by Janie Crouch
She finally eased back from him the rest of the way until she was no longer touching the softness of his T-shirt. She looked into his eyes, soft brown with green and gold flecks, as he looked back, obviously weighing the odds of her having another breakdown.
She was trying to weigh the same thing.
Conversations continued all around them. Nobody had even noticed what was going on. Except Randy. When Violet finally worked herself completely away from the man’s chest, the first thing she saw was Randy glaring at her. He tapped his ear, and she got the message. He was listening.
The man with his arms around her may not be cruel, but he also wasn’t going to be any sort of savior. Randy wasn’t going to allow it even if the guy was so inclined. But why would a man who bought a woman for sexual favors be so inclined anyway? She stepped completely back from him, and his arms fell to his sides.
“I’m better now,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“Look, are you all right? Are you in some sort of trouble? You don’t seem too happy to be here.”
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Randy rapidly approaching. Obviously, he’d been telling the truth about the transmitter.
“No, I’m fine. Really.” She had to think of a reason she’d be acting like this. “Just low blood sugar or something.”
Randy stopped his approach, and Violet let out a sigh of relief. She’d take the stranger over her kidnapper.
The stranger nodded his head, but his eyes narrowed. He’d noticed Randy’s approach also.
“Private room now,” the man whispered. “Time to get my money’s worth. Your boss said no sex, but that mouth looks very tempting.”
She flinched at the words. Maybe some part of her had hoped he was a sort of white knight after all. But he wasn’t looking at her, he was glancing over at Randy, who was now grinning like an idiot. Obviously, the thought of her being misused gave him a thrill.
The room he pulled her into was tiny. It held a loveseat and a wooden chair around a small stage with a stripper pole in the center. As soon as they were in and the door closed behind them, he grabbed a remote control and pressed some buttons. Sultry music with a thick, heavy beat flooded the room.
“I bought you,” he said, voice like ice. “Now dance.”
Chapter 4
Those green eyes looked at him with just the slightest suggestion of betrayal before she masked it.
Good, he wanted betrayal. That meant she trusted him a little. Or had, until he’d ordered her to dance.
She began walking away from him, toward the stage, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back with him until they were both sitting on the small couch.
“That’s right, baby, work that pole.”
Now confusion filled those green eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, Randy had some sort of transmitting device on her person somewhere. The other man had definitely been about to step in when Aiden had asked her if she was under duress, then backed off after she’d told Aiden that ridiculous lie about low blood sugar.
“Yeah, spin around like that. I love to see a hot woman like you on the pole.”
Since her body was completely naked except for that necklace, the piece of jewelry was Aiden’s best bet for the transmitter. She was still looking at him like she couldn’t quite understand what was going on.
He pointed at the locket, then brought his finger to his lips in a quiet sign before raising both eyebrows. The best sign language he could figure out.
Those expressive eyes grew wide before she nodded frantically.
“Yeah, arms up. Let me look at you.” He hoped his words were close enough to what someone would be saying if he was watching her put on a show for real. The crassness was already cringeworthy.
“Tell me your name, hotness.”
She shook her head frantically. He nodded, then pointed at her so she would provide some sort of answer.
“No names.” She did a great job of putting just enough breathiness in her voice to make it sound like she was really moving against the pole, even as she sat sideways on the couch and pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
There was nothing more he wanted to do than offer her his shirt, but if Randy burst in, that would be nearly impossible to explain.
“What am I going to call you then?”
“I like what you called me before,” she said.
“Hotness? Baby?”
“Firefly.”
He smiled. “All right, Firefly. I’ll have no problem remembering that with all that red hair. I’m not quite as shy as you, so you can call me Aiden Teague.”
“You’re Irish?”
“Irish enough my friends call me Shamrock. That, and I’m pretty damn lucky.”
She rested her head on the back of the couch, closing her eyes for a second. She looked exhausted. Like she was on her last reserves. Like she needed someone to take over whatever battle it was she was fighting because she couldn’t do it anymore.
And Aiden couldn’t do a damned thing to help her if he was going to keep his cover.
“Are you lucky?” she asked without opening her eyes.
“I’m here getting to watch those gorgeous curves of yours. I would say I’m the luckiest bastard in this place.”
Her eyes opened at that, as if to see if he really thought she was sexy. Under any other circumstances, she would have to wipe the drool from his chin if he was watching her naked body. He nodded and shrugged in apology at the same time. She was definitely sexy.
This situation definitely was not.
He wished he weren’t in this undercover situation alone. Wished the bastards he was trying to catch weren’t so paranoid that they’d taken all phones at the door. That was the rule, no communication or recording devices allowed at any of the potential meets. It was one of the ways Stellman’s identity had remained a secret for so long. No chance to record or snap a picture of the man.
God, he wished he had some way to communicate with this woman. He knew she was in trouble, but what sort? Was she being trafficked? Or was Randy her pimp, and she was having second thoughts?
She definitely didn’t look hard enough to be a prostitute. But then again, none probably did when they first started.
