by Jamie Begley
Stump could hear background music in the strip club when Henry answered.
“What do you mean Zoey doesn’t exist?” He was irritated that he waited all morning just to find out Henry came up emptyhanded.
“It means she’s not from Queen City. The first known address for her is at the address you gave me. Creed couldn’t find her anywhere out of the state either.”
“Why in the fuck did you ask Creed?” Stump could hear the belligerence in his own voice and wasn’t surprised when Henry called him on it.
“Watch how you talk to me. You asked me for a favor. I did it. Next time, ask someone else.”
“Sorry.” Stump ran a hand through his hair. Ice wouldn’t be happy that he pissed Henry off. He was responsible for filling the Predators’ coffers.
Henry continued, ignoring the apology, “Who do you think I use when I want information? If you didn’t want me to use Creed, you should have said so. Be glad I did. Usually when I want the information you need, it takes a couple of days to get it back. Creed already had it.”
“If he already had it, why did it take so long for you to text me?”
“He was in court,” he explained, despite the irritation Stump could hear in his voice.
“Did Creed say why he had her checked out?” Stump already knew, but he wanted his suspicions confirmed before he told Creed to back off. Zoey was already spoken for, whether she knew it or not. He might not have made up his mind as to where it was going with Zoey, but he didn’t want Creed beating him to the punch before he did.
“I didn’t ask.” Amusement flickered through the line.
Henry might be a hard-ass when he was disrespected, but it never lasted once his point was made.
“You want me to call him back?”
“No, I’ll ask him my own damn self when I see him. Thanks.” Stump disconnected the call as Grace and Penni returned from lunch.
“There’s no record of Zoey before Queen City,” he told them, taking the brown bag from Penni with his lunch.
“What does that mean?” Penni came farther into the room, as did Grace, both wearing curious frowns and darting quick looks toward the empty hallway.
“She doesn’t have another appointment for twenty minutes.” Stump alleviated the fear that someone approaching the doorway would overhear their conversation. “I also put a motion detector at both ends of the hallway.” Seeing their nods, he continued to answer Penni’s question. “It means that we don’t know anything more about her than before. Legally, she doesn’t exist.”
“That’s not possible.” Grace pointed toward the hallway. “She has to have identification to rent the office space and have a license to drive a car.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Stump agreed. “Unless she didn’t tell you or her followers her real name.”
“That makes sense, doesn’t it?” Penni didn’t leave the doorway, even though he assured her no one would catch them unaware. “I told you how private Zoey is. So, giving everyone an assumed name with as many followers and clients she has is smart. It actually makes me feel better about her situation. At least I know she has taken some precautions to keep herself safe.”
“Maybe so, but it definitely makes it hard for us to find out if someone from her past is the one who is trying to take her out now.”
“There’s another way to find out.” Penni bit her bottom lip hesitantly.
“How?”
“Shade. He can find out anything about anyone.”
“Call him.” He knew he was bypassing Ice, but he would deal with that later. Penni would accomplish it faster and easier than Ice could by asking Shade.
Penni went to her office, closing her door so that neither he nor Grace could eavesdrop.
Grace remained in the front office until Penni opened the door, coming out to tell them that Shade said he would call as soon as he could.
“He didn’t say how long it would take?” Stump probed.
“No. He just said he would call when the information came back then hung on me. Shade doesn’t like to talk a lot.”
Stump had seen some scary shit since he became a Predator. One of them was meeting Shade. He was an emotionless bastard. Ice was, too, but with Shade, you would find yourself questioning if blood ran through his veins. At least Ice was human.
His phone lit up, showing the motion detector had been tripped. He put a finger to his lips as an attractive woman halted by Zoey’s door.
He kept his eyes on the hallway for the remainder of the day, watching the comings and goings, only catching brief glimpses of Zoey.
As the day wore on, Stump expected her to look less enthused as her line of clients never stopped. She didn’t. She greeted each one as if they were the first one of the day. At six, when there was no one else waiting and the last man was leaving, Zoey told him, “It’s your turn.”
“My turn?” Stump picked up the key that Penni had made for him, getting out of his chair.
“You haven’t forgotten our deal, have you?” Zoey placed her hands on her hips as if she was prepared to argue with him.
“No, I just thought we would postpone it for another time. You did promise Penni that you would file a police report.”
“I’m going to do that on the way home.” Her carefully neutral expression gave no clue whether she was telling the truth or not.
“Then let’s get this over with.” Stump closed and locked Penni’s office as Zoey returned to hers.
Closing them inside, she motioned for him to take the same seat on the couch he taken the last time he was in there.
“I like to start my sessions off by getting to know my clients better and setting goals that you want to set for yourself…,” Zoey began as she sat down on the other side of the couch.
“That’s easy. I want to finish this so I can feed my dog and drink a cold beer.”
“Hannibal has been alone all day?” She hesitated at picking up the iPad sitting on the table.
“No, he spends the day at Ice’s house, and he brings him to the club when I get off.”
