Mason let their little group filter in before closing the door, nodding across the bar at Slate and his brothers before the lock snicked into place. “Have a seat, Mr. Dalton.” He turned and pushed Dalton hard, shoving him towards the chair, and away from Jess and Mica. His voice changed, becoming dangerous and rough. “Sit the fuck down, you shit-for-brains.”
“Mica, what is going on?” Dalton asked as he recovered from stumbling. He quickly moved to the chair and carefully sat down, gripping the seat with both hands.
Mason roared, “You don’t fucking talk to her, you sackless prick. You talk to me, and only me. You will answer when spoken to,” he grabbed a fistful of Dalton’s shirt and pulled him close, “and you will fucking answer promptly and honestly, but you do not fucking talk to her.” He paused. “Ahh, goddammit,” Mason said as he smelled piss, knowing what he’d see if he looked at this guy’s crotch. This wasn’t part of the plan; she was gonna be pissed at him. Turning Dalton loose, Mason shoved him backwards into the chair again. “He just…aww fuck. Sit the fuck down. Listen close. Answer fast. Be fucking truthful. Leave here in one fucking piece…” he bared his teeth in a grim smile down at Dalton, “…maybe a little damp, but in one fucking piece.”
Mica’s voice sounded in the room, the tone flat and calm. She was doing what they had discussed, leaving Dalton no room for denials. “Gentry, I was already in the screen-share this afternoon. I saw everything. I saw the pictures.” She paused to take a deep breath and stepped up beside Mason, putting her hand on his forearm, curling her fingers around the hard, tattooed, and muscled expanse of skin. “Tell me about the pictures, Gentry.” Her fingertips stroked gently up and down Mason’s arm, pulling anger from him with every movement.
“Umm. Mica, hey, umm…a client gave me a memory stick with pictures on it that he wanted for a project. Those pictures were on the USB. I was as surprised as you must have been. I called the client and told him I didn’t need his business. Yeah. I’m sorry you saw them. It must have been scary,” Dalton stuttered.
“I call bullshit, Mason,” Jess said roughly, pushing up beside Mica. “We saw his screen. He was flipping through the pictures of our girly like they were soft-core porn and he was horny.”
His anger rising again, Mason felt Mica’s fingers tighten around his arm convulsively, holding him in place, saying flatly, “Gentry, tell me about the pictures.”
Dalton’s eyes jerked from one person to the next, looking for any out he could find. He wasn’t restrained to the chair, except by his fingers holding tightly onto the seat like it was a lifeline. He looked between Daniel and Mason again, then over to Jess, and finally back to Mica. They could all see his thoughts racing across his face, Mica holding her breath until he volunteered the information they needed.
“A guy came in and said he was a friend of a client of yours—Peters, owns a bar out in Waukegan. He knew I did work for you. He had the pictures on a USB, like I said, but he wanted me to email them to Peters and a blind account. That’s it, Mica. The truth, it’s all I know. I didn’t know what it was until after I had already agreed. Once I had, he was standing there breathing over me until I emailed the pictures.”
Mica looked at Gentry. “So Peters came in and wanted you to email the pictures? Who did you email them to, Gentry? Do you still have the USB? I could get some information off the digital files if you do.” Chewing on the side of her thumb, she thought hard. “Did you copy them to a local hard drive, maybe?”
He shook his head at her. “No, he didn’t want me to copy them. I emailed them from the folder on the memory stick, and then removed it and handed it back over. But it wasn’t Peters, he said he was a friend of Peters, who I guess is your client.”
Racking her brain, she responded absently, “Yes, Peters is a new client.” Still thinking, speaking distractedly, “Do you still have the files in your sent email folder? I could get them from there, or your trash if you deleted the email.” Changing tracks slightly, she asked, “If it wasn’t Peters, who was it? Do you know his name?”
All eyes on him, Gentry nodded eagerly, looking sideways at Mason and Daniel. “Yeah, yeah. His name is Ray Nelms, said he knows Peters from Texas.”
