No. Not a chance. Craig would never ignore my absence like that. No way. By ten after nine, he’ll be worried. By nine-thirty, he’ll be at my door with Eve’s key. As soon as he enters my place, he’ll call the cops.
I assume T didn’t bring anything with him when he took me. I hope not. I hope he left my keys, my phone, my purse, everything. My fucking breakfast is sitting on the island.
Then what? Craig knows I have a stalker. Eve knows where my passwords are. If they can get into my computer and find the emails, will that help? I have to believe so. After all, if T could find me and Craig knew it, then it stands to reason he can use something in the emails to find T.
Hopefully, I’m at his main address.
I finish the sandwich and pull my hair up in a messy bun. I have hope. For the first time today, I have hope.
Chapter 8
Craig
I glance at my watch yet again and then my phone. As if it wouldn’t have vibrated or I might not have felt it. Nothing. No message from Leah. I’ve sent her three texts and I’ve called. It rings through and then goes to voicemail.
I’ve never known Leah to be late. She’s usually at least a half-hour early, sometimes more. She likes to watch other scenes and talk to people, socialize. She also would have texted me.
It’s nine-fifteen and I’m beyond done. I’m worried she had an accident. I need to retrace her route. But first I need to know where the hell she lives. I find Colton in the main room. He’s watching a flogging scene.
I interrupt by setting a hand on his shoulder and nodding behind me. I don’t want to disrupt the scene, but I need him to step away with me.
He doesn’t hesitate. His brow is furrowed, probably because the look on my face indicates panic. “What’s up? Where’s Leah?” He glances around.
“That’s what I want to know. She didn’t show up.”
“Did you call her?”
I nod. “Several times. Texted too. It’s probably no big deal, but it’s not like her. I’m going to go look for her. But I’ve never been to her apartment. I need her address. Eve—”
He’s already moving toward the nursery, his hand on my arm.
We weave our way in that direction quickly. I’m glad he’s taken my concern seriously. The last thing I’m in the mood for is arguing my case as if it’s not a big deal. It is. I can feel it.
“Eve,” Colton calls out the moment we reach the gate to the nursery.
She lifts her head, sees our expressions, and drops her crayons to rush toward us. “What’s going on?”
Colton lifts her out of the nursery rather than open the gate. He pulls her away from the crowded entrance into the hallway with me following. “Leah hasn’t shown up,” he tells her.
“I was wondering where she was. I texted her twice today. She never answered.”
My panic rises. “Fuck. You texted her earlier today? What time?” I could kick myself that I didn’t. I didn’t want to bother her or make her feel pressured.
“Noon. On my lunch break. I just asked if she was coming tonight. Then again at five when I got off. She always responds eventually. But not today. Nothing.”
I run a hand through my hair. She didn’t get in an accident on the way here. She’s been missing longer than that.
Eve’s bottom lip trembles. “I just assumed she was busy. She gets busy sometimes writing and doesn’t answer right away. I thought I’d see her here.”
“Go change, baby,” Colton orders. “Quickly.”
Eve runs toward the locker room.
I start pacing and then stop dead. “Shit,” I mutter.
“What?” Colton asks.
“She has a cyberstalker. She told me about him the other day. It bothered me at the time, but she blew it off as no big deal. Some rabid fan who didn’t like the way she ended her latest series.”
“Jesus,” Colton responds. He has his phone in his hand and he’s already touching the screen before I finish talking. He holds it up to his ear. “Where are you?” he barks out before lifting his head. “Good. Meet me in the hallway next to the nursery.”
I draw in a deep breath, realizing he probably called his boss, Blade, AKA Andres Phillips. He is also a member of Surrender and apparently in the building. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to help me.
Blade rounds the corner seconds later. “What’s going on?”
I meet his gaze. “Leah hasn’t shown up. I have a bad feeling.” I appreciate the fact that he too takes me seriously. If everyone acted like I was foolish, I would have steam coming out of my head. Granted, I’m former military and a big guy. I’m not known for being dramatic. If I’ve said Leah is missing, I fucking mean my gut tells me something is terribly wrong.
Blade nods. “When did you last speak to her?”
“Last night.”
Colton clears his throat. “Eve tried to reach her twice today and got no response.”
Blade’s brow furrows. “Let’s go.”
Eve rushes toward us at that moment, her bag slung over her shoulder. She’s in street clothes now.
Colton takes her bag and we all follow Blade out the front of the club at a fast clip. Colton pauses at the front desk to talk to the volunteer. “Can you let Julius know Leah is missing? We’re heading to her place.”
The woman nods and takes note of who the four of us are. “Right away.”
We all step outside.
Blade gives directions. “I’ll drive Craig’s car. You take yours.”
Colton nods, his hand gripping Eve’s. “Eve knows where she lives. Follow us.”
I’m not the sort of man who panics and needs someone else to drive me around, but this is the most freaked out I’ve been in a long time, even after twenty-five years in the Army. I’d trust Blade and Colton with my life. I toss Blade the keys to my SUV. He’s going to be far more level-headed than me.
