Chapter 17

"Hey, Khai, your phone keeps vibrating."

Khai lifted his head from where he was focused on the laptop in front of him to find Jagger pointing at his cell, which lay on the counter. Khai frowned as he pushed from the table. Who would be calling or texting him?

He shuffled to the counter, grabbed it, and glanced at the screen. He almost set it back down when he saw the incoming text was from Shelton George. Shelton had been the most relentless of the people he knew who'd been contacting him to offer him a job. He was an old Army buddy who happened to live in the Denver area.

What made Khai pause was that there were five incoming texts, all of them from Shelton. So he clicked on the thread, thinking maybe this communication wasn't business-related. Maybe another member of the team had died or something.

Hey, Khai, just wanted to see if you've thought any more about taking a job with me. I could really use more men. PI work is the best. Always something new and interesting. I swear you'd love it.

But more importantly, I have a local job I need someone to handle.

Fifteen minutes had passed before the next text had come through.

Do you need more enticement? I can sweeten the deal.

Fine. I'll just tell you. This one is a missing person. A woman. She's fucking hot. She was last seen in the area near your cabin. I assume you still have that cabin outside of Denver? If you happen to be there convalescing still, this would be perfect for you.

That fourth text made Khai nearly drop the phone. The fifth one caused all the blood to drain from his body. It was a photo of Grace.

"You okay, man?" Damon asked.

Instead of responding, Khai handed Damon his phone. "Don't say a word out loud," he whispered.

Damon stared at him a moment before lowering his gaze. After a few seconds, he muttered, "Fuck." He turned and walked straight out the back door, still holding the phone.

Taking the hint, Khai followed him as they walked some distance from the house and out of sight of the windows.

Without another word, Damon handed Khai his phone, pulled out his own, and shot off another text before taking a deep breath.

Fifteen seconds later, Axel and Jagger joined them.

"What's up?" Jagger asked, his brows furrowed.

"I assume it's something you didn't want the women to hear," Axel murmured.

Khai handed them his phone open to the texts, and Jagger and Axel leaned in to read it together.

"Holy fuck," Jagger rasped.

"Yeah." Khai thought he might hyperventilate. He kept one eye on the back door to make sure the women hadn't followed.

"Who is this guy? Does he know?" Jagger asked.

Khai shook his head. "Seriously doubt it. I think it's a fucking coincidence. Shelton is a private investigator. He owns his own business. He's been trying to get me to work for him off and on for months. I've put him off, saying I wasn't ready to seek employment yet."

Jagger glanced toward the back door before speaking. "What are the chances Chekov hired a PI to find Grace and that PI happened to contact you?"

Axel drew in a breath. "Not really that crazy when you consider the reason Khai knows Grace is because he happens to own a cabin near Chekov."

"True," Damon responded. "Now what?"

Jagger looked at Khai. "Call him? Tell him you're thinking about it since it's local and get more details. Is there a chance this friend of yours is dirty?"

Khai shrugged. "I haven't seen him for a few years. Not since I was injured and left the battlefield. But he's a private investigator, so he would sometimes be involved in slightly ugly situations by default."

Jagger nodded. "True."

Damon rubbed his chin. "I agree with Jagger. Maybe call him and get more details like you're contemplating it."

Axel nodded in agreement. "If he's been in contact with the buyer, that's huge."

Khai stretched his neck in every direction and lifted the phone.

"I'll watch the back door," Axel said.

That would help. He wouldn't keep things from Grace, not forever, but this was something he wanted to think about a bit longer before telling her.

He connected the call, putting it on speaker so everyone could hear. It rang twice before Shelton picked up. "Hey, stranger. How's the leisure life?"

Khai needed to put on an act like he'd never done in his life. "Can't complain. How's the working life? Sounds like you've got more clients than you can handle."

"Yes. Business is booming. Not going to lie. I love it, but I could really use more men. Did I entice you?"

"I wasn't planning to get off my ass and resume facing society yet, but I'm intrigued by a missing person near my cabin. That shit is scary. If someone was abducted or something, it will hurt property values."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Tell me what else you know," Khai encouraged.

"Not a hell of a lot. A guy contacted me. Said his niece has been missing for three months. They had a disagreement over her spending habits or something, and she took off, but she never returned, and he can't reach her. He figured she was blowing off steam and ignoring him, but it's been three months now."

