Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER ELEVEN
GEMMA
I don’t even know what “ waiting in your nightmares ” means, but it sounded poetic, so I’m trying not to think too hard about it.
The same lemon scent from Bonnie’s apartment hits me the moment I open the door to my own space. It’s a detail I’ve clung to at every apartment that I’ve lived in over the years so I’m constantly reminded of my why—not that I really need reminding. I barely go a single second without thinking of her. It’s a little pathetic, yet I’ve no intentions of seeking any cure other than whatever fucked up relationship this might turn into.
My keys hit the ceramic green bowl on the counter, shoes shrugging off before I can get too far inside. The apartment is bare—little more than a television, plushy chair, and purple rug in the living room. Clean. Simple. Easy to pack up or throw away if I’m ever in a hurry. There’s only one personal detail to be found: a photo of my parents and me when I was a child.
However, the bedroom… The bedroom is a different beast.
Because in the bedroom is a wall of monitors, each displaying a different camera I have around my place and Bonnie’s. The only area I haven’t placed a camera is in her hallway. Public spaces and all… It seemed invasive at the time when Kade was placing these.
However, now that I’m in the thick of this, I might reconsider.
I grab a bottle of water out of the bare fridge and take the clip out of my hair as I stand in front of the monitors. The moment I touch the loose ringlets, I groan.
I really need to make time for some curl therapy—by a professional, not just adding a little extra love during my weekly routine. I don’t think I’ve gone to the salon since taking this job a couple of months back.
I take my phone out and tap over to the salon’s website, trying to find a date that works with Young Decay’s schedule, and as I make the appointment, I get a text from Kade.
KADE
Do you want me to pick up food or are you getting it delivered?
Ordering delivery now.
Just come over.
The end of the king size bed hits the backs of my knees, and I sit to make our food order. Italian… burgers… pho… Chinese…
I choose the one I already know our order to.
The half-hour it takes for our food to get here is enough time for me to wash, unpack the dishwasher, and pick up a few things from the floor of my bedroom. I’m taking containers out of the paper bags when Kade taps twice on the door and comes inside without waiting for a response.
“Damn, they deliver fast,” he says.
I smile over at him, meeting his dark brown eyes. Kade always looks like he’s just come from the beach, or at least somewhere windy. He places his motorcycle helmet on the table, shakes his mop of long, dark curls out of his eyes, and reaches for the pink scrunchie on his wrist to pull his hair up into a high bun.
“Hey, Sunshine,” he adds, grinning at me.
“And you wanted to pick up our food,” I say, realizing he drove his motorcycle over.
He scratches the carefully-curated scruff on his chin, and I know he keeps it like that because it’s the length his husband—and the third member of our team—Liam likes.
“I just got the FJ Cruiser out of the shop,” he says, shrugging off the leather jacket. “I could have driven it instead.”
“Wouldn’t have been as fun,” I say.
“Definitely not,” he agrees. “We need to go riding sometime. Maybe after this upcoming festival since I know you’re not going to let her out of your sight otherwise,” he taunts me. His gaze moves to the food I’m setting on the table, and he squints at it. “Chinese? Really? I thought you said last week that you were craving Jamaican food.”
“I said I was craving my mother’s food,” I correct him. “She’s Puerto Rican, not Jamaican.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
“No one makes food like my mother. Except my grandmother, but my mother likes to say that she took all her secrets with her when she died,” I say.
Kade chuckles and picks up the photo on the television stand. “I never got to meet your dad,” he says. “Do you ever see him?”
I peer at the photo, at my mother’s beautiful smile, my father’s hazel eyes stark against his brown skin. I was always told I was the perfect blend of them both: her smile, her dark, loose ringlet hair, his hazel eyes…
“He lives in Tennessee now, so very rarely,” I say as I take the frame from Kade and put it back on the dresser.
“Did you say he was into music now?” Kade asks. “Like playing in a band?”
“He plays stand-up bass in a jazz band,” I say fondly. “Also, he’s the music teacher at one of the middle schools there.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Kade says.
