Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
B ex had never had a headache like she had now. Her head was pounding and her mouth was dry. It took all her energy just to crack her eyes open. Why were there so many strange men in her bedroom? They were far too loud and made her ears hurt. Everything just felt fuzzy and blurry. When she tried to think back to what happened last night, she didn’t remember anything except talking to her brother before leaving. Leaving for where?
Bex forced her eyes open and gasped. She pulled back into the bed, not understanding what was going on. There was a man there she didn’t recognize. A beautiful woman who looked extremely pissed off, and was that Glen Wise?
“Tiffany? How are you feeling?” Wilder Townsend’s sexy face came into view, his blue eyes full of concern.
“Why are you in my bedroom and who is Tiffany?” Bex couldn’t get her thoughts straight. It was as if they were swirling around in her mind and she just couldn’t grasp them.
“Wilder,” Chief Wise said slowly as if he were afraid of scaring her. “This isn’t whoever Tiffany Anderson is. This is Detective Bexley Moretti of the NYPD.”
Bex saw Wilder’s eyes narrow as he leaned back so that he was standing straight up. The woman in the room similarly narrowed her eyes. Did Bex do something wrong? Those swirling memories made her groan as she tried to reach for the one she needed. “Undercover name. What happened?” She couldn’t stop smacking her tongue. Her mouth felt so dry.
This time it was Chief Wise whose eyes narrowed. “You’re undercover? Who signed off on that? Because I didn’t.”
Suddenly a straw appeared in front of her. She looked up at Wilder holding a cup for her. “Thank you.” Bex took a sip and felt the immediate relief from the ice water.
“You were drugged by a man at my club. I saw it happen and chased him down after he forced you out into the alley. I stopped him before he could—” Bex watched as Wilder’s jaw tightened and he swallowed hard and her heart went into double time. She knew what he’d stopped. He didn’t need to say it. “Assault you. I immediately brought you to the hospital and called my sister, Olivia,” he said, motioning to the woman, “who is the best attorney in the country, her husband, a sheriff, and Chief Wise.”
Bex was wondering why Wise was there. Seabrook wouldn’t have called him and now she’d already said more than she was supposed to. But was she really not supposed to tell her boss’s boss about her undercover assignment?
Wise cleared his throat, and even with her head a jumbled mess, she knew she’d have to make the choice to tell him whether she wanted to or not. “Tiffany Anderson? You got a fake ID and were undercover at Wilder’s club without my knowledge. Who sent you in? Was it Captain Kilpatrick?”
“No, it wasn’t. It’s confidential. I was loaned out to a different department.” Bex took another sip of the water that Wilder put in front of her. “It’s my first week as a detective. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Would it make you feel better to run it by my wife and me? I have law enforcement experience, but not here in New York and my wife knows the law.”
Bex couldn’t remember who he was. A sheriff? He seemed intimidating, yet he also was being very considerate. “I don’t know.”
“Detective, you’re not going to get in trouble. I’m not concerned about your conduct. It’s clear you were following orders. I want to know who is trying to bypass procedure by conscripting my detective and placing you in a dangerous situation without my knowledge or consent. Where was your backup?” Wise asked her, reminding her of her father. Her father would react the same way.
“I guess this is where the party is.” Bex almost shot off the bed when Detective Max Caldwell walked into the room. How did he know she was here? Why was he here? He couldn’t know about her undercover work. He’d tell their captain and then he’d tell Seabrook and her job would be over before it began. “Moretti? What are you doing here? I was told the victim was a Tiffany Anderson.”
“Meet Tiffany Anderson,” Wise said, clearly annoyed at her undercover work without his authorization.
Max’s eyes widened and he let out a whistle putting it together that Wise wasn’t the one sending her undercover. “Bex, I don’t believe for a minute you’re complicit in what’s going on. In fact, I doubt you even have the full picture. However, what I do know is that it’s very interesting, considering who attacked you and where,” Max told her.
“Who attacked me?” Bex asked, still trying to put this all together. “And what do you mean I don’t have the full picture?”
“Who put you undercover at WET and why?” Wise asked.
Again, Bex didn’t know what to do. This was not right. She knew that. Something was very wrong. She just didn’t know what.
“Why don’t you listen to my brother, Chief Wise, and this detective and then decide if you feel comfortable sharing your assignment.” Olivia looked at Max and frowned. “Detective? Didn’t I meet you at Sebastian Abel’s . . .?”
“Yes. I thought you looked familiar,” Max said, cutting her off. Maybe there were things going on that Bex didn’t understand.
“Okay,” Bex told them. “I like that idea. Could I have some more water, please?”
