Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 (8 page)

“You mean spiritually, right?”

“Isn’t all true strength built on
our connection to our spiritual identity and acceptance of destiny?”  She
reached across the table to rest her hand on top of the other woman’s. “Chaz is
growing more like you, just as you are growing more like him. The natural order
in a relationship, and what every man’s psyche needs, is for the woman to need
to rely on her man. That day is coming soon where you will need his strength.”

Stephanie nodded and thought that
she would have to wait to understand what Phailin was saying. In her mind, she
already needed her husband.

“What about the other issue?”

“You mean your request for me to
help keep you balanced? Of course I will. We’ll meditate together every Sunday
evening to calm your restlessness and I’ll see what bundles of tea you’ll need
to take home with you. You should meditate on your own everyday; seek clarity
for your dreams. I think Victor might be right about you suppressing them. Do
you remember the first time we talked about the connection between auras and
astrology?

“Yes. Of course.”

“I’ve done new aura charts and I
want you to contrast them against what your zodiac signs indicate about your
personalities. It will take a few days if you take your time, but I’m hoping
that some of your questions will be answered.”

“Thank you.” She took the large
envelope her friend had slid across the table and set it aside. “Now, on to
lighter topics. How is your pregnancy coming along? I still can’t believe our
children will be able to grow up together.”

“I know!” A wide smile lit up the
Asian woman’s face and a hand went to her belly. She was already wearing
maternity tops. “We should make time to go clothes shopping. I found the most
amazing store that has professional looking maternity wear. You’re going to
need some soon with the way your boobs are pushing against that shirt.”

Both women laughed.

“I think Chaz has fallen in love
with my new curves.”

“I bet he has.”

The rest of the evening was spent talking
and laughing about subjects most pregnant women talk about. By the time
Stephanie returned home, she was confident that everything in her life was as
it should be.

She sent Karen a text setting up a
time to video-chat the next day so that she could share what she had discussed
with Phailin. Then, fully relaxed, she slid into bed and easily drifted to
sleep.

Jazz music filled the space. Although
the images were fuzzy, a full band played on a raised stage at one end of the
room and people dressed in semi-formal attire were seated at tables with long
black table cloths and gold candles for centerpieces. The scene was almost
intimate with the mellow sound and low lighting. Sexily dressed servers—male
and female—carried trays of drinks.

Why did the atmosphere feel so
heavy?

A man at the far end of the bar
seemed to be watching everything. Scruffy beard. Brown hair a little longer
than was currently fashionable. Stocky. Tense. Anxious. He felt threatened. She
also sensed the same tension Chaz had felt when he’d thought her safety was at
risk during the case in Erie.

A door near the bar opened and the
man immediately stood and scanned the room. From behind him emerged a beautiful
woman and two men who seemed to be laughing, but one was only pretending to be
happy. He leaned into the man who had been previously seated and said something
that sent the man out of the room. The trio crossed the room and settled onto a
sofa in an area that was roped off. A VIP section? Immediately, another stocky
man took up position to the side of the sofa but not close enough to be
involved in any conversation.

Why could Stephanie see so many
details but not be able to clearly distinguish the facial features of the
people seated on the sofa?

As soon as that thought invaded the
dream, it ended. After pondering for only a few minutes, she grabbed her cell
phone and sent a text to Chaz.

Stephanie:
Dream

Chaz:
Call me. I won’t be able
to talk but I want to hear the details and what you felt.

Stephanie did as he requested. It
was odd talking to a man who had only said hello and then gone silent. She
couldn’t hear any background noise either and wondered whether her husband had
muted his end of the call. Abruptly, he said thanks and was gone.

A text came through just as
Stephanie was getting settled under the covers.

Chaz:
I was watching at the same
time. Did you recognize our friend?

Stephanie’s brain stalled. Her
fingers went cold around the plastic of the phone. It took several seconds to
process what had just happened. While the details overall had been clearer than
any recent dream, she hadn’t wanted to see the men who’d emerged from the room
near the bar. She didn’t want to acknowledge Paul Watkins’ presence.

Stephanie:
Couldn’t see face
clearly. Suppressing?

Chaz:
Maybe. You answered a
question I had about him. Thanks. Get some sleep.

Stephanie: 
Goodnight

Chaz didn’t respond.

