The Billionaire’s Getaway
Chapter 1
The smoke fumes curled around each other from the end of the vast meeting room table. Gabriel Geroux was perched at the head of the table and Charlotte, the head of his advertising team, sat to his left. On his right, the head of accounting tore through a stack of receipts and quarterly reports he had brought to the meeting.
Gabriel took a long drag off of his cigarette, and allowed the smoke to linger in his lungs. His hazel eyes considered Charlotte, who was dressed in a tight black pencil skirt and a cleavage-complimenting blouse that she had boldly paired with red pumps. She took a look around the room at the department heads in front of her. Her hair was half pinned up, and the rest of the hazelnut and sandy curls flowed around her shoulders.
He shrugged and dropped ashes from his cigarette onto Peter’s reports. “We can begin. Charlotte, what are your notes?”
Charlotte cleared her throat and crossed her long, olive brown legs. “Well, LoveConnect could stand to be doing better. I think we should really increase the advertising that we do on buses and on porn websites.”
Gabriel stifled a chuckled and remarked, “Yes, I suppose there’s a lot of lonely people on both.” His voice came out as a low rumble when he spoke. It bounced off of the walls and made some more of those long, tanned legs in the room clench their thighs together.
Peter offered, “While we may reach some people that way, the million we’re going to have to spend on advertising could be better used somewhere else. People on porn sites are usually there for the free porn, and someone that has to take the bus probably can’t afford to pay a matchmaking service.”
Helga from Human Resources said, “We could try advertising on those fourteen dollar magazines? You know, the ones they put in the high-class department stores? If we only want people who can pay top dollar, maybe start there?”
Gabriel nodded. “Maybe at every place in Los Angeles that sells an eight-dollar coffee as the lowest item?”
Everyone chirped their agreement and Gabriel smirked. “Excellent, I have a lunch date.” He stood up and wiped a few stray ashes off of his charcoal pinstripe suit. Charlotte cut him a look over her glasses and he nodded to her as everyone packed up their briefcases and laptops.
He strode out into the hallway and nodded at some of the people in the cubicles on either side of him. He walked to the elevator, and once he pressed the button, he sought for his phone in his pocket. He spared a glance at the text already in the center of his screen:
Can I still count on you to be there tonight?
He stepped on the elevator and absently nodded at an intern that was doing a superb job of balancing a tray of coffees in one hand and a bag of bagels and muffins in the other.
She grinned at him. “How are you, Mr. Geroux?”
“Very good, thank you.” He leaned against the wall as the elevator carried them down fifteen floors.
The intern chuckled. “It’s treat day in the customer service department. I lost a bet, and it’s my turn.” She jostled the tray of coffee and hissed as a few drops of dark roast stung her bony arms. “Maybe I should stop betting.”
He eyed her and typed something out on his phone instead of responding. The girl drummed her fingers on one of the coffee cups and hummed to herself as they approached her floor.
She smiled sweetly. “Nice talking to you, Mr. Geroux!”
“Mmmhmm,” he intoned, not bothering to look at her as she exited the elevator.
Two floors later, Gabriel stepped into the lobby. He maneuvered through the mass of bodies and finally made it outside just as it was starting to rain.
His driver, Mitchell, opened the back door of a Cadillac and Gabriel slid in. Once they pulled off, Gabriel quickly typed a text that read:
I’ll be there. You should be ready.
************
The restaurant was a quieter scene compared to most places worth eating at in Los Angeles. CEOs conducted business dinners here with executives from overseas. Winchesters was the place to bring anyone you wanted to charm the pants off of.
After the waiter poured his wine, Gabriel turned his attention to Charlotte sitting across from him. She had taken her hair out of her work hairdo, and was allowing her curls to cascade around her. She wore a tight black dress, and she smirked as she opened the menu to pretend to read the specials.
“What do you think about the new campaign that I proposed?” she asked.
“It won’t matter,” he replied.
Charlotte swirled the wine around in her glass and bit the inside of her cheek. “Excuse me?”
“It won’t matter because I met with some of the editors from the newspaper and they are going to include a weekly piece that highlights one of our successful matches, and the kind of experience we gave to the client.”
Charlotte cackled. “Are you advertising behind my back, Gabriel?”
He drained his wine glass and then pointed at her. “I am looking to doing much more than that behind you. How about you finish that?”
“No need to liquor me up, I was already willing.”
“Hmm, so you won’t be a challenge. Pity, I rather like a challenge.”
Charlotte raised her eyebrows, and then knocked back a full glass of chardonnay as if it were lemon water. “We can leave now.”
Gabriel waggled a finger at her. “I need to talk business with you first.”
“Couldn’t you have done that while I was sober?”
Gabriel reached down beside him where a small black briefcase leaned against his leg. He opened it, and slid a portfolio on the table between the two of them. Charlotte blinked hard, trying to analyze the document correctly.
“What is this?”
“This is the agreement we’re signing with the newspaper. I need you to get it notarized sometime between tonight and tomorrow afternoon.” He idly scratched his stubble. “Will you do that for me, Charlotte?”
She rolled her eyes as the waiter refilled her glass. “I’m making a mental note of that. I’m running your company just fine, and I will run it just as well when you have to go overseas next month.”
“Peter’s in charge,” he said, looking at her pointedly.
“Excuse me?” she said, trying hard to mask her anger.
“Can you hear tonight, Charlotte? Peter will be in charge, he handles the money so I know that everything will be stable by the time I get back.”
“I’m going to run to the restroom, Gabriel.” She stood up and pushed her chair in. He watched her disappear around a corner to the women’s restroom.
Why would she think she’s watching the company when I’m away? She hasn’t even mastered the part of her job that requires her to not fuck her boss, he pondered and the waiter came back.
“Are we going to be enjoying one of our delicious specials tonight?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I guess I’ll have the Alfredo.” He looked toward the restroom. “The woman will have an order of scallops. Thank you.”
“No problem, Mr. Geroux.”
After they had finished a rather awkward dinner, the car picked them up outside of Winchester. Gabriel waved at Mitchell and said, “I got it!” He opened the door for Charlotte and she grinned as she slid onto the cocoa colored leather seats.
The car eased down the boulevards and Gabriel’s fingers inched towards Charlotte’s thighs. Charlotte offered a tight-lipped smile and Gabriel relaxed. The car rocked them as they drove towards Gabriel’s apartment. Charlotte sighed when they were a block from Sunrise Condos and her hand drifted over to Gabriel’s fingers. She guided his fingers inside of her dress. Gabriel’s long arm reached out and his fingers peeled her dress down, the strapless outfit stalled around her large breasts. He maneuvered the dress past them and cupped both of them in his hands.
Mitchell’s eyes flickered to them and then immediately went back to the road. It was not a scene he was unaccustomed to.
Charlotte groaned as she spread her legs open, and her fingers toyed with the belt buckle on Gabriel’s pants. He shook off his suit jacket and knocked her hand away.
“Wait for it,” he whispered.
She whimpered as he bent his head, pulled her dress up and ran his tongue along her thighs. He inhaled a sweet musk; the combined effort of Charlotte’s favorite fragrance and the smell of her arousal wafted from between her legs, hidden underneath thin, black lacy panties.
Charlotte inhaled sharply when the sound of Mitchell’s throat clearing bounced around the car. Gabriel smirked as he righted Charlotte’s position and she tugged her dress up and over her breasts. As Gabriel opened the door, Charlotte didn’t look to the cab of the car but called out “Thank you, Mitchell.”
Gabriel admired her like a rare sculpture and for once, she felt the urge to enjoy being wanted in this way. Men leered at Charlotte every day, she watched how they eye-fucked her.
Gabriel had been the only person to make that look feel like a privilege. She watched his perfect ass as he lightly jogged up the steps leading to his front door.
Her skin tickled with anticipation as he opened the door. The lush white carpet greeted her and she slid her heels off.
Gabriel unbuttoned the sleeves of his white dress shirt and crooked a finger toward her. She slid her dress back down as she stepped closer to him. He ogled her breasts as she unbuttoned each button on his dress shirt. She reached the last one and fanned her hands out across his chest.
You could give me years and I still wouldn’t have enough time to properly appreciate all of this space, she thought as she glanced around the large room.
For once, the big boss was vulnerable. His erection pressed against her thigh and he massaged her breasts, rolling his fingertip over her nipples, yet he wasn’t going to ask her to do a thing.
That was half of the fun. Charlotte smiled to herself. It’s almost charming how he lets me think I’m in control. Charlotte fell to her knees and wrapped her fingers around Gabriel’s cock. He sighed and she slowly licked it from shaft to tip, carefully running circles around it.
Gabriel bit his lip when Charlotte took all of him inside of her mouth. She sucked him off until his huge hand rested on her forehead and he pushed her off. Charlotte’s eyes traveled up the length of him and rested on his. He gently tugged her into standing by her arms and led her to his bedroom down the hall.
He turned the lights on, and swept his arm out in a dramatic gesture toward the bed. Charlotte smirked as she turned the lights back off.
They didn’t make much use of the bed.
***
Gabriel rolled over onto his stomach and reached his hand over to his end table where his phone had been glowing for the past fifteen minutes. He glanced at Charlotte who mess of curls . He could still smell the sex in the air.
