrupted her with a severe thrust of the finger in her direction. "Stay. Right. There." he ordered. She shrank, and nodded her head as he met Dom in the restaurant.
But as he suspected, there was no sign of Marauder anywhere. Fucking sneaky bastard.
They regrouped in the back room. "We don't call the police now. They get this type of shit every day and it's not gonna get us anywhere. Blake has a connection on the local squad that will get us a lot further as we dig up shit and I'll fill him in. So the next plan, we activate Blake and Slay." He turned to Dom.
Dom nodded. "Hell yeah." He faced Heidi. "And you. No way you're going home alone tonight." Heidi nodded obediently.
Matteo's jaw clenched as he faced Dom's eyes. It had to be said.
"Hillary stays with me."
Heidi stood between Dom and Matteo, her eyes going straight to Matteo.
"Please, Matt," she said, pleading. "Keep her safe."
For a fraction of a second he wondered again if Heidi knew more than she let on, but he had no time to dwell. He merely reached a hand out to Heidi and squeezed her hand, a brotherly gesture that said what needed to be said as Dom's eyes caught every detail.
Dom nodded. "Yeah. Hill stays with you."
Matteo met his eyes. "No one's touching a hair on her head."
* * *
"What was that all about?" Hillary asked, as they sped toward The Club.
"What?" he asked, his mind swirling with a plan of action and what had to be done.
"The standoff with you and Dom," she said. "You two staring at each other like—"
"Not now, Hillary," he said, more curtly than he intended to, and it wasn't lost on him how she pulled away a bit from the grasp he had on her hand. He sighed. The afternoon had been difficult for her, and she didn't need him being a pain in the ass. But now wasn't the time to get into things with her about Dom, either.
"I'm sorry, baby," he said softly. "I don't want to talk about it now."
She nodded, as he gave her a sideways glance. He didn't want to give her shit, but he needed her on the same page.
"The better question is, why'd you give me shit about staying with Heidi and Nicole? Do you have any idea how important it is for you to obey me right now?"
Hillary shrank a bit as she nodded. "It was nerves," she said, waving her hand. "You know, nothing to be held into account by the whole—you spank me when I disobey thing—because, if you'll recall correctly, I didn't exactly disobey you, did I?"
He could help but smirk. Trying to get out of a spanking.
"That remains to be seen," he muttered.
"Matt!"
He sobered. "I will say this one more time, Hillary. Now is the most important time for you to obey me. You got me?"
She swallowed and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good girl," he praised. "Shit could go down, Hill, and I need to know you're listening. If I tell you to leave, or get to the car, or lock your door, or hit the floor, you fucking obey. You get me?"
"I do," she insisted. There was a brief pause as she cleared her throat.
"Is now the time you're going to tell me about the sting you have underway with Master Blake? Or are you going to keep me in the dark?"
He swore under his breath.
"Heidi?"
"If I tell you it was her, are you going to get her spanked?"
"You tell me everything or I pull this car over and you're the one getting spanked," he promised, and she knew he meant it as she began talking rapidly.
"Heidi thought I knew," she began, "so she didn't mean to tell me anything I wasn't supposed to know. She assumed you were telling me everything so… yeah, she told me there was a sting. An
d that I got flowers sent to me, which, ha, funny I don't remember anything about flowers, Matteo."
"Watch your tone," he warned. She was gonna need a good spanking when the night was over. High strung and stressed, he well knew a good, sobering session over his knee would help alleviate her stress and she would sleep better. But if she didn't watch out, stress or no, she'd end up over his knee for an entirely different reason.
"Matteo," she said with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I will speak politely. Promise. But please, I'm begging you. I would like to know about what's going on that involves me."
His hand continued to hold hers, massaging in soothing circles as he thought. He hadn't wanted her to be afraid. He wanted her to feel safe.
"Matteo," she said, her voice a low, pleading whisper. "I can handle this. I'm not a child, or incapable of dealing with stressful situations."
"Fucking know you're not a child," he muttered, and the tension eased a bit as she giggled, and he contemplated telling her. It was too late anyway, if Heidi had told all.
