Conflict

  Short and to the point. My respect level for this woman continuously increased with every encounter. “No. We haven’t really looked, considering we were stunned at the sight of Mr. Baxter’s…um…display.”

  Her head nodded as she processed the information I was providing her. I could imagine the gears churning in her brain as she compiled the facts and evidence. Her mind was imaginably a complicated file system where she could categorize and tuck away bits of information to be recalled when another piece to the puzzle was found. I envied her focus, her inner purpose to build an entire picture from the separate, small details gained in the hunt. Her finger went to her lips as she scanned the room around her. “I’d like to see your room, Ms. Stone. I’ll be a moment, if you could just wait here.” She turned on her heel and disappeared down the hallway.

  My legs were tired and I wanted to sit down. I peeked over at the couch in hopes that I could sit on it, but decided against it due to the shattered glass. Daemon’s hand touched the small of my back and I leaned into him. Tenderly, he kissed the top of my head and pulled me tighter into his side. “Are you okay, Paige?” The concern on his voice warmed my heart.

  “Fine.” My throat felt closed up and raw. I cleared it before continuing. “I’m fine.” I nodded my head to emphasize just how fine I was. Truthfully, I wasn’t fine. I was very-very not fine. But, I couldn’t let Daemon know that. He needed to believe that I was unaffected by those pictures. If he understood just how hot my rage really burned, he would watch me like a hawk never slacking from his constant vigil for my safety. It would be a difficult task to find Chris under the watchful eye of Daemon, but I had no other choice. It was sadly apparent that the police had been run off the trail and were clueless about where Chris was hiding. I didn’t blame the police, especially not Detective Troy, for that failure. People tended to clam up when faced with a badge and sometimes it took a plain clothes investigator to loosen up tongues.

  “They’ll find him, Damsel. You know that.” Daemon’s words were meant to console me, but there were no words in existence that could do that for me until Chris was found. It was obvious by Chris’ message on my mirror that he was looking for me and I knew the ultimate victor would be the one who found the other first. I had to make sure that person was me. He would come out of the woodwork for me. I was the ultimate bait and if I could make my presence known, it could be enough to bring him out of hiding. Poor Daemon believed I was scared; when in truth, I was resolute with my decision to end this cat and mouse game Chris was intent on playing.

  All I could squeak out in response was a weak “I know.” I shrugged him off before saying, “I’m going to go check on David.”

  Walking down the hallway, I glanced in my room and observed Detective Troy as she scanned over the photos. For the most part, her expressionless eyes flitted back and forth over the images, but there were some that caused her focus to slow. I wondered which images she took in longer than the rest and why those images drew her attention over the others. I admired her poise when faced with the atrocious deeds of the criminals she hunted. It would take an inner fortitude more solid than Fort Knox to daily face the deluge of horror she undoubtedly witnessed.

  I continued my path to David’s room and when I opened the door, I found him lying on his bed, staring out the window beside him. His eyes met mine as I walked in the room and I could see the pain and despair that haunted his thoughts. I crossed the room to crawl onto the bed with him. My arms came around him as I practically spooned him from behind and we just held each other, attempting to gain any comfort that could be had in this situation.

  “Those photos were horrible, Paige. I…” His voice wavered as he forced his inner turmoil into words. “I feel guilty.”

  I pushed myself up onto an elbow and rolled him over so that he was facing me. “You have no reason to feel guilty, David. You tried to help her. You were pretty fucked up as well. The last thing you need to feel is guilt.”

  David shook his head and his eyes focused on the area above me. “I’m not guilty about that. I know I did everything that I could when I found her. I feel guilty because, here I am feeling sorry for myself for just having seen those photos, and yet, poor Annie had to live through it. She gets to carry those disgusting images as memories of something that happened. I have no right to feel sorry for myself, but I can’t stop.”