A new email had been sitting in his inbox for over an hour. It read:
Good Morning, Gabriel. I’m very excited with how our discussion over lunch went yesterday. As soon as you get those contracts notarized, we’ll start making arrangements at the paper. You can send it by fax or have someone drop it off and just ask for me, Allen.
Thanks again!
Allen West
Chief Editor of the LA Note
“Fuck,” Gabriel muttered, as he shook Charlotte awake. She slowly awoke, and squinted, eyes focusing on him.
“What is it?” she asked.
Gabriel hopped out of bed and tugged on his briefs. “We need to get started for the day.”
She picked up her phone and glanced at the time. 6:45 AM. “So, we’re a little off schedule, who cares, you’re the boss,” she said, laying backdown .
Gabriel huffed. “Get up. Now. The contracts are in my briefcase in the living room. Go to the LA Note’s office and drop it off once you’ve gotten the contracts notarized. Put on something nice.”
Charlotte grunted. “Seriously? Just straight to work? No breakfast?”
He was already slipping into a pair of sweats for his morning jog. “It’s not like you’re not paid to do this. Come on, get up and get out.”
With a moment of hesitation, Charlotte slipped into her dress from the night before and her heels. She pinned her hair up and told Gabriel, “I’m going to have Mitchell stop by my place so I can grab a fresh suit. Can you call him, at least?”
“I’m texting him now- but if he’s busy you can just call a car service. Expense it.” He finished tying his sneakers and walked out of the bedroom, calling out, “Make sure to lock up!”
Charlotte tapped her foot as she waited for Mitchell to pull the Cadillac up outside. She smoothed her dress walked to the bathroom connected to Gabriel’s master bedroom. She looked at the mess of a woman that judged her from the wide mirror in the bathroom.
Come on, Charlotte. You’re better than this. How long are you going to be the office whore that everyone is just waiting their turn on? There’s not even a promotion in it for you.
She sighed when she looked at the smudged eyeliner and eyeshadow from the night before. “Here goes another day.”
Chapter 2
A waterfall of chocolatey coffee came bursting out of Megan’s coffee cup and all over the files that poor Bruce from homicide happened to set down on her a desk for a moment. Megan’s eyes darted around the office; Georgina looked at her with mild interest. Bruce was nowhere to be seen and Megan crumpled up one of the napkins from the coffee shop, attempting to rub all of the chocolate and espresso off of Bruce’s files.
She made eye contact with Georgina and said, “Hey. No one told him to set his files down here, everyone knew that I was moving to my new department today.”
“We all knew,” Georgina drawled, “You’ll notice that you don’t have a single desk right next to you because we didn’t want chocolate all over our work.”
“It was an accident! No one offered to help me move all of this stuff here, and so some of it got hard to balance.”
Georgina pushed her grey rolling chair back and stood up. She swept her strawberry blond hair into a bun, and tried to dry off one of Bruce’s files. “You need to ask sometimes, Megan. “
Everyone else was hunched over their standard sized desks, drinking their coffee without even looking at the cup to know that they were grabbing it. I may not be very dexterous but I’m still a good cop, she thought.
“Thanks, Georgina,” she said, as she wiped off the rest of the desk and Georgina delivered Bruce’s files to him. Megan sat down at her new work station, and dragged the chair further in. Her fingers fidgeted with the seat adjustments for a bit, as her feet wouldn’t touch the floor with how it was currently.
The sound attracted another look from Georgina, and Megan threw her hands up. “Whatever, dangling feet are fine,” she mumbled.
She sighed and looked up as Chief Cole came walking in with a living sex fantasy following him. Behind Chief Cole was a slightly tanned man that couldn’t have been older than 32, with tousled and wavy chestnut colored hair. The stubble on his face was charming, but his good looks aside, Megan wondered, Is he a perp? Or a witness? Either way, I want that case.
“Megan!’
Megan jumped, and her eyes met the burning dark ones of Seargeant Bruce. His long finger jutted out at her nose. “You’re the only one that drinks that ridiculous children’s coffee. You couldn’t help but spill them all over my case files? You could have set me back weeks.”
She drifted back to Earth. “I’m so sorry, Bruce. It’s just that I had so much stuff to carry and no one was helping me carry any of it.”
“I helped her clean it up,” Georgina offered.
Bruce sneered. “We’re not going to be able to keep anything in order with you here.”
“I said I was sorry about your files, Bruce. But why did you leave them there?”
“It doesn’t matter why I left them there, I wasn’t relying on anyone to spill sticky, sweet, and horribly chocolate coffee all over my shit! Let me tell you a few things Lowe-”
Megan’s mind floated back to the man walking out of Chief Cole’s office, and Chief Cole slapped him on the back, between the shoulder blades. The handsome man flashed the chief man a smile, and he vanished.
“Lowe? Lowe? Are you even listening?! Detective Lowe!”
“Yes, I spill things; I’ll try to cut back,” she answered, annoyed.
Megan rose out of her seat and jogged through desks and cubicles until she was standing outside of Chief Cole’s office. She rapped her knuckles on the door frame and he called out,
“What.”
“What do you mean what? You don’t talk to any else like that around here, especially people that have been freshly promoted.”
“I needed to fill the spot, Lowe. We’ve gone over this, you were not at all my first choice but Robinson wanted to stay on patrols.”
“Yes, and my feelings are still hurt every time you say that, Chief.”
“Come in and shut the door, huh?”
Megan entered his office and shut the door behind her. She sat down on the ratty, black couch he insisted on keeping in there. It smelled of corn chips.
“So, who was that man?” she prompted.
The chief’s grey eyes flicked up at her and he put on a dubious expression. “You’re kidding. Your first day as detective and you want a date?”
Megan jerked back and frowned. “No, I do not want a date with him. Is he a suspect or a witness?”
Chief Cole sipped some coffee from his LA Lakers coffee mug and leaned back in his chair, letting his belly enter the conversation as well. “That man was neither. He was making a report.”
“About what?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“What if I want his case, chief?”
Chief Cole’s belly jiggled with a hearty laugh. “On your first day? I have eight other competent detectives.”
“Listen, I know you don’t want me here – as you’ve stated many, many times- but you’re stuck with me now so you might as well put me to work. Think of it this way, the more I’m out of the office on a case, the less of a mess I’ll make,” she offered.?”
He twirled a bit in his brown leather chair, and his fingers ran along the fine dark wood of his desk. “Alright, Lowe. He is the owner of LoveConnect, and his head of advertising has been missing since yesterday afternoon. Given that he’s so high profile, we can’t treat this like any missing persons case. Yes, there is the obligatory 48 hours to declare a person missing, but the police department can’t afford to not be on his list of places he’d like to drop a charitable donation.”
“So, we’re putting him ahead of the thousands of people in this city who pay taxes for our livelihood?”
“Yes. Do you need anything else?”
“I would love to prove myself on a high-profile case, boss.”
He pulled out a folder and began leafing through it. “And I would like to sail to Hawaii naked with Cindy Crawford,, Lowe.”
Megan stared at her boss, unblinking, trying to wear him down.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. If you somehow manage to solve a case this huge, you won’t ever get shit from me or anyone in this department again.”
Megan shrugged. “Sounds great, I’ll get started with questioning-”
“No, there’s more, Lowe. If you do not solve this case, I will demote your ass back to patrols. Understood?”
“That doesn’t really seem fair.”
He shrugged and began to focus on the files in front of him again. Eyes still on the paper he mumbled, “Take it or leave it, Lowe. I’m busy.”
“Alright, then. I’ll prove you wrong.”
“I hope you’re as good at solving missing person’s cases as you are at making a mess of things.”
“Have a good day, Chief,” she said, all but slamming the glass door to his office and strutting back to her work station. Bruce and Georgina kept their questions to themselves.
***
Megan pulled her loose auburn curls through her fingers as she walked into LoveConnect Corporate.
Questioning people was routine, and something she was particularly good at. She may not be the most graceful of human beings, but she paid attention to detail and could usually spot a liar a block away. Despite this being something she was used to doing, this was her first official case as a Detective and a lot was riding on it. She found herself suddenly nervous.
Her sneakers shuffled through the sliding doors and she approached a receptionist that looked like she came straight to work from a photo shoot.
“Can I help you, Miss?”
Megan nodded and fished around her back pocket for badge but her hand only grazed the round curve of her behind.
Shit. “Um, just a second, I have business here.” She rifled through her purse and a few chocolate wrappers went sailing out of the bulky designer bag.
Finally, her fingers touched something hard and metal. She gripped it and tugged it out of her purse.
“I’m a cop.”
The girl with the cherry red lipstick and efficient hairdo smiled politely and raised an eyebrow as if to prompt Megan to explain any reason at all that she might be standing in front of her desk.
Megan said, “I’m here to do some questioning.” She stood up straight and elongated her neck. “I’m Detective Lowe, I’m here to ask a few questions regarding the disappearance of Charlotte Mortez.”
The girl nodded. “ Okay, well Mrs. Mortez’s office is on the sixth floor. Would you like someone to escort you?”
“No, it’s probably better if I feel the place out.”
The girl shrugged and pointed Megan to the elevator. “That will get you where you need to go.”
