Playing For Keeps

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  His mother leveled her gaze on his face. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  Malcolm met the look she was giving him. “I’m going to Baltimore to get some answers.”

  Chapter Ten

  “What now?” Cilla asked, repeating the question Claudia had asked of her.

  He was pulling his car out of the driveway, easing the vehicle into midday traffic. The morning had flown by since their encounter in the coffee shop and the drama that had ensued. Cilla thought back to everything that had transpired since. She blew a low sigh, still waiting for him to respond.

  They’d spent the afternoon helping his mother while she ran Cleo to their family doctor. It had devastated Malcolm to think his little girl might have to be further traumatized by a pelvic exam, be checked for STDs or given a pregnancy test. She was barely a teenager and he found it all too much for him to handle. But relief had come when the doctor had confirmed that she was still a virgin, the violation not the worse that they’d imagined. But Malcolm was still angry that he’d been unable to keep her safe and someone had tried to take advantage of her. His mood had shifted and Cilla could see the beginnings of a downhill spiral.

  To give them all a hand Cilla had helped Claudia pack for her and her sister and had arranged for a car service while Malcolm coordinated their schedule with their Baltimore relative. Cleo had been cordial to her at best, still clearly miffed that Cilla was even breathing, least of all, in their home trying to help. Cilla knew that it was going to take some time for Cleo to warm up to her. Under their current circumstances she figured she could endure the hostility for a while longer.

  When Malcolm didn’t respond she asked a second time. “So, what do you plan to do now?”

  He stared at her. “I’m going to drop you back off to your car. You’re already late for work and I can’t impose on you any longer. Then I’m going to Baltimore.”

  “I’ve already called my job and told them I’m not coming in for a few days. You’re not going to Baltimore by yourself. That’s not happening.”

  “You need to stay out of this,” Malcolm retorted. “It’s not your problem.”

  “That’s not going to happen either,” Cilla snapped.

  He shook his head. “Why are you doing this?”

  There was a moment of hesitation as she pondered his question. Cilla shifted in her seat, turning her body to face him. “I love you. That’s why.”

  Malcolm’s head snapped in her direction, the car slowing abruptly. She continued before he could respond.

  “If we’re going to Baltimore I need to go pack a bag. My car can stay where it is for now.”

  With nothing else to say, Malcolm nodded, accelerating the vehicle as he turned his attention back to the road. Minutes later he sat in Cilla’s living room, waiting as she grabbed a quick shower and tossed clothes into an overnight bag. With everything spinning through his head he was finding it difficult to focus.

  The sound of running water echoed in the distance as he sat in a stupor, thoughts of the woman tripping through all the other muddled mess in his mind. She loved him. Her speaking the words had surprised him and only because he had not expected them to be spoken when they had. The moment they’d passed her lips he’d felt it with every fiber in his being. It had been on the tip of his tongue to say them back, the emotion deeply embedded in his heart, but the trauma of his other issues had held them in check. For the first time in a long time uncertainty had rippled through his system.

  He was suddenly aware of movement in the other room. From his seat on the sofa he could see through the partially closed door into Cilla’s bedroom. She was naked and as she moved past the door’s opening he caught a quick glimpse of her bare assets. His breath caught deep in his chest as he held an inhale of air in his lungs.

  Every dip and curve was stunning. Her breasts, hips, and thighs were thick and full, complemented by the cinch of her waistline. Cilla was so beautiful that he felt like the luckiest man in the world. He shifted forward in his seat, talking himself out of going to her. He was suddenly caught off guard when she stepped out of the room, a silk bathrobe tied loosely around her waist.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, smiling sweetly. “I promise I won’t be much longer. I had to make a few phone calls and now I just need to grab some clothes from the washroom.”

  “You’re fine,” Malcolm mumbled, clasping his hands together tightly in his lap.

  She smiled again as she swept past him toward her kitchen. She returned a moment later with a small pile of clothes in her hands.

