Dancing With Danger Read online

  I pulled him close to me, as if I was hugging him, and I whispered in his ear. “What if someone put cameras in my room?” His whole body stiffened at that, and he tucked me even closer to him as he moved us through, into the bathroom. He turned the shower back on, the sink too, and then he picked his phone up. “Charlie just asked a really fantastic question about why someone was in her room.” He waited a moment. “We need to know if cameras were installed in here, and we should probably figure that out without tipping off the person who may have planted them.” There was another pause as he listened. “Nah, man, she was really smart about it. Pulled me in for a hug and whispered in my ear all quiet like. We’re in her bathroom now. It’ll look like we’re making up in the shower if there’s anything being seen.” He listened a moment longer and then hung up.

  “You think I’m right, don’t you?”

  “Better safe than sorry. Obviously we can’t talk out there so just listen quickly, and I promise you will have more detail later.”

  I halt him there. “Spinner already gave me a very abbreviated rundown of what happened last night, because he was afraid I might run and that it would have played right into what they intended.” Rage looked hurt for a moment before his mask of indifference slipped back into place once more. “You wouldn’t be anywhere near me if I thought what happened was the truth, but please, understand I needed a minute to wrap my head around everything and come to terms with it. Last night was a complete mind-fuck for me.”

  “And have you?”

  “Wrapped my head around it?” I asked to which he nodded. “Yes,” I replied all hesitancy leaving my voice.

  He nodded again and then wrapped one hand around the back of my neck, the other around my waist, and he tugged me closer to him in the matter of a heartbeat before his lips were suddenly on mine with surprising ferocity. I opened to him immediately allowing our tongues to glide together and mingle as one. Flashes of heat erupted throughout my body sending shockwaves of lust and supreme need coursing through me as my panties grew wetter. My hands explored Rage’s solid chest, up under his kutte and shirt, layers of clothes that were suddenly very much in my way.

  Sadly, as I tried to pull at Rage’s shirt he took a step back. “As much as I wish you were still wearing nothing more than that towel, we have people headed our way.” I hadn’t realized someone was on the way to my room, but as if his words conjured them out of thin air a loud banging sounded on the door followed quickly by Rabbit yelling, “you two better not be fucking in there, because we’re coming in!”

  “Bolt’s thrown, good luck, fucker!” Rage called out after opening the bathroom door so he could be heard loud and clear. I didn’t miss the fact that he was scanning my room. Most likely, he was looking for something out of place, but as I did the same thing, I already knew where to look. I leaned in, over his shoulder, and whispered in his ear again. “Lamp’s been moved on the nightstand. Alarm clock too.” He didn’t acknowledge what I said, and instead walked over to the bedroom door and threw the locks open to let the guys in. He held a finger up to his face so they knew to watch what they said.

  “Sweet girl,” Shameless called out as he pushed past Rabbit and Rage. “You doing okay?”

  “I’m fine, Shame. A little startled by having someone sitting in my room when I came out of the shower, but I’m over it.”

  Rage mumbled, “I’m not.” Rabbit snickered at the man then focused his attention on my blushing cheeks.

  “Were you naked when you came out of the bathroom, Showgirl?” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down in a comical gesture that was meant to be lecherous. Rage smacked him in the back of the head.

  “Stop picturing her naked.”

  “So she was naked?” Rabbit continued on, grinning like an idiot.

  “For fuck’s sake, can we stop talking about my baby girl being naked?” Shameless yelled at them. It was all normal, playful banter that we might have any other time. In the meantime the guys were no doubt cataloging things to check out in my room. I moved to go sit on the bed, picked the alarm clock up, glared at it as if it offended me, and then set it face down on the nightstand.

  “That clock piss you off, sweet girl?” Shameless asked.

  “Time is pissing me off. I have things I want to do and every time I look up it seems like hours have slipped by. Days, weeks, and months have slipped by too,” I grumbled. He came over and sat next to me pulling me into a hug as he whispered in my ear, “clock a problem?” I nodded at him and then said, “I hate that lamp too,” Since there was only one light in the room besides the overhead lighting he knew right away. “Anything else seem off?”

  I made a point to look directly at him before I glanced around, acting frustrated. “I don’t know, Shame, everything seems so off lately. Those clothes in my closet aren’t mine, and I don’t have anything to fill that dresser, I nodded my head toward the only piece of furniture between the bathroom and closet doors, because it had been disturbed. Drawers were off kilter that shouldn’t be, because I never used it since there were shelves in the closet. I tried to think back to when I came out of the bathroom in the towel and went into the closet to retrieve my clothes. Had it been opened? Closed? I honestly couldn’t remember now.

  “Okay, well, let’s go see Iceman, because I think he has some news for you. Apparently, your dad left you some money that you weren’t aware of.” Shameless laughed. “It was club money that he was paid for jobs he did for us. He kept it in one of our accounts, and he’s accrued quite a large sum over the years. I guess his intention was to make sure it all went to you if he passed.” I wondered if he was setting something up, knowing he was being recorded, or if it was the truth. I guess I’d find out when we got somewhere secure.

