Bad Boy's Honor: An MMA Bad Boy Romance (66 page)

My plan lasted about five minutes.

Chloe and I had gotten too close over the weekend. Or at least, I had gotten too close to Chloe. There was a chance she didn’t feel the same way. I could usually tell when women were interested in me; for the most part it was women who had a heartbeat.

But Chloe was hard to read. By all appearances, I never would have thought she’d be the type to volunteer in a hunt for a killer. Appearances could be deceptive.

I had to detach myself from her before I got too close, but I didn’t exactly have a lot of practice in that area. I’d never been in love before or even close to it. A lot of women had been in love with me, and they seemed to deal with it in one of two different ways.    

Most of them constantly harassed me, thinking that the harder they worked at it, the more likely I was to give in and be in a relationship with them. I was more than happy to let them fuck my brains out while they attempted to impress me, but eventually I’d get bored and move on.

The other way was to try and ignore me. That had worked for a few women, although most fell off the wagon at some point and ended up chasing me. Not all of them though. Some women had met other men and they seemed vaguely happy now. Not as sexually satisfied, but happy at least.    

So that’s what I resolved to do. I couldn’t ignore Chloe, but I could be stern with her. I could treat her like a temp, as if she were any other employee. I’d be polite, but firm. No laughing or smiling. No cheeky comments. No staring at her perfect little ass, or imagining sucking on her firm tits.    

Most of all, I couldn’t let her help me track down Roddy. That entire subject brought up too many emotions. If she worked with me on that, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself falling for her. That is, if I hadn’t already.    

It was a good plan, all things considered. Or so I thought.    

I heard Chloe come in about nine o’clock. She stopped and greeted every single employee she walked past, and went out of her way to see some of those she didn’t. She’d only been here two weeks, but she was already more popular than me, and I was the one who paid them.

Chloe sat down at her desk, but I resisted the urge to walk out and say hello, or give her a silly assignment just so I had an excuse to talk to her.    

I didn’t need to. She came to me soon enough.    

What the hell was that thing around her neck?

“Morning,” Chloe said with less enthusiasm than she had to everyone else in the office. I guess she’d used up all her energy before getting to me.

“Morning,” I replied tersely. She had on a large and slightly gaudy necklace that didn’t suit her at all. I wasn’t exactly an expert on women’s fashion--other than underwear--but even I could tell she didn’t look comfortable in it.    

“You’re staring at my chest,” Chloe remarked. I looked up and saw her smiling. “On this occasion, I think I’d actually prefer it if you were eying up my boobs, but I assume it’s the necklace?”

“Uh, yeah, the necklace. It’s nice,” I said, trying to sound convincing. “Very… big.”

“And bigger is always better, right?”    

“So I’m always told.” Sexual innuendo was not part of the plan.    

“You don’t have to pretend you like it,” Chloe said. “I hate it.”

“Why are you wearing it?”    

Chloe sighed and shook her head. “Mom insisted. She thinks it brings good fortune.”

“It looks like it’ll bring back problems. What’s so lucky about it?”    

“It was my grandmother’s. Apparently it brought good luck. She died from cancer a few years ago, so I’m not sure how lucky it really is, but I can’t be bothered to argue with Mom.”    

“I’m sorry. About your grandmother. Isn’t your Mom back in New York though? She’s not going to notice if you don’t wear it.”

“Yes, but she asks me about it. I’m a hopeless liar; she can see right through me.”

“That’s comforting,” I replied sarcastically. “I hope you never get questioned by the police about me.”

“Oh, that’ll be okay. I won’t lie. I’ll just tell them the truth. You know it’s illegal to lie to the police, right?”

I rolled my eyes, and did my best to suppress a smile. I failed. So much for playing the tough guy this morning.

Chloe ran through my schedule for the day and I asked her to cancel a few meetings and conference calls. Everything non-urgent got pushed to the side. I had more important work to do today.

One of my sources gave me a lead on a company that Roddy supposedly owned. It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it might lead me back to him. I’d been going at this too casually. I couldn’t just sit around hoping that someone else would find him.

I wanted Roddy dead. It was up to me to find him. Find him and kill him.

-*-

I needed Chloe’s help.

There was a reason I always had a PA; office work was not exactly my forte. Dad had brought me up as a glorified street thug--it had only been later on in life that he’d decided I needed to help run legitimate businesses to keep things above board.

I could make decisions. I was good at that. I had to make tough calls every day, but the pressure rarely got to me. It was hard to feel pressure over little things like which supplier to use or which design to go with when you were used to making life and death decisions in the middle of a street fight.

Administrative work was just one of those things I couldn’t handle. It didn’t agree with me, kind of like an allergy. Maybe I was allergic to admin?

I had the name of the company Roddy supposedly owned, and I was sure there were online databases that had addresses and information for companies, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. The company name was too generic for a Google search, and if I knew Roddy Barton, he’d want to keep it offline as much as possible.

Chloe couldn’t get involved in my hunt for Roddy, but if she just helped me with a bit of research on his company that should be fine. I wouldn’t even tell her what it was about, so she’d never know she was helping.