  Malcolm moved onto his feet, blocking her path. His breath was heavy as he panted ever so slightly. They locked gazes, staring intently. Malcolm eased both of his hands beneath her robe. When his fingers touched bare flesh she gasped, his heated touch trailing around her waist to the lush curve of her buttocks. He stepped against her, pulling her close as he dropped his mouth to hers. The kiss was easy and gentle, the lightest touch against the softest skin. He trailed his hands across her back, her robe pulling open enough to expose the black lace bra and panty she’d slipped into. Her skin was damp and warm, still heated from the hot shower she’d taken. The kiss deepened, her tongue searching his as their lips danced sweetly together. Her own hands were still holding tight to the laundry she’d claimed from the dryer.

  His mouth tangoed a minute longer against hers before he broke the connection. He continued to hold tightly to her, the embrace feeling like the sweetest balm as he nestled his face in her hair, feeling his heartbeat sync in time with hers. He took a step back, allowing his arms to fall back to his sides, his hands folded into tight fists. For a brief moment they stood staring, there being no need for words. Malcolm shifted his body, taking a step back out of her way. Cilla continued toward her bedroom. Minutes later she returned wearing well-worn jeans, a novelty-printed T-shirt, and high-heeled boots.

  She paused at the front door, gesturing in his direction. “I’m ready, baby,” she said softly.

  Malcolm smiled back, rising slowly to his feet. Uncertainty flickered in his dark stare. Although the words were unspoken, Cilla could see that he really wasn’t sure whether or not he would ever be ready.

  Cilla didn’t recognize the woman standing in the center of the nightclub with Romeo. She did however know the man who stood in conversation with them. Special Agent Randolph Taylor was still tall, dark and handsome, not looking as if he’d aged at all since they’d ended their two-year relationship five years ago. She didn’t miss the lift to his eyes when he spied her coming through the door ahead of Malcolm. Neither did Malcolm as he took note of the stranger’s presence. Cilla could feel him tense as they all turned to stare, their chatter coming to an abrupt halt.

  “Hey, what’s up,” Malcolm said as the two of them moved to join the others. He shook Romeo’s hand then leaned to hug the woman at Romeo’s elbow.

  When Cilla walked into the other man’s outstretched arms, hugging him warmly, the jealous expression across Malcolm’s face was noticed by them all. Malcolm extended his hand in introduction.

  “Malcolm Cobb, and you are?”

  “I’m Special Agent Randolph Taylor,” he answered, shaking the man’s hand.

  “Special Agent?”

  Cilla nodded. “Randolph and I are old friends. I called and asked him to meet us here.”

  Malcolm’s gaze narrowed. His jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth tightly together.

  “Hi, you must be Cilla. I’m Aleta Bowen,” the other woman said, introducing herself. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Good things I hope,” Cilla smiled.

  “Very good things.”

  “Aleta is my godmother and a really good friend to us all,” Romeo explained.

  “So what’s going on here?” Malcolm questioned, looking from one to the other.

  Romeo dropped a heavy hand against his friend’s shoulder. “Cilla called and told me what was going on. I called Aunt Aleta to come watch the club for us while we’re in
Baltimore.”

  “Priscilla called me as well,” the special agent interjected. “I actually came to advise you against going to Baltimore.”

  Malcolm shot the man a hostile look. “What’s it to you?”

  “I work the sex crimes unit out of the FBI’s Raleigh field office.”

  A flash of anger washed over Malcolm’s expression. He cut a narrowed gaze toward Cilla, heat flushing his dark cheeks. Hearing a stranger verbalize what had happened to his baby girl as a sex crime was suddenly debilitating, every ounce of his internal fortitude feeling as if it had been shattered. He broke stance, striding abruptly to the bar. They all watched as he pulled a bottle of vodka from the shelf, dropping it and a shot glass onto the counter. He stood staring at the drink, every muscle shaking with indecision.