“Yeah,” I agree. “So, tell me what you have for me,” I say, getting to the gritty part of why he’s here.
He laughs. “Business. Right. How dare I bring up personal details?” he teases me as he grabs a take-out container of fried rice. “Let’s go.”
Kade makes himself comfortable in the computer chair in my bedroom and begins connecting his laptop screen to the monitors so it’s easier for me to see the full scope of what’s going on. I enjoy watching him work like this. It’s all patterns and investigating the smallest details—something I can usually pinpoint, though I have a hard time linking it all together. Sometimes it gets jumbled in my head, so I’m grateful to have Kade straighten out the knots.
As he works, I sit on the end of the bed and eat my own container of noodles.
“This is for you,” he says, handing me a tablet.
I immediately balk. “Ew. Why?”
“I have a lot for you and my printer ran out of ink,” he replies.
“You know I like paper copies, and you’re a shit liar unless you’re getting paid for it,” I say.
He stares at me flatly. “I’m getting you into electronic dossiers—”
“Here we go,” I mutter.
“I told you the last three times, we were making the switch,” he says, and I huff because we’ve had the conversation a few times now.
“Mhm.”
I cross one leg over the other, waiting for him to finish.
“The paper has to be redacted and shredded to a pulp. The tablet, I can just erase. It would be so much simpler.”
I stare at him, and when he pauses for at least ten seconds, I ask, “Are you finished?”
Kade sighs heavily and hangs his head, and I wait for him to either continue talking about the damn tablet or finally hand over the perfect little folder I know he has in his bag.
Because he knows better than to show up with just a tablet.
After thirty seconds, he swivels in the chair, pulls his bag into his lap, and then slaps a folder into my hands.
“This is the last time,” he says.
“No, it isn’t.”
I bring the freshly printed papers to my nose and inhale deeply, and when I realize they’re still warm, I press the paper to my cheek, making Kade glare at me.
“I don’t understand your love for paper,” he says, swiveling the chair back to the monitors.
“It’s so soft when it’s fresh,” I say just to annoy him.
“I hate you,” he grunts.
I chuckle and finally look at the papers in front of me, eyes scanning the first page. “Something about holding it in my hands helps me comprehend it better,” I explain. “I’d love to have a better explanation for you.”
“Mhm,” he says, mocking me.
I snicker and flip through, looking for Bonnie’s name. “Okay, fine. I’ll try next time—Wait. I don’t see…” My eyes narrow as I turn page after page, only seeing those six letters twice. “Where’s Bonnie’s report?”
“On the tablet,” he says smugly.
Only my eyes roll up to him, finding a victorious look on his face. “You ass,” I say.
“Okay, well, now that we’re even…” He strikes a few keys and brings up his first screen on Reed. “First up is our lovable pup,” he says with a fond smile. “I think he’s my favorite.”
A quiet laugh leaves me. “Yeah? I thought you’d like Zeb,” I say as I flip over a few pages. “What’s up with Reed? Hard to believe he has too much going on—besides his wife’s trouble.”
“Speaking of Wren, she has a nasty big sister,” he says.
“What’s big sis Sarah doing now?” I ask, mildly annoyed that we’re dealing with her after every wall Reed asked to be put up between them and her. “I thought we had that restraining order settled.”
“Mostly shit-talking,” Kade says. “Claiming Reed has her brainwashed. Swearing that he’s cheating on her. She even has ‘evidence’ of him supposedly.”
“What, is she trying to turn his false infidelity into a podcast or something?” I ask.
“She claims it’s to protect her sister.”
“And who exactly does she believe Reed is cheating on her with?”
“The tour manager.”
I snort. “Seriously? Stella?” I nearly roll my eyes. “I get being protective of family, but this is a reach,” I say. “Maybe we need to remind her of that cease and desist letter legal sent the last time, get Heartless involved.”
“Did someone go in person the last time?” Kade asks.
“No, just the mail,” I reply.
His brows lift, and I nod in agreement. “Who do we have in her area that could handle a little scare for us?”
