Kaylin knew this was it. Either she fought for her life, or she would die. This guy was not thinking about letting her live. He’d come here to play with her first and then kill her. She had to stall for time. She might get an opening to take him out. Unfortunately, with the way she and Jack had left things, he wouldn’t be expecting an “I’m home safely, goodnight” call. She was on her own.
* * * *
Del and two uniformed officers had been watching Kaylin’s house for an hour. He’d just had a funny feeling that something wasn’t right at the club. It was nothing he could put his finger on, but he had a gut feeling. He never ignored his gut. Since Kaylin wasn’t spending the night with Brown—and what was that about now?—he thought it was worth a little investment of time. He had snagged a couple of uniforms for backup and staked out her house. The deputies in their division all had a soft spot for Kaylin. It might be the cookies she brought into the station. It might just be her personality. Shit. He hoped she’d get home soon. He was tired and needed to turn in, but he wanted to be sure she was safely home first.
He spoke into his walkie. “Jed, do you see that black SUV? It’s moving too slow. Keep your eye on it.”
A moment later Jed responded. “It went around the corner and parked in some hedges. Guy in dark clothes got out. He’s moving back toward Gallagher’s house, keeping to the bushes.”
“Keep an eye on him. Here comes Kaylin’s car.”
Del watched as the dark shadow crept up behind Kaylin. He wanted to wait until the guy had done something he couldn’t explain away by saying he just wanted directions. When he knocked Kaylin down and followed her into the house Del rushed forward. “He’s inside. Move.” Del shouldered open the door and came up behind the suspect. “BSO. Drop the gun. Hands up.” He shoved his gun into the guy’s neck hard. “Don’t tempt me to make this easy for you, asshole. What are you doing here?” After a tense moment, the perp dropped his gun.
The backup uniforms were up on Kaylin’s porch. “Got him, Detective?” Jed asked.
“Got him, Jed. Call it in and hang around until a couple of units get here then you guys can take off. Thanks for your help.” Del had quickly handcuffed the suspect. “Kay, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Banged my knee, that’s all.” Kaylin scrambled up, picked up the suspect’s gun off the floor and then reached for her handbag and retrieved her gun. “I’m going to pull off his mask, Del. Keep hold of him.” When she reached up and pulled the black ski mask off, she was surprised that she had seen the guy hanging around the club. She might also have seen him at the first crime scene now that she had a good look at him. “What’s your name? You’re a member of The Black Iris Club. I’ve seen you there.”
The suspect didn’t answer her question. Del read him his rights. He knew the scumbag would lawyer up, but they would see what they could get first.
“I’ll take him in, get fingerprints, swab him for DNA, and then we can question him. A night in holding at the county jail might loosen his tongue if we don’t get a fingerprint hit. Do you want to come in with me? Do you want to call Jack?”
She ignored the last question. “Yes, I want to come in. I’m fine. What were you doing here?”
“Had a gut feeling something wasn’t right. You know me and my guts. So Jed, Pete, and I decided to stake out your house. Glad we did. This could have been ugly.”
“Yeah. I should have left my bags in the car until morning and had at least one hand free. I wasn’t thinking straight. I won’t be doing that again.”
Del still had a feeling something wasn’t right with her. They had been partners for two years. She was never careless, always watched her surroundings, and was never distracted. What the fuck?
* * * *
Kaylin was not surprised that the suspect, Alan J. Baker, had a record. His fingerprints were in the system, and he had convictions for assault and battery and stalking. Kaylin checked the membership records of The Black Iris Club and found him under an alias. The identification picture on his key card listed him as a member named Albert J. Bogard. Apparently he was also a stockbroker at a firm in the building. Her suspicion that a stockbroker was involved turned out to be correct, but he hadn’t lost a boatload of money. He was apparently just a dirtbag who liked to kill women. It would take a while to get the DNA results back, but Del had put a rush on the tests. They would question Mr. Baker-Bogard in the meantime.