  “Why don’t you all sit down,” Aleta said softly. She moved to the back of the bar where Malcolm stood, dropping her palm against the back of his hand. She shook her head as Malcolm met the look she was giving him.

  Romeo had moved to the bar as well, standing on the other side. “You don’t want to do that,” he said, his comment directed at Malcolm. “You’re going to be no good to us if you take that drink.”

  Cilla called his name from across the room.

  “Please, don’t,” she said. “Think about the girls.”

  He took a deep inhale of air, releasing his grip on that bottle as Aleta took it from his hands. He moved around to the front of the bar to Cilla’s side. She grabbed his hand, kissing the back of it as they both took a seat across from her old friend.

  Agent Taylor looked from one to the other. His gaze rested on Cilla’s face for a second longer than necessary. He forced himself to turn his eyes back on Malcolm as he spoke. “Cilla sent me the links to the website where your daughter’s photos were uploaded. My team has already shut it down and we’re working on tracing it back to its owners.”

  “So no one can see those pictures now?”

  “Not on that site, Mr. Cobb, and we’re tracing whether or not they were uploaded to any other internet sites. Unfortunately, the nature of the sex trade business is that a new internet site pops up as fast as we can get them taken down. Their IP addresses are wide and sweeping.”

  Malcolm’s sigh was heavy. He nodded his understanding. “So now what?” he asked, suddenly grateful that someone else might have the answer to that question.

  “Now, you let us handle this. Cilla says your daughter identified two of the men. The one in the picture with her and the other who was responsible for her being at the party. Is that correct?”

  Malcolm shook his head. “She told me who took her to the party. His name is Bynum. Ray Bynum. They call him Candy Man. He’s been dealing drugs on the streets of Baltimore for years. But she didn’t say anything to me about who the guy in the picture was. She said she didn’t know him.”

  Randolph tossed Cilla a questioning look.

  She took a deep breath, realizing that the information Cleo had shared with her father lacked some of the details Claudia had shared with her. She felt both men eyeing her, waiting for her to comment.

  “Claudia told me the man in the picture is named Nikko.”

  Malcolm bristled. “Nikko Prince?”

  “She didn’t tell me his last name.”

  “Do you know him?” Randolph questioned.

  “Nikko Prince is my ex-wife’s current boyfriend. He’s the lowest form of scum there is.”

  “What’s your ex-wife’s name?”

  “Shanell Cobb. She sometimes uses her maiden name. Perry.”

  They all watched as the agent jotted notes into a lined notebook. Malcolm suddenly slammed a fist against the wooden table. Everyone in the room held a collective breath.

  Randolph leaned back in his seat. “Mr. Cobb, I don’t have any children of my own so I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I know how you feel or that I understand what you and your family are going through. But I deal with this every day. That’s why I’m asking you to trust me. Let the bureau handle this. Please. You don’t need to take matters into your own hands. All that’s going to do is make my job harder and risk you or someone else getting hurt. Your girls don’t need that. Right now they just need you to be their father, not a vigilante.”

  When Malcolm didn’t bother to reply, the man continued. “Before I leave here, Mr. Cobb, we’ll already have warrants issued for both men. The Baltimore field office will execute those warrants as quickly as possible.”

  Malcolm nodded, grinding his back teeth.

  “We’re also going to need to interview your daughters. If you have a family attorney, they can be present and because of the sensitive nature of the crime we’ll make sure a female agent does the questioning.”

  There was a moment of silence as Malcolm reflected on the man’s words. He finally nodded his head. “The girls are headed to Potomac Mills with their grandmothers. I can make arrangements for you to talk to them when they get back.”

  “Would you agree to allow one of our agents to meet them in Virginia later today? The sooner we can talk to them the better.”

  “Why the rush? You already have the names of the two men involved.”

