Siren Unleashed [Texas Sirens 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (18 page)

Chris pushed the button for the elevator and they got in.

“You don’t need a card to access the elevator?” Chase asked.

“We have ten kids living out here. They range from six months to sixteen years old. If we required key cards, they would never leave their rooms. Seriously, those kids can’t keep up with them. This is a family facility. A ‘no kink’ zone. The third floor is a school. We brought in private teachers and just got our accreditation. Barnes paid for that. Seems his daughter had some trouble with the local kids so he just built a school for her. There’s another entrance for the third floor and that is accessible only by the school employees and students.”

The elevator doors opened and there was no way to miss the yellow police tape that draped Nat’s doorway. The door stood open and the khaki-suited form of the sheriff walked by. Chase immediately ducked under the tape.

Ben followed, his heart seizing just a bit. Natalie’s place was in complete ruins. Her little couch had been torn to pieces, the stuffing pulled out and scattered across the room. It was easy to see that Natalie didn’t have much. A small TV, a couch built maybe for two, no more. A round dining room table with two chairs had deep, jagged scratches covering the surface. Both chairs were broken as were all her dishes.

“How the hell did no one call this in?” Ben couldn’t imagine that whoever had done this hadn’t made a ton of noise. This kind of destruction would have taken a single person a long time and created a ruckus.

The sheriff turned, a tired look in his eyes. “Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. It looks like someone doesn’t like this girl. We’re sure she didn’t do this herself? You know some women might try to throw suspicion off themselves.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t do this.”

Ben stepped in real damn fast so Chase didn’t give away the fact that they were personally involved and potentially get kicked off the case. Right now the sheriff was cooperating, but if he thought there was something funny going on, he might deny them access to information. “What my brother is trying to say, poorly as usual, is that Natalie’s time has been accounted for from the time she stepped out of your police station to a few minutes ago. Mr. Lodge hired us to check into this case and to keep an eye on her.”

He let that dangle out there, his voice a professional monotone. His words could be taken any number of ways, but the sheriff was a suspicious man himself. Ben would bet a lot that he would think Lodge wanted to monitor her to cover his own ass.

The sheriff tipped his hat back. “Well, that makes things more difficult. And as to one of the other residents hearing something, well, Mr. Linwood informs me there was a little party going on last night.”

Chris rolled his eyes, his mouth flattening. “This section of the building houses the single employees. Most of them work at night. It’s when the tips are the greatest.”

It was also when the dungeon was open, but Ben wasn’t about to mention that. The less the sheriff knew, the better.

The sheriff sighed, his belly heaving up and then sagging back down. “Well, I’m just calling this an act of vandalism. She needs to contact her insurance company. There’s not much I can do here.”

Ben felt himself flush, his indignation a wave that threatened to overtake him. But Chase put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re probably right, Sheriff,” Chase said, sounding more reasonable and charming than usual. “This seems more like an internal matter to me.”

The sheriff couldn’t get out of there fast enough. All three men remained quiet until they heard the elevator ding. Then Ben rounded on his brother.

“You can’t think this has nothing to do with the case.” Ben was sure of that. Even he could plainly see everything was connected.

Chase’s blue eyes rolled. “Of course not. It has everything to do with the case. The question becomes what about the case set this bitch off.”

“What makes you think a female did this?” Chris asked. “And thank you for getting rid of the sheriff.”

Chase shrugged, staring down at the rug. “He was going to start asking questions. He’s curious about this place. He’s more than likely had pressure on him to close the resort down. It was a race to see which side of the sheriff’s nature would win. His conservative, shut-the-freaks-down side? Or the lazy side that’s two years away from retiring and just wants to take a nap? I simply gave the lazy side a distinct advantage.” He pointed down to the plush carpet. “As to why I believe this is a female perpetrator, there are several reasons. The first being this carpet and the pattern of shoe impressions left here. See how thick the carpet is? It holds the impression of the shoe quite valiantly. That very deep, cloddish print is the sheriff’s. He didn’t even go past the kitchen.”

