Captured Innocence (CSA Case Files) (29 page)

“No worries,” Connor said, “I don’t swing that direction.”

Connor slide the leather from Kyle’s waist and within seconds, had his hands secured.  Whipping him around,
he saw that Kyle’s face was red with exertion and embarrassment.  Not for a minute did Connor believe it was from the cold.  Being arrested for soliciting a prostitute was the least of his worries, which Connor was privileged to hit home.

“You understand how this looks, right?” Connor said, taking him by the shirt and shoving Kyle in front of him.  “Joel and Gerry selling the services of submissives
, and then Marilyn Sweeney ends up dead.”

“What?”  All out panic and fear was evident in Kyle’s voice.
  The word rushed out of his mouth, along with condensation from the cold air.  “Connor, I swear, I know nothing about Marilyn’s death.  All I did was pay Joel for one of his submissives.  I wanted something a little more intense than the club scene allowed, you know?”

“You can tell that to the police,” Connor replied, keeping a hand on Kyle’s shoulder just in case he tried to
get away.  Looking in front of them, he saw Max Higgens and Jax standing at the bottom of the ramp along with a police officer.  “I’m sure you’ll be in their company for quite a while this evening.  That is, before they stick you behind bars for being an accessory to murder.”

Chapter Thirty
-One

Lauren didn’t bother with a coat, knowing she’d be in and out of the cold within seconds.  She walked down the hallway a little unsteadily and knew she shouldn’t have consumed so much wine.  Unfortunately, she hadn’t drunk enough to put her to sleep.  Work was the only thing that would keep her mind off of Connor’s parting shot about her lessons learned.  She’d ascertained a slew in the last month that she could do without.

Making it to the elevator, she hit the down arrow.  The items she needed to
work with tonight were in her van.  Lauren hadn’t been keeping up with her specialized orders the way she should have been, and what better time than now to start catching up?  The doors whooshed open.

“Going somewhere?”

Lach stood there, his hands linked together in front of him.  He didn’t have his jacket on, indicating he’d been monitoring her from inside the building, and his weapon was easily noticeable as it was secured to his side with a brown leather holster.  Lauren resisted rolling her eyes at his protective demeanor as it reminded her of Connor.  Hell, just Lach’s presence reminded her of Connor.

“Just going to get some stuff out of my van.
”  Lauren stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the garage.  “See?  I don’t even have to go outside.  How did you know I’d left my apartment, anyway?”

“I was monitoring the surveillance footage.” 

Lauren noticed that Lach kept his eyes on the doors as they closed.  He didn’t say anything else, but she was coming to expect that from him.  He hadn’t talked much at their first meeting; why should now be any different?  Fine.  She crossed her arms and watched as the numbers lit up in descending order above the doors.  Halfway down, Lauren couldn’t take the silence.  She blamed the wine.

“So you’re new to the area.”  Lauren snuck a sideways glance at him.  He was still looking forward at the doors.  “
Do you like it?”

“It’s cold.”

So much for that line of questioning.  Lauren remained mute the rest of the way.  The doors slid open and they walked into the cold entryway that was off of the garage.  She’d been lucky and gotten a parking spot a few slots away from the entrance.  She put her hand on the knob to turn it when Lach stopped her.

“Let me go first and check the area.”

“No offense, Lach, but if someone really thought I knew something about Marilyn Sweeney, don’t you think they would have come after me by now?”  Lauren let her hand drop from the metal handle.  “Connor…well, let’s just say we were personally involved and I think he took things to extreme.  I’m sure if you call Crest, he’ll probably relieve you of this boring assignment.”

“A suspect stopped by your apartment today,” Lach said, reminding her of the visit along with the subsequent events.  “I wouldn’t say that Connor took things to extreme.  He’s doing his job, regardless of how personal things may have gotten between the two of you.”

They stared at each other for a moment and Lauren was the first to look away.  He was right.  She was just in a bad mood and Lach’s presence didn’t make it any better.  He was just a reminder of what she wanted to forget tonight. 

“Look,” Lach said, his sigh
large enough to move his massive chest.  He seemed uncomfortable with what he was about to say, but that didn’t stop him.  “Night is when our insecurities overtake us.  I don’t know what happened between you and Connor, and frankly, I don’t want to.  But from my experience, everything always looks better in the morning.  Now, let me do my job so that you can get to work on yours.”

Lauren looked at him quizzically as he turned the knob, his words striking a chord.  He was the second person to say that to her this evening
, and both times made her feel as if she were experiencing déjà vu.  She watched as Lach opened the door, the cold wind instantly wrapping its prickling fingers around her body, trying to conjure up the memory that was eluding her.  Immediately, the vision struck her.

