“What’s her name?” She had a note pad out, pen poised.
“That’s the problem,” he rubbed the back of his neck and handed the phone back. “Guests sign in. All members sign in. Charter members receive a gold embossed coin with a registry number on it,” he paced across the large office. “I met her tonight for the first time when she came to the club. I don’t know her name.”
“You just said…”
“All entrances are recorded,” he repeated firmly. “The problem is the coin that Bee used – and yes, that’s the name she gave me. Bee. Like the initial. She had a gold coin and the number on it was mine,” he faced them slowly. “Only I don’t know how she got the coin. I partnered with two others four years ago and we opened this club. In all that time, the coin that I was given never left my office desk upstairs. Until tonight when Bee somehow had it in her possession.”
“I think this is where I tell you how lame this sounds,” she said dryly, ignoring the snicker from her partner.
“Believe me, Lieutenant, it doesn’t sound any more lame than it feels,” he growled back. “I thought it was someone playing a joke, either on me or on Bee. But now…” His head shook slowly. “She said she came home from work this evening and found a large box wrapped in a ribbon on her doorstep. An envelope with instructions was attached to the top,” he moved to his desk and pulled a sheet of paper and an envelope from inside. “She showed me the note. It was typed on this kind of paper. My paper. My coin.”
Natalie carefully took the paper, intelligent eyes cruising over the tall, muscled man.
“Who has access to your office?”
“I have two. This one and the one on the upper floor. All the staff has access to the offices, the desks are locked and I have the keys,” he showed her the simple ring. “I also use that stationary at my professional office. Immersive Games,” he pulled his wallet from his pants and offered her a card.
“You don’t know the woman in the photo?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t. But I don’t know all the members. If you have a name, I can check and see if she was a member. Was she carrying an invitation? This wasn’t an open party, Lieutenant,” he told her with carefully controlled frustration. “It was closed and by invitation only. The only exception being, that members with coins can loan them for an evening to anyone of their choice. But the numbers on each coin are unique in that they correspond to the member it was originally given to. We don’t take chances with just anyone walking in and possibly hurting someone.”
“Her name was Susan Phelps. Twenty-six,” Natalie looked at her notebook and handed the stationary to Casey to add to their file. “Can you describe your mystery woman?”
Gabriel paced over to her, his eyes going to the floor and back.
“About five-seven, five-eight. Red hair, only it was genuine. Maybe a dark copper shade and thick, unruly curls. Green eyes,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Not a reporter,” he recalled quietly.
“Excuse me?”
“She’s a programmer. IT department. I know because I asked if she was a reporter.”
“This is the Pacific Northwest,” Casey said dryly. “Everyone has an IT department. Can you be a little more helpful?”
“If I could fucking produce her, I would, detective,” he ground out. “Because if Susan Phelps wasn’t the intended target, then it was Bee. And someone was not only setting her up to be murdered, but setting me up as the killer.”
“I take it she’s no longer here,” Natalie said calmly.
“She left a little after midnight. She said a white town car brought her and waited in one of the lots outside to take her home,” he moved to the computer and gestured Natalie forward. “That I can show you now. The external cams are very good, very detailed.”
“I don’t suppose your cams go outside your building range?” Natalie knew she was grasping at straws, but that was most of her job in homicide.
“I’m sorry, no. Where was she?” Gabriel looked from one to the other.
“Just the other side of this corner,” Natalie tapped the screen. All three of them watched Bailey run lightly to the waiting car, wave at the driver and sink into the back seat. “Can I get a copy of that? I might be able to have something enhanced and find out who she is. I’m reasonably sure she’s not involved in the death…”
“But she is involved in being used.”
“I could get lucky and you tell me the name of someone who’s been threatening you?” Natalie chuckled. “Yeah, I didn’t think so, either. No threats against you or the club? Has anyone approached you about purchasing your property?”
Gabriel looked surprised.
“No. We’re on the edge of city limits on purpose. We selected the industrial area specifically. Plenty of parking; no neighbors to disturb and no schools for the righteous to bitch about. Would we sell with the right offer?” He shrugged and sighed. “If we found a suitable location to move to, perhaps. We’re far enough away from the reclamation that I doubt it’ll swing this far. Most of the buildings are occupied here with day time manufacturing. We own this large portion outright and maintain it. We participate in charity events and basically mind our own business.”
He handed her the disk he’d copied for her in a plastic container.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll find my mystery woman, Lieutenant. For myself, but mostly to keep her alive until you have this figured out.”
“I know several people in the computer industry locally,” Natalie slid the case into an inside pocket of her jacket. “I’ll ask around and if I manage to find her, I’ll let her know you’re looking, Mr. Garrett.” She offered her palm. “Thanks for your help. I’ll have those warrants brought over for the copies we spoke about.”
“You’re welcome and anything else I can help with, please ask.”
“A real upstanding citizen,” Casey mumbled.