He taps a pen on the computer desk and swivels back and forth, brows knit as he thinks. “Ah… Ted?”
“Oh, yeah. I like Ted. Have legal get him a physical letter to hand deliver. If people start believing her, it’ll be mayhem. What’s going on with Wren’s little twin followers?” I ask about the two obsessed fans she picked up on her last movie set.
“I gave the info to her team,” Kade says. “They are eating Sarah’s posts like fucking candy.”
“Great,” I mumble. “Threatening Reed yet?”
“Nothing I’m too alarmed about that I want more security. Still, there’s something about them that doesn’t sit right with me. The way they talk about her is really fucking creepy. They don’t think she and Reed are a good match. Saying she deserves more.”
“Reed would throw himself on a sword if that’s what she wanted,” I counter. “Okay. If they’re thinking that already, then they could be plotting something.”
“Want me to get a little more personal with them?” Kade asks.
“Ah… yeah,” I say, nodding. “Yeah, let’s find out what they’re really up to.”
Kade types three letters by that bullet point on his tablet.
“Full sweep?” he asks.
“Yeah. Don’t even worry about the lube. Just get in there,” I reply as I peer over the screen he has pulled up on the computer, pictures of the fraternal twins in the top right corner.
He chuckles under his breath. “Sure thing, boss,” he jokes.
A smile has almost reached my eyes when I remember something, and my stomach bottoms out.
“Shit,” I say, grabbing my phone.
“What?”
“I told Bonnie that she, Andi, and Wren could go down the street to get donuts right before I talked to you—” I tap over to my message thread with her and begin typing. “Now you’re telling me Wren’s stalkers are being rash.”
“Didn’t Wren have security with her?”
“She did. I’m sure I’m paranoid. I just want to make sure everything is okay.”
Checking in.
Did you three make it to donuts and back?
“What else do we have?” I ask Kade while I wait for an answer from her. “Anything with Mads?”
“The usual message board crap,” he replies. “Couple of people from their hometown always trying to stir up crap. There’s an entire group there who want him behind bars for killing Andi’s ex.”
“It sounds so harsh when you put it that way,” I cringe.
“Oh sorry. Would ‘beat the living shit out of’ be a better description?” Kade mocks.
I give him a look, and he chuckles, pivoting back to the computer.
“We stay on Mads’ good side, remember? Keep him out of jail,” I say as my phone dings.
It’s a picture message of Bonnie, Andi, and Wren. They appear to be at either Andi or Wren’s apartment by the look of the decor around them and the two dogs in the couch with Bonnie and Andi.
There’s no text attached, and I heart the message before putting down my phone again.
“All good?” Kade asks.
“Yeah. They’re back at one of their apartments.” I scan over the report again, looking for anything that stands out. “So, Mads? He’s good?”
“Yeah, this group isn’t getting out of North Carolina. If they tour there anytime soon, I’ll dig deeper.”
“I imagine they’ll go home for the holidays, so let’s get a jumpstart on the digging,” I tell him. “What about Zeb? Did you find out where he was the other week?”
“I think he has a place outside of town,” Kade replies.
I frown. “Like a second house? His apartment isn’t too far from here.”
“Maybe. I’m not sure yet. His dating app history is…” Kade whistles. “Specific.”
“I did hear a rumor,” I say, almost laughing as I remember Bonnie saying he likes the chase. “Second house would make sense if it’s true. Any clues where?”
“We lost him about halfway between his apartment and the studio. Apart from putting a tail on him—which he will recognize—all we can do is wait on him to tell us about it,” he says.
“Of course he’s the one with secrets,” I mumble. “I wonder if the rest of the band knows.”
Kade shrugs, and I flip through the last couple of pages, noting the messages on them.
“Anyone he’s chatting with a concern?” I ask.
“Nothing. All legit. I think he runs his own sweeps. He has to. I find it hard to believe the people he’s chatting with are this clean when Bonnie’s are trash.”
I quirk a brow, and Kade scoffs.