After that, it was nearly
impossible for Stephanie to relax. She wasn’t afraid for Chaz even though she
knew what an evil man Paul Watkins was. What bothered her was that other people
in the dream had been clearer than the three people who were apparently the
most important. That must mean something. How could she trust her gift if she
wasn’t allowing critical information to surface?

No. She wouldn’t think that way.
Chaz said she had answered a question. Something else about that scene must
have been more significant. She took a deep breath and released it very slowly.
She would have to learn to trust her husband as much as both of them trusted
her gift.

Her eyes popped open. That’s
exactly what Chaz had said to her last summer when she wasn’t sure of the path
their relationship should take. Trust him.

She did. This is what he did for a
living. And he loved her enough to keep himself safe.

She took another deep breath,
closed her eyes, and tried to relax. Everything was as it should be.

~
~ ~ ~ ~

Chaz pulled up a chair and sat close
to Sydney so that he could get a better look at the transmissions coming from inside
the jazz club. He was intent on studying the body language of Vanessa, Damien,
and Paul. Something was off. There it was!

Vanessa was fidgeting. That was at
least the second time Damien had placed his hand on her wrist to make her sit
still. She hadn’t impressed Chaz as being squeamish, so something must be very
wrong. He watched her call the body guard over and whisper something to him. A
few minutes later, a server appeared with a drink that looked like a double
shot of whiskey or maybe bourbon. Straight. She took a hearty swallow before
setting the glass on the low table in front of them.

While Damien Granger was still
seated beside her, his body was turned so that she was slightly behind him. A
protective position. What was Watkins saying to make them so uncomfortable? Was
the undercover FBI agent really nervous, or was she playing along with whatever
scene was unfolding?

Vanessa wasn’t slouching, but her
eyes were focused on her hands that were clasped in her lap. When she reached
for her drink, Damien wrapped his fingers around her free hand. Their fingers
laced tightly together. Possession. And he was tense.

“Chaz, camera 4.” Sydney’s voice
broke through her team leader’s thoughts.

He turned to see several beefy men
arriving outside of the club. He knew, by the way they carried themselves
aggressively, that they were Watkins’ men. After a brief interrogation by the
door attendants, they were allowed to enter. Chaz leaned closer to the monitor,
trying to determine whether or not he had seen these men before.

“Camera 8,” Sydney directed him.

Chaz was surprised to see Officer
Chris Jenkins getting into the elevator on the third level of the building. He
usually stayed in the surveillance room during the hours the club was open. Attention
was pulled back to Camera 4 as more men arrived. These men he’d definitely seen
before.  They worked for Granger.

Something was very wrong.

The club had only been open a week
but was nearly full at midnight on a Thursday. The addition of the illegal
sexual activities was delayed until Saturday, although many of the 12 girls
who’d been hired were hanging out in the club.

Chris emerged on the ground floor
and turned right to go towards the hallway that led to the offices. The extra
men who’d arrived were still congregating in the foyer.

A moment later, Damien leaned into
Vanessa and said something. She nodded, stood, and headed toward the bar. The
body guard who’d been standing beside the sofa followed her to the room the
threesome had come out of earlier. She entered; he positioned himself on the
stool closest to the door. Another guard joined him as Austin moved toward an
area where most of the women were seated, some having conversations with men
who had come to the club alone.

Austin said something to one of the
women. She nodded and said something to the woman beside her. Austin smiled and
reached a hand out to Jolette, the person Chaz had questioned him about, the
one he’d taken upstairs. She stood and walked with him to the dance floor. From
what Roy had been able to find out, Chaz was almost positive that she was
connected to Paul Watkins.

“The girls are leaving.”

Sure enough, they were getting up
one or two at a time and going to a door at the end of the room that Chaz
hadn’t noticed before, probably because it was a pocket door that slid into the
wall instead of swinging in or out. The women who were entertaining men were
the only ones who hadn’t made a discreet exit.

Meanwhile, the body language
between Granger and Watkins was heated. At least, Damien’s was. His jaw
clenched and his eyes held fire. Paul, on the other hand, projected the same
calm fierceness Chaz had been exposed to when they’d dealt with one another.
Whatever was being said, Damien Granger was no pushover.

“Where did Jenkins go?”

“There. Camera 3.” The back
hallway. Chris was talking to more of Granger’s men. He stationed two at a rear
entrance and another one outside of a door halfway down the corridor that he
had just come out of. As Chris reached the foyer, Cameras 3, 4, and 9—all
trained at entrances—went black. Since their mission was only designed to
capture information on what occurred inside of the building, Chaz had no way of
knowing whether other men were grouping in the rear parking lot. He had no way
to determine whether everything was about to fall apart.