“Oh my, God,” Lauren whispered, suddenly having an idea of who murdered
Marilyn Sweeney.

She quickly grabbed for the handle before the door shut.  She had to tell Lach
right away.  He would call Connor, who was already at the club.  Lauren rushed through the entrance.  Lach had only taken two steps when he turned back to her, a questioning look on his face.  A movement behind him grabbed her attention, but before she could call out to him, a gunshot echoed through the parking garage.

* * * *

“Haven’t seen you run that fast since Iraq,” Jax said, leaning up against the wall in the hallway of the precinct.  He held a Styrofoam cup and had shed his jacket a while ago, although he’d opted to keep his skullcap on.  “Too bad I didn’t get to videotape it.  The boys from our old unit would get a laugh out of that one.”

“Fuck you,” Connor said, taking up residence on the other side of the door.  Joel and Gerry were in separate interrogation rooms, while
Kyle and the two girls were being processed.  They were waiting for the detectives to get through with their interview, and since they had official clearance, Kevin would be going in next.  Both men had lawyered up immediately, but they were still allowed to question them with attorneys present.  He and Jax were waiting to get into the adjoining surveillance room.  “If you saw me running after the asshole, why didn’t you pursue?”

“Hell, I knew you had him.  The day you can’t take down someone eighty pounds lighter than you is the day I give up
submissives.  And you know I have a special relationship with my devotees.”  Jax’s smile disappeared when he took a drink.  “Have you tasted this shit?  It’s like sludge.”

“Probably been sitting on the burner since morning,” Connor said with a smile.  He’d opted for a soda after seeing the
corroded burner.  The door opened and Crest motioned them in.  “Here we go.”

“Kevin is about to start questioning Joel first, although the lawyer might hamper whatever he says,” Crest said, walking over to where a large desk sat in the middle of the room.  A two-way mirror on the wall showed Joel looking like he’d gone to war with someone twice his size and lost.  His oval face seemed longer, while bags had appeared under his eyes.  “What are your thoughts?”

Connor shrugged, taking up residence near the window so that he could see Joel’s expression throughout the questioning.  Jax took his usual stance, leaning up against the other side of the window. 

“I think if he or Gerry did murder Marilyn, it wouldn’t have been staged.  They would have killed her and been done.”

“I agree,” Jax said, nodding toward Joel.  “Her murder was personal, like we all keep saying, as if she’d wronged someone.”

Connor saw Kevin walk in the room, a folder in his hand. 
He smirked.  If he knew Kevin, there was nothing in that damn folder, except maybe an old menu to the local Chinese restaurant.  Everything important was stored in his brain like a computer.  While introductions were made and the lawyer spewed out his
my client doesn’t need to answer your questions
bullshit, Connor looked back at Crest.

“How’s Terry?  You said there was a change in his condition this morning.  For the better, I hope?”

Crest shook his head and slipped his right hand into his dress pants pocket.  “His father overreacted.  Terry’s fingers moved, but the doctors say that’s normal.  I’m heading back over there once we finish here.”

“Something’s been bothering me about that,” Conner said, placing his soda on the ledge of the window.  “Where was Terry’s father during the shooting?  Had he gone back up north?”

“No,” Crest said, his face turning to stone.  “He was staying with me.”

Connor shared a look with Jax
, knowing there was more to the story, but it was obviously personal and Crest wasn’t about to break confidence.  If anything had been pertinent to the case, he had no doubt that Crest would share that information.  Whatever caused Mr. Sweeney to feel he couldn’t stay with his son had no bearing on the case.

“They’re about to begin,” Jax said, nodding his head in Kevin’s direction.

Their voices carried through the speaker.  Kevin explained that he was consulting on a different case altogether, but felt that the two might be connected.  He placed the folder on the table and leaned forward on his arms.  Kevin’s back was to them.

“From what the lead detective has told me, you’re
being placed under arrest for pandering.  That’s three to eight for each offense.  A couple of days ago, I questioned you in regards to Marilyn Sweeney’s death.  It seems as if you’re having a bad week, Mr. Summit.  Is there anything you wish to share with me?”

“My client does not need to answer that question.”

“No,” Joel answered, ignoring his attorney’s advice.  “It was Gerry’s idea to have the private play parties and charge for sex, but we had nothing to do with killing anyone.”

