Captured: A Bad Boy Romance (13 page)

Hudson was pacing again. Something that had recently become a bad habit. Usually he was in his bedroom, but at that moment he was in the kitchen. Trying to decide what he could eat while all he was really doing was walking back and forth.

He’d spent weeks focused on his time with Agent Fuller and he still couldn’t make sense of any of it. She had been perfectly fine the night before. Why did she suddenly leave?

Part of him wanted to believe that she had gotten too close. He wanted to think that maybe her feelings were so strong that she was scared. Obviously she wasn’t trying to harm him. Her initial goal of landing him in jail hadn’t been achieved and she certainly had enough info to do that.

Dakota had told him that he was just having a reaction to being rejected. Especially since the first woman to reject him was also the first woman he’d felt close to.
Loved
.

As he stood and stared out the small window above the sink, his mind drifted backwards. There had been a night when she hadn’t really talked much. He could tell a lot was on her mind. She’d sat eating her dinner and avoiding eye contact.

He remembered feeling rejected then. As if she wanted to be away from him. But he was okay. He didn’t pace and worry himself to death. It made sense. She was captive. She wanted a man she’d vowed to catch. And thanks to him she was all sorts of sexually frustrated.

He didn’t like seeing her so quiet. That had made him tell her something. Something from his childhood. It wasn’t even really an important story. Just something that let on to who he was and what his life had been like. Something he told a dozen people through the years.

But she wasn’t those people. She’d immediately looked up, eyes full of curiosity. She’d focused on his words as if they held the secret to life. She’d listened and nodded in the right spots. She’d commented when it was a good time. Mostly, she’d watched him. Enjoying him talking. And when he was done she’d smiled.

He remembered asking her what about the story made her smile and her answer had been so simple and so honest it had stuck out in his mind.

The fact you shared it with me.

It was in that moment that he’d known. The feelings stirring inside him were more than lust and control. He’d felt something real. Something he’d never really known. And it was because of her.

All he’d wanted to do that night was brush the hair from her eyes and pour his soul out to her. But he’d been afraid. Too dangerous. So instead he’d made a sexual comment and watched her blush. Then he’d gotten up and left to go downstairs. He told her he was doing business, but really he was avoiding. His feelings. The girl. The idea that she could someday smile at him as his wife. He’d spent the rest of the night pacing and trying to decide how to regain control of his heart. His mind. His reactions.

It had been another several days before he’d let himself fall into it. Spend time with her. Talk to her. Share. Hope. That someday she’d see he wasn’t what she thought. That they could share something. That he could be with her for more than a few weeks and without locking her inside.

Hudson was angry. He remembered telling her she could venture upstairs. Why the fuck had no one told him about secret passageways and tunnels. He would have taken precautions.

But why had she waited. She’d had access to the upstairs the night before. Why did she wait until morning to leave? Especially since he’d been meeting with the guys and she was alone.

Granted, he was glad she hadn’t tried to leave. What if she had? She may have heard him say those things. She wouldn’t have known they were for her protection. Knowing her hot-headed little ass she’d have confronted him. He’d have to lie to her face to protect her.

He was just glad that hadn’t happened. But he still didn’t understand why she’d left at all. Or why she’d waited.

That was when he decided she must have plotted the move. Maybe she’d explored and found her way out the night before. She was pretty smart. She had to know that she needed time to get away. At least an hour before they looked for her. Otherwise he would catch her and he’d have no choice left but to do something about it.

The guys would never let her get away with that. They’d never let him get away with it. He wondered if she’d left any clues. Dropped anything that might tell him why she’d taken off like she did. What her plans were.

He opted to go check out the passage to the basement and the tunnel again. He wasn’t frantic this time and he might see something they’d missed.

It took about ten minutes to find the shelf. But once he did, it was easy to get it open. Asher made his way inside and took his shoes off before making his way down the steps. He didn’t want the guys to hear him.

About ten or so steps down he heard voices.

“I’m concerned,” he recognized Dakota instantly. “Asher isn’t himself right now and I can’t really go to him. “

The words pissed him off. He could always be approached. He thought his guys knew that. Being sad and hurt didn’t mean he couldn’t function. And for Dakota to assume that was the worst.