“Why don’t you come on over here and let me get a closer look at you. See if you taste as good as you look.”
Her tiny flinch, even though she knew he was acting, broke his heart. “N-no sex, remember?”
“Yeah, but there’s plenty of other stuff we can do.” His words made him want to vomit. Her eyes were closed again, her head leaning against the couch back. He reached out and touched her small foot, the closest part of her body to him. Her eyes flew open, but she relaxed when he just stroked her foot softly. “Let’s put that mouth of yours to work.”
The tremors began wracking her body again. Tears poured out of eyes that looked at him with utter devastation. She pointed to her chest, then held her wrists out as if they were shackled.
He nodded. Definitely not a prostitute. She was in trouble and needed help.
He couldn’t leave her. Screw Operation Sparrow. Screw stopping Cline from selling his secrets. Major Pinnock would have to find another way to catch this Stellman guy. After all, Major Pinnock had been his commanding officer in the army that had taught him the most important lesson in his life: you never left a fallen comrade behind.
Aiden had once carried one of his injured Special Forces brothers over his shoulder for two miles to get him out of enemy territory. This shouldn’t be nearly as difficult. And it was definitely enemy territory.
“Don’t be scared, Firefly. I’m going to help you.” He reached up and took her hand and squeezed it gently in his, leaning forward and nodding so she would know he understood what she was telling him.
“Really?” she mouthed, hope lighting her eyes.
He took his finger and crossed it over his heart.
He added another line for Randy’s sake. “I’m going to show you just what I like. Y
ou are as soft as you look, aren’t you?”
He motioned for her to turn so he could look at the locket necklace. It was bolted with a special lock, just like he’d feared. Aiden wouldn’t be able to get it off her without Randy becoming aware of what he was doing. That meant leaving with her before Randy came back in the room would be nearly impossible. He’d definitely notice the change in noise if they left this room.
Aiden stroked a hand over the impossibly soft skin of her shoulder as she turned back around. The only way to get her out would be to follow Randy out of the main room when he left with her, then break her out. Hopefully, Aiden could get some of his Linear team to help.
He wished he could communicate the plan to her, let her know what to expect. Of course, he also wished he had access to his phone or his Glock. Both of those would solve his problem also.
Instead, Aiden did what he could: held her hand as their time went on, every once in a while saying something obnoxious to preserve the roles they were playing. At the end of the two hours, knowing they were running out of time, he unfastened his belt and pants.
She remained balled up next to him as she had the whole time, but at least she didn’t tense at his actions. Until Randy burst through the door a few minutes later.
“It’s time to go.”
Aiden forced himself to keep his head lying back on the couch, legs sprawled out in front of him, the very picture of a man who’d had his sexual needs fulfilled. “Just like you said, Randy. Lots of other talented uses besides sex.”
Randy tossed the robe at Firefly, who quickly scrambled into it. “Time to go,” he said again.
She looked at Randy, then back to Aiden. He wanted more than anything to be able to reassure her. But there was no way he’d be able to get her out with Randy right here and his muscle guy waiting at the door.
“Thanks for a good time, sweetheart.” He smirked and winked. “I hope to see you again soon.” So much sooner than Randy expected.
He grit his teeth as the other man yanked her up with a punishing grip on her arm and marched her out the door. Five seconds later Aiden had his pants buckled and was following behind him.
The main room was chaotic. The party was winding down. Everyone had gotten louder as the drinks and women had been consumed more freely. Randy and his guy were gathering up the women they’d brought, Randy’s hand now gripping Firefly’s hair again.
He was going to break every damn finger in that hand.
Aiden forced a smile as someone came up to talk to him about a possible business venture. He angled his body so he could keep an eye on Randy.
That was when he saw Cline out of the corner of his eye. The man had gotten up from the booth where he’d been sitting earlier and was talking to some other people: two men Aiden didn’t recognize and a few women standing next to them.
Cline was still playing with that damned napkin.
When someone made a joke, and everyone laughed, one of the women eased closer to Cline, and he put the napkin in his blazer’s pocket. The woman locked her lips on his and a few seconds later was easing that same blazer off Cline’s shoulders and tossing it onto the booth seat.
The group laughed again as the woman trailed her fingers down Cline’s arm until she had his hand, drawing him toward one of the back rooms.
Aiden waited to see if anyone in the group would go through the blazer once Cline left, but they paid no attention to it whatsoever. They just continued to talk and laugh, walking away from the booth.
This was too good an opportunity to pass up. If Aiden was going to burn this cover helping Firefly, the least he could do was get that info on the napkin first.
He was casual with his movements as he made his way over to the table, then picked the napkin out of the pocket with nimble fingers. He glanced down at it to make sure it was the same one he’d seen before.
Still the same gibberish symbols. He had no idea what they meant but prayed Major Pinnock would. He folded the napkin into his own pocket, then headed toward the door, picking up his pace when he realized Randy and Firefly were already gone.
