Blackout: A Romance Anthology

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  “Tell me everything,” Cane said. “You said she was hurt…killed?”

  Skye laid a hand on his shoulder. “She’s okay. Or…we think she will be. We found her in the penthouse bound and drugged.”

  “The penthouse. I fucking knew it. Davenport.” Cane’s tone transitioned to something that sent chills down their spines. A fire filled his stare that was full of warning. “Why were you in the penthouse? Never mind, I don’t even want to know. Where is she? Tell me she isn’t still in there.”

  “No,” Eddie said. “Not really the kind of situation you leave a defenseless girl in.”

  That comment earned him a sharp side-eye from Skye. That was exactly what he initially wanted to do. “No, Cane. We moved her. We have no idea who did it, just that we couldn’t leave her. She’s safe. For now. She asked for you.”

  “Take me to her,” Cane said. “Now.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Cane pushed past Eddie and Skye, taking a seat at the edge of the bed where Charlie was still sleeping. He checked for a pulse. His shoulders relaxed, likely relief at finding her alive. He tried to wake her, but she didn’t budge at first. Then, she said a few mumbling words that couldn’t be deciphered.

  They’d become closer than he had with any other client, but the feeling he had seeing her weak and vulnerable in a strange bed, in a strange place, made him nearly ill. Cane had seen some things in his life no person with half a heart or soul should ever witness, but nothing gutted him like the idea of Charlie missing, or seeing her like this. It made him uncomfortable as much as it comforted him to acknowledge the influence she had on his emotions. This was no time to delve into feelings and evaluate the whys and hows — that would have to wait.

  The couple caught Cane up — told him how they found her, and how they brought her down to their room. They even shared the empty suitcase and their theory about how it was going to be used to get Charlie out of the hotel undetected. Cane, oddly, seemed impressed at the creativity used to pull that off, the rescue as well as their assessments drawn from the scene. More than that, it was obvious he was grateful for the extreme measures they took, the risks.

  “Kandi,” Cane said. “I don’t understand how she fits into all of this. Everything is out — I have zero optics.”

  “Zero what?” Eddie asked, confused. “What the hell are optics?”

  “Visibility. I can’t see anything. No cameras, no feed to go back through — nothing,” Cane offered. “Everything fell under the blackout, and I have no way to go back and piece this shit together. I also have no way to find the asshole who…” Cane didn’t finish his thought. It made his stomach roll. Charlie had an angry wound on her head, she was obviously drugged, and God knew what else had been done to her and Cane wouldn’t know until he could get her to wake up. Waiting was torture.

  “No clue,” Eddie answered. “We’ve told you everything we know, so this is the part where we leave you to it and bounce. It’s been real, buddy.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Cane said, his eyes fixed on Charlie as he brushed her hair out of her face.

  “No. You don’t get it. We saved the girl. Found the dead one. Then managed to not end up in the middle of whatever this shit is,” Eddie said through gritted teeth. “We’re out.”

  “Do you think I don’t see all of the shit laying around here?”

  “My wife likes to shop. You can’t prove shit.”

  “We both know she’s not your wife, and we both know you didn’t pay for over half that shit,” Cane challenged.

  “And how would you know that? Zero optics, remember?”

  “Eddie,” Skye scolded.

  “What? We aren’t responsible for any of this or to any of these people.”

  “I know a common thief when I see one. You really aren’t that good at what you do. Most people may fall for the charming smile and this whole,” Cane waved his hands in front of them, “Ken and Barbie thing, but it has zero effect on me.”

  “You think my smile is charming?” Eddie winked, goading him for whatever reason.

  “Common thieves? Not good at what we do? Pfft,” Skye added, offended by the accusation and the lack of thanks Cane seemed to have. “Then why are we five hundred thousand large right now?”

  “Skye,” Eddie interrupted.

  “I mean…what if we were five hundred thousand large?” she corrected, realizing what she had nearly admitted.