“What’s up?” the other voice was audible, but muffled slightly. Asher wasn’t certain who it was.

“Someone’s not on the up and up.” Dakota said.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot of information being discovered that is strictly club info,” Dakota answered. “Things that no one outside of us should know. Yet it’s getting out. So that tells me that someone is talking.”

Hudson heard mumbling from the other person but couldn’t make out what was being said. Obviously Dakota was closer to whatever source was carrying the voices.

“It was happening before the agent was here and it’s getting worse,” he spoke clearly. “I think we have a leak inside the club.”

Hudson was mad. He wanted to go find Dakota and ask him what was going on. But he didn’t want them to know he’d spied on them. It might make them feel violated. Hell, he almost felt like he was deceiving them just by listening. He did, however, decide that he was going to skip going through the tunnel.  He needed to be with his guys. Obviously he was missing quite a bit by staying to himself.

Climbing back up the stairs, Hudson decided he’d look around and see if Dakota was nearby. Then he’d chat with them and hope that someone would warn him of what was going on.

The living room wasn’t far from the stairs and Dakota sat in the recliner that was placed in front of the heating vent. There was no one else in the room.

“Sitting alone?” Asher asked his friend.

“Yes,” Dakota answered. “Knowles was here, but he went to call his wife.”

That explained why Asher could barely hear. Knowles mumbled all the time anyway. Hearing him through a vent would be damned near impossible.

“The guys are worried, Asher,” Dakota kept going. “They think you’re too distracted. They are calling for a new leader.”

“Good luck to them,” Asher said. “The last time I caved to them, karma bit me in the ass. I won’t do it again. This is my club and I’ll do what I see fit.”

“It’s our club too.”

“You know what I mean,” Hudson replied. “I don’t even get details of what is going on.”

“Such as?”

“A traitor among us, for starters.”

“How did you know?”

“I heard through the heating vents.”

“How?”

“Passageway Fuller used to get out of here. You can hear this room pretty damn well from there.”

“Good thing she left in the morning then.”

“Why is that?” Hudson was curious.

“If she’d left the night before she’d have heard what you said and this would be a bigger mess.”

“Right.”

“One that might not clear up.”

“What do you mean?” 

“If she’d heard you say they could kill her, she’d never forgive you. And she’d never believe you were lying. Hell, even I was convinced.”

And suddenly in that moment, Hudson felt a smile. It seemed an odd time to smile. But realizing that he hadn’t misjudged her made it appear. He knew. Finally he knew. He should’ve known right from the beginning.

Finally, it all made sense.  

“Thanks for meeting with me, Detective Larsen,” Fuller pulled the chair out and sat across from the plump balding man.

“I’m happy to help anyway that I can, Agent,” he smiled at her and sipped his coffee. “I hope you are doing well back at home and work.”

“Yes I am, thank you,” she replied and ordered a cup of coffee. “I have some questions about the case I’ve been working on.”

“The gang shootings?” he asked and she nodded. “I’ve been trying like hell to figure out what is going on. Gangs aren’t usually your biggest problems,” his voice drifted off.

Melissa knew what he meant. The clubs. The weapons and drugs. Not the actual gangs.

“Thing is, we’ve always had the issues of these weapons going in and out. It’s nothing new. But to have them in the hands of our locals, that’s scary.” He stopped again as if he was thinking. “We don’t need robberies and drive-bys with assault rifles.”

“That’s why I wanted to meet with you detective. You are the one that has been tackling the case. I wasn’t even…” Her voice cracked slightly, “I wasn’t even here during these shootings. I’d like to know a little more. Do you think that Asher Hudson could be involved in this?”

“Asher? No doubt he’s into crime. Heavy duty crime. But he tends to keep his off the main streets. If you ask me, I don’t think it’s him or the Nomads.”

Melissa felt her face flush. She remembered things that she didn’t really want to remember in that moment.

