“Look, Daniel, I have two college-age kids and they always promise to call me when they get back to school to let me know they arrived safely. Honestly, I don’t think they’ve ever remembered, not once. As soon as they’re back at school I’m totally out of their minds. The first few times I panicked, but now, I stopped asking. If something terrible happened, unfortunately, I’d find out soon enough.”
“Alyx isn’t some irresponsible college kid who got distracted by returning to the company of her friends. I’m worried, Rob. Really worried.”
“Let me try her, she won’t ignore my call. I’ll tell her to put you out of your misery and ring you.”
“Thanks, Rob, I appreciate it.” Agent Scarborough hung up. Daniel waited, staring at the clock on the digital readout on the microwave—4:12. He sat on the kitchen stool and thrummed his fingers on the cool granite countertop. Lydia came into the kitchen carrying plastic grocery bags.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Taylor.” She placed her merchandise on the counter and started unpacking the items from the farm stand.
“Lydia,” he said, more curtly than intended.
“Is something wrong, Sir?” she said with concern.
“I’m not sure.” His phone rang and he jumped, checking the readout. Scarborough. His pulse raced. “Rob!”
“Daniel, Alyx didn’t answer my call either, so I had Matt call her and his went right to voicemail also.”
“What could have happened? The slavers couldn’t have targeted her yet, could they?”
“No, no way. Don’t know what it could be. Maybe she fell asleep and her phone is off. It’s probably nothing, but Matt volunteered to go over and check on her. He lives in Brooklyn so I probably won’t hear anything for an hour or so. Hang tight and I’ll get back to you as soon as I find out what’s going on.”
Daniel decided he couldn’t stand one more minute of this. “Lydia, tell Mason to text me Alyx’s address, I know it’s on 20th between 8th and 9th but I don’t recall the building and apartment number.” He jumped up, grabbed his car keys and headed for the garage.
“Yes, Sir,” she said to his back.
Gravel spit into the air as he sped out of his driveway. He shoved his phone into the dock. Alyx’s playlist popped up and he hit the play button. He didn’t recognize the song until he heard the reprise, “This girl is on fire.” Alicia Keys—Girl on Fire.
His Mercedes could fly if he commanded. The speedometer hit ninety-five once he entered the expressway. If he got pulled over by a cop he’d play his emergency doctor card. The MD on his license plate had gotten him out of a ticket before.
Turning onto 20th street, his heart stopped. An ambulance and more cop cars than he could count filled the cramped roadway. He left his car in the middle of the street and bolted toward her building. The yellow crime tape stretched across the entranceway made his stomach lurch. A uniformed NYPD officer put out his hands and stopped Daniel from crossing to the front steps of her complex. “Sir, this is a crime scene. You cannot enter.”
Daniel nearly punched him in the face, but decided the better course of action would be to be honest. He reached for his wallet and flashed his ID. “I’m here to see Alyx Cameron, is she injured?” Agent Scarborough exited from a dark sedan with red lights flashing on the dashboard. “Rob,” he yelled. “What the hell?”
Agent Scarborough glanced his way. “I just got here and don’t have all the details. Come with me.” He brandished his ID and the officer lifted the yellow tape, allowing them both to pass underneath.
“Is she okay?” he asked Agent Scarborough. “Jesus.”
Agent Scarborough didn’t answer him and Daniel ran up the stairs to the fourth floor behind him. The door to her apartment was wide-open and a mob of uniformed and plain-clothes cops milled around. Scarborough flashed his ID again and entered. Daniel held his breath in anticipation of something terrible. If she was dead, or seriously hurt, he’d put his hands around the throat of the sick fuck that did it, and squeeze.
Alyx sat on her living room couch next to a man of about thirty. He had his hand on her back and rubbed gently. Her head hung in her hands, tufts of her hair tangled in her tight grip. She wore a white fleece bathrobe and her feet were bare. He couldn’t see her face.
“Alyx,” he exclaimed.
Slowly, she raised her head, her steel-blue eyes drained, so cold. A red welt crossed her right cheek and her bottom lip—the one he loved to nibble on—was bloodied. His gut wrenched, but quickly turned to relief. She was alive.