Del took Baker down to the Broward County Jail and had him booked for suspicion in the murder of Lucy Evans and the three prostitutes, not to mention assault of a police officer, and breaking and entering. They could probably come up with a couple more charges to be sure the suspect couldn’t bond out of jail. They wanted to hang on to this guy and would question him tomorrow.
By the time they left the station, it was almost three o’clock in the morning. “I’ll follow you home and make sure everything is okay there.”
“I’ll be fine, Del. The lock on the front door wasn’t broken in the scuffle. I’ll be able to lock up.”
“I’ll follow you home. No arguments. Are you sure you don’t want to call Jack?”
“No. It’s late. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” Sure she would. She had no intention of calling Jack Dalton Brown now or ever, the stubborn bastard. He wouldn’t listen to her or accept her apology. Fine. Well, he had no idea what stubborn was. She was the definition and had the T-shirt to prove it. It was pink, had an arrow pointing down, and a legend that said, “One Stubborn Bitch.” It had been a gag gift from Del. She wore it occasionally when she was in a bitch of a mood. Maybe she would sleep in it tonight. It certainly fit her state of mind at the moment. Once Del had checked out her house and she had locked up after him, she collapsed on her bed…and sobbed. She wanted Jack’s arms around her. He liked to cuddle and spoon when he was sleeping, and she had loved that. She wanted that now. She really wanted that now.
During the following week, Del and Kaylin were busy. They tightened up the case against Baker and turned it over to the State’s Attorney’s Office for prosecution. As she had predicted, State’s Attorney Miguel Gatto pounced on the high-profile serial killer case, and Gabby would be relegated to second chair at trial. Of course, Baker claimed to be innocent of all charges. Sure. They would be assisting the S.A.’s investigator in further follow-up on the four murders. The DNA results had also connected Baker to three other murders in Sarasota County on the West Coast. Sarasota could get in line for a prosecution although the authorities in the two counties might elect to combine the cases. Kaylin thought they probably wouldn’t combine the cases on the off chance Baker managed to beat the Broward County charges and walked by some satanic miracle. Should the prosecution of the Broward murders fail, they would have another case to bring against him in Sarasota. Baker was going down.
The press coverage of the case had been heavy. The murder of a beautiful twenty-two-year-old receptionist as well as the three prostitutes made for big headlines and television coverage. They had managed to keep Baker’s attack on her out of the press, although those charges had not been dropped. That issue might arise in the press at trial if they were noticed among the more spectacular murder and rape charges.
Kaylin and Del made every effort to avoid the press, but weren’t always successful. She knew Del had called Jack Brown as a courtesy to thank him for his help and let him know Lucy’s killer had been arrested. She didn’t think he had told Jack that Baker had attacked her in her house. Thank goodness she had not had to call him. She couldn’t face talking to Jack now. She didn’t know if she ever could. Del didn’t share what Jack had said except to say he’d thanked them for getting justice for Lucy and also for keeping the name of the club out of the press coverage. So that was that. Life went on. And she missed Jack Dalton Brown every day—and every night. She hadn’t realized his absence would hurt so much.
* * * *
So, they had gotten the guy. Jack hadn’t been surprised he was a member of the club after the feeling they’d both had tha
t they were being watched. Jack was relieved. He was done with Kaylin Gallagher. He wouldn’t have to have any more scenes with her in the club where she faked her response to him, wouldn’t have to justify his “depraved” lifestyle to her. So what if he missed her every day and his body ached for her every night? So what if he wanted to pick up the phone and call her at least once an hour? He would get over it. He would get on with his life without her. Thank goodness he hadn’t cancelled his trip to New York. He could use a little distraction right now. His cousin, Barbara, was not only a relative but one of his closest friends. She could be counted on to keep his ass busy in the city. She was also almost psychic, and she would know he was off his stride. She would pick and pry until she had the story out of him. There was no help for that. They’d been close since childhood, and no one read him better than Barbara. That might be a good thing. Maybe he could talk Kaylin out of his system. He decided to change his reservations to an earlier flight. He wanted out of this town.
