4. Four

four

Spike

"How long before she's here?" I asked Phoenix, my partner in crime and for well, everything. He'd just gotten off the phone with Charlotte Greene, the attorney who had been ordered by the District Attorney to shadow us for a few hours. It was total bullshit if you ask me. Phoenix told Harley she'd have everything she'd need once we were done with the boyfriend and the club, so why the hell was she sending her little pet out here to hound us? This could've waited until later once we had more to go on. With any luck, Ms. Charlotte Greene would get the information she needed and then head back where she came from.

"The DA's office is about fifteen minutes away, so she'll be here soon."

I gaped out the passenger window as Phoenix took another swig from his coffee, grinding my teeth at the house across the street. We ran a trace on Justin Wheatley's cell phone since the fucker wasn't at home when we dropped by after leaving the hospital. The search led us here. There were two cars parked in the driveway: a black sedan and a fancy lime green Sunfire. According to Delilah's intel, Justin drove a bright green Sunfire. We were at the right place.

"Don't even think about it," my partner demanded, locking the doors just when my hand wrapped around the door handle. "We need to wait for Charlotte."

"Why can't she just meet us at the damn precinct? We're taking this guy in, right?"

"He isn't under arrest, Spike. He might be a shitty guy, but we have nothing to hold him on."

I ground my teeth even harder, pissed because I knew he was right. This guy better have a damn good excuse why he left Delilah behind and why he never bothered to check on her, or else this mother fucker was about to have an awfully brutal meet-and-greet with my fists. Assaulting civilians was shamed upon amongst the SPD, but I'd come across a lot of disgraceful people in my career who deserved to have their spines severed in half. The department had already been sued a few times thanks to me losing my shit in the past. One more strike, and I'd be suspended or worse, terminated.

It fucking sucked, but I had to be on my best behavior. It wouldn't be easy, but I had to try.

I loved my job. I worked hard to get here, and I couldn't let my temper throw it all away.

Minutes passed and then, finally, a white Nissan Altima pulled up and parked ahead of us across the street. Phoenix tapped my shoulder and pointed at the SPD police car coming it hot behind us.

"Did you call for backup?"

"No, I didn't."

We both watched in confusion as the cruiser pulled directly behind the Altima and parked. The officer got out of the car at the same time a woman fled her vehicle and began storming toward him, shouting obscenities. Phoenix rushed out of the car first, then me, as the officer snatched the woman up by the arm and vehemently slammed her against the side of her car. He spun her around and then proceeded to slap her hard across the face.

My service pistol was in my hands then and immediately I approached them with Phoenix flanking me, his gun raised. The woman shouted for the officer to let her go at the same time I commanded he back the fuck away from her before my finger decided to get trigger happy.

The officer released her and then backed away with his hands raised high. Nothing but malice carved an ugly and dangerous path along his face the longer he glared at the woman.

"Are you Charlotte? Charlotte Greene?" Phoenix spoke first, following the woman's path as she raced over to us, hiding behind me and panting hard.

"Ye-yes," her voice shook as she gripped the back of my suit jacket and pulled me closer, her body trembling. "I'm Charlotte."

My jaw flexed the harder she shook and desperately tried to use me as a barricade.

"And who the fuck are you?" I growled, my grip tightening around my weapon as I sized the officer up. He was too far away, so I couldn't read the name on his badge.

"He's my ex-husband. He followed me here."

"What's his name?" I asked when I glanced at her over my shoulder.

"Karl. Karl Greene."

"Officer Greene," Phoenix shouted, taking a single step closer as Karl began to back away. "Care to explain what the fuck is going on here?"

"No need," a loud voice boomed behind us.

My partner and I, plus Charlotte turned to find a man fleeing a black Charger and daggering Officer Greene in utter disgust. Right away I recognized him and lowered my gun, as did Phoenix. It was the chief, our captain's boss.

"Chief—" Officer Greene stammered.

"Not another word," he spitefully hissed through bared teeth, his face casually softening and lips spreading in a sweet smile when his gaze landed on Charlotte. "Charlotte, my dear, how are you?"

"I could be better, Chief."

"Peter paid me a visit and told me everything." Little by little the smile on Charlotte's face receded, her eyes blown fretfully wide. "After today, you won't have to worry about Karl bothering you again." To Karl, he said, "My office. Now. I'll follow you back to the precinct myself."

"God damnit, Peter," Charlotte murmured to herself before putting on a fake, strained smile and meeting Chief's gaze. "Thanks, Chief. I appreciate it."

Officer Greene scoffed before he got in his car and drove away. Chief followed behind, and it was then that Phoenix approached Charlotte and tenderly grasped her face, checking her over.

"Don't fucking touch me," she huffed as she yanked out of his grip, rubbing the cheek baring her ex-husband's handprint. "I'm fine."

"My apologies," he said sincerely, raising his hands as he backed away. "I wasn't thinking."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked as I strapped my gun back to my hip.

"I'm a little shaken up, but I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting him to follow me here."

I wanted to ask what the fuck his problem was. It wasn't my business though, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.

"Are you okay to proceed?"

"Yeah." She straightened her posture and smoothed her hands down her white shirt and black skirt. "I'm good. So, what are we looking at?"

"For starters," said Phoenix. "I'm Detective Rhodes, and this is Detective Hutch."

I offered Charlotte a tiny wave when she stared up at me, her lips parted. Now that I got a better look at her, this woman was truly breathtaking. She had dark brown hair that was wrapped in a bun, and had a set of eyes that reminded me of the ocean. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks and her face itself had to have been carved from angels. Her cheeks flushed when I gave her a subtle onceover and trapped my teeth beneath my lip.

