All is Lost (All Series, Book 2) (19 page)

“
You know what?” I growl deeply.
“Fuck that shit!” I walk back into the house, searching for the
current pain in my ass. I am getting a damn explanation ...right
this damn minute. “Candy!” Hearing my voice echo through the dead
silence, I turn around, finding her sitting in a small high-back
rocking chair.

With a forlorn look, she stares blankly at me.
“You need an explanation and I owe it to you.” Candy whispers,
dropping her eyes to her hands resting on her lap. Heaving a loud
sigh, she shakes her head. One hand lifts to the outside corner of
her eyes and I realize she's crying.

“
Yes.” I retort more harshly than I
intended, but shit I'm pissed and confused and sick of all this
bullshit already.

“
I know. First, let me apologize,
again.” Lifting her head she looks out the side window and I see
tears on her cheeks. “I had no idea that they would, or could find
me, but I hate that you are caught in the middle. The truth is I
broke up with my boyfriend a week ago and had to leave town.” She
sighs, “He is very influential and has people working for him that
will do anything that he demands.” I nod waiting for more. “We
started out normal.” She states proudly. “We were together for over
a year. I knew he was into something illegal, but he refused to
tell me anything. I was raised by my precious grandmother in a
small town just outside of Omaha.” She smiles sweetly. “My Nanny
didn’t have many rules, but the one thing she demanded was that I
keep my nose out of her business. She would say prying can only get
you into more trouble. From my earliest childhood memories I
remember she enforced a zero-tolerance for nosiness. So when it
came to what Tony was doing I kept my nose out of it.”

Feeling my irritation growing with her lengthy
explanation, I silently beg her to get on with the story. Slumping
down onto the couch I lean forward giving her my undivided
attention along with my best 'can we cut to the shit'
glare.

Infuriated with my impatience, Candy blurts,
“He is a mob-boss in Chicago.”

Pinning me with a serious stare, she narrows
her eyes in expectation, but I don't even flinch. What she doesn't
know is that, while I've managed to remain unscathed over the
years, I have close associates that are in various seedy business
ventures. I personally benefited on occasion from some of their
escapades; but that is not some shit I will ever share with her.
Rubbing her hands over the top of her thighs nervously she appears
to be waiting for my response.

“
Continue.” I snap
frustrated.

Sniffling, she nods. “Part of his business is
prostitution. Apparently Tony likes to try out the new girls,
especially the virgins before sending them out to service his
clients. One evening, I was supposed to be working late and without
calling ahead first I arrived at his penthouse unexpectedly. I
heard a soft whimper and after walking down the hall toward our
bedroom, I discovered a very young girl crying. She was blindfolded
and shackled to the headboard of our bed.” She pauses. “Shocked to
my core, I stood there completely dazed while I watched him slip
onto the bed, completely naked. He menacingly crawled on top of her
and began squeezing her...” Flushing red from her neck up to her
hairline, she drops her face into her hands and I hear a soft hitch
as she begins sobbing.

I lean back against the couch and look upward,
focusing on the ceiling while fighting against wanting to comfort
her.
Sounds to me like she may have been confused about the
exclusivity of their relationship
, I rationalize, but I'm not
going to judge, just yet.

“
Tony discovered me watching.”
Candy looks at me. “After I felt the bile rise up in my throat, I
ran into the bathroom, sicken to death by what he was doing. He
rushed in behind me, yelling and cussing, like I was the one in the
wrong. I screamed back at him that he was a fucking idiot if he
thought I was going to allow this disgusting shit to continue.” She
clears her throat. “That's when he struck. Tony hit me so hard that
I flew backward several feet, slamming my head against the tub.
When I woke up, I was alone in a private hospital room. I snatched
the IV from my arm and got out of bed. I dressed quickly and ran as
fast and far as I could. I was in Las Vegas for two days when you
found me at that damn bar.” She says, smiling tenderly at me. “God
I was so foolish. I thought I could hide easily in a big city,
especially Vegas. No one there cares about your history or why
you’re visiting. I don't understand how Tony found me so quickly.”
She releases a deep sigh then drops her head back against the
chair, looking up toward the ceiling.

