Page 57 of For Love & Torture
Did he know about our rule about checking out the address our members give us? Did he know he’d need that to gain access to our club? Or was he only at our club to get to Isabel all along?
Did he see her face on our website and develop a crush on her?
There’s one picture of her on the welcome page. Could he have seen it and made a decision to stalk her?
Everything just fell into place for him way too easily. He made sure it would. I know that now.
I know he sent that woman to kiss me and bait me. I know he made sure that Bell would see that and he made sure he was in her exit path to help her get away from me.
And I know that sounds completely paranoid and I don’t give a damn.
The sound of creaking steps has me opening my eyes. “Mom?”
I sit up and turn to look in the direction the sound came from and see nothing. But the air has gone ice cold, and I can see my breath when I exhale.
She’s here, I know it. “Mom, I need your help. You want me to help Dad, and I want you to help Isabel, the woman you saw with me here earlier. I have a deep suspicion the man who took her isn’t a thing from this world. I have a feeling only you can help her, Mom. She’s with a man who’s tall with dark hair and eyes. I don’t know where he’s taken her, but I fear it’s to a place she can’t leave.”
A light flickers in the kitchen and I get up and go into it. It’s dark in here and I can’t see a thing, but hear something heavy hit the wooden dining table. Flipping on the light switch, I find it was the sugar bowl that had been on the counter top. Now it’s on its side, and the sugar has spilled out.
Walking over to look at the mess, I find something is written in the sugar. ‘Evil.’
My knees buckle as I know Mom knows who has Bell. I pull a chair out and take a seat before I fall down. “I know, Mom. Can you get to her and help her get away from him?”
The back door opens and slams shut, and the cold leaves the air. I’m in shock. I can’t feel a thing.
All I can do is hope that was my mother’s spirit leaving this house to go help my Isabel. And if she’s returned to me, I will make her mine in name. Fuck all the other shit I’ve been thinking.
If I want to make sure she’s respected and untarnished by my history as a player, then I need to marry the woman. What’s more respectable than that?
My eyes are drawn back to the word written in the sugar, and I drop my head into my hands and cry. I can’t help it. I can’t take it anymore.
If I lose her…
“No, don’t even think it, Grant Jamison. You will not lose her. Mom will find her and bring her to safety. You have to believe. You can’t lose hope.” And as I say the words to myself, I think about what else I need to do.
I need to go home, just in case she does come back. I need to get some sleep because I have a lot to do tomorrow. Like getting my mother’s body out of that grave and into the hands of people who can tell us what the hell was wrong with her and settle once and for all if another person could’ve possibly inflicted that fatal wound on her wrist. And I need to go see my father and talk to him.
Chirping birds wake me up as the first rays of light pour into my window. I left it open last night. I can’t explain why—I just felt like it needed to be done. Like Bell might come through it or something. Stupid, I know.
Taking a quick shower and throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, I put my running shoes on as I plan on having one hell of a busy day. Taking my BMW, I make my way to my first stop of this busy day. The coffee shop. I’ll need my brain sharp today.
A blueberry muffin will help too so I order one of those then head to the club. It’s come to my mind that I should’ve written down Bart’s phone number too. I’ll give him a call and give him the heads up that I’m going to the police if I haven’t heard from Isabel by noon today.
That should spur him into doing the right thing. But my hopes aren’t really high about that, I have to admit.
The club is completely empty as I go inside and go to my office. Turning on my computer, I wait for it to start up, sipping on my coffee and eating the muffin while I wait.
Once it’s up and running, I get into the member’s area and find Bart Mason’s file. Printing out his profile picture so I can take it to the cops if he doesn’t do as I say, I put his phone number into my cell and shut the computer down before leaving.
As I walk to my car, I make the call. ”This number is no longer in service,” a robotic voice tells me.
“Fuck!”
Speeding up, I get into my car and head straight to the police station. Now I know something is up. With the destroyed home and the deactivated phone, along with Isabel’s purse and phone and her disappearance, I think I have enough to file some kind of report.
Pulling into the parking lot, I get out and take long strides to toward the building, wanting to make this report as quickly as I can. As soon as I enter, I see a woman wearing a uniform sitting behind a glass window.
Pushing it open as I approach her, she gives me a smile. “And what can I do for you today, sir?”
