Fueled by Lust: Severus (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Celeste Prater

  As she rode down in the elevator, it occurred to her that she needed to tell Severus just in case he got back before she did. The phone rolled to voice mail. “Hi. Just got out of the shower and realized I didn’t have a clean change of clothes. Heading to my house real quick to grab some things and will be right back. I’ll make the cabby wait for me. I’ll probably be back before you are. Bye.”

  Cassie waved at the concierge as she walked across the lobby. She’d learned his name was George. He waved back as she pushed on the door.

  “Cab should be here any minute, Miss Wells. You can wait inside.”

  “I’ll just wait outside. It’s nice out tonight.”

  “You need anything else, just let me know.”

  “Thanks, George.”

  As Cassie waited for the cab, she pulled her cell phone out and called Lina. She was happy to hear her friend’s voice.

  “Cassie! I am seriously starting to miss you. Are you okay? What are you doing? Drusus and I should be there in a couple of hours.”

  “I’m fine. I’ve got my own monolith taking care of me.” Cassie grinned at Lina’s giggle-snort. “God! I’ve missed that sound. I’m headed over to get some clean clothes from my house, then I’m going to get comfortable and watch a movie. Hey, my ride’s here. Call me when you get in, okay?”

  “First thing. Be careful, Cassie. I can’t lose you. Love yuh.”

  Cassie felt her heart melt. “Thank you, sweetie. Love you, too. See you soon.” She hung up, crawled into the cab, and gave the driver her address. “Can you wait for me when I get there? I’m just running in to get a few things. It won’t take long.” At the cabbie’s nod, she sat back in the seat and watched the city zip by the windows.

  When she arrived at her home, she paid the driver, per their policy as he explained, and ran up to her door. She turned around and held up her index finger to remind him to wait for her. She pushed open her door and stepped in. It seemed like forever ago that she’d been home. It looked very small after spending so much time at Severus’s opulent apartment. She closed the door and felt around on the wall for the light switch and frowned when she flipped it and nothing happened.

  She never saw the dark figure move from the shadows, only the flash of white in her vision as searing pain slashed across the back of her head. She felt her cheek slam against the floor just as her vision dimmed to gray and then to nothingness.

  Chapter 26

  Severus shared a shoulder bump with Cato when he slid a chair up next to him. The monitor flashed through several screens before an image of the pretty girl from the picture appeared. He leaned forward to stare at the man standing next to her. “Who’s the guy?”

  “That, my friend, is Andrew Wynn. Yep, the very same one that owns WynnKauf Battery Solutions. Her name’s Rachel Wynn. Coincidence? Not even close. She’s his sister.”

  Severus cursed under his breath. “Well. Isn’t that interesting?”

  Cato flipped through a few more screens. A picture of her Texas driver’s license appeared on the monitor. “Once I got this, I was able to track down her cell phone and they lead me to”—more screens flashed by—“a picture of her with our boy.”

  Severus recognized the background as the same yacht from the first picture. This time, Rachel Wynn had an arm wrapped around Victor’s waist as they held up champagne glasses. “I’ll be damned! How did you find this?”

  Cato swiveled around in his chair. “Once I was in her phone logs, I did a reverse trace and got a hit for a Victor Dawson. She’d called, and received calls from, that number for over six months. I hacked her Facebook account and found this photo of her and Drexler…I mean Dawson. From their text messages, I gathered they were lovers.” Cato pivoted back to the monitor and pulled up Victor Dawson’s driver’s license picture. “He worked as a paralegal for a Garland law firm and then just disappeared about a month ago. That was the same time he took the persona of the dead guy out of Arizona and showed up at Cassie’s law office. The texts from Rachel dried up within days. Except for this last, and very interesting, message.” Cato clicked the keyboard and a text message log appeared. He highlighted some words and zoomed in.

  This is Andrew. Rachel doesn’t want anything else to do with you. The job is still in play. Toss your phone and check your mail tomorrow. I’ll be in touch. Don’t be stupid.

