She shook her head. “I don’t know. She…She left.”
Cato fought to keep from shouting and leaned closer. “I didn’t see her come out the front door.”
The frightened brown eyes lowered to the floor. “She went out the back. She said she had to get away from someone and she took off.”
“Who, Jennifer? Who did she have to get away from?”
“You.”
Chapter 31
As soon as Cato saw the girl’s eyes shift to her left as the word left her mouth, Cato grabbed her arm and didn’t give a fuck if he scared the piss out of her. His voice could have peeled the paint from the walls from the heat level of his anger.
“Was it Bryan? Did he take her? Tell me now or I’ll show no mercy.”
Jennifer burst out crying. “I’m sorry. He made me do it. He’s a cop. My brother’s in jail and he was going to hurt him. I’m so sorry.”
If she said anything else, Cato didn’t know. He was out the door and squealing tires from the parking lot as he headed to Bryan’s house.
* * * *
“Wha…” Luna blinked a few times and squinted at the blob standing in front of her.
“Wake up, Luna. I didn’t dose you with that much. Wake up!”
Luna fought to keep her eyes open and gasped when icy water splashed across her face and neck. She sputtered and shook her head to clear her eyes. She was fully awake and instantly pissed.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Bryan knelt in front of her and wiped her eyes with a dry cloth. “I’m sorry, baby. I had to wake you up. You have to answer a question. I haven’t got much time.”
Luna moved away from the cloth and glared at him. She tried to reach up and take it from his hand, but cold metal bit into her wrist instead. She tested the other and got the same result. She looked down and confirmed her fear. She was in the middle of his living room and handcuffed to one of the folding chairs from the backyard. How in the hell did I end up here again? Right back where I started. She looked into his moss-green eyes and sighed.
“What do you want from me, Bryan? Why do we have to keep doing this over and over again? I don’t want to be with you. I don’t love you. I just want to get on with my life. Can’t you understand that?”
Bryan’s lips thinned into a straight line and he stood up. “I knew you left me for someone else. You broke my goddamn heart, Luna. I saw you both in that black truck in the parking lot. He was kissing you. Do you know how hard it was for me to watch that? I’m assuming that was your ‘benefactor’ that took you from the hospital. Did you both plan this? You obviously weren’t hurt as bad as they led me to believe. I beat Chris’s ass for nothing.”
Luna’s head snapped up in time to see his face had paled at the slip. “Chris? Who’s Chris? Wait. Oh my god. I can’t believe I didn’t remember Chris. He came over to the house last year. I remember his arms now. Did you have him beat me, Bryan? Why?”
Bryan shook his head and paced in front of her. “That was never supposed to happen, Luna. I hope you believe me. I had him watching the house that night. I knew you were screaming when I left, and I didn’t want the neighbors finding you like that. He was going to run interference until I could get off shift. Imagine my surprise when he said you were running down the road.” He stopped and knelt in front of her. Luna flinched when he stroked her cheek.
“Luna, you have to believe me. All I told him to do was to scare you into coming back to the house. It was supposed to look like a robbery. He was going to take your purse, that’s all. It was bad enough that you bit and scratched him, but when you punched him in the nuts, he lost control and roughed you up. After I saw you in the hospital, I pounded his ass into the ground.” He growled in frustration and started pacing again.
Luna was speechless. Images of that night flew back into her brain, and she remembered a hairy arm circling her neck and choking her until she blacked out. She shook the image away when his voice filled the room again.
“Look. I don’t know how you came up with the scheme to act like you were on death’s doorstep, and especially how you got the hospital to play along, but it worked. You scared the shit out of me. I thought I was going to lose my mind when they told me that your benefactor had checked you out of the hospital and they couldn’t tell me where you were. I kept searching for you, baby. I was so happy when you applied for a license in Dallas, but you were gone by the time I got there. Luna, you need to stop running from me. We can work this out. Tell me where your things are and we’ll go get them together. We’ll put everything back in their proper places and we’ll sit down and work this out. Where were you staying, Luna?”
Frowning, Luna narrowed he eyes. “Why do you keep asking where my things are, Bryan? You did that the night you handcuffed me and again just now. It’s like you’re more interested in getting my stuff back here than me. A minute ago, you said you didn’t have much time. What did that mean? Something doesn’t feel right about this. Tell me what’s really going on or this conversation stops right now.”
Bryan stared at her for several minutes then walked backward to the couch and plopped down on the cushions. He put his elbows on his thighs and clenched his fists in his hair. He didn’t lift his eyes from the floor. His voice was monotone, as if he’d finally given up.
“You have something of mine. I need it back. It’s that simple. Just tell me where your figurines are and this can all end.”
“What about my figurines? Why are they so important? Answer me or you’ll never know where they are.”
Bryan released his hair and looked up. “I hid something on one of them. It’s a video. Look, this is bigger than the both of us Luna. I used it to get money out of someone. They’re refusing to pay until I turn it over to them. I owe people a lot of money, Luna. I need that video.”
“I didn’t find a video when I took my figurines. You must have put it somewhere else. Let me go, Bryan. I don’t have anything to do with the mess you got yourself into.” Luna saw desperation then fury flash in Bryan’s eyes and she cringed when he leapt from the couch. His fingers dug into her arms and her head snapped back and forth as he shook her.