"I know you're strong, and that you can handle it, Hill," he said, his hand still massaging hers. "That's not why I've held anything back. No, baby, not at all." He sighed. It was time.
"We suspect Marauder has people in The Club who work for him," he said. "Slay intercepted an invitation last week sent supposedly by Manny, only it wasn't Manny after all. Blake believes all his long-term employees and members are trustworthy—Manny, me, Slay, and a few others. But there are a handful of new hires that signed on since the shit went down at Black Box, one who even worked at Black Box, a domme named Rena. She and Slay go way back and he trusts her. Blake isn't so sure. What's tricky is that we're not sure it's someone who works for The Club, but could be a guest. And you know there are so many members and guests, it's taking freaking forever to narrow things down."
"Wow," she breathed. "Matteo… is there anyone else who's a target? Or is it just me?"
He paused. "We don't know. So far, it looks like you're the target for the short term, but it looks like the bigger picture here is Marauder is trying to bring down The Club." He shook his head. "Theory is, he gets you, word gets out that The Club was responsible for… whatever… the Club goes down. But, honestly, baby… Slay, Dom, and me, we're all convinced this is personal."
She sighed. "So you've got info," she said.
"Lots," he said. "And we'll show you in the back room, if Blake lets you in. So far the only people at The Club who know anything are me, Dom, Slay and Blake. Even Heidi doesn't know some shit."
They pulled into the parking lot as Hillary squeezed his hand.
"Thanks for telling me," she said.
He nodded. "Now be a good girl and do what I say," he ordered. She merely nodded, and he could tell she'd sobered.
Slay and Blake met them at the back door, the private entrance only Club staff had access to. Blake gave a courteous nod to Hillary, his eyes meeting hers in a protective, paternal glance.
"You okay, honey?" he asked in his deep, raspy voice.
She merely nodded, as Slay flanked her other side, both feet planted firmly on the ground, his arms crossed over his mammoth chest.
"We'll find the bastard," he promised. Hillary's eyes softened as she looked to both Blake and Slay.
"Thank you," she whispered, grasping Matteo's hand even tighter.
Giving a chin lift to Matteo, Slay led them through the door.
Matteo had a protective arm around Hill as they stepped into the back room. It wasn't enough to keep his gaze fixed on her. He needed his hand on her, cupping her elbow, holding her hand, grasping her wrist. It had been a mistake allowing her to go out alone. He'd allowed his judgment to get clouded in the heat of the moment earlier. It was a mistake he wouldn't make again.
Blake led them to a small back room Hillary had never seen before, but Matteo had visited a few times. A stranger stood by, a well-dressed man with graying brown hair, and a trim beard, wearing khakis and a button-down shirt.
"Inspector Mantle," Matteo said. "This is Hillary." They shook hands.
Mantle would, of course, already know who Hillary was, thanks to his investigation, but Matteo figured it would be best not to freak her out any further by explaining that.
The Club camera feeds, similar to those in Blake's office but larger, lined the walls, and there were yellow post-it notes attached to the walls with notes jotted down in thick black marker.
Blake gestured for Hillary to sit next to Matteo, as he pulled up his laptop and Mantle walked behind him, hands clasped behind his back.
"Hillary, I thank you for your cooperation in all of this," he began. "We've…" his eyes went to Matteo's for a moment, and he paused. "Surmised up to this point it was best you not be dragged into the details of this investigation, but it seems the time has come that you take part as we close in on being able to apprehend our suspects."
Hillary quirked an eyebrow at Matteo. She was no fool, and well knew that the reason they'd 'surmised it was best not to drag her in' had Matteo written all over it. Matteo met Hillary's eyes and merely nodded. He was not going to apologize or take it back. The past few nights she'd slept like a baby next to him, and ignorance, as far as he was concerned, was fucking bliss.