“
You have a tracer somewhere on you
or your car does.” I offer.

She jerks her head up fear streaking across
her features. “What?” Candy shouts excitedly “Oh mygod! He'll find
me here then!” Rushing over to the counter she begins digging
through her purse, pulling out a set of keys. She rushes toward the
front door before I stop her.

“
That would be my first guess too.
But since he found your exact motel room, I'm guessing the bug is
probably in that purse.” I reply, pointing at the bag she dropped
on the floor. I walk over to the designer monstrosity and flip it
upside down, dumping the contents onto the counter. “Ah ha,” I
declare after just a moment of searching. “He knows you can't go a
minute without lighting up and I'll bet this little gem was a
gift.”

Charging over she snatches the ruby encrusted
lighter out of my hand and growls furiously. “That son of a bitch,”
She mumbles. “Tony gave this to me the first week we started
dating.”

“
It’s what I would do…if I was a
two-timing, douche bag boyfriend.”

Shaking her head angrily, Candy is trying to
process that my idea could be possible. She walks into the kitchen
and begins tearing through drawers and cabinets like a tornado.
Pulling out a large meat mallet, she places the expensive lighter
on the wood carving board and with one hard whack she splits the
current object of her frustration into a hundred tiny pieces. She
sorts through the tiny red shards and lifts what appears to be a
small black stone toward the sunlight, beaming in through the small
kitchen window.

“
This must be the bug.” She
declares anxiously. “What do I do now? If he finds me here, it’s
over. I don’t have anywhere else to hide.”

“
Maybe you found it in time. But
you might want to check your car too.” I say.

“
Dammit, why didn't I think to get
rid of every gift that bastard gave me?”

Realizing that if in fact that really is a
tracking device and Tony has been trailing her for a year, I begin
to wonder how he could have let her surprise him while he was
getting freaky with another woman.

“
How did Tony not know you were on
your way home?” I ask, catching her off guard. She stares at me
utterly confused.

“
He…what?” She coughs once, clears
her throat and then answers. “Oh, I accidentally left my purse at
the office that night.” She suddenly seems uncomfortable and avoids
making eye contact with me.

Something feels off about that explanation,
but what reason would she have to lie to me about it? She didn't
even know me when all that shit happened with him. I stare at her
for another long minute trying to determine if I can believe she is
who she claims or if everything that she just told me was a lie. If
it all
was
a lie, how much worse can the truth be? I blame
my paranoia on the chaos of the recent events and dismiss all my
ridiculous thoughts about her being dishonest.

Flipping on the switch for the garbage
disposal, Candy drops the black stone into it, rinsing it down the
drain. Releasing a defeated sigh, she leans over the sink and looks
down the drain, checking that it indeed took away the last
remaining link between her and the homicidal stalker who threatens
to live up to his description. Turning away, she presses her back
against the sink, folds one arm around her small waist while
running her free hand through her hair.

I decide that for now I am going to trust that
she is telling me the truth. After hearing her history with this
guy I guess I can understand her resistance with sharing this
information before now, but I'm still pissed about getting shot at.
Still, I do not want to come off as a bigger dick than this Tony
asshole, so I decide she has been through enough. I cross the room
and draw her small body into my arms. Candy hesitates at first,
blocking me with a stiff hand lying on my chest, but I swat it away
and continue snuggling her against me. I'm not sure why I feel
compelled to comfort her since that's not typically my style.
Truthfully it isn’t her fault that I found my way into her bed so
it's unfair for me to stay mad at her.

“
Hush Candy,” I say. “We're safe
here.”

Raising her eyes to meet mine, she looks
completely dumbfounded at my statement. “How can you be so sure? It
didn't take him very long to find me last time.”“I'm sure because
not even God could find this hell-hole, in the middle of no damn
where.” I answer jokingly, hoping it soothes her fears while
dissolving my surly mood.