  “Look, you’re the least of my worries right now. I need to get her to safety, and as much as I hate to say it, I need to get you guys there too. You have to come with us.” Cane wasn’t always an asshole, and he was grateful for the efforts that went into getting Charlie out of the penthouse, so he owed them at least a little help to see that they didn’t end up like Kandi. He hated having a fucking conscience. He also knew Charlie would never forgive him if he didn’t help them after what they did for her.

  “We aren’t…” Eddie started.

  “This guy is sophisticated. He managed to get into my hotel, beat the most elaborate security measures modern technology has seen, and took Charlie, possibly killed another employee, all without me knowing a thing.”

  “Yep. Made his way all the way to the penthouse, it seems.” Eddie made an odd clicking sound with his mouth as if he were disappointed.

  “Exactly,” Cane added as he got to his feet. “You’re involved now no matter how much you think you aren’t.”

  With his chest puffed out and shoulders back, Eddie found a tone of confidence that surprised even him. “I can take care of myself and my lady just fine. Even took care of yours for a bit. You’re welcome. We’re leaving now.”

  Eddie grabbed Skye’s hand to lead her out when Cane quickly lunged at him, causing him to jump in fear before stumbling backward, taking Skye with him.

  “I can see that,” Cane said. “Can you imagine if it’s the real bad guy coming at you?” His approach was condescending, but full of truth all the same. “What if he saw you? You don’t know who is behind this or if he was even in the penthouse while you were ransacking it.”

  “We weren’t ransacking it,” Eddie fired back.

  “You were still there. What if he watched you? What if this is his M.O.? Some of those guys…” Cane was speaking of one guy in particular, Anson Deveraux, “play games. They play cat and mouse and toy with their prey. He could’ve followed your every move just to see how you reacted to the things he set up just for you to find. Some of those guys get off on that shit. For all we know, he’s outside waiting because you led him right to the prize and you two are a bonus.”

  “Eddie,” Skye’s voice cracked.

  Eddie looked at Skye. The horror she wore in her expression was nearly his undoing. “Fine. We’ll go with you, but the minute we get the all clear, we bounce. This is not our rodeo. We don’t want any part.”

  “She said Anson,” Skye said. “I just remembered. She said to find you and something about Anson.”

  “Anson? Shit.” Cane paced, unsure what that meant or how it mounted to this Davenport guy. It didn’t make sense. What did one have to do with the other? Why would she say his name? Was she afraid? Was it PTSD? “Davenport had the penthouse, there’s no doubt about that. I have the security feeds on a ten-mile radius being run through facial rec software. If he were here, I would know.”

  “Who is Anson?” Skye asked. “Why are you watching for him?”

  “I’m…what you’d probably call a covert agent of sorts. My company deals with high end security and protection for rich, famous, world leaders, and even those at most risk all over the world. I’m an asset manager. Half the strip is mine to manage, but my biggest asset right now is Charlie.”

  It was Eddie’s turn to pace the floor and run his hands through his hair. He’d seen the movie that ran this plot line and knew how it ended — with a lot of casualties.

  Cane continued. “Anson has been trying to find her. He needs to finish what he started and won’t stop until he does.”

>   Eddie rolled his eyes at the vague build up. “And what is it he’s trying to finish?”

  “To kill Charlie.”

  Silence filled the space. Nobody spoke, nobody moved, not so much as a deep breath or sigh between them. How were any of them supposed to respond to that?

  “Son of a bitch,” Eddie finally said, breaking the silence.

  “I second that,” Cane said. “You get the levity of the situation now, right?”

  “Anson Deveraux,” Skye whispered. “I saw him on one of my shows. I-I didn’t think he was real. I thought it was a scripted documentary or urban legend type when I saw how many times he’d been caught and escaped…around the world. The story was so unbelievable.”

  “Believe it. All of it. He’s exactly who they say he is, and done worse than anyone has reported.”

  “Charlie is the one who got away.” Skye’s voice cracked as she looked to where Charlie was sleeping. “I knew this was all for a reason.”

  “For what reason?” Cane asked, perplexed by her reaction.