Wilder’s brother-in-law went to get her some more as Wilder began explaining what was happening in his clubs. It sounded familiar to what Seabrook told her, yet the emphasis on him trying to stop the illegal activity was the complete opposite of Seabrook saying that Wilder was behind it. Then, when she found out, he went to Wise and asked for help since the police were not helping at the direction of the DA’s office, and Max was brought in to investigate off the books. All the pieces were starting to click together. The only thing she didn’t understand was why.
“This is where I come in,” Max said, pulling out his phone and turning it around. “Does this guy look familiar?”
Bex looked at the mugshot but shook her head. “No. Should he?”
“He’s the one who attacked you.” Bex felt her body go cold. “He has gang tattoos.”
“That’s right. He was arrested a month ago for beating the shit out of someone who didn’t pay his boss, part of the cartel, for some drugs. Interestingly enough, the charges were dropped this morning.” Max looked at his watch. “Well, yesterday morning now. Can you guess who dropped the charges?”
“Seabrook,” Wilder said, surprising Bex, but then all the pieces made sense.
Where her body had been cold, looking at the man who had tried to attack her, now it ran hot with anger. Guy Seabrook had set her up.
* * *
Wilder saw the instant Bexley understood what had happened. Her face, while determined, had shown some confusion and fear. Now her cheeks were flushed and her eyes blazed with anger.
“That son of a bitch. Seabrook set me up,” she said, the anger clear in her voice.
“What I don’t understand is why,” Wilder kept his eyes on Bex as she processed all the information she’d just heard.
“I don’t know why either, but I know it was him.” Bex turned and looked right at Wilder. Something that looked like shame flashed across her face and Wilder knew this wasn’t going to be good. “I was brought in to find evidence that you were running drugs and guns from your club.”
Wilder felt as if she’d run him over with a truck as Glen cursed and Olivia began to type aggressively on her phone. “Why? I’ve never done anything to Seabrook.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. He told me the same thing that you did about the incidents at the club. He told me women weren’t safe and it was because of you. Then he and the police commissioner swore me to secrecy.”
“ Murphy is in on this?” Glen sounded incredulous and Olivia sounded as if she were hitting the phone so hard she’d break it.
“I’m not sure if Murphy is in on it or bamboozled like I was,” Bex admitted. “He backed up Seabrook and signed off on the paperwork to get me working under the DA’s inspector's office. When I gave the report of my first night at WET to Seabrook, Murphy wasn’t there to hear me say that evidence showed Mr. Townsend was actively working against drugs in his club. I saw him call in Max to take down a bartender who was dealing and how he kicked out and banned anyone doing drugs in his club. Seabrook sent me back in with a vague threat of losing my job if I couldn’t find evidence through any means necessary.”
Wilder took a step back. He didn’t know if he could keep the disappointment from his face. She was a victim, yet she’d been sent in to destroy him. How could he trust her now?
Bex looked at him and there was regret written all over her face. “I swear, I wasn’t going to plant evidence. I would never do that to anyone. I’d done my research on you and WET. You have the best reputation among women for safety in your clubs. This whole business didn’t sit right with me, so much so that I sought advice from my brother. Not giving specifics, of course,” she said to Wise as if he’d write her up for it.
“Did you get drugged on purpose? Was that the ‘any means necessary’ you had to go through to get me in trouble?” Wilder was pissed. This woman, the first one he’d been interested in in a long time was a plant sent to take him down. To destroy everything he’d worked so hard to build.
“No! I swear, I would never plant evidence. Please, believe me.” Bex didn’t beg. Instead, she used the strength of her words to will him to believe in her.
“I don’t know,” Wilder said, once again taking another step away from her.
“Wait!” Bex shoved her hand down her top. “Please, please, please,” she chanted as she pulled out a cell phone. “I don’t remember tonight, but I do remember last night. I used a hidden recording app on my phone that night. Maybe I did it again tonight.”
Wilder watched as she unlocked the phone. Her whole body sagged in relief. “I did. It’s still going. Chief Wise, should I turn it off now or keep recording?”
Chief Wise held out his hand and she placed her phone in it. “This is Chief Glen Wise.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s now one in the morning. Detective Max Caldwell and I are here after receiving a phone call from Wilder Townsend who has asked us to investigate drug use and assaults in his nightclub. I’m now turning this off and sending it to Detective Caldwell and myself to preserve evidence.”
Wilder watched as Wise stopped the recording and sent it off to them. “Who has access to this account? Did Seabrook provide you with it?” Wise asked Bex.
“No. It’s a personal account. Seabrook didn’t order a wire or backup. I did this on my own to protect myself. From the beginning, this order didn’t sit right with me,” Bex told them, but Wilder didn’t know if he could trust her or not.
“I’m downloading it, so there’s no way it can be deleted now,” Max said as Wise moved to begin the recording.