“If you’re afraid of the lifestyle choice, that’s your right, detective. But the gift of this country is we can make our own choices. Safe and consensual. It isn’t about pain and really isn’t even about power. It’s about giving and reaching limits in yourself that you weren’t aware were available to you,” Gabriel tipped his head. “Feel free to come by any evening and I’ll give you a tour. Tonight was Bee’s first time here. Her description of what she saw in the faces of people she watched was serene.” He gave a short laugh, a dry sound in his voice. “I’d never considered that word before in this context, but then the eyes of an innocent sometimes see things others of us miss out on. Don’t judge, lest you be judged. Good night. Curt, show the police out, please.”
Chapter Eight
Gabriel had a miserable weekend.
He spent most Monday morning in his office slamming things and pacing. He’d argued with people when he should have sent Janet to deal with things. His admin didn’t know what was going on, but she knew how to handle most everything. Just past forty and looking like she was thirty, she’d been with him since he started the company. Now married to one of his best game programmers, she had taken on more and more as his assistant.
He stared at the computer set up for the demo and growled at it.
As if that would help.
Janet had gone to lunch with Tyler so he was on his own. Never a good thing.
The fucking hell he was. What’s the point in being the owner if you can’t order someone to fix the problem?
He lifted the phone and called the computer department.
“I want someone in the conference room on the third floor within the next ten minutes who can diagnose this damn computer and make the presentation function,” he issued his command into the phone and dropped it.
Pacing. He’d done a lot a pacing over the weekend. The suit jacket was shoved back, his hand pushed into the pockets of his pants. His shirt was stark white and vest the same dark charcoal as the rest of the suit. He was facing the window, staring out into the November waters of Puget Sound when the voice broke through
his thoughts.
“I am so sorry I’m late. I was just finishing up a training class for the new tracking software when you called,” breathless and energetic, she breezed into the room. “I ran most of the way. I’m sorry, I know you really are busy and don’t care about that. So what can I do for you, sir?” A bright beaming smile was aimed at the back of the tall, dark haired man in the very nicely tailored suit. And it froze in place.
Bailey O’Conner had no idea where all the oxygen in the room went.
But it vanished all at once when he turned around and met her eyes.
Gabriel had turned slowly at the sound of the voice and simply stared.
He now knew exactly what a slow motion film felt like from the inside. Years of practice kept his expression non-committal and he even impressed himself that he maintained the frustrated frown. His gaze flicking to the annoying laptop he’d been using.
Dark chocolate eyes swept from the low heels, over the fitted pencil skirt slit up one side that stopped just past her knees; an English cut jacket over an emerald colored blouse rounded out her attire.
But it was the hair that held his attention. Instead of the riot of dark copper curls, it had been smoothed back into a snug round chignon nestled against the back of her neck. Her eyes were still the vibrant shade of green but now hid behind a pair of dark framed glasses. His gaze flickered over the familiar company badge she had clinging to the breast pocket of her jacket.
“And you are?” He listened to the low, husky sound of his own voice, one brow up patiently. He was glad his hands were shoved in his pockets because he really wanted to grab her and lift her off her feet until he had her undivided attention.
“Mud,” a part of her whimpered.
“O’Conner…Bailey O’Conner, sir.” She licked her lips and glanced toward the computer. Anything to stop herself from staring and remembering.
“You appear slightly flushed, Miss O’Conner,” he remarked levelly. “Perhaps you should sit down for a few minutes.”
“I’m fine, thank you…sir. I was just running because…umm…because I know how important…I’m good.” She rushed on. “I was told someone needed help with a computer presentation that wasn’t functioning properly,” she rushed the words out at the same time she moved forward and stared down at the laptop.
“You seem very familiar, Bailey O’Conner.” Gabriel moved slowly around the large conference table until he was at her side, watching her hands move over the keyboard, opening and closing files with amazing speed. He socialized with several individuals as well as couples from the club but it always surprised him to see them in their professional environment and Bailey O’Conner was no exception.
“I…I just have that kind of face,” she murmured. “Ah…here’s the problem. Wrong designation. I can fix this for you.”
“Ordinarily my assistant could handle this problem. It must be my lucky day that you were available,” he commented smoothly, moving to her side and leaning over. A low growl broke free at the scent that assailed his senses. Chocolate and vanilla and a glimpse of freckles.
A sense of satisfaction went through him when he felt her body jump slightly. Cheeks dappled with freckles now had a pretty flush of pink tinting them. He imagined they’d been that color most of the night in the club.
“This won’t take a minute,” she promised, struggling to keep from leaping out of her skin. Ohgod, ohgod, ohgod! Please just let me survive this!
His cologne got into her system and wouldn’t let go. His voice was strumming over every nerve she owned. She could feel her panties suddenly wet and throbbing.
“No hurry at all. I had one bitch of a weekend after Friday night,” he continued in a low, amused voice. “You definitely make it look easy. I guess it just goes to show, we all have our specialties.”
Bailey closed her eyes and was grateful her fingers knew how to fly over a keyboard.
“Yes, sir,” she whispered with a nod. “Your file is restored and I’ve opened it and prepared the presentation for you to run.”
