Julius shakes his head and waves a hand through the air. “Nah. I’m not that kind of Dom. I do have a submissive though. Abby. And she might as well be little for as naughty as she is and as often as she gets into trouble.”
“Did she come with you?” I definitely didn’t meet her last night.
“Nope. I have a polyamorous relationship. I share Abby with two other men. We all live together. In fact, the three of us lived together before we found Abby. She is a breath of fresh air, but it takes three of us to corral her,” he jokes. “She’s with Levi and Beck this morning.”
After everything I’ve learned in the past week, nothing shocks me. The man seems very happy, so lucky him.
I turn my gaze toward the doorway when Weston returns and clears his throat. “Your last guest has arrived, sir.”
Craig Darwin steps inside. Good. I should have thought of inviting him. Luckily, Roman was on top of it.
We all shake hands with Craig before Roman points toward a seating area. “Talk to us,” Roman says as we take our seats.
I run a hand over my hair. “My boss got another tip this morning about Eve.”
Everyone’s face scrunches up.
I glance at the door.
Roman stands immediately and strides over to close it. “Sorry about that. I guess you didn’t share everything with Eve yet.”
“No. I gave her the option, but advised she let me handle this for now. Nothing has changed really. She might as well play blissfully with the other girls.”
Davis nods. “Agreed.”
“What did the tipster say?” Julius asks.
“Basically that he saw her last night with me and knew I was a cop. He wanted the police to know that someone is still planning to grab her and to make sure I didn’t slack off.”
“Christ,” Roman mutters.
Davis groans.
Craig frowns deeply.
Julius looks like he’s going to punch something. Can’t blame him.
“So, someone inside the club had to call in the tip,” Julius points out.
I nod. “That’s my assumption. That or he’s following us. Also possible. But something leads me to believe he got closer than just stalking from across the street. Close enough to assess me and determine I’m a cop.”
“Are you still keeping an eye on Owen as a possible suspect?” Davis asks.
I shrug. “He’s unlikely. He doesn’t fit the profile. In addition, if he’s in the process of grooming her, he’s doing a piss poor job of it. He wasn’t in contact with her this past week.”
Roman rubs his eyes. “So, chances are that Owen has nothing to do with anything. He just happened to join the club a few months ago and start playing with Eve.”
“I agree,” Davis says. “Plus, he’s just so…”
“Nice?” Julius suggests with a chuckle. “He’s a great Daddy—caring, kind, nurturing. The littles love doing scenes with him. Also, I vetted him. He’s been in the fetish community for many years. No one at any of his previous clubs had a single complaint. It’s super unlikely that he’s selling women into human trafficking on the side.”
I nod slowly. “I should probably get a list of his previous clubs and make sure no one has gone missing from any of them, just in case.”
“Of course. I’ll get you that.” Julius pulls out his phone and taps the screen, probably making himself a note. “In fact. I’ll check with all of them myself. The owners are more likely to respond to someone they know inside the community.”
Roman turns toward Craig. “Did you see anything unusual last night?”
Craig shakes his head. “Nothing. Granted, I don’t know the members like you do, but no one loitered around the daycare or seemed to pay extra attention to Eve. No one who watched her scene with Owen looked suspicious. And no one paid any attention to the fact that she went into a private room for a while with Colt, Davis, and Britney.”
I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling. “It just doesn’t make sense. I’m inclined to think Surrender has nothing to do with it at all. Why would a member call in a tip three weeks ago and again last night? And if it’s a member who suspects Eve is in trouble, it would stand to reason that another member is the seller. That would mean two people at Surrender are involved, and no one has seen any evidence that even one person has her on their radar.”
“If it’s not someone at Surrender,” Davis interjects, “who’s calling in the tips?”
I shake my head slowly. “We know someone’s following her. And none of you have ever seen him at Surrender. It makes no sense.”
Davis nods. “Perhaps the stalker followed you to Surrender but never came inside.”
“It’s unlikely he followed me because I would have shaken him off, but it’s quite possible he’s been following Eve everywhere she goes for longer than I’ve been assigned to the case. He may easily know she’s a member of Surrender.” I flinch as an idea comes to me.
“What is it?” Davis asks.
“Perhaps the stalker is actually the one calling in the tips. What if he’s the good guy instead?”
Everyone nods. “It’s possible,” Craig states. “Forward me a picture of the stalker when you have a chance. I’ll do some digging.”
“Any chance he followed you here?” Roman asks, his brow furrowed.
“Not a chance in hell. He was on foot outside her apartment building when we left. I do know that he has realized I’m with her by now. He knows my SUV and takes action when he sees it. But he couldn’t get to his car fast enough to follow me, and I drove all over the place just to be sure.”
Davis rises from his seat at the same time as Craig. They look at each other and chuckle.
I groan. “You can sit back down. I’ve checked the SUV every day for tracking devices. It’s clean.”
They sit again,
