“The birthmark is on the guy’s scrotum,” Kiley Trevor reminded her flying companion.
“Then you’ll have to lift up his cock to look for it. What better way to get a good look at that pecker.”
Kiley sighed heavily. “I was hoping you’d do the looking and I could do the photographing,” she said.
“Nope,” Dr. Olivia Carstairs replied with a shake of her elegant head. “I’ll be otherwise engaged while we’re there. The extent of my involvement in this case of yours is to introduce you to the proprietor of Mistral Cay, Julian St. John, and to give you a bit of medical knowledge so you’ll appear legitimate.”
Of all the bullshit assignments Kiley Trevor had suffered while working as an investigator for Heartland Investigative Services, this one took the cake. While the cause was worthy—finding the adult son of a woman forced to give up him up when he was two years old—the only clue to his identity was a distinctive birthmark on the man’s scrotum. And, of course, this couldn’t be easy. The guy worked at an exclusive high-class resort that catered to wealthy bored women. Read: man-whore. Fabu-fuckin-lous.
Helen, their first-class flight attendant, came to take their drink orders, saving Kiley from responding to Dr. Carstairs’s refusal to help find the man they were going to Mistral Cay to find.
“I’ll have a Bloody Maria,” Kiley said. “Tequila, not vodka. Lots of lime.” God knows I need it. If I wasn’t two delinquent bills away from bankruptcy, I’d tell those shithead bosses of mine where to stuff it.
“Sounds good to me,” Dr. Carstairs agreed. “Never had a Bloody Mary that way before. Bloody Maria, you said?”
“That’s what they call it in Texas,” Kiley replied.
“Umm. Is that where you’re from?”
“Yes, ma’am. San Antonio.”
“I was born and raised in London,” Dr. Carstairs said. “About as western as I’ve ever been is riding some of the young studs at the resort. Now that will make you sit up straight in the saddle and shout tally-ho.” She nudged Kiley’s shoulder with her own.
Kiley was saved again from responding when Helen brought their drinks.
“Now, this I like,” Dr. Carstairs pronounced and took a healthy swig. Without asking, she thrust her skewer of olives into Kiley’s glass but kept the rib of celery that also garnished the drink. “You need to lighten up, dearie,” Dr. Carstairs commented. “Bring us another one, would you, Helen?”
Kiley hadn’t been aware of the flight attendant passing her seat. She glanced up and nodded at Helen’s raised eyebrow.
“And bring us some more celery,” Dr. Carstairs ordered.
Fifteen minutes later, with two potent Bloody Marias under her belt, Kiley’s nerves settled and her tongue loosened.
“The thought of photographing strange men’s penises is weird.”
“You’ll get over it,” Dr. Carstairs laughed. “It’s not like you’re doing it to arouse them.”
“Lord, I hope that doesn’t happen,” Kiley moaned.
“Well, the possibility is very good that it will, but if you should be required to interview with Julian, be sure to tell him you don’t wish to participate in the sexual activities offered at the resort. Tell him you’re there strictly as my assistant, doing research for me.”
“What’s he like?”
“Julian?” Dr. Carstairs asked. She took the last bite of her celery before answering then shifted in her seat so she could look at Kiley. “You know those panthers you see pacing their cages in the zoo?”
“Panthers?” Kiley echoed.
“Their sleek black coats glisten in the sun. Their powerful muscles ripple beneath that taut skin,” Dr. Carstairs described. “You know they are dangerous, that they could tear you apart with those ferocious teeth and curved claws, but you are mesmerized by all that sheer male beauty. Those golden eyes hold you spellbound and you feel small and insignificant beside them.”
“I’m more fond of Maine Coon kitty cats myself,” Kiley confessed.
Dr. Carstairs waved her hand in dismissal. “Give me a man like Julian St. John any day. There is power and authority, and such potent sexuality. He is scrumptious.”
“And I bet he charges more if he’s the one to service you,” Kiley sniffed.
“Oh, he never fraternizes with his clients,” Dr. Carstairs said. “There is one woman who comes to the Cay twice a year or so and stays in his personal apartments but I don’t think she’s his woman; rather, she’s a good friend.” She thought for a moment. “He’s quite private.”
“Perhaps he’s gay.”
The urologist laughed. “I wouldn’t consider that for even a minute.”
“You never know. He owns the resort?” Kiley asked for clarification.