  Momma’s ‘victim’ speech from The Center suddenly reverberated through my thoughts. Watching David struggle in his guilt only emphasized the accuracy of the words she had spoken to so many women at The Center. When I was younger and I listened to that speech, I understood what she meant by her words, but I never realized the absolute truth to what she was saying. I understood now and I needed David to understand as well.

  “David, we are all victims in this. Sure, the degree to which we’ve been victimized is different, but in the end, we are in the same boat. Hell, even those cops in there are victims. They have to look at those images as well and it can’t be pleasant for their psyche. I don’t care how seasoned and indifferent a person is, images like those cannot be forgotten.” I gave him a weak smile and shrugged a shoulder. “The only thing we can do is join together, find the monsters like Chris and lock their asses away, never to be heard from again.”

  David rolled his eyes. “Please, Paige. No disrespect to the boys in blue, but it’s been a month; yet Chris is still running around. Meanwhile, you and I have been chased from our home and Annie is locked up in a mental hospital. I’m losing my faith that he will be captured.”

  My eyebrow arched and one side of my mouth quirked up. “Well, actually, I have a little, miniscule idea…okay, a plan, if you will.”

  David eyed me suspiciously at first but his eyebrows shot to his hairline when he realized what I was suggesting. “No! No, no, no, no, no. You are not going after him, Paige. There is no way in hell I’m allowing you to go after him.” David quickly pushed himself up off the bed and started walking towards the door.

  I jumped up to follow after him. “Where are you going?”

  He stopped while keeping his hand on the knob. “I’m going to tell Daemon on you. Someone needs to know that you’ve lost your damn mind.”

  Before he could turn the knob, I lunged across the room, bringing him down like a lion does a gazelle. A small shriek escaped his lips and I think I may have actually growled in my attack. There was no way I would let David out of this room with his ability to speak intact until he swore that Daemon would not know of my plan.

  “Damn it, Paige! Watch my face, it’s still healing!” David shrieked as I brought him down like the wildebeest I imagined he was at that moment. Once I had him pinned to the ground, my hand covered his mouth and I shot him a pointed glare.

  “Shut up, David. You cannot let Daemon know what I am planning. If he finds out, he will do everything he possibly can to stop me, and I don’t need the added headache of sidestepping him as well.”

  David attempted to respond but his words came out muffled.

  “If I remove my hand, do you promise not to scream or do anything else stupid before I have a chance to talk to you about this?”

  David’s head nodded emphatically and I eyed him suspiciously. I slowly removed my hand allowing David to speak. “Fine, Paige. I’ll hear you out before I go tell Daemon, but could you please remove yourself from me?”

  I released David and barricaded the door with my body. David pushed himself up off the floor and moved to sit on the bed. Once I thought he was sufficiently settled, I relaxed my posture and started my explanation. “Thank you for listening. I’m not going after Chris like you think. I’m just going to find him and then we can send the police to apprehend him. I’m not putting myself in any danger.”

  David arched a single brow at my explanation. “And how, exactly, are you planning on finding him? I suspect if there was a way to find him, the police would have already done so.” He crossed his arms in challenge.

  “I haven’t thought it out th
at far yet, David, but I can’t just continue sitting around and letting that guy fuck with our lives. It’s obvious his focus is on me, yet you and Annie ended up hurt. I have to do something about this.” I blew out an exasperated breath and continued. “The police are limited in what they can do. People are far more willing to give up information to another ‘regular’ person than they are to the authorities and I’m hoping that any information I can find will help us capture Chris.”

  I could tell by David’s posture that he wasn’t completely convinced. He seemed to mull over my suggestion before he finally responded. “Where would you find the information, Paige? It’s not like you know enough about the guy to be able to ask his friends. I don’t understand how you expect to pull this off.”

