A Little Harmless Submission 6 (12 page)

Maria sighed. “What kind of secret room?”

Dee’s eyes widened. “Oh, nothing like that. It’s more like a studio apartment. When they first opened the club, Micah slept there a lot of nights. Most nights, from what he told me.”

“And now they go back there and play.”

“
May
.” Dee closed her eyes. “Good lord, you don’t have a filter on that mouth.”

Her friend waved it away. “Our agent here was wondering if she was wrong about you and Micah.”

Dee’s eyes popped open. “Is that true?”

Maria looked from one woman to another. “No. We checked all of you out. But, I would say that if people knew it was there, it could be a place to hide.”

“Ah, well, hard to get in there. Only Cynthia and I have been in there, other than when Dee and Micah get it on at work.”

Dee looked ready to kill her friend, so Maria changed the subject. “I want to talk about the four women.”

Both of their expressions sobered. Maria regretted it, regretted that she was the one who had to do this. She had really enjoyed the short interlude, but truthfully, she understood what was at stake. They had to catch this son of a bitch before he killed again.

“No problem. But I’m pretty sure the police and the FBI have been over that,” May said.

“What I want is things that might not be covered in that. I know they may have talked to people about their boyfriends, their Doms…anyone they were involved with. But can either of you think of anyone who had issues with them?”

May made a face. “Only one who had an issue with Angie, the second victim, was me. She had a thing for Evan. But I threw Kai at her for a while, and she was satisfied.”

“The last time I saw her was up at Ala Moana beach. She was pissed. Oh, man was she pissed,” Dee said.

“Can you remember about what?”

“Ticket. She said she got a ticket for speeding, then a fine because her tags had expired. She got in a little scuffle with the police officer, too.”

“You know, Devon had an issue, something with a neighbor. She’d made a complaint about the guy who lived above her.”

“Was she afraid of him?”

May laughed and a few of the patrons’ heads turned in their direction. “Sorry, but you didn’t know her. She was small, but she was a black belt.”

That caught Maria off guard. “I don’t remember that being in the report.”

May shrugged. “She didn’t hide it. I know most everyone knew she used to compete. She was damned good. That is always why it struck me as odd that she was one of the victims. It made me…”

Maria leaned forward, she couldn’t help it. “What?”

“It isn’t that important,” May said, waving it away.

“No, everything is important. You might even think it isn’t that important, but it is. So tell me.”

May shrugged. “I figured that the only way she would have been attacked and not prepared was if she knew the guy. She had to have known him.”

“I wouldn’t want to meet up with her in a dark alley, and I know how to protect myself,” Dee said.

Knowing the woman had been on the run from her family for ten years, Maria could just imagine. “So, they both had issues with the police right before that. And we know that Devon could take care of herself in a fight. One way or another, she was surprised.”

Maria pulled out her notepad and made a few marks. May leaned over and frowned. “What the heck is that?”

“Shorthand. Or a kind of shorthand. My father made it up. We were the only two who knew it.”

“Oh.”

“So do you know if Lisa had issues with the police before this?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Do you, Dee? Did she mention it?”

Dee shook her head. “She was really a loner. She hooked up, don’t get me wrong, but she didn’t share a lot about her background. Unless it interfered with work, she didn’t tell me anything.”

“Do you think it could be the same policeman?” May asked.

Maria thought about it but dismissed it. “Probably not. If it was, it would have been picked up on way before this. But it is a connection outside of the club. Coincidences, no matter how small, are always important.”

She finished her notes then set them aside. She looked down at the plate that was still half full of food. “If I keep eating like this, I’ll have to go on a fast when I get back to DC.”

“Do you like living there?” May asked.

Maria shrugged. “It’s where work is.”

“So you don’t have someone you live with there, a roommate?”

Maria swallowed the bite of pork. “Nope.”

Dee sighed, aggravation easy to hear. “What May is trying to ask is if you have a significant other?”

Maria frowned. “No.”

“Oh.”

Dee rolled her eyes. “May is a little protective of Rome, just so you know. Probably because he has a crush on her.”

“He
had
a crush on me,” May said, turning her attention to Maria. “I would say that he definitely doesn’t anymore.”

Maria wanted to disappear. Just looking at May, she knew the kind of woman Rome usually was attracted to. Petite, exotically beautiful…not something anyone in his or her right mind would call Maria. She pushed that aside. She couldn’t think about what Rome liked or didn’t like, not right now. Sure they had a night that blew her mind. Hell, her body was getting hot just thinking about it. But it was probably pretty stereotypical for him.

“Are you asking if my intentions are honorable?” Maria asked, hoping that her tone was filled with just enough amusement that she hit the right note.

May studied her for a second, then two, and then her shoulders relaxed. There was something that moved over her face, but she said nothing about it. “Sure. Rome’s a big boy, he can handle himself.”

“Speaking of which, I need to get going. We’re supposed to meet up to go over some of this stuff.” She slipped out of the booth. “How much do I owe?”

May shook her head. “On the house, sistah.”

“Oh, well…I guess I should get going.”

With that she fled the restaurant, ready to get back to the investigation and away from May’s probing questions. She didn’t want to ask the questions of herself, so she definitely didn’t know how to answer May. Maria was pretty sure if she spent too much time thinking about what had happened the night before, she might get too upset thinking that she only had a short time to experience Rome.

· · · · ·

“What the hell was that all about, May?” Dee asked.

May was still looking at the door where Maria had escaped. And that was the right word. She had acted as if the dogs of hell were following her out the door.

“She’s an odd one.”

Dee snorted. “Fine one to talk.”

May turned her attention back to Dee. “No, really. Can you imagine having to follow your father around while he hunted up crazy people? That’s no life.”

“True. But I can’t say much about it considering my family.” She paused. “You worried about Rome?”

