“That’s where we work,” Anke spoke up.
“Here.” Tex pointed.
“Her apartment.” Pitbull offered.
“And here.” Tex dragged a finger across the map.
“Where we—um—well…” Anke stopped. She glanced around the room to see all eyes were on her. Her face burst into flames. “Um…”
“Spit it out, Anke,” Pitbull’s voice held a warning.
“We take classes…” Anke looked to Barbie for help but the woman only tilted her head with confusion in her eyes. “You know—sexy, dancing, classes?”
The room went deathly silent before everyone burst into laughter. Anke frowned and glanced around. While the others were doubled over with mirth, Pitbull was lounged back in his chair, smirking. Anke knew, she wasn’t quite sure how, but she knew Pitbull would make her regret the confession later.
“Look, we aren’t vain or anything.” Anke sputtered. “But sometimes a woman just needs to feel, you know? Like a woman, so we go to these classes for a little pick-me-up.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Barbie said, wiping away a tear. “I get it.”
“Well,” Tex continued. “Other than those three places, a few of the others are—a doctor’s office, a pharmacy, a mall, two bookstores and a diner. I’ve managed to get video footage from all of them except this bookstore here.”
“Dusseldorf?” Anke asked.
“Just outside of it,” Tex replied.
“I don’t recognize it. But if she’d gone there then she—” A dose of reality hit Anke hard and she shook her head. “I was going to say she would have told me. She didn’t even tell me she had a brother. So, who’s to know.”
“This is ridiculous,” Mozart said. “She must understand how dangerous this is. People are going to die! We make her tell us.”
“We’ve tried,” Anke said. “She’s hell bent on keeping this damn secret even after some asshole took a shot at us. So, Pitbull arrested her for obstruction.”
“Yeah, that’s a charge we can make stick.” Mouth explained.
Beast rose. “Pitbull, take Mouth with you and head over to the bookstore Tex found. See if you can figure out why Tex can’t get footage from it. Zero, keep working with Tex, see what else you can come up with. Barbie, you have an interview with Webber. Anke and I will have a talk with Ms. Hunt.”
Anke trembled. She didn’t like where this was heading. But if tough love was what was necessary to snap Claudia out of this funk then so be it.
The rest of the group dispersed but not before giving Pitbull reassuring pats on the shoulder. Barbie dropped a kiss to the top of his head and soon the room was silent except for herself and Beast.
“Ms. Fischer,” Beast said, standing by the door while motioning out. “Shall we?”
Without saying a word, she went with Beast across a vast compound then into another building. This one was sterile with grey walls and barely any windows to speak of. At one door, she was frisked by a female guard and given a tag with visitor on it in big, bold letters. Beast set his gun into a safe and it was slammed shut. They were then escorted to another door where Beast had to enter a code then pressed his palm to a nearby screen. Soon they entered a room with a single table and two chairs.
Claudia was seated in one, her wrists chained to the table. The other two seats were empty. Though Beast took the one across from Claudia, Anke remained standing, back to the wall, arms folded across her chest.
“Ms. Hunt, you don’t know me,” Beast said. “I’m Commander Alric Gerhart of GSG 9 CIRO.”
“I thought CIRO was on hiatus,” Claudia said. She was less combative than the previous night. “Why are you doing this?”
“We’re law enforcement, Ms. Hunt. Just because we’re not supposed to be working doesn’t mean the job stops. Now, I’m going to make this very simple for you so there will be no misunderstanding on your part on what the right decision is.”
“Don’t you mean what my brother wants?”
“Is your brother speaking to you right now?” Beast asked. His voice held a warning. “If I wanted Pitbull to speak with you, he would be in this room. Let me put my cards on the table. Now, forget for a second, Pitbull is a brother to me and I will protect him with my life if needs be. Let’s focus on the fact someone has taken shots at one of my team members. That happens because of your actions. You know who these people are and you refuse to disclose their identity to law enforcement. While we cannot charge you with failure to report a crime, if anything happens to Pit or any member of this team because of your refusal—trust me, I will find something to charge you with and as God is my witness, I will make it stick.”
“Claudia, don’t be stupid,” Anke said.
“Good cop, bad cop?” Claudia spat. “Not interested. So either charge me with someone or let me go.”
Beast’s phone rang and he lifted it to his ear. “Gerhart…really? How long? Right. Danke.” He hung up and turned once more to face Claudia. “Right now you’re facing charges of obstruction until we can find something else to charge you with. We will bring you before a judge tomorrow. Afterward, you will be returning here under the suspicion of abduction and when we find proof, you will be transferred to an actual prison. We will figure out what you’ve done, Ms. Hunt, one way or another. And once we do, more charges will come.”
Shock registered on Claudia’s face and while Anke felt sorry for her and what she was going through, Anke couldn’t help thinking Claudia brought this on herself. If she couldn’t trust the man who threw his body before her own during a gun fight, who would she be able to trust?
What Claudia was was selfish and childish and someone was going to get killed because of it. Anke only prayed that someone wasn’t Daniel or anyone from CIRO.
