NAT THE RAT
NATE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY of his bedroom and watched Poppy sleep. She was naked, his sheet barely covering the body he’d explored thoroughly. The room smelled of lust, sweat, and musk. And strawberries mixed with baby powder. His fingers twitched with the need to touch her again. To skim her silky skin with his fingers. To use them to drive her wild like he had for the last hour.
He drew a deep breath into his lungs to control his desire, then checked his watch. Devin and Bo would be arriving any minute, so he shut his bedroom door and headed for Jacobs’ Ladder.
Devin was sitting at the bar when he entered, so he made his way over, nodding at some of his regulars as he passed. His preferred table was empty, so he grabbed one of his staff to reserve it for his meeting before speaking with Devin.
“Is Strawn on his way?” Nate asked as he slid up beside his friend.
Devin jerked his head toward the front of the bar. Strawn was entering with his phone plastered to his ear. “Heard Poppy put a bedazzled shirt on your bull.”
Nate glanced at one of his bartenders. The man’s head was ducked, and he was smiling. “Word travels,” Nate answered.
“So do pictures,” Devin chuckled then held up his phone to prove his point. He’d pulled up the social media page for the bar. In the time since Poppy had strutted her way into the bar, there were multiple images of Gertrude and her rhinestone encrusted shirt.
Strawn walked up as Nate tried to hide his smile. He should have been pissed, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. That’s what Poppy did to him. When she was near, a sense of rightness and calm filtered through his system, making it easier to think and brush off things that normally would have pissed him off.
Strawn stopped next to their huddle as he hung up his phone. “That was Parker. NCIC is a bust. No man with the name Dragon has been arrested. Alias or otherwise.”
Nate jerked his head toward the booth in the back, and both men followed.
“I need to bring her aunt in,” Strawn continued. “She’s the only one who can shed light on this guy.”
“What about Knox?” Nate asked. “Poppy said he came to town every few months. It’s possible he met this guy.”
They sank into the circular booth and spread out, then Nate motioned to a server to bring him three beers.
Strawn eyed him for a minute, his expression stern. “I got a call from Knox after their lunch this afternoon. He wants in on the investigation. I held him off until I spoke with you.”
“Bring him in. We need all the help we can get.”
“Can you remain calm around him?” Devin questioned.
Nate raised a brow. “Can you?”
Devin flashed him a grin.
Looking at Strawn, Nate reclined against the booth’s cushioned back, crossing his arms. “He’s not my favorite person, but I won’t let it get in the way. Call him. Maybe he knows who this Dragon is. If he doesn’t, we’ll question Shirley so we can end this for Poppy. She can’t move on until this guy’s behind bars.”
“At least she doesn’t have the press to contend with anymore,” Devin added.
Nate’s attention switched to Devin. “Why’s that?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Senator Scott was accused of sexual misconduct by one of his staff members,” Strawn relayed. “He held a press conference about an hour ago. He was pressured into steppin’ down from office.”
“Blackmailed more like it.” Nate figured. “I’m thinkin’ whoever tried to kidnap his daughter to control his vote, decided to eliminate it all together.”
“Agreed,” Devin said. “So the kidnapping is old news.”
“Makin’ the Wallflowers old news,” Nate pointed out.
“God bless the fickle press,” Strawn muttered.
And one less problem, thank Christ.
“Call Knox,” Nate ordered, more determined than ever to end Poppy’s nightmare. He wanted the bastard behind bars if he wasn’t already, and he needed a fuckin’ name to do that. “Get him down here. If we’re lucky, he’ll know who this is, and we’ll be one step closer to endin’ this for Poppy.”
_______________
I sat up with a start when a loud bark woke me from a deep sleep. I peered around the room, trying to place it. Then it hit me—I was at Nate’s. I swung around in a panic and looked at the clock.
Petunias!
It was after seven, and the girls were supposed to pick me up at my apartment at seven.
Pulling the sheet from the bed, I wound it around my body then dashed into the living room to look for my purse. I emptied the contents on the couch, digging through the flotsam and jetsam for my phone. It wasn’t there. I ran back to the bedroom where my clothes lay strewn across the floor and grabbed my jean shorts. Nothing. Gertrude came in and licked my face, then watched with doggie interest while I tossed the bedcovers then crawled on all fours while searching for my phone.