“God damn it, Luna! Tell me where the fucking figurines are! I’ve kept myself from beating your ass this last year, but you’re pushing me over the edge. You never fucking mind me! I’m tired of your games.”
Luna bit her tongue and tasted blood. She screamed at him. “I don’t have your damn video, you stupid fucker!” Tears shot from her eyes when he backhanded her across the face. The room went hazy. His voice was positively evil as he continued to shake her.
“That was an easy one, Luna. The next one’s not going to be so nice.”
Luna was stunned to see Cato appear over Bryan’s shoulder. His features were a mask of fury as he grabbed Bryan under the arms and threw him several feet across the room. The chair tilted over and she cried out when her shoulder slammed into the floor. Cato reached down to lift her and she screamed when Bryan slammed into his side and they toppled over. She strained her neck to the right to watch the battle behind her. Pain shot across the back of her head as she realized her braid was trapped under the edge of the chair.
Cato rolled effortlessly to his back and got a foot up against Bryan’s stomach just as he received a fist to the face. His cheek split and blood poured from the wound. Cato’s eyes turned demonic as he roared, straightened his leg, and catapulted Bryan into the wall. She heard Bryan’s breath rush from his lungs as his back crashed into the sheet rock. Cato reached him before he could extract himself from the mess. One solid punch later and Bryan’s mouth was bleeding. He grabbed Cato’s hair and wrenched his head to the side. His fingers released immediately when a big fist slammed into his gut. As Bryan bent forward and gasped for air, Cato turned and wrapped his arm around his neck. Cato’s muscles looked like boulders as he braced his forearm with his other hand and began to squeeze the life out of his target.
Luna knew that Cato was killing hi
m. She could see it in his wild eyes and clenched jaw. He wouldn’t rest until Bryan stopped struggling. His ominous, gravelly words confirmed it.
“You die today, fucker.”
Luna cried out to him, “Cato! Stop! Don’t do it. Please, baby. Stop! Look at me.” When Bryan’s face turned a dangerous shade of purple and Cato appeared to be deaf, she tried a different tactic.
“Help me, Cato! I’m hurt. Help me!” Relief flooded her body when his head snapped up and he dropped Bryan where he stood. He was at her side immediately.
“Aw, baby. Here. Let me lift you up.” He wrapped his arms around her and the chair and pulled her up. He gently touched the knot rising on her jaw and the bruises that were forming into perfect impressions of Bryan’s fingers. A deep growl rumbled from his chest and he bared his teeth. He glanced back at Bryan’s unmoving body and started to rise. She wrapped her legs around his thigh.
“Check his pockets for the keys.” She rattled the handcuffs and he appeared to snap out of his growing killing rage, and she released him.
He flipped Bryan over and she watched her ex bat helplessly at Cato’s hands rifling through his pockets. Cato punched him in the gut. The man wasn’t getting back up from the floor any time soon. Seconds later, she was freed from the cuffs.
Luna reached down and grabbed the cloth from the floor and pressed it to Cato’s cheek. “Baby, sit on the couch.” He kept his eyes on Bryan and did as she requested. She dabbed at the blood and winced at the deep cut. Bryan’s college ring had done a number on the skin. She grabbed his hand and made him hold the cloth in place.
Luna stepped back and he looked up at her. She pointed at him and gave him her serious look. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He nodded and she ran into the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit. She rolled her eyes when she returned to the living room and found him cuffing a limp Bryan to the folding chair.
“I told you not to move.”
He turned to her and shrugged. “He did it first. It was this or I was going to start pounding on him again.”
Luna shook her head. “Men.” She pointed back to the couch and he ass-planted like a good boy. She cleaned the wound and closed it with a Steri-Strip. He was going to need stitches. “We need to call Kallon. This is a bad cut.”
Cato touched his cheek. “Nah. I’m okay. I’ll do it later. Come with me. We’re going back to the house. I want to find that video and put a stop to this motherfucker before I do something stupid and snap his neck. You have to get me away from him so I can calm down. He’s not going anywhere.”
Luna agreed and followed him out of the house.
* * * *
Luna stared at the twenty-five cat figurines lined up on the bed and shrugged. “Okay. I guess we need to look them over. You start on that end.”
Together, they lifted each one and studied it for the mystery video. They shook them and looked inside those with hollow openings.
“Here.”
Luna looked over when Cato held up the one her brother had given her just before he died. He turned it over and she saw a small patch of duct tape. Cato peeled it off the bottom and flipped it over. A flat, black square was stuck to the tape. It was the size of a large postage stamp.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a memory card. It may be small, but it could definitely hold a video on it.”
Minutes later, they were perched in front of Cato’s computer and he was sliding the small cartridge into a slot in the side of his computer. A video popped up on the screen and she gaped at what was playing. She immediately recognized the man as a prominent, local political figure. His mug was on the TV all the time, but never like this. He constantly touted family values and the continued downfall of the community. She instantly wondered how being butt naked with two call girls and another man with a ridiculously hairy back equated to improving the quality of family life. She was pretty sure his wife would want to know as well.
