“Yeah, she said you’d better get your shit together.”
He dragged his ass to the shower and then brushed the booze off his breath. He wanted to be minty fresh. If he got the chance, he was going to kiss Lizzy.
19
Darek
Darek found Lizzy pacing his office, and she had an earful waiting for him when he walked in. “Where the hell have you been? We’re supposed to check into the security camera footage from the surrounding businesses today, or did you forget?”
“I didn’t forget, okay. I’m sorry. Cut me some slack.” He plopped down in his chair, and she came around to give him a nudge.
“Cut you some slack? Why should I do that?” She looked positively hot when she was angry, and he wanted to grab her and plant a deep, wet kiss on those angry lips.
“My wife left last night. She’s been cheating on me for months now.”
“I’m sorry.” Lizzy’s shoulders slumped, and she kneeled down to pat him on the back. “If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”
He leaned in and licked his lips. “How about that kiss?”
Lizzy stared and seemed to search his eyes as a slow smile spread her lips. “You’re still a married man, Darek. And I don’t kiss married men.”
The rejection burned in his balls. “I’m barely married.”
“You’re my partner, Darek. It could get weird.”
It was a fight to keep from taking her in his arms and planting one on her. “I like weird. Weird is good for me.”
“We’re on an important case.” She let go of a long breath and looked over his shoulder. He didn’t care if anyone was watching through the window behind him.
“Fine.” He turned his chair and got up, wounded and feeling like a total failure.
Max walked in and cleared his throat. “Um, we may have a problem.”
Despite the personal drama still hanging thick in the air between them, the guy had already managed to get their full attention.
Lizzy stood up and brushed off her pants. “What’s that mean? What kind of problem?”
“You’ve got to see for yourself.” He waved them out across the room and to the front counter, where April from Victory Tattoos was standing with another girl. They both wore black and appeared to have been crying.
“April?” Darek called the girl’s name as he approached. Officer Coleman turned around.
“You know this girl?”
“Yeah. April, is there something I can help you with?” Darek’s head was throbbing with pain, but he was glad to see the girl had returned.
“That’s the problem,” Max said. “She’s here with her friend to file a missing person’s report for Victor Barnes.”
Lizzy deflated, her shoulders slumping so hard Darek thought she was going to sink into the floor. “Send them in. We’ll need to question them.”
Ten minutes later, Lizzy and Darek walked into the interrogation room. Darek had questioned many people from all different walks of life in this room, but never two people so diminutive. April had seemed in much better shape the last time he’d seen her, and now, she was a fragile shadow of herself. Her crayon-red hair looked duller, especially in comparison to her red-rimmed eyes. She had replaced her black cheek piercings with ruby studs and wore a faded black dress that looked like it had seen the washer too many times.
“Hello, April,” Darek said. “Who’s your friend?”
“Lily. She’s a friend of Victor’s, too. She works with me and lives with Victor.”
“We went to his house,” Darek said. “There was no one there and no sign of anyone else living in the house.”
“I live at his warehouse,” the girl said. “It’s kind of an art studio.”
“Where he makes his collars?” Lizzy asked.
“Where he does lots of things.” The girl looked at April as if she was scared to say more.
“Go ahead, Lily. We have to tell them everything.” April rubbed Lily’s back as if to soothe her.
Darek felt for the girl, and he leaned in and spoke softly. “You can trust us, Lily. We want to find Victor, too. If you know where he went off to, we can check into it.”
She broke down in tears, and April looked up at Darek. “We really don’t know. That’s why we came to file the report. He usually tells us when he’s going to a consultation, or he tells Lily, at least. She’s his submissive.”
“How old are you, Lily?” Lizzy asked.
“Nineteen,” April said. “Same as me.”
Lizzy softened her voice. “How long have you been with your Master?”
“Three years.” The girl turned her eyes to Darek, and he knew she was scared to tell that she’d been underage when the older man had taken her as his property. He thought of Bay, and his stomach turned. “I run away from my foster home, and he’s been very good to me. He even made me finish school. He got me a home tutor, and he’s supposed to pay for my college. I’m going to be a dental assistant.”
April spoke up again. “He wouldn’t just leave her without telling her something and untying her.”
“So, why has it taken you this long to say anything?” Lizzy asked.
“Because Sir had punished me.” Lily began to cry. “I deserved it. I really did.”
April rubbed her back and then pulled her friend close. “She’s very loyal to him. I’m the one who found her and the others in the chamber down at the studio.”
“The chamber?”
“Yes, it’s a room down at the studio where Victor keeps his submissives. Usually, they are free to roam the house and live like anyone else, but Lily said the last time he’d come home, he found out someone had been in his shop where he keeps his tools and supplies. He bound Lily and left her tied to the wall, but the others, well, he’d left them caged.”
“Jesus. They’ve been down there this whole time? Why didn’t you tell us sooner, April?” The girl had lied to them that first day they’d questioned her, and it had nearly cost people their lives.
April closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I didn’t know they were there. After you left, I called and called. And eventually, I went down with Eli. We found them and convinced them something must have happened to Victor. We unbound Lily and got her rehydrated, the only thing that had saved her was the others were free and scared she’d die.”
“I thought you said they were caged. Not to mention you already lied to us once.” Darek wasn’t sure the two weren’t covering for their friend.
She shook her head. “I meant they had cages on their penises. Victor kept the keys on him. So when one of the guys tried to pick the lock, he punctured his scrotum and had to go to the ER.”
Darek cringed. “What kind of sick shit is that?”
Lizzy coughed and glared at him. “Is he all right?” she asked.
“Yes, his name is Phillip. But that’s all we knew about him. His other friend got his cage off at the hospital.”
“So, has he ever left you in that shape for days on end before?” Darek was still hostile, and his nuts hurt just thinking about poor Phillip.