Missing Read online

  I frowned. What the hell had I done now?

  Sighing, I got to my feet and headed into the captain’s office. “As of tomorrow, I’m reassigning you to a patrol unit.”

  I blinked several times and finally decided I hadn’t heard him right. “Patrol?” I echoed, as if I’d never heard the word before. “Did somebody di--quit?” I added, abruptly feeling like a bird of carrion myself. Something besides just paperwork? A raise?

  “Peterson transferred out. We’ve got a new rooky. You’ll be partnering with him.”

  I stared at him. Two rookies together? I might have been on the job a year and a half, but I hadn’t driven anything but a desk. They must be seriously short on patrol units. “When?” I asked, hardly able to control my excitement.

  “Tomorrow. Be on time, Cavenaugh.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  My concentration was totally shot after that. I realized I hadn’t asked him what shift I was going to be working. I’d have to find out if it was going to create problems with the agency. I didn’t think it would, but one never knew.

  I glanced at the clock and saw it was nearing the end of my shift. If I didn’t kick it into high gear, I was going to be stuck finishing the reports and I needed to check in with Bill to find out what had happened the night before.

  Now that I thought about it, I’d been so wrapped up in all the fun I was having the night before it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder why my backup had never arrived. True, I’d been with Jerico, but he hadn’t checked in and my link had gone dead. Why hadn’t they burst in to see what was going on?

  I dismissed it, realizing Jerico must have checked in at some point, otherwise they would have.

  Chapter Three

  “Where the hell have you been?” Bill roared, leaping up from his desk and looking like he was about to have a heart attack.

  My gaze went immediately to the clock on the wall behind him. “Jeeze! I’m only ten minutes late. Cut me some slack. I was late getting in to the precinct today and had paperwork backed up to my eyeballs.”

  Bill dropped into his seat like his legs had just given out. I couldn’t help but notice that he was staring at me like he’d never seen me before. His complexion looked a little nasty, too, all gray and shit. “You all right?”

  “No, I’m not fucking all right! What happened last night?”

  “Something happened?” I asked uneasily. I wasn’t about to divulge a damned thing until I knew how much he knew about what had happened the night before.

  He looked at me with that same expression, as if we were speaking two different languages and he couldn’t quite figure out what I was saying. “Sit down. Tell me what happened.”

  I sat, resisting the urge to demand that he start, so that I’d know how much I had to tell him and what I could keep to myself. I didn’t think he’d be interested in learning that I had experienced the best sex I’d ever had in my life and felt like someone who’d just spoken to god--or a god. I didn’t know what I was going to say when I saw Jerico again, but I got hot every time I thought about him. “Uh. Well, I went into the club without a hitch. When I got to the main room, I noticed stairs leading up and followed them. I saw the sign the informant told us about right off--galactic dates and mates.” I shrugged. “That’s about all there was to it, actually. No body even looked at me twice, so either the get up didn’t fool anybody, or whoever it was that disappeared the client’s daughter wasn’t there last night.”

  Bill frowned. “That was it?”

  I shifted uncomfortably. “Pretty much,” I lied. “Actually, I don’t remember getting home last night, which is the weirdest thing about the whole gig. One minute I was there, the next I woke up at home in my own bed and I was late for work.”

  “Drugs you think?”

  “I thought of that, but I didn’t drink anything and I sure as hell didn’t pop anything voluntarily.”

  He frowned. “I feel like I had a bad ‘trip’. I don’t think I’ve ever worked on a weirder case. You know, we searched every inch of that place and there wasn’t a sign of you--or anybody else for that matter.”

  I stared at him blankly. “When?”

  “Last night! Your wire went dead. We didn’t want to blow your cover, but I don’t like taking chances either. As soon as it went dead, we went in. The place was deserted.”

  I felt like I was tripping on acid. “Wait a minute. You went in? To the club?”