Ben looked down, picking up on what Chase saw. There was a pattern of small, deep impressions all over the carpet. “Are those stilettos?”

“Yes.” Chase got to one knee, his hand skimming across the carpet. “Unfortunately, they’re not like tire tracks. There’s nothing unique about them.” He glanced up at Chris. “The rules of the dungeon are stilettos or nothing for submissives.”

“Yes, subs can wear stilettos or go barefoot.” Chris sighed. “And we provide stilettos should the sub need them so that could be anyone. Anyone except Natalie.”

“Who was adorably barefoot last night,” Chase pointed out. “We need to order some shoes for her. I get a crick in my neck when I kiss her for too long.”

Ben grinned. By “we” Chase had just told him to go online and buy Natalie some shoes, the first real proof he was willing to work together. “I just picked her up and ordered her to wrap her legs around my waist.”

Chris’s head moved like he was watching a tennis match. “You’re both involved with her?”

And so started the freak show. “Our relationships work differently.”

Chase simply smiled. “Welcome to Texas. Guess your kink doesn’t include sharing.”

Chris held his hands up. “Hey, my kink includes so much I can’t say a damn thing. I’m married to an ex-hockey player. We have a baby girl we adopted from China. We’re practically the face of normality. If Nat is happy, I’m totally cool with it, but keep it on the down low or the sheriff will freak. And no, I’ve never seen Nat wearing anything but comfortable shoes.”

Ben chuckled a little. “Looks like you’re going to have to convince her to indulge your shoe fetish.”

“Well, it’s not like she’ll be walking in them. They’ll be around my neck,” Chase shot back. “So crazy stiletto girl manages to get into Nat’s place. How? Natalie would never forget to lock her door. She would be very careful about it.” He stood, walking to the door and pointing out certain changes. “I take it this isn’t standard.”

There were three chains on the door to go along with the heavy deadbolt and the keyed lock.

Chris shook his head. “No. But I knew how important it was for Nat and Gretchen to feel safe.”

Ben looked down at the floor, catching sight of something interesting. It was a deep groove in the carpet. It wasn’t something that could have been made in a short period of time. This was from something she did over and over again. Two square grooves that went all the way to the bottom of the carpet. “She put a chair against the door.”

Chase frowned. “Yes. And that bitch broke her chair.”

Sure enough, there were splinters of wood splattered all over. Nat’s little chair had been decimated, the symbolism hitting him square in the chest. He could see her placing the chair under the doorknob, gaining comfort from knowing she’d done all she could to keep out the bad guys.

Now her peace of mind was shattered.

“I want to know where Stanley Kirkman’s wife was last night.” If everyone else wondered if Natalie had been sleeping with Stanley, perhaps his wife had wondered, too.

Had Nat been sleeping with him? He didn’t think so. He’d seen her face the night before when he’d asked her how long it had been. Years. She hadn’t been lying. Unless she’d known he’d been sent by Julian and was playing them both perfectly.

“Do you think she knew who we were before you spanked her?” Ben asked, the question causing his heart to twist a little.

Chase stood, leaving his perusal of the locks on the door. “I don’t think she knew at first, but I know she went off with her boss. She knew when we talked to her last night.”

“Gaby told her. She wouldn’t let her go into anything ignorant. If Nat talked to her about having a…relationship with the two of you, she would have told her why you were here,” Chris explained.

Chase’s lips curved up. “And she still came after me. Brave little sub.”

Years she’d gone with no comfort. Years with no pleasure. That hollowness he’d sensed in her, the one making love to him had filled, wasn’t a lie. Maybe he was the fucking naïve one, but he believed her. She’d known and she’d disregarded it. The little minx had meant to take her comfort and pleasure and probably flee, but they’d caught her and they weren’t stupid enough to doubt her or let her go. Chase, the most cynical person ever to walk the face of the earth, knew Natalie wasn’t the type. He let go of any thought of doubting her. He was in. “Someone hates her.”

