“We’ll find her,” Connor said confidently. “I’m just bringing her credit card details up now. Too bad her phone is turned off or I could track it. I’ll ping the last location as well.”
That was actually what worried him most. Not that she hadn’t been seen or heard from in a week. But that she’d turned off her phone. Her phone was always on. Sure, she might not answer his calls, but Rory’s life was on that phone. She never turned it off.
“Oh, crap.”
“What?” He turned to Connor, noting the other man’s frown. “What is it?”
“The last location of her cell was in a parking lot outside a BDSM club, the same club where she last used her credit card was at 1:22 a.m.” He glanced around at them all. “The club was Whip It.”
Gray turned to Lacey and felt everyone else around him do the same. She just looked confused. “What is it? Why are you all looking at me?”
There was silence for a moment.
“Because Whip It is your cousin Travis’s club,” Gray told her. “It could be that the last time anyone saw Rory was there. There’s no way she would have gone a week without using her credit card.”
“She hasn’t accessed her bank account either,” Connor said, his gaze fixed on his monitor.
“Book me the next available flight to New York City,” Gray told him. The only way to find her was to be there himself.
“Book a ticket for me too,” Lacey said suddenly.
He stopped pacing to stare at her. “You don’t need to come with me.”
“Yes, I do,” she replied in a calm voice, her stare intent. “I know New York City. I can help you. You might need backup. I’m coming.”
He studied her for a moment. He should tell her no. But, in truth, he wanted her there with him. He nodded. “Two tickets.”
“Let us know when you find out anything and if you need any help,” Hunter said. “Whatever backup you need, you have.”
The others all nodded, their faces serious. He gave them all a nod in return. “Thanks for coming in everyone. Especially on a Sunday. I appreciate it.”
“Hey, we’re getting overtime, right?” Josh joked.
Curt threw a pen at him, and he ducked to the side.
***
Lacey followed Gray into Rory’s apartment, looking around in surprise. The apartment itself was gorgeous, floor-to-ceiling windows, wooden floors, and amazing views of the Manhattan skyline. But it was an absolute pigsty. Clothes strewn everywhere. Dirty dishes and garbage lay piled up on the kitchen counter, and the smell of rotting food filled the apartment. It was disgusting.
“If mother could see this she’d have a fit,” Gray muttered. “Luckily, she never comes to here anymore. I don’t know why she hasn’t sold this apartment.”
“Your mother owns this place?” Lacey asked, barely resisting the urge to pinch her nose closed as she moved through the living area.
“Yeah. She and father used to visit New York City a lot for his work. After he died, she never came back. Rory moved in, and it’s been her place ever since. Although last time I was here it didn’t look this bad.”
“Hey, who the fuck are you?”
Lacey turned to see a slim-built girl with pale skin and dark dreads, dressed in skinny, black jeans and a loose, black T-shirt glaring at her from across the room. “What the hell are you doing here? You can’t just walk in. I’m calling the cops.”
“And tell them what?” Gray asked as he moved closer to Lacey. “That someone has entered the apartment you’re illegally squatting in?”
“I’m not squatting,” the girl spat out. Her eyes looked too wide in her thin face, her cheeks sunken and her skin sallow. She wasn’t healthy. “Rory said I could stay here.”
“When did she tell you that, Nicole?”
“How do you know my name?” The girl looked frightened now, and Lacey wondered what sort of life she’d lived that had brought her to this point. Lacey studied the bruises on her arm, noting the needle tracks.
“I’ve seen photos of you with my sister,” Gray explained calmly. “When exactly did you last see my sister?”
“You’re her brother? What’s your name? Black? Blue?”
“Gray.”
“Oh yeah, she said you were a boring, stick-in-the-mud who didn’t know how to have fun. She didn’t say how cute you were.” The girl stuck her hip out and pursed her lips. “How about you ditch the skinny bitch and come hang out with me?”
Gray stiffened. He was a patient man, but Lacey knew he hadn’t slept much last night, and he’d spent the whole day worrying over Rory. He was nearing the end of his endurance, and she didn’t blame him. And who was she calling a skinny bitch? If this girl turned sideways she’d disappear.
Lacey stepped in front of Gray. Just in case he felt the urge to shake some sense into the younger woman. “We’re here to find Rory. Nothing else. We’re concerned about her. When did you last see her?”
“You’re not going to make me leave?” Nicole asked in a small voice.
Suddenly, Lacey felt tired and sad. She heard Gray curse quietly. This girl needed help. It was obvious she didn’t have any place else to go.
“Nobody is kicking you out,” Gray told her. “But while you’re here, no drugs and no parties.”
“But I can stay?” There was a hopeful note in her voice, as if she didn’t quite believe him.
“Yes. So long as you clean this place up. It reeks in here.”
Nicole nodded quickly, looking far too young to be out in the world on her own. Where were her parents? “I will. It was like this when I got here, and Rory doesn’t like her stuff being touched.”
“If it’s left like this for much longer, it will become a health hazard,” Gray muttered, looking around him in disgust. “We’re going to stay close by. We’ll come in tomorrow to make sure you’re keeping this place, and yourself, clean.”