  “That’s what I’m telling you. We went in not thirty minutes behind you and there was nothing and I mean nothing. The place looked like it had been deserted twenty years.”

  “That’s not possible--unless you went into the wrong place. There must have been a hundred people on the dance floor alone, plus the DJ and the bar--the place was packed. No way it emptied between the time I got there and the time you did. Besides, there would’ve been all sorts of things lying around that had been left behind even if they did haul ass out the back.”

  “We went in the back.”

  I frowned. “Well, maybe that was the problem. Maybe you got the wrong door?”

  He gave me a look. “I’ve been doing this for twenty years. I don’t make that kind of mistake. I was right outside when you went in, for chrissake! How could I possibly have gotten the wrong building?”

  I frowned, trying to shake the feeling that I’d walked into the twilight zone. “Did you lose time?”

  “No, I didn’t. We searched the building from top to bottom, and then the buildings adjacent to it. I finally called the cops. You know how I feel about that--not that it helped at all. They think I’m crazy.”

  I rubbed my temples. “This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever encountered. Looking at it from a stranger’s point of view, I’d have to say that one of us was crazy. I don’t doubt what you’re saying, but I’m telling you it wasn’t like that when I went in.”

  “But you don’t remember leaving?”

  “I blacked out,” I responded reluctantly, unwilling to tell him why or how I’d blacked out.

  “Somebody clock you?” he asked, frowning.

  I shook my head. “No. I’d be in the hospital now if anybody had hit me that hard. I’ll take a blood test, if you like, but I’m telling you they’re not going to find drugs in my system.”

  We sat pondering the situation for a while, but I wasn’t any closer to figuring out what had happened and I could tell he wasn’t either. “What do you want to do now?”

  He frowned. “Mrs. Hutchins paid me half up front,” he muttered slowly.

  I knew how much he hated to part with money. I shrugged. “So, we go again.”

  To my surprise, he shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  The moment he said that I knew I was going--undercover or otherwise. I had to. Nothing like the night before had ever happened to me in my life and I wanted to know if it was real, or some kind of mental trip. “You’re going to give her the deposit back?” I asked pointedly.

  He looked unhappy. “I’ve already spent half of it on the equipment. Speaking of which--what happened to your wire?”

  Why didn’t I know that was coming? “Jerico didn’t bring it back?”

  He looked at me blankly, frowning in puzzlement. “Who’s Jerico?”

  If he’d punched me in the jaw I couldn’t have been more stunned. “The new guy? Jerico? My inside contact?” I prompted.

  He still looked blank. “I don’t know anybody named Jerico, Candy. We don’t have a new guy.”

  Ignoring the shortening of my name to Candy, which, in a general way, irritated the shit out of me, I concentrated on the important thing. It took me all of thirty minutes to convince Bill we had to try again. If we didn’t he was going to have to return the biggest part of the deposit and he didn’t want to do that in the worst kind of way.

  After we’d set up a time and place to meet, I returned to my apartment to get ready.

  I hadn’t had to pretend confusion after Bill’s last revelation and I had
n’t tried to explain. He didn’t ask. I think he was already suffering overload on the weirdness of the case himself and wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  When I had a little time to myself to think about it, however, I sat down and tried to piece the puzzle together. Deep concentration produced information I hadn’t really considered before.

  I hadn’t once met Jerico at the office or when I was with anyone else from the office.

  That explained how it was that I knew him and the boss didn’t. It didn’t explain why he’d deceived me.

  What could he possibly have to gain?

  One possibility, and only one, presented itself and it made cold shivers climb up and down my spine.

  He was the perp we were looking for, the one that had made our client’s daughter disappear.

  I examined that theory from every angle, ignoring my reluctance to accept it as even a remote possibility, but it seemed to fit and it was the only thing that seemed to fit. There was a huge flaw in it, though. He hadn’t actually done anything but fuck me six ways from Sunday and give me the best ride I’d ever had. I could see trying to distract me from my investigation, but that seemed a little excessive, particularly when I had felt no threat at all at any time--beyond the possibility that he was going to tease me and not give me my cookie.

