Damian

“Talk to me.” I sit down across from Keith, who’s waiting for me at CJ’s Diner.

The call that had come in that morning, while I was in the shower with Kerry, had been from Jasper. He needed to talk to me about how deep I wanted him to dig into Willoughs. He’d discovered the man rented a post office box in town. I gave him free rein, dig as deep and dirty as he wanted. To question the postmaster and get back to me with anything he finds out. Luna was keeping an eye on Kerry, and I used the rest of the day to follow up on some of my other cases.

Last night we ate a late dinner after I relieved Luna, and both of us fell asleep in front of the late-night news. I ended up carrying Kerry to bed and crawling in behind her.

This morning I had hopes of repeating yesterday’s shower activities, but the damn phone rang before I’d gotten out of bed.

This time it was Blackfoot. He said he had something important to discuss with me, which he insisted had to be face-to-face.

It was already closing on nine o’clock, a little later than planned, but I couldn’t leave Kerry without having a little taste. Besides, I had to wait for Luna to get there.

Keith waits until the waitress is gone before responding. “I have a bad feeling about this one,” he drops, and it takes me only a second to realize he’s talking about the trafficking investigation.

“How so?”

“I found a tracker on Kerry’s car. I would’ve missed it if my sleeve hadn’t got caught on the side mirror on the passenger side. Looked like someone tagged the back of it with a micro satellite transmitter, no bigger than a dime. This is not open-market stuff, Damian.” He leans back as the server slides mugs of coffee on the table in front of us.

I wait until she’s gone before I lean in. “Government-issue?” I keep my voice down.

“I suspect,” he confirms, taking a sip of his coffee. “The tech who was with me had a look at it. He couldn’t find any marking you’d normally see on open-market electronic equipment. He took it back to the lab.”

“Do you trust him?” I have to ask.

“Yeah. Browns is a good guy, a solid guy. I trust him. I’d like him to have a look at the bookstore and Kerry’s house, as well, check her phone. I’d be surprised if they weren’t bugged also.”

I sit back in my chair and try to digest the information. Aside from the confirmation that Kerry seems to be targeted, the use of such highly specialized monitoring equipment is very concerning. I’m glad I put Roosberg on Kerry. She’s a good agent.

“That’s why you want to keep the missing box under wraps. Shit. You think you can flush whoever it is out in the open,” I confirm with Keith. My mind is going a mile a minute as we spend the next twenty or so strategizing and discussing options, only interrupted when the waitress serves our food.

When we step outside, Keith holds me up with a hand on my arm. “If you need help covering her, let me know.”

“Right. Like that’s gonna happen,” I scoffingly reply.

“I’m serious,” he says earnestly. “Dammit, Damian, you know me better. I like to tease and poke, but when it gets down to it, you know you can trust me. I wouldn’t move on your girl, but I care enough not to want anything to happen to her, either.”

I stare him down, seeing nothing but honesty in his eyes. He’s right, I do know him. I know he’s a rogue with little regard for the rules, but he’s a man of honor. “I’ll call,” I simply say with a sharp nod. “I’ll get Jasper to do a quick scan of the store and her place. He finds anything, I’ll make sure he leaves it where it is until you get there with your guy.” We agreed that rather than having to explain to Kerry why the cops are going through her house and place of business, it would be an easier sell to have Jasper do it. That way we can blame it on my overprotective nature. I balked when Keith first suggested it but had to admit he made a good point.

“Fair enough. Later, Gomez,” he says as he turns to his car.

“Later, Blackfoot.”

KERRY

“I’ve got to get to the store!”

I try to push by Luna, who is blocking the door.

She hasn’t said much since she walked in earlier, once again with her laptop under her arm. Like yesterday, she just sat down at the kitchen counter, politely accepted the coffee I offered, and focused on her computer. I felt pretty good today; my head hardly hurt at all, and I felt more stable on my feet then yesterday, so I’d started on some housework that had been left for too long. I put a few loads in the laundry, tidied the kitchen, and gave the bathtub a good cleaning, letting my thoughts wander to the naked make-out session this morning. At least Damian had been naked, I had on panties...not that that stopped him from giving me an orgasm with his fingers. I was just wiping the bathroom mirror, a smile firmly plastered on my face, when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kerry. It’s Bella. Listen, I was out this morning running a few errands, and I decided to stop by your store to pick up something to read. I’m bored out of my brain at Damian’s and needed something to keep me occupied while I’m waiting to start my job. I was thinking of trying that series you told me about? The one with the motorcycle club that was really a cover for a covert group of law enforcement agents? I can’t remember the name now, All Out or something? Anyway,” Bella gabbed on and part of me tuned out. But then she said something that jerked me from my thoughts.

“What did you say?” I interrupted her.

“The door. It was closed. Well, not just closed but locked. Lights off and everything. I was surprised because you mentioned the other day you had someone looking after it, so when—”

I cut her off mid-ramble. “Honey, I’ve gotta go,” I explained urgently. “Thanks so much for letting me know, but I have to give Marya a call and find out what happened. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Of course—of course.”

I barely allowed Bella to finish before I hit end and dialed Marya’s number.

