Graham, Jan - Finding Angel [Wylde Shore] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by Graham, Jan

  Christian turned back to his computer. He would have loved to sit there and daydream about Angel, but he wasn’t getting paid for that. An orange alert at the corner of his desktop caught his eye. As he clicked the tab open, he realised it was the search he had conducted on Angel’s address. Ah, she must live in a house with a history, he thought as he began to read. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to find or where that information would lead him.

  Angel’s house was listed in the computer due to a recently closed investigation into the death of a Caucasian male, aged fifty-five. The incident occurred thirteen weeks ago, and the victim was one Samuel Barnard. The death was not deemed as suspicious after no evidence of foul play was discovered. Samuel Barnard had committed suicide, found hanged in the garage of his home. Christian was perplexed. This must be Angel’s ex, but why had she not told them he was dead? Angel had never corrected either Daniel or himself when they had spoken of her ex leaving her, and she had most definitely never mentioned suicide. Three months was not a long time to work through your grief at the loss of a loved one. Christian couldn’t even begin to fathom it.

  Not only did Angel not seem to be grieving, she barely mentioned anything about her ex at all. He flicked over the initial crime scene pictures and was shocked to see two things. Firstly, the home was dingy, old, and falling down. He checked that he had entered Angel’s correct address. He had. He couldn’t imagine his Angel having to live in a place like that. Of course, apart from the garage, there were no other pictures of inside the home, but the house certainly did not meet his idea of comfort. The second thing to shock him was Samuel himself. Yes, he looked older, but more importantly he looked quite tough and street-ready in appearance. Samuel’s arms were covered in tattoos. He was bald and large framed. Even dead Samuel Barnard looked mean. Christian hit the key for a new search and typed in Samuel Barnard’s details from the previous report. It didn’t take long for him to get a hit back on the man who used to live with Angel.

  Samuel Barnard had a rap sheet a mile long, including drug possession, theft, arson, and assault. This man was definitely no saint. The mug shot revealed a man that looked even meaner than Christian had initially thought. He had a hard edge to his appearance, cruel eyes. How did Angel ever get involved with a man like this? Christian scrolled through the list of assault charges, reading each one carefully. Samuel had done minimal time in gaol for a few of the charges, but considering the severity of some of the assaults, the punishment definitely didn’t seem to fit the crime. Victims withdrew their charges of assault, refused to give evidence, or disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

  Christian froze as he came across an assault from three years ago. It was a charge relating to a thirty-one-year-old woman named Angela Wild. The assault had taken place at a train station car park. It had been witnessed by two railway attendants who had called police. The young woman had been physically assaulted. Her injuries included a fractured cheek bone and some broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a deep laceration at the base of her throat, and a stab wound to her shoulder, both of which had required surgery. Witnesses described the man and identified him as Samuel, but the victim refused to press charges against her de facto partner.

  Christian realised that sometimes mistakes are made, particularly when taking down names or entering information into the computer, but surely it would just be a coincidence that the name was so similar to Angel’s. She didn’t strike him as the type of woman who would stay with a man that had assaulted her so severely. The mouse pointer trembled on the screen as it hovered over the crime photos’ tab. Christian felt sick as he clicked the tab to reveal the pictures he didn’t want to see. It was Angel. She was battered and bruised, her eyes swollen and black, and there was a line of stiches across the base of her throat and another set on her shoulder blade. How could anyone hurt his Angel like that? Christian looked back at the mug shot, seething with anger. If the guy hadn’t already killed himself, Christian would have hunted down and ended the creep’s life today.

  Given the new information he had found, Christian typed the name Angela Wild into the database and hoped he didn’t find anything else. Once the results were displayed, Christian was pleased to find it was only the assault record that appeared. He was, however, a little surprised to see that exactly seven days ago her file had been updated, listing her address as unknown. He pondered the updated status. There was no reason for it to have been changed unless someone had reported her missing, but there was no active missing person case on file. In fact, she had no current investigations, no criminal record at all, just the assault three years ago. He remembered that there had also been no mention of Angel or Angela in the information pertaining to the death of Samuel Barnard, which Christian thought was questionable.

  Christian needed Daniel to search medical records for him. He wanted to be sure there were no lasting problems from the assault on Angel, and if there had been one assault by the prick she lived with, there may have been more. Daniel would be able to gain access to Angel’s public medical history. Anything she had been treated for in the public hospital system would be available at the touch of a button. Christian knew Daniel wasn’t exactly happy about him taking Angel’s information to run a police search, which was possibly why Daniel hadn’t offered to run a medical search. However, now that Christian had discovered this information, he knew Daniel would be easily convinced to do a little detective work of his own.

  Christian continued to hunt through the police files to see if he could get a better picture of Angel’s life with Samuel. He searched some of Samuel’s known associates. It appeared at the time of his death that Samuel was a player for a local crime family who had the drug trade in the area pretty well tied up. Christian knew the family’s reputation. He had investigated some of the suspicious deaths that had been linked to them. They were bad news, and so were most of the people associated with them. Prosecutions against the family were rare, due to intimidation of witnesses, bribes to corrupt officials, and paid alibis from false witnesses. This family had plagued the city for years. Needless to say, Christian was more than concerned that Angel appeared to be associated with one of their henchmen, and he had to know why.

