Page 6 of Hell of a Mess

Five

Luther

Linc glanced down at his phone while Bane played the extra footage he’d gotten his hands on from the bar across the street from Sovereign House.

We didn’t have an exact view of the parking lot—at least not the corner Ocean Eyes had been found in—but if someone had come and left around that time, we could see that.

It was unlikely they’d left the club, beaten the shit out of her, and gone back inside.

“She remembered her name,” Linc said, looking up at me.

My attention was no longer on the screen as I waited for him to finish. “What is it?” I asked when he didn’t continue.

“Lace.”

Lace. I wanted to grin because that fucking fit. Lace was delicate, just like she was. I didn’t smile though because they’d both get the wrong idea.

“Anything else?” I asked, hoping she could give us a lead.

He shook his head. “No. Jayda said when she was talking to Locke, she faltered on what to call her, and she just supplied it.”

Wait. “Locke?”

He nodded. “Yeah. He’s at the house too. She brought Lace upstairs to get some sunshine while everyone is gone. Seems she also likes dogs.”

Why was Locke at the goddamn house? He had his own house.

“You got a problem with something?” Linc asked me, narrowing his eyes.

“No,” I bit out.

“Do I need to list the reasons why that woman is off limits to you? Starting with, we don’t know who she is or who she belongs to.”

I shoved back the stool I had been sitting on and stood up. “It’s Locke you need to be worried about. He’s not been to the goddamn house this much in his life.”

“She’s off-limits to both of you. Something I never thought I’d have to tell you, but since you brought her home, you’ve been acting territorial. Having your coffee in the basement, reading to her.” He glared up at me accusingly.

“Don’t confuse me with you. There isn’t any of that fucking romantic shit in my DNA. I felt sorry for the kid. She is stuck in a basement and doesn’t know who she is and has been broken. I was being nice.”

Bane covered up a laugh with a cough, and I swung my gaze over to him.

“What? You got something to say too?” I asked.

He shrugged, not bothering to mask his amused grin. “I didn’t know you read.”

I didn’t have time for this.

“Are we going to dissect my every move or find out the son of a bitch who did this and get Lace back to where she belongs?” I demanded. “This footage isn’t showing us shit. We need to find the motherfucker who is hiding this from us. Why is that taking so long?”

Bane sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “He left the country. You know that. We’re trying to find a way around going into Sovereign House and making a mess. It’s a cleanup the boss doesn’t particularly want.”

“Yeah, well, I changed the boss’s goddamn diapers. He needs to let us make that decision.”

“Easy, Luther,” Linc warned me.

It was true. We’d both been there when Blaise Hughes was born.

We had watched him grow up, along with our sons, who worked by his side.

It didn’t mean he would take my comment lightly.

He’d put a bullet between my eyes most likely.

Goddamn cold fucker was powerful because he was feared.

More so than his father had been. Garrett used his charm until it wasn’t enough. Blaise didn’t share that charm.

“Look, we have a name,” Bane said. “Let’s run it into the missing persons system. It’s been long enough that she’s got to be listed.”

“I’ll call and let Doc know. He’s found nothing from her DNA,” Linc said, standing up.

I started for the door. Staying here was just pissing me off.

“Where are you going?” Linc asked, sounding pissed off. Not that I cared.

“To find out what else she remembers.”

“She doesn’t—” he said.

“Yet,” I shot back before swinging open the door.

Ransom Carver, however, stopped me from exiting as he approached with a scowl on his face, as if he had something to tell us that we weren’t going to like.

I waited, deciding I needed to find out what this was about before leaving.

“You know something?” I asked him as he reached me, and I stepped back so that he could enter.

He nodded with a grim smile on his face. “Sure as hell do. I decided to pay the guy who orders the liquor at Sovereign a visit. We’ve got a good relationship, as I’ve given them deals on shipments more than once. Seems that Sovereign was sold”—he paused, his eyes locked on Linc—“five days ago.”

“Sold?” Linc asked as his brows snapped together. “Why isn’t there a record of that? Wilder would have found it when he did his digging.”

Ransom nodded. “I asked the same fucking thing. It hadn’t been for sale, but a buyer offered the owners more money than they could turn down. It’s been kept quiet and out of the media. Seems some billionaire from overseas bought it.”

Linc stood up. “Did you get a name?”

Ransom smirked then. “Do I look like a rookie to you? Of course I got a name.” He held out a piece of paper that looked like it had been ripped off something in a rush.

“We never mention where we got the information or the name. Raul knows he’s protected.

I promised him that for the name and info.

Not to mention, Sovereign House is one of our largest clients in the state. ”

Linc snatched the paper out of his hand.

“Arun Al-Bahrani,” Linc said. “Why do I know that last name?”

“You do? I had to google him,” Ransom mused. “Anyway, he’s the heir to one of the most powerful oil families in Abu Dhabi.”

“Ah,” Linc said with a nod. “That’s it. Omar Al-Bahrani. Mean bastard.”

“When have we dealt with an oil tycoon in Abu Dhabi?” Bane asked, confused.

“We haven’t,” I supplied. “Linc’s got stocks in Al-Bahrani Oil Industries with some of his offshore money.”

Linc tossed the paper down on the table and muttered a curse. “Why the fuck is he buying an upscale sex club in Jackson, Mississippi?”

“Better yet, why did he do it the same day we found…Lace”—saying her name didn’t feel right; I’d started thinking of her as Ocean Eyes—“was beaten?”

“You think it’s connected?” Bane asked me.

“The video footage has been tampered with by a professional,” I replied. “We aren’t dealing with a backwoods criminal, but we already figured that much out.”

Linc let out a heavy sigh. “She has to go. I don’t like this. I don’t like her in my home. Not near my family—”

“No,” I snarled. “You’re not dumping her somewhere when all she knows is her goddamn name.”

Linc cut his eyes to me, and I didn’t give one shit who was in charge.

“It’s fifty percent my house, too, and she’s my guest.”

I cocked an eyebrow as his nostrils flared.

Go ahead and be pissy. I wasn’t one of the boys. There was a limit to what I would allow him to order me to do. He had reached it.

“Locke seems concerned about her,” Bane said. “Why not just move her to his place? He and Gathe have room.”

“No,” I snapped. “The security there isn’t tight enough.”

“Locke and Gathe aren’t enough protection?” Ransom asked.

“I said, NO!” I shouted, then turned to get the fuck away from them before I did something I might or might not regret. Like beat the hell out of the next one that spoke.

“She’s too young, Luther!” Linc called out after me.

I didn’t turn around, but I did respond with the lifting of my hand and my middle finger as I stalked off.

I wasn’t wanting to fuck her. I was worried about her.

I felt…I didn’t know…responsible for her.

I’d found her. She’d trusted me. When I walked into that damn room every morning, her face lit up at the sight of me.

Only Maui ever reacted to me like that. And, no, I wasn’t comparing her to the dog, but it was nice to be…

wanted. For more than my cock or a good time.

Maybe I had some goddamn daddy fetish rearing its head.

Whatever it was, I was taking care of her until we knew she was safe and healed. Both physically and mentally.

The life she had been living clearly wasn’t safe, but the more I read to her and we talked about books, I realized just how well educated she was.

Her speech was cultured and refined. Sure, she had some Southern drawl to her accent, but it wasn’t from around here.

It was different. More…Texan if I had to label it.

Wait. Texan…oil. I stopped. That might be a long shot, but it was something. My pace picked up as I continued to the exit of Bane’s house.

What if Texas triggered a memory for her? I was about to find out.