“Thanks,” Megan mumbled as she walked over to the elevator and pressed the UP button.
When the doors slid open, a gaggle of men and women in pencil skirts and suits came rushing out of the elevator.
Megan stood off to the side until the crowed thinned out. She had the entire spacious box to herself for the whole ride up the sixth floor.
When the doors opened, she stepped on to a solid tiled floor decorated in black and white specks. There were sixteen cubicles on this floor; eight on either side.
She walked over to the first cubicle on the left, and peeked in. A woman with huge glasses sat in front of what appeared to be a $2,000 company computer.
“Excuse me.” Megan rapped her knuckles on the fake wall of the cubicle.
The woman jumped and looked over her shoulder. “Yes?” she asked.
Before Megan could respond, the woman spun around in her chair. “Are you the one bringing the muffins today?”
“Muffins? What? I’m not an intern, I’m a detective actually. I just wanted to know if you could help me answer some questions about Charlotte?”
“Sure.” Her voice was airy, but there was no mistaking her disappointment in not getting a muffin.
“Okay.” Megan sat on the edge of the woman’s desk and took out her notepad. “Okay, so what was your relationship with Charlotte?”
“She supervised this floor. ”
“Was everyone happy with her leadership?”
She shrugged. “Just like any other boss. She's frighteningly pretty, though.”
“Hmm.” Megan took a mental note to look especially hard into Charlotte’s love life.
“What’s your name, again?”
“Holly. Charlotte was an okay boss, did anything happen to her? Did they find her body or something?”
Megan shook her head. “No, not to my knowledge.”
Holly wore a contemplative expression. “Okay. I wonder when Mr. Geroux is going to choose someone to replace her.”
Megan grunted in disgust. “I would like to focus on finding Mrs. Mortez, not the corporate ladder. Was there anyone else that worked pretty closely with Mrs. Mortez?”
“Peter from accounting,” Holly offered.
“Thank you,” Megan said as she left Holly’s cubicle to find some sort of directory to tell her where the accounting floor was.
After exhausting all methods of obtaining any information about Charlotte Mortez beyond her being “pretty” and “an okay boss”, Megan steered her sedan down the streets of Charlotte’s subdivision.
When Megan was just a patrolwoman, she learned that neighbors always spilled the beans or dialed the phone first on domestic abuse. In some cases, they’re tongues itched to share gossip, and they would tell a cop all but their neighbor’s social security number if given the chance.
She parked in front of a lavish house with an Olympic sized pool in the backyard. Megan strolled up the walk and stepped onto the porch. She pushed the doorbell, sending chimes echoing off the home’s high ceilings.
A woman opened the door with rolls of bleach blonde hair on top of her head. Her eyes widened at the stranger on her front porch.
“Can I help you?” Her voice carried a slightly country accent.
Megan cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m Detective Megan Lowe- I’m investigating the disappearance of your neighbor, Charlotte Mortez. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
She gasped. “Charlotte’s missing?”
Megan nodded. “You haven’t noticed that she hasn’t been coming home or leaving for work?”
“I’m a bit absent-minded sometimes, I’m afraid. Why don’t you come in Detective? I’ll make us some tea.”
Megan followed her the well-decorate home. The walls were a quaint baby blue and there were small, porcelain animals all over the living room.
Megan sat at a small table in a corner of the kitchen. The neighbor bustled about, setting a teapot on the stove to boil.
She sat down in the chair across from Megan. Megan pulled out her notepad. “Okay, state your name, please.”
“Lindsey Coolidge.”
“Okay, Lindsey. How long have you known Charlotte Mortez?”
“I met her last summer when I moved here from Oklahoma.” She crossed her legs. “She and her husband have always been nice people, they smile when you see them and such.”
“Did it ever seem like they had any marital troubles?”
Lindsey got up to grab the tea kettle that had begun to whistle. “Green or black tea?”
“Green tea is fine. So, did you notice anything strange about Charlotte at all?”
“No, not really. Her husband is a really handsome stock broker.”
“Okay. Is he faithful? Have you noticed any strange women visiting their residence?”
Lyndsey blew on her chamomile tea and shook her head. “No, I haven’t. He’s a very nice man.” They almost always seemed that way on the outside, in Megan’s experience.
“How long has she been missing, Detective?”
The bitterness of Megan’s tea lingered on the center of her tongue. “The last time anyone heard anything from her was on Monday at work.”
Lyndsey stirred her tea and furrowed her eyebrows before asking, “Wait. She came home Monday night, I saw her come home and then a couple of hours later she left in a black dress. I thought she might be meeting her husband for a dinner date.”
“She went out on Monday?”
“Yeah, she was all dressed up like she was going on a date. I saw her husband’s car pull up maybe two hours after she left. I remember because I’d gotten up to make some tea,” she said, raising her cup in punctuation.
“Was she with him?” Megan asked, jotting down notes.
“I’m not sure.”
Megan drained the rest of her tea and smiled at Lyndsey. “Thank you so much for your time. I’ll see myself out.”
Megan walked through the living room to get to the front door, and the porcelain dogs and cats grinned at her as she shut the door behind her. It kind of creeped her out. She stretched once she was back outside and glanced around the neighborhood.
She didn’t see any of the other neighbors out and a sleek black car was parked in the Mortez’s driveway. Megan ventured over and rang the bell.
It was silent for a moment as the bell finished singing. She peeked through the windows that flanked the door and rang the bell again. This time, she heard faint footsteps and a dog barking.
The cream-colored door was pulled open and an English bulldog stuck its head out. “Well, hey boy. ?” She reached down and scratched the dog behind an ear.
She lifted her eyes and was met with the sweatpants-clad Mr. Mortez. For his wife to have such famed looks, he was an average looking man. He was on the shorter side, but lean. His long, black hair was like an oil slick falling just in front of his eye.
“Can I help you?” He coughed.
“Yes, I’m Detective Megan Lowe. I’m investigating the disappearance of your wife, Charlotte. May I come in?”
His eyes lit up with hope and he nodded with vigor. “Yes, please. Can I get you anything, Detective?”
The living room was decorated with a sleek, modern look. Megan invited herself to a seat on a small suede loveseat. “I’m fine, your neighbor just gave me some tea.”
Mr. Mortez sat on the sofa across from her. The English bulldog jumped up into his lap, and he stroked his back while keeping his eyes on Megan. “Have you heard anything about her?”
Megan shook her head. “I’m just trying to connect some dots so far. So, Lyndsey said that on Monday night Charlotte came home for a couple of hours and left pretty dressed up. Did you guys have any plans?”
Mr. Mortez narrowed his eyes while he toyed with the bulldog’s ears. “ No, we didn’t. I came home from work at about nine, I fed Stuckey. When I woke up the next morning, she still wasn’t in bed. I thought that she had come home late from LoveConnect and then set out early the next day. Her boss, Gabriel, usually has her running errands during their busier periods.”
“Mr. Mortez, did you and your wife have a healthy relationship?”
He shrugged. “I think so. I mean, we have this nice house together and a dog. We both have pretty good jobs, and we don’t really fight.”
“No disagreements lately?”
“Not really, even when we do disagree on something we don’t fight. Charlotte will just become pretty distant and I wait for her to come back.”
Megan scribbled on her pad. “So, she does this often? Just leaves?”
“No. She’s never just left. She usually just stays later at the office and dives into her work so she doesn’t have to think about the problem.”
Why didn’t anyone at work mention that she was a workaholic? Megan stood up and stroked Stuckey’s forehead. “Well, thank you very much for speaking with me. If you can think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to call,” she said, handing him a business card. “I’ll let you know if I have any new information..”
“Thank you, Detective. I’ve been lonely without her, I just want her home safe.”
Megan nodded. “I’ll keep in touch.” She walked out of the front door and back to her sedan. I need to lay everything out, she thought, as she put the car in drive and headed toward the station.
After a half hour in traffic, she finally made it back to her office. She walked up the steps and waved at Georgina as she left for the day. She strolled to her department and to her messy station. I’ll organize everything else later. She wrote down all of the facts about Charlotte’s case that she had so far on large index cards. She laid each card out in the order she received the information on her desk.
Megan dragged her pen from the first notecard to the fourth one, formulating different hypotheses in her mind as she went. She called the husband’s work and they confirmed that he had been at the office until 8:45. She asked for their address and was able to determine that it would only take him about fifteen minutes to arrive home. His story seemed to check out.
So far, Lindsey was the last person to see Charlotte alive and she stated that she’d been dressed like she was going on a date. Megan had a hunch that this was the direction she needed to go in. Her husband had claimed that she often worked long hours. Perhaps she needed to start looking into a possible workplace affair. Wouldn’t be the first one she’d come across in her career. Chief Cole shut his office door and passed Megan’s desk on the way out. “Better get a lead on this case quick, Lowe. I’ll keep a patrol car warm for you.”
Megan slammed her hand down on the hard wood of the desk once he left. “I’ll tell you what you can do with that patrol car Chief.”
Chapter 3
“Hi? Yes, this is Megan Lowe. I’m a Detective, I came by the other day? No, no I cannot hold. Don’t put me on hold!”
Megan let her head fall on her desk and Georgina’s snickers could be heard from across the aisle. Clearly, the receptionist had no respect for authority. Megan spared her a glare and ended the call on her phone. In front of her, were 52 pages of phone records.