A flirtatious smile breaks across her face and
once again I see remnants of the sexy girl I discovered at a
crowded Vegas bar only forty-eight hours ago. Enlightened by the
effects I have on her, I devise an abbreviated plan to our
dilemma.

“
Let's get out of here tonight.” I
say, pulling away from her. “We can find a seeded country bar and
forget this shit for a few hours.” I coax, knowing that neither one
of us will forget a damn thing about our chance meeting.

She cocks an eyebrow up and as if she flipped
a switch, that damn niggling sensation buzzes loudly alerting me
again of a familiarity with her. I wonder briefly if it really was
only a chance meeting, or if I’m playing along with some
mastermind’s evil plans.

Chapter
Fourteen

Breesan

I hear the back door open followed by heavy
footsteps stomping on the hardwood floor. Turning around, I see
Marcus walking toward me. His features are dark and it causes me to
become uneasy.

“
What's wrong?” I ask him, no
longer concerned with Rhys' presence or of exposing our
relationship. He sidles up and wraps me in his arms, instantly
calming from our embrace.

“
Breesan, please remember that you
don't have to do any of this if you don't want to, okay?” Marcus
suggests, imploring me with his eyes to turn down Rhys’
offer.

“
Just tell me already,” I beg,
exhausted with this whole damn mess. “What does Rhys want me to do
that you obviously object to?”

“
We want you to go undercover.”
Rhys blurts casually, and I see a flare of fear in Marcus’
eyes.

“
Undercover? Okay. Am I missing
something because that kind of sounds cool?’ I ask, smiling
excitedly. Marcus shakes his head and Rhys laughs. “What? Just say
it Marcus.”

Rhys walks around the counter and sits in the
chair at the table. He shrugs his shoulders then finally responds.
“You are my cousin Beatrice from Chelsea. You have been through
some shit recently with an ex, and now you've come here to get
away, while the police try to apprehend him.” He smirks, adding,
“We'll call him Jeff. Being the amazing cousin that I am, I
graciously agreed on letting you stay here, as long as you find a
job. I don't support moochers.” His smirk morphs into a concerned
grin. “This is where the undercover part comes in. You will work as
a server at Club Toxic.” He pauses, waiting for my
reaction.

I nod and he continues explaining my role.
“Going undercover as a goth babe, you can safely search the faces
or listen for familiarity in the voices of people who frequent the
club. Hopefully you will find the guys that took your friends.
Attacus’ informant puts the contact location at the club. Since you
are the only person who has seen them, we are going to leave it up
to you to point them out.” I nod, understanding the severity of my
responsibility.

Glancing between me and Marcus, Rhys asks, “So
Ms Maxwell, are you up for doing anything I say, now?” His
condescending tone does not go unnoticed by Marcus, but before he
has a chance to attack Rhys I answer him.

“
When do we go
shopping?”

Rhys smiles at my question, but Marcus' quick
intake of breath startles me. Feeling the tension rolling off him I
turn to him and take his hand, lacing our fingers
together.

“
I assume you will be with me,
right?” I ask.

“
Oh, you're damn right about that,
Baby. You aren’t going anywhere without me.” He says dominatingly.
Lifting my chin, Marcus’ eyes are dead serious when he adds. “Not
one place without me. Understand?” I nod and the tension eases from
Marcus’ face. “We’ll have to disguise you in my clothes and you’ll
need a ball cap that will hide all of this hair.” He holds a strand
between his fingers and I bite down on my bottom lip suppressing
the excitement I get watching him become mesmerized.

“
How are you going to get me a job
at the club?” I ask Rhys distracting myself from naughty
thoughts.

“
My roommate runs the place. Ensley
will hire you because I ask her to do it. Don’t worry about her
recognizing you. She doesn’t pay attention to a damn thing
significant. In the meantime Beatrice Bentley needs to bone up on
your Bentley family history.” He smirks, takes a deep breath and
begins rambling. “Ma and Pa Bentley were married at the old
courthouse in Columbiana back in nineteen hundred and
sixty-four.”