Page 14 of Hacker Auction

The tall man settled into the black conference chair across from me. He set a file on the table before he turned his attention to Mia. “Actually, I wear briefs. Maybe if you took me up on my offer, you would know.”

Mia shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t play in private rooms.” Mia turned toward Matt. “Brock needs us to head to the airport and pick up Cierra Mack.”

Matt stood. “If you need anything, call me.”

“Sure.” I couldn’t help but catch Detective Higgins eyes as he watched Mia walk out of the room. It seemed the detective had his eyes on Mia’s ass until she exited the door.

When the door swung shut, Higgins glanced over to me. “We couldn’t find much on Talia Minx. Her life seemed to be scrubbed from existence. Even her apartment didn’t have anything inside. The fuckers came back and wiped her laptop. This was the fourth case we had like this. You mentioned Senator Ricker, but we couldn’t draw a line to the other girls that had the same MO.”

He stated two women who disappeared had the same staged apartment. In each instance, it was the woman’s employer who called the cops and said the woman hadn’t come to work. “Brock’s working on digging into each woman’s personal lives. I have no doubt he will be able to find something.”

“The brass can’t see the connection. Each of the four-woman has no family or even friends. When they didn’t show up to work, a wellness check was sent to their house. I interviewed their coworkers, but the women all had work-from-home jobs and didn’t socialize with anyone on their teams.”

I flipped open the folder and laid one picture of each woman on the table. They didn’t have many similarities. One of the ladies was in her late fifties, and the youngest had just turned nineteen. “I wonder if we can find anyone the victim went to high school with.”

“She did virtual school from her grandmother’s house. Before you ask, her grandmother died four months ago.”

“We need to look at this on a larger scale like did they had a cable guy come to their house. These women barely left their houses. If I had to guess, they used a food delivery system.”

Brock hadn’t pulled the phone records from all four women yet but finding the delivery driver they each might’ve used could take a while. I laid more photos from the women’s lives out on the table. That’s when I saw the symbol in the bottom right corner of each one. “All the apartment buildings are owned by the same corporation.”

Higgins leaned forward and grabbed the photo. “Good catch. I’ll head back down to the last victim’s apartment and talk to the super.”

“We can go now.”

* * *

I pulled my SUV into the guest parking spot outside the run-down apartment building. Detective Higgins pulled in next to me. A group of kids took off running. An overweight man with no shirt on walked out of the building. His eyes narrowed in our direction. The man walked over and stopped only a couple feet away. The stench of whiskey filled my nostrils. “I thought you guys already cleared the scene.”

Higgins took a step forward. “We had a couple more questions and wanted to take a second look.”

“She was just a dumb broad.”

My jaw clenched at the man’s words. The man had no remorse for the young woman who had lost her life. No matter how much I wished he was the culprit, it wouldn’t fit. The landlord seemed messy and disorganized. Whoever took the other three women was skilled. Not a slob.

Higgins crossed his arms. “I want to know the name of the company that owns the building and a contact.”

The fat guy shook his head. “Already told them she died. You don’t need to be calling my boss and trying to get me in trouble.”

“We’re not. I’d also like to see her place.” I cut in.

His nostrils flared before he waved to the apartment on the end. When we reached the door, he pulled out a large key ring and unlocked the door. “Nothing in there.”

I stepped around the man into the empty apartment. The smell of bleach assaulted me with each step I took into the apartment. Higgins walked in and closed the door before the landlord followed. “You think they clean all the places this much.”

The Detective snorted. “Nope. It was like this when we showed up, and the landlord said he never saw her leave. Either the woman who lived here was a clean freak like the other three women or whoever took them is.”

If I had to guess, it was the kidnappers. I walked into the master bedroom. Nobody lived in this kind of neighborhood and kept everything in the open. Behind the bed, I caught sight of a large vent. I shoved her bed to the side and leaned down. The screws fell out as I tugged on the metal. Hidden behind the vent was a wooden box and a leather-bound notebook. “I need gloves.”

Higgins handed me a pair, and I pulled the two items out before I sat them on the bed. I flipped the leather-bound notebook to the last page. Higgins pulled out trinkets from the box as I turned back to what she had written.

Today was no different from the last few weeks. No matter how much I tried, it felt like someone was watching me. My safe place was Club Rose with Master Reynolds, who promised me I would be safe, but why do I feel even more detached and now paranoid? His treatment hasn’t helped me escape my nightmares. If anything, I think the parasomnia has set in more.

My only escape from the thoughts in my head is when I’m in a deep subspace, but I can’t find anyone I can trust. Especially not after what happened the last time I went to the club.

“I have a lead.” I tapped on the notebook. “She went to a BDSM club. It’s not one I’ve heard Brock talk about, but I’m sure he will be able to have some answers for me. You find anything?”

Higgins held up a couple of pictures. “Only these. From our research and the records we pulled, she didn’t have friends or family. I’ll dig into this, and you find out what you can in regards to the club. I’ll be in touch tomorrow. I’m going to have to take that journal with me.”

---