“Hello. You’ve reached—”

I cut off the call without listening to the whole message and proceeded to try the store, hoping she got delayed for some reason and had just been late. I hung up when my own voice sounded back to me.

Something is not right.

“Kerry,” Luna tries to calm me down. “Before you go racing out of here half-cocked, we should call the boss, let him know what’s going on.”

“It’s just that she’s been acting a little off lately, and her kids are away on a trip with her mom. If something happened to her...” I let the thought drift off. I know I’m panicking, but I can’t seem to stop it. My life’s been spinning out of control, and I don’t know what to expect anymore. 

“I’ll call him,” Luna says, already dialing. After she explains the situation to him, she hands the phone to me. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Damian?”

“Babe, I need you sit tight there with Luna. I’ll go check out the store, make sure everything is okay there. Does Bill Franklin have a spare key?” he asks.

“No. Not to the new locks.”

“Doesn’t matter. One of us will pick yours up. It’ll be either Jasper or me.”

“Isn’t it easier if we meet you there?” I suggest.

“Easier, yes—safer, no. Give us a chance to check it out first. I just left Blackfoot, but I’ll get in touch with him and ask him to drive by Marya’s place. Do you have an address for her?”

“Hang on,” I tell him and fish my new phone from my pocket. With shaking fingers, I try to navigate the contact list I thankfully managed to salvage from the cloud. “I have it,” I finally tell him.

“Good. Send it as a text. I’ll make sure Keith gets it. And stay put.”

I open my mouth to tell him I will, but he’s already gone. I give Luna her phone back and quickly send Marya’s info to Damian from mine.

With that done, I take a deep breath and take a firm hold of my jitters. It’ll be fine. Maybe she slept in or forgot about an appointment and didn’t want to bother me. Not that I really buy into that, but just the process of thinking up possible scenarios seems good enough to give me back some semblance of control.

Five minutes later, Jasper is at the door to pick up the key. I watch his car disappear down the driveway through the front window and stay standing there long after he’s gone from my view. As soon as I know Marya’s okay, I’m going to crawl into bed and hide there until this all goes away.

DAMIAN

“Do you have your kit?”

He lifts the bag in his hand in response and tosses me the keys. We’re by the back door, trying to avoid drawing attention. Just as I push open the door and let Jasper pass inside, Kerry’s neighbor, Bill Franklin, steps out with a garbage bag in his hand.

“Everything all right?” he asks, dropping his trash bag in the dumpster and walking my way.

Not knowing what’s inside, I hold up my hand. “I’ll come talk to you after,” I just say and step inside, closing the door behind me. The door did not look forced, and the front was still locked tight when we checked it in passing. Nevertheless, we have no idea what, if anything, is going on inside. Jasper is checking the small bathroom and Kerry’s office, so I slip past him into the store. 

The rows of bookshelves cast off long, dark shadows without the benefit of the overhead lights. Still, I prefer to go in without flipping the switch. I press my back against the farthest shelf from the front and ease my way along to the other side, my gun drawn. From the corner of my eye, I can see Jasper’s caught up with me and is slipping into the next aisle over. We methodically clear each of the aisles before we meet up at the counter.

“Nothing,” Jasper states the obvious.

“Get your kit. Let’s check this place while we’re here.”

While Jasper pulls out his gear and starts sweeping Kerry’s office, I put a quick call in to Keith.

“Nothing here,” he says. “Her car’s in the driveway, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”

“Nothing here, either. Have you been inside?” I want to know, but the pregnant silence tells me enough. It is Blackfoot, after all. “Signs of struggle?”

“None,” is the curt answer.

“Thank God for that. Dammit, Blackfoot—you know we can’t just go barging in without—”

“I know,” he bites off. “I also know that by the time a missing persons report is properly filed, we could be up to a day or more later. In the meantime, she could’ve been hurt in there.”

I clasp the back of my neck with a hand and lift my face to the ceiling. “Let’s just stick with that,” I concede. “As soon as you’re done there, get over to Kerry’s store. Jasper started a sweep.”

“Fifteen minutes,” he’s quick to answer before he adds, “and you be ready for a full-on task force briefing in my office for four this afternoon. I just got a text now.” Just as he hangs up the phone, the same information buzzes on my phone. Wonderful.

Jasper comes out of the back office, holding his phone up. “Did you see that?”

“Yup, I did. You done back there?”

“I am,” he says without elaborating. “You gonna tell me what’s going on?” For a moment, I’m undecided and by the raise of Jasper’s eyebrow, I can tell he notices.

“Probably,” I answer ambiguously, “but first I want to know what you found out from the postmaster and what turned up back there that has you playing word games with me.” The fact he didn’t immediately say clear when I asked about the office didn’t pass me by.

Jasper’s face settles in a lazy grin. “You’re far too smart for your own good, boss.”

“As are you, my friend. Now spill.”

“Took a bit of convincing, the guy considers himself knowledgeable on the dos and don’ts of law enforcement, probably watches too much TV, but I managed to make him see the light.”

“I bet you did.” I play along, not quite able to hide a smile.

