“As long as it’s PG,” I remind her.
She pouts adorably. Her eyes are red and puffy, but she’s shoving our elephant to the side for now, and I’m glad. I don’t want her to spend the rest of our time together sad.
“Will you spank me later?”
“Of course. If that’s what you want.”
“I do. It will make all the bad feelings go away for a while.”
“Okay, baby. I can do that.”
Chapter 31
Colton
I’m uneasy once again as I drop Eve off at the hotel where her seminar is being held. It’s not rational. I’m just used to worrying about her. As soon as she’s safely inside the building, I head for the crime scene. Ever since my boss called to tell me about the arrest and subsequent raid on Antonio Russo’s home, I’ve been uneasy. I know the captain still has several people at Russo’s house this morning, so I head that way. Maybe if I see some of the evidence myself, I’ll feel like it’s real.
When I pull up, several investigators are on the scene. Yellow tape surrounds the house. I park and duck under it, shaking hands with a few of the guys as I put gloves on and cover my shoes.
A detective I’ve worked with on several cases, Roger Durban, greets me as I enter the house.
“Captain send you over?” Durban asks.
“Nah. I’m just curious.” I rub the back of my neck.
He chuckles. “You gotta see for yourself, don’t you?”
I nod, my brow furrowed as I wander in deeper, following him. He leads me downstairs, and I’m shocked by what I find. Fucking place is definitely ground zero for a human trafficking sting. “Jesus,” I mutter to myself as I slowly wander around.
The main room has all kinds of information tacked to the walls. In fact, the walls are made of corkboard. Whoever this asshole is, he’s meticulous. Each victim has a square on the wall. There are dozens, which leads me to believe he was either planning on picking up several women in the near future, he plans way in advance, or some of them have already been sold.
I turn toward Durban. “Have all these women been located?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet.”
“Anyone know if any of the cases are older?”
“Could be. But most of the information on the walls is current. Judging by the filing cabinets in that office over there,” he pauses to point in the direction of the indicated room, “I’d say he’s been in this business a long time. There are dozens of closed files.”
“Fuck.” Tightness forms in my chest as I realize one of those files is undoubtedly for Davis’s woman. “Can you see if there’s a file for Britney Heath?”
“Will do. Be right back.”
I keep wandering, my heart stopping when I come to a square dedicated to Evelyn. Pictures of her coming and going from work and her apartment. Recent ones if I’m not mistaken, undoubtedly taken by the guy who’s been stalking her. Makes my skin crawl. I look closer, reading the details. This guy was thorough. He knew every damn thing about Eve. Including the fact that she belongs to Surrender.
When I can’t stand to look any longer, I turn away and head for the office. This room is immaculate. Unlike the larger space outside of the office, there is not a paper in sight. Everything is in its spot. Pens lined up on the desk. Files all put away. “Guy has OCD,” I comment.
Durban lifts his gaze from a filing cabinet as he pulls out a file and holds it up. “Found it. Britney Heath. That’s the woman you rescued eight months ago, right?”
“Yes.” I tentatively take the file from him, forcing myself to open it and absorb the details. I know it will give Davis closure in a way. He can decide if he thinks Britney needs to know, but the important thing is finding out the seller has been arrested. No matter what, I’m sure this has been hanging over Davis’s head. It would mine.
I hand the file back to Durban and aim for the bookshelves. Even these are dust-free and organized in alphabetical order. Every other shelf has pictures or trinkets on it.
I pick up a group shot of a bunch of guys all smiling drunkenly at the camera. It looks like a fraternity picture. It’s hard to imagine a man so vile that he sells women on the side but he used to be a regular guy in college with his friends. Or maybe he never was a regular guy.
I glance at Durban. “Which one is he?”
“Oh. There’s a better picture over here. Close up.” Durban snags it from another shelf and holds it out, his finger pointing to the guy on the left.
My blood runs cold as I yank the picture out of his hand. “Fuck,” I shout.
“What?”
I jerk my gaze toward him as I pull my phone from my pocket. I can no longer see Durban though. I drop the picture and take off running as fast as I can back through the larger room and up the stairs.
As I run, I call Eve, but it goes straight to voicemail. I’m sure her phone is off. I call my boss next.
He’s already speaking when he answers. “Heard you couldn’t resist and headed to the crime scene,” he jokes. “Oh hey, we got an ID on your stalker too. Bates Roberts. Heard of him?” All this rushes out of my captain before I have a chance to interrupt.
I’m at my car now, hands shaking as I enter. I put the phone on speaker and slide it into the holder as I start the engine and peel away from the curb.
“Marshall?”
“Those fuckers are in cahoots.”
“Who?”
“Russo. Bates. And the fucking guy I’ve been keeping an eye on all this time. Owen Karplus.”
“How do you know?”
“Frat brothers. Saw a picture of them in Russo’s office.”
“Fuck. I just sent a team to pick up Bates at his home, but I didn’t make the connection to Karplus.