For the next hour, Kevin grilled Joel.  Nothing came of it
; not that Connor expected it to. He was surprised to hear that because Gerry had opened up the second club, both were financially in trouble.  Gerry had gone to Joel to try and make amends, offering what he thought was a viable solution.  He bet Joel was regretting that resolution now considering where they’d ended up and the likelihood of both the clubs closing now.

Connor
rolled his shoulder, trying to ease the tension.  Kevin still had to interrogate Gerry, and then follow up with Kyle and the two girls.  The night seemed never ending and his mind continually wandered to Lauren and how he’d left things.  It was in her best interest and he knew that, so why was he questioning himself?  It wasn’t as if they could continue on without Lauren eventually wanting more from him than he could give.  Hell, she already did.

Connor glanced at his watch and saw that it was going on midnight.  He found himself actually debating
the risk of trying some of that sludge that Jax was choking down.  They’d be here at least until three, so black tarred coffee it was.  Crest’s phone rang, and as he took the call, Connor reached for his.  He’d turned the thing off when he’d entered Masters earlier this evening.  As he pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on, Connor started to walk toward the door. 

The sound of
snapping fingers had him stopping and looking over his shoulder at Crest, who was signaling him to wait.  The display on his phone loaded and he looked down, seeing three missed calls…all from Lauren.  A little voicemail envelope appeared on the screen.

“I’ll tell him,” Crest said, reaching for his dress coat.  “
I’ll meet you there.”

“Something happen?” Jax asked, straightening from the wall.

“Yeah,” Crest said, heading for the door.  “Lach is being transported to the hospital now.  He’s been shot.”

Connor
felt his chest tighten and his vision dimmed. He hadn’t felt fear like this since he’d been in Iraq.  Crest didn’t have to relay the rest of what he’d learned, as Connor knew the significance of what had happened.  He looked down at his phone and forced his fingers to play the message.  Slowly bringing the phone to his ear, Lauren’s terrified, hushed tone came through the speaker.  He closed his eyes.

“Connor,” Lauren whispered, a break in her voice evident, “Connor, Lach’s been shot
and there’s blood everywhere.  I —”

The voicemail ended and it was obvious that the disconnection wasn’t voluntary.  Connor had been able to hear the panicked gasp escape Lauren’s lips beforehand.  Now, there was only silence.

“Fuck!”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Taryn, talk to me,” Connor ordered, shifting the Jeep into third.  He ran the last red light that led to Lauren’s parking garage, all the while keeping his phone against his ear.  “What do you see on the cameras?”

“Foo
tage is loading,” Taryn said.

Jax was riding shotgun, holding onto the hand loop above the passenger door.
  He was also on the phone getting intel from Ethan, who was waiting for them at the scene.  Connor wasn’t about to wait for permission to look at the parking garage security video feeds when he knew that Taryn could hack in within a matter of minutes.  He cut the corner to the entrance a little too sharp and the back tire went over the curb.

“Anytime, squid,” Connor said, taking the turn that would bring them on the second level where Lauren had been taken from.

“Got it,” Taryn replied, triumph in her voice.  “Rewinding…rewinding…”

Coming to a stop in the middle of the garage, Connor
shifted into neutral and applied the parking brake.  He left the Jeep running, knowing they wouldn’t be here for long.  Jax disconnected the call and rolled down his window. 

“No one saw anything,” Ethan said, leaning his forearm against the window.  “Lach took the hit in the back, the bullet hitting his lung.  They’d already taken him to the hospital before I arrived, so I didn’t get to question him.”

“Who found him?” Jax asked, resituating his skullcap a little lower on his forehead. 

“Get this shit,” Ethan said, shaking his head in disbelief.  “He managed to drag his ass back in
to the elevator and to the lobby.  He somehow indicated that the security guard should call 911 and report a kidnapping.  He got out Lauren’s name and the fact that his gun and phone were missing before he collapsed.”

“
Fuck,” Taryn whispered, grabbing Connor’s attention.  He put his foot on the clutch, released the brake, and shoved the Jeep back into first.

“Give me something, Taryn.”

“Russell Treace.”

* * * *

Lauren rocked herself back and forth, her breathing shallow.  It didn’t matter how dark it was in the back of her van, because she knew her vision had tunneled.  The panic attack had hit the second Russell had shoved her into her own vehicle, slamming the doors shut and locking her in.  A sob rose up in her chest and she would have given anything to be able to tell Connor that she’d been right…she was only mentally stable in these situations if he was touching her.  And he wasn’t here.