Ha! Dust bunnies. Nate wasn’t as clean as I thought.
Heck.
Yes!
“Where’s my phone, girl?”
She cocked her head at my question. Running my hand behind her ear, I scratched until her back leg began to kick out in doggie bliss. It hit me then I must have lost my phone when the jogger ran into me. I moaned in frustration.
Left with no other choice, I grabbed my clothes and ran into the bathroom. I needed a quick shower before heading home, in hopes I could still catch the Wallflowers before they left without me.
While I showered off the remnants of our roll in the hay, I wondered, with just a hint of anxiety, how Nate’s meeting was going with Bo and Devin. Would the name Dragon be in Bo’s system? Would they find my abuser and stop him from hurting someone else? Was he already in jail for the same offense?
While lathering soap across my body, I had visions of Nate releasing himself onto my stomach, and it gave me pause. I wished I’d been looking at his face when it happened. It had taken on a fierceness the last time he’d found his release that morning. The sight was breathtaking in its raw beauty; the way his eyes darkened, and his head fell back on his shoulders. The sight alone could send me over the edge, if I were honest.
Gertrude began barking while I was rinsing my body, so I opened the shower door and listened.
“Poppy!” Cali shouted from the living room. “Nate said you were sleepin’?”
“Two seconds. I’m in the shower.”
The Wallflowers’ voices filtered through the bedroom as I finished my shower. Once I was dried off, I threw on my clothes and met them in the living room.
“We’ve been tryin’ to call you,” Sienna accused.
“Sorry, I lost my phone.”
“You’re jokin’? Cali lost hers too.” She shook her head. “This is turnin’ into an expensive vacation.”
I blinked. What were the odds? “Did a jogger run into you as well?”
Cali shrugged. “I think I laid it down when I was scopin’ out rental agencies while you were at lunch.”
“Speakin’ of . . . are we still on for that adventure?” I asked.
Cali looked at her watch. “The one I wanted to hit tonight closes at eight.”
The clock on the wall said it was twenty after seven. Not enough to make it to Tybee in time on a Saturday, but I didn’t want to hang around either. If Nate figured out who Dragon was, they could tell me about it once he was behind bars. I was getting stronger every day, but I had no desire to see the man again. He was the dragon beneath my bed. The bogeyman. Count Dracula on a dark night. Without the blood.
I suppressed a shudder. “We could case the joint. Look for cameras so we know which angle to turn our heads. Normally criminals take their time studyin’ their intended target, you know.”
With a shrug and a nod the girls agreed, so we grabbed our purses and headed out the side door to Sienna’s car.
A young woman passed us as we were climbing inside with a flower tattoo running the length of her arm in a sleeve. It was full of color, the pinks and purples shaded to the point it looked real. I admired it through the window as she walked away. I didn’t have any tattoos. Not because they didn’t appeal to me, because they did, but my artistic side felt anything that graced my body should have deep meaning. I’d never felt led to mark something permanently on my body, but the powerful reaction I had to that flowered sleeve stirred something deep inside me.
“We could get a tattoo instead,” I blurted out. Their stunned faces dampened my excitement. “Or not.”
Sienna had started to back out, but she stopped and put the car in park. Cali leaned forward and placed her hands on the back of my seat, her stunned features melting into a smile like I’d offered to clean her whole apartment for her. And maybe her laundry too.
“A tattoo?” Sienna questioned.
I nodded. Liking the idea more and more. “I think we should get matchin’ ones. Symbols of our unity as Wallflowers. My life has changed so much in the past two weeks, and it’s all because of you and our friendship. I want a constant reminder to be strong. To put myself out there. To love unconditionally like we love each other.”
“That’s beautiful,” Sienna said. “I’ve always wanted a tattoo—I have a whole Pinterest page dedicated to it, in fact—and a symbol of our friendship would be perfect.”
“Are we talkin’ about a Sons of Anarchy-type tattoo? Like huge on the back?” Cali asked cautiously.
I shook my head in a rapid, jerky motion. Was she nuts?
“No. Somethin’ small. A design that only we would understand or maybe a delicate flower. Somethin’ that says us.”
“Delicate?” Sienna snorted.
We burst out laughing. Wallflowers grow under any condition, they’re hardly petunias that need constant care to look good . . . We were wild and free. Sturdy. Driven to grab hold of life and see where it took us. Delicate wouldn’t be the first word I use to describe us. But, in a tattoo, it appealed.