Everyone quickly looked at Mica as she made a choking noise. She was reaching a hand out behind her to the wall, and looked like she had taken a hard punch to her chest that knocked the air out of her. “Nelms. Are you sure that was his name?” she asked breathlessly. “Are you absolutely sure, Gentry?”
He nodded more slowly now, his eyes darting towards Mason, not sure what had happened, but seriously afraid again, since his answer had this effect on Mica. “Yeah, Ray Nelms. I’m sure.”
Daniel grabbed Mica as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell bonelessly towards the floor.
34 -
Milwaukee
Samuel pulled the car into the curving drive in front of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee. He put the car into park and used the rearview mirror to exchange glances with Daniel in the backseat.
“She’s still sleeping, Samuel, can you check out our reservations and deal with the bags…give me a minute?” Daniel looked down at Mica; she was sprawled across the seat next to him, her head pillowed on his thighs and her hair draped across his hips and legs. “I don’t want to wake her too fast.”
“Yes, Mr. Rupert,” Samuel said as he exited the car, tapping the button to open the trunk so the valets could remove the luggage from inside it.
“Hey, Mica, sweetheart, time to wake up. We’re here.” He stroked her hair back from her face, troubled by how pale she still was. “Come on, I know you don’t want me to carry you inside.” Watching her stir, he stifled a groan when her head and face pressed into his lap as she scrubbed her face against the fabric of his jeans as she was waking. “Um. Oh. Don’t do that, Mica.” He lifted her head to a less compromising position and saw her eyes flutter open, looking up at him. “Hey there, beautiful,” he said with a smile, “there you are.”
She swung her legs off the seat, pulling up to a seated position. Stifling a yawn behind one hand, she looked around and said with surprise, “Oh, we’re here.” Tugging her clothing straight around her, she licked her dry lips and looked at Daniel. “Is this where you’re staying? It looks nice, really nice,” she frowned out the window at the hotel façade, “expensive, but really nice.” She turned back to Daniel. “I think I’ve made a mistake. I’m so sorry; I’ll call Jess, and she can come pick me up. I can stay with her…or with Mason.”
He reached out and laid a single finger across her lips, quieting the flood of words. “Stop, Mica. Let me do this for you. I want to. Don’t worry about the cost, sweetheart; I’d like you to stay. Remember, there are no strings, no commitments; I only want to know you are safe while we work together to figure everything out.”
Samuel opened the door next to Daniel, letting in chilly air. “The arrangements are all in place, Mr. Rupert. I’ve checked us in, and here are your room combinations and keys to the elevator.” Handing Daniel three small envelopes, he walked around the front of the car in preparation to move it to the parking garage. Daniel smiled; no way would Samuel let a valet park this car, he was too particular about things being just right.
Looking at Mica, he asked, “Shall we?” and stepped out, turning to stretch a hand to her, tugging her from the car smoothly and confidently. His hand firmly on the small of her back, he directed her towards the elevators across the hotel lobby from the outside doors. He saw some of his players standing near the lounge, where there were TVs blaring out news, music, and sports, and waved them off as they noticed him. At the elevators, there was no wait for a car, the doors dinging and opening immediately. He pulled a card out from one of the envelopes, and then handed the envelope to her. “Swipe the card first, and then press the PS button, okay?” Following his own instructions, he handed the card to her. “Tuck that back into the envelope, and see what the combination is, yeah?”
She opened the flap and
saw six digits written there, with a little frame for the card. Sliding it back into place, she said, “The combination is 625155…I think,” looking over at him as he watched the numbers above the door tick upward. “It says PS 1/2, Daniel.”
He gazed down at her. “Oh, great, I wasn’t sure if they had adjoining suites. This is better than I expected.” Smiling, he anticipated the door opening and grabbed her hand as it did so, pulling her towards a half-round room with three doors opening off it. Stepping to the middle one, he punched the combination she had given him into the keypad and opened the door. He stepped back to usher her inside in front of him, his hand once again at the small of her back, resting above the waistband of her jeans.
