Take a Risk (Risk #1) (3 page)

‘Then we turn it all over to the police,’ she smiled.

‘You’ve got it. It gets him off the street and out of your life, legitimately.’

‘Sounds like a perfect deal, what’s the catch?’

‘You have to follow my rules,’ he said. ‘There are four things I make clear to my clients, they are the main points of my contract which we’ll sign before I commence.’

‘Four? Which are?’

‘Let’s do them in descending order. Number four, my services aren’t free. You will pay for all services and expenses as laid out in the contract. I don’t care how attractive you are and I don’t take barter.’

‘Ok, that’s fair and expected. Three?’

‘I’m not security or a hit man. I’m not going to take this guy out for you and I’m not there to intervene if things get physical. If you’re alone, or scared, or need reassurance call your friend or your boyfriend to look out for you, that’s not my job.’

‘I understand, number two?’

‘My methods might not be what you expect, but they’ve proven effective in the past. Through the course of our association I may ask you to do any number of things, to participate in activities or to take specific actions, and you must comply with all of my requests. If you don’t, I walk away.’

Suspicion flared. ‘What kind of activities or actions?’

‘I don’t need to see you naked,’ he said as though he could read her mind. ‘There will be a purpose to my request and if there’s time and opportunity I’ll explain it.’

‘And if there’s not?’

‘You’ll have to trust me,’ he said and must have seen her bristle. ‘Look, I’m going to be watching you day and night until we ID this guy. So I’m about to get to know you intimately. Chavez is my cousin, he’s a good kid and he wouldn’t have sent you here if he didn’t think I could solve this. He knows to give out my information sparingly.’

‘What’s the first rule?’ she asked.

‘Don’t mention me to anyone, ever. I understand why you brought your friend tonight and it was smart not to come alone. But when Suzette asks, you tell her it didn’t work out, that we couldn’t agree on a price or I was a charlatan or a sleaze, whatever. I don’t care. You tell her no specifics on what we discussed.’

‘You’re trusting me to keep your identity a secret?’

‘Trust has to go both ways. I can give you your life back; it’s up to you if you want to screw up your best chance for that.’

‘Why is your anonymity so important?’

‘Because I can’t do what I do if everyone knows what I do. I don’t need anyone looking for me.’

For months she’d lived in torment, wondering when this guy was watching her, jumping at every creek in her house, convinced that shadows were monsters. This guy, Colt, was offering her a chance and at the very least, if he could ID the stalker she’d know she wasn’t insane.

‘Ok,’ she said. ‘Do you have a card? A number where I can reach you?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘We come to an arrangement tonight and then you’ll see me again when I have something to question or report.’

‘I need time to think about this,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘You’re not going to railroad me into handing you a check when we just met.’

‘Good, because I don’t take checks. I deal in cash and you can give me the retainer at our next encounter, which will be within a couple of days, once I have a better handle on things. I’ll make contact with you when I’m ready.’

Rolling his chair backward, he opened a filing cabinet and pulled out a contract, then retrieving a pen from his desk drawer he pushed both toward her. ‘If you want my help then you have to sign it.’

Picking up the stack of sheets she skim read all three pages, though most of the third was taken up by space for the signatures.

‘I think I do want your help,’ she said. ‘You’re unconventional, but conventional hasn’t worked for me. We hired a PI two months ago and all he came back with was my ex-husband’s bio and pictures of my patients coming in and out of my office.’

A huff of a laugh accompanied his smile. ‘You’ll get more than that from me. I’m tenacious and I will keep going until I figure out who this guy is. I’m a sucker for a mystery.’

‘The fact that you were referred by a police officer hangs heavy in your favour. The fact that you’re related to the cop gives me something personal about you. But the fact that your base is a seedy sex club—‘

‘We don’t sell sex,’ he said and her eyes narrowed. ‘What I mean is, our girls aren’t hookers, though what they do on their own time is their business. But we don’t let any of them deal out of here.’

‘We?’

‘I have a financial stake in the club. I’m nothing to do with running it. The club belongs to my brother, Blaser. He’s the bartender you met downstairs.’

‘Your folks liked guns, didn’t they?’