Sienna pulled out her phone. I watched as she pulled up her Pinterest app and opened her page. My heart began to pound with excitement, loving the idea of a permanent link with these women. No matter where life took us, we’d have a constant reminder of our bond as sisters.
“Delicate tattoos I have. In fact, I think I have the perfect one. I found this designer and saved her work on my page. We’d need to pay her for her design, so we couldn’t get it done tonight.”
“It doesn’t have to be today.” I murmured.
“Are you likely to chicken out if we don’t do it tonight?” she questioned.
I considered it, rolling it around in my brain. After that, I bounced the idea off the roof of the car, then tossed it like a salad—Caesar, of course—until I realized she was waiting for an answer. “I’m still thinkin’.”
She kept scanning through images while I examined the deepest, darkest yearnings of my heart. Was a tattoo in there? Nope. No tattoo. I found Nate. Signed copies of the Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day, (because Gideon) and my beautiful Wallflower sisters. Hmmm. Would my life be incomplete if I didn’t get a—
“It’s a yes or no question,” Sienna cut in, nudging my shoulder.
I turned to stick my tongue out at her—I’ve heard this is what little sisters do—but gasped instead. She was holding up her phone, and the image on the screen was perfection.
A simple hand-drawn W with curling swashes and a flower stared back at me. The designer’s name was Simple Sally, and that said it all. Less is more I’d always heard, and the simple but stylish W was exactly that.
“A simple W for being a Wallflower. It’s perfect.”
I turned the phone to show Cali. Her eyes lit up when she saw it. “It’s perfect. How long do you think it will take to get a copy of the design?”
“I emailed her once and she said each design is custom and takes her about a week.”
I looked at Cali then back at Sienna. “Are we in agreement? We’re gettin’ inked?”
They both said, “Yes!” with an excitement that made my heart grow. These incredible women were my friends. My sisters. And soon we’d have a permanent reminder of our bond.
“Are we still headin’ to Tybee?” Sienna asked, putting her car in reverse.
“Might as well. I gave Nate Dragon’s name, so I have a feeling he’ll be tied up most of the night.”
_______________
Nate jerked his chin at Knox when he pulled a chair up to the booth. The man looked haunted. As if he’d aged ten years since he’d seen him the night before. Turning in his seat, Nate flagged a server and held up his beer, indicating he needed another round with four fingers. Though, from the look on Knox’s face, he probably needed something harder.
“Bring me up to speed,” Knox ordered, no lead up with pleasantries. He was a trained agent, and he wanted the details and nothing else. That worked for Nate. Knox would never be his favorite person, so the quicker they dealt with him, the better.
Nate looked at his friends then turned to Knox. “Poppy gave me a name.”
Knox drew air deep into his lungs and held Nate’s eyes for a moment. He could tell Poppy’s father was hanging on by a thread. As misguided as his actions were, abandoning Poppy to keep her safe, it had to be eating away at the man. He’d missed out on watching her grow up, only to find out she’d been abused.
“What’s his name?” Knox growled finally.
Nate waited until Knox calmed down, then said one word. “Dragon.” He watched for signs of recognition on the older man’s face, but Knox looked confused instead.
“Who the fuck is Dragon?” he bit out.
Nate clenched his teeth. He’d hoped the name would spark recognition and they’d have a lock on the man.
“Poppy thought it might be a biker name,” Nate stated. “But she’s not sure. She was young when it happened and said she could have given him that name because of the fear.”
Knox brought both hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I will kill this fucker when we find him,” Knox mumbled low.
Nate glanced at Bo. He’d heard Knox’s vow; his eyes were sharp. Assessing. “You kill this man, and you’ll end up leavin’ Poppy and Sienna all over again.”
Knox lowered his hands and looked around the table, saying nothing. He almost looked arrogant when he held Strawn’s alert expression.
“Don’t,” Strawn bit out. “You aren’t usin’ Sienna to get me to look the other way.”
“I’ve been workin’ undercover for over twenty-five years. You’ll never be able to pin this on me.”
“You keep talkin’, and I’ll put you behind bars now.”
Knox sat back and took in Strawn’s measure. The admiration that normally showed on his face when he spoke with Sienna’s man was gone. “I left my daughter to protect her and placed her in the path of a monster.”