“Okay, maybe Zeb is better at cloaking himself,” Kade says.
“There it is,” I say.
I set the file on the bed and tread into the kitchen to get something to drink. “So… what’s up with Bonnie’s matches? Is she getting catfished?” I ask, trying to pretend like I’m not dying to know everything that’s going on in her private life.
“That was the worst ‘play-it-cool’ ever,” Kade says as I pad back into the bedroom. “I hope you don’t sound like that when you talk to her.”
I shove the back of his head and pick up the tablet. “Just show me what’s going on already.”
“Already pulled up on there for you,” he says, tapping the screen.
I lean against the desk and absentmindedly sink my free hand into my pocket, finding her underwear in there that I’d nearly forgotten about. The soft lace grounds me as I start to read through the messages, and I’m fucking grateful that I chose to put my weight on something instead of standing wholly upright.
Send me a picture for good luck, baby.
I love those tights.
Good morning, pretty.
Did you think about me last night?
I dreamed of licking the tears off your face after I make you come.
The first few threads are harmless enough, even if my stomach is rifled with envy. Shit. There are hundreds of messages, yet no photos from her end. However, the way she’s talking to them… instructing them on how to touch themselves, encouraging the photos, and more…
Fuck envy. I am raging with jealousy.
“What are you twir—are those her underwear?” Kade asks after a few minutes.
I didn’t even realize I had taken them out of my pocket. I thought I was still twirling them in secret.
But there they are, the pink lace entwined around my fingers like it’s my security blanket.
I glance at him, then at the pink thong before letting my hand drop onto my thigh. “You have a problem with me fidgeting with underwear that happens to belong to my obsession?”
“I’m just jealous,” Kade says with a smirk. “Liam never wears thongs like that anymore.” He swivels in the computer chair and hits a few keys.
“I think I’d pay to see big, beastly Liam in a lacy thong,” I say, thinking of the hunk. “Zeb called him a bear earlier. It was pretty funny.”
“Liam will love that,” Kade laughs, hitting a few keys. “I have photos of him in a red thong, too.”
A couple of the screens flicker with new windows, and it’s another few seconds before he has pictures of a few women up on the screen. “He did a boudoir shoot before our wedding. So fucking hot. I nearly didn’t make it down the aisle before jumping him.”
“Cute,” I grin. “So, tell me about these people. Is Bonnie texting all of them?”
“This is every person’s photo that she’s matched with over the last eight months,” he says. He clicks the mouse a few more times, and a different set of photos appears. “And these are the real people behind those photos.”
“Holy shit,” I say at the number of men whose photos show up.
“The latest favorite is this one—” He clicks on a photo from the previous set.
My brows raise at the picture of the hot redhead, her thick thighs creasing beneath the fishnet tights. “Damn,” I mutter. “Hot.”
“Yeah. She goes by shesatrackstar1988 ,” he tells me.
“How original,” I say under my breath. I’ve seen some of the texts they’ve shared—even before today, and too many times, I’ve wished that Bonnie would text me back like that.
Kade smirks sideways at me. “Alright there?” he asks.
I glare at him and shift on my feet. “So, what’s her deal?” I ask instead.
Kade scoffs and switches screens. “This,” he says.
A photo of a guy with clear metal glasses and an unkempt beard appears on the screen.
“What about him?” I ask.
“This is Jeff. He’s who she’s texting.”
I almost drop the tablet.
And the door opens before I can get myself out of the stupor.
Liam walks in then, grinning like he can see by the look on my face that something is wrong. “Oh shit. Did you tell her?” he asks Kade.
“Just getting to it,” Kade replies.
I gawk between them. “Shut the fuck up. This is who she’s been chatting with?” I ask.
“Yep,” Kade says. He leans up in his seat to kiss Liam when he walks by to the dining room table.
“How is he videoing her? I can clearly see messages asking to video,” I say.
“My guess is that he knows it’s a celebrity and he’s betting they’ll never give in to a video session,” Kade replies. “Or if they do, just say his camera isn’t working.”