I called Chloe into my office and she arrived as promptly as ever. Was it too much to hope that she was just sat out there waiting for me to call her in?    

“Do you need me to get you out of another meeting?” she asked wearily. “I’m still getting grief from the other directors about that last one.”

“Sorry. Just tell them to discuss it with me. I can handle them. I need your help with some research.”

“Okay, what is it?” she asked, pen and paper at the ready. At least I’d finally found a flaw of hers--she insisted on writing everything down.

“Do you know how to get a company’s mailing address and a list of directors? I’m sure it’s online, but I’ll be damned if I can find it anywhere.”

“What state is it incorporated in?” Chloe asked. I looked back at her blankly. “Okay, let’s start with Delaware. That’s the most common option.”

Chloe came round to my side of the desk and bent over to use the computer. I gave her the same and she went to the Delaware Secretary of State website to get the information she needed.    

Her necklace hung down and clattered against my desk as she leaned over. Considering it was an old family heirloom, she didn’t treat it with much care. Come to think of it, the necklace didn’t look that old. Either that, or it was well looked-after.    

“It’s not there,” she said. “I’ll try some other states.”

Chloe twisted slightly to use the mouse, and a tiny gap appeared in her blouse. Peeking through her top was not at all gentlemanly, but few women had ever described me as a gentleman before anyway.    

I could see enough to tell that her pert breasts weren’t the result of padding or a push up bra. They were just as juicy as I’d imagined.    

“Got ya,” Chloe remarked.    

“I haven’t done anything,” I replied quickly, looking away from her breasts.

“What? No, I mean I’ve found the company. What do you need the address for?”

“They owe us money. Why?”

“They use a registered agent for legal stuff, so if you were planning to sue then you’d need to send it there.”

“No, I’m not doing that. I just want a correspondence address for now.”    

“I’ll print it out for you along with information about the directors.”

Chloe came back a few minutes later with the information printed out. Roddy wasn’t listed as one of the directors, but then I didn’t expect him to be. A quick online search showed that the address was an office block in a run down part of town.

If he owned the company, then there would be shareholder records and that would have his address on it. I knew Roddy well enough to know that he was careful. He was like my dad in that respect. He was like my dad in a lot of ways, come to think of it.    

The company would be run according to the law. He’d even pay tax on the profits. The point of the company was to give him a legitimate source of income so if the IRS ever came knocking he could explain why he had ten cars and a big house.    

At least, I assumed he had lots of cars and a big house. The truth was, I didn’t really know much about him. Unlike Dad, he’d done a good job at running his empire from the shadows, rarely showing his face in public. He would be hard to catch.

“Thanks, Chloe.”

“Not a problem. You need any more help?”    

“No, I’m good.”    

Now I just had to wait. I’d stay in the office until after dark and then go to this address and break in. If Roddy’s company was anything like mine, most of the information would be on computer, but there would be paper files as well. Minute books, shareholder certificates, that kind of thing.    

Not long now Roddy. I’m coming for you.

Denton was about as subtle as Lady Gaga at an award ceremony.  

That company he had me track down must be related to Roddy Barton. Denton would never get involved in basic debt collection--not of company debts, at least. He had a team of credit control guys to handle that.

I made sure to print off two copies of the address, and then did some research of my own. The office block looked old and run down, but it was likely only a cover to funnel money anyway. A bit like this one, really.

Denton mentioned that he would be working late tonight, so I knew he planned to make a move on the office this evening. God knows what he was hoping to find there given that everything would be on computers and password protected, but he was a desperate man and would do anything to get at Roddy.

I considered offering to go with him, but there was no way he would have let me after the big fuss he made about it the other weekend. I’d have to follow him inside and not give him any say in the matter.  

After work, I stayed in downtown and hung out in a coffee shop for a few hours until it got dark. After two cups, and a dinner consisting of muffins and lemon slices, I finally saw Denton leave the office.

I quickly jumped in a taxi and had it take me near to Roddy’s company. Knowing the way Denton drove, I knew he would be there before me, but just to be certain I had the taxi driver drop me off a block away.  

I rounded the corner just as Denton was checking over his shoulder while forcing the door open. I ducked back behind the wall, but he hadn’t seen me. It was too dark, and only about half the street lights were working.  

The weight of the necklace hung heavy around my neck, and not just from the physical weight of the damn thing. I’d turned it on after leaving the coffee shop, as Lois had insisted, but now the burden of what I was about to do really hit home.

When I caught up to Denton in that office, I’d be recording every word of our conversation and then providing it to the FBI. I’d been spying on him from the moment I met him, but I’d always had the choice about what conversations I passed on.  

Denton had told me about Kara last weekend, and that hadn’t been easy for him. I hadn’t told Lois about that and didn’t intend to, but if he revealed anything else to me now, I wouldn’t have any choice.

I was betraying the trust and confidence he’d placed in me, and what’s more, he didn’t deserve it.

My only consolation was that his determination to find Kara’s killer would not likely lead to him giving away information about his father’s illegal operations. On the other hand, if Denton did kill Roddy, the FBI wouldn’t have to look too far for evidence.