"What makes him think she's in the area of my cabin?" Khai asked.

"His place is a few miles from yours. Guy didn't give me much else. He sounds like a real piece. He probably pissed her off, and she doesn't want to talk to him. I don't really care what his reasoning is. He's paying me to find her, so I'll find her," Shelton added.

"Sounds like a needle in the haystack if you ask me. Why would she still be in the area?"

"She left on foot. She didn't take anything with her. Not even shoes."

"That's crazy. Who would do that?"

"A crazy young woman who's pissed about the purse strings." Shelton chuckled.

Khai rubbed his face with his free hand and drew in another breath. "Has he filed a missing person's report?"

"No. He doesn't want the media to find out. I guess he's wealthy and has a reputation."

"Fuck. That situation has abduction written all over it."

"Yeah, I agree. My hope is that she's hiding in the area. You're not the only one with a property you only use to get away from the city. I bet there are dozens of cabins in that area that are unoccupied. She could've broken into one and made herself at home."

Oh, you have no idea.

Khai sighed. "That job could take months. You're talking about hiring someone to go door to door in every direction."

"Yep. I figured if you're staying at your cabin anyway, you could spend eight hours a day going door to door. If you get a hit, we win huge. If not, you still make a fuck ton of money by the hour."

"He agreed to pay you by the hour?" Khai let his voice rise. He knew that wasn't customary.

"Yep. Can you believe that shit?"

"No. I can't. Have you ever had a client pay that much to go on a wild goose chase?"

"Never. Will you do it?"

"I don't know," Khai drawled out. "I'm in the city now. I haven't been out to the cabin for a while. Give me a day to think about it. I'm still sitting here on my couch, watching Netflix and eating junk food. Not sure I'm willing to put an end to that, even for a hefty hourly wage."

"Thanks, man. Call me tomorrow morning. Please consider it. I don't have the manpower to put someone on this."

"Will do. Later." Khai ended the call and looked up to find three sets of very concerned expressions.

"Jesus…" Axel muttered.

Khai rubbed his temples. "Ideas?"

Jagger paced. "Let me think."

Damon frowned. "Here's an idea." He glanced at Jagger and Axel before turning to Khai. "You take the job. We'll wait until tomorrow, of course. Then tell him you'll start the next day. When you get to your cabin, you discover that man's niece is in your cabin. You ask him what he wants you to do. You send pics of her through the window. We have an army of FBI agents surrounding the cabin, so when Chekov comes to get his wayward slave, his ass is grass."

Jagger nodded. "That could work."

Khai took deep breaths. "All but the part about pictures. How the fuck would I get pictures of her inside the cabin?"

"We take her there," Jagger said.

Khai's panic rose. "I hope you mean for fifteen minutes to get the pictures because there's no way I'm asking her to be used as bait."

"I don't think we need her as bait. The pictures should be enough," Damon said. "Don't you think, Jagger?"

Jagger rubbed his hands together. "I don't know. Probably. What if he sends someone else to the cabin instead of coming himself? Chekov would slip through our fingers if that happened. He'd know the entire FBI is onto him. He'd leave the country in a heartbeat."

Damon looked toward Jagger. "Let's think deeper. Would Chekov dare send someone else to pick up his sex slave? Grace says she never saw another person or heard another voice while she was at his house. Perhaps no one knows he bought a slave. If that's the case, he has to come retrieve her himself."

"Which would be even more likely if his intention is to permanently punish her for her transgression," Axel added quietly.

Khai shuddered. That was exactly what he was afraid of. Chekov could come to the cabin armed and kill her on the spot. Or worse. And the worst was unimaginable.

"Let's think on this and reconvene in a few hours," Jagger proposed. "We have until morning to make a plan." He nodded toward the house. "We better get back inside before the women think we're plotting behind their backs."

Axel smirked. "We are plotting behind their backs. How long do you want to keep this from them?"

As soon as they stepped inside, Khai realized they had their answer. All four women were standing in the kitchen, arms crossed, eyes narrowed, feet planted. None of them spoke.

"Anyone have a lunch plan?" Damon asked.

"Yep. Charred human bodies if you four don't let us in on the powwow," Gemma said, her voice hard.

Khai looked toward Grace. She was just as furious, and he hadn't seen her that angry before. The time to talk was obviously now.