  “This…finding her. Her asking for help, then the…body.”

  Eddie finished making sense of Skye’s story. “She thinks we were chosen to help her. It’s our new start — our come to Jesus moment.”

  “Stop making fun of me, Eddie. There’s no such thing as coincidence. We were meant to find her. I’ve seen the show, I know her story.”

  “Well, I think that has little to do with it, but I agree. You’re in it now, as much as he doesn’t want to be. Do you remember what Anson Deveraux looks like?” She nodded. “Have you seen anyone that even resembled him?”

  “Not at all. Serial killers, they’re kind of my thing. I love those shows, they fascinate me,” she admitted. Cane gave her an odd look, so she clarified. “Not like I want to kill people fascination. I just find it all interesting. You know, what makes crazy…well, crazy.”

  “I get it. I think,” Cane said. “Do you know who Henry Davenport is?”

  “Not at all,” Skye spoke. “We heard you guys talking about him at some point, hence our trip to the penthouse.” The last part was said with an ounce of remorse.

  “Are you willing to look at pictures? My concern is he’s been here, and I’d put money on you crossing paths. We need to start piecing this together if we’re all going to get out of here alive and make sure the person behind all of this doesn’t get away.”

  “Absolutely. We don’t have internet access, though…”

  “You don’t need it,” Cane said, taking a seat next to Charlie again. He held her hand and whispered, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Turning to Eddie and Skye, he shared, “I have a safe room. It’s hidden. Nobody knows it’s there but me and my team. We need to get her there to recover and plan how we get everyone out. Who knows what he’s found or been doing.”

  Skye had a hop in her step as if a lightbulb had gone off. “We found something — in the penthouse. I…uh, took it.” She moved to the dresser and pulled a roll of papers from a drawer. “It’s a map. Like of the hotel. Maybe there’s a clue or something.”

  “Jesus. This isn’t public at all. Who knows how he got these. They are propriety and wouldn’t be published anywhere. He stole these, but how and why?” Cane said mostly to himself. “He’s planning something. Something big.”

  Cane turned his phone and took photos of the schematics — one less thing to worry about taking with them.

  “We need to get out of here,” Eddie said. “The longer we stay…”

  “Now you’re thinking,” Cane said, handing Eddie a gun. “I need you to have my back. Can I trust you?”

  “Whoa. I don’t…I don’t know how to use one of…these,” Eddie said, reluctant to take the weapon.

  Cane pulled out his hand and slapped the gun in his palm. “It’s easy. Point. Shoot. Can you remember that?”

  “Dude, I’ve never fired a weapon in my life.”

  “You’re a smart enough guy. An asshole, but smart. I think you can handle it,” Cane said, standing at Charlie’s bedside, scooping her up. “I will have to carry her and won’t be able to watch both sides. I’ll take the lead, you take the tail. You see anyone, call it out. They chase us, you shoot. Got it? Or should I give it to the girl, maybe she has your balls in her purse?”

  “Let’s get moving,” Eddie said, headed for the door.

  With Charlie over his shoulder, Cane took the lead staying close to the wall. He was slow to cross any open spaces, watching first for any kind of movement, then listening for the slightest sound. Even though they were hidden under the cloak of darkness, no flashlights on, using only Cane’s memory of the floorplan and instincts, they were sitting ducks. That very darkness that hid them from any would be enemy also hid their enemy from them.

  At the end of the final corridor on their floor, they entered the stairwell. Each of them stood still, listening for any indication they weren’t alone before proceeding. When it was evident they were indeed alone, Cane revealed an interesting secret within the janitor closet — a secret passage. It was like something out of the movies.

  Safely inside, Cane holstered his weapon and exchanged it for his flashlight to lead them up a narrow set of stairs.

  “Where the hell are we, O’Reilly?” Eddie asked, following Cane’s lead by putting his gun in the back of his waistband.

  “Penthouse level,” Cane deadpanned, taking the stairs two at a time, despite the extra weight he was carrying.