“Yes.” Chase stood up and walked across the room. “Someone hates her. And this isn’t the end.”

It wasn’t anywhere close to the end.

* * * *

Nat tried to take a deep breath, but the air wouldn’t quite sink into her lungs.

“Here, try some tea.” The woman with the golden hair who just happened to be Chase and Ben’s sister handed her a small cup.

Nat took it because it was better than dealing with Gretchen. “Thank you.” She took a long sip, remembering the lovely scene that had been interrupted. She’d enjoyed feeding the Dawsons. She’d pretty much loved everything about the morning with the singular exception of Chase telling her she had to choose.

Why was that so hard to take? Why had she shut down? It wasn’t like she knew Ben. Hell, she didn’t really know Chase, but the thought of choosing had frozen her.

She sniffled a little and took a long sip of the tea. And nearly coughed it back up. “What the hell?”

Georgia smiled down at her. “Oh, I had them put a bunch of vodka in the tea.”

“Georgia!” The man named Logan tried to pin Georgia with that Dom stare of his.

Georgia didn’t seem very pinnable. She waved him off. “Alcohol always helps.”

“Give me some of that.” Gretchen grabbed the cup and downed the rest as Kitten stroked her hair. She sniffled, her face still a brilliant red. “I was so sure someone was going to kill me.”

Kitten moved closer. “You’re safe now.”

Nat needed to breathe. She got up and moved toward the balcony. God, at least she might find some freaking peace there. All Gretchen had managed to do was tell her that everything she owned was ruined and since she lived beside her they would never be safe again.

Gretchen was a drama queen.

Nat pushed the curtains aside and walked onto the balcony. The rich seemed to have a completely different lifestyle. Her window looked out over the little pool. Ben and Chase’s enormous balcony had a spectacular view of the grounds.

She didn’t belong here. She belonged in her little place. But now how would she ever feel safe there again? Gretchen was right about that.

“Hey.” Georgia stepped through the doors, glass in her hand. Orange juice. “That hysterical freaky woman took your tea. Gosh, you would think she’d never like gotten her place broken into. That’s what insurance is for and then you get to meet hunky cops.”

“There are no hunky cops out here. The sheriff is a reject from
Redneck Island
.”

The gorgeous girl wrinkled her nose. “Okay, ewww. Are you still thirsty?”

She could use something cool. Too bad Gretchen had taken the vodka. She gratefully took the glass of juice. “Thanks so much. Gretchen can be a little overwrought.”

Gretchen knew what it meant to be violated. She simply didn’t know what it meant to keep a cool head about her. It was odd because at first, she’d thought Gretchen would be the one she could count on to help her. Gretchen had been bitchy, but she’d seemed strong. Kitten had been so quiet, but it had been Kitten who snuck the knife out of the kitchen, Kitten who held Natalie while she cried because she’d had to kill a man, Kitten who had found a phone and called her cousin.

Finn will help us. Finn won’t let us down. Kitten loves you, Natalie.

Georgia’s hand came up, brushing away tears Nat didn’t realize she was shedding. “Are you all right?”

Nat took a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

Georgia gave her a grin. “I doubt that. It’s why I snuck vodka into the juice. Logan told me not to, but he’s totally fun to disobey.”

“Oh, thank god.” Nat took a long drink. She kind of loved Georgia in that moment.

Ben and Chase’s sister shrugged. “I put vodka in lots of things. It’s the language of love where I grew up. So you’re involved with my brothers?”

She slipped it in, but there was no way to ignore the protective tone. She might be a little sister, but she cared about her brothers. “Not really. I thought I might be, but I don’t think I could choose.”

Cool blue eyes assessed her. “Most women can. Most women choose Ben in a heartbeat.”