She had been skimming Charlotte’s phone records from three days before she went missing since dawn. Even the effects of the chocolatey coffee she had this morning began to wane, and she found herself losing patience. And sleep.
Charlotte Mortez had been missing for four days now. This clearly wasn’t a case of a wife who just needed a day or two away. At this point, foul play was definitely suspected. Megan rubbed her eyes and tried to refocus. Everyone, especially the chief, was just waiting for her to screw this up. She had to solve this case. Had to.
She sighed and peeled the corner of the reports and let her fingers walk her to the second to last page. “The night before she went missing she called her manicurist before the time she arrived at her home. Right before she left again, she sent a text to her boss?”
Georgina rubbed her shoulders. “Hey, at least you’re closer.”
“If I can’t even get past the damn receptionist, how am I going to get to the friggin’ CEO?” she nearly whined.
“I’m going to grab a coffee, do you want a refill?” Georgina asked, pointing to the empty paper cup. Clearly, she was feeling sympathetic toward Megan; at least for now.
“No, I need to see if I can get an appointment with the elusive Gabriel Geroux.”
Georgina nodded and headed out for lunch. Megan sighed again and dialed the number that the internet turned back for LoveConnect Corporate. This might be easier than going through that ditz at the switchboard.
“Hi, I’d like to make an appointment with Mr. Geroux.”
The voice on the phone said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Geroux is completely booked for the next six months.”
“That’s fantastic- I’m not trying to propose a business deal to him, I’m actually a Detective. I just want some information from him on his employee, Charlotte Mortez? She went missing earlier this week?”
“I can schedule you in for May?”
Megan’s fingers flexed and she squeezed her bright red stress ball. “I cannot wait until May, this is an investigation- she could be dead by May.”
“End of April okay?”
“No! No, it is not. What part of ‘I am a Detective and I’m investigating a missing person’ do you not get?” she yelled into the phone. Nothing but silence answered her.
Frustrated, she slammed the phone down on its cradle. She had to get in to see Gabriel Geroux. From what she could tell, he was the last person she’d talked to.
“I need a solid lead,” she said to herself. Chief Cole walked by and smirked. “I agree, Lowe. You’re going to need a real solid lead to find that poor woman because you clearly can’t rely on your skills alone.”
Megan stood up, ignored her boss, and collected the phone records, her notes, and her gun. “Here goes nothing.”
She drove down to LoveConnect Corporate and once she entered the building the high fashion receptionist waved at her.
“Oh, hello Detective Lowe! What can I do for you?”
“I just need to go upstairs and ask some more questions.”
“Sure! Who are you looking for? I’ll page them?” she was much more cooperative than before and it almost threw Megan for a loop.
Megan leaned over the desk and the directory was in view. “Mr. Geroux,” Megan mumbled.
“Oh, Mr. Geroux is all wrapped up-”
“Do you think I give a shit what Mr. Geroux is doing? A woman’s life is in danger.”
“I can’t just let you up to his office-”
Megan snatched the directory sheet and jogged onto the opening elevator.
“Miss! You can’t do that! I’ll be in so much trouble!” the receptionist howled as Megan punched in the top floor on the elevator. The doors slid open and Megan was released into a penthouse office. Glass windows sectioned off different rooms, and it was really more like a second apartment at work. She could see the tile of the kitchen peeking out from the entrance and if she looked to her left she would find a shower room.
“Hello?” she called out. She passed the shower room where she found another set of glass barriers. Behind those doors was a lush private office. The desk was an intimidating glass design and the camel colored leather chair swung back and forth just slightly.
She cleared her throat. “Excuse me? I’m Detective Megan Lowe and I need to speak with Gabriel Geroux.” She tried to sound as authoritative as possible.
The chair swung around all of the way, and Gabriel’s harsh hazel eyes focused on her as he spoke into his phone, “Yes, I see her now. Looks like security wasn’t fast enough. No, it’s fine.” He ended the call and appraised her.
Megan had long, brown curls that fell down her back and around her shoulders. She was a petite woman, but she looked muscular under her suit. She was pear-shaped, with round breasts and if she turned around he’d probably get an eyeful.
“Megan Lowe,” he drawled. “What can I do for you, Detective?” he smiled at her and it came off as predatory.
Megan nearly shuddered as his eyes grazed over her. He was definitely a good-looking man, but something about him seemed a bit dark and dangerous. She wasn’t sure what kind of dangerous just yet, though. Was he ‘murder your employee’ dangerous, or ‘rip off your panties and bend you over his desk’ dangerous? She found that she had a really strong desire to find out. Before her facial expressions could give her away, she cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry if I’ve caused your employees any difficulties. I seem to have thrown some of them into a tizzy,” she said, trying to sound apologetic even though she wasn’t.
He shrugged. “They get like that. No worries, Detective.”
She nodded. “I’m here to ask a few questions about Charlotte Mortez?”
His expression darkened and he sighed. Megan made a mental note of his reaction. “Yes, I suppose this is unavoidable. What would you like to know?”
“Well, Mr. Geroux-”
“Please, call me Gabriel,” he interrupted.
“Very well, Gabriel. According to Charlotte’s phone records, you were the last person she spoke to. Can you tell me what that was about?”
Gabriel appraised her again, deciding how much he should admit. He knew enough not to out himself as Charlotte’s lover; it would make him the prime suspect. He also knew that if he gave too little information, he would look suspicious as well. Finally he gave his carefully considered answer.
“I needed her to drop off a contract for me early the next morning at the LA Note. I was just reminding her of that. Honestly Detective, Charlotte is one of my best employees, I’m quite concerned for her.”
Megan decided to tip her hand just a bit and see how he reacted. “And did she need to be in a slinky little black dress for that errand?” she asked him sweetly.
She caught the slight flare of his nostrils. “Do I need a lawyer present, Detective Lowe?”
“No. Not unless you’re guilty of something.” She smirked, and pulled her notepad out of her purse. “Okay, Gabriel. So you asked her to deliver some contracts to the LA Note?”
He nodded and reached into his desk for a thick packet of papers. “This is a copy of the documents I asked her to get notarized. They made it to the newspaper Tuesday morning, but I don’t know what happened to her after that.”
That stopped Megan in her tracks. “Tuesday morning?”
“Yes,” Gabriel replied, looking at her like she might be stupid.
“So she was here Tuesday morning?”
Gabriel sighed and rose to his feet. He stretched and pulled off his brown suit jacket. Megan allowed herself a small internal gasp at his muscular build. He looked like walking sex.
“No, she was not here Tuesday morning, hence the text Monday night reminding her to drop off the documents,” he said. “Now Detective, if you have any other questions, you might want to talk to Allen West at the Note since he talked to her before she went missing. If you’ll excuse me, I am late for a meeting.”
With that, he stalked past her, leaving Megan alone in a cloud of $500 cologne.
Chapter 4
Megan had spoken to Allen West at the LA Note as Gabriel had suggested and had gotten pretty much nowhere. According to him, Charlotte had arrived around 7:30 am, dropped off the contracts, and left without much fanfare. Megan had no new information and was beginning to grow frustrated.
She called Gabriel again and demanded that he give her more of his time. She was still holding firm to her suspicion that his and Charlotte’s relationship was more than just professional. He had agreed to meet her at the coffee shop around the corner from his office.
Gold-colored curtains fell from the ceiling and barely grazed the ground before being lifted up again in a U shape. The smell of madeleines wafted through the air, and you could taste the treat before it even made it to your plate. Waitresses walked around with frilly white aprons tied tight to their waists, and the bustle of patrons and the click of a waitress’s heels were all you could hear.
Megan groaned as the waiter pulled out her chair and she eased herself into it. I’m not against a regular cup of coffee with mocha in it. Why does he have to pick such an extravagant place? Café Don costs a fortune.
She skimmed the menu and her leg bounced up and down underneath the table. Why does all of the coffee start at 8.00?
It wasn’t long before he appeared, in a silver cardigan and blue jeans. His hair hadn’t been gelled down, and the tousled chestnut locks looked boyish on him as he eased into the chair across from her.
“You beat me here.” He smiled genuinely at her, like they were old friends.
“Are you ready to answer more of my questions?” Megan asked him, ignoring the pleasantries.
He flagged down the waiter and said, “Could we have a French press please?” He turned to Megan. “How do you like your coffee?”
“With mocha, and a lot of cream.”
The waiter nodded and scurried off to find a freshly cleaned French press.
Gabriel noticed how two of Megan’s fingers constantly toyed with some of the ringlets in her hair. The way she sat, like she would have to spring up at any moment, left her with one arm just below her breasts. She offered a hard expression. She clenched her jaw and he saw her forget to smile when the waiter came back with a French press of light roast and a short cup filled with mocha pumps. He could see that he wasn’t going to be able to charm her that easily.
“Okay, Megan. Here’s what I can offer you,” he poured some coffee into the bright green mug that the waiter had slid in front of him. “I was with Charlotte the morning she disappeared. She was at my home.”
She whipped out that famous notepad and copied down what he said. I knew it! she thought.