On his knees before her, he took her chin in his hand and moved it from side to side, checking for marks. “What happened?”
She didn’t answer him, just stared. Daniel looked to the kind-faced man beside her.
“I’m Matt,” he said. “You must be Daniel.”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “Can you explain why this is a crime scene?”
“Jason, Alyx’s ex-boyfriend, decided to pay her an unwelcome visit.”
Alyx’s bloody lip turned his stomach oily and he worried at her lack of emotion. Perhaps she was in shock. She buried her face in her hands again. Matt’s voice continued.
“He was here when she got home and apparently long enough to get that hook drilled into her bedroom ceiling. He had her suspended. When I arrived, I found him standing in front of her with his gun.”
“Matt,” Alyx cried, dropping her hands from her face. “He doesn’t need to know all the gory details”
“Yes, he does. In case you haven’t noticed, the guy cares about what happens to you.”
Alyx sighed and threw herself against the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I pulled my service revolver, but wasn’t sure what to do. If his gun went off…” Now Matt closed his eyes and pressed his lips together. “He was yelling at her loud enough that he didn’t hear me approach. I got him in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground. He was pretty drunk so I had him handcuffed in less than thirty seconds.”
“Where is he?” barked Daniel. He’d kill the scumbag with his bare hands.
“They hauled his ass to his precinct. IA was quick to show up. Too quick. Apparently, they already had him on their radar. There’ve been a ton of complaints and he’s pretty close to getting booted off the force anyway. This will seal the deal.”
Daniel hesitated then ambled into Alyx’s bedroom. The pale blue walls and comforter decorated with indigo pillows reminded him of the shades of blues her eyes could morph into. Agent Scarborough and two other men assessed the scene as the CSI photographer captured the required images.
Scarborough pointed to the far wall. The building was obviously old, with thick wooden beams running across the white stucco ceiling. A large eyehook had been screwed into one of the beams in the ceiling and a chain with metal shackles hung menacingly in the air. He pictured Alyx suspended from the ceiling at the mercy of that fuckwad. His gut wrenched. Jesus.
Daniel sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, running his hand through his hair. Returning to Alyx’s side, he sat and grabbed her hand, sliding the sleeve up. Nasty abrasions circled her wrist. He checked the other one, the same thing only bloody. He looked to Matt. “Okay if I tend to her injuries?”
“Yeah, we have all the evidence we need.”
“Alyx, do you have a first aid kit?” Daniel said.
“Yes,” her voice barely audible. “Under the sink in the bathroom.”
Daniel retrieved the kit and laid it on the kitchen counter. He returned to Alyx’s side and pulled her from the couch. He led her to the sink, then grabbed her by the waist and gently placed her on the counter. Removing his sport coat, he draped it over a kitchen chair and rolled up the sleeves of his tailored white shirt.
He repeated the motion with her bathrobe’s sleeves then set about cleaning the wounds and applying an antibacterial cream, finishing with gauze bandages. Gently wiping the blood from her cut lip, he placed a dab of cream there also. Ice, he needed ice. Opening the freezer, he retr
ieved a package of cut corn, wrapped it in a kitchen towel and placed it along the side of her face. “Hold this,” he ordered. He slid her off the counter and carried her back to the living room, taking a seat in the overstuffed chair, not unlike the one he used for aftercare in his rec room. Settling her on his lap, he pressed her head onto his shoulder and held the ice pack in place himself.
Time seemed to stand still as Daniel watched the melee of police personnel going about their business. Eventually the throng of officers began to disperse. Scarborough came over and sat alongside Matt.
“Obviously, this changes the plans for tomorrow,” Daniel stated.
“I agree,” Agent Scarborough answered, “there’s no way I’m sending her undercover after this clusterfuck.”
Alyx sat up as if someone had zapped her with a cattle prod. “What?” she yelled. “I’m fine. There’s no way I’m not finishing this assignment, not after doing all the prep work with this guy.” She pointed her thumb at Daniel.
This guy? Daniel nearly exploded with rage. He tried to check his anger at her easy dismissal of their time together. Regardless of her insult, he totally agreed with Rob on this point. “No way,” he snapped. “You’re in no condition to submit to the demands of the club. Not like this.”