  Randolph paused. He tossed Cilla a look before focusing back on Malcolm. “This case is bigger than you might realize. We’ve linked this site and others to a string of child abductions and sex trafficking cases that cross five states that we’re aware of. Your daughter is one of the few young girls we’ve been able to identify who might have information that can point us in the right direction. She’s also one of the lucky ones. This is very important because most of these children aren’t so fortunate.”

  Cilla squeezed his hand. Malcolm blew another heavy sigh.

  “Yeah, all right,” he said with a quick nod. “But their grandmothers need to be there with them. I don’t want any agent talking to either one of my daughters without them there.”

  Randolph extended his hand, shaking Malcolm’s in agreement. “I’ll be touch,” he said, rising from his seat.

  Cilla stood with him. “I’ll walk you out,” she said. She avoided the look Malcolm gave her as he shifted his gaze between the two of them.

  Outside Randolph hugged her again, his embrace lingering. “I’ve missed you,” he said as she pulled herself from his arms. “I was surprised to hear from you.”

  “I needed your help and I know you’re the best.”

  The man nodded. “Your friend seems like a good guy. But I did some digging. He’s got a past.”

  Cilla gave him a look, her brow furrowing with annoyance. “We all have a past, Randolph. And there’s nothing you can tell me about Malcolm that I don’t already know.”

  Randolph nodded. “Well, just try to rein him in. He doesn’t need to do anything stupid.”

  “He won’t.”

  “You hope not.”

  Cilla pulled her gaze from his, turning to stare down the empty sidewalk.

  Randolph drew his hand across her cheek, the gentle caress reminding them both of their good times together.

  She cut her eye back in his direction. “I need to get back inside. Thank you again for everything.”

  Randolph nodded. “There’s not much I wouldn’t do for you, Cilla. That’s the only reason I’m here now. I hope you know that.”

  Turning an about-face, Randolph headed in the direction of the parking lot. Cilla watched until he was out of sight. Then she headed back inside the nightclub.

  Despite their best efforts neither of them had been able to convince Malcolm to stay in Raleigh. The man was determined to go to Baltimore, claiming he needed to find Shanell for some answers. Cilla was grateful for Romeo, the man joining them on the trip. They’d been in the air for less than an hour and Malcolm had barely spoken ten words to her. He was angry and she knew he needed to process the emotion before they discussed it. Romeo tossed her a sympathetic look as Malcolm made his way to the bathroom, securing the door behind him.

  “You did the r
ight thing,” he said.

  She blew a loud sigh. “I hope so. He’s not happy with me right now though.”

  “He cares about you. And he knows you care about him. This is just hard for him. I imagine it would be hard for any man.”

  “I can only imagine,” Cilla said softly.

  Romeo shook his head. “I don’t know what I’d do. If someone hurt my son it would probably take an army to keep me from seeing red and not acting on it.”

  “I’m glad you came. I don’t know if I can help if anything jumps off.”

  “We’re not going to let anything jump off. I promise that.”

  “He’s lucky to have you for a friend.”

  Romeo shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’m the lucky one. Malcolm got me through a really rough time last year. I don’t know if I would have made it without him. I owe him and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”

  Malcolm’s voice suddenly rang from the back of the plane. “You two could at least wait until we land before you start to talk about me.”

  Romeo laughed. “At least we were saying nice things about you.”

  Malcolm dropped back into his seat. “So you say.”

  “I got your back, bro!”

  The two men exchanged a quick look between them that made Cilla smile. For a split second Malcolm actually smiled back and then he closed his eyes and took himself a quick nap.

  Chapter Eleven

  Shanell Cobb sat in an old building, on an old sofa, both of which had seen better times. The room was dimly lit, the air putrid and dank. Another couple lay curled around each other on a small loveseat and a man cowered in the far corner, rocking his large, naked body back and forth. He swatted imaginary flies from around his head, spittle seeping from the corner of his mouth like water from an open spigot. Shanell didn’t know any of them and didn’t care if they knew her.