‘My little brother’s name is Ruger,’ he said. ‘My father’s a former military man.’

‘And you? How did you get into this kind of work?’

‘I have skills that are useful.’

‘From the military?’

‘Oh no, not me,’ he said, laying on amusement. ‘I think you have enough personal information about me for now, Doctor Cutler.’

‘What’s the retainer?’

‘Five grand,’ he said. ‘Paid in cash and it will be deducted from your final bill.’

‘Ok,’ she said, rising from the chair with the contract. ‘We have a deal.’

‘Sign the papers and we’ll shake on it.’ He stood too.

‘Good,’ she said and held out a hand, which he took his time to shake. ‘We have a deal. I’ll sign the papers after I read them thoroughly, expect them ready – providing there’s nothing out of line – when you get in touch for your retainer.’

‘That doesn’t work for me,’ he said. ‘That contract shouldn’t leave this room.’

‘I don’t like bullies, Mr. Warner and I’m not going to put my name on something without reading it.’

‘You think I’m bullying you?’

‘I think you’re used to getting your way, but I’m not easily intimidated. If you’d lived through what I have these past months then you’d have learned that giving in to fear is what the bully wants.’

‘He hasn’t broken you yet,’ Colt said as she tucked away the pen and contract in her purse. ‘Without me, he will break you eventually.’

‘Then it’s a good thing we’ve shaken hands, Mr Warner. Now that we have a deal, I’m not without you, am I?’

Exuding as much confidence as she could muster Lyssa whipped around and strode out of the office hoping that the adrenaline wasn’t shaking her extremities in a way that was noticeable to Colt. But she’d stood up to him now and proved he didn’t intimidate her, so she was committed. She just hoped that Colt would do the same for her in her case.

Having lunch with Suzette was a regular feature of her life, lying to her best friend was not. They’d met and shared an apartment through college until Lyssa moved in with Archie after they were married. After her divorce, two years ago, Lyssa stayed briefly with Suzette again before she bought her current home.

The two friends sat together on the outside deck of their favourite lunch restaurant, Wright Bite, which wasn’t too far from Lyssa’s home.

‘I should’ve stayed,’ Suzette said. ‘I would have helped you work it out.’

‘It wasn’t meant to be,’ Lyssa said, now off her salad.

‘But Chavez was so sure he could help. This Trapper guy must be able to solve the case. I think we should go back. Maybe I could talk to Pete then once he’s off work—‘

‘You want to ask your boyfriend to take us to a strip joint? No. We’re going to figure this out. I’m not ready to give up yet.’

Last night, she’d got a cab outside Risqué and returned home in the dark. Lyssa really disliked coming home in the dark and disliked entering her unilluminated home even more. Her habit was to retrieve the pepper spray she hid in her entry way and check every corner of her abode before returning the pepper spray to its spot with a sigh of relief.

Every time she told herself that she was being paranoid. There was no evidence that this stalker had been inside her home but she didn’t want to take any chances.

‘It seems like a waste to go there and come out with nothing,’ Suzette said, biting into her sandwich.

‘It was a fascinating experience, don’t you think?’ Lyssa asked, admitting her curiosity. ‘I wouldn’t say we got nothing.’

‘Oh,’ Suzette said, perking up. ‘You have that look in your eye like before you start one of your crazy experiments.’

‘I take exception to that,’ Lyssa smirked. ‘None of my experiments have been crazy and I wouldn’t have got into my present field if human psyche and behaviour fascinate me.’

‘You’re going to do it, aren’t you? Launch yourself back into your book? It’s about time! Will this be like the time you convinced that urologist to let you sit in on appointments and you wore a Wonderbra and deliberately missed two buttons on your shirt?’

‘That was a physiological experiment,’ she said, topping off their water glasses.

‘And the free wedding night coaching?’

‘To measure how pressure affected performance… those statistics were astounding by the way.’

‘And standing on street corners at three AM with sex workers interviewing them about clients?’

‘You’d be surprised how many men open up to hookers. They’re unlikely to see them again so they can be honest and often performance issues present differently or disappear when pressure and identity are removed.’

‘You take it to a whole new level, you know? You actually enjoy delving into these intricacies, most people get a pay check and go home to veg out, but you’re always watching people and wondering. You love to get in amongst it, amongst your subjects.’

