Page 16 of Spies Like Us

Miller shrugs again. “Anders told us about the conversation you overheard last night. We decided that Ry and I didn’t need to be quite so discreet, especially after Friday night’s rumors. We were playing a stupid drinking game last night at the club, and Lucy said she heard we had a foursome on Friday night. She asked if you had enough holes for all of us, and Ry was annoyed and made some snarky remark about you not needing to have all the holes.”

“Holy crap,” I whisper, and he smothers a grin.

“Yeah, it takes a lot to get him riled, but when he does, he has a temper. Lucy and Michelle thought it was interesting, but I’m not sure they believed him, so they suggested a drinking game and dared Ryland to kiss me. He did. She and Michelle thought it was fun, Sophie not so much, which is why she was clingy. The decision was made, though, that Max is going to make it clear that he and his brother are interested in some fun and they want you and me. They are hoping the ring will jump at the chance to have leverage over both of them and, in turn, their father.”

“The conversation I overheard between Matthew and the two men last night seemed to imply that was what they were hoping for. Well, I guess that’s going to give us more chances at bringing the ring down.” I nod my agreement, but I knew we were heading this way.

“Yeah, I’m not sure it’s going to be that easy. They’ll probably expect them to prove their loyalty somehow, but I may get asked to speak to the pastor as well if Martha hears about my homosexual tendencies. I’m sure that won’t stay quiet for long.”

In fact, Miller and I aren’t the only two with their heads together, whispering during the service. In front of us, Martha and June are doing the same thing.

“And we think the therapist is judging whether we are damaged enough or not?”

“Yes. Brock gives recommendations, and then Daniel says yes or no.”

“So he must be fairly high up.”

“At this stage, it could still be any of them or none at all. We don’t know enough.” Miller sounds as frustrated as I feel.

“Well, I doubt it’s none of them. You don’t have cells like that hidden underground unless you have nefarious shit planned,” I whisper dryly.

“Yeah, you’re right. We need to get back in and check out those cells.”

“I’m going to the library after the service so I can see if we can find any other way to access them, or if there is a map showing how far under the town they are.”

“And Max is going to speak to Chief Thompson about Bishop being missing, so hopefully that means they will move his body so we can get back into them. We haven’t wanted to risk going back in until his body is moved.”

“That’s probably smart. Lathan couldn’t even see who killed him or where they came from, which is weird. You would think that the security cameras would lead farther away from the cells, but he said there weren’t any in either direction, just of the actual cells.”

The congregation starts singing, and Miller and I can’t talk anymore, so we open our hymnals and pretend to sing along as well.

While we are singing, my eyes drift to Max and Stella. Because there is a gap between the base of the pew and the back, I can actually see Stella’s hand drift up Max’s thigh. They are sharing a hymnal between them, and it’s covering what she’s doing from Kevin and Charity’s view. Her hand drifts across the front of his pants, and I can see her start to rub circles over his dick. I grit my teeth, and a small growl escapes before I can stop it. Miller’s gaze follows mine, and he smothers a snicker as Max pushes her hand away and we see him scold her quietly. She pouts but keeps her hands to herself.

“Poor Max, I don’t envy him one bit. Stella won’t be happy until she gets her hooks in him.”

I keep my mouth shut. I don’t need Miller knowing that I’m jealous. Heck, it makes me as bad as him. Nope, going to keep my feelings on lockdown.

The hymn comes to an end, and the pastor drones on again. My attention shifts back to the couple I asked about earlier and never got an answer for. “Who are those two?” I ask him and nod at them.

“Oh yeah, that’s Tim and Rebecca. They are old family friends of the Turners. Kevin and Tim are in the same MC, but Tim doesn’t have a lot to do with it anymore now that he’s married. They run the Mug Shot Diner.”

“Oh, I think I walked past there the other day. Tim was having a tattoo done by Kevin when I went to see Dayton the last time. He seemed a little judgmental. Do we think they are involved?”

Miller shakes his head. “Nah, we’re pretty sure they are squeaky clean. Tim worships the ground Rebecca walks on, and they just announced they are having a baby. If they are involved, we haven’t seen any proof.”

“Well, that’s two less to worry about.” My eyes scan the rest of the congregation as I wonder who else may be involved with this plot.

“Lathan did some digging into contractors, and it turns out that Ted has a son from an affair he had prior to his marriage with June,” Miller announces casually, and my head whips around so I can stare at the side of his face.

“What? I thought they were childhood sweethearts?” I exclaim. “They were in that photo I saw in the cabinet at school.”

Miller nods. “They were, but it turns out Ted wasn’t very faithful. The son’s a little older than Stella, and he owns a contracting company in the next town over. He goes by his mother’s name, and the only reason we found him was because his company keeps cropping up on town council records. His company won every single tender or bid for the council for the last five years. It seemed a little strange, so he dug further. He and his dad have a relationship, but it doesn’t seem to extend to June and the girls.”

“Do you guys think he installed the cells?”

Miller shrugs. “It fits.”

We fall silent, and I try to put everything we’ve learned into order. We know there is a network trafficking young Americans out of the country to be used as sex slaves. This seems to be the epicenter of the missing teens. There appears to be some dark underbelly that exists in this town, but is it a part of the trafficking operation, or is it just an underground sex club?

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