  Cato tapped the screen with his finger. “I’m betting this was the time he went to satellite or started using burner phones.” Over the next few minutes, Cato showed Severus enough text messages between Wynn and Rachel to prove they had conspired to place Victor at the Austin law firm to search for Benson. The pair weren’t extremely intelligent since they spoke of having Benson “removed.”

  Severus leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Damn. They recruited Dawson and planted him on an information dig. This is good, Cato. Can you compile and organize all of this and get it ready to send out anonymously? I don’t want it traced back to us. I’m going to give Cassie the option of where we send this. Either it goes to her boss, or straight to the FBI.” Severus stood up and clapped Cato on the back. “Fantastic work, amici. You scare the hell out of me sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Cato grinned and shrugged. “I’m going to be bored after this.”

  Severus laughed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. I can’t wait to tell Cassie that we finally have good news.” He cursed when he looked down to his phone. “Damn! I ran the battery down. You have a charger?”

  Cato threw him the plug and started working at the computer again.

  Severus hooked up the phone and saw that Cassie had left him a voice mail. He frowned when he heard it. “She took off. Went to her house to get some more clothes. I should have told her not to go anywhere.” He tried calling, but it kept rolling to voice mail. After several attempts, Cato stopped working and turned around.

  “This is worrying me, Severus. Let’s go find your female.”

  * * * *

  Severus was surprised to find the door to Cassie’s house unlocked. He pushed his way inside and felt for the light switch. When nothing happened, he moved his way slowly into the kitchen and soon found that none of the lights worked. Cato checked the breaker box and flipped the levers and both the living room and kitchen lights engaged. When they could see, he and Cato moved about the house, but couldn’t locate her. Nothing was out of place, but Severus’s gut was telling him not all was right in the world.

  Cato walked back in from the backyard. “Nothing out there. I’m sure she was just in a hurry and forgot to lock it. Maybe she got spooked when her lights wouldn’t come on.”

  Severus could tell Cato didn’t believe his own words any more than he did. “Maybe we just missed her. She’s probably headed back to my apartment. Let’s go.”

  They both remained quiet on the ride over. Severus was afraid to voice his concerns, but his chest hurt just from thinking the worst. Please let her be at the apartment. Please let her be okay.

  Cato wasn’t in any better shape. His leg kept bouncing up and down as he clenched his fist on his thigh and stared out the side window. He practically jumped from the car when Severus pulled in front of his building.

  Severus made his way over to the concierge. “George. Did you see my guest return? I understand she called a cab. I’m just checking to see if she made it back okay.”

  George frowned. “I saw the cab arrive for her, but she hasn’t returned. I haven’t left the desk all night.”

  Severus’s gut clenched. “Okay. Thanks, George. I’m sure she’ll be back shortly. Do you remember what cab company she used?”

  George smiled. “Yes, sir. Here’s their card. We use them all the time. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  Severus wrote Cato’s number down and handed it to George. “If Miss Wells returns, please ask her to call this number.” When the concierge nodded, Severus and Cato practically ran back to the car.

  Cato plucked the card out of Severus’s
hand. “I’ll be able to pull their call logs to see where the cab is. Hopefully, they have GPS on all the vehicles and we can pinpoint the exact location.”

  Severus gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “I should have made her come with me. I was so stupid. I didn’t want her worried if it was another dead end. Gods damn it!”

  Cato threw him a glance. “Hell! I wish I’d never called. You could be up there wrapped around your female right now. I could’ve waited until Drusus got here and told all of you at the same time. I got too excited.”

  They rode in silence for a while and Severus could tell Cato was internally beating the shit out of himself. Severus felt the same, but they needed to focus. “It’s not your fault any more than mine. It’s Dawson’s and I’m going to break his legs the first chance I get.”

  Cato nodded, eyes staring forward. “Not if I get to him first.”

  Severus smiled. “Thanks, amici.”

