Lunchtime Chronicles: Served

by Brooklyn Knight

“It’s Golden Girlz.”

  “What happened?” I demanded.

  “The cops,” he rushed, “they busted in at some crazy hour this morning and tore the place up. Apparently, they were looking for you and Candy!”

  “What?” I choked out. “Ulric, tell me this is a joke...”

  “I wish I could,” was his response. “The Feds came and cleared the place out. No one’s gonna be able to get in there for at least the next few days.” He paused. “A few of the girls got taken up in the commotion, too.”

  My chest hitched and any desire I had fizzled into nothing. As sexy as Colt looked sitting on that bed; as much as I wanted to settle myself on his dick, the only thing I could think about was what Ulric was saying. Dread curled around my lungs.

  This was my worst nightmare come true.

  “The girls...” I muttered. I was pacing the room, making an inroad in the carpet. “Are they okay?”

  “The girls are cool,” he confirmed through a sigh, “a little shaken, but a couple of the guys went to the station and got them out. Candy though...”

  My breath snatched. “Where is she?”

  “Don’t know,” he answered. “She wasn’t at the station. I tried calling her cell phone, no answer.”

  Shit!

  Where the hell was she? The last I’d seen, she’d walked off with Colt’s friend, and if Colt was a bounty hunter, there was no doubt in my mind that his friend was too. The only reason Colt had spared me was because of our history, but Candy didn’t know that guy from a hole in the wall. I’d asked her about him a few times, especially when I noticed him coming more regularly. I’d quickly learned that he’d been coming for her, didn’t want anyone but her; but any time I brought him up, she’d avoid my questions.

  Now my mind was racing faster than Colt’s stallion ever had.

  Colt moved until he was standing next to me. His face was stiff as touched my arm. “Savvy, what is it?”

  I eased away from him, rubbing my temple, trying to ignore the trepidation building in my chest. “Okay, don’t worry,” I said into the phone. “I’m... on my way.”

  Colt frowned.

  “Have the guys take the girls to my condo house in the suburbs. I’ll try to find out where Candy is. I think I may have an idea,” I said.

  “How long you gonna be?” Ulric pressed me from the other end of the phone. “Time isn’t exactly on our side.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there in a few hours,” I answered, then I clicked the phone off and tried to center myself before rushing to my bag. My entire body was trembling and Colt was glaring at me, eyes like laser beams, burning through my soul.

  He bristled, but I started for my suitcase, trying to ignore him. “What happened?”

  “Colt... I gotta’ go,” I muttered, throwing items into the bag.

  “Go where?” He moved closer, bringing with him a distinct heat I had come to know as intense emotion.

  “Back to Atlanta,” I said. “Something has happened at Golden Girlz, and I’ve gotta’ go and make sure everything is okay.” I wanted to tell him about my hunch – that Candy was with his friend, the other bounty hunter, but rage had my mouth wrinkled shut. I was certain that Candy was with his friend, but suddenly, I didn’t trust him. My mind was spinning, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe this entire thing had been a ploy, a tactic to divert my attention from the real plan. Yeah, I was wanted, but Candy was wanted more. Colt and this other guy had been working together and I had fallen for Colt’s slick words and thick dick.

  This entire thing was my fault.

  “Which girl is missing?” he prodded, as if he really cared.

  “You know which girl is missing,” I said spinning around to face him. Adrenaline and anger were making my chest heave. “It’s Candy, the one who was last seen with your friend, the girl I was telling you about.”

  Colt’s mouth pressed tight as his own emotions started to rise. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Savannah,” he alleged. “If Candy is with my buddy, it’s an easy fix. I’ll call him and find out what’s going on. There’s no need for you to go running off again.” He paused. “You said you wouldn’t leave.”

  I seethed. “Is that really all you can think about right now?” I questioned him, flabbergasted. “My business is going up in flames, my employees, the women I’ve sworn to help and protect have been arrested – Candy is in the clutches of an undercover cop! – and all you can think about it me leaving you?” I scoffed, unable to believe what I was hearing.