Chapter Ten
Barbara Brown’s duplex apartment overlooking Central Park, New York, New York, Wednesday evening, July 23, 2014, 6:30 p.m.
Jack relaxed on a sofa as he looked out over the green canopy of Central Park from the library of Barb’s twelfth-floor apartment. He was nursing a scotch on the rocks while he waited for Barbara to finish dressing and come down so they could go out to dinner. He had arrived in the city earlier that afternoon, much to Barbara’s delight. She had insisted that he stay with her rather than at a hotel. As he had expected, she had immediately known all was not well with him and started to badger him about what was wrong. No one knew him like Barbara did. She was him—only female and beautiful. She was tall with wavy dark hair, and they shared the same gray eyes they had both inherited from their fathers, a set of identical twins. Strangely enough she was also a Domme. What the fuck were the chances of that particular kink hitting two cousins? If there was anyone he could talk to about the Kaylin situation, it was Barbara. He just wasn’t ready yet.
Over predinner cocktails at Le Cirque he finally spilled his guts. He told Barb about the murder in his building, the undercover operation, and falling for Kaylin Gallagher. He also told her Kaylin thought he was “depraved.” Admitting that out loud to another person hurt. It hurt deep.
“Jackie, don’t let one person’s ill-informed opinion rock your boat. You’ve been happy in the lifestyle for years. It meets your needs. If she’s shallow and uninformed, that’s her loss. Frankly, I’d like to give her a taste of my single-tail.” Barbara had a D/s relationship with her sub, Ross Blackstone, and they had been together for several years now. Oddly enough, Ross was a very high-profile hedge fund manager. Jack guessed Ross’s sub role was his way of dealing with stress. Their kinky lifestyle worked for them.
“I don’t know if it meets my needs anymore, Barb. I miss her. It’s like a knife twisting in my guts.”
“In that case, babe, you’ll have to do something about it when you get back to Florida. Personally, I’d like to see you beat her butt. I’ve never known you to let a sub get to you like this. You’re the Dom. Take control of the situation, and settle it to your own satisfaction.”
“Maybe. She’s not really a sub.”
“No maybe. Do it. And she’s a sub if you say she is. You can convince her. You’re a Master Dom.” She grinned at him. “Now, for the important business at hand—my charity Dom and sub auction at the club.” Jack could see her mentally rubbing her hands together. “I expect you to bring a hefty price—all for a good cause, of course.” Barbara was heavily into charity work. If it wasn’t a vanilla benefit for cancer, it was a walk-a-thon for muscular dystrophy or some other worthy enterprise. Her cause du jour was a women’s safe house in the city, and this Dom and sub auction. Well, it might get his mind off his troubles. How bad could it be?
They enjoyed dinner and catching up. He had the Dom/sub auction to look forward to—or not, depending on his outlook at the moment—and he felt a little better as they caught a taxi back to her apartment. Barbara always had an uplifting effect on him. They had supported each other since childhood. Neither of their fathers “got” the BDSM thing, so they didn’t flaunt it, but neither did they hide it. It was a part of both of them, and neither of them was the type to hide in the closet. People, including family, could accept them or not. Kaylin was going to have to do the same. Accept him or not. He was feeling better about this. Time spent with Barbara always did the trick.
* * * *
Le Club Eastside – Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, Saturday night, July 26, 2014
Jack had been to the Le Club facility that Barbara belonged to many times over the years. It was located in an old factory building on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. The entire parking lot was under camera surveillance. Barbara put her palm to the plate on the aged brick pillar, and they drove through the high black iron gates into the heavily secured parking lot. They walked to the back door of the club. The rear entrance to Le Club and the parking lot were unmarked. There was no clue as to what the warehouse building contained. The only signs said “No Trespassing” and “Danger/Enter at Your Own Risk.” Again Barbara put her palm to the security plate located beside the heavy metal door. They went inside. The club was buzzing that night. Apparently the Dom/sub auction was a popular event, and participants and spectators were all standing around waiting for the action to begin. It was an elegant event and everyone was dressed to the nines. There was no sub or Dom wear in evidence. He was wearing an Armani tuxedo and his black alligator boots.
