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Chapter fourteen

Mika

We walked down to the gift shop and picked up the gift for Mary Ellen. Then we walked down the street to the Three Bears Tactical building. It didn’t take us long, but there was something I needed to say before we got there.

“I’m really sorry, Hawk. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble. It was stupid of me to go by myself, but it never occurred to me he might have someone following me. In my mind, there was no way he would know where I was, and I was only making a quick stop.”

“It didn’t occur to me either. We didn’t even know for sure if he was here with the gang or by himself before today, so you couldn’t have known. I won’t make the same mistake again, though. I’m gonna be sticking so close to you that you won’t know where you end and where I begin.”

He’d said that firmly, like it was some kind of threat, but the truth was, it sounded pretty darn good to me.

“I can’t believe all the stuff you taught us in class actually worked.”

“Well, we weren’t just practicing all those moves for the fun of it, you know.”

“I do, but I didn’t really think I could do it if the time ever came.” I’d spent way too long feeling helpless to trust myself in a situation like that. But now I knew that even though I might not be able to fight, I still had the basic skills I needed to protect myself.

I’d only been into the Three Bears building by entering from the garage, so I hadn’t really ever paid much attention to the front. There was a small bistro on the bottom floor of the building that I hadn’t even realized was there.

“Goldie’s Delights?” I asked. “Is that like a play on the Three Bears?”

“It is. The owner thought she was being clever.”

“Thought she was?” I shook my head. “She was. That’s brilliant. Is the food any good?”

“Best sandwiches in town. We eat there a lot. Are you hungry?”

It was lunchtime, but my stomach was a little queasy, so I didn’t think I could eat right now. I told him so, and he nodded. “You’re still in fight-or-flight mode so that makes sense. It’ll wear off here in a bit, and you’ll be able to eat then.”

We walked on past the bistro and into the building. He waved at a woman who sat behind the front desk, and she waved back. When we got in the elevator, he pressed his thumb to the panel right above the spot where you selected your floor, then he pressed the button for the seventh floor.

“You have to use your thumbprint to work the elevator? That’s fancy.”

“I’ll be sure and tell Wolfe you think so. That was his idea. If you work here, you use a thumbprint. For more temporary access, we issue cards that can be tracked,” he explained.

A minute later, the door opened up to a huge room that was filled with computers and television screens. I looked around, amazed by the setup. This was some seriously high-tech stuff. “Oh wow, this looks like a military command center.”

“Well, we are all former military. But we call it our ops center, not command center. Come on in and meet everyone.”

I followed him across the room to where a woman was sitting. She was staring at a screen while her fingers flew across the keyboard. She looked up as we approached and smiled at me.

“Mika, this is Kat. She’s the one who found you when your panic button went off.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Kat said. “I’m sorry to say that we didn’t catch the guy who tried to grab you, though. When Maddox got there, he was long gone, and I was focused on getting Hawk to you, so I didn’t see him leave. I didn’t even get a license plate so we could find out who he was.”

“Oh, you don’t need a license plate. I know who he was. He goes by Snake, and he’s a member of the Iron Jackals motorcycle club.”

“Do you know his legal name?” Hawk asked.

I shook my head, but before I could say no, Kat spoke. “Gerald Collins. Fifty-four. Born in Deming, New Mexico.”

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“I told you she’s good.” Hawk pulled a chair over from across the room and motioned for me to sit. “Now let’s go back to what you were telling me about the Iron Jackals before that asshole tried to grab Mika.”

Kat tapped a few keys, and her screen lit up with all kinds of information. “So, they were working security for some guys in New Mexico who got arrested in a human trafficking sting. The authorities didn’t find any evidence that tied the Jackals to the actual ring, and they weren’t charged, but according to the officer who was in charge, he thought they were more involved than they let on.”

“I can’t believe they let them go if they were mixed up in something like that,” I said. “They had the local law in their pocket, but if this was a human trafficking ring, the locals wouldn’t have been in charge, right? Like, that’s a much bigger deal than city police.”

Hawk and Kat exchanged a glance, and Kat nodded. “It is. I checked every open warrant, federal indictment, and sealed filing I could get my hands on. And I’m telling you, there’s nothing. Either they weren’t actually involved… or someone high up doesn’t want anyone to know they’re watching them. My money’s on the second. I think I better give Chance a call.”

“Chance Kelly is an old friend of Wolfe’s. He’s an FBI agent, and we’ve worked with him before,” Hawk explained.

“Human trafficking?” I shook my head. “I knew they were into some bad stuff, but nothing like that.”

I flashed back to the phone call with Snake and Butch. “But you don’t think that’s going on here, do you? Not in a place like Vesper.”

Kat shrugged. “Human trafficking has become a problem all over, and often, they pick smaller cities like Vesper to target. They have smaller police forces, and people tend to be less on guard in towns where they feel safe.”

I looked at Hawk. “Snake said something in that alley. I don’t know if it means anything or not, though.”

“What did he say?” he asked.

“He asked Butch if he should bring me to him or put me with the others. I don’t know what others he was talking about, but now I can’t help but wonder. What if they have a bunch of people being held against their will?”

“I don’t know, mouse. But we’re gonna find out.” Hawk looked at Kat. “I’m going to take Mika up to my place for a little bit. Can you make him a card that’ll give him access to the tenth floor?”

