by Honor James
Giving Clara a look he squeezed her hand. “Took a while to get anything, but I found Deandra really early this morning. She’s still living in the town the Marshall services set her up in, and is working at a bar. I caught her leaving her shift at around four in the morning. Phyllis was a whole other story. I sicced the facial rec program on the towns and surrounding areas. What I found isn’t good by any means.”
Putting in a couple of commands on his tablet he had the main monitor on the meeting room wall lit up seconds later. “She’s not in her town. According to the Marshalls, she dropped out of the program as soon as she completed her plastic surgery. They finally got back to us, thanks to the Admiral, and let me know that at least. I had to widen the search, a lot. She’s here,” he said. Squeezing Clara’s hand again, he looked to Michael.
“She’s been here since our boy got out of prison. Apparently she was assisting him in getting out on early parole. It took me a lot longer to find since I didn’t know for sure where she was, but once I knew she was here I went digging. She has a couple of false identities, but I did find her on the prison security feed going in and out a number of times over the last two years. Often she went in with his lawyer, other times on her own. Each time she went in she had something for him, and left it there. The warden sent through some details on what most of the items were.”
He pulled the list up on the screen. “Most of it’s mundane—letters, a handkerchief that the guards actually confiscated, a couple birthday cakes, and a number of other inane items. Food stuffs were always taken in when she went with the lawyer. The times she went on her own were split between regular behind glass visitations, and conjugal visits that weren’t monitored for obvious reasons.” Elliott felt Clara’s shudder and sent her a look. “They were in an apparent relationship from what the warden could tell. He didn’t know that Phyllis was one of his original victims. Or that she’d testified against him since she always used her alias to gain entrance into the prison.”
Looking back to Michael again, he put up the last video feed he had on the woman and let it play through. “This is her at just after midnight. She went into the hotel, but hasn’t come out. She’s not registered under her name, or her two aliases. My guess is he’s staying there under an alias, and she’s with him. We’re going to have to either sit on the place and wait for them to come out, or fudge our way past the desk with a picture of him. If he even still looks the same. With guys it’s easy to change our appearance with the benefit of facial hair. And he’s been out long enough to have possibly also gotten some plastic surgery done, too. So that could be a complete bust as well.”
“Might be a plan to do up a couple composites with that program of yours, and run them past the front desk,” Harker said. “Beyond that, putting someone on the front of the place to watch for Phyllis at the very least isn’t a bad plan.”
“No, it’s definitely not,” Michael agreed. “Do up the composites, Timmons. Yoshi can run them past the manager and the day clerks once you have them done up. Markham, why don’t you take Cutter with you and sit on the hotel? One at the front, one at the back in case they get twitchy. Motorcycles for you both, though, just in case they pull a runner.”
“Can do,” Cutter said.
Michael turned his attention on Clara then with a frown. “How are you holding up through all this, Ms. Smith?”
“I’ve seen her.” Clara’s voice shook as she spoke. Elliot could see her hand shaking as she pointed to one of the images. “She’s one of the temps at the magazine that I work in. I’ve seen her coming in and out of my office, often. She’s changed her voice slightly as well. A southern twang and its higher pitched.” She looked pale, far paler than he had ever seen her. “She was also at a club one night about three months ago. She bumped into me and I lost my keys that night. She stole them didn’t she?” He could see it all clicking in her mind as she spoke to them.
“She likely grabbed them up to copy them at the very least,” Michael said. “If you go back to the club, the keys would very likely be in the lost and found. She wouldn’t want to have them on her in the event she was found out.”
Yoshi leaned toward Clara slightly and took her other hand in his. “Do you know if she’s still working at the magazine? That might be another place we could be watching for her if she’s still there.”
“She is. She’s filling in for one of the women who’s off on maternity leave right now. She’s working the front desk.” She looked up at Elliott with tears shimmering in her eyes. “I didn’t think that I was that stupid. I sincerely didn’t. I am, though. She was right there and I didn’t see her.”
“You are not stupid. You accepted her at face value. You saw what she wanted you to see, and nothing more. You’re not trained to look beyond the surface, Clara,” he said softly. Leaning in he rested his forehead to hers. “We’ll get her, and then we’ll get this creep. Promise,” he whispered.
“I hope so. What if he changes his looks, too? How will we be able to combat that? How will we keep from going through the same things over and over again with the way that these people change and shift in their looks? We have to find him now before he does do that.” She spoke quietly, but adamantly.
“He may have already,” he said softly. “He’s been out for a time now that he very well may have changed his looks. But if we get her, then we’re one step closer to getting him. She’ll know what he looks like. Unlike the police, we have a little leeway in how we can garner information from people. We’ll put the fear of God into her, and then go from there.”
“Good. I know that you guys will ensure that they are caught and that they are all brought to justice.” She took another deep breath. He could see her pulling the air into her lungs and pushing it out. He could tell she was trying hard to pull herself together and think.
“Relax, sweetheart. We’re not going to let them hurt you, and we’re not going to let anyone get away with what they’ve done. You are our top priority in this, love.” He pressed a kiss to her lips then drew back slightly. “We’ll put someone on the magazine, too, in case we miss her at the hotel. We’ll know exactly when she’ll be there as long as she’s sticking it out at the job.”