“Owns and runs it with an iron hand.” Dr. Carstairs leaned closer and lowered her voice though no one was within earshot of them. “An iron hand I’ve love to have caressing me.”
“In other words his word is law there.”
Dr. Carstairs nodded. “He owns the entire island, so in essence he’s also the governing body of Mistral Cay.”
“Must be a very rich man.”
“I would think so. I heard somewhere that he comes from old money, grew up in Europe and was educated at the finest schools, but that he doesn’t use his real name. Too bad because I’d love to know who the family is.” Dr. Carstairs sighed heavily. “He has all the prerequisites for a superb husband if he was inclined to marry, which I’m told he is not.” She snorted. “Given my own experience with the bonds of matrimony, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.”
“I take it he’s the kind of man you find attractive.”
“Well it’s the mystery surrounding him, don’t you know,” the older woman replied. “He keeps to himself, lives alone except for his male housekeeper Christian, and Henri Bouvier, his administrative assistant. I’ve never seen him in anything but unrelieved black—silk shirts, leather britches, form-fitting pullovers, black T-shirts and black jeans. That particular choice of clothing color may be intentional for it underscores and accentuates the mysteriousness, you see.” She put up one finger. “The only hint of color is the gold hoop in his left ear.”
“Like I said, he’s probably gay.”
Dr. Carstairs clucked her tongue. “Don’t believe it for a minute.”
Kiley yawned. The liquor had gone to her head and she was relaxed enough to fall off.
“Why don’t you take a little snoozer?” Dr. Carstairs suggested. “I could do with a few winks myself.”
“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Kiley confessed.
“Then close those pretty little eyes and slip into dreamland.” The urologist put a finger to the side of her nose. “Dream of young hunky men with extra-long tallywhackers to slide into your sugar and give you a rip-roaring orgasm.”
Despite the scarlet stain she felt overtake her cheeks, Kiley laughed. She had liked the English doctor from the moment she had met her over two years earlier as a client, but the woman had a tendency to embarrass Kiley with her salty mannerisms.
“I may just do that,” Kiley replied.
Sleep didn’t take long to find Kiley with the drone of the plane’s engine, the comfort of the extra-wide leather seat and the soft pillow Helen provided. Aided by the potency of the tequila, the young woman slipped easily into the waiting arms of Morpheus.
She was jostled awake by a bit of turbulence. She sat up straighter in her seat and looked at her companion. Dr. Carstairs was snoring lightly, a thin stream of drool oozing from the corner of her slack mouth. Another jolt of turbulence made Kiley grip the arms of her seat.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcement came over the address system. “We are experiencing some mild turbulence at this time. Please fasten your seatbelts and return your tray tables to the upright position. We will be climbing to forty thousand to get above the bad weather and do not anticipate any further inconvenience. We will keep you informed.”
“I don’t suppose they’ll be serving drinks anytime soon,” Dr. Carstairs complained as she wiped at the spittle on her chin.
“I imagine not,” Kiley agreed.
“Did you get some shut-eye?”
“Yes.”
“Me,” Dr. Carstairs began, “I dreamt I was lying on the beach at Mistral Cay with Julian’s head in my lap.” She stretched, listing her hands over her head. “We were naked as the day we were born.”
Kiley smiled. “You’ve got a thing for the resort owner, don’t you?”
“I’d give that man anything he wanted,” the urologist replied. She laid her head back against the seat as the plane began its slow ascent to the higher elevation. “I once offered to take him to Hong Kong with me but he declined. It seems he never leaves the Cay.”
“Never?” Kiley asked, one brow cocked in surprise.
“That’s what he said.”
“I wonder why.”
“I’ve asked him many times and he always comes up with the most entertaining reasons,” Dr. Carstairs said with a grin.
“Such as?”
“Oh, once it was because he had an incurable disease and if he left the curative waters of the Cay, he’d succumb to the illness and die a horrible, lingering death. A variation on that theme was if he left the Cay, he’d age like the portrait of Dorian Gray, turn into dust and blow away. Another time he hinted that he was an international fugitive hiding out from both the C.I.A. and K.G.B.” She laughed. “And then there was the explanation that he was actually a vampire and couldn’t cross running water.”
“An imaginative man,” Kiley said.
“Imaginative, alluring, seductive. You think of any adjective that describes a dream man and you’ve got Julian St. John.”
“I can’t wait to meet this paragon of male superiority,” Kiley mumbled.