“Mostly boxes, the occasional padded envelope. No real pattern to it and not from any single source that he’s noticed. He doesn’t really make note of the sender but says most of the boxes arrive through UPS. He records the UPS tracking number and the weight. Apparently the last box he received weighed just shy of ten pounds and was collected almost a month ago.”

“Does he have someone picking up for him?” I want to know.

“Nope. Always him. Always first thing in the morning.”

“Did you take down the tracking number?” He doesn’t answer, but his expression says enough. “Fine then. First chance you get, see what you can find out. Now,” I shift gears. “What did you find?”

“What? No tit for tat?” he says with a smirk.

“I want both your tits before you get anything.”

“Boss!” Jasper burst out laughing. “You joke? Man, I wish Luna was here to witness it. She’ll never believe it.” My growl is enough to get him back on track.

“Two bugs. One on the top ledge of the doorframe and one in the phone. Micro-sized, unfamiliar markings,” he informs me, his face now devoid of any humor. The grinding in my gut just got cranked up a notch.

“Save them for Blackfoot. He’s on his way. Start with the phone in here.”

KERRY

It’s been two hours since Jasper picked up the key, and I haven’t heard a thing. That’s good, right? I figure it means they’re still looking and they haven’t found anything...worrisome.

I haven’t moved from the window, although Luna urged me to have some lunch with her. She finally gave up and brought me a sandwich, which is still sitting on the side table, untouched. I can’t eat. The events of the past weeks have been swirling through my head, and aside from the major ones, I can’t seem to shake the feeling something was up with Marya. Almost the entire time. Then that weird rushed end to our last telephone conversation, almost as if she wanted off the phone instantly. It was right after I’d noticed the voice in the background and called her on it. It had sounded familiar. I’ve been racking my brain to place it. Maybe I should tell Damian about it.

I’m still contemplating if I should mention anything when his familiar dark SUV comes up the driveway. I’m not even aware I’m running for the front door until I hear Luna yell at me to stop. By that time, I’m already swinging the door open. A hand on my arm stops me from tearing out of the house when Luna catches up. As Damian steps out of his SUV, a second car, a patrol car, comes pulling in right behind it.

“Get inside, Kerry,” Damian orders as he walks up in long strides. I try to read the answers to my questions on his face, but his professional mask is firmly in place. When he reaches me and I haven’t moved yet, he puts his hands on my shoulders. “Babe—Inside.” This time his face gentles as he turns me around, wraps his arm around my waist, and walks me straight to the couch.

I just now notice Keith Blackfoot coming in behind us, closing the door. This can’t be good.

“We haven’t found Marya.” Damian doesn’t pussyfoot around. “She’s not at the store, and Keith checked her house, she’s not there, either. Honey? Is there anywhere else she could be?”

“Oh...I...I’m not sure,” I stammer. “Normally I’d say her mom’s, but she’s taken Marya’s boys with her to visit her sisters. Silverado I think, Marya said.”

“Don’t worry,” Keith speaks up. “I’ll find her contact information. Maybe she decided last minute to go up with them,” he offers lamely.

“That makes no sense,” I counter. “She’d never do that without letting me know. I just talked to her yesterday, and she never said anything. In fact, she told me she’d talk to me today.”

“Can you think of anything else? Someone she could be with? A friend she might seek out if she ended up sick?” Damian is gentle with his questions, but I can sense the urgency behind them. He’s worried, too. That’s when I start talking. I start with her uncharacteristic behavior, the insistence to keep her new man’s identity a secret for now. And I finish with yesterday’s telephone call.

“Where could you’ve heard it before?” Blackfoot asks, referring to the male voice in the background.

“Trust me, I’ve tried hard to think of it, but I just can’t place it. It could’ve been a customer or a store clerk or maybe someone at the bank. I have no idea.” Damian and the detective share a look. One that has the hair on my arms stand on end. “What?”

Both sets of eyes turn to me, but this time it’s Damian who speaks. “Jasper is on his way. As soon as he gets here, he and Keith are going to search your house.”

“My house? But I—” I almost shoot up from my seat, but Damian’s large hand on my shoulder keeps me firmly in place.

“I need you to go pack a bag. You’re coming with me.”

My stomach drops. It’s like I’ve landed in a parallel universe. This morning I had this man’s mouth on me and his fingers in me. Now he’s going to take me in? I don’t understand.

“But why are you taking me in?” I manage, my voice wobbly.

“Taking you in? What are you talking about?” He tightens his grip on my shoulders and pierces me with his eyes.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Luna blurts out. The first I’ve heard her say since the men got here. “Your bedside manner sucks, boss. You haven’t explained one damn thing to her. Why don’t you try that first before you scare the crap out of her?”

I keep my eyes on Damian, who is glaring at Luna, but then turns to me with a remorseful smile as Blackfoot starts to chuckle behind me. “Sorry, Gypsy. Force of habit. Keith and Jasper are going to check your house for bugs. Listening devices or cameras,” he explains when my face twists in distaste at the mention of bugs. He’s talking about another kind of bug.

“There were two in your office and another three in the store. Each of your phones were bugged. There’s a possibility whoever managed to get into the store, managed to get into your house, as well.”