“Bradley, you head over to the magazine to see if she’s there, and if she is then we’ll follow her back to the hotel. Markham will stay on the street, Cutter, you’ll follow her in and up to her floor. Goof around on your phone, the usual so that you seem oblivious to whatever she’s up to. She’ll likely be paranoid since Clara won’t be in the offices,” Michael said.
“Can do,” Cutter said. “We want the room number I’m guessing. Do you want me to get close enough to drop a bug on her if I can?”
“Be a good plan.” Michael nodded. “If you can’t, don’t worry about it. If you’re the only two in the elevator, best not to risk it.”
“Right, I’ll hit up the locker before I head out. What are our rules of engagement?”
“This is covert right now. We are merely looking to locate, and confirm. Once you have her in sight, Bradley, let Timmons know. He’ll be here with Clara the entire day so he’ll be ready to track her through the city. They don’t know we’re involved, but let’s assume they do know. Be aware, be wary, and don’t shoot civilians no matter how annoying. Markham, that goes double for you.”
The sniper shrugged but shot a wink toward Clara that had Elliott frowning at the man.
“Should I go into work, just to put a front onto the whole shebang? They haven’t replaced me yet so it might be something that could be done without it looking too suspicious.” There she was licking her lips again, the worry evident on her face as she spoke.
Flicking another look to Markham, who was now toying with a blade, Elliott returned his gaze to her. “No, you’re going to stay here where it’s secure. You’re still on a leave of absence so no one will think it odd if you’re not there. Besides, there are too many variables with having you out of sight for any of us. It’s not like we could go i
n with you, so it’s best to keep you here. Even if we could get Markham up on a building to keep you in sight, you’d eventually have to get up and move around the offices, or go to the bathroom. All of which we couldn’t see. Depending on how this all plays out, we may make a midnight run to the office to put in some equipment if we do think it’s easier to have you go back to work. But let’s give it a couple of days first and see if we can’t get them without risking your life.”
“Whatever you think is best, we will do it. I don’t like it, but I understand it.” She looked at each man and then said, “Seriously, I will do whatever is necessary in order to keep myself safe. I need this life with the men that I love so whatever it takes I will do it.”
“We know,” Michael said. “For now you stay put where you are protected so that they both can work to the best of their abilities. If things change you’ll be one of the first to know. All right, boys.” He looked around the table as he got to his feet. “You have your assignments. If you don’t have one on this gig you are on standby so get some chow, get some rest, and be ready to switch out for one of the others or mobilize at a moment’s notice. You all know how this party works, let’s do it.” Knocking his knuckles to the table, he headed for the door.
Elliott pushed up from the table and moved to the side to give Yoshi and Clara a moment. He punched Markham on the arm. “Quit making googly eyes at my girl.”
The sniper gave him a look that would make a smart man tremble. It just amused Elliott to no end. “She doesn’t mind the googly eyes. She finds me amusing.”
“Weirdo,” he muttered as the other man walked off. Grinning when he got the bird flipped his way, he turned to look at Clara as she came over to him. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get back to my office so I can pull out some toys for the guys, and then you can grab a nap on the sofa while I hack the city’s video feed yet again.”
Chapter Twelve
It had been two of the longest days of her life. Cutter had successfully planted a bug on Phyllis in the elevator and they listened in on every single conversation that the woman had. The only male voice that she had encountered so far was a voice that Clara didn’t recognize at all. “This is seriously for the birds. I mean come on, really? This is driving me to distraction that there is nothing so far. One would have thought that she would have spilled at least a little.”
“Patience is a virtue,” Elliott said. Again. The man continuously said it to her, had needed to several times over the two days. “While the waiting sucks, it’s the patient man that gets the crooks. Markham’s back in the building. Why don’t you go beat him up for a while. It’s great entertainment for me to see you starting to get around his blocks. Can’t believe he taught you how to actually beat his ass.”
“I would rather not if you don’t mind. The last time that he and I went to the mats, my ass hurt for hours afterward. I would instead rather simply sit here with you and complain and grumble if you don’t mind.”
He chuckled softly at that and swung his chair around enough to throw her a look. Then he tossed her something that turned out to be one of her favorite chocolate bars. “Eat this, babe. You get snivelly when you’re not maintaining your sugar levels. Give me another half hour, and then we’ll go grab lunch from the bistro down the way. Yoshi should be back by then as well so we can even drag him out with us. We’ll sit in the sun, eat a meal, and relax away from all of this for a bit. How’s that for a plan?”
“That’s a fabulous plan. All of it. I look forward to being able to share that meal with you, however, do you think that maybe we can order in? Maybe we will be able to call down to Cypress on the Green and have them prepare our meals?”
He turned his chair fully around to face her now, a frown on his face. “Of course we could. You sure, though? I thought you’d be happy to get the fuck out of this building for a while and into the real world once more.”