“Sure. Give me just a second.” She went to work on the computer, and I turned to Hawk.

“We’re going up to your condo?” I asked.

“We are. You’ve had quite a morning, and any minute, that adrenaline’s gonna wear off, and you’re gonna crash. I want to make sure you’re safe and comfortable when that happens.”

“Here you go.” Kat turned around in her chair and handed me a card. “If you misplace your card, let me know right away so I can disable it, okay?”

I nodded. “I will. Thanks, Kat.”

A few minutes later, we were back in the elevator on our way up to the top floor. This time, the doors opened up into a large open space with a couch and a couple of chairs. It reminded me of a hotel lobby.

Hawk pointed at a door straight ahead. “That’s where Wolfe lives, and that over there is Gator’s place.” He motioned to the right. “Which means this is my place right here.”

I followed him to a door on our left, and he typed in a code. The lock on the door clicked open. Apparently, they didn’t use keys for anything around here.

We went on into the condo, and I looked around. The place was huge, but it was nothing like I would’ve expected for Hawk. My guess was he’d hired a decorator or something because everything was nice, but it had no personality. Everything was white and black and soulless.

“It’s really nice.” What else was I supposed to say? Oh wow, this looks nothing like you. That wouldn’t have been very polite, even if I thought it.

He laughed and shook his head. “I keep thinking I should redecorate, but it just hasn’t been a priority.”

“Was it like this when you moved in?”

“No, this floor was all office space when we bought it. We had everything redone. But Reggie was the one who decorated the condo.”

“Reggie?” I asked.

“My ex.”

My brow furrowed, and I looked around again. “Did he even know you at all, or did he just not care what you liked?” I slapped my hand over my mouth and mumbled sorry behind my fingers.

“No apologies needed. He’s a professional decorator. He lived in Austin before he came here, and I think he was trying to recapture a bit of that vibe here.”

“So he lived here with you?” I asked. We’d talked about my past with Butch, but the truth was, I knew nothing about his history.

“He did, for about six months. I met him at a club in Austin. He was looking for a Daddy, and I was looking for a boy. But in the end, he found life with me to be a little too… let’s say, confining. He missed the big city and the parties and the nightlife.”

“So he went back to Austin, then?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know for sure. Last I heard, he was in Dallas, but I think he had dreams of going to New York. I really didn’t keep up with him once he left.”

“Well, you should definitely redecorate. This is a beautiful home. It wouldn’t take much to make it feel like yours.”

Hawk

Mika wandered over to the wall of windows in my living room. “I bet the view from this window is amazing at night.”

I stepped up behind him and looked out over downtown Vesper. “It really is. Do you see that over there?” I pointed off to the right. “That’s the zoo. They set off fireworks from there multiple times a year.”

Mika stood there, still looking out the window like he was deep in thought.

“So, Reggie was your boy then?”

“He was, but that was a while ago.”

“I figured… I mean, I’d seen you at the club on Daddy Night, so I assumed that was what you were looking for.”

“And I’ve seen you at the club, so I assumed that was what you were looking for as well. Was I wrong?”

He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Mika, look at me.” He turned to face me but didn’t speak. “Was I wrong?”

“I wasn’t really looking for anything. After Butch, I don’t really trust my own judgment. I should’ve known. I mean, he’s in a biker gang, and he’s obviously a bad guy, but he wasn’t when I met him. He was rough around the edges, sure, but he was sweet to me no matter how he was with anyone else. And after that, I just thought… I don’t know… that maybe I was better off alone.”

He wrapped his arms around himself like he was trying his best to hold himself together, and it took everything in me not to hold him, but I thought he needed to get this all out.

“Then I went to Kirby’s, and it was Daddy Night. I’d never really considered having a Daddy before, but I like the sound of it. You know, having someone who’d put you first and take care of you, and cherish you, and have your best interests in mind. Darn, that sounds so selfish when I say it like that.”

“That doesn’t sound selfish to me at all, mouse. It sounds like everything you deserve.”

He scoffed. “Right, and that’s why the first guy I considered going home with turned out to be an absolute asshole who didn’t know how to take no for an answer. Andy had to save me from him, you know. Twice, because I have easy mark written all over me, apparently.”

“Who was this?” I growled.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone. Jesse banned him from the club, and no one’s seen him in months.”

“I still want a name, but that can wait. Mika, you aren’t wrong at all about what a Daddy does. I mean, there’s more to it, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the most important thing to your partner.”

“I’ve seen it with my friends. Andy, Caleb, and Mars have all found that. The way their Daddies treat them? It’s what I’d imagined, but I don’t think everyone gets that lucky. I don’t get that lucky.”

I’d had all these plans for when it would be the right time for me to make my move. After he finished self-defense training, after we managed to get through this mess with Butch and the Iron Jackals, after he was more comfortable around me… after, after, after. But with what I’d just heard him say, the afters didn’t seem that important anymore.

I reached for him and pulled him to me. He looked up at me, and I lowered my mouth to his. He melted against my chest and opened his mouth for me. He tasted like sunshine and chocolate and everything good in the world.

I pulled back and looked down into his eyes. “If you let me, I’ll always take care of you.”

“Like a Daddy?”

“Just like that, baby boy.”

He smiled up at me. “Well, why don’t you take me to bed, Daddy? I really need something good in my life right now.”