The hardness in Bo’s expression shifted to compassion. “Blamin’ yourself and exactin’ revenge will only hurt Poppy and Sienna.”
Frustration poured off of Knox. He slammed his fist down on the table. “He deserves worse than death!”
The restaurant grew quiet at his outburst, and Martine began heading their way. Nate needed to contain him before he lost control. “Let’s move this to my office.”
“Apartment’s better,” Devin said, jerking his head toward the door. “We can have the girls wait out here.”
“The wee lassies left about twenty minutes ago,” Martine said as she walked up.
“Left?” Nate, Bo, and Devin said in unison, pulling out their phones.
“Aye. Saw them myself. Is that a problem?”
“Depends on what they’re doin’,” Nate rumbled low.
He hit Poppy’s number and waited for it to connect. A moment later it rang. In the bar. Shinedown’s cover of “Simple Man,” the ringtone Poppy had set for Nate’s number this morning, blared from behind a column to Nate’s left. He turned his head to search for her and heard Maroon 5’s “Sugar,” the ringtone Cali had set for Devin, join in.
Devin shook his head at the song. “I haven’t ranked Skynyrd yet, but you have after one night?”
Nate started to rise with the phone still at his ear. He smirked at Devin’s mock outrage, wondering why Poppy hadn’t answered, when Bo bit out, “You’re headed to Tybee with the girls?”
Nate whipped around in time to see a flash of red hair and dark sunglasses dash toward the exit.
Natalie was back.
And for some reason had two of the Wallflowers’ phones.
She was halfway to the front door before Nate was in pursuit. He maneuvered around customers, dodging servers with food-laden trays. He wasn’t going to catch her before she made it out the door and into the crowded street, so he bellowed at the top of his lungs, “Stop the redhead. She’s tryin’ to leave without payin’,” at his hostess.
Natalie looked over her shoulder at him with disgust but kept going, trying to dodge the hostess. Seconds later, Natalie was on the ground. His hostess was a SCAD student. One who’d studied karate since she was five. She’d dropped that nugget of information the first time he’d argued with her that she shouldn’t walk home on her own.
The bar erupted into cheers when Lydia, his hostess, put her foot on Natalie’s back to hold her down while she struggled to get up.
“Got it,” Bo said next to him, then leaned down over Natalie and pulled out his cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent.”
“This is outrageous,” Natalie whined, as Bo pulled her to her feet. “I didn’t even order anything.”
“I’m arresting you for theft,” Bo answered, opening her purse. He pulled out two cell phones.
Nate grabbed Poppy’s. “Take her to my office.”
Bo led the way, guiding Natalie through the tables. She still had her sunglasses on, unrecognizable to his patrons as Fox 28’s newest street reporter. Nate’s hand twitched to yank them off, so she’d be recognized.
Knox and Devin were waiting for them, opening the door for Bo when they walked up. They escorted Natalie inside his office then shut the door. Bo dropped her gently into one of Nate’s chairs then crossed his arms and glared at her.
“You’ve got five seconds to explain before I call this in.”
Nate yanked her glasses off then. He wanted to see her eyes, so he’d know if she was lying.
“Look, Hot Cop,” Natalie sighed, “you take these cuffs off me, and I’ll pretend I haven’t been unlawfully detained. Better yet, take the cuffs off me and escort me through the back, and I’ll promise not to do a whole segment on police brutality, featuring you.”
“How did you steal their phones?” Nate asked, ignoring her threat.
Her eyes drifted to his, and she deadpanned him. Gone was the flirt who’d spent a whole day trying to convince Nate she was still interested in him. “I found them. You can’t arrest me for finding a phone.” The last bit was directed at Bo.
“What game are you playin’ at?” Devin asked.
She shrugged a shoulder. “No idea what you mean.”
Devin bent his knees, bracing his hands on them so he could look deeply into her eyes. He studied her for a moment then shook his head in disgust. “I was sure you’d never make it in this business, but you’re a fuckin’ natural, aren’t you?”
Natalie crossed her arms. “If you mean I’ll stop at nothing to get a story, then yeah I am.”
Nate sighed. “So the tears. The wantin’ to catch up. Your mother comin’ in and makin’ you apologize was what? Some game you were playin’ for a fuckin’ story?”