Beast pulled his large frame from the chair and motioned to the camera. Soon afterward, Beast and Anke stepped from the room. Anke glanced back. Before the doors could close, she saw a female guard unchaining Claudia from the desk.
8
“Did you really need to arrest her?” Mouth asked after five minutes of silence.
“Yes. I was hoping a night in a cell would soften her but I doubt it.” Pitbull checked his mirrors. “My sister is very selfish. And even after we were almost killed, she still insists on holding on to this.”
“I get it. But I wonder at your motive at doing all of this.”
Pitbull growled. “Let me explain something to you. When I walked away from Claudia, I said I was done and I meant it. I’ve kept my distance. I didn’t even know where she lived until Anke walked in. She was in trouble and I did what any cop would have done. The sooner this is all over, the sooner I can go back to my life without her in it.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Sure I do. I spent the last few years of being a teenager, taking care of a sister who was always either drunk or high. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I came home from school and she’s passed out on the floor with a strap around her arm and a needle in her vein.” He switched lanes. “She’s ODed so many times, I’d lost count. Been to every rehab in Düsseldorf, one in New York and two in Sweden and every time she came out worse than she went in. Most nights, I didn’t sleep. I spent it driving all through the damn city looking for her, praying she wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere or tied up in some pervert’s trunk. I’ve been beaten up by her pimps, once until I was unconscious. I woke up at the hospital. I could have died. But all through it, I felt I could help her. I could save her—she was my big sister and my parents would have wanted me to make sure she was okay. But when one of her Johns shot me—I was twenty and a bullet tore through my chest.”
“Shit, man! I was wondering about the scar.”
“It gets better.” He pulled the truck to a stop across the street from their destination and turned off the ignition. Pitbull turned to glare at his friend. “After he shot me and I went down, fucker lit the house on fire. So, when I say I want her gone—don’t tell me what I mean.
”
Before Mouth could speak again, Pitbull shoved from the truck, slammed the door and pulled his coat around his gun and holster. Mouth jogged to catch up to him as long strides carried Pitbull across the street. The moniker read der Bücherladen in red letters on a black background.
“You know I didn’t mean to offend,” Mouth said. “I have no blood family left and I just wanted to make sure you think this through.”
“Trust me, Mouth. I’ve done nothing but.”
“All right then. Let’s face one demon before we tackle another, right?”
Pitbull nodded.
As they stepped into the store, the whole thing felt off. The place was one massive room with a desk close to the door with a cash register sitting in the corner facing the glass window at the front. There were rows and rows of books, a large discount bin at the front and a really bad rendition of Tequila played from small speakers nailed into the wall. The man behind the counter looked like someone from a badly written porno—bad mustache, clothes resembling an acid trip gone wrong with the hair a cartoon character after he’d shoved a fork in a light socket.
He checked to ensure his and Mouth’s badges were hidden and the two split up and wandered the store. As he went along, checking the space for cameras, he pretended to browse the shelves. A few of the books he pulled from the shelf seemed as if they were ready to fall apart. But he found one book –The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. He held onto that one until he met up with Mouth. Together they brought the book to the front desk and Pitbull paid for it and they exited.
Once they were back in the truck, Pitbull called the office on speaker.
Beast answered. “I got everyone here. Talk to me.”
“They have no cameras,” Pitbull announced.
“It seems kind of sketchy,” Mouth said. “I picked up a couple of books and they were missing pages. Something isn’t quite right.”
“And I didn’t get anything else from Claudia. She will be taken to the courthouse tomorrow,” Beast said. “Once we figure out who the girl is, we’re going to run it against missing persons. If she comes up missing we’re going to have to charge Claudia with abduction. I don’t think she appreciates the enormousness of what’s happening right now.”
“Well, whatever will be, will be.” Pitbull casted his glance back at the store. “But I honestly think, we should keep a watch over this place. There’s a reason they have no cameras.”
“I was even tryin’ to hack through a phone pingin’ from the location.” Tex said. “Maybe turn on the camera to give us eyes inside—but their phones seem to be burners. Whatever they’re hidin’—they are careful.”
“All right, come back here,” Beast said. “I’m going to assume you didn’t get much sleep last night, Pit. I say you pick up Anke and the both of you get some sleep. Report back to HQ later tonight around seven. If they are going to be moving anything, they want the cover of darkness to do it in.”
Pitbull frowned but he twisted the key in the ignition. “Yes, sir.”
With the call over, Pitbull pulled from the curb. He kept a watch on the store for as long as he could then focus forward again.
The moment they made it back to the house, Anke went into the kitchen. Pitbull changed into a pair of jeans and stood by the door watching as she opened containers from the night before and sniffed. Neither of them had bothered to put anything away. But Anke seemed satisfied with what she smelled so she set the put back on the stove and turned it on.
“You really don’t have to,” he said.
She gasped and whirled around while reaching for a knife. Pitbull arched a brow.
“Jesus, Pitbull!” Anke pointed the knife at him. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Did you just call me Pitbull?” He quirked a brow. “No more Daniel, Anke?”
“Really?” She frowned at him, setting the knife on the counter. “Nothing about scaring me half to death?”