‘It’s fun to be undercover. I’ve always been perfectly safe.’

‘Archie didn’t think so, that hooker thing sent him over the edge.’

‘I never did finish that study by the way,’ she said. Bringing up her ex-husband always made Lyssa sigh. He was a brilliant man, intelligent and fastidious, but he just didn’t understand her curious and adventurous side. ‘It wasn’t out of concern for my safety that he objected. He thought I was making a spectacle of myself.’

‘You didn’t flaunt what you were doing, and I read your papers, they were amazing. All that work you did towards your book was incredible. You worked too hard to throw it away. It’s great to see you getting back to it.’

‘Being stalked sort of changed my perspective,’ Lyssa said. ‘It’s difficult to go undercover to explore people’s sexual behaviour when I may have a mad man on my tail.’

‘You love exploring sexual practice… it’s a shame you haven’t had much practise yourself recently.’

‘One step at a time, let’s find a way to get rid of the crazy stalker, and then I can get back to my old ways and start thinking about men again.’

Her perspective had changed when her admirer started his antics. It made her realise how she missed the freedom of her fearless days and reminded her what she’d given up to be able to maintain her independence. Every situation she put herself in bettered her knowledge of human interactions and motivations and made her better at her job. More than that, she loved being out there among people, something her stalker had prevented. All she could hope was that Colt was about to change that and that lying to Suzette would be worth it in the end.

‘Just by maintaining this relationship you are making progress, Bobby. We’ve known all along that this was going to be difficult,’ Lyssa said in her soothing doctor voice to the redhead on her patient couch.

‘She’s beautiful… I don’t think she’ll understand,’ Bobby said. ‘How do I explain…?’

‘Don’t feel you like have to rush. As the relationship develops you’ll grow closer. You don’t have to feel pressured into revealing more of yourself than you’re comfortable with.’

‘You’re so understanding… talking to her won’t be like talking to you.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘We’re all individuals and I’m your doctor, not your girlfriend.’

‘You’re seeing her on Saturday night; take it one date at a time, Bobby. I’m very proud of you for all you’ve achieved so far.’

‘I couldn’t have done any of this without you, doc. I can’t thank you enough.’

‘Ok, Bobby,’ she said, checking her watch. ‘You’ve done all the hard work yourself, but I’m happy to help you in any way that I can. We’ll carry on at your next session.’

After saying goodbye to Bobby, she went through her usual routine of updating her patient notes. This time in the evening was usually her home time. She had no plans tonight, and Lyssa didn’t relish the idea of sitting inside alone all night. So when she had received a call from a new patient she’d jumped at the chance to stay on late tonight to meet him.

Being that this would be their first meeting she would have to go through her routine of standard questions. Most of her patients were referred from doctors who had eliminated physiological causes of dysfunction, but this newbie had self-referred so he’d require a full assessment.

She got together the usual pack she issued to new clients and put it on the far side of her desk, within reaching distance of her chair.

‘Nice setup you have here.’

Lyssa hadn’t heard anyone come in, and the man now crouched next to the table by her door perplexed her, at least he did until he stood up and turned around to reveal himself. It was Colt Warner. Out of the environment of that seedy club she tried to view him as a professional. But it was difficult to be neutral when he was examining her furniture, her vents, her floors and ceilings.

‘You’re my next patient?’

He carried on with his exploration. ‘Yes, call me, Joe.’

Another name. ‘Ok, what are you doing, Joe?’

‘Looking.’

‘For what?’ she asked, leaving her chair to round the desk when he ducked beneath it and ran his hand along the underside.

‘Just add paranoia to my list of symptoms.’

Coming to her office as a legitimate patient wasn’t likely to be Colt’s true motivation for being here. More likely he wanted his money and his contract but used being here for treatment as cover. It was a good one as long as it didn’t take time away from her actual patients.

‘What are your other symptoms?’ she asked, seating herself in her doctor’s seat while he continued his scrutiny.

‘I saw that last guy leave, what was he in for?’

‘I don’t discuss patients with other patients.’

‘So who do you discuss them with?’ he asked, moving every item from the dresser to examine it.