  “It’s bigger than that,” he responded. “It’s a repeat of the past. You’re running away without giving me the chance to fix it.”

  “Don’t do this, Colt,” I said through my teeth. “This is nothing like the past!”

  He took a firm step closer. “It’s exactly like the past,” he retorted, and then he hesitated. “You said you wouldn’t leave, Savvy. Not until we’d figured us out.”

  “There are things more important than us right now, Colton,” I said shaking my head at him. “Us is sketchy. Us isn’t even a guarantee. Your friend came to arrest my girl, just like you came to arrest me!”

  “I didn’t come to arrest you,” he shouted, then he lowered his tone, “and I can tell you, for damn-sure, that if your girl is with Trigger, it’s not because he’s trying to take her in.”

  “Trigger? Oh my God, is that his real name?” I pulled away from him and dry-washed my hands.

  “Savannah, Candy is safe,” Colt insisted through a sigh. “Trigger isn’t gonna hurt her. He’s in love with her.”

  “Like you’re in love with me?”

  “Just like that.”

  My lashes fluttered and I moistened my lips, trying to slow down. “Colton, I hear what you’re saying, I do,” I assured him, “but I can’t take your word for it. I need to get back to Atlanta and handle this. I’m the captain of the ship and there’s no way the ship can go down while I’m out here, in the middle of nowhere, riding horses and playing house.”

  His jaw jerked.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Silence.

  “If you really wanna’ do something for me, you can make that call and clear me,” I suggested. “That’s what you said you’d do right? Now’s as good a time as any to get it done.”

  Colt raked his hand through his hair and marched over to his phone, muttering curse words the entire time. “Fine,” he said. “You want me to make calls? I’ll make them now.” He turned his attention to the phone, and I tried my best to catch what he was saying. He was talking low, but I was still able to make out a few things, like the fact that he was speaking with the chief of police, giving them my name and date of birth.

  A wave of relief washed over me.

  Then he made another call. This one was to a limo service. He was making arrangements for a car to pick me up at the ranch in fifteen minutes and take me to the nearest airport.

  My heart twitched and a sickening feeling twisted itself around my throat. It felt like my air supply was being shut off, like I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t know why.

  Maybe I was being impulsive. Maybe I was jumping the gun, but how could I justify staying in Bisbee when all hell was breaking loose in Atlanta?

  I couldn’t.

  I needed to see Candy and make sure she was okay. Then, maybe I’d come back to Bisbee. Maybe I’d reconsider the things Colt was proposing. Maybe...

  Finally, he ended the call, but he didn’t look at me. His broad, rippled back was all he offered.

  “Colt...” I swallowed, eyes fluttering. “I have to go. You have to understand that.”

  He didn’t reply.

  My shoulders caved. “Baby, talk to me.”

  “About what?”

  My jaw trembled and I started to respond, but he cut me off with a question.

  “Are you leaving?” His back was still facing me.

  “I have to, you know that I do.”

  Finally, he turned around. His eyes were flickering like
his stallion’s. “Then there’s nothing for us to talk about,” he muttered. He pulled the door open, staring at the carpet.

  I fidgeted with the carry-on handle, and then headed for the exit. I stood in front of him, trying to think of something to say. “I’ll call you, Colt,” I promised him. My voice was shaking. “I mean it. The minute I find Candy and make sure everything is okay, I’ll call.”

  “I don’t want you to call me, Savvy,” he responded, finally looking at me. “I want you to trust me. I don’t want you to run away when the going gets tough. I’m not that guy, but obviously you’re still that girl.”

  “What?”

  “So, go ahead; leave, just like you did before. Clearly, ain’t nothin’ changed – at least not on your end.”

  Wow...

  My jaw trembled and after a second, I ripped my eyes off him. “If that’s the way you want it.”