  He was right. I didn’t have much information on Chris and whatever I was able to obtain online or through background searches would have already been revealed to the police. I did know that Chris worked at the flea market and there could possibly be someone there who would know where to find him. More than likely, the police had already covered that ground, but I suspected most of Chris’ true acquaintances would have been less than forthcoming with them. I needed to formulate a plan, and the best place I could think to start my search would have to be the flea market.

  “We’ll go to the flea market. He worked there. We can ask around and see if anybody has information that could lead us to him. If nothing turns up, fine. We’ll call it a bust and go home. But there is no way that I won’t at least try. Come on, David! He won’t attack me in broad daylight and surrounded by hundreds of witnesses; it’ll be safe.”

  David considered my plea. His expression was one of resignation when he finally nodded his head and spoke. “Fine. If you are limiting your plan to a fact finding mission in public, I’ll keep my mouth shut; but only on the condition that I go with you.”

  His eyes held mine for a few seconds before I relented to taking him with me. It would be easier for me to go alone, but considering what Chris has already done, I knew David would never let me go alone into a place where Chris could potentially find me. Shaking Daemon while we performed our mission would be the tough part. I knew I would have to give it some time to let the emotions from today’s event die down and then I could slowly make him believe that I would go along with whatever he wanted. Eventually, Daemon would have to return to managing his businesses and David and I would have our chance.

  My face beamed back at David. “Thank you, David. We will eventually have to discuss the plan and figure out all of the details, but now is not the time. We should get back out there, deal with whatever else we need to and then figure everything else out when we get to Daemon’s and have some time alone.”

  David nodded but his face fell almost immediately afterward. “I don’t want to go back out there, Paige. This whole experience has been heart wrenching and depressing. I am in serious need of a mood booster. Why don’t we pick up some wine on the way back to Daemon’s and get ourselves insanely drunk tonight? I’ll invite Matt.”

  David’s suggestion wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, getting drunk with Daemon would be a good start to convincing him I wasn’t planning anything in response to Chris’ message in my room.

  “Sounds good, David. Tonight…we drink!”

  ~

  “Holy shit. I’ve died and gone to Camelot.”

  David spun around slowly as he took in Daemon’s apartment. I laughed at David’s expression as he studied every small detail of the space. He looked like a child who had been taken to one of the local theme parks for the first time. I remember feeling the same way when Daemon first brought me home with him. The medieval and renaissance décor was subtle and tasteful. The room was so well put together, that in the certain light, it resembled an old world room from a distant land. The wall sconces added the finishing touch when they were the only illumination in the room. I enjoyed watching the shadows play across Daemon’s face, sharpening his features and defining just how breathtakingly beautiful he really was.

  Daemon smiled at David’s comment and walked into the kitchen to drop his wallet and keys on the counter. Blood rushed to my cheeks when I noticed that Daemon had picked up a sponge and was cleaning the island as David adjusted to his surroundings. Memories of what happened on that island were fresh in my mind and I could feel a pull through my center as my body yearned for more. I held my hands palm up to inspect the markings from earlier and there were still faint lines crossing over my palm. I wanted to check out the condition of my legs but, due to my jeans, I would have to leave that inspection for later.

  David finished his assessment of the living room and turned to look at Daemon in the kitchen. “I’m very impressed, big guy. I love the whole ‘castles and white knights’ theme you have going. Tell you what…once I’m done putting up my things, I wouldn’t mind at all if you wanted to show me your sword.” David turned to wink at me and my face met my palm. I heard Daemon chuckle from the kitchen and I was glad that David’s blatant advances were being received comically.

  “Speaking of putting up my things, where am I staying in this place?” David picked up his bags and looked to Daemon for directions.

  Daemon finished cleaning the kitchen island and crossed the room to direct David to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. While David and Daemon were busy, I made my way over to the refrigerator and stowed the wine bottles away to keep them chilled for later. I’m not a big wine drinker, so David selected two whites and a blush that he described as being dessert wines. I wondered if Daemon would be joining us in our alcohol-fueled debauchery. Not that I wanted another night with angry, drunk Daemon, but I couldn’t help but be curious what regular drunk Daemon was like. My muscles clutched at the thought and I had to shake those thoughts from my head in order to continue to function as a normal human being. I remembered that I needed more information on Daemon and considered taking advantage of his drunken state to dig a little more into his past. Hopefully, I would be able to see past my lust in order to stay focused on my fact finding mission.