“We spent the night together, and no, it wasn’t the first time. The last time I saw her was when I left for my jog at 7:00 am. She was supposed to have the contracts notarized and deliver them to Allen West at the Note. He called to tell me that you spoke with him so I know that you know she at least made it there.”
Megan squirmed in the wooden chair and poured herself some coffee. Even though she had suspected this, she hadn’t wanted to be right. Now she’d have to take a harder look at Gabriel and she might not like what she found.
She wiped some spilled coffee from the table top, and started to add cream and drizzle the mocha syrup into her mug. There were so many questions swirling through her mind, she just had to organize them. How long had the affair been going on? Did her husband know? If he did, that would make him her top suspect with Gabriel a close second. Had they had a fight? Was she planning on cutting things off with Gabriel and he had gotten angry and hurt her? She didn’t know which one to ask first.
Instead, she studied Gabriel as he sipped at his coffee. He seemed cool and confident even though he had just told her he was sleeping with the missing woman. Was the confidence borne out of innocence? Or was it borne out of thinking he was rich and charming enough to get away with it?
Gabriel looked back at her and wondered what she was thinking. He thought he had read a fleeting moment of disappointment in her eyes when he’d admitted to sleeping with Charlotte. That intrigued him. Was she just a little bit jealous? He could do a lot with that information.
He leaned back and stretched his long legs under table, purposely trapping her legs between his for a moment. “Oh, sorry about that,” he feigned innocence and pulled his legs back under his own chair. Megan squirmed just a little bit and he tried hard not to smile. Gotcha.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said quickly. This might be the most action I’ll get all year, she thought.
She finally decided that she had to ask a few of the questions scrambling around in her brain if she had any hopes of solving this case. She clicked her pen and stared pointedly at Gabriel. “How long have you and Charlotte been seeing each other?”
Gabriel flashed that wolfish smile at her again. “I wouldn’t say we were ‘seeing each other’ he stated. It was purely physical, and I’d say about a month or so,” he said, noting how uncomfortable she looked as he spoke. It was almost fun.
“Great,” she murmured. “And did her husband know?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t think so; I never asked and she never said. I mean, we didn’t do much talking.” Now she was fidgeting in her seat. It was all he could do not to reach out and tug on a fistful of her thick hair. He briefly wondered what it would feel like wrapped around his hand while she knelt in front of him.
Megan nodded. “Right,” she said, looking miserable.
He decided to put her out of her misery. “Charlotte and I had a lot of fun together. It wasn’t serious and I don’t believe her husband knew. We didn’t have a fight and I promise you that I had nothing to do with her disappearance. Does that help you?” he asked, leaning forward.
Megan considered him for a moment before nodding her head. “I guess so,” she said. He seemed to have all the right answers, which left her with absolutely dick in the leads department. She was back to square friggin’ one. She might as well get ready to go back on patrol.
***
A frustrated yell made its way out of Megan’s throat and she kicked the beanbag that sat next to the couch in her apartment. “Where do I go with this now? Charlotte is still missing, and Chief will demote my ass without a doubt.”
She was missing something, she had to be. Gabriel had told her that things with Charlotte hadn’t gone south and that he hadn’t had anything to do with her disappearance. Was it really that simple though? Her cop instinct told her that he was telling her the truth; or was it wishful thinking? Did she simply want to believe him because he was hot?
Chapter 5
“Do you think this is progress? Cutesy lunch dates on the department’s dime?” Chief Cole snapped, as Megan sat down across from him.
Shit, I should have closed the door, she thought. She composed herself, crossing her legs and speaking slowly. “Chief, what else can I do? I’m looking all over for clues, Mr. Geroux was my last solid interview.”
Chief Cole snorted and half turned in his chair. “Hand me a cola, will you?”
Megan frantically nodded and scrambled up to the Chief’s mini fridge. She slid him the cola and once he popped the straw holder off he said, “Okay, who were the last people to see Charlotte?”
She toyed with her split ends as she said, “Gabriel and Allen West from the LA Note.”
Chief Cole slurped his cola. “Alright, then. What did you get from those two?”
“Well West said that she was on time and polite and nothing seemed like it was out of the ordinary. Security cameras saw her enter and leave the building alone. They also saw West enter at 6:30 am and he didn’t come back out until almost seven that night.”
The chief nodded. “And Geroux? What was his story?”
Megan cleared her throat. She was almost hesitant to tell the chief that Gabriel and Charlotte had been having an affair. She knew Chief Cole would grab onto that like a dog with a bone; like she should be doing. “Well, according to him, he and Charlotte have been sleeping together for the past month and-”
“Wait, what?” Cole nearly yelled. “The boss tells you they’ve been having an affair with the missing woman and you aren’t crawling up his ass with a flashlight and a microscope? You know that is usually the first person you look at!” He shook his head as if he was disgusted with her.
Megan mentally cringed. “I know that’s typically the first person we suspect, but I honestly don’t think he had anything to do with this.”
The chief fixed her with his grey gaze. “And why is that?”
Megan gulped, knowing how he was going to react to her answer. “Because he told me he didn’t.”
Chief Cole snorted and slapped his meaty hands on his desk, causing some of the cola to spill from the can. “Oh well then we should probably call lock up because we have a lot of perps down there that said they didn’t do it. We should probably let them all go,” he said derisively.
Megan got up, her cheeks burning red and her temper nearly as hot. She stormed out of the chief’s office and grabbed her purse and gun from her desk. She was more determined than ever to prove herself with this case.
She walked down the block to the coffee shop and plopped into a chair. It was quiet and she would be able to type out her notes without the chief breathing down her neck.
She opened up her laptop and began searching through what she already had saved, trying desperately to find something that she had missed. Nearly an hour had passed and she had come up with nothing.
Maybe the chief is right. Maybe I am all wrong for this job, she thought, feeling defeated.
She blew on her coffee and typed with the hand that wasn’t grasping the handle of orange coffee mug. She looked up from her hot drink and glimpsed Gabriel’s tall form coming through the doorway.
He said hello to the waiter and walked toward a table. She was prepared to offer a polite smile if he noticed her, but upon seeing her, he stopped walking and called out to the waiter, “I’ll be sitting here!”
He borrowed a chair from another table and sat opposite her. “Good afternoon, Detective Lowe.”
She waved a hand at him as she gulped more coffee. “Call me Megan. I’m not here in an official capacity.”
He nodded. “Alright, then. Are you working on Charlotte’s case?”
“I am. I’m just putting all of my notes together for an official report. “
“Ah.” He toyed with the menu. “Are you making any headway?”
There was no way in hell she was going to tell him just how much she sucked at her job. Instead, she hid behind the department’s official line. “I can’t really comment on an ongoing investigation,” she said, trying to sound as official as she could. She knew if he pressed her, she would break. He stared at her long enough to make her squirm in her seat again. “Can you at least tell me if I’m a suspect?” he asked, innocently.
She stirred her coffee. “I’m not ready to rule anyone out just yet,” she said vaguely.
“If that is the case, why are we pretending to chat like old pals?”
“You sat here, Mr. Geroux.”
“I’m Mr. Geroux, again?” Gabriel was not at all pleased that she had switched back into cop mode with him. He wanted to keep her on her toes. “Megan, did you come here hoping that I might find you? That I might say hello, and even sit down like I am right now?”
Maybe. “I came to type my notes.”
“Are you sure about that? Because I’ve been coming to this place for at least two years and I’ve never seen you in here before this case. And trust me, I would’ve noticed you,” he said flirtatiously.
Megan felt the heat creeping up the sides of her neck. Had she subconsciously come here in the hopes of seeing him? If so, what did that mean?
I’ve got her, Gabriel thought to himself as he watched her internal struggle from the across the table.
***
Megan’s thighs clenched around Gabriel’s waist as they all but knocked down the front door to his condo. He gently nipped at her neck and she groaned as he directed them to the bedroom.
Tossing her on the bed, he unbuttoned his silk shirt. He freed his shoulders and chest and Megan moaned again at the sight of him. His fingers snuck underneath her T shirt and he pulled it over her breasts, and then over her head. She was left sitting on his bed in her hot pink D cup. Her chest heaved and her mind raced.
“Fuck me before I change my mind,” she growled. Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck and she pulled him closer.
Gabriel chuckled and flipped her onto her stomach. The cool silk sheets felt like heaven on Megan’s skin.
“You are not in charge in this room, Detective,” he mumbled wickedly, as he nipped at her ear lobe and continued to bite her down her neck, her shoulder blades, and finally the inside of her thighs, and the round curve of her ass.
His hands ran over Megan’s bronzed skin, and his tongue teased her pussy. She cried out, and started to squirm away. Gabriel slipped his arms underneath her knees and held in her place as he licked the inside of her lips, and ran his tongue along her clit with care. She trembled in his grip and whispered, “Please.”
He delivered a swift slap to her ass and the skin turned pink. “You are not in control, here I said. I decide when you are fucked, how you are fucked, and when you get to come. Is that clear?” he asked.
She barely had time to answer when he dove back in, his tongue working her into a frenzy. She bucked and moaned against him, but when she was just about the trip over the edge, Gabriel pulled back.
She glared at him as if she had suffered a betrayal. She heard the clink of his belt buckle as he undid his pants. He rubbed his rock hard cock against her through his briefs and Megan had never felt so hungry for sex in her life. The few men she had been with had always made the experience a brief one.