  I was paranoid, I decided, feeling relieved. There had to be some other explanation. Maybe the boss had had a seizure or something and it had screwed up his head? It was certainly a very selective memory loss, but then there was what he’d said about the club, too. One of us obviously wasn’t playing with a full deck at the moment, and of the two, I was more inclined to lay it at his door. After all, I hadn’t not seen a hundred plus people on a dance floor. I didn’t remember getting home, but there was probably a lot more reasonable explanation for that than him bursting into a packed club and seeing no one.

  And him not remembering a new employee.

  And, just because I couldn’t remember a particular incident when I’d been around Jerico and also around Bill or Junior didn’t mean there hadn’t been any such occasion. In all honesty, from the first time I’d set eyes on Jerico, I was a goner. I couldn’t get my mind on anything else when he was around me. I could hardly concentrate on anything Jerico said to me for that matter because I absolutely loved the sound of his voice and I had the tendency to simply go into a deep trance when he spoke.

  Maybe I should talk to Junior about it and see if he’d noticed any other strange behavior by his dad?

  I meant to talk to Jerico, too. Sadly, I’d have to before I could allow any more games, because I wasn’t taking any chances that he actually was involved in that woman’s disappearance.

  I moved my car into almost the same position as I’d occupied the night before, killed the engine and waited. Ten minutes later, I saw Junior’s car come up the street and turn into the alley. I waited until he’d had time to park and cut the engine. “Junior?”

  “Yeah, come back.”

  “This wire sounds better than the one I had last night.”

  “Good, because if we lose contact again, Dad’s going to freak.”

  I stared at the building. “Maybe they’ve got some kind of equipment inside that’s blocking the signal?”

  “I didn’t see anything when we searched the place last night.”

  That comment unsettled me. I wanted to pursue it but decided to wait until ‘Dad’ wasn’t also tuned in. He hadn’t said anything, but he’d been parked on the other side of the building when I arrived. I knew he was listening.

  My body was already humming when I got out of the car. I hadn’t even tried to lie to myself this time, but I had tried my best to tamp its enthusiasm. “No cock for you tonight,” I muttered. “Bad pussy, down girl!”

  My attempt at humor lightened my mood slightly, but only slightly. Pussy wasn’t listening and neither was the rest of me. The closer I got to that door, the higher the hum. I paused when I reached the curb and glanced toward Bill, but I didn’t want to attempt a signal that might be seen and it was too dark for him to see my expression. Straightening my spine, I marched up to the door in my stiletto heeled, thigh high black leather boots.

  My fucking pistol dislodged itself from the thigh area and began slipping downward. By the time I rapped on the panel, I could feel the frigging thing wedged between my ankle and the zipper of the boot.

  Shit!

  So much for Plan A.

  Too bad I hadn’t thought of a Plan B.

  As soon as I was inside, I began to circle the dance floor. I finally located the lady’s room at the rear of the building. The window I’d hoped to find wasn’t there. The room was huge, but like a closet, containing nothing but a row of stalls and a row of lavatories.

  Irritated, I went into the last stall and struggled with the boots. I was sweating by the time I managed to wrestle the pistol out. My ankle was bruised, too. I stared at the small .22, trying to figure out a better place to hide it, but the reason I’d put it in the fucking boot to start with was because there was barely room in my clothes for me, much less a gun, however small.

  I had two options as far as I could see--try the boot again, or discard it.

  I didn’t really feel like I needed it, but I didn’t trust my instincts either. Sighing with irritation, I slipped the pistol into the inside of the boot. It was hidden better there anyway since the skirt I was wearing didn’t even reach the top of the boots and hadn’t covered the bulge.

  I used the facilities and freshened up as long as I was there anyway. About halfway through the process it occurred to me that I was being extremely conscientious about clean up for somebody that wasn’t going to get laid anyway.