  My thoughts were interrupted as Daemon emerged from the hallway and sauntered his way into the kitchen where I stood. His brows were narrowed and one side of his mouth crooked up into a wicked little grin. I melted at the sight of the dimple that appeared and my body slightly trembled as he approached. As he neared me, he reached out to rub his hands down the prickled skin of my arms.

  “I love how your body reacts when I’m near. Almost like it knows it belongs to me.” He looked up into my eyes and tapped me softly on the head with his finger. “Too bad that other pesky part disagrees.” He smiled such a boyish grin that I couldn’t help but melt right there in front of him. There were so many facets to this complex man and I enjoyed discovering the new and unique personas that formed him. This particular part was his playful side. This was the bright and charming persona, the one that could convince me to do just about anything, as long as it would please him.

  I looked down as I blushed and then peeked back to him from under my lashes. “When I met you, I discovered there was a total disconnect between my head and, well, the rest of me. It’s actually quite aggravating when I’m mad at you and my skin is trying to detach itself from me just to be closer to you.”

  His smile brightened and I melted just a little bit more. If he stayed in this jovial mood for much longer, I imagined I would eventually end up a lumpy puddle on the kitchen floor. My mouth tingled as his eyes studied my lips. Slowly, his head leaned down. He brushed his mouth softly against my lips before touching his forehead to mine. I stared into a set of haunting blues eyes, sparkling with heat and mischief. I held my breath and my body started to tremble. I jumped when his hand came up to grasp my hip and the pressure of his fingers felt exquisite on the sensitive nerves. The hold was possessive and assertive. Daemon could easily overpower me physically, which was oddly exciting. Strangely, it was his ability to overcome me mentally at times that excited me the most. Thinking back, Daemon has been the only m
an to put me in my place. I was able to walk all over the others with no problem. But not Daemon. I found it ironic that the first person to interest me in, well, forever, was a dominant man. Maybe that’s been my problem all this time…I apparently have a thing for assholes.

  Daemon’s lips pressed down on mine and my lips were parted by the force of his own. The tip of his tongue flicked against mine and we moved against each other slowly. My hands reached up into his perpetually messy hair and I tugged at the thick mane wrapping itself around my fingers. Daemon let out a seductive little growl and tightened his grip around my hip.

  Pulling away from our kiss, Daemon’s mouth traveled over my jaw and down my neck. The heat of his mouth and breath rolled over my skin. My head fell back as my breathing labored. I opened my eyes when, suddenly, I saw a flash of light. Daemon must have noticed it as well because he abruptly stopped what he was doing. Both our heads spun to look in the direction of the living room.

  David sat innocently on a chair facing the kitchen. He held his phone in front of him as he texted away on the keyboard. Feeling satisfied with his message he hit send and looked up. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to use the flash.”

  Daemon let me go and stepped back a few feet to put some space between us. His face was bemused as he took in the astonished expression on mine.

  “David. Can I ask what the hell you think you are doing?”

  He looked up at me and flashed me his signature grin before responding. “Matt’s driving over as we speak and when I came out here to let you know he was on his way, I found you making out. I took a picture to send Matt so that he didn’t miss out on any of the action.” He shrugged a shoulder and checked the response message from Matt. He laughed quickly and returned his eyes to mine. “What?! I was just trying to be accommodating since he wasn’t here to see this yet.”

  Laughter burst from Daemon as he left the kitchen to walk in the direction of his room. Once he was out of sight, I scowled at David. “Seriously, David! Can you try to act civilized at least for the first couple of days that you are here.”