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to startle you. Now, stand still so I can kiss you.”
“Oh no.” She moved so the island was between them. “We can’t keep doing that. I don’t want to be anyone’s second choice or guilt.”
“Are we still talking about Mack?”
“Of course we are! Are you always this slow?”
Pitbull laughed. The little minx who had taken heated pleasure from his mouth was serious about Mack. He moved to one side but she only slid around to keep the island between them. “Anke?”
“We really shouldn’t.”
“Mack and I have been friends for many years.” Pitbull explained. “There has never been anything sexual about our relationship and there never will be.”
“Right—you expect me to believe this woman with legs for days and dark hair long enough to pull on has never been to your bed?”
“She’s not my type.”
“Daniel…”
“I thought it was Pitbull now.” He teased.
“Can you be serious for one second?” Anke growled. “This is confusing. You and Mack…”
“Friends.”
“I see.”
“Now, with that out of the way—Anke. I really need to kiss you again.”
She sighed and for a moment, Pitbull thought for sure she’d come to him. But she merely raised her hands.
“I can’t—I mean you scare me.”
“Do you think I would hurt you?”
“Not on purpose—I er, not really. You’re so big and you standing there covered in tattoos without a shirt with your cum gutters—”
“Um—my what?”
“Cum gutters…” She pointed to the well sculpted V leading down beneath the waist of his pants. “Those.”
Pitbull smiled. “I’ve never heard them call that before. Do you want me to put on a shirt then?”
For a moment, Anke’s eyes dipped to his abdomen, then drifted upward to his chest. Pitbull flexed his pecs for her, making them dance.
“Don’t do…” She sighed. “I get so overwhelmed by you. Shit—what I mean is, you’re a whole lot of man.”
Pitbull walked to the center of the room and slipped slowly to his knees.
“What’re you doing?”
“Look closely, Anke.” Pitbull slid his arms up and laced his fingers behind his head. “You said I’m a whole lot of man. I’m giving you control. If you want my body.”
She shook visibly.
“I can tell you like the idea. Show me what you’re capable of.”
“You can’t mean…”
He lifted serious, blue eyes to meet hers. “Come and get me.”
9
There was something so sexy about a man Daniel’s size, on his knees, ready to be taken. It burned along Anke’s flesh before sending a quick tremor through her. Even as she stepped forward to trail a finger across his wide shoulders then down the middle of his back. At certain spots she tilted the finger to drag the nail across him. To her surprise, Pitbull growled for her. Anke found she loved that sound too.
She slipped to her knees before him while passing her palms from his shoulders, over his trembling pecs and down his perfectly sculpted abs. When he signed, she leaned in and added her lips and tongue to the mix. Anke tasted from his neck, between his pecks, across to tickle his nipples with her tongue. As she inched her way down to the waist of his pants, she wondered if the control he’d given her included everything. Men said things they didn’t mean all the time. So far, he hasn’t touched her.
Anke fumbled with his button and zipper before looking up into his eyes as she slipped her fingers into his pants and boxers. The shock of how hard he had become almost scared her away—almost. She swallowed the fear and pulled him free. He pulsed in her palm, hard and hot.
“May I?” Anke asked while stroking him.
“You’re in control.” He replied, huskily.
With a nod, Anke bowed her head to take the head into her mouth. She sucked once then passed her tongue over it. Pitbull sucked in a
ir loudly but didn’t touch her still. Bravely, she pulled him further into her mouth, loving the hardness of him. He tasted hot and tangy, dripping on her tongue and she wanted more.
Maybe she was greedy, but Anke threw herself into it. She alternated between sucking him and bathing the shaft with her tongue even as her fingers tickled his balls. She basked in his moans, the way his body writhed for her and the way he flowed freely in her mouth. That last bit stunned her. She’d never liked going down on a man. But the moment she saw Pitbull, she knew if given the chance, she’d enjoy him.
“I don’t want to come like this,” Pitbull said. “Not the first time we’re together.”
“Okay.” She stepped away from him to peel her clothes off and stretching out on the floor before him. “Let me see what those large hands are like on my skin.”
Pitbull removed his pants and boxers and crawled to her naked. She loved the roll of his muscles, the intensity in his gaze, and the soft way he bowed at her toes. He dropped kisses against her, starting from her toes, around to her ankles then up her legs to her knees. There, he shifted around, using one hand to spread her legs and kissing the soft insides of her thighs.
He was hot, tender yet commanding. Anke melted into the floor, moaning, and arching upward for him. But Pitbull wasn’t in a rush. He moved his mouth against her, every part of her but never the place she so desperately needed his tongue.
“Please?” She burned in a way that singed through to her soul.
Suddenly, he gave her what she what she wanted. Her eyes widened and a sharp scream let her body. Pitbull knew precisely where to suck, how hard, when to use his tongue—and she tried closing her thighs. The pleasure was too much. Suddenly, she was losing control and it terrified her.
But Pitbull simply held her thighs apart, and sunk his tongue into her.
“Yes!” She shouted shamelessly. “Daniel!”
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