  Irritated with myself, I shoved the tiny bottle of perfume back into the equally tiny purse I was carrying without using it, left the restroom, and headed for the stairs. My heart was thumping in time to the music as I crossed the mezzanine to the door that had opened me up to a whole world of pleasure I’d never even guessed had existed.

  I’d left virginity behind me years ago and without any regrets. Since then I figured I’d been a typical red blooded woman--had a few relationships, some extremely short and others shorter even than that. I’d had good sex, bad sex and god awful sex. Up until the night before I’d considered the good sex great, but now I knew that it hadn’t even come close.

  I was never, ever going to be the same again. I was going to be crushed if I discovered Jerico was my bad guy.

  Thrusting that thought aside, I pulled the door to ‘galactic dates and mates’ open and went inside. Jerico was standing at the opposite end of the hall, as if he’d been waiting for me. Despite the distance, I could see his expression change as he saw me. I saw relief, desire, welcome. I didn’t see deception, evil intent.

  Maybe I didn’t want to see that?

  Ignoring the debate in my head I walked toward him. He met me. His gaze flickered over my face in a way that made me feel more than desired. It made me feel like I was special, wanted, needed.

  I decided I was imagining it.

  “I didn’t think you’d come back,” he murmured as he leaned close and nuzzled his face against mine.

  My heart executed an odd little flutter at the comment, the intimacy and affection inherent in his actions and his scent, a mixture of cologne and man that instantly resurrected memories of the night before. The words might have been interpreted several ways. The nuances only one that I could see, and I was still skeptical. I’d found the experience shattering, soul altering, but I was a realist. For men who looked like Jerico and frequented places like this each new conquest was as thrilling to them as the last and they were always on the prowl. “Why?”

  He shook his head. “Not here.” Stepping away from me, he caught my wrist and led me to the room we’d shared the night before. The moment had arrived to execute Plan A and I wasn’t entirely sure I was up to it. My blood was pounding against my ears with more than desire when he closed the door behind me and pushed
me back against the hard panel, pressing his body tightly against me.

  The move took me completely by surprise.

  He’d kissed every square inch of my body the night before--except for my lips. I wasn’t at all prepared for the impact his kiss would have on me. The moment his lips brushed against mine, covered them hungrily, my mind, my entire body turned to pure putty and I forgot all about Plan A. His taste was like a drug entering my system. The heat of his mouth, the faintly rough texture of his tongue as it caressed mine, quickly stoked a hunger in me to match his. I stroked his body mindlessly as he stroked mine, exploring every part of him I could reach as I had not been allowed to the night before when I had been bound, learning the feel of his body with my palms and fingertips.

  It wasn’t until he finally broke the kiss that some small fragment of sanity reared its unwelcome head.

  Plan A popped into my mind as he wove a heated trail of kisses down my throat. I groped blindly for the pistol I’d stuffed into the top of my boot. The moment I shoved my hand into the damned boot, however, the pistol began its downward slide again.

  He caught my hand, turned it, cupped it over his erection. His cock was hard as rock, hot, huge. My mind immediately leapt to the feel of that hard length thrusting along my passage.

  Fuck it! I decided instantly. Plan A could wait.

  He, apparently, was in no mood to. The moment he released my hand, he gripped my hips, sliding them upward and pushing my skirt with it. Planting one hand on my ass, he slipped the other between my thighs, rubbing me lightly. Moisture immediately gathered there. Heat traveled upward from the point of touch, frying my brain and electrifying every point in between.

  Groping blindly, I managed to unfasten his pants and unzip them. The headiness of success went through me as my hand closed around the heated length of his cock. I stroked him from tip to root, dug a little deeper and stroked his balls. He grunted, released me long enough to push my hand away and disentangle his cock from his pants. Impatient, I grabbed it the moment he did so and pushed it between my thighs, clenching them tightly around it.