“I’ll try.” A haunted look filled her gaze.
“There are programs that can help you kick your drug habit,” Lacey said gently.
Nicole’s face hardened. “I don’t need help. I’m fine.”
“Okay.” Lacey knew only too well it was senseless trying to help someone who didn’t want to accept help.
“So, when did you last see Rory?” Gray asked, his voice growing impatient.
“Last Saturday night,” Nicole told him. “Just as she was headed out to meet her boyfriend at that kink club.”
“Whip It?” Lacey asked. She still couldn’t believe Travis had never told her he owned a BDSM club. Maybe because he’d have to confess to having named it Whip It. Not exactly discreet.
“Yeah, that’s it. Hottest kink club in the city, apparently. If you’re into that thing. There’s a huge waiting list to get a membership, but Rory’s guy has connections.”
“What’s the boyfriend’s name?” Gray asked.
“Don’t know. Rory just calls him her Latin lover.”
“What? Why does she call him that?” Lacey asked sharply, her heart racing. It wasn’t possible. He was dead.
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve never met him?” she urged.
“Nah, but according to Rory he’s hot, rich, and kinky. The top three things on her list for a man.”
“Jesus, help me,” Gray muttered.
“Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that would help us find her?” Lacey asked.
Nicole looked a little unsure. “No, just . . .”
“What?” Gray asked.
“She met this guy because he started sending her things. Like notes and flowers and stuff. He told her he’d seen her at a club and then followed her home so he knew where she lived. Then he started to send her love letters, like a secret admirer. I thought it sounded a little creepy, but she was excited. Especially after she first met him.”
Lacey felt ill.
It can’t be.
He’s dead.
“Thanks,” Gray told her. “We’ll be back tomorrow but i
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He growled. “You want to rethink that answer, sub?”
She stared up at him then dropped her gaze. “I’m just trying to process some things, Sir. I’m not hiding anything.”
Wasn’t she? She wasn’t so sure. Maybe she should tell him. But he’d think she was insane. The case was closed. The Latin Lothario had been shot and killed by the cops when he’d been caught trying to dump a body. There was no way he could have anything to do with Rory disappearing. So why did she feel so ill?
Gray could tell something was worrying Lacey. Under other circumstances he wouldn’t let her brush him off the way she had. But now wasn’t the time to discuss the way she sometimes shut down on him, pulling in on herself. A conversation for another day.
Right now, he needed to focus on finding Rory. Then he’d tell his family they needed to sort their own shit without involving him. And then he could concentrate totally on Lacey.
God help her then.
“We’re here.”
“Where?” She looked up at the gray, nondescript building before them. It was five stories tall, but skinny and in a more industrial area of Manhattan. There was nothing special about it. Nothing that indicated what it was, but it was the right building.
“This is Whip It.”
“Really?” Her forehead wrinkled into a frown. “But it’s so ugly.”
He snorted out a laugh. “That it is.” He checked his watch, the sun was starting to set and it was growing dark. “We’ll get some dinner after we meet with Travis.” He’d called him on the way to the airport, and he’d agreed to meet them here at seven, along with his head of security, who happened to be Jace.
“I’m all right. I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat. We’ve barely eaten all day.”
She turned to him, her gaze serious. “You don’t need to take care of me, Gray.”
He raised one eyebrow. “I don’t? I thought you liked it when I took care of you.”
She blushed slightly. “I do. But I meant right now. I’m here to look after you. Not the other way around. You need to concentrate on finding your sister, not worrying about whether I’ve eaten. Although I could go grab you something to eat, if you like.”
He didn’t care what was going on, there was no way he’d send his sub out for food in New York City at night, alone.
“We’ll get something together later.” He grabbed hold of her chin, turning her head to face him. “And, Lacey, I will always take care of you. No matter what.” He leaned in and kissed her. He cursed the gearshift between them, wanting her close. Just as he was considering pushing his seat back and pulling her onto his lap, someone knocked on the driver’s window, making her scream and pull back.
With a long-suffering sigh, knowing who it would be, Gray turned and lowered the window. “You always did have terrible timing, Travis.”
Lacey’s cousin scowled down at him. “I’d say my timing was just right, wouldn’t you, Jace?”
Behind Travis, Jace nodded and glared down at him. “Any longer and he’d have been fucking her in the front seat for anyone to walk along and see.”
“Jace Andrews, you wash your mouth out!” Lacey snapped and climbed out of the car.
“You gonna get out or what?” Travis asked and took a step back as Gray climbed out.
Gray held his hand out. “Nice to see you again, Travis.”
The other man snorted and stared down at his hand suspiciously, as though he thought it might bite him. “Wish I could say the same.”
“Travis!” Lacey snapped. “Act civil.”
“He’s never been civil in his life,” Gray commented as he reached out and pulled her close against him. “I don’t think he’s going to start now.”
Travis looked from him to Lacey. “You were supposed to take care of my cousin. Not take care of my cousin. I didn’t send her to you so you could sleep with her.”
