Playing for Satisfaction [Satisfaction Texas 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 12

  “And then you’ll let me go?”

  He shook his head sadly. “No can do, sweetheart. I’m afraid that once you see them again, you’ll just have a relapse. We’ll leave Satisfaction and start over somewhere fresh, far away from them and their influence. I’m from Alaska. Maybe we’ll head up there. How are you with the cold?”

  He was serious, Ellie realized. He seriously expected her to go away with him. She wasn’t sure how to respond but she knew she had to play along. Surely Ren and Bram would realize she was missing and come find her.

  “Well, um, I’ve never really liked the cold. Maybe we can stay in Texas?”

  “I don’t know about that, not as long as they are in Texas. I don’t trust either of them.”

  “Oh, Trace. I’ll make them understand. I’ll, I’ll…”

  Trace laughed without mirth. “Don’t bother trying to convince me that you’ve changed your mind about them so quickly, Ellie. It insults my intelligence. It’ll take time and you’ll resist the process, but I know that eventually you’ll come to love me as much as I love you. In the meantime, I have to get back to Whips and Spurs. They’ll be looking for you and I want to be there to express my concern and offer my help. Now open wide.”

  He pulled something out of his pocket. Then he reached down and pulled her mouth open. She tried to struggle but he was too strong. It seemed to be an eye dropper. He put the tip between her lips and she tasted something bitter before she felt sleep stealing over her again.

  “Rest now. When I get back we’ll finalize our travel plans. If you aren’t interested in Alaska, maybe we’ll go south. I like Mexico and leaving the country will make our trail harder to follow.”

  Ellie struggled, but it wasn’t long before she felt her eyes close even as the first tears leaked out.

  Chapter 15

  Bram and Ren decided to start with the diner. No way were they sitting on their asses and waiting. Bram had used his tech savvy to forward Ren’s home phone to his cell and then they’d been off. They drove to Candy’s in record time, picking up a tail in the process. It was a deputy. Jasper Sweeny was a good guy and only doing his job, but Bram didn’t have time for a ticket.

  Ren ran inside the diner as Bram dealt with the deputy.

  “Do you know how fast you were going?”

  “Yup. As fast as this hunk of junk would go. Angel is missing.”

  “Angel?”

  “Angel. Ellie. Ellie Maine. Call Dace. We’ve already reported her missing. Now we are trying to retrace her last steps.” Bram had had enough. He started walking toward the diner.

  “Bram!”

  “Look, Jasper. I’ll be just inside. Give me a ticket or whatever. I don’t have time to deal with it right now.”

  Bram stomped off as Jasper pressed the mic on his shoulder radio. He saw Ren talking to Candy and hurried over to join them just as Ren turned away.

  “She stopped in here and picked up the picnic basket shortly after she left us. She spoke with Trace and they walked out together. Candy saw her drive away alone and then she saw Trace get into his own truck and drive off toward the saloon.”

  “So Trace may have been the last one to talk to her. Time to head off to The Whips and Spurs and talk to him.”

  “Agreed, Bram.”

  Jasper met them outside.

  “I just got off the radio with the sheriff. He’s been in contact with area hospitals, other police forces, and no reports of any accidents involving her or her car or anyone fitting her description. He’s put an APB out on her truck. Don’t worry. She’ll turn up. Just go home and wait and let us do our jobs.”

  “Thanks, Jasper, but what can you do that we can’t? She’s not officially missing for forty-eight hours. We’re not waiting that long.”

  “Neither is Dace. Look, guys. We’re the professionals.”

  “Professionals?” Bram had a brainstorm. “Ren, Quin Redekker. He’s a professional. He has contacts that even Dace doesn’t have.”

  “I have his number!” Ren fumbled with his phone. It didn’t take long for him to get an answer and in a few sentences, he explained their problem.

  “He’s on his way.”