  Chapter 12

  I was nervous about speaking in Iceman’s office too, just in case someone had broken in there, but the guys assured me it was impossible since only Iceman and Rage could access the biometric locks. Apparently, they had body part scans in place that made it impossible to get into the room undetected. It was also, as I was made aware, soundproofed.

  “We pulled up footage of the hallway from the time Charlie went back to her room, until Rage showed up.” Iceman glanced up to take us all in. The office was overfilled with bulky, muscular men dripping testosterone, and if they hadn’t been there to protect me I would definitely be intimidated. “No one got near her room.”

  “What the fuck? She said her alarm clock, lamp, and dresser looked as though they’d been fucked with,” Rage told him.

  “Yeah, well, luckily I’m smart enough to remember that while we were all busy in Church, Charlie was out teaching Ruby’s girls to dance.” Spinner laughed at everyone’s shocked faces. “We backed the camera footage up further, and saw this.”

  Iceman had already turned the monitor to face us and we watched as one of the guys who transferred in with Beaver after their old, dismantled club was absorbed by Aces High, walked into my room after jimmying the lock. We couldn’t see what he did while he was in there, but it took him a good 15 minutes to do it.

  “If he did this while no one was in the room then…” I started to say as my eyes began to overflow with tears. “The bathroom,” I choked out.

  “Motherfucker!” Rage yelled out. “I want that room swept, now. I don’t give a fuck who finds out. Obviously we know Parker didn’t work alone getting Jezzie in here for that setup. That was Bramble in Charlie’s room.”

  “Is it just me, or did their club have the worst road names ever?” I attempted to joke. Rabbit chuckled, and Shameless pulled me into a one-armed hug while everyone else just gave me the look that said my joke wasn’t appreciated right now. “So, what now?” I asked.

  “You will stay here with a guard on the door, and one in the room, while we go do a sweep for all the brothers who patched over when their club went under.”

  “You think they’re all in on it?” I asked, knowing it was about six men that had patched over with Beaver. They’d been po
inted out to me when I first started working the bar, and Rabbit had warned me that they were heavier handed with women than the normal Aces High crew, and not to be afraid to tell one of the guys if they tried anything.

  “Since we can’t be too sure, we’re going to pull them all for questioning. Two, we know for sure, are about to go down after we make them sing.” Spinner announced as his fists clenched tightly with his obvious disdain.

  “Did you get Jezzie locked down like I asked?” My head snapped up then, because I wasn’t aware she was still around.

  “She’s here?”

  “Prospect caught her trying to sneak out after she participated in that little setup last night. He snatched her ass up, and we’ve had her held downstairs since.”

  “I wasn’t aware there was a downstairs.”

  “We usually use it in emergencies. If there is ever a natural disaster, or if the clubhouse were ever to come under attack we have escape tunnels built in down there, but we also have heavy duty, blast proof panic rooms. She’s being held in one as we speak. Only three people have access to open them from the outside.” Iceman informed me.

  “Thank you,” I stated, suddenly feeling gracious of the fact that they were trusting me with so much. “I know you’re giving me more information than you normally share. I just wanted you to know I appreciate it.” All the men in the room smiled at me then.

  “All right, we have some work to do. Charlie, you’re staying put with Rabbit. We need Shameless on this one. We’ll have a prospect outside, not that anyone can get in, but just in case someone tries, they can let us know immediately.”

  “Before we run off,” Rage stated as he walked back over to stand beside me. “I just want to make it clear that I’m claiming Charlie, if she’ll have me.” He glanced down at me, and then kissed my forehead before walking to the door of the office. “She’s not going to answer that right now though, because I know what she’s going to say, and I’m not about to hear that shit.”

  He probably did know what I was about to say, because he seemed stupidly in-tune with me. If given half a chance I would tell him I couldn’t accept until I was no longer married. He deserved that fresh start with me. I deserved that fresh start with him. We could discuss that later, when we were alone though. The rest of the guys did nothing more than glance between us quickly and head to the door as well. Rabbit was smirking in my general direction as they left and pulled the door shut behind them.

  “So, what happens now?”

  “Now, we wait.” Rabbit had moved so that he was sitting behind the desk, no doubt watching the security footage as the guys went about the business of rounding up the men that may, or may not, be responsible for trying to get to me in order to turn me over to my husband. Ugh. I really needed to stop calling him that. He was never a husband in the real sense of the word. We were two people tied together by a piece of paper that I certainly had no intention of honoring any longer. As we sat there, waiting, Rabbit watching, and me fretting about my life and how far down the rabbit hole I’d travelled the office phone started to ring. It was strange to see a landline in the place, and even stranger when I watched Rabbit’s face contort upon seeing the caller ID.

  “Hello,” He stated as he picked up. Then he put a finger over his mouth to hush me as he placed the call on speakerphone. He also pointed to the camera in the corner of the room to let me know why he was making the call audible. I nodded.

  “This is Sheriff Davis Mitchell. Who am I speaking with?”

  “This is Rabbit. What can I do for you, Sheriff?”

  “Is Iceman around, son?”