He pulled his throbbing member out of his briefs and slid it inside of her with little effort. She was slick from their fun, and when he bucked his hips into her, their flesh smacked together
He thrust deeply, and Megan squeezed her eyes shut as he rammed into her G-spot with each pump. He reached around pinched her nipples, causing her to cry out in a mixture of pleasure and pain.
“Uh uh uh, not yet,” he said, pulling out before she could come and flipping her onto her back.
He straddled her shoulders so that his hot, musky cock fell in front of her face and he stared down at her. “Don’t pretend that you haven’t wanted to try this since we met. I’ve seen you eye-fucking me, Megan. Go ahead, taste it.”
Her pussy pulsed as he pumped his hips toward her face. “Suck it. I want you to try and take the whole thing in your mouth.”
Her eyes examined him as she slid her mouth over his cock. He groaned as she pumped her head along, letting her lips form a perfect “o” as she slid them to the base of his cock and back to the tip. Her fingernails left small impressions on his ass as she squeezed it. She sucked heartily, coaxing a few drops from his tip. She savored the taste of him on her tongue.
His hand forced the back of her head down, insisting that she keep at it. She let his cock fall out of her mouth, and suctioned onto one of his balls. Gabriel moaned in pleasure.
He reached back and his fingers grazed her asshole but wandered back up as she urged him onto his back. He relaxed, and allowed her some control as she thrust a toned leg over him and mounted his cock.
They both cried out as she bounced on him. She swirled her hips, and tossed her head back as she ground out her need on him. She groaned at the feeling of their closeness, the way her patch of hair rubbed against his.
He gripped her ass, one hand on each cheek and he spread it open. She gasped as he kept it open as he lifted his up and into her. He favored a slower motion as they both climaxed, and his hips idly pumped into her, already spent, but still wanting the moment.
Megan collapsed on top of him. I want to wake up with him still inside me tomorrow. Just so I know that this was real.
He grinned at her and kissed her shoulder.
She ran her hands along him, and along his sheets just as Charlotte may have done only a week ago.
Chapter 6
Megan propped her feet up on the cheap and rotting wood of the coffee table. She massaged the back of her neck with her fingertips. The last couple of days had been hell. She had interrogated the kid that worked at the notary the morning that Charlotte went missing and hunted down all of Charlotte’s direct relatives that for ideas on anyone that might have held a grudge against her.
Both inquiries returned nothing.
I could ask for the keys to my old patrol car before he asks me to clean out my desk. Maybe that shows initiative, she thought miserably.
The TV was mute in front of her and her phone had been as well.
Maybe Gabriel has been in meetings all day, she thought. Another addition to the list of reasons that Megan was ready to slam her badge down on Chief Cole’s desk. It was generally frowned upon to fuck the man that should be the prime suspect. She was almost disappointed in herself for giving her body over to her urges. Almost.
Megan massaged her scalp and a sense of dread settled over her. She was going to make a royal mess of her career before it even got started. Fuck.
She tapped the screen on her phone and it reported that the current time was 5:45 PM.
She locked up her place and drove the five blocks to the police station. She checked in with the guys at security and jogged up the stairs to her department.
Georgina was packing up for the day, her tangerine-colored purse hanging from her folded arm as she collected her coffee mug to bring it back to work tomorrow.
“Hey, Georgina,” Megan mumbled, sliding her chair out and frowning at the sticky residue that her fingers collected from her desk.
Georgina paused and examined Megan. “What’s wrong?”
Megan opened her laptop and sighed. “I just have a lot of work to do. I really wanted to do well on my first case as a detective.”
“Wanted?” Georgina echoed.
“It doesn’t look like this is going to happen for me.” Megan swallowed a sob as Georgina set her things down and sat down in her chair. She wheeled herself next to Megan. “Hey, you’re going to figure this out. It sucks that you were given such a bitch of a case for your first one.”
“I asked for this.”
“I’m assuming that you wanted to prove yourself to Chief? So you took the first case you could?”
Megan nodded and Georgina giggled. “I’ll throw you a bone I thought you might find yourself.”
Georgina pulled out her phone and opened up to Woohoo! News. One of the stories on the rotating slideshow was a woman with hazelnut curls and striking bone structure on the front page, posing next to a renowned makeup blogger.
The words snagged in Megan’s throat, and her temples pulsed. That bitch. “There is no way that’s her!”
Georgina held up a finger and her opposite hand tapped the screen on the phone and went straight to the Woohoo! Engine. She typed in ‘Charlotte Mortez, images’. Megan held her breath that a redhead would appear but the same face appeared on Charlotte’s JoinedIn profile.
“How is this possible?”
“Don’t panic. I thought you knew because you had Woohoo! email. You’re right, she’s still pretty unreachable but this is a huge clue. You could show it to Chief and he’ll think you made progress?” The phone buzzed and a message appeared at the top of the screen.
Georgina smiled and squeezed Megan’s shoulders. “Julie is waiting for me. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow, thank you so much!” Megan called after her. She would owe Georgina big for a long time.
Georgina’s heels went clicking away and down the stairs to the lobby. Megan shook her laptop out of sleep mode and went to the Woohoo! Home page. The story was still on the rotating slideshow.
‘Miranda Kelli offers makeup advice on the go!’ She clicked on it and the screen sent her to a different site with the same photo. It was meant to be like a selfie, only showing their faces with no possible way to extract a hint as to where they were.
The article read:
I have NO time for makeup at five-thirty in the morning before I head to CrossFit. So after I wash my face, I use a light foundation from Portia Cosmetics and a matte lipstick and I’m out the door! Good enough for the gym, right? I wish that I could roll out of bed and look like my friend, Charlotte, but life isn’t always fair. I just don’t understand how her curls survive in North Carolina humidity and a CrossFit workout!
North Carolina? Megan had checked all of Charlotte’s bank accounts and had found no purchases. She had literally left no clues as to where she was until her make-up guru friend had outted her on social media. She scanned the screen and saw comments from excited women.
“Charlotte is so pretty!”
“Will the foundation make me break out? I have sensitive skin.”
Megan gasped as a response from Miranda was underneath the comment. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Hey, Miranda. What can I do to make my skin look like Charlotte’s? Is she going to be a guest blogger?
I hope this works, Megan thought.
Her phone buzzed and a text from Gabriel was on the screen.
Are you able to come over tonight?
Megan sighed; it had been fun while it lasted. Probably not. I might have found Charlotte. I think that she’s hiding out in North Carolina.”
A noise similar to water dropping in an overflowing sink sounded and Megan looked at the screen. Miranda had written: She’s not much of a blogger, actually, she’s super mad that I posted her gorgeous face on here, lol.
Megan typed back, Can I at least see what her going-out style is like? I need a good look for this club my sister and I want to go to.
She called Gabriel. His voice was like silk on the opposite end. “Hey, there. Just lying here, alone. It would be nice to fuck- I mean, see you.”
Megan couldn’t help but giggle. “Of course it would be. Put it in your pants, though. I might be bringing your adulteress home soon. She’s in North Carolina with a makeup blogger named Miranda Kelli.”
“She always watched her videos but I had no idea that they knew each other,” Gabriel said.
The website alerted her to another response.
“Apparently, no one did. Her husband didn’t even mention it when I asked if she knew anyone out of state she might have gone to if she were in trouble.”
Megan scrolled back to her comment conversation with Miranda and the newest comment slowly loaded a photo of Miranda and Charlotte dressed up for a night out. They stood in front of a tall brick building, and just over Miranda’s shoulder was a sign for a pizzeria. The Last Slice.
Gotcha, you sneaky bitch.
Megan grinned and said in to her phone, “I’m an open-minded woman. Would you like to drive to North Carolina to retrieve your girlfriend with me? I’ve got a point to prove to my chief.”
“I’ll rent a car and handle all of the expenses. See you tomorrow morning.” Gabriel hung up, and Megan put her phone in her pocket.
She gathered her laptop and her notes, her shoulders relaxed and her headache waning but questions rang in her ears.
Charlotte, who are you hiding from?
Chapter 7
“Ahh,” Megan hummed as Gabriel spelled the alphabet onto her clit. Her silky locks spilled over the soft hotel pillow as she arched her back and roughly grabbed onto his hair. He chuckled into her pussy and she bit her lip. I don’t need the hotel staff sniffing around here about a noise complaint.
Gabriel snagged Megan’s wrist and said, “If you keep grabbing my hair like that I’m not going to have any left. No one wants to be set up with someone by a patchy bald guy.”
He punctuated that by crossing flicking his tongue over her clit once again. She shuddered and smacked him on the shoulder. “How are we going to find Charlotte if you’ve got me like this all morning? Its past seven I want to get to the-,’
She gasped, as her pussy clenched and her orgasm rolled out the first wave. Gabriel pulled his face out of her crotch and sleepily licked his lips. “Okay. Do you want to get dressed and grab a bite then?”
Megan rolled a quiet laugh off of her tongue. “That wouldn’t be fair. I’ve had my fun, but you haven’t.” She slid away from him and rolled over. She sat up and arranged herself over his briefs.
Gabriel smirked and leaned back on his elbows. She shimmied his briefs over his hips, his thighs, and then tossed them into a corner.