“Oh… that’s okay then.” Picking up the iPad, she relaxed back on the couch as if they were friends about to have a chat.
Stump’s lips twitched. “I’m glad that meets your approval.”
Her eyes twinkled in response. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
He watched as she lowered her lashes innocently, peering at him from underneath.
“If you want, you’re more than welcome to bring him to work. He could stay in my office,” she offered.
“I’ll think about it.”
Her lashes flew upward. “You will?”
She hadn’t been able to keep her pretended disinterest longer than a second. The woman had no ability to hide her emotions.
“Yes, I miss him. It’ll be nice to have him close by.”
Zoey’s smile lit up the room.
Swallowing hard, he had to look at the water fountain to calm the rioting emotions that were telling him to lay her down on the couch cushions and sink into her.
“I can tell you’re thinking of him now.”
“I’m not thinking of him right now.”
“Oh…? What are you thinking of then?”
Stump pointed a finger at her. “You.” Using his thumb, he pointed at himself. “Me.” Then he patted the couch suggestively. “Naked.”
16
Dear Mom,
I wish you would call. There’s so much I want to tell you!
I have a baby sister! She’s so adorable. I just want to hold her all the time. She looks a lot like Tracy, but she looks like Dad, too. Her name is Aubrey, and her fuzzy hair stands up. She doesn’t look anything like me, so I know she’ll grow up to be beautiful. Dad says Aubrey is going to be tall when she grows up and not short like me.
How tall are you? Dad’s six-three. I wish I could remember how tall you are so I would know if I’m finished growing or if I’m a late bloomer. I picture you in my mind, but it
’s getting harder. Every year it gets harder and harder. When I ask Dad for pictures of you, he says he doesn’t have any; that he’s all I need. It isn’t true. I need you, too.
Jacob asked Christy to our eighth-grade dance because Dad wouldn’t let me go. He doesn’t eat lunch with me anymore either. I’m not upset because I have Aubrey to keep me busy. I love my baby sister so much, and she loves me, too, not like Jacob. Aubrey cries when I go to sleep or have to go to school.
I wish you would come for a visit. You’ll love her as much as I do.
xoxo
Love,
Zoey
Zoey stared blankly at her iPad screen, bracing herself to look up at Stump.
“Stump, there isn’t going to be a ‘you, me, naked.’ If you’re under the misconception that there is going to be after this morning, then I’m sorry.” Dropping her iPad onto her lap, she didn’t shy away from the penetrating gaze he was giving her.
“I didn’t get any signals crossed. You wanted my mouth as much as I wanted yours before Penni interrupted us.”
“It was a moment of weakness that won’t be repeated,” she stated firmly.
“Why? Is it because of your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Zoey admitted. “I’m ashamed I said I did. I said that so Penni and Grace wouldn’t worry about me in the evenings.”
“Where do you spend the nights?”
At his frown, she stopped twisting her hands together, laying them on top of her iPad.
“I watch a friend’s mother during the nights. I’m perfectly safe there. There’s a security guard, and Mrs. Combs has a private room. I feel terrible misleading Penni and Grace, but technically, my friend is a male and a friend.”
“You do that a lot, don’t you?” His frown grew darker at her confession.
She blankly stared back at him. “What do you mean?”
“Stretching the truth. I saw your face this morning. Neither Penni nor I believe you’re going to the police this evening. I asked a friend to check you out. You don’t exist on paper. What are you hiding, Zoey? You’re not the only one in danger. You’re placing Grace and Penni in danger, too, by lying to them.”
She shook her head, denying his assertions. “You checked me out? How?”
“Does it matter? The house you rent isn’t in your name, and we couldn’t find a license on file with the DMV.”
“I could have saved you the effort if you asked,” she said numbly, hurt that he hadn’t given her the opportunity to answer any questions he had.
“Why would you confide in me when you haven’t confided in Penni or Grace?”
“If they wanted to know more about me, all they had to do was ask.” Her pain was doubled at the realization that Penni and Grace were aware that Stump asked someone to look into her.
“I’m asking.”
Zoey raised her hands helplessly in the air. “What do you want to know? Why someone else’s name is on my home? I met Patrick Combs when I was looking for a home to rent. We came to an agreement that I would sit with his mother during the nights he worked. What else do you want to know? Oh yes, why you couldn’t find a license in my name? Do think I’m a spy, or in the witness protection program, or on the run from the police?”
“The thoughts have occurred to me.”
She shook her head in dismay. “Which one?”
“All of them.”
“There’s a simple explanation.”
“Which is?”
“When I first came to Queen City, I was seventeen and homeless. It took me a while to get on my feet. When I turned eighteen, I finished my high school education on the Internet and started college courses in Theology. I’m not the only person on social media who keeps their name a secret. It would be crazy not to. I learned that lesson after two videos when I started receiving presents and pictures from men. I took those videos down and started posting under a different last name.