Colton doesn’t mess around. We pull up in front of an apartment building ten minutes later. All four of us jump out and jog to the entrance. We also forego the elevator and take the stairs two at a time to the third floor.
I find myself hoping for something ridiculous like finding Leah has fallen in the bathroom and broken her leg. Since that wouldn’t cut it alone, I’ve visualized her dragging herself to the kitchen, but her phone is up on the counter and she can’t reach it.
Please, God.
I’d even settle for her being angry with me for something I’m unaware of and pacing her place unwilling to answer her phone.
Or how about if she’s gotten so buried in her new series suddenly that she’s lost track of time and her phone has died.
Thank God Eve has a key. Colton knocks but he’s already unlocking the door. The apartment is completely dark. Eve flips on the lights as we all move deeper into the living room.
“Leah?” I call out as I jog into the bedroom, turning on that light too.
No one.
Colton comes out of her office. Eve comes out of her bathroom. Blade is in the kitchen, hands on his hips. He meets my gaze. “It’s not good, Craig. I’m sorry.” He pulls his phone out. I know he’s dialing 911. He doesn’t need to tell me.
I move like I’m standing in molasses. All sounds around me seem muffled as I see what Colton has already absorbed. Toast. Untouched tea. Her phone. Her fucking keys. All in plain sight. She left in a hurry. She took nothing. If she left and wasn’t taken, which is looking pretty likely. “Fuck,” I mutter.
I plant my palms on the island, drawing in deep breaths. Someone’s hand is on my back, low. It’s Eve. When I’m able to, I turn my head toward her. “Can you get into her computer?”
She nods. “I know where her passwords are.” She spins around and heads for Leah’s office.
I follow on her heels.
She points at the chair. “Sit.” She leans over me, pulls the keyboard toward her, and types in the password to unlock it. Luckily, several tabs pop up in her browser. Eve wiggles the mouse. “Colton told me about the man who�
�s been stalking her on the drive over. I assume you need to get into her work email.”
“Yes.”
Eve clicks several things and then pushes the mouse toward me.
I take it, seeing my woman’s pen name for the first time: Suzanne Richards. And yes, she’s my woman. My everything. I can’t fathom anything but a positive outcome here.
I start clicking through emails until I find a string of incoming messages from T. That’s him. I scan through several. Blade and Colton each have a hand on the desk, leaning in on both sides of me.
“Jesus,” Blade breathes out.
The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end. The shit this person has said is worse than Leah implied, and he or she’s been hounding her for a while. I can’t see definitive evidence it’s a man.
I glance at Blade. I know for a fact we’re going to find every detail about this asshole quickly through this address, and I’m hoping Blade can dig deeper and faster than me.
He nods and we trade places. I start pacing while he works.
After a few minutes, he says, “I’m going to need to take this in to the office and dig around a bit. I can only pull the IP address from here. I need more. I have software that will crack every damn thing we need to know, but I can’t do it here.”
My heart is racing as a commotion in the main room reminds me we’ve been waiting on the police.
Blade jots down several things but then slaps the laptop closed and slides it into the sleeve that was leaning against the desk. “I’m going to take this.” He stands. “You guys deal with the police. Meet me at the office.” He glances at me. “I need your car.”
“Of course.” He still has my keys in fact.
Blade rushes from the room ahead of us. He pauses to pat one of the officers on the shoulder. “Hey, Joe. Take care of these people, will you?” He nods toward Colton. “You know Colton of course. We have a strong reason to suspect the woman who lives here was abducted this morning. She’s a close friend. I’m taking her computer back to my office to dig around in it.”
Joe nods. “Got it. We’ll do our best to help.”
I feel like a piece of my world goes out the door in that computer bag. Thank God I know good and influential people. I’d be a much bigger mess right now if I had no way to get into this apartment or Leah’s computer. She would be too.
I have to assume she’s alive. I can’t and won’t allow myself to believe otherwise. She’s feisty, but she’s not stupid. No way would she put up a fight and risk her life for this guy. And my gut tells me we’re looking for a man. Surely a woman didn’t knock on Leah’s door and abduct her this morning.
It takes us far too long—though probably only fifteen minutes—to fill in the cops. Colton used to be on the force so he knows these two guys. It seems everyone everywhere knows Blade and Black Blade Protection.
I’m relieved when we’re finally done. I want to get to Blade’s office and find out where this fucking asshole is holding Leah. Now.
The next hour includes a lot of pacing and waiting while Blade clicks away at the massive computer setup in his office. I’ve never seen so many computers and monitors anywhere in my life.
The man is a computer genius. He keeps swiveling around to different keyboards. He’s obviously running several programs at once. He doesn’t speak, and none of us interrupt him.
Finally, he slaps his hands together. “Got it.” A paper slides out of the printer and we all run for the door.
I seriously can’t believe this is happening, especially the fact that Blade was able to so quickly obtain information I’m certain is barely above the law. No way could the cops have gotten this address from a simple email and for sure not this quickly.
We’re all in one SUV this time. Colton is driving. As we pull away from the office, I glance at Blade in the back seat. His expression is intent. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
“You’ve done everything. I can’t imagine how much higher my blood pressure would be if it weren’t for you and Colton. I feel lucky to know you and to have been in the right place at the right time.”