"I've pieced together past stories, and cross-referenced them to similar BDSM club scandals, stalking incidences, and assault charges we've had in the past few years. We were able to track Marauder's identity to New York City where he was removed from a BDSM club in Queens for 'non-consensual domming'." Mantle shook his head. "It was merely violation of a club rule, not necessarily illegal. And there were other incidences in various locations as well, but not everyone has as stringent laws regarding stalking and assault as we do here in Boston," he explained. "With a little investigation, it's become clear that this particular gentleman enjoys luring young, unsuspecting girls to a club where he takes advantage of them, and eventually rapes and batters them." Matteo's hands fisted on the table but Hillary remained unmoved. "There were four separate incidences that were on record at the club in Queens, but no one could identify the dominant. But each had identical stories, and notes on each claimed the scar and tattoo that we've now identified as belonging to Marauder." He shook his head. "Marauder not being his real name, of course. He has several but we've narrowed down his real identity to that of Marshall Griffson." Hillary shook her head, clearly unfamiliar.
"There's a warrant out for his arrest," Mantle said, "and just this evening, I've uncovered some information that will bode well in our favor when we apprehend him."
Matteo, Blake, and Slay sat straighter as Mantle opened a second folder.
"It seems our perpetrator has a taste for minors. In the past few months, there have been reports of a man meeting his description targeting minors, but again, no apprehension." He cleared his throat and his voice dropped. "There were two incidences of violation against a minor and the perpetrator is still at large."
At that, Hillary cringed, Slay swore, and Matteo felt the hot beast of fury clawing again at his chest.
Fucking minors. God, he hoped Dom or Slay would let him at the son of a bitch before they hauled him away.
Hillary swallowed. "So where do we go from here?"
Mantle closed the folder and took a deep breath, his eyes flickering to Matteo before he continued.
"That's a good question, Hillary," he said gently. "And my personal opinion is that the sooner we move, the better. If Griffson catches wind of our investigation, this entire operation could be at risk. We need to draw him out and apprehend him before he does any real damage. And certainly before he hurts anyone else."
Matteo eyed him warily. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
Mantle's lips pursed as he nodded thoughtfully. "Bait, Matteo. We need bait."
Matteo's gripped Hillary's hand so tightly she winced.
"Tell me more," he growled, and Blake stood.
"We're not putting her in harm's way," Matteo said. "Absolutely not. There has to be anothe
r way. She's been in his clutches once, and I'll be damned if she comes within ten feet of him on my watch."
Hillary cleared her throat, and they all looked to her.
She spoke softly, her eyes wide and earnest as she looked from Slay, to Blake, to Matteo.
"I can't even tell you how much I appreciate how protective you all are. Honestly, I am so grateful that you would go to such lengths to ensure my safety."
Matteo knew where she was going with this and he groaned inwardly as she continued. Damn it if she wasn't right, but God, he hated the idea of putting her at risk.
"But I agree with Inspector Mantle. If we are going to draw him out and end this, we need it done now. We don't have time to play games, and wait until he makes his next move. We do need bait, and it only makes logical sense that the bait is me." She paused as they all watched her quietly. "I'm not alone in this. We will plan my moves strategically, and I'll follow my instructions. But harm won't come to me." She paused. "I trust Matteo with my life."
Aw hell, why did she have to go and do that?
He squeezed her hand. Brave, beautiful, tenacious girl.
Matteo spoke up. "She's right. Hill's gotta be the one at the center of this operation so we can bring him down." He looked to Slay and Blake. "We protect her every fucking move. We get her just close enough to get him, and he doesn't touch a hair on her head."
Her eyes met his and they warmed, thanking him, as he reached for her hand and squeezed it, but he fixed her with his sternest, most sobering look and she nodded.
No screwing around.
He addressed the rest of them.
"Let's do this."
* * *
They drove in silence, heading back to his place, and his eyes were trained on the rear view mirrors. Though Mantle told them Griffson had a pattern that included a deliberate plant and withdrawal for a few days, Matteo didn't trust for a minute that they weren't being watched. Still, on the entire way home he noted nothing out of the ordinary.
Maybe it was part of the asshole's plan. Scare her shitless, then go lie in hiding for a while until she got comfortable again.
God, he hoped he'd be the one to get his hands on him first. Could he trust himself not to fucking kill him? Hillary's voice interrupted his thoughts.