Inside the suite, their luggage was off to the side, between the bedrooms and another door in the wall. Daniel watched Mica look around, and he saw her skin pale again, frowning. He knew she was tallying up the cost of the suite, and wanted to derail those thoughts.
He moved quickly through the suite, pointing at features and naming them off. “Bedrooms are on that side; let me know which you prefer, and I’ll take the other one. Each bedroom has a bath, but if one has a Jacuzzi, I’ll be spending time in there after practice, so you might want to check that before selecting your room.
“Full kitchen through here, it should have a good assortment of food stocked, but if there’s anything in particular you want, you can let Samuel know. He sent you a text on the way up, so you should have his number. Wet bar, living area is here, TV is in the cabinet I bet. Here’s the office area; I asked for extra monitors, so you can more closely mirror your setup from work. Let me know if the Wi-Fi isn’t enough; we can have them run a hardline if needed.”
Mica had stayed where she was, near the door leading back to the foyer and the elevator. He looked at her, wondering what was going through her mind; he didn’t know her well enough to read her expression right now. “Samuel is in a room on a lower floor, but he will be outside the room when I’m gone. If he can’t be there, he’s contacted some friends here in town to help sub in. Mason said we could have as many Rebel members as we could stand if needed, but only full patch brothers.” He grinned at that, and she smiled back at him.
Daniel moved to the door in the wall, opening it to reveal another, smaller suite.
“Mason called not long after you dozed off in the car; he’s sending Jess and Brandy up here to stay for the weekend. This second suite is for them, so they can have privacy, but be close by in case anything happens. I thought you’d be pleased they would be here with you.”
Mica looked around the suites with a troubled look on her face. “Why is there a change in plans, Daniel? And look, this suite—I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to work; I can’t stay here. It’s too much, too expensive.”
He swallowed, heading to the kitchen for a bottle of water. Bringing back two, he casually tossed one to her, watching as she caught it and opened it for a drink.
Glossing over the question of expense, Daniel chose to answer the question about the change in plans. “You knew Mason was going back to Gentry’s office with him to get the pictures. Jess is bringing copies with her on a hard drive. There were a lot more pictures than what you guys saw. In addition to quite a few of you, there were photos of both Jess and Brandy, at home, and at their respective workplaces. We all thought it’d be better if they come here for the weekend, and Mason can have an open playing field to try and sort it out. Steve is helping him down in Chicago, but they’ll both be up here by game time Saturday, so we can meet beforehand and find out what they know.”
He grinned. “I hope Brandy brings some cupcakes with her; she’s my favorite person nearly every morning. I’m hopelessly addicted to everything she makes in that magic kitchen of hers.” Mica smiled back, following him over to the bedroom doors. “Let’s take a look in here and see what’s what.”
35 -
Unwinding
Daniel leaned against the wall of the elevator tiredly, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion as he waited for it to complete its climb to the penthouse foyer. Practice had been brutal tonight; all the players and staff were high on adrenaline from skating onto a rival’s ice, seeing the hometown fans there to judge them, even before the game. He rocked his head back, leaning it against the mirrored surface behind him to watch the lights over the door.
His mind was moving ahead to the evening; the DVDs of tonight’s practice should already be in the room, and he wanted to watch how the team came together on the ice. Pulling his duffle higher up on his shoulder, he realized he had started to ache all over.
The ice was a little sticky tonight too; he talked to the arena manager about that and found out their filtration system had failed. They were not going to be able to defrost and refreeze in time for Saturday’s game, so the guys needed all the planned extra skate time on the ice to adapt. One good thing was that the Crashers wouldn’t be any more comfortable with the ice than the Mallets were, because it was abnormal for their rink, so hopefully his guys would adjust faster, since it was an unfamiliar setting.
He remembered it was Thursday night, and he had several business commitments tomorrow morning. He needed to be sharp for those, but he was so exhausted right now. Tired and sore, he had tweaked his back during practice. He’d been out of position, stretching for the puck, and flubbed a stickhandle around a defender in the corner, getting checked hard into the boards. He knew better than to attack every 50/50 puck, but he liked to play aggressively, and this was sometimes the price he paid.
