Chapter 15

Colin

Icouldn't help but look up and down the street as we got out of the car to make sure no one was around. The way I'd treated that stranger back at the restaurant parking lot had been a bit out of control. I needed to get my act together.

I knocked on the side exit Trent had asked me to use. The head of security, Carlo, opened the door. He frowned when he saw Maddy, who moved a little behind me hugging Kornie.

"He's with me."

"I wasn't informed. No one else is supposed to be here other than who Trent invited."

"We were on the date when I got the text. He's aware of the problem and because he's dating me that puts him at risk, too."

"Hold on."

Carlo, who was usually friendly to me, was all business. He stepped aside and spoke into his mike. I heard him mention my name, but not much else. When he came back to us, he said, "Okay. He can come. But he has to wait outside Mr. Winterbourne's office."

"That's fine."

Carlo stepped aside as I took Maddy's hand and led him in.

Carlo locked the door behind us, then led us upstairs.

The doors to Trent's opulent office were open. Inside, I was surprised to see so many people. Of course, Trent was there, of course. He stood behind his huge glass desk. At his side was his boy Ozzy. I remembered the night they'd met. Ozzy had been hurt by his out-of-control dom. We'd all arrived to diffuse the situation. I had to use hands-on to take down his dom. It wasn't pleasant.

It was a rare night that Trent was in town when that incident occurred, and also present at the club. He'd ended up taking responsibility for Ozzy.

I remembered how strange my boss's behavior was. Trent was so protective, and I'd never seen him show much emotion. But that night he looked worried. I thought it might be because he was afraid of a lawsuit. Even though club members signed liability waivers, that didn't stop people from suing.

But days later, I'd heard Trent had taken Ozzy with him to his estate in the mountains to heal. I didn't know Trent well, but he was my boss and I'd worked at the club for five years. I was familiar with his routines. And I also knew he had a rule never to fraternize with staff or patrons. It was the same rule that applied to all his staff. I was breaking that rule, just as Trent had done. But no one had said a word to me about it.

Ozzy was obviously a special case, especially when I found out over Christmas they'd become a couple. A daddy/little couple.

Ozzy looked much better than when I'd last seen him. Strong. Healthy. A very attractive boy.

I came into the room with Maddy trailing me.

"Hello, Mr. Winterbourne."

He gave me a quick smile. "I've told you to call me Trent. Who do you have with you?"

"That's Maddy."

"Hello, Maddy." Trent's voice went low and a bit soft when he spoke to him.

"Hi."

"Hi, Ozzy," I said. "You might not remember me." I was afraid to say more that might trigger him. That had been a bad night.

Ozzy swallowed hard, his eyes widening. "I think I do, but I don't know your name."

"Colin."

He nodded.

I turned to see the others in the room. Two were men I didn't know, and I assumed they were Trent's private detectives. Also present were Cuddles and Stewart. I raised an eyebrow at them both, greeting them by name.

Stewart just grunted. Cuddles said hello in return.

I frowned, wondering why they were here. I hadn't spoken of my stalker to either of them.

Carlo stood at the doorway, silently watching us all.

Trent began to speak. "Ozzy. Maddy. I need you to go with Carlo and wait for us. Is that okay?"

Maddy nodded.

Ozzy said, "Yes, Daddy."

I held Maddy's hand harder, reluctant to let go. "Where are they going?"

"Carlo's just taking them to the littles playroom where they can watch some TV and play while they wait. Is that okay?" Trent asked.

I turned to Maddy. "You're not to leave that room. Understood?"

"Yes, Daddy." Maddy gave me a sweet smile.

"Same for you, Ozzy," Trent said.

"Yes, Daddy," Ozzy replied.

"They'll be fine," Carlo said. "I've got security on the exits."

"Good."

That made me a little nervous. The club was closed. Locked down. Why security at the exits now?

Carlo hustled the two boys off, closing the office door behind him.

After they left, there was about two seconds of silence before Stewart spoke up. "What's going on? Why was I called here?"

"Yeah? Me, too? What's up, boss?" Cuddles asked.

Trent showed no emotion as he motioned for everyone to sit in the chairs he'd provided. He then sat behind his desk, straight and firm in his seat, and began to explain my stalking situation.

I thought he was filling in Stewart and Cuddles because they worked closely with me five nights a week. The detectives were silent but tense. Something was up.