“Just be careful around him,” Dr. Carstairs warned. “He is intuitive. If he suspects you are there for any other purpose than what we’ve rehearsed, he could send you packing.”
Kiley let out a long sigh. “Well, all I want to do is find the man I’m—”
“The cock,” Dr. Carstairs giggled, “you’re looking for.”
“The birthmark,” Kiley corrected.
“Your boss, Greg Strickland, didn’t say why you’re looking for this bloke,” the urologist said. “Is he in trouble of some kind?”
“Why would you think so?”
“It just seems an odd way of trying to locate a man, getting a peeper at his pecker, I mean. Why can’t you just ask if John Doe or Bill Smith or whatever his name is works at the resort?”
“I shouldn’t be discussing this with you, but since Greg has involved you, I guess you have a right to a few facts. For one thing, we don’t know the name the young man is using,” Kiley replied. “And we don’t know what he looks like. It’s his mother who is looking for him and she hasn’t seen him since he was two years old.”
“Why ever not?”
“He was taken away from her and given up for adoption.”
Dr. Carstairs nodded. “A bad mother, was she?”
“From all accounts, she was a wonderful mother, but she committed a crime and was sent to prison.”
“Ah,” the urologist drawled. “I begin to see the picture. What crime did she commit?”
“I’m not at liberty to answer that. Let’s just say it was a felony that required a rather lengthy stay in federal prison.”
“And when she was released, she began searching for her son?”
“According to Mr. Strickland’s partner, Ross Bennis, she’d been trying to find him from the very start, but the state wouldn’t give her any information. When she got out, she contacted several private investigation firms and that’s how Heartland became involved.”
“Not an inexpensive process,” Dr. Carstairs commented. “Where did she come up with the money to do this?”
“I don’t know, ma’am, and couldn’t tell you if I did.”
The urologist clucked her tongue impatiently. “If she doesn’t know his adopted name, doesn’t know what he looks like, how will she—?”
“She can identify him by the birthmark on his scrotum,” Kiley reminded her.
“All right, I understand that, but why does she believe he is at Julian’s resort?”
Kiley rubbed her forehead. “Dr. Carstairs, the lady moves in circles not unlike your own and she overheard two women at a party talking about male escorts. She found the conversation distasteful and was walking away when one happened to mention the strange birthmark she had seen on her sexual partner’s scrotum.”
“That had to be a helluva shock,” Dr. Carstairs chuckled. “I can’t begin to imagine how I would feel hearing my son had become a male escort.”
“I’m sure our client was both shocked and hopeful that she’d found her missing son. She questioned the women and found out the man in question had once worked in New Orleans but was now thought to be at the Cay, though neither woman had been invited to visit the resort so they weren’t sure if he was there or not. She learned all she could about Mistral Cay then contacted the P.I. agencies with whom she was working. The only one who would agree to send someone to the resort was Heartland.”
“Ross Bennis’s greed to the forefront,” Dr. Carstairs quipped.
“That’s how Greg sees it, yes.”
“So what happens when you find the young man? Do you tell him his mother is looking for him?”
“That was considered to be a risky way of handling it. He might not even know he was adopted or he might think his mother is deceased. There was also the concern that he wouldn’t want to meet her. He might be too ashamed or he just might be a cad who couldn’t care less. It was decided that I was to offer him a considerable incentive to come to the U.S. in the form of an employment opportunity.”
“Cost being of no importance I take it.”
“Something like that.”
“Well, either she embezzled a large amount of money that has been drawing interest in a secret Swiss bank account or she married Mr. Moneybags or has something on Mr. Moneybags if she can afford sending the two of us to the resort,” Dr. Carstairs observed.
“Let’s just say she can afford it and leave it at that.”
Dr. Carstairs tapped the side of her finger against her lip. “Now I wonder which society maven I know is the driving force behind this little scenario. I wager I’ve met this woman.”
“She’s a mother searching for her child, Dr. Carstairs. She should have our sympathy rather than conjecture, don’t you think?”
As the journey drew out, Kiley stared out the window and speculated what it would feel like to discover your child had fallen into a profession upon which most people would look down. Her own parents thought her chosen work as a private investigator was unseemly as well as sordid. Would they have disowned her if she had fallen into the squalid world of prostitution?
“Damned right they would have,” Kiley murmured.
She had to admire Mrs. Lynden for wanting to find her son no matter what he did for money. She only wondered if finding him would be in the woman’s best interests.