The air felt as if it was compressing against her chest.  She tried to drag oxygen into her lungs, but they didn’t seem to want to comply.  Her entire body was perspiring and she could feel
her heart pounding against her chest, although the beats didn’t seem to be normal.  Lauren had no idea how long Russell had been driving, but the distance seemed endless.  It didn’t matter if she had a heart attack, because he was going to kill her anyway. 

It took her a while to realize
that the tires had a smoother tread in a way that wasn’t normal, indicating they weren’t on the city streets.  They’d slowed down.  Her mouth was dry, but she parted her lips anyway, trying to breathe.  It felt like she was suffocating. 

As the
van pulled to a stop, all Lauren could hear was the ringing in her ears.  Not knowing what was going to happen when those doors opened, she waited and tried not to instantly cry out for help.  Russell might just kill her now and be done with it.  How could she not have remembered their conversation and what his words had truly meant?

Keys jingled and Lauren could almost hear Connor’s voice in her head telling her to breathe.  She released the
tight hold she had on her left wrist, ready to beg through the metal for Russell to open the doors.  Instead, she bit her lip and remained silent. 

She slowly picked up the gun that had been lying in her lap
, trying to ignore the trembling in her hands.  Hell, they were shaking so bad she was lucky the firearm didn’t discharge.  Lauren didn’t know a lot about weapons, and hoped to God that when she pulled the trigger it fired.

She would have given anything to
have her phone, but she’d dropped it somewhere in the parking garage.  Lauren was relatively sure that Russell had Lach’s, because she’d seen his on the ground when she’d been kneeling next to him.

When Lach had been shot,
he’d still had the strength to lift his weapon and return fire.  It gave Lauren enough time to run and duck behind a car.  Fumbling with her cell phone that had been in her pocket, she dialed Connor.  It went straight to voicemail, and through her tears she tried again to no avail.  The third time she’d left a message, but when she’d heard another gunshot, she’d dropped her phone.  Now she was kicking herself that she hadn’t dialed 911.  Maybe they would have been able to get an officer to the parking garage before Russell had found her.  

All the same
, after the initial shots had been fired, Lauren had remained where she was for a good three minutes before she’d decided to try and move.  She had needed to see if Lach was still alive.  At the time, she’d hoped he’d either scared Russell away or shot him.  Slowly and carefully, she’d had made her way around the car.  Not seeing or hearing anything, she’d shuffled on her knees until she’d had a clear view.

The only person she
’d seen was Lach, who had managed to roll over onto his back.  He’d been gasping for air.  She’d known immediately that she couldn’t leave him there and had scooted to the back end of the vehicle.  When she saw no one else, she’d stayed low and had run over to Lach.  His eyes had connected with hers, but instead of giving in to tears the way she’d wanted, he’d had enough strength to shove the weapon at her.  His hand had kept trying to push it into the waistband of her jeans and trying to appease him, she did. 

Luc
ky for her, Lach had known all along that Russell was still near.  Within seconds of her having been given the weapon, Lauren had screamed when Russell had come up behind her and grabbed her hair, dragging her back to her van.  She’d fought for all she was worth, but with how tight he’d had ahold of her hair and because her back had been to him, Lauren had no chance to get away.

She would say she’d never been so scared in her life as to when he held the gun to her head, demanding the keys, but that wouldn’t be true.  It was what Russell did afterward that escalated her fear to terror.  Being thrown into the back of the van, darkness descending and confining her to be alone with this consuming panic was crushing.

The door swung open, but Lauren was ready.  Pulling the trigger, she cried out, not expecting the recoil.  The gun almost slipped from her fingers, and in a panicked state she tried to get the weapon back in her palm.  Russell didn’t waste any time and yanked her out by the wrist, snagging the weapon from her grasp.

“Bitch,” Russell spat out.  “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

He’d dragged her out of the van until she’d fallen on her knees.  Lauren felt the cold settle over her and instead of trying to run, which would have been useless anyway since he had the gun, she took the precious time given and dragged in as much oxygen as she could.  She was no longer enveloped by darkness and light now surrounded her.  As the terror started to loosen its grip on her, details started to bombard her.

“One word out of you and I swear I’ll put a bullet through your brain.”

Lauren looked up and saw that there was nothing but irrationality within those dark eyes of his.  Russell looked nothing like the young man who would bring her waters or offer to carry her stuff out to the car when he was on duty at the club.  Ignoring everything, she desperately tried to focus on where they were.  Someone had to have heard a gunshot. 

“I want you to get up and walk in front of me,” Russell
said, shifting the gun toward a door on her right. 