“I’ll have to see that you’re appropriately rewarded,” he stood up and took a half step back. Not much. Because at the moment, she should consider herself fortunate he had a presentation and instructions to issue to his departments. What he really wanted was to throw her over his knee and blister her ass. Bare and pink.
“Oh,” her head shook adamantly, her eyes rising but stopping on the knot of his tie. “It’s my job. My pleasure. I mean, I’m glad I could help. I should be going, I have…there is another class for me this afternoon.”
“No pleasure comes without pain,” he held his palm out. “Miss O’Conner,” he waited until her hand was in his. Then he lifted his other hand and placed three fingers beneath the lowered chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. He didn’t release her until she did. “Gabriel Garrett. Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispered anxiously, delicately extracting her palm from his and taking a step back. “Have a nice day,” she breathed before beating a hasty retreat, into the hall and down the corridor.
Bailey made it to the corridor outside the restroom by the tech department. She wasn’t sure how the skirt managed, but somehow it let her sink to the floor against the wall. She wrapped her arms around her knees and put her head down.
That’s where her best friend found her ten minutes later, still trying to breathe.
“Girlfriend!” Patsy dropped to her heels and lifted the head from her knees. “God, girl, you’re whiter that I am! What happened? You need some food…some really cold water. Come on…up…off the floor.”
“Oh, god, Patsy! I’m dead! I am dead meat! I am…oh, god,” Bailey breathed out words until she was pushed into a chair and a tall glass of ice water thrust into her hands.
“Drink. No more words until the water is gone,” said the strict New York accent. “Now, Bee. Drink the water.” She looked toward the line. “Normal sandwich?” She waited for the nod. “Be right back. Don’t move.”
“Oh god, everyone orders me around,” she whispered to herself in a low wail.
“Alright. More water. Then we are talking,” Patsy set the tray down and returned seconds later with two glasses of iced water. “Now. What happened? I swear, even your freckles were white.”
“Oh, god, you are not going to believe me,” Bailey slumped back in the chair. “I think about it…about what I did…and I don’t believe it! That isn’t me! I’ve never…oh, god…”
“Stop praying and tell me what happened,” she said firmly, pushing the plate toward Bailey with a nod. “And eat in between.”
“I told you a little about Friday night,” she began slowly, taking a bite of the sandwich and hearing her stomach grumble in happiness. “I think I missed breakfast.”
“You always miss breakfast,” Patsy shook her head. “I think you’re leaving things out of Friday. Life-long friends...and you have secrets. He must have been really hot,” she teased with a chuckle at the color that made its way to Bailey’s cheeks. “I thought so. No problem. I’ll meet him eventually if he’s that important to you.”
“Oh, god…Patsy…I just met him! I’m going to be fired. I should ask for a letter of recommendation. I’m good at my job,” she rambled, oblivious to the shocked look on her friends’ face. “This is tech central. I can find another job.”
“Why in the world would you get fired?” Patsy stared for a quiet minute. “It was a costume party. You wore a mask, didn’t you?”
Bailey nodded slowly.
“You never took it off all night?” Patsy blinked in amazement.
“Not the mask,” Bailey looked around and whispered. “It was the only thing I had on at one point.”
Patsy swallowed her sandwich and took a long drink of water.
“Alright. I told you to step out of your normal and you did. And you enjoyed it,” she listened to her friend sigh. “Enjoyed it a lot. And now you’re worried about being fired? Oh, my, god! He works here?” Her
eyes went wide as the explanation for Bailey’s behavior struck her.
Bailey nodded, the bite of sandwich caught in her throat.
“Works here is putting it mildly, Patsy,” she dropped her voice, once more checking for people close enough to hear. “He’s the owner of the company!” She hissed in disbelief.
The sandwich fell to her plate and her palm flew to Patsy’s mouth before the shriek could break free.
“Shhh! Don’t you…quiet!” Bailey ordered firmly. “Don’t you ever, ever tell anyone this!”
Gabriel made it through the presentation without a hitch. But then when he was on his game, any of them, he rarely permitted things to go wrong. His managers and department heads should thank their stars. Finding Bailey O’Conner spared them the fury that had been controlling his senses.
As they filed out, the only thing in front of his vision was the redhead in the sexy business suit and glasses. He could smell her; he could feel her body quiver and explode beneath his touch. He wanted more. He had planned to have her on his tongue, squirming and screaming, tied to his bed for hours.
Christ those thoughts went straight to his cock. He adjusted his slacks and took the folder, striding back to his office.
“Janet,” he said as he went past, leaving the door open.
“How’d the presentation go?”
His admin had been working on something but she was up when he spoke, following behind him, waiting.
“Some pissed off people who better get their act together if they intend to be here this time next year,” he answered with a shrug. “I need a file from human resources and I want it kept between you and Tanya.”
Janet raised her brows at the mention of the head of the department.
“Alright,” she held her notepad up. “Who?”
“Bailey O’Conner.”
“Bailey? What in the world did she do?” Surprise filled the soft features. She knew her boss very well. Or so she thought. The look in his eyes was new and well hidden by the stoic expression on his face.
Bailey: Independence #1 Page 6