“I hope I can find those later.” Gabriel threw his head back as the warmth of Megan’s tongue spread throughout his whole body. Her lips grazed the side of his shaft as she suctioned his entire length.
He moaned softly and quietly as she swirled her tongue around the tip of his cock. He ground his hips into her mouth and her lips grazed the soft hair at the base as she took him as deep as she could.
“This won’t do,” he said, in between shallow breaths.
“Huh?” Megan replied.
His fingers got tangled in a bundle of her hair, and he pulled her off of him. He got on his knees behind her and plunged his cock deep into her pussy.
Megan couldn’t help the scream that erupted from deep in her throat. Or the next one, as he pounded into her. Her eyes frantically searched for something to stabilize her, anything she could grab onto. She bounced around as he fucked her, her thighs smacked into his ass he groaned.
Megan settled for a part of the bedding that was crumpled, and stuffed part of the peach hued sheets into her mouth. Her pussy and thighs twitched as Gabriel mercilessly slammed into her G-spot.
She clenched tighter around him and his fingernails dug into her cheeks. The sound of his palm slapping against her ass rang throughout the hotel room. He sighed as he finished inside of her.
“Now we can get the day started.”
It was an awfully hot day in Greensboro. Megan and Gabriel moved through the crowded sidewalks once they parked in the precinct’s parking lot. Megan opted for a pair of denim shorts along with a lime colored blouse, her badge tucked into the back pocket of her shorts. Gabriel admired her perfect ass as he shrugged off his jacket to reveal a solid black v-neck.
They climbed the steps and Megan pushed the doors open, nodding at a patrol officer that was heading out. He gave her ass and cleavage an appreciative glance. She approached the front desk and the woman’s fingers kept pecking at the keyboard for five minutes before she acknowledged Megan.
“Yes?” She rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her caramel-scented coffee. “What do you need, Miss?” she asked, more insistent.
Megan took her badge out of her back pocket and put it in the officer’s face. “I’m a Detective, from LA. I’m working on a missing person’s case; her name is Charlotte Mortez. She’s the head of advertising from LoveConnect.”
The woman stared at Megan blankly. “Is that Gabriel Geroux behind you?”
“What? Yes, it is. He’s her boss and he’s very concerned- I need information on Miranda Kelli because she might be staying with her.”
“Do you know all of the nation’s relevant famous people?”
“Miss, focus. I would really love it if you ran her name through the system and pulled up her last address.”
The officer scoffed and curled her lip up at Megan in a sneer. “Brings in the country’s most handsome bachelor and wants to put me to work, I don’t understand people nowadays,” she mumbled, as she got up and walked over to a different terminal.
Megan grinned at Gabriel. “I didn’t know that you were famous.”
“Only a little. I think there’s a picture of me on the LoveConnect website so I think most single women know who I am.”
“I didn’t.”
Gabriel scoffed. “Like you would need to be on a matchmaking site.”
The woman came back and slammed a manila folder down on the desk. “This is Miranda Kelli’s file. She’s been arrested once- intoxication in public. This is the address listed when she was arrested.”
Megan sighed and flashed the officer a wide smile. “Thank you so much!”
“Yeah, whatever.”
***
Gabriel opened the car door and they approached a high-end apartment. Gabriel nodded at the doorman and he nudged Megan. “This is a pretty good neighborhood.”
Megan rolled her eyes as she pushed the bar on the glass door. “Why did you expect it not to be? She’s a famous makeup blogger who probably sells high end makeup for all of the big companies.”
Gabriel pressed the up button on the elevator and stuck one arm out to rub Megan’s shoulders. “Are you excited? You’re about to solve your first big case.”
She shrugged his arm off of her. “I’m about to bring your girlfriend home, stop touching me.”
They got on the elevator and the smell of potpourri permeated the box. They rode up, and it opened on the tenth floor. Before they could step out, Gabriel grabbed Megan’s arm.
“I told you, she isn’t my girlfriend,” he said defensively.
Megan took a deep breath and nodded as they walked down the hall to apartment 1014. She knocked on the door and but didn’t hear anyone stirring on the other side. She peered down the hall but it was vacant.
Suddenly, the door swung open and a woman stood in front of them. She was wearing an apricot-colored robe and her hazelnut hair hung in stringy, wet, pieces around her shoulders. Her eyes grew big as saucers as she scanned the expressions of Gabriel and Megan.
“What? How did you…?”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “You’re a missing person, Charlotte. I thought you would have figured that by now.”
Megan shook her head clear and held up her badge. “I’m Detective Lowe. I was assigned your case, and it looks like I’ve found you. Unharmed. Do you just like wasting LAPD’s time? Not to mention scaring the shit out of your husband?”
Charlotte grimaced. “This is a predicament.”
“It’s a bit more than that, Miss.” Megan said, raising her voice.
Gabriel stared in silence. Miranda poked her head over Charlotte’s shoulder. “Hey, Charlotte, are these your friends? You have to let me know if you’re going to have friends over. Why is she holding a badge?”
“I’m a Detective, and I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on here.”
Miranda slapped Charlotte on the shoulder, which elicited a yelp from Charlotte. “Well, invite them in. I’ll set out some coffee.”
They made their way through a narrow hallway that opened up to an extravagantly decorated living room. Megan and Gabriel sat on a long white sofa, and Miranda rushed up to them and offered them mugs of coffee.
She sat on the other end of the couch. “Why are you guys looking for Charlotte?” she asked.
“I’ve been working Charlotte’s case for about a week now, trying to figure out if she’s been murdered or kidnapped. Gabriel went to the police when she went missing, and her husband hasn’t eaten in damn near a week, he’s been so worried.”
Miranda looked shocked. “Jesus! If I’d have known- She stopped by a few days ago to hang out, but I see that she didn’t bother to tell anyone. She said she got time off of work.”
Gabriel said, “No. She didn’t, she just went missing after I sent her to the notary.”
“No, I went missing after you slept with me.” Charlotte walked back into the room and was dressed in jeans and a dark shirt. Megan shifted on the couch and Charlotte crossed her arms.
“You woke up like nothing had happened and started barking orders at me,” she said, sounding wounded.
Gabriel’s voice was thick with frustration. “I am your boss.”
“You let me think it was more! At first I thought it would be fun to fuck the boss, mess around a little because Lewis is always busy. Then I went ahead and I fell in love with you. Talk about stupid. I wanted to leave Lewis for you, but Tuesday morning I realized that I would never be more than a good time piece of ass. I needed some space to breathe and figure my shit out.”
Megan and Miranda shifted glances toward Gabriel. His lips were sealed. Charlotte started pacing in front of them. “I’m flattered that you got a detective to come looking for me. I was thinking that my life was such a mess. My husband is never around; he only focuses on work and his dog to avoid what’s going on with us. I have a successful career that I’ve risked by falling in love with the man that literally signs my paychecks. So, after I went to the notary and got those documents notarized, I pawned my wedding ring and rented a car. Miranda was the first person I thought to visit.”
“It would have been nice to know that a crisis is what made you land on my doorstep,” Miranda mumbled.
“Are you going to resign, then?” Gabriel asked.
Charlotte scoffed. “Always worried about business. I’m going to have to because I took all of the advertising plans that I was working on and sold them to another matchmaking company.”
The skin on Gabriel’s neck and face turned dark red as he jumped to his feet. “How could you do that?” he roared.
“Don’t you dare scream at me, Gabriel. Not after what you did. How could you pretend not to notice how I felt? Why do you have to fuck everyone around you?” She thrust a finger at Megan. “Is he fucking you too? Has he made you feel safe and better about your mess of a life?” Charlotte’s throat was hoarse as she yelled. “Watch. He’ll abandon your plain ass after this case is sealed. Well, it looks like you found me, Detective.”
She pointed at Gabriel. “Look, her work thing is over. You can leave now, Gabriel. This poor fool has served your purpose, now you can kick her out like you did me.”
“You’re insane!”
“Because of you!” she shrieked and she stomped into the kitchen. Megan swore as her muscles tensed, sensing that this was going to take an even uglier turn. Why did I leave my pistol in the car’
Miranda started to rise off of the couch and called after Charlotte. “Charlotte?! Oh my God, Charlotte! What are you doing?”
Charlotte came charging back in with what had to be the world’s largest wine bottle. She bent her knees and slammed it on the dining room table. Shards went flying and the wine exploded all over the carpet. Miranda screeched and Gabriel covered her from flying glass. Megan jumped to her feet.
“Get on the ground, Charlotte.”
“Fuck you! You’re screwing him, you’ve been enjoying it too. I can see it!” she hissed.
“Put the bottle down, now! You don’t want to waste a quarter of your life over some dickhead who screwed you over. You said yourself, he’s not worth it,” she tried reasoning with the distraught woman.Charlotte released a battle cry and held the sharp pieces of what remained of the wine bottle in her bloodied hand. “Get out of the way. This is between me and Gabriel.”
“I said put the glass down and give it up! So far you haven’t injured anyone; you can resign from your job at LoveConnect and live here with Miranda if that’s what you want. You’re not in trouble just yet.”