The elevator opened onto the foyer finally, and a man Daniel didn’t know waited between the suite doors. He was glad to see the man carried himself professionally, his suit jacket cut to hide the line of the shoulder holster and gun. Nodding at him, Daniel stuck out his hand, not surprised when the man didn’t take it. “Daniel Rupert and you are?” he asked.
“Langston, Mr. Rupert. Mr. Leeds called me earlier today. I’m on until 7 a.m., so you can rest easy tonight.”
Nodding at Langston, Daniel walked on over to the door, and closing his eyes, he stood there for a minute trying to remember the combination Mica had told him. Sighing in frustration, because he couldn’t recall the sequence of numbers, he shook his head, and then felt the slightest breeze of shifting air on his face. Opening his eyes, he saw Mica standing only inches away, holding the door open for him. “Hey there, beautiful,” he said softly, smiling at her.
Mica looked over his shoulder at Langston, and then stepped back, giving him plenty of room to walk through the door with his bag of gear. “Hi, Daniel. There was a delivery for you a few minutes ago; I put it on your bed.”
“Oh, good, that will be the tapes from tonight. I’ll watch them after I clean up.” Man, he was hungry, but because of everything swirling around Mica, he didn’t want to go out to a restaurant like he normally would have.
Headed into his bedroom, he saw the envelope lying where she said it would be, on the bed. Dumping his gear on the floor, he took the sweat-soaked guards and pads out to dry in the open air. Without turning around, he yelled out, so Mica could hear him, “Hey, have you eaten yet? I’m going to order dinner from room service. Do you want me to order you anything?” From right behind him came her amused voice, yelling back at full-volume, “No! I haven’t eaten yet! What are you having?”
He turned around laughing and stopped short when he saw her, his breath catching in his throat, because, oh, God, she was lit up from within with her humor. Her face was bright and beautiful, and her eyes were sparkling like nothing he’d ever seen. They were a vivid shade of green, which he decided was his new favorite color right then and there.
Grinning at her still, even though she was right there, he yelled again, not ready to relinquish her laughter, “I think just some steak and eggs, how about you?” Then, in a stage whisper, he asked, “Why are we yelling?” She snickered aloud at him, then wound up in a serious case of the giggles. They slowly trailed off as they stood facing each other for a minute, but t
hreatened to erupt again every time her eyes met his.
“I’ll order us something, now that I know what you want,” she said. “Jess and Brandy got here a couple hours ago, but are already in bed; they were tired by the time they got here. I guess the roads were pretty crappy.”
He nodded. “Food sounds good. I’m glad they made it safely.” He turned back to his gear bag, sorting through everything he would need for practice tomorrow, his mind already moving to readying and inventorying. He heard her clear her throat behind him and turned around, puzzled to find her still there. “Daniel…I just,” sighing, she stepped closer, “I wanted to say thank you for thinking of Jess and Brandy…and me. Thank you for taking care of us.” She took another couple steps towards him. “This is so nice of you.”
He smiled and opened his arms, his eyes widening in surprise as she came to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “You are very welcome, Mica,” he whispered as he bent his knees slightly and enveloped her tightly in his arms, closing his eyes. “It is my pleasure, sweetheart.”
He felt her lips move against his chest, and he wasn’t sure if she was smiling or kissing him, but it didn’t really matter, because she was in his arms and it felt so very right. He caught a trace of her fragrance, not sure, if it was shampoo or perfume, but loved the light and floral scent that was her.
Laying his cheek against the top of her head, he smiled, sighed, and tightened his arms. He held her like that for a few moments before loosening them, giving her a chance to escape if she wanted. She leaned further into him, turning her head to fit more comfortably underneath his chin, running one hand up his back.
Daniel drew back to look down at Mica’s face, seeing her lips tipping up towards his, her eyes still bright with emotion and humor. He bit the inside of his mouth hard, trying to hold back, but seeing her waiting for his advance broke his control apart. He swooped down to press his mouth against hers, kissing her with a hunger that surprised them both.
Mica (Rebel Wayfarers MC) Page 18
