Hell of a mess. So many lives involved. And justice was at the heart of the whole cluster f**k. Alex was dead. His killer had to pay.
The end justified the means. If Alex’s killer was put away, all of this would be worth it. Even Faith’s anger.
If he was truly convinced of this, why then did guilt weigh so heavy on him? Why did he picture Faith’s sweet smile, remember the feel of her skin against his, her lips on his? And why did he want more?
It was stupid and foolhardy to initiate any sort of romantic entanglement with her. He snorted. Romantic? Who said anything about romantic? Last he checked, wanting to f**k a woman’s brains out wasn’t construed as romance.
He had a lot of thinking to do. He needed to call Mick so together they could come up with the best plan of action. Gray still wasn’t convinced that he and Mick were handling this just right, but with Billings brushing them off and not devoting the resources necessary to bring Alex’s killer to justice, Gray didn’t see that they had a lot of choice in the matter.
He shoved back from his desk, stood, then headed for the door. As he passed Faith’s office, he halted and backtracked. He may as well make sure the tap was still securely in place in case the mother called again.
Moving swiftly, he walked around her desk in the darkness and turned on the small desk light so he could see. He examined her phone and made sure everything was to his satisfaction. Then he made sure everything on her desk was as he’d found it. His gaze flickered across her open day planner as he reached for the button on the light.
His hand stilled, and he pulled it away as he read the entry circled in red. The House. 11:00 P.M. Friday night. It was written on today’s date, and below was an address in north Houston.
The name was familiar to him, and he searched his memory for why. He could swear it was the name of the kink club Micah had gone on about one day over lunch. But why on earth would Faith be making plans to visit if they were one and the same?
He opened her drawer and yanked out a pen and a piece of paper from a notepad. He scribbled the address down then closed the drawer again. After turning the light off, he hurried back to his own office where he turned his computer on.
He drummed his fingers impatiently as he waited for it to boot. As soon as the screen lit up with his desktop icons, he clicked on the browser and went to a search engine page.
There, he typed in the name and address he’d lifted from Faith’s planner and waited for the results. When he clicked on the first link, he bit out a curse. Faith’s house and Micah’s were one and the same. Somehow Gray knew that Faith wasn’t a regular member, because surely that wouldn’t have escaped Micah’s notice.
What the f**k was she doing making an appointment at a freaking kink club? Did she not have a clue what went on there? Hell, he’d never set foot in the place, but the things Micah had talked about were more than enough to paint a vivid picture in Gray’s mind of what happened behind those big wrought-iron gates.
Which could only mean she had no idea what she was getting into. And the idea of another man putting his hands on her made him feel slightly murderous. He didn’t even want to get into the whys and wherefores of that particular quirk.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Gray muttered. “Get a grip.”
He ought to call Pop and let him or Connor deal with it. But as quickly as that thought popped into his head, he tossed it aside. He wasn’t a kid busting a gut to run and tattle, for God’s sake. Faith was a grown woman. Maybe she was doing a little experimenting. No need to embarrass her by having her brother haul her out of the place.
Which left him. No way he could let her walk into that kind of situation. She was sweet. Far too innocent for the likes of what a place like The House offered its patrons. Shit, knowing his luck, she’d end up as someone’s damn sex slave for the night.
That thought propelled him to his feet. He was out the door in a few seconds. He fumbled with the security codes on his way out before he strode out to the parking lot and his truck.
He flipped open his cell phone and punched in Micah’s number. The damn club was exclusive, and he couldn’t get in without Micah’s help. Hell, he might not get in anyway. But he’d damn sure see if could.
He tried Micah’s home number and his cell without any luck. Growling in frustration, he stepped on the accelerator and headed toward the apartment complex.
When he whipped into the parking lot a few minutes later, he saw Micah’s truck parked outside his unit. Faith was already gone.
He hopped out of the truck and hurried up to Micah’s door. He knocked loudly and waited. When Micah didn’t immediately come to the door, he pounded harder.
A few seconds later, the door jerked open, and Micah stood in the doorway holding a towel around his waist. He glared at Gray. “This better be damn good, Montgomery.”
Before Gray could respond, he heard a female voice in the background ask Micah who it was. Micah turned and held out a placating hand. “Give me just one minute, babe.”
Gray sighed. Interrupting Micah during sex couldn’t be all that uncommon, considering the guy had a girl over every other day. He didn’t have time for this shit.
Micah turned around to stare at him again, his scowl ferocious. “Now what the f**k do you want?” he demanded.
“I need you to get me into The House or whatever the f**k it is you call it.”
Micah blinked several times. His mouth popped open, and a look of incredulity spread over his features. “You came over here at eleven damn o’clock at night because you’ve got an itch you want to scratch?”
“Not me, dumb-ass. Apparently Faith has an appointment there. As we speak.”
Micah’s expression rapidly changed from annoyance to sharp interest. He held up his hand. “Whoa. Wait a minute. Faith is going to The House?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Gray said impatiently. “Is there any way you can get me in? Pull some strings or something?”
Micah ignored Gray’s question and shook his head in confusion. “What the f**k is she doing going there? That’s no place for a girl like her.”
Gray threw up his hands and growled in frustration.
“Okay, okay, look,” Micah said, holding both hands up in appeasement. “Let me get dressed. I’ll head over there to see what the f**k is going on.”
“No.”
Micah looked up in surprise.
“I’ll go. You just get me in there,” Gray said emphatically. “Besides, you’ve got company to entertain. I’ll take care of Faith.”