“I told you to shut up!” Charlotte barked, and she charged Megan. Megan steadied herself and delivered a perfect clothesline. Charlotte fell on her back but snagged Megan’s leg. They wrestled, with Charlotte screaming and Megan shouting, “You are under arrest! You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say or do can be used-”
Megan took a hard elbow to the jaw and spit in Charlotte’s face. Charlotte plunged a shard of the wine bottle into Megan’s abdomen.
Miranda was in hysterics. ”Oh my God! Charlotte, what did you do? What did you do?” she screamed.
Gabriel took out his phone and dialed 911. “Hi, I’m going to need an ambulance and some police. An officer has been injured, and our attacker hasn’t been subdued. Please come fast.”
Megan took in the biggest and most painful gulp of air she could. Adrenaline surged through her as she sent her fist into the center of Charlotte’s throat. Charlotte coughed and struggled to catch her breath. Megan grabbed a handful of hair and pulled as hard as she could. Charlotte tumbled off of her and Megan straddled her. Her hands sought out Charlotte’s throat as the dark red stain on her blouse tripled in size.
“Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, the court will appoint one to you.”
Charlotte gasped for air and Miranda howled, “She’s killing her!”
Gabriel restrained her as she tried to jump in the middle of it. He could hear sirens faintly and tightened his hold on Miranda.
Charlotte’s limbs went limp and her eyes shut.
Megan stood up and announced, “I need to get my handcuffs and gun. I don’t know how long I have before she wakes up. You two are witnesses. She was read her rights. She attacked me, and she’s going to go away for a very long time.”
She pressed on the wound on her stomach with the flat of her palm. Gabriel released Miranda and she darted to Charlotte, frantically checking for a pulse.
“Oh my God, Charlotte. I didn’t know that you needed help,” she sobbed.
“Let me get your handcuffs and gun, you’re hurt.”
The pain was starting win over but she still had a job to do. “I’m fine.”
The door flew open and three uniformed officers came in, guns out. Megan collapsed on the sofa, and flashed her badge. She pointed a leg in Charlotte’s direction. “That’s your suspect. She’s been read her rights. She tried to attack me. She’s a missing person’s case from my jurisdiction in L.A.”
The officers swarmed around Charlotte and Megan sleepily said, “Thank God you’re here.”
It sounded like she heard Gabriel’s calling out from deep underwater.
Chapter 8
The judge was impatient. He looked back and forth between Noel, the city’s best criminal defense lawyer, and the plaintiff’s representation, the City of Los Angeles. Sonia King represented the City. She took a breath, one that should have smoothed out the wrinkles on her face and released some of the obvious tension she felt. Her case had made national headlines over the past two weeks. High profile news sites and gossip blogs flocked to the story; a prominent LA business figure, a sociopath, and an officer injured on the job.
“Mrs. King, are you ready to present the evidence you mentioned?”
She nodded and stepped forward, her black hair piled on top of her head in a court appropriate bun. She walked a manila envelope to the judge and announced to the court, “Charlotte Mortez attacked Detective Lowe upon Miss Lowe’s attempt to restrain her once she became violent toward Gabriel Geroux. The following is a complete report from Los Angeles Central Hospital of Miss Lowe’s injuries. It’s not a question of if Mrs. Mortez should serve time, it’s a question of how long.”
The judge studied the material, and nodded. “Does the defense have anything to add?”
Noel smoothed the lapel of his suit. “I do, your honor. I don’t feel that we should punish a woman with a severe mental illness. Based on the events that occurred on June 18th, 2015, it’s clear that Miss Mortez is in no way in her right mind.”
“She’s a sociopath, of course she isn’t,” Sonia spat.
“Mrs. King,” the judge warned.
“Your honor, upon Mrs. Mortez’s mental health evaluation it was revealed that she is a borderline.” Noel turned around and asked the court. “Is anyone familiar with borderline personality disorder? How hard it must be to be that stable with little to no help?”
“Your honor, Mrs. Mortez was a successful advertising giant with a salary well over six figures. If she didn’t have appropriate mental care, it’s because she didn’t seek it because she considers her disorder an advantage,” Sonia interjected.
“In what sense is a mental disorder an advantage? I’m suggesting that because of her mental handicap that my client serve no time in a correctional facility but an extensive stay in a mental health facility of the City’s choosing, where she can receive proper mental care. We request three years of inpatient mental health care.”
Charlotte looked between Sonia, the judge, and Noel through a mess of frizzy hair. She flexed her fingers; tiny one inch long scars decorated every digit.
Judge Howard sighed as Sonia went on to say, “The defendant methodically grabbed a bottle, broke it, and attacked a police officer. That does not warrant a free stay in an asylum. She can receive counseling in prison.”
“I believe that Mrs. King is insensitive to the plight of the mentally unstable, and therefore cannot aptly judge whether or not someone who commits a crime because of their mental illness should be punished. I’m not saying that my client should walk, she assaulted an officer but I think that the court should show some empathy. It’s 2015, and I believe that with proper rehabilitation, Mrs. Mortez can rejoin society.”
“What would be the course of treatment at the mental health facility?”
Gabriel ran his hands throughout his hair. He gripped the bench in front of him as the people around him started to murmur. Shit
“Course of treatment would be three months of a second evaluation, six months to a year of medication trials, and an additional year of talk therapy.”
“The ruling is in favor of the defendant. Charlotte Mortez is sentenced to two years in a mental health facility of the City’s choosing, and a final evaluation upon the end of the two year term to verify that Mrs. Mortez is ready to rejoin society. If she is not, then she will be sentenced to fifteen years in prison without the possibility of parole.”
He slammed his gavel down on the wood and Sonia stormed out of the courtroom in a fury of foul language. Charlotte embraced Noel, and whispered in his ear, “You’ll visit me? You’ll be there when I get out?”
He stroked her back, murmuring, “Of course.”
Gabriel sighed . Megan is not going to be happy to hear this. At least Charlotte we’ll be off of the street for two years. He nodded to some socialites that were watching in the courtroom as he left. Gabriel’s grey loafers pounded the steps from the courthouse and half-jogged to his car.
He pulled out into traffic and thought about the events of the past few months. He couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit bad for Charlotte, knowing that his lack of feelings had pushed her to her breaking point. His sympathy only went so far though. She had hurt someone he’d come to care an awful lot about.
He turned onto Megan’s street and couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach. Somewhere along the way, he had fallen for the tough little detective. All he wanted was to be by her side and help her recover from the mess he’d helped cause.
He knocked on her door and she answered, leaning against the frame and looked a little pale. He stepped in and quickly lifted her off of her feet, carrying her into the living room.
She slapped at his shoulder. “Oh for fuck’s sake, put me down. I’m not an invalid,” she said.
He deposited her on the couch and sat next to her, pulling her legs into his lap. “I know you’re not, but I want to take care of you. Would you just let me?”
Megan looked at him and smiled. “Ok, I guess so,” she acquiesced.
Gabriel sat quietly, tracing his finger around her ankle, and staring absently at the muted television.
“You seem like there’s something on your mind,” she said, nudging him to get his attention.
He smiled and said, “Well, I’m a little shaken up. You were almost killed.”
“I’m a cop, I signed up for that.”
“Well I’m not a cop and I didn’t sign up for it. I just came back from the hearing.”
Megan sighed and rolled her eyes. “It was on the news, I couldn’t bother with watching it. It doesn’t take the stitches out of my belly, or take back these last few weeks. On the bright side, Chief has promised to never doubt me again. He said that I had huge balls to take on a case like this for my first one as Detective, and I fought an insane person that I was supposed to be rescuing.”
Gabriel enjoyed a real laugh and tweaked one of her toes. “You did. You even read her rights in between kicking the shit out of her.”
“Two things, she’s freakishly strong and it pays to be a uniformed officer before you can be a Detective. That’s real life.”
“Well, Detective Lowe, when are you going back to work?”
She rubbed the back of her neck “I’d say another couple of weeks.”
“I think you should take another month off.”
“You know, my salary is pretty good but it’s not owner of an online matchmaking service good. I have to, and want to, go back to work in a couple of weeks. Two more weeks is plenty.”
“After what you experienced, I’d be happy to support you.” He stroked one of her legs.
“Absolutely not. I have more crazies to catch. However, will you tell me what the verdict was?”
Gabriel chewed on his lip. “Two years in a mental health facility, and if she’s not more or less fit to rejoin society, she’s going away for fifteen years without parole.”
Megan whistled. “See? Everything’s fine. It’s safe.”
Gabriel slid from under her feet and kneeled in front of her at the head of the couch. He grabbed her face in both of his hands and said, “We don’t have to worry about her attacking you. We’re more than safe to be together.”
Megan’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Oh my God, you’re serious. You still want to do this, whatever the hell this is?” Gabriel gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “Yeah, I want to do whatever the hell this is. I would love it if you gave me a chance to not be a dirtbag.”
Megan guffawed. “You’re not a dirtbag, maybe a little bit of a playboy, but not a dirtbag.”
He played with her curls, having been shaken out of their routine the two weeks that Megan was in the hospital, it had become curlier than he had imagined it would be.
“Okay. Let’s give it a shot, let’s see if we can be a normal couple.” She swung her legs out and patted the space on the sofa next to her. Gabriel smiled and sat next to her, thankful that she saw in him what no one else ever had.
THE END