“This place is amazing, Barb.”
“It’s not as elegant as The Black Iris Club, but we like it. Okay, go and mingle. I want to get as much for you as I can. You’re my centerpiece. I think I’m going to put you up for auction first to get the ball rolling. Also, I don’t want all the girls waiting for you and not bidding on anyone else.” Jack shook his head. Barbara was relentless for a good cause. He hoped it wouldn’t be too painful for him. He just had to suck it up since he had agreed to this months ago.
Jack mingled and flirted. He spoke with all the ladies holding bidding cards and made himself agreeable. He might as well wring as much cash out of the winning bidder as possible. This was for charity after all. He would have to do a scene with the high bidder and probably take her out to dinner. He didn’t think, given his current mindset about Kaylin, that he would be up for more than that. That shouldn’t be the case. He and Kaylin had no commitment between them, but his feelings were his feelings and they still stung.
By the time Jack got up on the stage as the first Dom up for auction, he wished he’d stayed in Florida. Why was he doing this? Because Barbara had asked him to. Simple. Grin and bear it. It would be over and a memory before he knew it. The bidding for the well-known Master Dom, Jack Dalton Brown, was hot and heavy. Finally, it looked like it was about over. He’d been standing up there for what seemed like forever trying to smile and look pleasant while also looking Dom-like. The two really did not go together.
“Five thousand from Paddle 105, going once, going…”
“Ten thousand.” The huge bid had come from a well-dressed woman at the back of the room.
“Ten thousand from Paddle 215, going once, going twice.” The auctioneer paused to see if there would be any more action. “Jack Dalton Brown sold to Paddle Number 215. Pay the clerk.”
By the time it was over, the handsome woman at the back of the room had paid ten grand for a scene and a date with him. She looked to be about his age. Her name was Melissa Gantry, a Manhattan socialite. He didn’t know if she was a member of Le Club, but she had to be sponsored by a member in order to be admitted in the first place. He didn’t remember speaking with her before the auction, but the faces of the women had started to run together. Melissa was blonde with her hair pulled up in a classic style. The huge diamond studs at her ears, other jewelry, and designer dress and shoes spoke of extreme affluence if not outright wealth. Pictures were snapped, and he knew they would
make their way into the newspapers and magazines. The fact that the affair had been a Dom/sub auction and not just a bachelor auction, and where it had taken place, would not see the light of day. The powers that be behind these Le Club facilities that were located all over the country had a lot of pull and influence. No one wanted to buck them, and if the press present ever wanted another photo op, they would toe the line. No one just walked in here. It was strictly by invitation only and confidentiality agreements had to be signed by all, especially anyone with a camera.
By the end of the evening, all the Doms and subs had been bid on, Barbara had scored a major amount of money for The Sanctuary Women and Children’s Shelter, and the evening had been an unqualified success. Barbara stood with a glass of champagne in her hand and her sub, Ross, at her side. They looked like the ultra-successful New York couple that they were. The fact that he was her sub was not in evidence.
Jack and Melissa joined Barbara and Ross for a toast to the success of the evening. Jack knew he had to make the opening move to set up his date with Melissa. It was the polite thing to do. She had already put herself way out there, and he was a gentleman, if a kinky one.
“Can I take you to lunch tomorrow so we can discuss our scene and dinner? We can get to know each other a little better. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“That is very kind of you, Jack. Or should I say Master?”
“Save Master for the dungeon. Are you a member here? I have guest privileges through my cousin, Barbara, if not.”
“Yes, I’m a member, although I haven’t been here for a while. My husband died over a year ago, and I really haven’t been in the mood to socialize. I thought this auction for charity could possibly get me motivated to date again. I needed a jumpstart, so to speak.”
Kaylin's Pursuit [The Black Iris Club 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Page 10
