Chapter Seventeen
Folded in the warmth of Levi’s oak bed, Cayden tried to work her way out of her foggy cocoon.
“We need to talk.” His lips warmed her ear.
“Hmmm.”
“Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen.”
The calloused pad of his finger caressed the tip of her nipple, causing it to harden under his touch. “Why not here?”
“Because we won’t get anything done … not with words, anyway.”
She twisted her body toward the sound of his voice, allowing his hand to slip lower.
“Come on, Ms. Young, it’s important.” Levi slid his finger over her clit. She arched her back with a shudder and moaned.
“We can pick this up later,” he said, tenderly kissing her neck before drawing his hand away.
“Few more minutes,” Cayden begged, already missing the warmth of his strong body.
“I flushed the rest of your sleeping pills down the toilet.”
The crash back down to Earth hit hard. “Of course you did,” she muttered. “Thanks, warden.”
“Ah, honey, I tried to be nice.”
She felt the strong grip of his hand around her ankle before he yanked. Her legs hung over the edge of the bed. Levi grasped her by the shoulder to make her sit up and face him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Tired.” She tried to fall back on the mattress, but he held her in place.
“We found Shana’s body together, we’ll figure this out together.”
She blinked a couple of times before she focused on his blue eyes. The heaviness that seeped into her spirit made a slight shift.
“Coffee?” she muttered.
“Get up, sexy, and I’ll make you some.”
He kissed her on the forehead before he released her body onto the bed. Falling back, she deliberated whether to go back to sleep or not.
Darkness engulfed the room, which meant Cayden missed another day. Maybe Levi had cause to be concerned after all.
She got out of bed and stepped into a cute onesie she scored from her designer friends before she met him downstairs. A coffee mug filled with chocolate drizzled whipped cream waited for her on the family, farm-style table he made. She grabbed the seat across from Levi and greedily slurped the pretty concoction.
“Ponies?” Cayden asked once the caffeine kicked in.
He used his thumb to wipe the cream off her mouth before sucking the remainder off it. “Gone.”
“My fault?”
“Not unless you stole them… Now spill.”
Buying herself a few more seconds, she put her leg up and slowly drank her coffee. “Simone said her parents hit a financial rough patch around 2002,” she started. “They were close to losing everything, and unless she did some extra work, she wouldn’t be able to stay at Chesterfield.” The hot heat of the mug warmed her hand while she found the words to continue.
“Extra work like what?”
Cayden took a deep breath and pushed it all out at once. “They thought she got a scholarship through the school, but Dale’s father would fly junior and senior girls out of the country to screw his rich friends.”
“Holy shit!”
“Diplomats, oilmen, and a couple of celebrities. It wasn’t just her having a hard time moneywise … other girls at Chesterfield were as well.”
“Shana?”
“Simone wasn’t sure but said it was possible considering Shana was a scholarship kid.”
Levi clenched his fist. “Did Dale know?”
“He recruited—”
He quickly stood, knocking his chair over.
“I’m going to kill that fu— Did he touch you?” In a flash, he was in front of her. “Did he ever touch you?”
“Levi.”
“Tell me,” he demanded before he took a ragged breath and lightened his tone. “Please.”
Cayden grazed the back of her hand over his face. “No,” she said. “I was too busy touching you.”
A slight smile curved his mouth before he softly kissed her lips. “I’m pretty sure it was the other way around.” He pulled away from her and crossed to the back door. “Give me a minute.” Splitting a high-pitched whistle, he awakened the beast. Belle’s hard toenails tippy-tapped against the floor above, and seconds later she barreled down the back stairs.
As Levi followed his dog out of the house, Cayden sipped her coffee and wondered if she should just quit and let the whole thing go.
****
After a good hour, the roaring hatred that stabbed the spot behind his eye petered out. Natural breathing techniques his doctor had taught him helped with stress. A long drive generally worked best. Levi took Belle for a run around the property in the truck, which turned into an even longer trek into town. By the time he returned to Goosebay Lake, the sun peeked above the horizon.
“Donuts!” Cayden leaned over the back-deck railing. Her breasts nearly greeted him before she did. As she made the gimmee sign for the treats, he reached in the white box and handed over her favorite—chocolate cake.
In the pursuit of the truth, he nearly forgot she had on the sexiest pair of thermal underwear he had ever seen. Pink and furry, the first button started in the middle of her chest. Levi sighed and skimmed the base line of the forest but couldn’t make out anything.
“Oh, hey, there’s one.” She waved at shadowy figure in the distance, while she munched on her doughy fried crack.
Levi made it up the stairs of the deck and tossed the white box on the patio bench.
“Want to give the hunters a show? This thing does have a back flap,” Cayden admitted.
The crotch of his pants tightened at the thought of her sexy brown ass. Blocking her in with his body, he stepped behind her. “My mother came by the house yesterday looking for you. She knows you’re using me for dick.” He moved a long curl out of his way and put his lips on her neck.
“Lydia’s known we’ve been fucking forever.”
“That’s reassuring,” he muttered. When Cayden offered the donut over her shoulder, he took a bite and let the rich chocolate melt in his mouth. “Tell me the statute of limitation has not run out on prosecuting Dale?”
“Afraid so.”
“Can we at least get him on murder?” He pressed his lips against her skin again, admiring how soft and sweet she smelled.
“First, we have to build a profile of the victim.”
“Sixteen-year-old girl most likely forced into sex trafficking by doucheface Dale Newman, check.”
“Then we follow the evidence.” Turning around in his arms, she bumped her nose against his. “Sorry.” She laughed.
Was Dale’s teenaged hard-on for Cayden merely a recruitment tactic for his dad’s jacked-up sex ring, or was he in search of the Holy Grail much like everyone else? The unanswered question rolled around in Levi’s head, bothering him.
“Shana’s sister didn’t have much in the way of keepsakes, but told me their mother put most of her stuff in storage. She gave me the key.”
“What facility?” he asked.
“Park It City Storage, it’s about twenty minutes out.”
“Yeah, I know where it is.” Cayden put the rest of the donut to his lips for him to finish it off. “Give me the key,” he said between bites.
“Ah, you want to go without me?” She twisted her lips down in a mock pout.
“No, I’ve got an idea, but I’m going to see how it plays out first.”