18. Chase

Sitting on his bed, he pulled the worn-out photo from his wallet and stared at the image once again. He didn't see the frayed edges along the photo or creases through the woman's face. All he saw was a reminder of the pain and heartache that had almost consumed him.

Chase stared at the smiling young woman with big blue eyes and long brown hair. She looked so happy, so full of life. The world was hers to conquer. But it wasn't really. Six months after the photo was taken, her body would wash-up on the shores of Lake Ontario, another woman fallen victim to a cruel and sadistic world. The fact that the Lord found it acceptable for such a sweet and caring woman to meet her end in such a violent and dehumanizing way was only proof that there really was no God.

God was something that evil men created in order to give themselves hope that once they had gone through living out their miserable, horrible little lives, they would somehow find salvation and spend the rest of eternity basking in eternal bliss.

No, there was no God. Only evil and pain. Bad men and bad women deserved to be punished for their wickedness. And who better to carry out that punishment than a man who was living through his own pain and heartache.

Slowly, he folded the photo and placed it back in the safety of his wallet. He only allowed himself to stare at her picture for a few minutes at a time for fear of losing himself once again to the darkness and emptiness that threatened to swallow him whole. He had spent years trying to drag himself out of the black hole that had gripped him and tried to consume him.

Thankfully, the police force offered great health benefits that allowed him to see a psychologist and get some help coping with the pain and loss of one of the most important people in his life. It had taken a few months, but eventually, he was able to bury the pain enough to make it through each day without secretly breaking into tears or beating his fists bloody against a wall.

Chase tucked those memories away. He had work to do and punishment to dish out.

A faint knock at the door pulled Chase out of himself.

"Come in," he called, hopping off his bed and pulling his shirt over his head. He smiled when Levi came bouncing into his room.

"Mornin' hot stuff," the young man chirped as he walked across the room and planted a kiss on Chase's cheek.

Well, he could get used to a welcome like that.

Chase grabbed a hand full of Levi's ass and gave it a squeeze. "Mornin' to you too, my sexy little man."

Levi gave him a smirk as he made his way innocently around the room, trying not to make it obvious that he was snooping around.

"Looking for something in particular?"

Glancing over his shoulder, his lips turned upward in a playful smile. "Umm, no. Just trying to get my steps in for the day. It takes a lot of work to maintain an ass like this."

"I know. I got a handful of the goods a few seconds ago."

"Hopefully, you'll get a mouthful later as well." Levi gave him a wink, then made his way toward the bedroom door. "Let's go. Daddy M is waiting for us, and he doesn't seem too chipper this morning."

Chase grabbed his cell and wallet from the nightstand and then followed his favorite little peach out the door.

They made their way down a long hallway until they came to a staircase that led down to the basement. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the ambiance of the chateau shifted into something much darker.

While the vast majority of the place was bright and cheery and basically built for royalty, the lower levels were a whole different story. Built in the mid-1800s, the chateau was originally designed to house one of the most prominent families in France, the Sabarinos. As with any powerful family residence, the lower levels were used as servant"s quarters, storage, and punishment chambers—a polite way of saying dungeons. These were the places where every master of the chateau hid their family secrets and made sure that any horrific acts committed were buried deep beneath the foundation. Lower levels of any estate should never be explored… alone.

"So, is this where you murder my ass and hide my body in the floor?" Chase asked, examining an old metal ring that jutted out from one of the stone walls they passed.

"Please. If I was going to murder your ass, I would have had goodbye sex with you first, then cut off your dick so I could put it in a glass case and admire it every morning like the horny little perve that I am," Levi responded.

"That's way too much detail for something that was supposed to be a joke."

Levi shrugged and continued to walk down the dark, creepy tunnel filled with cobweb-covered doors and torches that had not been lit in decades.

They turned down another tunnel and continued for what seemed like an eternity. The air was much cooler down there, which led Chase to believe that this was an area of the mansion that was not used very frequently or by many people.

Levi stopped in front of a large wooden door, knocked twice, then stepped inside.

Chase stood there for a moment, taking in his surroundings before deciding whether or not he wanted to venture into La Maison's creepy murder dungeon.

"Are you going to come in? Or stand out there all day waiting for an invitation?" Matteo asked through a mouth full of sarcasm.

Chase didn't appreciate the attitude. It was Matteo's thirst for power that got them into this situation in the first place.

He stepped into the large room and gasped.

The man had a fucking command center set up in the chateau's basement.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ. I think I just popped a boner!" Chase gasped, eyes moving from television screens to computers to surveillance systems.

The room was massive, with wall-to-wall surveillance screens, filing cabinets, and what amounted to high-end security equipment.

"I've never seen so much tech in one place before," Chase whispered, impressed with the extensive set-up all around him.

"Impressive, isn't it? This is where Daddy comes to perve out and watch all the naughty men in their depraved ways," Levi whispered into Chase's ear.