“What I’m telling you is that my phone has been messed with,” someone yelled near the lockers at the front of the club. “If you’re going make us give up our stuff, the least you can do is make sure it’s safe. This locker was open!”
Shit. Aiden needed to get to his own locker and the keys to his car inside so he could follow Randy. He rushed forward to see a short man yelling at the big hulking guy in charge of locker supervision.
Any other time Aiden would’ve appreciated the sight of an unarmed, much smaller man running his mouth at a bouncer, size extra-huge, sporting a SIG Sauer P226 at his shoulder. Not now. Aiden moved around the screaming man only to stop short when the bouncer held out his arm.
“Nobody goes into the lockers until we get this sorted out.” His deep voice matched his massive size.
Fuck. “Dude, I’ve got an emergency that needs to be handled right now.”
Bouncer shook his head and actually drew his weapon. “Your emergency is going to have to wait until after I deal with this asshole. Nobody touches the lockers until we get this cleared up.”
“I just want my keys. I’ll come back for the rest.”
The bouncer shook his head and went on to tell both Aiden and the screaming little guy that security was going over the footage of the cameras covering the lockers to see if there had been any foul play. Until then, everyone just needed to go back into the main room and enjoy the entertainment or wait outside.
When Aiden realized the big guy wasn’t going to budge, he ran out the door. His only hope was stopping Randy in the parking lot and praying to God he was still loading the women—Firefly—into a vehicle.
But when he got to the parking lot, he couldn’t find Randy or the women anywhere, despite searching both sides of the building.
They were gone.
And Aiden had no idea where.
Chapter 5
Aiden punched the large weighted bag suspended from the ceiling of the Linear Tactical sparring center again. And again. Then stepped back and performed a complicated series of kicks that attacked the bag from all sides.
He didn’t pull either his punches or his kicks, although it would eventually leave him bruised even through the protective gear he wore. He did another series of punch-kick combinations, even as he recognized that punishing himself wasn’t going to help Firefly.
But he would be goddamned if she was going to be the only one to have bruises.
It had been two and a half days—fifty-eight hours—since he’d last seen her, last seen those green eyes trusting him to get her out from whatever was happening with Randy. Was she still waiting for him to show up? Did she think everything he’d tried to communicate was a lie?
Was she even still alive? Aiden punched the bag harder.
The second he’d finally gotten his belongings from the locker and made it to his car, he’d called Sheriff Nelson. The sheriff had sent someone to watch The Barn the two nights since, but not only had Firefly not been back, no one had. Evidently, until there was another private party, The Barn would remain empty.
Cline certainly wouldn’t be hosting any more parties. He’d been arrested yesterday. After he was tried for treason, he wouldn’t be seeing any women—naked or otherwise—for a long time. The true criminal had been using Cline as a distraction for law enforcement, then gotten himself killed two days ago after torturing Charlotte “Charlie”’ Devereux, the girlfriend of one of Aiden’s best friends.
It all had to do with that code Cline had written on that damned napkin at The Barn.
Like Aiden’s gut had told him, those symbols were at the center of it all—in a much worse way than anyone could have possibly anticipated. The symbols had been part of the code needed to access and manipulate eight unmanned combat drones.
Aiden going back to get it had potentially saved thousands lives.
All it had cost was Firefly. Every mission
had a price. He’d just never meant for her to be the one to pay it.
He’d replayed that night a thousand times in his head, balancing his choices and the decisions he’d made. If he had moved thirty seconds quicker, he would’ve gotten out of the building before the little man had started screaming. He would’ve saved Firefly.
It had been a long two days. Aiden wasn’t used to second-guessing his decisions.
He shifted his weight and moved into a sliding side kick that would’ve ripped the bag from the ceiling if it weren’t so well anchored. Even being part of the team that had rescued Charlie and killed the man trying to sell access to the drones hadn’t relieved this gnawing in his gut. The advanced self-defense class he’d taught this morning hadn’t either, nor had trying, unsuccessfully, to gather more info about Randy. Nobody seemed to know anything about him except that he and the other guy, Dillon, sometimes showed up with women or drugs or guns.
Fucking jack-of-all-trade criminals.
Somebody had to know how to get in touch with him. Until Aiden found that person, his criminal undercover persona would stay alive. Until he could find Firefly. Or at least until he could find Randy, who Aiden would happily beat the shit out of until he told them where to find her.
He couldn’t stand to think about the state she would be in. He had no idea why the no-sex rule had been in place or how much longer it would hold.
He just had to find her.
“Is there a certain number of times you’re going to hit that bag before it gives you the answers you want?”
Aiden hadn’t heard his friend and army buddy Finn Bollinger come in. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at the hospital with Charlie. Is she awake yet?”
They’d had to keep her in a medically induced coma a couple of days to help with the swelling in her brain from the beating she’d taken while refusing to give information to her torturer.
“She’s in and out. Her mom and Jordan Reiss are with her right now.” Finn scrubbed a hand over a jaw that definitely needed a shave. “I’m here because Major Pinnock called and asked me to meet him here. You too. He’s in the conference room.”