“Shit!” Chaz leaned forward in his
chair. All cameras in the club, the foyer, and outside of the elevators were
still working. Chris reappeared in front of the elevator, used his key to enter
and soon was stepping onto the third floor, presumably to return to the surveillance
room.

Granger and Watkins were still in
the VIP area. The foyer showed two clusters of men seemingly in light
conversations with themselves while their eyes kept tabs on the other group.
Patrons of the club walked in and out around them, totally oblivious to the
tense posturing.

Damien stood abruptly, which pulled
Chaz’s attention back to him. With a slight wave of his hand, two men appeared
beside him. They all stepped to the side as Granger motioned for Paul Watkins
to precede him from the room. Chaz’s eyes jumped to another monitor to see the
obviously now unwelcome guest strolling through the foyer, his men immediately
following him out of the building.

“What the hell just happened?”
Sydney asked as she leaned back in her chair.

“Practice run.”

“Huh?” She wrinkled her brow and
stared at her team leader.

“The guy that was eventually shown
out was Paul Watkins. We probably just witnessed him threaten a hostile
takeover and show Granger how vulnerable his operation was. I have no doubt
that if Granger doesn’t give him what he wants, Watkins will be back with more
men and nearly two years of undercover work will go to waste because Granger might
not be standing when all of the smoke clears.”

“Do you really think he’d attack
the building?”

“No, I don’t. He’s just making a
statement that he could. If he wants to take Granger out, it will happen in
some secluded location when the man will least expect it. But it’s more likely
that he’d maim Granger and force him to accept whatever terms he’s offering.”
Like shooting someone in the parking lot behind the rear entrance of their
business, Chaz mused. That was how Watkins had handled him in Erie. His hand
rubbed the spot where the bullet had penetrated his chest.

Chaz was still watching the
monitors. Austin appeared with Jolette by his side, his hand firmly gripping
her upper arm. He approached the guards around Granger and handed her over to
them. Chaz didn’t doubt for one second that she would be interrogated to find
out exactly what she had told Watkins. Any vulnerability must be addressed.

“They’re probably going to do a
full security sweep as soon as the club closes,” Sydney informed Chaz. “That means
our guy will have to cut our video feed so that it isn’t detected. We’ll
probably be down for most of the night.”

“Okay.” Chaz stood and stretched.
“When the cameras go down, you can head out. I’ll write up a report and you can
add to it when you come in tomorrow.” He watched her nod before he turned to
grab a coffee cup out of the cabinet. It was going to be a long night.

“Where do you think the girls
went?” Sydney asked.

“Bulletproof room. Austin told me
about it but I never knew exactly where it was. I’m assuming the room by the
bar must also be a safe cell. Granger didn’t hesitate to send his girlfriend
there to make sure she was protected.”

“I’d protect her, too,” the
technician said so softly that Chaz almost didn’t hear her. A small smile
tipped his lips. Sydney was beautiful in her own way. Jet black hair cut into a
short, soft-spiked style. Wide dark eyes. High cheekbones. Full lips. Slim and
muscular but definitely feminine. He briefly wondered whether the exotic
Vanessa Long/Mitchell would be equally as attracted to the computer technician.

The thought made him miss his
gorgeous wife. She’d caught his attention the moment he’d seen her shopping
with Karen, who had eventually introduced them. He closed his eyes and imagined
running his fingers through her long brown hair, or kissing the column of her
long neck while her now-ample breasts heaved with staggered breaths. Stephanie
was incredibly sexy. Being neither slim nor voluptuous, she was perfectly in
the middle with enough curves to hold on to and limbs long enough to wrap
around him. He sighed and wished this case was over so that he could go home.

He stared into the coffee swirling
around his spoon. He needed to keep focused.

“You know she’s FBI, right?” Chaz turned
to stare at Sydney who was still watching the monitors. “We were in the academy
together.”

“Then, I can trust you to watch out
for her, right?”

“Definitely.” Sydney turned from
the monitors for only a second to give Chaz a brief smile. “Should I assume our
team doesn’t know?”

“That would be a safe assumption.”

“Secret’s safe with me.” The video
screens all went to black and she sighed. She shut everything down. “Oh, well.
Guess I’ll see ya tomorrow.” With that, she rose, grabbed her bag, and headed
for the door.