I consider what he’s saying. “So… why is he your favorite out of all these others?” I ask.
“Well, he stood out for a couple of reasons. You see, most of these guys are chatting with a number of people on Cupid’s Arrow. Nothing suspicious about it other than it’s just fucking creepy.”
“I already scoped out a few of them just to be sure what was on paper matched reality,” Liam says, leaning on the door frame as he chomps on an egg roll.
“But this guy?”
Kade clicks a few more times and types something into a window that I can’t keep track of. I look at Liam, who’s smirking like he knows something I don’t.
“I’m not sure I like you right now,” I tell him.
He snickers, grin widening as if he’s just waiting on the reaction he knows is coming. “Just wait,” he says.
I shift on my feet and turn my attention to the monitors again.
“Okay, so, these are the women he’s matched with using the redhead’s photos over the last five years—and this isn’t just with Cupid’s Arrow. He’s on a ton of dating sites and chat rooms, some way less secure than Arrow,” Kade says, clicking another file.
A slew of photos come up, and I balk.
“Holy shit—”
“That’s not the worst part,” he interjects. “You see these three?”
Three photos of young women—all brunettes—come to the forefront of the windows, and something about how young they look makes the blood drain from my face.
“How fucking young are they?” I ask, leaning over his shoulder.
“At the time that he was talking to them on some shady forum that they had no business being on? Fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen,” Kade answers.
My fist curls, teeth setting as my insides suddenly feel hollow. “Please fucking tell me nothing’s happened to them.”
“They’re okay,” Kade says. “Unless you count that he still has naked photos of them on his computers.”
“Still? Of underage girls?”
Kade nods.
“Did he know they were underage?” I ask. “I mean, I don’t know how he wouldn’t realize they were minors. Jesus, fucking look at them .”
I thread my hands behind my head and pivot in a circle, my body beginning to numb with rage.
“I couldn’t dig up every message, but there was one that caught my eye with the fifteen-year-old,” he replies.
I don’t like where this is going.
“And it said…”
He hesitates as if he knows the text will set me off.
“Kade.”
“He asked if her parents were out of town,” Kade answers.
“ Why didn’t you lead with this —”
“Tell her about Bonnie,” Liam interjects.
My mouth snaps shut, eyes slowly shifting toward the tall blond, and I gawk at him for a beat. “What about Bonnie?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Kade gives Liam a look like why did you wake the sleeping beast but goes on.
“So, before last year, this guy, Jeff, was talking to multiple women at once,” he says. “All the time. Multiple platforms. Now, though, he’s only talking to Bonnie.”
My tongue drags on my canine tooth as if it might satiate the deep-seated itch that has me ready to fight.
“Does he know it’s her?” I ask, trying to hold in my spiral.
“I’m not sure yet,” Kade says. “I’m working on it. As soon as I know, you’ll know.”
“Where is he?” I ask.
Because I’ll get it out of him myself if I need to.
“Easy, killer,” Liam says.
“I’m not telling you that yet,” Kade tells me. “Not yet. Not until I have more information on him. I can’t let you walk into something that might be bigger than you’re prepped for.”
I look at him. “What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m telling you,” Kade says. “I don’t know, Gemma. The best thing you can do right now is sit back and let me do my job. Watch Bonnie. Watch the guys. We do what we do.”
“You know what happens when we rush,” Liam adds.
I press my hands to my hips so tightly that I feel the grip in my bones. I hate how much they’re both right. The last time we rushed a job innocent people got hurt, and I can’t let that happen again, especially not when Bonnie is involved.
Still, that doesn’t help this toxic, bloodthirsty acid that seems to be spilling into my veins right now.
“Hey, Liam, come to the gym with me?” I ask, pushing on a hoodie and my barefoot shoes.
Because it’s the only thing that’s going to get me out of my head.
Liam chuckles and stands. “Sure thing, boss.”
I look at Kade one more time. “Find Jeff. Find Wren’s stalkers. I’ll handle putting them in their places myself.”