  He couldn’t seem to find a link between Angel and drugs, yet she was connected to Samuel, who had proven drug connections. It made no sense. There had to be a simple explanation, but he had no way of finding out. Everything he had in front of him only led to more questions or dead ends. He picked up his mobile and sent Daniel a text.

  I’ve got information. I need medical history check on names, Angel Wylde, med num -, and Angela Wild, number not known. I need previous addresses if listed. Be prepared to be shocked at what you may find. Talk tonight.

  Daniel got the message from Christian when he returned to his office. It was now midafternoon, and the message had been sent to him before lunch. He had been in surgery since early morning and had come back to his office to finalise some paperwork before heading home to Angel. He didn’t want to be shocked at what he would find. In fact, he didn’t want to find anything. He just wanted to go home and embrace the beautiful woman that over the last week he had fallen more in love with every day. Knowing it must be important, Daniel began by typing in Angela Wild. There were no medical records for anyone of that name, which didn’t surprise him at all. Daniel assumed there must have been a typo on the police computer network that Christian had discovered and was just covering all bases for the search he had asked Daniel to do.

  The thing that concerned Daniel about Christian’s message was that he had obviously discovered something that linked Angel to treatment in hospital. He typed in her medical number, hoping the news wasn’t as shocking as Christian had indicated it would be. Angel’s medical record loaded on his screen. It wasn’t extensive, not like some he had seen, but nevertheless, it was disturbing. Her hospital treatments had all been for injuries rather than illnesses. Deciding to start with the earliest record listed, he began
to read.

  When Angel was nearly sixteen, she had been hospitalised for one night due to a miscarriage brought about by a fall. The fall had not only resulted in her losing a child but also abdominal bruising, a hairline fracture to the lower rib, and slight abrasions to her limbs and face. It was noted that both the police and child welfare services were notified of the incident. There were a few emergency room visits listed between the age of twenty and twenty-two, broken arm, spiral fracture of the wrist, dislocated thumb, dislocated shoulder, all either explained by falls or sporting injuries. Daniel finally looked at the last entry. It was from three years ago when Angel was thirty-one.

  Angel had been rushed to hospital after an assault. She was suffering from extensive blood loss as a result of two stab wounds, a ruptured spleen, and impact trauma to other abdominal organs. It was documented Angel was suffering from shock, was disoriented and obviously in extensive pain. Angel received a blood transfusion and fluid resuscitation for her class three haemorrhage and required emergency surgery for her ruptured spleen and the knife wounds to her shoulder and throat. It was also noted that she had severe bruising to the face, breasts, and abdomen, fractures to the eighth and ninth ribs as well as her left cheekbone, and a minor dislocation of the right shoulder.

  Angel was in intensive care for a week before being transferred to a regular ward for further recovery. In total, Angel spent three weeks in hospital, some of it under police guard. The file noted that Samuel Barnard was restricted from entering the hospital premises, and a scanned copy of the apprehended violence order taken out by the police was also listed on the file. This was usual practice if there was cause to believe the patient was in imminent danger of harm while at the hospital. Daniel couldn’t believe what he was reading. For anyone to perpetrate that kind of injury on another person was appalling, but this had happened to his Angel. Daniel felt ill at the thought. He could barely allow himself to imagine the terror Angel would have gone through during the assault. From the extent of her injuries, it was clear to Daniel that her attacker had not meant for her to survive. The laceration to her throat, had it been slightly higher, would certainly have slit her carotid artery, causing her to bleed out and die. Daniel was thankful that she had survived and hoped that Christian would tell him that this Samuel Barnard, if he was responsible, had been imprisoned for a very long time.

  He walked to the car and began his drive back home from the city. He couldn’t get the thought of what had happened to Angel out of his mind. He dialled Christian’s mobile, hoping his brother was in a position to talk freely. Christian answered the phone and, as it happened, was also on his way home.

  “I assume you wanted me to look up the assault details.” Daniel didn’t see the need for formalities. He just wanted the facts.

  “So you got my message,” Christian began. “Yes, the assault, any lasting effects for Angel. The crime photos were horrendous.”

  “You saw the pictures from the assault? God, I can only image how you must be. I’m sick just reading the list of injuries and knowing how close she came to dying.”

  Daniel felt for his brother. The shock of seeing those images must have rocked him to the core.

  “Tell me the prick that did it is in prison for a very long time,” Daniel asked his brother.

  Christian filled Daniel in on the details of the police investigation, Samuel Barnard’s relationship to Angel, and that she had returned to live with him after the attack. He also let Daniel know about Barnard’s criminal connections and that he had left Steve a message to contact him in the hope he could shed more light on any danger Angel may still be in.

  Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Even though Christian agreed with him that there must have been a logical explanation for her to return, neither of them could think of one that made any sense. Just like Christian, Daniel was shocked that Angel had not told either of them that Samuel, her ex, as she referred to him, had committed suicide. He hypothesised on her motive about not mentioning Samuel’s death and decided that due to her history with Mr. Barnard, she may have just wanted to avoid any questions or concerns that she should still be in a process of grieving for her loss. As Christian pointed out to Daniel, if he had tried to kill her and if there had been other incidents of violence in the home, Angel may be experiencing relief at his death rather than loss. Daniel and Christian both agreed that Angel needed to tell them about Samuel and the attack. Christian suggested that he may kick off the conversation with her by asking her about her fear of knives. After all, it had been five days since he had told her they would revisit the topic. Daniel agreed that tonight would be a good time to discuss it all. Being a Friday evening, and with both men at home for the whole weekend, they would be able to care for Angel if the memories they were about to ask her to share caused any emotional repercussion. Christian wondered if they may need to push Angel to tell them about the incident, but Daniel didn’t think Angel would have to be forced to get her to open up to them. Over the last week she had become more relaxed with both men. Daniel believed that she was starting to trust them and didn’t want anything to jeopardise that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Angel had arrived home from shopping just in time to start making dinner. So far she hadn’t really cooked for Daniel and Christian, and she wanted to make tonight special. She had purchased a nice piece of roasting meat and had added some of her favourite herbs to give it a bit of a lift. She went to shower and change her clothes after putting the meat in the oven to begin roasting. Angel hoped that dinner would be liked by both men. She had never had any complaints about her cooking, but Angel still wasn’t sure of each of the brother’s likes and dislikes when it came to food. As she washed her hair, she realised that she wasn’t really sure of many of their likes and dislikes. Even in bed, she was still getting to know exactly what made their eyes roll back.

  Angel tied her hair back in a messy swirl, not worrying if a few stray curls dangled down her neck or around her face. She clipped it with an antique hair clip her grandmother had given her. Angel had always thought how nice it was with its deep pink and clear crystals that formed flower bunches along its edges. She put on a lacy bustier that Christian had bought her. It accentuated the curve of her bust and midriff perfectly. The bustier was white lace with the most delicately embroidered roses around the upper edge of the bust line. She slipped into the G-string that matched it and stared into the mirror. Angel wondered about Christian’s like for ripping such beautiful lingerie off her body. Her chemise hadn’t been the only piece of clothing she had lost this past week. He appeared to love her in the pretty silk, satin, and lace garments he had purchased. He would watch her intently as he ran his hands over the underwear she wore for him. He seemed to delight in teasing her nipples through a lacy bra or feeling her wet pussy moisten a pair of silk pants as a result of his sensual touch and kisses. Angel ran her hand over the lace of the bustier and wondered if she would ever be able to wear things like this again without thinking of Christian tearing at it or hearing his deep husky voice demand her to “Take it off…Now!”

  Angel felt her pussy start to tingle and grow moist as she thought of Christian. She shivered and bought herself back to reality. She had no time for fantasies at the moment. She needed to continue making dinner. Angel slipped on a white cotton dress. Its wide straps rested on her shoulders as she buttoned the bodice, leaving the top button undone so that the larger rose at the top centre of the bustier was visible. The skirt of the dress rested loosely on her hips and flowed down to mid thigh length, accentuating the curve of her buttocks. She placed the ruby jewellery on that Chocolate had so generously given her, the necklace sitting in the centre of her chest just above the curve of her breasts that peeped out above the dress’s bodice.

  Angel stared at the ruby and diamond ring on her finger. Daniel and Christian had excellent taste in jewellery. They had been right. It did match the set Chocolate had given her. She smiled at the thought of both men remembering t
he jewellery she had been wearing when they met her. No one had ever really noticed Angel before in the way they seemed to. Yes, people saw her, acknowledged her. But that night at The Dungeon, Christian and Daniel had not only seen her, they had actually taken notice and they remembered her. In one brief meeting, both the men she had spent the last week with had remembered more about her than men she had spent years with. Angel was lost in thought as she walked back to the kitchen.

  Rubies heal the heart, and so do kind and generous men.

  Daniel was the first to arrive home. He saw Angel in the kitchen as he walked in, and as usual, she took his breath away. A soft curl brushed against her cheek as she stirred something in a pot on the stove. She glanced up when she heard him place his bag and coat down, and a smile lit up her face.

  “I’d run over and hug you I’ve missed you so much today, but I don’t want the gravy to spoil.” She smiled.

  “Then I’ll have to come over to you, without the running bit.” He beamed back at her, striding across the room. “Whatever it is you’re cooking smells delicious, and as for the gravy, you can start again if I ruin it.”

  He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her hard on the lips. Angel dropped the spoon on the floor as she responded to his embrace. He lifted her off the floor and spun around so she was backed up against the kitchen island. He pressed himself against her firmly, his hands exploring her body. By the time he released his hold on her, she was aflame with arousal, her face flushed and her emerald eyes smouldering dark with passion. He moved back slightly and stared at her.