Chase shot a glance over at Matteo, who only rolled his eyes.

"There is no perving going on in this den of secrets," Matteo explained.

"The office you broke into the other day, that is my public office. The place where I meet with clients and conduct my day-to-day official business. This, right here, is where I collect and store all the more sensitive information on my guests."

"So, you have this whole place covered by surveillance? What about in the bedrooms or bathrooms? You got those areas covered as well?" Anger started to build as Chase tried to remember what he had said and done since he stepped foot in this place.

"Guests are well aware that they are under video surveillance by my team. It's part of the terms they agree to when they first step foot on this property. I do what I need to do to maintain the safety and security of my staff and those I care about. And to answer your question, no, I do not surveille the bathrooms, so your zit-popping and jerk-off sessions are your own damn business," Matteo said with a bit of a bite to his tone. He didn't appear to enjoy having his actions questioned.

Levi took Chase's hand and pulled him down onto a love seat that sat next to a fireplace, facing a large television screen.

"Now, if you're done with your idiotic accusations, we can get started."

The screen in front of Chase came to life, displaying images from Matteo's laptop.

"When we got home last night, I spent the evening scouring through my files to see what information we had and what information I had missed. According to my information logs, key information was deleted from my files in the days leading up to Edwin's departure. It appears that he had been planning on stealing this information from me and wanted to ensure that he held on to it all." Matteo sat down on the edge of his desk and took a sip of his coffee. "This profile here is missing the guest's last name, their address, and their photo from its file. All we know is his first name, the company he worked for, and, of course, information on his sexual proclivities. This profile over here contains his full name and address but is missing information on his spouse and employer. My guess is that Edwin found out something about this guest's spouse that could be used to extort money.

"Finally, if we turn to Mr. Peabody, the man who you suspect may be a serial kidnapper, information pertaining to his address and employment has been deleted. Given the common last name, it would be almost impossible to locate where this man lives just by doing a name search."

"But I thought you said that you knew this man," Chase asked, glancing from Matteo to Levi.

"We do. But do you know how many guests we get in and out of this place each month? Also, we haven't seen Mr. Peabody in at least four months. Which is why we rely on these records to help keep our guests' details straight."

Sitting next to Chase, Levi spoke up. "Even me. I remember the type of person that he was and what he liked to do when he was here, but I couldn't tell you where he lived or which school he worked at."

"So, how does this work exactly? I doubt each boy comes down here and reads up on his… date… before hanging out with him for the evening," Chase asked, curious how the whole thing operated.

"Well, when a guest checks in at the front, the hostess does a quick search of their file. If the guest has a preferred companion, the hostess will discreetly communicate with the dancer through a tiny earpiece that each boy wears, giving them a brief synopsis of the guest's details, name, occupation, likes, dislikes, whatever we've been able to collect on them during their past visits. This way, the companion can treat their guest like they are old friends. It makes the guests feel special and valued."

"Just until your information gets stolen and used for blackmail," Chase added, giving Matteo a little dig of his own.

Matteo didn't seem too impressed. He continued flipping through some more files on the screen. "My guess is Edwin took the names and information on guests who he thought he could extort and tried to keep me from stopping him by deleting key information from those files."

Frustrated, Chase glared at the man on the screen. "So, what do we do now? Do you have a paper file or application form somewhere that you can check?"

"Unfortunately, no. We don't keep paper copies of documents for privacy reasons. I have a computer expert friend sifting through the files to see if he can restore any of the information. Other than that, you'll just have to do good old-fashioned investigative work. Levi here can assist you with background info on the subject."

What a waste of time. How could someone just come in here and delete information from these confidential files? Didn't the man use passwords and such?

It just didn't make sense.

"So, how is it that Edwin was able to come in and alter your files? Do all your staff have access to such sensitive information? Do you use passwords or lock this room when you're not in here?" He didn't think that Matteo was that stupid. There was more to this story.

Raising his head, the man looked conflicted. He walked over to a leather chair and rested his butt on the arm.

"Edwin and I had become rather close over the years. It wasn't anything sexual, but he became someone who I confided in and often shared secrets with. It was because of that level of trust that I gave Edwin access to my system to update files whenever I was tired or didn't have the time. Little did I know the level of betrayal that was to follow." Matteo stared into space as if deep in thought.

Chase felt for the guy. It was never a good feeling to find out that someone you trusted had betrayed you. Realizing there was nothing more they could do down in command central, Chase turned to Levi, who was looking bored as shit.

"Shall we head upstairs and figure out our next move?" Chase asked.

Life snapped back into Matteo. "Oh, Levi, you should go say hi to Diesel. He's sitting out by the pool. I know he would be happy to see you. Perhaps it will remind him why he belongs here with us."

Levi's face lit up. "Sure thing, M," Levi cooed before grabbing Chase by the arm and leading them out of Matteo's secret room.