"It's nice to meet you both." She cleared her throat and then looked away from me with her head held high. "As you know, I'm Charlotte Greene. Harley Ford sent me. Again, what are we looking at?" She pulled out a pad and a pen and stared between us, waiting.

"Delilah Fields. She's eighteen and was assaulted last night at a sex club called The Flirty Sanctum."

Charlotte's hand froze on the pad, her skin paling as she looked up, glancing between us.

"The Flirty Sanctum?" she repeated, her perfect brows raised high.

"You know the place?" Phoenix asked, raising his own thick brows as he cocked his head, curiously observing her.

"I know OF the place. And I know you have to be twenty-one to get in the door. How the hell was Delilah able to get in?"

"Her boyfriend is Justin Wheatley," I answered, watching as she veered back to her pad and jotted the details down. "We checked him out. He's twenty-two, so he's old enough to get in. We're assuming Delilah has a fake ID. We won't know for sure until we talk to Justin. According to the trace on his cell phone, he's in there." I pointed to the house in front of us. "Once we talk to him, our next stop is the club."

"And what about Delilah? Was there a rape kit done? Was she drugged? Is she able to identify who attacked her? Did you ask her about the fake ID?"

Phoenix shook his head. "She wasn't drugged. Tox report came back clean and we're still waiting for the DNA on the rape kit. All we know is that it's possibly a white male with dark hair. He was wearing a bull mask at the time Delilah was attacked, so she never got a good look at his face. As far as the fake ID goes, we didn't ask. She's terrified, and well, we didn't want to push her too hard, too fast. We suspect there's more she's not telling us, so we want to interview the boyfriend first and then check out the club before we take another swing at her."

An intense shiver rushed over Charlotte's body. Instead of speaking, she simply bobbed her head. "And what about the boyfriend? Where was he when she was attacked?"

"According to Delilah, he disappeared and left her. Claims she tried to leave and was shoved into the bathroom by the assailant."

Charlotte gasped, looking appalled. "What a piece of shit."

She paused before taking a massively deep breath and closing her eyes, releasing it.

"I'm sorry, that was rather rude of me."

She cleared her throat and finished writing her notes, putting her pad away.

"If we're ready…" Phoenix lifted his arm and gestured toward the property. "Please follow us, Ms. Greene."

"My name is Charlotte," she corrected him. "Call me Ms. Greene again and I'll sever your tongue."

Phoenix choked on his next words, blinking wide-eyed as he watched her move past him with her plump ass purposely swaying side to side. Was she trying to seduce us? Clearly, it was working for me and perhaps a little too well with Phoenix. Where I was a Dom in the bedroom, Phoenix was a Sub. He loved beautiful, feisty women and relinquishing all his control to them. As for me, I liked being in control. I liked bringing women down to their gorgeous knees and tracing my cock around their plump lips and leaving behind my mark in the form of a hand necklace while I fucked them senseless. A woman's body was a temple I loved to explore and ravish whenever I could, and Charlotte Greene, albeit she was a stranger to me, had curves in all the right places. Even now as I watched her, I couldn't help but imagine how she'd look kneeling before me with those pretty lips wrapped around my cock.

I slapped Phoenix on his shoulder and then ambled after Charlotte, tracing every delicious curve of her body again, my dick growing painfully hard, and fast. God damnit. This was not the time or place for this shit, and I knew it, so I mentally went over the case notes and eventually got my head back in the game.

I took the lead and knocked on the door, thankful Charlotte had listened to Phoenix when he cautioned her to stand behind us and off to the side, out of harms way. Just in case Justin tried to run, we didn't need her getting caught in the crossfire.

Nobody answered at first, so I knocked again, a little harder this time. Movement shuffled inside the house and after a moment, footsteps approached the door. A woman with wild blonde hair wearing a sleep robe and last nights horribly smudged makeup opened it.

"Yes?" she said through an ugly yawn. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Detective Hutch and this is Detective Rhodes." I flashed my badge at her, as did Phoenix. "We're looking for Justin Wheatley."

"For Justin?" The woman blinked twice and then scoped over our badges again, looking confused. "What's this about?"

"Ma'am, are you familiar with a club called The Flirty Sanctum?" I asked.

"Well, yes," she said with a nod, stepping out then and closing the front door behind her. "Justin came home with me from there last night. Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so, ma'am," Phoenix replied. "We have to ask you a few questions. Justin, too. Would you mind waking him?"

"I will if you tell me what happened…"

"Excuse me, ma'am," Charlotte spoke then, stepping out and revealing herself. "Charlotte Greene. I'm here on behalf of the DA. There was an incident last night at The Flirty Sanctum and Justin's eighteen-year-old girlfriend, Delilah Fields, was attacked. You both can either cooperate here or we can take this down to the precinct. The choice is yours."

"Kristen," the woman replied, her bottom lip trembling with fear as she glanced at Charlotte again and then me and my partner. "My name is Kristen Gallows. I'm twenty-four. Justin and I have been seeing each other for about five months now. We met at the sanctum. I-I knew about Delilah, but he told me they were over. Are you saying she was there last night, with him?"

"That's exactly what we're saying," I nodded.

"But I… I don't understand…" Kristen looked terrified, like she frankly had no clue what the fuck was going on. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, thankfully. Aside from her attacker, Justin was likely the last one to speak with Delilah last night. We need to talk to him."

She opened the door then and screamed his name at the top of her lungs, shouting that the police was here to talk to him. He groggily shouted he was coming and would be down in a minute. Kristen waited outside with us.

"Charlotte," I said, turning and glancing at her again over my shoulder. "Talk more with Kristen here while my partner and I deal with Justin."

She offered me a tight smile and nodded. "Of course, Detective Hutch."