“Besides, he was nowhere to be seen.”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“He disappeared. No one saw hide or hair of him until after you returned. I dunno if it was because he had you there,” the balding man stuck a toothpick between his lips. “Sorry, trying to quit.” He explained in the midst of his thoughts. “Or if it was because Guiterro was in town and he was staying off the radar. But Asher Hudson was on his best behavior when all of this was going on.”

“Guiterro?” Fuller had never heard the name, but something told her to find out more. Instinct was seventy-five percent of her job.

“Manuel Guiterro, Head of one of the most dangerous cartel groups in Mexico,” he finished. “He’s been in and out of Vegas recently. Quite a bit actually,” he pulled the toothpick out. “But keeps his hands clean whenever he’s here. Just your usual standard of blowing a few million on the Strip.

“Does Guiterro deal in weapons?” Fuller asked. “Could he have been putting them into the hands of these guys?”

“I suppose it’s a possibility,” Larsen answered. “But I doubt it.”

“Why is that?” She questioned.

“Guiterro is mostly about drugs. That’s his past time. Major drugs. He heads up much of the drug problem out this way—all in Mexico, out of our jurisdiction. Usually he does it from home.” Larsen stopped to think for a minute. “He’s big scale. Not small. If he had weapons, it’d likely be as the middle man. He’d be buying them and then selling them for drugs.”

Melissa thought about what he’d said for a minute before she reacted. “Would he sell them to gangs?”

“He’s not going to nickel and dime his way. He’s too far up the ladder for that. If the gangs had too many of these things we’d already have street wars taking place. So only a few have been bought. That means the gangs aren’t buying them in bulk.”

“Then why would Guiterro be here?”

“Well, the theory is that he was here to meet with the Nomads,” he finally blurted out.

“For?”

“No one knows. But the speculation from our department was that he had some kind of big deal going on with Hudson,” Larsen picked up the coffee once again. “Just not sure what that deal was. Of course your office probably has its own conclusion. Considering you were in the house right before it all started I assume they knew he was coming.”

Melissa let that statement hit her. She thought back to the plan to sneak in. Logan had wanted her to seduce Hudson. She had refused. She didn’t want to use her femininity for an advantage. Logan had told her their hands were tied without some inside information. A couple of weeks later, Logan came to her with intel he had received about some kind of deal going down the next day. They needed to be there. He would secure the paperwork needed to legalize it and she could go inside. He also came up with the plans for the house. At first Melissa had been impressed that he had so much insider information. She thought Logan was really on the ball with ridding the city of crime. Even as the thought danced in her head it made her feel a little sick. She remembered Hudson telling her about Logan shooting his father.

So, she was there to catch him with Guiterro? Why had Logan never told her this? The danger it presented was well beyond what she thought she was going into.

“I am not sure of the exact purpose of the sting,” Melissa admitted to the cop. “All I did was follow orders. The paperwork and everything was settled by someone else.”

“What paperwork?” Larsen asked with a laugh. “We figured you guys were really onto something with Guiterro and Hudson. The way it was kept all hush-hush. I guessed it musta been a federal thing.”

“Why is that?”

“Because nothing was done locally. There was no warrant. There was no permission granted to do any of it. Hell, I’m not even sure how your guys got their hands on plans to the house.”

“Like I said, I didn’t handle any of that so I’m not sure.” Melissa said.

“You really are lucky they found you in the basement,” he smiled. “If you’d walked into that room with Guiterro’s guys…” he paused. “Well we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m just surprised Hudson spared the men to search the property when he has guards who do that already.”

Melissa hadn’t thought about any of that. Of course, she wasn’t a detective and she wasn’t privy to all of the personal information about Hudson that the locals had. She barely knew of him other than his club affiliation and penchant for criminal activity.

“I guess I was really lucky,” she agreed with a smile and moved on. “What’s your take on all of this, detective?”

“Here’s what I know. Hudson doesn’t turn his crime to the streets here. He walks them daily and he doesn’t want the association. I’d bet he’d be hard pressed to even tell you what gangs we have and who is in them. His crimes are global. A middleman at best.