They were in the parking garage attached to the building of Masters. 
Had he just driven them in circles?  It had felt as if they’d driven forever.  Lauren looked around desperately.  Was no one around to see that she was being held at gunpoint?  She didn’t have time to calculate her options when she felt the barrel against her head.  She closed her eyes and squinted them tight when he nudged her.

“On your feet
; we don’t have much time before someone comes to find out who fired a gun.  You’ve been a fucking thorn in my side from the beginning.”

Lauren had no choice but to fumble to her feet.  He moved the gun, but it was now directly in the middle of her back.  She frantically looked around, but the lot seemed devoid of vehicles.  Where
was everyone?  He shoved her forward to where the grey metal door was located that would lead to the stairwell of Masters.  Relief swam through her.  Someone would notice the gun and that Russell had brought her here against her will.

She didn’t say a word as she made her way to the club, trying to concentrate
on keeping her rubbery knees from collapsing.  Question after question ran through Lauren’s mind as to why he was doing this.  Why would he have killed Marilyn?

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the entrance to the club.  Russell kept the gun in place and reached around to hold the key in front of her.  Why would they need a key?  Shouldn’t
someone be here?  What about Connor and Jax?  It was the weekend, for crying out loud.  With trembling hands, she took the key.  It took her several tries to get it in the hole, but it finally slid home. 

“Go stand in the middle of the play area.  If you make any attempt to move, I swear I’ll sh
oot you.”  Russell pushed her forward, and as she felt the barrel of the gun in her spine, Lauren knew she didn’t have a choice. 

“W-where is everyone?” Lauren asked, wanting to prolong the inevitable.  Maybe if she kept him talking, Joel or someone would come back. 

“Joel and Gerry got arrested, just like I’d planned.”  Russell slammed the door shut and then started to pace in front of the bar.  He looked a little panicked.  “But then I overheard Joel say that Connor was involved with you and I just knew that you’d remembered our conversation.”

“W-why did you kill her, Russell?” Lauren asked, glancing around the room for something to use against him. 

“She wanted Mistress Beverly,” Russell said, spinning her way.  His face was now red with anger.  “No one just gets to kneel at Mistress Beverly’s feet!”

Lauren felt like she was traveling down the rabbit hole.  He wasn’t making any sense, but then she imagined most insane people didn’t.  Russell took a step toward her and she instantly backed up.  She calculated her odds for runn
ing toward the door, but had no doubt that he’d shoot her.  Lauren looked toward the main entrance, the one that led to the foyer and then to the street, but it was even farther from where she was standing.

“Undress,” Russell ordered, motioning up and down with his weapon.  Where was the one she’d had? 

“I-I don’t —”

“I said undress!” Russell screamed, his eyes bulging out and the vein on the side of his temple protruding.

Lauren felt another sob rise up, but she forced it back.  With shaking hands, she reached for the hem of her sweater and slowly pulled it over her head.  She needed to ask more questions.  She needed to keep him talking so that someone came looking for her.  By now, someone had to know that Lach had been shot and that she was missing.  Connor would find her.  She just hoped like hell that it wasn’t after she was dead.

“You said to me that
‘
everything looks better in the morning’
.  Do you remember that?” Lauren asked, trying like hell to keep her words from stuttering.  She managed to put the button through the denim hole, but stopped.  “Marilyn had walked by my table, along with Flint and Shelley.  Shelley had been angry at Flint because he’d added something to her punishment that she felt was unfair.  You were bringing me water and we started to discuss how sometimes couples misunderstood each other because they weren’t communicating properly.  You weren’t referring to Flint and Shelley…you were talking about you and Mistress Beverly.  When Marilyn walked by our table, you were referring to her being dead.  You knew that you were going to kill her then, didn’t you?”

“What the hell made Marilyn think she would be any good for Mistress Beverly?  I deserve to be her submissive.  I wait on her, I serve her, I love her!  Me!  No one else.  Not her male subs, not the female subs that covet her attention, and sure as hell not someone like Marilyn Sweeney.”  Russell stopped and wiped the spit that had spluttered from his mouth.  He looked wildly around and then seemed to notice that she’d stopped undressing.  “Keep going and shut up!  I need to think.”

Lauren started to shove her denim over her hips.  She knew that her shivering had less to do with the temperature of the club and more to do with the fact that she was about to be murdered, but that didn’t stop her teeth from chattering.  She knew there would come a point that Russell would just kill her, but she had to stall him for as long as possible.  Connor would come for her.  Regardless how things ended between them, she knew that he would come for her.

“W-what made you think that Marilyn wanted to serve Mistress Beverly?” Lauren asked in a low voice, hoping the question didn’t startle him.  She needed to keep him talking.  “She —”