Page 30 of Captive

Blake is being unusually quiet and avoiding direct eye contact as he insists on patting medry.

"I feel like a pampered queen," I joke but don't get the reaction I expect. The visit from his boss seems to have knocked him off kilter. I, on the other hand, feel ridiculously relaxed and it's not just the bubble bath. So far it feels as if I landed an undercover assignment in a five starresort.

But it is not long before everything takes a dark, twisted and unexpectedly tantalizing turn, and I find myself in over my head and inextricably bound, both physically and mentally, to Kane Freestone's secretworld.

21

Maddox

My phone ringsas I pull into the pothole scarred parking lot of Corky's Bar. I park my motorcycle. The bar is a rundown saloon in the middle of a strip mall. The original owner wouldn't sell his patch of land to the developers, so there it sits looking ancient and weirdly out of place between brightly painted, neon litshops.

Knowing without looking who the call is from, I briefly consider not answering it. But it's not worth the future lecture. "Hey, babe, I'm going to be late tonight. A few more hoursprobably."

Tiffany's scoff ruffles through the phone. "I thought we were going to finalize our decision about the wedding venue tonight. I've got a casserole in the oven. I was hoping we could kiss and make up after the badmorning."

"We can do all of that when I get home. I've got to go. I'll be home in a fewhours."

"Fine," she says in a tone that assures me nothing is fine. She hangs up without a good-bye.

I shove my phone into my coat pocket and head into the bar. The outside, with its crumbling stucco walls, tinted windows that have been scratched with every form of graffiti and cement pathway that is littered with black gum spots, looks inviting compared to the interior. Only half of the early seventies copper light fixtures actually produce light, which is probably a good thing. There are a few mismatched tables and chairs set up in the center of the room. A jukebox, the only sparkling piece in the place is glowing neon green and white in the corner as it churns out an old Aerosmith tune. It's still early and most of the stools at the long wooden bar are empty, but the one person I need to see is sitting at the far end holding a mug of beer. He's showered and shaved, a good thing considering the reek he carried into the precinct after his undercover stint on thestreet.

I sit on the stool next to him and order abeer.

"Why am I not surprised to see you, Maddox?" Olson says without looking my direction. He lifts his beer mug and takes adrink.

"I need to know where she is,Olson."

His dry laugh is irritating. "Guess the rumors are true. Maddox has more than a little thing for his partner. Must kind of complicate things having that pretty little fiancée in themix."

The bartender, an old guy with a craggy face and thick white hair, places a beer in front of me. I take three long gulps to cool off from Olson's irritating comment. I need him on my side. He's my best chance to findTen.

I put the mug down hard on the counter. "Didn't take you for a gossip, Olson. And no one knows shit about me. Just tell me what she's doing and I'll leave you to your charming little wateringhole."

Olson's hair is combed back with some strong smelling gel. I catch a whiff of it as he turns his face to look at me. "Sure thing, Maddox. And then I'll walk into Clark's office and hand him my badge so he can shove it far enough up my ass that I can't retrieve it. Which will be fine because I'm sure he'll make sure I never work on another forceagain."

"Fuck Clark. This has nothing to do with him. He's an idiot for sending her undercover in the firstplace."

"Is he?" Olson reaches for a bowl of peanuts and plucks one out of the bowl. "Seems like his idiot plan worked. Tennyson was our best bet for getting into Freestone's secret club." It's obvious he wants to suck his words back in. "Fuck, I've already had too damn many ofthese."

"So my hunch was right. She's gone undercover to get into that weird fucking Lace Underground case Clark has been working on. Why the fuck would Clark dothat?"

Olson washes his peanut down with beer. "Ten begged him to let her do it. I'd just gotten off the streets, and she was in his office. She pleaded with him, telling Clark she was his best chance to get inside. Seems she wasright."

"What do youmean?"

Olson's gelled hair stays perfectly in place as he shakes his head. "Nope. Told you enoughalready."

I signal to the bartender for another beer for both of us. "Come on, Olson. You've already opened your big mouth, you might as well just tell me what youknow."

His brow arches at me. "Wow, you've got it bad for her. You know all I have to do is tell Clark you're asking about this and he'll be asking for your fuckingbadge."

"So both of us have our jobs on the line, which means we can trust each other not to say anything to Clark." I shove the new beer in front of him. "Now tell me where the fuck isshe?"

Olson wraps his fingers around the mug handle. "Hell if I know where she is, Maddox. She showed up at the park with her red braids and her teenager clothes, looking pretty damn cute, I might add." He sees the look on my face and it seems he's found another set of words he wants to suck back. "Anyhow, the girls at the park disappeared one night. It's a pattern I observed in my time in that fucking sidewalk tent. About every three weeks the young female park inhabitants vanish. They are back in the morning looking fresh and especially happy. This time, I stayed awake and followed them. They took Ten with them. They were excited and laughing as they headed to a deserted street near the park. I waited in the shadows and saw a black passenger van pull up. This douchebag Rowan, an occasional park inhabitant, stepped out. He ushered them all in and the van pulled away. No plates and windows tinted so dark there was no way to see who was drivingit."

I grind my teeth together. "That's it? You just let her disappear into some sketch ass van with some douche named Rowan. Weren't you supposed to be watching her?" I can hear just what a major asshole I'm being, but I can't stopmyself.

"What the fuck was I supposed to do? Run after the van on foot? Christ, you need to take a fucking step back and look at yourself, Maddox. You're not thinking straight. Ten is a damn good cop. We all know she can take care of herself just fine. And she did a helluva job out there. Got herself noticed rightaway."

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