Page 18 of Forbidden Flames

“I got him coming my way,” Tony replied.

Moments later, Dan called out, “He’s merging onto the highway.”

“Keep your eyes open,” Hendrix commanded. It was always a risk that the target could return, having forgotten something. Hendrix knew how to hide, or get out of a situation fast. But he’d rather have the time to figure out what the hell this guy was up to.

It took him less than ten seconds to release the locks on the man’s condo door. Security in this place was awful. Stepping into the condo, Hendrix paused and listened. Nothing. His online research told him that Gerald lived alone and that his mother paid the mortgage. But there was always the possibility that the guy lived with someone that mommy didn’t know about, or he might have staff that were currently on duty.

Once he’d assured himself that he was alone, Hendrix looked around, orienting himself with the layout. He’d looked up the building plans already, but seeing things in an outline versus in person were always different. Plus, he wasn’t sure which way to start looking. Nor was he sure what he was looking for. So Hendrix started a systematic search through the first room. The area was decorated with floral furniture that screamed “mommy’s decorator”. There was fringe and floralseverywhere. Hendrix tried not to judge, but the man lived alone. Why the hell was he living in a place like this?

Maybe everything was cast-offs from his mother’s place. And not his problem, Hendrix reminded himself.

“Still clear?” he asked.

“All clear,” Dan replied. “His vehicle is still heading out to the club. No deviations.”

“Good.” Hendrix moved into the kitchen, opening cupboards and peering through the pantry and fridge. Nothing exceptional there. The next room was the primary suite. Again, the décor seemed odd for a man, but Hendrix ignored the rose and mauve colored furniture and walls, concentrating on going through the man’s drawers, looking for whatever might seem off.

Nothing. There were three pictures of the man’s mother in the room, which was definitely weird. But nothing that caught Hendrix’s eye.

It wasn’t until he stepped into the second bedroom that he froze, looking around. “Holy hell!” Hendrix whispered, staring at the walls. And ceiling. And the…bed? Yes, that was a bed, but…it was covered in plastic with handcuffs at each corner. Those handcuffs were attached to a blow up doll wearing…black slacks, a white shirt and maroon vest. The same uniform the wait staff at the club wore. The doll had a brunette wig and the locks were pinned up in a twist.

Just like Emily.

“What have you found, boss?” Tony asked.

Hendrix shook his head. “I don’t think I can describe it,” he whispered, still stunned. There were pictures of Emily everywhere. Some were of her smiling, frowning, talking with the various club members. There was a life-sized picture of herpropped up in the corner. There were pictures of her face taped to the ceiling. The walls were literally covered with images of Emily.

“Boss?” Dan prompted.

The one word nudged him out of his stunned silence. “Right,” he replied, letting his team know that he was okay. “I’ll photograph everything and bring it all back to the club.” With that in mind, Hendrix took out his phone and started taking pictures. He wasn’t sure what he would do with the images yet. This was…well, he’d seen things like this before in the movies, but he’d never imagined that it actually happened in real life. This guy wasn’t just in love with Emily, he was obsessed with her.

And this level of obsession indicated a serious mental illness.

He took several pictures of the room, going through the closets and finding several more pieces of bondage equipment. Some of the pieces looked used, but Hendrix wasn’t sure how they’d been used. He pictured some really creepy possibilities in his mind, but Hendrix pushed the images away. They were too psycho for the moment.

After photographing all of the evidence, he moved through the other rooms. There was only one more guest room and another bathroom in the place. He went through those drawers, all empty, thank goodness.

“I’m leaving now. Is he at the club yet?” Hendrix asked.

“He arrived ten minutes ago,” Dan reported. “I’ve got him on camera. He seems thrilled to be playing cards with Levi, Sean, and Matteo, even though he’s losing money I doubt he has noticed.”

“Good. Keep an eye on him. I’m going through his desk drawer, just to see if the man has any other assets I should be concerned about.”

There was silence as Hendrix flipped through the guy’s desk. But the piece of furniture was only for show. The man didn’t even have a computer. What did he do all day long? Other than print out pictures of Emily.

At that thought, he paused. Print outs. If the creep was taking pictures of Em on his phone, how did he print them out?

Turning around, he walked back into the creepy room. Feeling his way along the wall, he pressed and prodded. Sure enough, a secret panel opened and Hendrix pulled back the door to find…!

“I’m going to kill the bastard!” he snarled, pressing the door to the secret room closed. He did a quick sweep of the room, ensuring that everything was still in place, then he walked out.

Thirty minutes later, he was back at the club, downloading the pictures.

“What did you find?” Emily asked, slipping into the security room. As soon as she looked up at the monitors, she gasped, a hand coming up to cover her chest in an unconscious move to protect herself from the creepy images she was seeing. “What the hell?”

“This is what I found at his place,” Hendrix explained, flipping through the images with a press of a button on the keyboard. “He’s beyond a stalker, Em. This man is most likely suffering from what’s called ‘obsessive love disorder’.”

She pointed towards the screen with her other hand. “That’s…that’s not love!” she hissed.

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