Alyx glared at him. “Not your call.”
“Yes, it is. You’ve been attacked and shackled to your bedroom ceiling. You’ve been both physically and mentally traumatized. Rushing into this assignment now will wind up getting those innocent women killed.”
She jumped off his lap and faced him, hands on her hips. “Daniel, in case you’ve forgotten, you’re not in charge of me anymore. Not that you ever really were. We were playing a game. You’re not my Dom and I’m not your submissive”
Daniel swallowed back the fury rising inside. Back again at the first night they met. He’d started to believe that perhaps something more was going on between them. But now, what a fool he’d been.
Rob Scarborough sighed. “Alyx, like it or not, it is my call. After an incident like this, Bureau policy dictates that we secure your service revolver and you sit at a desk until further notice. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.”
Alyx pointed her finger at him this time. “Really, Rob? This is personal, not job related. And if Matt hadn’t stumbled in here you wouldn’t even know about it. I would have gotten out of this mess on my own somehow.”
Nobody responded.
“And,” Alyx went on, “this assignment is so far off the grid that I think Bureau rules are pretty much out the window right about now. Why don’t you call Merryl and ask her? Actually, let me talk to her.” Her eyes didn’t leave Rob’s face, her body rigid, her jaw tight.
Rob hesitated, then pulled his phone from his pocket. “Not your place. I’ll run it by Merryl and we’ll see.” Rob walked into the kitchen and began a heated discussion with his boss. Lots of fast whispers, only every several words could be deciphered, if that.
Alyx barged in after him. “Give me the phone,” she demanded, then grabbed it from him. “Merryl, this is Alyx. I can’t back away from this assignment now. I’ve invested too much and worked too hard. I’ll never forgive the Bureau or myself if another one of these women dies. I’m committed to finding them. I can handle myself just fine.” Alyx had already decided that even if Merryl denied her request she’d find a way to continue with her mission to track down this evil ring of human traffickers.
“I don’t know, Alyx,” Merryl said. “I don’t need one of my best agents losing her shit in the field.”
“Listen to me, Merryl. I won’t let you down. I can do this.”
After an agonizingly long silence, “All right. Put Rob back on the phone.”
Rob had been lurking in the background and when Alyx pointed the phone is his direction he yanked it out of her hand. Alyx left him alone and headed back to the living room.
“All right,” Rob said, exiting the kitchen. “You’re good to go, but you better be sure that you have your shit together or so many heads will roll in our office it’ll look like something out of a goddamned horror flick.”
The ride back to Daniel’s house was shrouded in silence. Etta James sang softly on the car stereo as Daniel tried to tamp down his anger. Was he the only one who could see the word disaster written all over this situation? The FBI had soundly outvoted him, and he had to admit that Alyx was right about one thing, he had no control over what she did or didn’t do. At least he’d won a small victory in taking her back to his house for the night. The way he figured it, he had about eighteen hours to talk her out of this craziness. That’s if she’d even talk to him. He couldn’t figure her out. When he’d first arrived at her apartment she appeared the helpless victim and had let him tend to her. All he’d wanted was to hold her until she cried, letting out the fear and sadness engulfing her.
Etta stopped crooning and the only sound in the car came from the pinging of the directional signal as he entered his driveway. He pulled into the garage, switched off the ignition and sat in morose silence. The urge to grab Alyx and shake some sense into her overwhelmed him. Instead, he exited the car, retrieved her overnight bag from the trunk and walked over and opened her door.
“Thank you,” she said, following him into the kitchen, the buzz of the garage door grating on his overwrought nerves. She kept walking, up the stairs, then slammed her bedroom door. His back ached, like he’d been leaning over an operating table all day. He threw his keys into the basket on the counter and wandered into the TV room, heaving himself onto the couch. He closed his eyes not knowing what to do next.
After about thirty minutes the soft sound of footsteps on the kitchen floor roused him. It was late and he realized neither of them had probably eaten anything since early in the day. Entering the kitchen, he found her standing at the breakfast bar, her hands clutching the counter as if she needed it for support. Silently, he opened the fridge and found cold chicken, coleslaw and fruit salad. Lydia left something for him most nights because she never knew what time he’d be home from the hospital.