  “Whoa. Why the hell would we do that?” Eddie stood still. “Pretty sure we already established that’s where the bad dude was hanging out.”

  “Nobody knows these stairs are here and they lead to the top level where I have a safe room — something else nobody knows about. We’ll be hidden, even if he’s there.”

  Eddie continued up, huffing and puffing by the time they reached the top where there were two doors.

  “Door on the left, penthouse corridor. Door on the right, safe room. Remember that — don’t confuse the two.” Cane opened the door on the right, exposing them all to a suite sized room that looked like any other room in the hotel, minus windows. “We could stay in here indefinitely and nobody would know it.”

  He laid Charlie on the bed. She stirred only a bit, completely unfazed by what she’d just experienced. The room became awkwardly silent when Cane stood over her, watching her chest rise and fall as if he needed the reassurance she was indeed going to be okay and each breath was a confirmation.

  “How long do you think she’ll be out?” Skye said, standing next to him.

  “No telling. It depends on what he gave her.” Cane stared for a moment while worry traced his expression. “Probably a narcotic of sorts. Could even be something as simple as propofol, which is just a short-acting sedative that mimics something stronger. It’s used as anesthesia mainly — a big dose would have longer lasting effects.”

  “Okay,” Skye said, looking around the room, taking in the wall of screens and computers staged on the wall-length desk below. “You go do what you need to do, I’ll sit with her. I assume that fridge over there has water?”

  “It does. Even a few non-perishables if anyone needs to eat something to reboot.”

  “Go. I’ve got her. You get Eddie up to speed on whatever you need to.” Skye gently pushed Cane in the direction of the work space while she went for water, so she’d be prepared for Charlie when she woke up.

  CHAPTER 13

  “The minute Vegas fell off the grid, I’m sure my…contacts dispatched a team,” Cane interrupted the silence. “In fact, there was already a team in route when we didn’t get any hits on Davenport. He couldn’t be verified, and what little info there was didn’t add up.”

  “Good. So, the cavalry is coming,” Eddie added, seeming relieved. He walked up behind Cane to observe whatever it was he was trying to do with the resources afforded by the secret room.

  “Not exactly,” Cane corrected. “They aren’t coming here — they’re headed for the ren
dezvous point for an extraction.”

  “Then we get to the rendezvous point too. They can extract us all.”

  “Again, not that simple. It’ll be a pain in the ass just to get out of the hotel undetected, much less to the rendezvous. Besides, it was a twenty-four-hour response. They aren’t here yet, and a secondary team, if dispatched, could take just as long. I mean, I have power up here running off a hidden generator, but there’s nothing I can do without these computers online or a way to communicate. The satellite phone doesn’t even have a signal. We’re fucked.”

  Something caught Eddie’s attention on Cane’s screen. “I saw him. We saw him,” he said, pointing to the picture of Davenport that must’ve been left on one of Cane’s computer screens before they lost internet all together. “He was heading up the stairwell when we were moving Charlie.”

  “When you were moving Charlie?” Cane stood. “He didn’t seem to suspect anything?”

  “No. In fact, he looked at the bag when she made an odd sound, but Skye played it off like it was her and moved on. He only went up one flight, though. He didn’t go all the way up.”

  “He was probably trying to throw you off. You’d had contact and would remember him if questioned. He was throwing you off his trail.” Cane was piecing things together. “My guess is he waited it out on that floor for a few until he thought the coast was clear. It probably wasn’t long after that he found Charlie was gone. He has to be looking for her.”

  “Or found her missing and ran?” Skye was hopeful that was the case, but even she wasn’t convinced.

  “A guy like that, he doesn’t give up. Something tells me this is related to Anson Deveraux somehow,” Cane surmised. “He’s still here. He’s looking for her — maybe even you two.”

  “It’s Anson.” Came a weak voice. “It’s him, Cane.”

  Charlie was awake. Skye sat next to her and helped her as she tried to sit up. “Whoa, honey. Take it slow. You’ve been out for quite a while. Let me help you.”