  “Naw, mama. It’s the way you want it.”

  He pulled the door back some more.

  I lifted my chin and marched past him, but as soon as I passed the threshold, the bedroom door slammed to a close and my heart crumbled a little.

  Chapter Ten

  Savannah

  Colt’s car raced through dirt roads until we hit the smoother ones, evidence that the country was behind us and we were closer to the city. After ten minutes of looking through the back window, watching Colt’s majestic and ruddy ranch disappear from view, I huffed and focused on what I needed to do when I got back to Atlanta.

  Ulric said the guys were on the search for Candy, and my team was good. They were so good, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been rescued by the time I got there.

  But I was in charge. I was the Madame. The girls were my responsibility, no one else’s. I was ashamed. I’d left Candy to fend for herself, even though I’d seen that man follow her. I should have known something was up, the way he was looking at her – hell, the way she was looking at him – but I’d been so taken by Colt’s presence, all good sense had gone flying out the window.

  Colt had said his friend wouldn’t hurt her, yet with a name like Trigger, how could I be sure? But maybe Colt knew something I didn’t know, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe I should’ve stayed around to find out. And what he’d said about me not changing...

  I huffed.

  It didn’t make sense considering the woulda’, coulda’s though. I’d made my decision and I was on my way to Atlanta to get to the bottom of what was going on.

  I chewed on the inside of my lip and grabbed my cell phone, getting ready to dial Ulric’s cell, but before I could place the call, the device was ringing in my hands, displaying an unknown number.

  The hell?

  I clicked the phone on. “Who is this?” I seethed, already in battle mode.

  Deep, rich country vocals caressed my ear from the other end of the line. “You can call your men off, Madame Elektra,” the person advised. “I got your girl and she’s safe, just like Colt done told, ya.”

  My jaw jerked. “Trigger?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  My grip tightened on the phone. “Where is Candy? What have you done with her?”

  “Candy is with me,” he said again. “I’m takin’ her away from here. She’s hot, just like you are.”

  I bristled.

  “But I’ve got it taken care of. Just like Colt does.”

  A dense silence descended on the line.

  The man, Trigger, spoke again. “Colton told me how you done jumped the gun and fled from the ranch without givin’ it a second thought.”

  I jerked towards the edge of the seat, outraged that Colt had told him our business. “Colton has no idea what my priorities are, and that’s the problem with him,” I whisper-yelled. “I’m coming for my girl, Trigger. There isn’t anything that’s gonna stop me, and the minute my men get their hands on you – ”

  My rant was cut short by Candy’s voice. “Madame, it’s me,” she said.

  My chest heaved. “Oh my God, Candy, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, I – ”

  “I’m so sorry,” I apologized. “I should never have left. I should have stayed my ass right there in Atlanta. This would have never happened had Mandy not put my profile up on N2U and – ”

  “Madame, I’m fine,” she cut me off, with a small giggle. “You don’t need to come. Really.”

  I jerked back, not understanding what she was saying.

  Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome: Candy was falling in love with her kidnapper, the man who was going to turn her ass in and get her thrown behind bars. Clearly, I needed to knock some sense into her.

  “What do you mean, you’re fine?” I demanded of her. “That man – ”

  “Trigger,” she said. “His name is Trigger.”

  I huffed. “That man, Trigger, is a bounty hunter, Candy. Whatever he’s got you believing, it’s not true. You can’t trust him!”

  “Do you trust Colt?”

  I gasped at her sudden question.

  She didn’t give me a chance to respond, not that I had a response that was sufficient anyway.

  “Because I trust Trigg,” she said. Her tone was firm, firmer than I’d ever heard it.

  I pressed my back against the leather seat.

  “Trigger didn’t kidnap me, Madame,” she explained. “I asked him to take me away.”

  “Take you away? To where?”

  “To South America. We’re going on our honeymoon.”

  My jaw dropped. What in the entire – “Your honeymoon? Bitch, you married him?”