Blade’s expression is severe. “Please don’t get ahead of yourself, Craig. We don’t have her yet. There’s no guarantee the address I got is correct, nor can we know for sure that’s where he took her.” His expression softens though. “But I have a good feeling.”
I look down at the paper. Thomas Levenson. Twenty-eight. Janitor. Works at an office building I recognize that’s downtown. His address and ten other pieces of information about him are listed on the page in my hands.
Please, God. “At least his name starts with T,” I mumble.
A few moments of silence pass and then Colton glances at me from the driver’s seat. “She’s important to you,” he states. It’s not a question.
“Yes. She’s my life. I just haven’t convinced her of that yet.”
He chuckles. “Took me a hot minute to convince Eve. She’ll come around.” He glances in the rearview mirror at Eve.
I force a smile. “If I remember correctly, you moved into her apartment ten minutes after meeting her and had her eating out of your hand by the end of the week. Literally.”
He grins. “Yeah. But I did have to convince her to give me a chance. I couldn’t help it I wasn’t in the fetish community and didn’t know what the hell a Daddy was.”
“You caught up fast. I was impressed.” I glance out the window. “I have the opposite problem. I’ve been a Daddy for years. It’s Leah who isn’t convinced she can be a little.”
Eve speaks from behind me. “If it helps any, I think she can be. I always have.”
I nod as I twist around to look at Eve. “I do too. She’s hiding from something. The thought makes her panic for reasons I don’t yet understand. At first, I believed her and kept myself at arm’s length. I was wrapped all the way around her finger within moments of seeing her for the first time performing at Surrender.”
Eve smiles. “I know you’re just as important to Leah as she is to you, but she’s scared, and she’s digging her heels in for reasons I don’t understand. Don’t give up on her.”
We’re discussing her as if we’re about to pick her up from a party, all of us ignoring for a moment that she’s being held against her will. I have to believe she’s safe. The man wants her to re-write a book, for God’s sake. Visions of Kathy Bates and James Caan make me shudder, not for the first time.
If this asshole has touched Leah in any way…
We’re not a motley crew. I served twenty-five years in the Army. Blade served in the Army until a few years ago too. Colton was an undercover cop. Not one of us mentions contacting the police before we move in on this address. We won’t involve them at this stage. Frankly, they’d probably rather turn the other cheek. I’m aware that Black Blade Protection has an amicable relationship with the cops. There’s a give and take. Shared information when necessary.
We pull into a middle-class neighborhood, and Colton makes several turns before he dims the lights and pulls to the side of the street. He points to a house three doors down on the right.
I run a hand down my face.
Blade grabs the back of the seat. “Craig and I go in. Colton, you stay here unless we need backup.” He turns to Eve. “If your sweet butt leaves this car, I’ll shove Colton out of the way and spank your ass myself.”
She nods.
Colton reaches in front of me, pops open the glove compartment, and points toward a weapon.
I palm it, nodding my thanks.
Blade and I exit the SUV as I tuck Colton’s gun into my jeans. We make our way down the sidewalk. No one is outside. It’s after midnight. The only sound is that of a dog barking in the distance.
The house we’re approaching has no lights on, but as we get closer, I see the glare of the television in the living room. We move in silence. I flatten myself to the front of the house next to the living room window and then peek in
side.
A man is sitting on a recliner. He has the remote loosely in his hand in his lap, but he’s asleep. That helps.
Blade points to one side of the house and then the other.
I nod, and we split up, each of us heading toward the back. I look in every window as I pass, but it’s too dark to see much. It doesn’t appear anyone else is in the house though.
I make my way to the backyard and hop the low fence with one hand braced on top. I notice the small windows along the ground that indicate there’s a basement. Is Leah down there?
We meet back up at a sliding glass door that exits from the kitchen. Blade beats me by a few seconds. He’s shining a narrow flashlight into the kitchen.
“How confident are you?” I whisper.
He nods toward the direction of the beam of light, and I look inside. “Fuck me,” I mutter. There’s a ski mask on the kitchen counter.
Blade leans closer to me. “The emails came from a computer in this house. I’ve never been wrong. That doesn’t mean he’s holding her here, but he’s fucking guilty or he knows who is.”
I nod. “Good enough.”
Blade gives the sliding door a slight tug, grinning when it opens. “Dumb fuck,” he mutters.
We slip inside without making a sound. A door leading to the basement is standing open on one side of the kitchen. I stand still—not moving a muscle, not breathing, just listening. I can’t hear anything other than the low volume coming from the television.
Blade looks at me and nods toward the living room.
We pull our weapons as we enter, both of us fully trained to take anyone by surprise.
The asshole is snoring softly even though two men have breached his fucking house and are holding guns to his head, one of us on each side of him.
Blade cocks his weapon, the sound deafening. That sick warning that tells anyone their life is hanging by a thread.
The asshole jerks awake and sits upright, his gaze going back and forth between us. “What the fuck?”
Convincing Leah (Surrender Book 9) Page 8