Wilder listened as Bex started the recording as she approached the line outside of his club. She heard Hardy tell her she could go in. Then the loud sound of music filled the room until they listened to her bump into the man who attacked her. It was clear that Bex wasn’t going to let him order her a drink and it was also clear that she was trying to score drugs off him to take Wilder down.
Wilder didn’t watch the recording play as everyone else did. He kept his eyes on Bex. “I don’t remember any of this,” he heard her whisper to herself.
He could tell when the drugs began to kick in. They were dancing and Bex’s words began to slur. She sounded drunk, yet he knew from the recording and from watching her that night that she hadn’t had a single drink.
Even if Wilder was mad at her, he couldn’t help but clench his hand into a fist as he heard the man threaten Bex and the slurred way she kept chanting no. Wise stopped the recording after they heard Wilder give the order for Tiny to call Max.
“Tell me you heard it,” Olivia said, still typing madly on her phone.
“I heard it,” Wise answered.
“Yup,” Max added as Granger nodded.
They’d all heard it.
“I don’t know if I wanted to hear it,” Bex said slowly. “And my mind is still off quite a bit. But it sounded as if he was hired to drug and assault me. Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Wilder was simultaneously relieved Bex hadn’t set him up and angered in a way he’d never been before that someone had hired this man to hurt her. “And I’d bet all my night clubs that it was Seabrook who was behind it. What do you think, Liv?”
Olivia finally looked up from her phone. “I don’t take bets that aren’t a sure thing. The trouble is,” she said, looking back at the notes on her phone, “there’s no direct evidence tying him to it.”
“He declined to charge this asshole immediately following the attack.” Why weren’t they going after him? It was clear he had a role in it.
“Seabrook has been dropping charges left and right for people on his second chance program he’s pushing. If it were only this man, then yes, we’d be able to nail his ass to the wall. He’ll claim he’d dropped the charges for rehab or something like that. I know it’s not fair and I know he did it, but proving it is another matter,” Olivia said gently to him and Bex.
“Now we know where to look though,” Max said into the tension-filled silence.
Wilder nodded and took a deep breath. He needed a moment. “Excuse me,” Wilder muttered as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He took a deep breath and walked toward the nurses' station.
His emotions were all over the place. He wanted to protect Bex. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, and take care of her. But she’d been sent to destroy him. Wilder leaned down and pushed the button for the water fountain.
“Excuse me!” a nurse shouted as a man tried to walk by her. A man with a tattoo on his neck very similar to the one Wilder had just seen attacking Bex. “You can’t just walk back here.” Wilder stepped forward as the nurse stopped in front of the man. “You need to sign in and have permission to be back here.”
“I did out front. I’m here to see my sister, Tiffany Anderson.”
The nurse glanced at Wilder as he walked to join her in blocking his path to Bex’s room. “You’re not her brother,” Wilder said, itching for a fight. All his anger was racing to the surface. “Get the police officers in her room now,” Wilder ordered the nurse who took off running.
“You think you’re a tough guy?” he asked, his eyes as dark brown as his hair.
“I don’t think I am. I know I am.” Wilder could be a cocky asshole when he wanted and he really wanted to be one right now. Anger at the men coming after Bex. Anger at Seabrook for sending Bex in undercover. Anger at the police and DAs for ignoring the assaults and drugging of his patrons. He needed an outlet and his outlet was standing right in front of him.
Wilder heard Max and Glen come running. He was itching for a fight, but he knew it wouldn’t come when the man took a step back with a smile. “I’ll get her and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Because next time I see you, I’ll kill you.”
Then he turned and hurried from the ER. Max went after him as Wise stopped next to Wilder. “What was that?”
“The cleanup crew.”
Wise let out a low whistle. “This is a lot bigger than an attack on Bex. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” Wilder said as Max came back empty-handed. “This is police and DA corruption all the way to the highest levels.”
Wilder knew things had changed by the grim look on Wise’s face.
“They knew her cover name,” Wilder told them as they walked back to Bex’s room. Her nurse was standing outside looking ready to defend anyone who came into the room. Olivia was standing next to the bed with a metal tray in her hand, which she lowered when they entered and Granger stood at the end of the bed to have the first go at anyone coming into the room.
“What happened?” Olivia asked.
“He got away, but he was with the same gang as the man who attacked Bex. He was coming to finish off the job,” Max explained.
“He knew her cover name, which also means he probably knows her real name,” Glen told them. “And that means Bex isn’t safe here or at home.”
Bex’s eyes fluttered back open. “Can I go home and sleep? I’m so tired.”
“Sorry,” Wilder said, taking her hand in his. He could have blamed her but she was an innocent pawn in this. He let his anger go as he squeezed her hand in his. “But we need to make sure you’re safe. Sleep, we’ll figure this out.”