  Cato nodded then glanced over at Severus. “She reminds me of my baby sister.”

  Severus’s eyes widened and he looked back out the windshield before he crashed them both. “I never met her. I’m sorry.”

  From the corner of his eye, Severus saw Cato grin and look back to the streets whizzing by the window. “Aleria. She and Cassie look nothing alike, but it is their spirit and eyes that match. Aleria would fight a tree stump if it offended her.” He chuckled under his breath. “Cassie has the same fire in her golden eyes. I am comforted when I am around her. She feels like home.”

  Severus looked over when he saw Cato’s head turn back to him. Their eyes locked. Cato’s words were tight and low. “I can no more lose her than you, my friend. I will not survive a second time.”

  They nodded in silent understanding and remained quiet as Severus broke every written road rule to get them back to the dating service.

  Severus didn’t breathe easy until Cato was perched back in front of his computer. Within minutes, he had accessed the cab company logs and found the notation for pick up at the apartment. The driver called in a drop-off at Cassie’s house, but showed no return trip to the apartment. Undaunted, Cato dug further and found the recorded calls. After a few minutes of searching, they both listened in defeat as the cabbie called in that the fare had indicated for him to wait. When she didn’t return in the allotted time allowed, he’d knocked on the door and got no response. Per policy, he left for another call.

  “Son of a bitch! Damn dead end. Where the hell is she, Cato?” Severus called Cassie several more times and almost tossed the phone against a wall when it dawned on him that he had another lead. “Obviously, I’m not thinking straight. Let’s find Dawson. If he doesn’t talk, I’ll give you first crack at his legs.”

  Cato started grabbing up equipment and stuffing it into a backpack. “Deal. I’m bringing a mobile lab with me this time. I don’t want to keep bouncing back and forth until we find her. Come on, let’s go.”

  * * * *

  “I…don’t…know…fuck…where…she…is…stop…no…you’re…killing me,” Victor squeaked out as Severus’s forearm shoved harder into his windpipe. He had the same look of sheer terror on his face as when he and Cato had burst through his front door.

  Severus pushed his face closer to Victor, their noses almost touching, and growled out his discontent. “We know everything, Dawson. Don’t lie to me.” He moved his forearm away, quickly flipped Victor around, and smashed him up against the wall. Victor yelled out when Severus twisted his arm up behind him and jerked it toward his shoulder blade.

  “I swear. I don’t know where she is. I would never hurt Cassie. You have to believe me.” While Victor whimpered against the wall, Severus looked over to Cato.

  Cato shook his head and nodded to the chair he had drug into the living room. He held up a roll of silver duct tape and smiled.

  Severus jerked Victor backward and shoved him into the chair. Cato made quick work of binding his wrists and ankles.

  Victor’s eyes were wide as he glanced back and forth between Severus and Cato. “What’s happening? What do you know?”

  Severus sat on the couch and clenched his fists to keep from punching Victor in the face. He needed answers and breaking the guy’s jaw wouldn’t help. “Cassie was taken from her home about an hour ago. I know it was either you or the people you’re working for. I know about you being a plant at the law office, about your search for Benson, and how deep Wynn is in on this. It’s over, Dawson. Now tell me where she is.”

  Victor’s face paled and he hung his head. “I’m so sorry. So very sorry. I honestly can’t tell you where she is. I haven’t got anything to do with anyone taking Cassie. Wynn knew Cassie was Sturdivant’s secretary, but he never once mentioned causing her harm. I would never let him hurt her. I…love her.”

  Severus felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Victor’s pleading eyes spoke volumes. He was telling the truth. “Why, Victor? Why are you doing this? Just being in that law office brought harm to Cassie. She was gassed, gods damn it! You don’t consider that harm?”

  Victor looked shaken as he moved his head back and forth. “No. No. I didn’t have anything to do with that. I swear. I had no choice but to be there. You don’t understand.”