“I highly doubt that the Nomads are involved in the gang shit. Guiterro is very private. He pushes drugs. And he has about a thousand guys under him to handle the detail. I don’t see him making a bunch of trips to Vegas to sell a few AKs to street thugs—street thugs who might end up competing with his own associates. Like I said, he’s big time. But we know that he has affiliation with Hudson. I’m not saying they didn’t have some sort of role in all of this, but they aren’t the ones handing these to kids on the street,” Larsen finished.

“Then who is?”

“Well ma’am, if I knew that I wouldn’t need you now would I? It’s someone local. Someone into weapons and making money. Someone with the ability to piece them out one at a time. And someone that won’t get caught.”

“Out of curiosity, why’d you wait so long to call us?”

“I didn’t,” Larsen challenged. “I called after the first shooting. This isn’t my forte, ya know?”

“Who was assigned the case before me?” she wanted to know because there were no notes in the file from a previous agent.

“Nobody, I suppose,” Larsen shook his head. “Your boss over there told me he’d create a file and get to it when he could.”

“Logan?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered with a nod. “Piece of shit if you ask me. But to each their own. He said the ATF had too much on their plate to handle gang nonsense. He was after the big guys.”

“Really?”
That lying sonofabitch
.

“Yup. Makes it hard to get the job done with no one wants to cooperate. I’m just glad you’re on the case now.”

“Me too,” she agreed. “Do you know who deals in weapons locally?”

“Sure don’t,” he answered. “We have had a few cases, but typically the guys take off before they are caught. We’ve never been able to pinpoint a local guy.”

“How do you know he’s local?”

“He knew who to sell to. He knew the effect. He knew the consequences. He kept it minimal. Whoever he is, he’s done this for a while. He has no ties to the streets. He is setting up for an all-out war in town and using common thugs to do it. And most of all, he wants it to fall back on Asher Hudson.”

“You seem defensive of Hudson,” she commented. “Is there a reason?”

“To be honest, when he lost his dad he suffered a lot. And he’s gone the wrong way and done the wrong things. I kinda feel bad for him. Wish he’d have let us help him back then instead of breaking into the Nomads so early.”

“I see,” she replied.

“I won’t lie. I want to see him in prison for his crimes. I want to see him turn his life around. I want nothing more than that, and all the other biker thugs to be out of my city,” Larsen ranted. “But I don’t want anyone to take the fall for something they didn’t do. I wouldn’t be a cop if I didn’t believe in fair justice.”

“Agent Fuller!” the voice made her skin crawl even before she saw the face. “Detective Larsen.”

“Logan,” she acknowledged without a smile or glance in his direction.

“What brings you two together?” he asked.

“Working my case,” she answered. “Just needed to get Larsen’s take on things.”

“Well I hope he told you that Hudson is somehow involved and it jogged your memory of being in his home.” Logan replied.

“Sorry to disappoint you Logan,” Melissa looked up at her boss. “My memory is still the same. But the detective has been a great help.” She glanced at his companion. “Amanda, nice to see you. I thought you no longer worked for us.”

“She doesn’t,” Logan answered. “She’s my nanny now.”

“For you or the kids?” Melissa chuckled as the words came out.

“Well, we are going to get to our table and get some lunch. Busy day,” Logan smiled and gave a nod to the detective before he walked off.

“Still a piece of shit,” Larsen stated and Melissa laughed.

“Detective, thank you so much.” She reached across the table to shake his hand. “You have been extremely helpful.”

“Get these guns off my streets. That’s all the thanks I need.”

“That’s my plan,” she stood and said her goodbyes. Before leaving the diner, she made a pitstop at Logan’s table.

“Why did we blow this off a month or so ago?” she asked honestly.

“We have our limits, Fuller,” Logan answered. “Everyone has their limits. Cross them and you could be risking lives, including your own.” With that he winked at her and turned back towards his nanny. “Have a great day.”

Fuller was barely in the car when she pulled out her phone. Her hope was that the number she had was still active and that there would be an answer.

When she heard the voice on the other of the line, a sigh of relief flooded her.

“We need to talk,” she went straight to her point. “I need your help. It’s urgent and it’s important.”

She jotted down the address and time she was given and decided this would be a great minute to stop by the office and pick up a few things.