“Travis!”
Chapter Fifteen
She was going to kill her cousins. Slowly and painfully. She couldn’t believe they would embarrass her like this.
Travis eyed her briefly then turned his gaze back to Gray. “Well? How long you been fucking our cousin?”
“I’m thirty-five years old, I hardly need the two of you to defend my virtue,” she spat out, moving forward, out of Gray’s hold. “So just back off. I’ll date whomever the hell I want to date.”
“Oh, so the two of you are dating?” Travis raised an eyebrow. “How long has this been going on?”
Knowing from experience he wouldn’t give up, she let out a deep breath. Patience. Calm. Reason with him. And if that didn’t work, she’d just start smacking him.
“Four and a half months,” Gray told him. “And it’s more than just dating. Lacey has moved in with me.”
Drat. She hadn’t been planning on telling her cousins that just yet. Travis turned that bright blue gaze on her. “Oh? And when were you planning on telling us?”
When hell froze over. “I figured I’d wait a year or two.”
“You were keeping it from us?” Jace feigned a hurt look, and she rolled her eyes.
“You guys have tried to scare off every boyfriend I’ve ever had with your insanely overprotective attitudes, so excuse me for wanting to keep this relationship a secret. I kind of wanted to see what it was like to have a boyfriend before you guys scared him away.”
“They won’t scare me away,” Gray told her firmly. “I’m in this for good.” He pulled her close, and a warm feeling filled her.
“Great, I think I just puked a little,” Travis muttered. “Come on, you might as well come inside.”
She’d been looking forward to seeing the inside of the club, but instead, Travis led them down a hallway and into a small office with several computer screens set on a large desk.
“Jace has gone through the security cameras inside and outside the club for last Saturday night and early Sunday morning. You’re not going to like what he found.”
Her stomach dropped at Travis’s words. She took a seat beside Jace, and Gray sat on the other side of her largest cousin. Jace clicked on his keyboard and brought up a black and white security feed.
“There’s Rory,” Gray said grimly, pointing to a petite, dark-haired girl, dressed in a miniskirt and nothing else. “Wonderful, just what I’ve always wanted to see—my sister’s boobs.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Travis told him.
Rory stood at the bar, sipping a drink.
“You have cameras throughout the club?” Lacey asked. Wasn’t that an invasion of privacy? Did The Twisted Thorn have cameras? She wasn’t sure how she felt about having her scenes recorded.
“Not in the main part of the dungeon,” Travis explained. “But in the bar, the hallways, and outside each of the changing rooms we do, as well as at all the exits. Here he is.”
A well-built, Caucasian man walked over to Rory and drew her in for a kiss. His hand went under her skirt to cup and squeeze her ass and Gray made a strangled noise in his throat. Lacey’s heart beat faster for some reason. Her palms started to sweat.
“So, this is the boyfriend,” Gray said. “One of your members?”
“No,” Travis replied. “He’s not.”
Lacey watched as another man approached and said something to Rory. She smiled. But her boyfriend pulled her close, his body language clearly displaying he was furious as he snapped something at the other man.
“He’s older than her,” she commented. “Authoritative and jealous. He didn’t like that other man speaking to her.”
“A lot of men are possessive,” Travis commented. “Some might see it as protective.”
“And that’s being protective?” she asked as the man pulled Rory in front of him, her back to his chest. He squeezed her breast, then reached down under her skirt to cup her mound. Rory pulled at his arm, obviously wanting him to stop, but the man leaned down and said something to her and she stilled.
“She looks scared.” Something clearly wasn’t right.
“If he’s not one of your members does that mean Rory is?” Gray asked Travis.
“No. One of my employees let them in,” Travis told him. “I’ve spoken to him. He said he doesn’t know who this guy is. Apparently he approached him a few weeks ago and offered him a wad of cash to let him in. Needless to say, he’s fired.”
“We need to find out more about this man,” she said to Gray urgently. “I don’t like that he followed her home to find out where she lived or that he started sending her things. That’s not healthy behavior.”
“Rory had a couple of other close friends we can talk to.” He turned to Jace. “Can you send this to Connor? He might get a hit on facial recognition.”
Jace nodded grimly. “Sure thing.”
“Brace yourself,” Travis added.
Jace switched the feed, and Lacey watched as Rory stumbled slightly as she crossed the parking lot. Her boyfriend tucked her in closer. That gesture might have looked protective and caring under other circumstances. But he took the opportunity to squeeze her ass then slipped his hand under her skirt. She jumped and then turned to slap his chest.
“Jesus, don’t they realize they’re in the middle of a parking lot,” Gray muttered.
“Wait for it,” Travis warned.
The man turned, giving them a good view of his face.
“Got ya,” Gray said.
“Maybe.” Travis’s voice was wary.
The man grinned, smiling right up into the camera.
“He knows where the camera is,” Lacey stated in surprise. “Are they obvious?”
“No,” Travis muttered. “He’s done his homework.”
He did something with his fingers and Lacey frowned. What was that?
“What a stand-up guy. Is this all of it?” Gray asked.
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