When Trent reached the part of the story where this had been going on for months, and every text was from a different I.P. address making them impossible to trace, I heard Stewart shift in his seat. When I looked at him, he had an almost careless expression, like this story was boring to him.

Trent continued. "But one of my detectives is an expert at I.P. He worked for the F.B.I. He still has contacts there. Finally, we were able to get some information. Gil, can you tell us what you found?"

Stewart's body went taut.

As Gil began to speak, I realized right then and there they had found out who my stalker was.

Then he said a name. "It all traces back to the I.P. address of Griff Simon."

I cleared my throat. "Ozzy's former dom."

"Yes." Trent nodded at me. "Go on, Gil."

"I remember Griff," Cuddles interrupted. "He was banned for life. He kept coming back and hanging out outside. I saw him a few times when security went out to speak with him."

"Yes," Trent said. "They were threatening to call the cops for loitering. He wasn't technically trespassing unless he came onto the part of the sidewalk that hugs the building."

"But a lot of people were involved in that," Cuddles went on. "Why would he pick on Colin?"

"Maybe because I clocked him a good one in the jaw before I had security toss him, literally, into the gutter."

Cuddles, frowned. "I don't understand."

"He couldn't touch me," Trent said. "I have too much security on all my devices. He couldn't touch Ozzy because I hid him. I've still been hiding him. Colin was the easiest target."

"Griff Simon." I shook my head. "That guy was such bad news. He'd mishandled subs before."

Trent broke in. "More than mishandled. He kept them locked away as slaves. Ozzy was kept in a room with nothing in it and starved for part of his so-called training."

"I didn't know that," I said.

Cuddles leaned forward. "What can we do to help?"

Stewart said nothing.

"Has he been arrested?" I asked.

The detectives shook their heads. "He can't be found. But it brings us to another point. Griff had help. Someone with access to Colin's personal information."

My gaze shot to Stewart again.

"Who?" Cuddles asked.

Gil looked directly at Cuddles and Stewart. "One of you two."

"What?" they both said in unison.

Cuddles nearly started to choke. "I don't even know Griff. Honest. I've been working here for almost as long as Colin. I wouldn't ever help a bad dom out like that."

"No. But we weren't sure," Gil said. "So we brought you both in. You and Stewart are on security cameras being friendly."

Cuddles turned to Stewart, confusion in his eyes. "We're just friends. We sometimes talk. That's all. Right, Stewart?"

Stewart had a new look in his eyes, one of almost defiance, as he shrugged and grunted.

"But Stewart has access," Gil continued. "We have security footage that proves it."

"What proof?" They were the first words Stewart had uttered since the meeting had started.

Gil brought up a remote and the big screen TV on the far wall of Trent's office turned on. Video began to play. It showed Stewart walking along the line of lockers, looking over his shoulder, then stopping at mine. He jimmied the lock with a bent paperclip, then rifled through my stuff. He took his time looking through my wallet, but stole nothing.

"What the--?" I couldn't keep my mouth shut as I watched another clip begin to play.

Stewart was in the break room. I was there, too. We were sitting at the table eating a sandwich, my cell lying next to me. When I got up to go to the fridge for a drink, Stewart quickly grabbed my cell and opened it. He must've seen me use my lock code many times, because it looked like he had it memorized.

"Why?" I asked. "As a co-worker, he had my number."

Gil spoke up. "That's Stewart creating a tracking app on your phone."

"What? Why?"

"I didn't do anything like that," Stewart began.

Gil zoomed in on the image. It was very clear. Trent had the best security for this joint. As we watched, we could all see what Stewart was doing.

I spun to face him. "Do you know Griff?"

Stewart shrugged again.

"Is that why you applied for a job here?" I asked. "To spy for him?"

Gil jumped in. "We managed to do a bit more background checking. Stewart is Griff's half-brother. They have different last names but the same mother."

"What?"

"Yes," Trent said. "Which is why we've called this meeting. You are, of course, fired, Mr. Phillips."

"So what? You can't prove anything," Stewart snarled.

"The video?" Trent asked him.

Stewart's mouth twisted into a hard slant.

"We are hoping before we call the police to have you arrested that you might give us some indication of where Griff Simon is," Gil said.

"You think I'd tell you?"

"Things might go easier for you if you do," Trent replied.

Stewart's face morphed into an ugly smile. "He's closer than you think."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Trent asked.

"It means exactly that. He's close." Stewart let out a weird chuckle.