  “Guys. I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” Jasper began, but he trailed off as a sheriff’s car pulled up and Dace got out. He was in jeans instead of his uniform but Bram didn’t care. Hell, he could be wearing a nightshirt or nothing at all, as long as he helped find Ellie.

  Dace walked over. “I thought I told you two to wait at home.”

  “Did you really think we’d do it?”

  “I had hopes the mayor might obey. You, Bram, no, I didn’t, but I had to try. Have you talked to Candy yet?”

  “Yes,” replied Ren. “She was here not long after she left us. She picked up a picnic basket Candy prepared for the road trip. The only person Candy saw her talk to was Trace. He walked her out the door and is probably the last person in Satisfaction to talk to her. We were just going to head over to the Whips and Spurs and talk to him.”

  “No, you two go with Jasper and file an official report.”

  “Nice try, Dace.” Ren’s voice was dry. “I know the law. You can’t take an official report until she’s been missing for forty-eight hours. You are just trying to get rid of us.”

  “Is it going to work?”

  “No.”

  “Fine. You can come with me and listen. But I’ll interview him. You two have to keep quiet or I’ll have you arrested. Jasper, you come with us. If they interfere in the investigation, I want you to cuff them and lock them up. Understand?”

  Jasper looked from Bram to Ren and swallowed hard. The young deputy was about half Bram’s size and looked alarmed at the thought of trying to subdue him.

  Bram laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll behave. Or maybe we won’t. But we won’t interfere. All we want is Ellie back.”

  * * * *

  Ren felt his stomach churning. The morning had started so well and the afternoon had been good, too, as they went over to Ellie’s after she’d left. They’d decided move her things over to Ren’s as a surprise. And now it was like he’d been kicked in the stomach. She was missing. If only her truck were newer, it would have one of those monitoring systems in it. He vowed to have one installed when they found her. Hell, maybe he’d put one of those ankle monitors on her so they could always tell where she was…wait. Her cell phone.

  While Bram drove to the saloon, Ren called Quin again. He could put a trace on her phone. Luckily Quin, unlike Bram, didn’t have any pesky oath of office to worry about. Quin worked for a private outfit, or rather he had before he’d settled in Satisfaction. He knew who to talk to in order to get a trace on her phone and he didn’t need any warrants or forty-eight-hour waiting periods either.

  He looked at Bram. “I’ve asked Quin to trace her phone. If it’s on, he’ll be able to locate her. Won’t take long.”

  Bram looked like he felt. If she was in an accident, they had to hope that the phone was undamaged. If she was abducted, his stomach clenched at the thought that they’d refused to say out loud, if she was abducted, most people knew enough to remove the battery from a cell phone so it couldn’t be located.

  Finally, although it had only been minutes, it had seemed like hours, they arrived at the Whips and Spurs. Time seemed to be moving so slowly. He didn’t even bother parking properly. He just pulled to a stop in front of the saloon and through open the truck door and ran up the steps without bothering to close it or even take the key out of the ignition, with Ren hot on his heels.

  Trace was behind the bar as usual, serving some of the early customers. It was Sunday, a traditionally slow day and evening in the bar business, but there were a few customers. Trace was chatting with a couple of them, laughing about something.

  Bram wondered if he’d ever laugh again.

  Trace had looked up as Bram and Ren had hurried in and he looked up again when the door opened to admit Dace and Jasper. Alarm showed on his face as he hurried over to them.

  “Something wrong?”

  “It’s Ellie. She’s missing!”

  “Slow down, Bram.” Dace pushed him back and glared at him. “Trace. We’re trying to locate Ellie. She was last seen in Satisfaction, as far as we know, at Candy’s around 2:00 p.m.”

  Trace nodded. “I saw her. She was picking up a picnic basket for a car trip.” He frowned. “She was headed to El Paso, she said. A conference or something.”

  “What was her demeanor?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Well, did she seem upset or worried? Did she mention not going to the conference?”