  “No sir, he’s off dealing with unruly bikers. You know how these boys are. A little too much drink, a little too much testosterone and the big boys have to play bouncer and sort shit.”

  “It’s not even 4pm,” the man on the other line stated as if that meant anything to bikers.

  “And?” Rabbit asked. “Did you call to make Iceman aware of the time, or is there something I can help you with?”

  “I was just calling to give him a head’s up. It’s come to our attention that a young woman who has been missing for the better part of a year is said to be in your clubhouse. We’ve had a tip here that she’s being held there against her will, and the boys are on their way to pay a visit to the place as we speak.”

  “And do these boys have a warrant they’re bringing with them, because I’d be really curious to know how that was procured without evidence.”

  “Well, here’s the thing, we were e-mailed video evidence of her being there just about an hour ago. Not all of it was flattering. The video was of her in the shower, and I’m pretty certain she had no clue there were cameras in there.”

  Rabbit’s face started turning colors as he attempted to tamp down his fury. He was also busy tapping away at the keys on his phone.

  “Well, I can assure you we do not have any missing girls held against their will here, Sheriff. Feel free to send your boys out to check if you must though. Actually, I’d really appreciate if you’d come yourself since I don’t trust half your boys, and this may turn into a pretty delicate situation.”

  “Are you saying the girl is there?”

  “How can I say that when I don’t know who we’re talking about?” Rabbit snipped back.

  “Fair enough. I’ll be there momentarily since I was calling from the car anyway.”

  “We’ll have the welcome mat out, but do me a solid, and come in and listen to what I have to say before you turn those boys loose with a search warrant.”

  “I can do that, but fair warning, I have an FBI agent on the way into town as we speak who is very interested in getting to that girl.”

  “And that is why we need to have this chat ahead of time.” Rabbit told him before hanging up.

  Rabbit looked at me then, completely serious. “I’m giving you two codes, sweetheart. When I get back to this door with the Sheriff I will call that phone and tell you ‘watermelon is delicious’ if I want you to open that door. If something is wrong, and I think you’re in danger I will tell you, ‘remember to feed the fish.’” He made eye contact with me and didn’t release it. “You got that?”

  I nodded. “Watermelon is good. Fishy means danger. Got it.” He tossed me a quick smile then.

  “That’s my girl. Don’t forget the codes. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Rabbit,” I called out to him as he opened the office door. “Please, be careful.”

  “I will, and everyone else knows what’s about to go down too. They’re underground dealing with our problem people, and don’t worry, even with a search warrant they won’t be found down there.” He winked at me and took off out of the office, making sure the door latched shut behind him as he went.

  The wait seemed to take forever. I tried to sit behind the monitor and watch security footage as Rabbit had been doing, but he’d done something to the monitors before he left, killing the feed. At first, I was pissed, thinking he was hiding things from me. Then I remembered he was going to collect the Sherriff and probably didn’t want him nosing around in our security feeds when he brought him back to the office. The phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Watermelon sure is good to have on a hot day, sweetheart. I hope you have some in there with you.” I laughed at Rabbit, hung up, and went to open the door. He entered along with a man wearing a sheriff’s uniform.

  “Mrs. Cooper,” the sheriff said as he tipped his hat toward me. Rabbit closed the door behind us.

  “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t refer to me as Mrs.” I told him, causing him to cock a brow.

  “Well, now I was under the impression you were married to a Mr. Joshua Cooper, who has been frantically searching for his wife for going on a year now.”

  “Sheriff, I need you to really hear what I’m about to tell you. I don’t trust too many people anymore, and I’m going out on a limb trusting you.”

  “O
kay,” he told me as he took a seat on the couch. “I’m all ears.” Then he pulled out some sort of device and tipped his head to it. “Do you mind if I record this?”

  “I don’t care.” I waved his concern away. “In October of 2016 I lived in an unhappy marriage. I knew my husband was cheating on me, but I had yet to be able to catch him in the act.”

  “Your husband being former NFL running back, Josh Cooper, correct?”

  “Yes, that is correct.” I sighed. “It was October 24th, the two year anniversary of my dad’s death. I was headed to the cemetery to place flowers and pay my respects. When I got there, a man I’d never seen before took me by gunpoint and ushered me quickly into a brown mini-van that had been sitting down on the path near where I was parked. He put me in the van, tied me up, and drove us out of there. We were on the road for hours.” I took a deep breath as I remembered how completely freaked out I was that day. “It was dark by the time we arrived at a pueblo revival style home in the middle of nowhere. I later found out I was near Phoenix, about 45 minutes outside of town.”

  I continued on, delving deep into the memory of my abduction. “The man who took me carried me into the house, sat me in a chair, and told me he had a story to tell me.” I looked up at the Sheriff then and made sure he saw the sincerity in my eyes. “I’m not going to give you all the details of his story, because I will preserve his identity with my dying breath.”

  “Why on earth would you do that? The man kidnapped you at gunpoint, drove you across state lines, and you want to protect him?” He was shaking his head then.

  “Do you want to hear the rest or not?” I asked.