Cato leaned forward and squinted at the screen. He pointed to an object one of the women held in her hand and was working in and out of the society elitist’s ass.
“Is that a…Oh, no. That’s just not right.”
Luna laughed, clamped onto his arm, and covered her eyes. “Quick. Turn it off. I can’t have that burned in my brain. I’m going to need therapy.”
He closed the video and turned to stare at her. “Remind me that I need to do something later that will erase that image from your head.” When he grinned, she threw herself in his arms and hugged him hard.
“Yes. Please. I’m looking forward to it.”
Cato kissed the side of her head and hugged her in return. “For right now, I have an idea that should take care of our corrupt cop. You game?”
She gently kissed his swollen cheek and nodded. “Yes. I’m definitely game. I want this behind us.”
* * * *
Cato watched Luna’s knees bouncing and chuckled. “Patience, sweetness. They should be here any minute. I only called them five minutes ago.” He reached over and dragged her across the bench seat of his truck until she was flush up against his side. “They’re probably falling all over themselves to get here before the competition does.”
Luna huffed in frustration and nodded. “I know. I keep picturing one of his buddies showing up and rescuing him before they get here.”
Cato patted her on the leg. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them before they have a chance.”
Luna snorted. “Yeah. I know how that goes. You’ll scare the crap out of them like you did Bryan. He’d rather face jail time than have a hammer smashed into his knees. Were you really going to use that thing on him?”
“Of course I was. I only restrained myself since you asked so nicely. He told us everything. That’s all that matters now.”
Luna looked up at him and grimaced. “He better hope they stick him in a place where no one can find him. He’s up to his eyeballs in debt to the wrong people. I thought he was just a sports nut, but he was a damn bookie, obviously not a very good one. Goes to show how much I tuned him out. I didn’t have a clue.”
Cato pointed toward the house. “Here they are.”
Chapter 32
Cato laughed as they watched several vans pull in front of the house and bodies spill out of the doors before the tires stopped. One newscaster was faster than the rest and yanked the envelope off the door before the others made it to the steps. He held the thing over his head and acted like there was a million dollars inside. He jumped off the porch and his group huddled around as he ripped the paper open and started loading the disks into a laptop. The other stations hovered around and strained to hear. He empathized with the horrified looks when they got to the councilman and his entourage.
Pulling the phone from his pocket, Cato started dialing. “Time to call in the second team, baby. Yes. Hello. Police chief, please. No, he’s going to want to hear this firsthand. Sure, you can try to give me to someone else, but I’m sure he’s going to be pissed when he finds out that one of his corrupt cops is about to get splashed all over the evening news and he wasn’t aware. No problem, I’ll hold.” He winked at Luna and she grinned.
“Hello? Yeah. You might want to get over to Officer Bryan Foster’s house. Every TV station in town is on his lawn and listening to his recorded confession of blackmailing Councilman Hodges. That’s right. There’s also a video of Hodges that’s going to make your hair stand on end. Foster’s cuffed in his living room waiting for you to come pick him up. No need for names. Let’s just say I’m a concerned citizen trying to clean up the community. Have a nice night.”
Cato threw the phone on the dash and pulled Luna onto his lap. “Okay. Let’s see how fast they get here.”
It didn’t take long before several squad cars squealed down the block and surrounded the news vans. Ten minutes later, they escorted Bryan out of the house. His head was down and his arms were cuffed at his back. The police chief was getting his first look at the video and was shaking his head in disb
elief. A lot of people would be in need of therapy after tonight. Cato looked down at Luna to see how she reacted when they put her ex in the back of a police car and was pleased with the contented look on her face. Bryan was a thing of the past and out of her life.
Cato started the engine. “Come on, baby, let’s go home.”
* * * *
“Will you do me a solid and quit cracking your head open?”
Cato rubbed his newly mended cheek and smiled at Kallon. “I’ll try.” Luna stood next to him with her mouth hanging open. She was getting her first taste of Insedi technology and her freshly healed face spoke volumes. If only she knew what’d been done to her on Insedivertus, she’d probably flip.
“That was amazing. I watched his skin stitch itself together and my jaw is perfect. Is that what you used on me at the hospital?”
Kallon nodded and packed up his bag. “For the little things, yes.”
Luna reached up and stroked Cato’s cheek. “It’s like it never happened. I was afraid you were going to have a horrible scar.”
Cato grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. “Would you have left me if I was maimed and not hot anymore?”
She punched him on the arm and laughed. “I don’t care what you look like, you big lug.”
They turned their heads when Kallon opened the front door and laughed. “Well, he certainly didn’t care what you looked like either. He was mad crazy about you even when your eyes were swollen shut and your face was the size of a basketball.”
Luna shivered in his arms. “That’s sweet of you to say that, Kallon, but I’m glad you did your freaky alien thing on me anyway.”
Cato laughed. “Uh, Luna? Don’t forget that you’re a freaky alien, too.”
“Oh, shit. You’re right. Sorry.”
Kallon winked and waved at them. “See you in the morning. Maxim’s flashing the car lights at me.”
Fueled by Lust: Cato (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 26