  “She seemed, well, normal. She seemed to be enthusiastic about the conference. Looking forward to it.” He stopped talking and seemed to be thinking about something. “There was one thing that seemed to upset her.”

  “What was that?”

  “Not a what, a who. Tobias something or other. That college kid she was tutoring in pool.”

  “What about him? Was he bothering her?”

  “No, no. I told him yesterday to take a hike and that she wasn’t going to be tutoring him anymore. She was too soft hearted, but I could see how uncomfortable it made her.”

  “Why didn’t she say anything to us?” Ren demanded. “Why you?”

  “I don’t think she wanted to bother you. And I saw them together. She thought she could handle him, but I know the type. Wouldn’t take a hint from a woman, so I had a word with him, but it didn’t seem to stick. She’d gotten three texts from him today and she seemed worried. I told her to go to her conference and I’d talk to young Toby.”

  “And did you?”

  “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. Wait. You don’t t
hink he could have done something to Ellie? I’ll kill him!” Trace came around the bar. Bram saw the anger in his face at the thought of Ellie being hurt. Trace really cared for her. That was good. They needed all the help they could get. Once Trace got close, Bram could see the corded muscle in his forearms and for the first time appreciated the breadth of his shoulders. He’d never really looked at Trace before. He was just Trace. Bram wasn’t even sure how old he was. Maybe early forties.

  “Do you know his last name, Trace?” asked Dace.

  “Martin, Martinson, something like that. I never paid much attention. And before you ask, he always paid in cash.”

  “Darcy knows him!” Ren piped up. “I’ll call him now and get his name and find out more about him.” Ren walked outside the saloon to make his call.

  Bram reached out his hand. “Thanks, Trace. We owe you one for this.”

  Trace shook his hand. “I’m not doing it for you schmucks. This is for Ellie. She’s an amazing woman. I’ll do anything I can.”

  “Did you see which way she drove off after she left?”

  “She seemed to be heading toward the highway. Do you think she’s hurt? An accident or something?”

  “We’re looking into it, Trace. Thanks for your help. Call me if you think of anything else,” Dace stated before heading outside with Bram and Jasper on his heels.

  Ren looked at them and Quin was standing behind him. “Tobias T. Martindale the third. Grade-A asshole according to Darcy. Hotheaded, impulsive, but basically a coward. Darcy thinks of him as all bark and no bite. He’s used to his family’s money smoothing away all obstacles. He’s basically harmless according to Darcy.”

  “I’ll look into him,” Quin and Dace spoke in unison and it would have been funny except for the situation. They both made notes before Quin added, “The battery’s been removed from her phone, but I have a monitor set up. If she or whoever puts the battery back in, we’ll get an alert. We also have this Mr. Martindale to investigate. Now think hard. Has anything out of the way happened recently? Has Ellie spoken about being followed or bothered or just anything unusual? Has she gotten any strange or obscene calls or even hang ups, presents, letters, e-mails…?”

  “Wait. Presents. We were just over at her place. It looks like a florist threw up in there. I thought Ren had sent her the flowers and he thought it was me. There was a teddy bear with a heart, too.”

  Quin and Dace looked at him with identical expressions. “Where did they come from?”

  Bram thought hard but it was Ren who answered. “A place in Kinsdale. Rosie’s Posies.”

  “Jasper!”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Quin!”

  “Look, Dace. You guys have to go through official channels. I get that. But I can go through unofficial channels. I won’t give you any details.”

  “Thank you.” Dace’s voice was dry.

  “Fuck it, guys,” Ren raged. “I don’t care if we take official channels or unofficial channels. I just want Ellie back!” His voice cracked and Bram put his arm around his cousin and best friend.

  “We’ll find her, Ren. Stay positive. We’ll get her back.”

  Just then, Jasper walked over to them, his face serious.

  “They found her truck. It’s on the south service road. She’s not there.”

  “An accident?” Dace looked concerned.

  “No, it looks like she just pulled over to the side of the road. He checked and it’s running fine.”