“We should eat something.” He removed bowls from the refrigerator and selected plates and silverware from the cabinetry.
“I’m not hungry,” Alyx said.
“I didn’t ask you if you were hungry. You’ll eat something. That’s an order.”
“We’re back to that again? You’re not in charge of me.”
Daniel sighed. “You know, Alyx, I have no clue what’s going on with you. When I first got to your apartment you seemed like you wanted me to take care of you, to comfort you, but then you turned into super-agent or something.”
He set out the food and scooped the salad and fruit onto her plate along with a chicken breast and placed it on the counter. She stood there like a zombie, saying nothing.
“Sit down,” he ordered. “Do I have to cut this up and force feed you? Because I will.”
She glared at him and the anger in his gut swelled into his throat again. Finally, she said, “Fine, I’ll eat. I wouldn’t want you to get the urge to spank me or anything.” A light bulb lit up in his brain. Maybe that’s exactly what she needed. Why couldn’t she admit she was in trouble?
“Good girl,” he said settling into a seat next to her. This gave new meaning to the expression “cold shoulder.” He doled out his own food, pouring them each a glass of Pinot Grigio. “Alyx, this whole situation has to be upsetting you. He had you shackled, essentially a prisoner. That’s not something anyone shrugs off this lightly. I want you to tell me what you’re feeling.”
“I don’t feel anything. He was an awful man and he got what he deserved.” She speared a piece of honeydew melon and put it into her mouth, then sipped at her wine.
“That’s not normal. You should be feeling something. You just won’t admit it to me and maybe you won’t admit it to yourself.”
Alyx studied her food and cut a piece off the chicken on her plate. She brought it to her lips and hesitated, then popped it into her mouth,
but didn’t respond.
“Let me ask you something.” Daniel examined her beautiful profile. “Look at me,” he commanded. Her sad eyes wrenched his gut, her expression stoic. “You act all fearless most of the time and it pisses me off.”
She seemed to consider his statement for a minute. “Too bad.”
“I think you were afraid today. Very afraid.”
“I wasn’t. I’m never afraid.”
“I don’t believe that, Alyx, not for a single second.”
“Too bad,” she said again.
“How about as a little girl. Tell me one time when you were afraid.”
“I wasn’t. Ever.”
Just as he suspected, she was out of touch with her feelings. What had caused her to bottle up her emotions? If she didn’t learn to release them they’d eat her from the inside out. The stress would eventually kill her. He’d certainly seen the effects of too much stress on the human body.
They finished their dinner and Daniel cleared the dishes, stacked them in the sink and stowed the leftovers.
“Come with me,” he said, taking Alyx by the elbow and guiding her out of the kitchen.
“Where?” She yanked her arm back but he held on tightly.
Hmm, he thought, Superwoman one minute and errant child the next. Something was going on with her and since she either couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him what it was, then he intended to either fuck it, or spank it out of her.
* * *
Alyx couldn’t understand why she felt compelled to treat Daniel so badly. He’d been nothing but nice to her, concerned for her health and well-being. She had been glad to see him when he appeared unexpectedly at her apartment. His gentleness as he cared for her injuries, made her feel loved. Shit, Alyx. Stay away from the L word, she chastised herself. This wasn’t love, this was simply an assignment.
Daniel pushed on her elbow, guiding her up the stairs. She needed to go to bed, get some sleep, or she’d be a total fuck-up at the club tomorrow. Admittedly, she didn’t relish the thought of playing the scene that Jack had arranged for her. Everyone agreed Daniel couldn’t appear to be her Dom even though they’d left together the other night. It had to seem like she was new, unattached, in order to make her a candidate for the slaver’s auction. She’d be playing with Steve and both Jack and Daniel reassured her that he was a well-respected, competent and caring Dom. First, he’d bring her to a private room so they could “get acquainted” and practice the scene. Her heart pounded just thinking about being intimate with the burly bartender. He was nice enough when she met him at the bar the other night, and she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
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