Page 23 of Clover

If I wanted to know the name of my third cousin on my father’s side four generations prior, I could just look it up and know their name in minutes. It must be strange to not know where you came from or if there are other siblings or cousins out there that you don’t know. It could also be liberating. Not having to be a Colton because my name is Colton, I could just be a tattoo artist and nothing more. Not completely sure if I would like that. I enjoy my work and having the freedom to do what I please and not care what the authorities would do if they found out. The freedom that comes attached to the name Colton makes flipping the bird to government officials fucking fantastic.

“If Clover did leave on her own, is there somewhere specific she would have gone?” I know Blake is just trying to help, but insinuating Clover left me voluntarily is infuriating.

“If one more person suggests that Clover left on her own, I’m going to break every bone in their hands and feet one by one,” I growl out to know one in particular, but my message is received loud and clear.

“Right, ok, got it. Braxton took her, and we’re going to prove it and find her.”

“Exactly. So, keep looking.” The boy is obviously nervous when he speaks next, his voice a little shaky and quieter.

“Well, I did find something interesting. Not sure if it’s connected to finding Clover or not, but….”

“What is it?” Raven scoots her chair closer to Blake, pressing her side against his arm. He turns to look at her, and even in the light of his computer screens, I can see the red heat flush his cheeks. A low growl rumbles in my chest. Instantly Blake recoils back, so Raven is no longer pressed against him and focuses on me and the documents on the screen in front of us. Raven is thankfully oblivious to our unspoken conversation.

“Well, there are delivery invoices for furniture and appliances to the condo directly below Braxton.”

“And why is this interesting? People have furniture delivered all the time.”

“It’s interesting because when I backtrack the order to who placed it, the invoice is billed to a shell company that is owned by the Shaw’s hedge fund company. But the name on the title of the condo is Norma Jean O'Grady. A seventy-five-year-old retired widow.” Blake is rattling off this info, and I’m trying to decipher what he’s trying to get at.

“So?”

“So. Norma Jean O’Grady doesn’t really exist. Her entire history only goes back far enough to explain why she’s there and how she paid for the condo. There’s nothing else, no school records, jobs records, credit cards, rentals, travel, passports, nothing. She’s not real. It’s a front. And if it’s a front and the Shaw’s are hiding the fact that they’re the rightful owners of this condo….” He looks up at me wide-eyed, waiting for me to fill in the blanks. I just look back at him, waiting for him to spell it out. I’m not really in the right state of mind at the moment for critical thinking.

“Itcould besome sort of safe house. I also found an invoice from a security company for the installation of an electronic four-bolt automatic key code security door. No cameras or any other security on the inside. So, I can’t hack in and see what’s in it. Same with inside Braxton’s penthouse. Guess he doesn’t want anyone to see what he does in there.”

Worms slither under my skin at the thought. If he doesn’t have cameras inside, there has to be a bad reason. And that reason sits like razor blades in my gut. Probably to protect himself from anyone getting video evidence of whatever the fuck it is he does in there.

“There are cameras in the hallway to Norma Jean’s condo door, however, and to further prove she doesn’t exist, no one, and I meanno one,has entered or left through that door in six months. And that’s only how far back I looked. I bet if I kept looking, I wouldn’t see anyone going through that door in years.”

“If they don’t go through the front door, how do they get into the condo?” Raven speaks the words out loud that were sitting on the tip of my tongue. None of this is making any sense to me.

“My guess? If he had a security door installed, it might lead up to his penthouse on the floor above. So, he probably gets in through a secret entrance in there. That way, no one would ever know he was in there.”

My blood rushes through my veins like white water rapids. Gushing loud in my ears, muffling the world around me.He has her hidden in a secret safe house under his penthouse condo. That motherfucker is dead. I’m going to string him up and skin him alive. Because now I know where he took her and why we couldn’t find any trace of her. It wasn’t suspicious for him to go to his condo. None of us thought anything of it.

My legs start to move, and I’m heading for the door before I even know what my plan is to get her out. All I know is that I’m going there today and finding her. For once, I have a destination, and the feeling of urgency runs through my veins. Making me feel like I just did a face plant in a mountain of coke. Erratic heartbeat, twitching fingers, and a sharp focus like I’ve never felt.

“Where are you going?” Raven asks from behind me. I stop before opening the apartment door and turn back to my little sister. Her eyes are pleading and concerned.

“I’m going home to gear up, then I’m going to find her and bring her home.” Shifting my gaze to Blake, I give him my most big brotherly protective glare. I need him to continue looking for Clover, but I also want him to know that I know and I’m watching him.

“Keep digging. I want to know everything and double-check every possibility. I may also need you to hack into his safe house, so find out everything you can on that door and get into his system however you can.” Turning my attention to Raven, I don’t have time to tell her what to do. Instead, she tells me what’s she’s going to do.

“I’m staying here to help Blake. We’ll call you when we find something.”

Nodding in approval, I turn to leave the apartment and step out with more purpose and determination in my stride than when I got here. I now have a real lead and need to make a plan to get in there as fast as possible.

Chapter 12

Braxton

Itook great pleasure in defiling Clover. Locking her ankles and wrists in the leather restraints holding her face down and ass up on my bed was so damn satisfying. Choosing anal first was more for my pleasure than necessarily her pain. Her pain was an added bonus, but I want to leave her pussy for last. Taste every other inch of her and ruin every part of her before damaging her permanently by taking her pussy. Every submissive position I put her in and part of her I taint builds my anticipation and desire to take her last sacred spot from her. So that when I do shove my cock inside her sweet pussy, she will be completely mine, and it will feel a hundred times more satisfying. It will be the final nail in her coffin.

Giving her liquid sex was generous on my part. That way, she would be alert and sensitive to every touch and sensation. It was entertaining to watch her fight against her body’s natural desires. Seeing her dripping wet from my touch and whimpering for more while biting out insults and curses at me. To watch her struggle between physical desire and emotional hate only made me harder.

I wonder how many times it’ll take of drugging her before she craves the needle and begs for it. The only way I’m ever going to get my dick in her mouth without losing inches is to get her hooked on it and only give it to her if she sucks me off. Otherwise, I’m pretty fucking sure she’d make me a eunuch if I try too soon.

Finding out she was an ex-addict gave me a perfect method of control over her. Getting her hooked on Harley will be quicker than if she weren’t. The benefit of it is that it’s an upper, so her mouthiness and anger get amped up as well as her senses. It’s the ecstasy part that gives the increased tactile sensitivity, visual hallucinations, and lowered inhibition that makes her easier to handle. Yet the cocaine is what gives her the increased energy and exhilaration.

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