  “Yeah, I mean...” she paused, back to being unsure.

  Or so I thought...

  “We’re in love, Madame. I’ve known him for a while.”

  “How long is a while?”

  “Six months. We met on N2U.”

  I muttered a string of curse words, all having to do with technology and Mandy.

  Candy was still talking. “The point is, I’m very happy, Madame. In fact, I’ve never been more content.”

  “What about your case?” I asked, mouth tight. “When you were with me, we were managing that.”

  “Trigg has it under control,” was all she said.

  My shoulders relaxed of their own accord.

  Colt had been right. If Candy was with this Trigger person, it meant she was okay.

  So where was I going again?

  I sighed and scrubbed my hand over my face.

  The deep voice was back on the phone. “So, you’re turnin’ around, aren’t you? You gonna go back home to Colt, where you belong?”

  My eyes popped open and I grimaced. “That is none of your concern.”

  Trigger laughed, as if my response had amused him. “Don’t worry, Savannah. Golden Girlz will survive for a few more days without you. Or weeks, whatever you and Colt decide.”

  “You call Colton and tell him I got the message that Candy is safe, but I’m still going to Atlanta. I’ll... call him later or something, like I said I would.”

  Trigger chuckled again. “Whatever you say,” he said, and then he hung up.

  I listened to the silence for a second and then leaned my head back, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

  Back home to Colt...

  Shit! I’d done the exact same thing I’d done fifteen years ago – run off without giving him a chance to make things right. How the hell was I supposed to turn around and go back with my tail between my legs? The slice of humble pie I’d have to eat was too big for my liking.

  But if Candy was safe, did I really need to go to Atlanta?

  I sighed and leaned forward, towards the driver, whose head had been straight the entire time. There was no doubt in my mind he’d heard the entire conversation, yet he’d minded his own business.

  At least one of Colt’s people can do that!

  “Sir, there may be a change of plans,” I started to say, but before I could get the full sentence out, the flash of red and blue lights started shi
ning all around us.

  Then there was a siren.

  Bloody hell!

  “Oh my God, it’s the police,” I muttered. I tapped the driver’s shoulder hard. “Sir, do something. You have to do something or – ”

  The siren sounded a couple of times, and the driver glanced in the rearview mirror. His face was still straight, as if this was the kind of shit he was accustomed to, and the more I thought about it, he probably was. Hell, if he worked for Colt, the police pulling up next to his car was probably a regular occurrence. The only difference was that this time, I was in it – and I was a wanted woman.

  Did Colt know about this? Hadn’t he handled it, the way he’d promised. Thoughts about what he said he would do and clearly hadn’t, had me fuming.

  That low-down, dirty bastard!

  To my horror, the driver was pulling over, like the law-abiding citizen that he clearly was.

  This motherfucker...

  “What are you doing?” I asked rhetorically.

  “Don’t worry, ma’am. These guys do this all the time. Most times, they just wanna’ talk – ask a few questions and such.”

  I groaned, fighting the urge to wrap my hands around the driver’s neck. “We have a flight to catch,” I urged him. “We don’t have time for a chit chat with the cops.”

  The driver ignored me.

  The next thing I heard was the sound of the officer’s heels stomping along the sidewalk. It boomed in my ears. I gripped the handle, readying myself to jump out and start hauling ass down the open road, but the driver stopped me.

  “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” he advised, eyes pinned on me through the rearview.

  I glared at him.

  “The States don’t play. The county cops, they may be a little nicer – donuts and coffee and such, but these guys...” he tsked, leaving me to fill in the unethical blanks of what they were capable of doing.

  Sure, I could film the entire thing, but would I be alive to organize the marches and demand justice, like I’d done in college?

  It was useless.

  I gritted my teeth as the officer bent his body and tapped on the rolled-up window.

  Dutifully, the driver wound it down.

  “Good evenin’ sir,” the officer said with his thick, country drawl.