Part 16 (2/2)

Sandra relayed everything to Mich.e.l.le and got information on exactly where she was before hanging up.

- After watching the house for the last several hours to make sure no one was home, Diego slipped on latex gloves and jimmied the lock on the ancient back door to the house where Sandra had been receiving her cell phone statements. He had hoped to find her home, preferably alone, but he could wait. And then she would pay for making him chase her all the way to this G.o.dforsaken dust bowl.

He slid inside the house and carefully checked every room to make sure no one was here before he went into the two bedrooms and found the one that had to be Sandra's.

It was spartan, with no keepsakes or pictures of Sandra in the group shots.

He rummaged inside the closet and drawers until he came to the lingerie drawer. Lacy panties and bras were inside, as well as a few silk nighties and a thong or two.

Rage burned through him as he found nothing that he'd bought for her. He had forbidden her to wear any bras or underwear that he hadn't approved, and now there was no sign of his influence left.

b.i.t.c.h.

She apparently still didn't realize that she was his and his alone. Anyone who got in the way would die along with her.

He pulled out his pocketknife and took his anger out on the items, slas.h.i.+ng through the cups of the bras as he pictured the knife digging deep into Sandra's flesh, and shredding the panties as he envisioned long, bleeding stripes crisscrossing Sandra's fair skin. Rage joined arousal as his vision intensified, but when he ripped the last nightie apart with his bare hands, his vision remained hollow since he had no body to gloat over, no woman to make suffer.

Earlier he had tracked down the dungeon Sandra had placed several calls to according to her cell phone statement. Club Desire was a gothic-looking monstrosity up on the mountain, and he had taken a big chance even driving by it. Since it was in an upscale part of the city, the police presence was a bit thicker than he would have liked. No one here had any idea who he was besides Sandra-even his car was registered to the name he had on his fake driver's license-but he didn't want to get caught before he got close enough to make her pay for leaving him. A large event was going on in a few days at Club Desire, and he was determined to find a way inside. He had no doubts that some other Dom was bruising Sandra's beautiful flesh, and the fact that anyone else was touching her was unacceptable. If time permitted, he would like to cut the b.a.l.l.s off the man who had defiled her. But he would have to be careful about it. That added bit of revenge would be sweet, but wasn't worth his freedom.

Being smart and careful had allowed him to let his pa.s.sions have free rein to this point. It was no time to change all that now.

He walked across the hall and found the roommate's underwear. It didn't give him the same satisfaction he'd felt slas.h.i.+ng Sandra's, but it was necessary.

He searched through all the drawers and the closet, making sure things looked disturbed before he crossed the hall back to Sandra's room and looked through everything for any other clues to how he might find her and get her alone. If nothing easier presented itself, he would find a way into the Club Desire event in a few days. However, quick and easy would be preferable, and safer.

He had just finished riffling through Sandra's things, and had walked down the hall toward the back door, when a pair of headlights shone through the flimsy curtains over the front window, nearly blinding him. He cursed and hurried to the window to peek out around the edge of the curtains.

The dark-colored BMW looked out of place in this neighborhood and definitely wasn't the car that had driven away from the house earlier.

Chapter 17.

Brent pulled his car in front of the house Sandra shared with Mich.e.l.le. It was full dark and he looked around for the streetlamps, which should provide at least some light, but both were dark. In an older neighborhood like this it wasn't uncommon for the bulbs to be burned out and not replaced for months or the wiring to have gone out with little or no maintenance, or for kids to have broken the lights by throwing rocks. He would have to put in a call to the city tomorrow.

The clouds s.h.i.+fted and weak moonlight shone through, making everything look even more surreal in the barely-there light.

A stiff breeze blew a cloud of dust over the car and he hoped it didn't turn into a full-out hab.o.o.b-the severe dust storms that Arizona was known for this time of year. Especially since those often came with rain. Trees rustled and the occasional leaf or other debris flew by in swirling eddies, causing skittering noises against the car and making Sandra jump and fidget.

He stared out into the dark gloom for a long moment. ”Are you sure you don't want to come back to Club Desire for the night and I can take you to work in the morning? Mich.e.l.le might not be home for hours, and I don't like to think of you here alone.”