May shook her head. “I was a little worried at first. When you told me his reaction, then what happened last night, I was really concerned. But, I am pretty sure he’s safe from her.”

“How can you be so sure?”

She thought of the way the woman looked when May talked about Rome. “Did you see the way her face got all dreamy? They only had one night together, and that woman is hooked.”

“Well, Rome does have a reputation.”

“Yeah, and one of the things is that he never gets really attached to women. From what you told me about last night, he is very attached to Maria. I just don’t want to see him go.”

“Go where?”

“I worry she might lure him back to the mainland.”

Dee snorted. “You always make it sound like a cesspool, but I seem to remember someone had a very good time in Vegas at her bachelorette party, even if she couldn’t remember it when she got home.”

May laughed, allowing her worries about Rome to be pushed to the back of her mind. “Well, there are small parts I remember. There was that tattoo parlor Cynthia just had to go to.”

· · · · ·

Maria spent all afternoon going over her notes. She found eight of the women had some kind of contact with the law. Her eyes were starting to cross, so she set it aside and opened her laptop to work. Not her real work—her paying job—but while she was waiting for Rome, she figured she could get a few words in for the day. As she waited for the laptop to load, she thought about what her father would think about her writing hobby.

She laughed, but there was no joy in it. He would be embarrassed that his little girl saw herself as an aspiring romance writer. Maria would never think of herself as an author. She had no plans to even send the books out. True, it had turned into an obsession, but she figured a shrink would tell her that it was her way of coping. Writing had been the one thing she did that kept her sane while she’d been with her father those last few months. It had been her one outlet. Having to watch the once strong and powerful Big John Callahan wither away and die had been almost too much to bear. Writing had been the one thing she could do to keep herself going.

Since returning to DC after his death, she seemed fixated with getting the word count in for the day. And she was behind since she’d gotten to the island. It had been over a week since she’d had time to sit and write. When she heard the car outside, she frowned. Apparently she wasn’t going to get any words in for the day. Rome was already at the door by the time she started shutting down. The knock sounded just as her PC started to completely turn off. She rose and walked to the door, opening it for him.

She had known him for three days, and the impact was still the same. Heat hit her the moment she saw him, her body seemingly responding to the fact that he was there. He cupped her cheek and brushed it with his thumb. Without a word, he kissed her, soft, sweet and just enough to have her curling her toes into the carpet. By the time he pulled away, she was ready to beg for more.

“Hi,” he said, his voice soft.

“Hi, yourself.”

She stepped away then, because she needed to. Her body was still humming from the simple kiss. Rome had other ideas. He grabbed hold of her hand and walked with her back to the living room.

“How was lunch?”

The question reminded her of the last part of her conversation with Dee and May. She couldn’t think about that. That was personal, and the most important thing right now was making sure they caught this bastard.

“Good. One thing I’m checking is that two of the women had altercations with the police before they were killed.”

He stopped walking and frowned. “Really? Huh. I’m sort of surprised it wasn’t noted in their case file.”

“It was. I looked over it when I got back and it was. Different officers, different issues. One was speeding. The other made a complaint about a neighbor. It was noted, but nothing that big because both of the officers in the incidents were cleared.”

He pursed his lips. “Still, it’s a connection between the women.”

“Yeah, and I found six more women who had something in the six months prior to their deaths. Problem is, it doesn’t mean just city, but also state and federal, so it’s going to take me some time. But it could be the way he found his victims.”

“Where he goes hunting?”

She shivered. She couldn’t help it. Maria was used to the discussions. She had sat in on a lot of them growing up, but it still chilled her that there were people out there hunting humans. It still felt as if someone were walking over her grave when they said it. Especially in a normal tone of voice. Her father and the other officers always used the same voice to discuss their predators as they did to discuss what to have for dinner.

“Yes. It could be that he’s a police dispatcher of some sort.”

“I thought we could go out to my house tonight,” he said in a voice that sounded casual, but it was almost as if he was trying too hard.

She studied him for a few seconds. “Why?”

“I thought we could eat there, go over some of these cases.”

“I thought we’d go to the club tonight.”

He shook his head. “That would be suspicious. The idea I would take my new sub to the club right after meeting her...people would wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“They would wonder if I didn’t have complete control over you.”

She snorted. “Like that’s going to happen.”

His demeanor changed, his body stiffening. He turned to face her and then slowly backed her up against the wall. He let go of her hands and placed a palm on the wall on each side of her head. She lifted her hands to ward him off, but he had other plans.

“Put your hands against the wall. Do it.” His tone was harsh. This was not the soft lover she had met at the door. This was another man, her Dom.

She did it without thinking. Even his tone had changed and with it, her body heated. He was an attractive man, one that any woman would want. All hard muscle and dark, delicious skin. Then there were those hazel eyes that seemed to mesmerize her. But it was the way he spoke when he was being a true Dom that got to her. Even now, her body was warming, her nipples tightening against the cotton fabric of her bra. He leaned his face so close, she could feel his breath on her cheek.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Maria. By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to be the perfect little sub. You’ll know just how to act with your Dom. I’ll be the one who gives you the gift of pleasure, the one who makes sure you’re begging for it. Don’t doubt it.”

She swallowed. Just hearing the dark promise in his words had her yearning. Never before had she wanted anything more from a man.

“So next time you want to challenge me like you just did, I will make sure you pay for it.” He nuzzled her neck, and she felt the brush of his lips on her pulse point. The feather light kiss had her wanting more, but before she was satisfied, he was pulling away. The satisfied smirk on his face told her that he knew exactly what he’d done to her.

“I think you can suffer until we get to my house.”

She frowned at him. His voice had changed, his demeanor also. But before she could ask him, he was walking over to the table by her laptop. “Did you want to save this?”

“What?”