‘My voice recorder,’ she said. ‘So your paranoia must link to your sexual dysfunction.’ At least if he wasn’t a real patient she didn’t have to treat him like one.

‘No dysfunction with my anything sexual.’

‘You’re posturing, strutting,’ she said. Now he was investigating her windows. But the white roller blinds were down on the front windows because she didn’t want any distractions in her sessions. ‘Usually that means you’re overcompensating. When was the last time you achieved an erection?’

This stopped his exploration, he put down the purple flame ornament and turned around, now amused and intrigued.

‘This morning,’ he said. ‘You don’t waste any time, do you? You get right to the nitty gritty.’

‘Identifying the issue is the first step to solving it,’ she said, reaching for her pad and pen to begin taking notes. ‘Should I assume it was nocturnal penile tumescence?’ His blank look said it all. ‘Morning glory, you woke up aroused?’

He sloped to the couch and sank down, keeping his eyes trained to her. ‘Maybe.’

‘Did you wake up alone? Or with company?’

‘Alone.’

‘And can I enquire as to your sexuality? What’s your sexual orientation?’

‘I’m heterosexual, straight down the line,’ he said, with a twitch of a smile.

‘Uh huh,’ she said, taking her time to make several notes, which only made his smile grow. ‘Did you use the erection? Did you pleasure yourself to climax?’

‘Man,’ he said, pushing his hands down his thighs. ‘I love what you do. All those years you spent getting an MD and you spend all day talking about cocks and jizz.’

‘I talk about the brain, Joe. It’s my goal to ensure all of my patients have satisfying, fulfilling and healthy sex lives. I want you all to be safe and happy.’

‘And just how far will you go to achieve that?’ Colt asked, letting his gaze slink to her crossed legs.

‘You’re not the first client to use sexual innuendo in order to make advances toward me, but please be assured that I have no physical contact with my patients. This has to be a safe space for both of us.’

‘Understood, doc, but if you’re going to spend an hour talking to a guy about his junk…’

‘Ah, issues with impulse control. Is that why you’re here, Joe?’

‘I came to find out if we could work together, but trust takes time to be established.’

‘I agree,’ she said, taking more notes. ‘Do you have a girlfriend, long-term partner, wife?’

‘None of the above.’

‘And how would you identify your relationship with women?’

‘All women?’

‘How do you view women?’ she asked.

‘You want to know if I respect them or just screw them and move on?’

‘Is that what you do?’ she asked, uncrossing her legs to cross them the other way. She noted how he watched the action with interest.

‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘But I don’t make a habit of one night stands.’

‘Why not?’

Shrugging, he slid down to settle on the couch. ‘I don’t know, they don’t hold my interest I guess. I’m not a teenager anymore.’

‘Sex has become less satisfying as you have gotten older?’

‘Not less satisfying if you’re doing it right,’ he said. ‘But it’s not as important to have it every night. It’s less about the physical as we age.’

‘What is it about?’

‘Making a connection. Getting my rocks off is secondary to making sure my partner enjoys herself.’

‘Interesting,’ she said, leaning forward and discarding the pad. ‘You have esteem issues; prioritise your mate and her pleasure over your own. Do you believe that you don’t deserve gratification?’

‘Oh, I deserve it alright and I get it too, but if she doesn’t get hers then it hardly seems right that I take mine,’ he said, making her eye. ‘It’s about give and take, right?’

‘That’s important, but your mate must be of a similar mind. Have you ever been married?’

‘Briefly.’

This surprised her and it must have shown because his lips curled. ‘You were? What went wrong?’

‘We wanted different things.’

‘What did you want?’

‘I wanted her to give me a break.’

‘And what did she want?’ Lyssa asked, she picked up her pad, retreating to her doctor default to try and disguise her personal interest in his answer.

‘Attention. I worked late a lot, sometimes nights, and she couldn’t handle that.’

‘Were there women at your place of work that she disapproved of?’ If he spent all his time at Risqué his wife might have struggled with the nature of the venue.

‘Disapproved of? No, other women weren’t involved. She didn’t like that I spent so much time with lowlifes instead of her.’

‘In bars?’