She rolled her eyes with impatience and boredom. “Honestly, I figured if I came at you like I still had feelings, you might open up for old times’ sake. Momma was incensed that I would piss you off after looking out for me all through college, so yes, she made me apologize, pointing out that if I was doing this ‘cause of my old crush, it wouldn’t work.”
“And why’s that?” Devin rumbled low.
Natalie eyed him with indifference. “Because you’re in love with those women, so no amount of batting my eyes was gonna turn your attention. I went with a different approach to my story.”
“Stealin’ their phones?” Bo supplied.
“Why no, officer,” she smiled sweetly and batted her eyes, “I found them laying on the ground. I just haven’t had time to hunt down their owners yet.”
“Explain to me why you’re still pursuin’ this story when the senator has already stepped down?” Nate questioned.
Her eyes shot briefly to Knox then back to his, her face a mask of innocence. Nate froze where he stood. If she was sniffing around Knox and stealing the girls’ phones, that meant she was after a different story altogether.
Knox caught the byplay, his body stiffening as the implication settled into his bones. He struck then, not hesitating to intimidate her with deadly intent. “You don’t know me,” he began with icy precision, “but I’ll clue you in. I don’t suffer fools. Back off whatever it is you think you know, or I’ll make you wish you never heard of my daughters.”
Natalie looked amused, not frightened. “Right. Ever heard of the First Amendment? Oh wait, you have. We discussed this yesterday, didn’t we? When Poppy explained so eloquently how she could protect her family from enemies. Foreign or domestic.” Natalie chuckled at her joke. “So you know you can’t do jack to shut me up, Mister Agent Man.”
Nate didn’t know what happened to that sweet kid from college, but the woman who replaced her curdled his stomach.
Knox raked his attention across Natalie’s arrogant, confident exterior then leaned down and whispered, “I don’t suffer fools, Ms. Rhodes. I make them disappear. And for my daughters, I’d do whatever it takes and spend the rest of my life in prison without regret.”
Natalie paled and swallowed hard. “D-did you just threaten me?”
He searched her eyes like a predator stalking his prey, letting his answer draw out until Natalie was shaking with fear. The federal agent, one capable of letting his daughter go all those years ago, was not a man you pushed. And Natalie had pushed the wrong fucking button on the wrong fucking day. “I threaten fools,” Knox answered, his tone melodic yet infinitely intimidating. “Tell me, Natalie, are you a fool?”
Her head shook rapidly. Knox smiled and put out his hand to shake hers. She looked at it as if it would strike her, then placed hers in his and shook it. “Can I go now?”
“That depends,” Bo said. “Are you done hidin’ around corners, lookin’ for a story that involves my friends?”
Natalie nodded emphatically. “Then you’re free to go.”
Nate hid a smile when she bolted out of her chair. “Later,” he said when she donned her sunglasses.
“Not likely,” she mumbled, then threw open the office door and hightailed it out.
“She’s a good actress,” Bo commented. “I would have laid down money she was genuine when she was flirtin’ with you, Nate.”
“I knew,” Knox said. “She was too calculating. For every reaction Poppy had, she countered it with something to incite her fears. It was classic manipulation. One I’ve used on many occasions.”
“Includin’ today?” Bo questioned.
Knox inclined his head in agreement.
“Back to the matter at hand,” Nate said. “You don’t know anyone with the nickname Dragon, so we need to talk to Shirley. She’s more likely to open up to you, so call her and see if she’ll come down here.”
Knox pulled out his phone and exited the office. Nate watched him leave, glad he’d calmed down. “So the girls said they’re in Tybee?” he asked Devin.
Devin pulled out his phone and opened an app. “I hid the GPS units where they won’t find them this time.”
“You’re a paranoid bastard,” Nate chuckled.
Devin ignored him. “You both should be thankin’ me with the amount of time your women spend with mine. Calla’s a fuckin’ heiress with enemies. This way we don’t have to wait on the FBI if they go missin’.”
Nate didn’t argue, and neither did Bo. Not with their history. “Where are they now?”
Devin punched more buttons. “Tybee. Just like they said.”
“Do we trust them not to cause trouble?” Bo asked.
“We’ve got shit to do, so we don’t have a choice,” Nate answered.
“Fuckin’ headache,” Bo sighed.
“Pain in the ass,” Devin agreed.
“Wallflowers,” Nate reminded them. “It goes without sayin’.”