“Well by order in I mean order and pick it up so that we can go out and play in the sunshine. Yes, I want out of this building for a while. I want fresh air and gosh blessed it all I want to be able to have time with my guys. So we should order so that they can get it ready for us?”
Nodding slowly, his frown cleared from his face. “We can do that,” he said. Spinning around in his chair he grabbed his cell off the desk then tossed it to her when he was facing her once more. “Give them a shout and order up. You know what we like from over there. Tell them we’ll be by in about forty or so minutes to pick it up.”
“I do know what you like. Me.” She teased him with a wink and then moved off with his cell phone since they had taken hers from her. “Oh, I’m adding cheesecake to our order as well. I think that we will all enjoy the heck out of it.”
“I’m sure we will,” he said. “Don’t be gone too long or I’m damn well sending the dogs after you,” he called when she slipped from his office. “Not even kidding at all.” His chuckle followed her as she moved up the hall a little to place the call.
* * * *
Half an hour later they were on the street and walking toward Cypress on the Green. She was walking along side Elliott as Craig had to stop and take a phone call. She looked up at him and grinned. “So how long do you think until he realizes that we walked off and left him?”
“He already knows,” he said with a grin. “He’ll catch up soon enough, though. He heard you’d ordered the cheesecake so there is no fucking way he’s missing out on that. Don’t worry, he always has his priorities straight when it comes to food.”
“Damn and here I was thinking that it was because you boys were going to have me, alone, on a blanket.” Then again they would be in the middle of a park and that wouldn’t be something that they could take further than kisses and heavy petting.
“With a bunch of kids and adults hanging around watching us. That’ll be great fun for all to be had. There won’t be a lot any of us can do beyond eating, and the occasional kiss. So get your head out of the damn gutter, woman,” he said. Clicking his tongue he shook his head at her.
“Oh come on you know that you love how I always have my mind in the gutter when it comes to being alone with the two of you. You each do the same thing, admit it.” She was teasing him, mostly. “Besides.” She moved so that she was in front of Elliott and put her hands on his chest. “Being in public is a hot button item for me, you know it.” Having her men making love with her, having sex with her in public with the chance of getting caught. Yes, she loved that idea a lot.
His hands landed on her hips, pulling her in closer to him. “I know it is. I always have the toughest of times keeping from bending you over and just taking you. Especially when you give me those little looks. There’s so many places that would work. That bus bench up the way behind that bush, the table at the cafe across the street we could drag into an alcove, maybe up against the wall in that alleyway over there. Only problem is, you’re so fucking loud we’d be caught before we even got to the good stuff wouldn’t we?” he asked. Lowering his head, Elliott kissed her, his hands sliding around to cup her ass and pull her up against him so she could feel his erection pressing to her belly. “I want inside of you so badly right now I’m about to explode in my jeans.”
“I think that the alley would be good. You have a condom, right?” She was moving her hands up and down his shoulders and then arm. “Because I’m in a dress and not wearing panties. All you have to do is kiss me and that would solve our loud issue.” She was wet. She felt the juices from her pussy dripping down her inner thighs. “I need you inside of me as well. Sooner rather than later please.”
He nipped her lip lightly and looked to the alley in question. “I always have a condom on me. I never know when I might need to bend you over a piece of furniture to fuck you silly. I even have a box in my desk drawer.” Squeezing her ass he rocked into her again.
“That’s very good to know. Remind me to tempt you into bending me over your desk later, too.” She lifted a leg and wrapped it around his lower leg and rubbed
against him. “So, alley?” It was darkened, a dead end, and there were bushes on each side of the opening so they should be able to get in there and have a good time together.
“Get your ass moving,” he said softly. He gave her a nudge toward the alley, his hand on her ass the entire time as they slipped into the dark passage. He took her close to the far end and backed her up against the wall as he pulled out his wallet and the condom. A quick look around and he undid his jeans, pushing them down far enough to free his hard, and already leaking, cock.
Once he had his cock sheathed in the condom she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Then with a push he was deep inside of her pussy. She arched her back against him and bit her lower lip to try to keep from screaming in pleasure. She tugged at his head and began to kiss him as he started to move in and out of her body.
He gripped her leg above her knee to hold it up high against his body. Elliott kissed her hard as he began to thrust fast and wild. His other hand gripped her head in a tight grip. The low growl he gave when she moaned had her nipples peaking harder to rub against his chest.
Clara was so close. The voyeuristic level of having sex in the middle of the alley, it was enough that her toes were curling. Her eyes closed, her lips fused with Elliott’s, and her whole being just locked in the moment with him.
The next thing she knew she felt Elliott stiffen, felt a shock racing through her body as well, and pulled back from Elliott and screamed. Not in completion but fear and pain. She saw him then, the man that had starred in her nightmares for the last many years. Smiling and holding a Taser gun.
Their eyes were locked and then he was gone, she and Elliott falling to the ground as one.
Elliott’s body was spasming under hers, though they did start to slow finally. His eyes were closed, and except for the fact she could feel his chest rising and falling, she’d think he was dead. Running footsteps sounded and suddenly Craig was there. He was saying something but her ears were buzzing from the shock and she couldn’t make out what he was saying to her.