  Severus reached forward and grabbed the front of Victor’s shirt and shook him. Victor’s teeth rattled in his head. “Then help me understand before I kill you!”

  Victor’s chest rose and fell as he struggled to catch his breath. “Wynn threatened my family. If I didn’t help them infiltrate the law firm, he said he was going to have my brother injured. He’s overseas and Wynn has connections there. I had no choice. He’s my baby brother for god’s sake.” His chin dropped to his chest.

  Severus released his shirt and sat back on the couch. “You fool. What makes you think he wouldn’t hurt Cassie? Maybe he knows how you feel about her. Did he threaten her, too, if you didn’t hurry up and find something?

  Victor was a broken man. He just shook his head back and forth, never lifting his head as he answered. “If he knew, I wasn’t aware. He never threatened me with her. I swear. I don’t know anything.”

  Cato squatted next to Victor and shoved him on the shoulder. “Where’s your phone? I know you have a satellite or a burner that you use. Where is it? You can call him. Get the information out of him.”

  Victor picked his head up and nodded toward a desk in the corner. “Left side. Bottom drawer. But, it’s not going to help. He always calls me. When I try to redial him it never goes through. I’ve tried calling his offices at the factory and can never get him. He contacts me. That’s it.”

  Severus slumped into the cushions of the couch. He felt like a sieve as hope drained out of his pores. He was an empty shell. At any moment, a breeze would come through and his ashes would scatter about. He couldn’t survive if Cassie no longer lived. He didn’t want to survive if she was taken from him. He jolted upright when Cato leapt to his feet and started cursing.

  “Gods damn it! You stupid son of a bitch. Severus, I’m an idiot!”

  “What the fuck, amici?”

  Cato ran over to his backpack and started yanking equipment out. “Her pen. Please tell me she had her pen with her.”

  Severus felt his eyebrows lift to his forehead. “Shit! I completely forgot about that! Yes. Yes. I made her put it in her purse the day she got sprayed. Damn! I hope she has her purse with her. If she doesn’t I’m going to go mad. I swear, you will need to knock me out or I will tear this town to pieces.”

  Cato turned to him and held up a black device with a small screen, a tiny, blue dot blinking steadily from the middle. A huge grin spread across his face. “Well, if she doesn’t have it with her, then her purse has gone on walkabout. It’s moving and still in Austin. It’s four miles from here.”

  * * * *

  Click…click…click…click. Holy shit my head hurts! What the hell is that sound?

  Cassie opened her eyes and immediately shut them. Her retinas screamed in protest
from having stared directly into a searing bank of lights. Taking small peeks finally allowed her eyes to adjust to the harshness and she began to look around. She was in a decent-sized room and it smelled musty. She couldn’t see much with that bright light glaring in her face. She couldn’t comprehend why there was a big light on a tripod facing her. It didn’t make sense. Her eyes started to water and she had to look away.

  The walls were made of a generic, gray brick she’d seen in basements before. Was she in a basement? She confirmed her suspicions when her eyes landed on wooden stairs leading up to another floor. Whose basement? When her body started revealing other aches and pains besides the one in her head, she realized that she was sitting in an uncomfortable metal chair and her ankles and wrists were tied to its spindly legs and back. She struggled against the bindings for a few seconds, but they only cut into her skin, so she gave up. Grimacing against the throbbing pain radiating from the back of her head to her eye sockets, she glanced to the left and would have let loose a bloodcurdling scream if her mouth hadn’t been stuffed with a cloth and covered with tape.

  There was a man slumped over in a chair next to her. Duct tape was wrapped liberally around his shoulders and bound him upright in the chair. His head lolled awkwardly to one side. He was probably in his mid-fifties. Blank, dead eyes stared back at her. Bright red blood ran in cascades from under his chin, down his chest, across his large belly, and was forming a growing pool around his feet. She had never seen so much blood in her life. Not even when Mitchell had smashed her mom’s head through that window so many years ago. She tried to keep from gagging, not wishing to kill herself by strangulation.