“My legal name is Zoey Mathers. I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1992. There aren’t many states I haven’t lived in. Some I remember; others I don’t because I was too young. I’m not a spy. I’ve never even had a speeding ticket, and not because I don’t have a license but because I’m a good driver. I’m also not in the witness protection program…” She tried to think of the other reason she spouted off when he told her he had her checked out. “Oh… I’m not on the run either. I live simply because of my beliefs, not because I’m hiding from the police.”
“Why did you run away from home?”
“That is one question that I won’t answer. It’s no business of yours, as it doesn’t pertain to you being my client or finding out who is stalking me.”
“It’s my business if it’s one of your parents who wants to see you dead.”
She jerked at his statement, knocking the iPad onto the floor. She picked it up and put it back on her lap. Then she started fiddling with the bottom of her scarf.
“My father died when I was fourteen, and my mother had no interest in me once she and my father were divorced. I ran away, not because of anything they did, but because I hated the orphanage that I was taken to when my father died and the authorities couldn’t find my mother.
“I was blessed to find someone to give me a place to live until I screwed up and went to get a driver’s license. I was turned over to child protective services. I had just turned seventeen, so I was taken to another orphanage that I ran away from after a month. That’s when I took a bus to Queen City. I liked the name of it, and it was far enough away from the orphanage that I didn’t worry about being recognized. Once I turned eighteen, it didn’t matter anyway.” Shrugging, she let her scarf fall from her hands.
“Where did you live when away from the orphanage?”
“I was taken in by monks at a Theology school.” Zoey couldn’t help laughing at the expression that came across his face.
“You’re kidding?”
“No, it’s the truth. It was in a small country town. I had been sleeping in the woods at night and traveling during the day on foot. I was too afraid to be seen hitchhiking, so I pretty much kept to the woods so I wouldn’t be seen. I was starving and freezing when I saw lights in the woods. I watched the buildings for a couple of nights before I was brave enough to sneak into the abbey, which they kept unlocked. They kept all the buildings unlocked for the students.
“I watched the security guard, so I was able to sneak inside the cafeteria and eat before he came back on his rounds. I found a hiding spot in the abbey where I could sleep, and then I would leave before the monks came in the morning. It worked for about two weeks. Then I was caught.”
“How?”
“I overslept. I expected them to turn me over to the police. Instead, they fed me and gave me a small cottage to live in.” She blinked back tears at the memories. “I loved that place. It was the first real home I had. I would have stayed there if I hadn’t been caught trying to get my license.”
“You had to know there was a possibility you would have been caught when you applied for it.”
“I did, but I was willing to risk it. Julian, the monk who found me, had been diagnosed with cancer, and monks don’t own cars,” she explained. “He could ride in one if he was sick, and I wanted to help. It would be my payback for him giving me a home.”
“Why didn’t you go back there when you turned eighteen?”
“It was too painful. Julian died when I was in the orphanage. As much as I loved it there, I couldn’t bear him not being there anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. I still miss him every day.” Zoey wiped away the tears she hadn’t been able to hold back. “If you don’t believe me, you can call….”
“I believe you. I didn’t realize monks existed in the United States. I always assumed they lived in Tibet.”
Zoey laughed so hard she had to hold her belly. “You know, when you assume—”
Stump held his hands up in defeat, laughing back. “You make an
ass out of yourself,” he finished for her. “Which wasn’t the first time I made an ass of myself today. Why did you get your Theology degree…? Please don’t tell me you want to become a nun.”
“No, of course not.” She laughed harder at his expression.
“Thank God.”
“I did think about becoming a female monk when I was younger, but I love oatmeal cookies and loud music too much to give them up.”
“Just to make sure that I don’t make an ass of myself again, do you have sex if you want to?”
“Of course…” She flushed when she read the grin that started spreading across his face. “If I choose to do so, which I don’t. I choose to be celibate.”
“No one, other than priests or nuns, chooses to be celibate, and even they have a problem with it.”
“I don’t. I’m very content.”
“No one is content when they aren’t getting laid. I don’t care how many stacks of Bibles they swear on.”
“I am.”
“If you tried it, you wouldn’t be so content. Does your religion forbid it?”
“I don’t follow one particular church or doctrine. I choose to live my life without sex or alcohol, not because I have to, but because I want to.”
“No alcohol either? You’re giving up the best parts of life.”
Zoey placed her hand on the one that was resting between them. “I’m seeking enlightenment in living the best possible life I’m capable of. That’s what I want to show you if you let me.”
Stump moved his hand away quickly. “I’m not giving up sex or alcohol.”
“You don’t have to. My way isn’t for everyone; I understand that. What I can help you with is making the best life for you that suits your needs and wants.”
“So, I don’t have to give up sex or alcohol?”
“No.”
“Then I’m in. It’s not like you left me with a choice, if I’m going to be able to keep Grace and Penni safe. You really are planning on going to the police station tonight, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why did you look like you were lying when Penni asked?”