After they had gotten Mich.e.l.le's car running again, they had followed her to work to make sure she made it, and Brent had called a friend to come out and take a look at the clunker to make sure she would be able to make it home.

Sandra shook her head. ”We already drove all the way out here and Mich.e.l.le will be home later. I don't want her coming home to an empty house. Besides, she has to be back to work at nine a.m., so I might as well go in with her.”

Brent nodded. ”At least let me walk you up to the door and get you settled inside.”

She laid her hand on his arm. ”Brent, I appreciate all you've done. But I'm a grown woman. You don't need to bother with all that.”

The slow patter of rain began, sounding loud against the roof of the car.

He laid his hand over hers and met her gaze. ”If you're still sure you want to stay here, then I would feel better if you let me make sure you're safe.” He smiled, hoping that in the moonlight she could see his sincerity and how much he wanted to take care of her.

After a long pregnant silence, she slowly nodded. ”All right. I know Mich.e.l.le has been a bit stubborn about finding time for the security guys to come out. I really do appreciate you looking out for me. I'm just not used to it.” She raised her chin. ”Being totally self-sufficient has become something of a way of life for me. It's a hard habit to break.”

He reached out to skim his finger over her lips. ”You're a strong woman. You've survived and thrived through so much. There's no shame in letting someone else look out for you now and then. It doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong enough to accept help.”

She pursed her lips as if trying to decide whether what he had said was true or not.

Finally she nodded. ”I know you have to get back to the club, and I need sleep before work tomorrow. You can walk me to the door if it makes you feel better.”

He held back a smile at this small victory, but he still wished she would change her mind and come back to the Club with him. ”Let's go.” He pushed open his car door against the growing wind and stepped out into the murky night.

The steady rain immediately chilled his skin and he hurried his pace.

By the time he had walked around to the front of the car, Sandra was already there, trying to hold her hair out of her face while the wind whipped it and the rain continued to pound.

He took her hand and walked her to the door, scanning the shadows around them on both sides. He had no real reason to think that anything was wrong other than the bad weather in the making, but this place gave him the creeps. The murky dark, rain, and wind didn't help. It felt like they were walking up to a haunted house that held fear and secrets, and he didn't like the sensation. But he couldn't toss Sandra over his shoulder and kidnap her to Club Desire for the night, no matter how tempting that idea sounded.

When they reached the porch, they had some protection from the rain, but the wind still reached them, chilling his skin under his damp clothes. Brent held out his hand and waited until Sandra laid the keys on his open palm.

He slid the key into the lock of the flimsy wooden door and vowed to double down on his effort to charm Mich.e.l.le into letting the security guys in here to update the place. He turned the key and opened the door.

A loud banging from inside the house made him stiffen and nudge Sandra behind him.

She made a sound that he wasn't sure was from protest or fear, but she stayed behind him, grasping his waist in a death grip.

When he brought her home the other day he'd noticed the light switches were across the room on the far wall near the kitchen. He thought about putting Sandra inside the locked car to keep her safe, but he knew that was no guarantee of safety, so he opted to keep her with him where he could keep an eye on her. The house was dark, but enough weak moonlight shone through the thin drapes to cast everything in a spooky glow.

He turned to Sandra and laid his finger against her lips with a whispered, ”Shhh.”

She nodded, and when he took her hand and led them forward she stayed with him without hesitation or complaint.

He made it across the room and flipped the switch, flooding the room with light and making him blink against the sudden illumination just in time to hear rain pelt down harder against the house and the howling of the wind increase in volume.

The loud banging was coming from inside the kitchen, so he carefully peered around the corner of the archway into the room. The back door seemed to be broken and splintered, hanging from its hinges and banging against the door frame with the growing wind outside.

”Brent,” Sandra whispered urgently. ”Look.”

He turned to follow her line of sight and saw clothes, mostly ripped lingerie of various types, strewn down the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

In his peripheral vision he thought he saw something pa.s.s across the front window. When he turned his head to look there was nothing, and he couldn't be sure if he'd seen anything at all other than debris from the building storm.

Sandra still stared down the hallway and he didn't want to scare her, so he stayed quiet.

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