‘I didn’t work in bars, I was a cop in vice.’

‘A cop?’

‘Briefly,’ he said. ‘You’ve been on the divorce rollercoaster yourself?’

‘Yeah,’ she replied when it was her usual policy never to reveal anything personal to patients.

‘And? How did that come about?’

‘I took risks he disapproved of.’

‘Risks?’ He slid to the front of the couch to lean closer. ‘I am intrigued, such as?’

‘I believe we’re all students of life and I enjoy studying how people react in various situations. I believe it makes me better at what I do.’

‘I can identify with wanting to be effective, it’s why I left the force.’

Getting to know her patient’s history was important and as many as two or three sessions could be used talking about nothing except where they came from. Colt wasn’t a genuine patient and her subconscious must have identified that because she found herself acutely aware of the angle of his jaw and the strength in his arms. His skin looked warm and soft, a smatter of light brown hairs on his forearms left her wondering at the shade of the hair on his chest.

A blush touched her cheeks so she went back to making notes in order to disguise it. In her career she’d never had inappropriate thoughts about a patient, but Colt wasn’t a patient and so admiring the bob of his adam’s apple wasn’t too improper.

‘You left because you felt you were ineffective at your job.’

‘Yes.’ He didn’t elaborate.

‘Do you feel ineffective with women?’

‘In the sack? I’ve never had any complaints.’

‘Do you believe that women would complain?’

‘I can tell when a woman isn’t enjoying herself,’ he said.

‘You mean that you think you can tell when your partner is faking her arousal?’

‘Is this going to lead to a Meg Ryan scene replay?’

His joke made her smile. ‘Whether or not you know when a woman is faking orgasm is between you and your mate. Tell me what you hope to achieve from these sessions.’

‘Are you willing to work with me?’ he asked with an intent expression that asked more than his voice did.

Setting her pad aside she left her chair and retrieved the contract she’d signed for him from her desk drawer. She also removed the envelope filled with his retainer and took them to him.

‘I’ll accept you, I’d advise at least weekly sessions initially.’

‘Yes,’ he said and she handed him a folder from her desk behind her.

‘Have a read of the literature in there, it discusses various conditions and what we can achieve together. It should prompt you to think about yourself and what you need. When you come back we can talk about any conclusions you’ve reached.’

‘Lyssa,’ he said, tucking the contract and cash into the folder she’d given him to conceal it. ‘I think this is going to be a fruitful partnership.’

‘I’m glad you see it that way because this relationship is about give and take too. I’ll work hard you for, but you’re required to make a commitment to me as well.’

Colt rose to his feet and held his hand out for hers. ‘That I can do, doc. Don’t you worry about a thing. Same time next week?’ She nodded.

About facing, he sauntered out of her office, closing the door behind him. She exhaled and the smile that spread on her face displayed a sense of relief that she hadn’t expected to feel, she hadn’t been so relaxed in months. Knowing more about Colt put her more at ease and somehow she knew that Colt was going to change things for her.

Berating herself for her premature confidence she was ready to go back to her desk when she noticed the small white rectangle on the couch where Colt had been seated.

Picking it up, she turned it over and found it blank. Untucking the flap, it scraped free as it had not been licked or stuck. Inside was a single sheet of heavy writing paper.

I’ve planted a bug detection device, which I will check when I return to my base. If I experience feedback we’ll know he’s listening and we’ll weed out his bug. I’ll let you know what I find. I’m going to be watching.

I came to your office as a patient for cover, which I can keep doing until we know more, or come up with something else. I’ll let you train my wiener, which is more than I let other clients do.

Your first task: change your routine. This guy knows what to expect of you. Shock him. Do something new that could draw him out – that will throw him off-kilter. Get a new hobby, take a second job or a class. We need to get you out of the house and on the move. I’ll be on your tail.

The note wasn’t signed but the sender was obvious, unlike ones sent by her stalker. Having Colt as a patient would be a good way for them to meet without drawing attention to them, but meeting once a week didn’t suit her, she’d rather be able to get more regular updates from him. Waiting seven days to find out what Colt was up to was unacceptable. She didn’t want to be out of the loop for that long. She wanted to regain control of her life and being passive wasn’t in her nature.