  “Damn, why would she just stop?” Bram asked.

  “Maybe she wasn’t feeling well, or maybe she saw someone she knew. How the hell would I know?” Ren was losing it. Bram took him by the shoulders. “If you don’t calm down, I’m going to march you into the club and lock you up in the jail playroom. It might be pretend but the locks are real. And don’t think I won’t or can’t do this. It’s three against one, four if we count Trace. Now take a deep breath and get a hold of yourself.”

  Chapter 16

  Bram was right. He had to calm down. It wouldn’t do Ellie any good if he lost his head. That could wait until after she was back in his arms.

  “So what do we do next?”

  “We wait. You two. Go. Home. Now! I’m not kidding. Jasper and I’ll go through official channels. We’ll examine the car, we’ll follow up with the florist, and we’ll check her phone records. Quin will do what he does using those official channels he isn’t going to tell me about and see what he can find. And we’ll both check into Mr. Martindale. Just let us do our jobs.”

  Ren could understand the sense of his words intellectually, but emotionally, in his primitive core, all he could think about was the fact that his mate was missing. He nodded and paced and then let Bram hustle him into the truck. He stared out the window as Bram drove. It took a minute to realize that they weren’t heading home.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Kinsdale.”

  “Why?”

  “Rosie’s Posies.”

  Bram’s voice was grim. He should have known that Bram wouldn’t just accept a passive role. Somehow, though, they’d switched personalities. Bram was usually Mr. Emotional and Ren was the calm, cool one. Now he was out of control and Bram was the one who was collected and focused.

  He looked over at his cousin. It was then that he caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his wrist. They rarely talked about his military service, but Ren recalled that Bram had been Special Forces. He didn’t talk much about his service, but Ren knew he’d been involved in some serious shit. Ren himself had not served, but he was a crack shot and a black belt. If they could get their hands on whoever had taken Ellie, they would take care of him themselves.

  The way Bram was driving, it only took fifteen minutes to get to Kinsdale and another five to find the store. Rosie herself was behind the counter. She also didn’t look surprised to see them either. Apparently Dace had given her a head’s up.

  “Ren and Bram, I presume.” She was pretty and looked like she smiled a lot, but she wasn’t smiling now. “The sheriff said you’d probably be heading this way and he said to tell you to go home.”

  “Not likely,” Ren snorted.

  “He said you’d probably say that. He said to tell you who bought the flowers because if I didn’t, you’d probably tear the place looking for the information and he’d have to arrest you for that. But he also said that you shouldn’t go looking for this Tobias. He had a warrant and was on his way to the kid’s home and would call you as soon as he had information. If you show up, you might blow the operation and get Ellie hurt, if she’s there.”

  Ren felt himself sag. She was right. Or rather, Dace was right in this instance.

  “Thanks, Rosie.”

  “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I hope everything’s fine. Mr. Martindale sounded really nice on the phone. Surely he didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “On the phone?”

  “Yes, he placed most of his orders over the computer, but he called once. The teddy bear one. The online system went down when he was placing the order, stupid service provider. Anyway, he wanted to be sure it was received. I was surprised when the sheriff called him a kid. He sounded a lot older to me.” She shrugged. “Who knows with technology? Anyway, good luck.”

  Ren nodded but barely heard the end of her comments as she walked back out.

  “You think it was the kid, Bram?”

  “I don’t know, Ren. He struck me how Darcy described him. Young. Hotheaded. I don’t see him as a planner.”

  “Maybe it was an impulsive move. How would he know she’d take a back road and how would get her to pull over?”

  “I don’t know why she took the back way, but maybe he forced her off the road? Want to go take a look?”

  * * * *

  Bram felt grim. He knew that if it was an abduction, they didn’t have much time. For every hour that passed, their chances of getting Ellie back would be reduced. All he could do was lock down and focus. He would stay positive. They would get their Angel back or die trying.