Engaging (Alluring Book 2) (31 page)

He gave her a dazzling smile.  "Only for you, Sunshine.  I'm this way, only for you."

* * * * *

Gage silently closed the bedroom door and went on a search for Laurie.  After getting Cassie out of the bath, he'd dried then dressed her in warm pajamas, made sure she ate a bowl of soup, then tucked her in bed.  She had been asleep within minutes.

Gage found Laurie in the kitchen, washing the lunch dishes.  She turned to him as he approached.  "Is she sleeping?"

"Yeah."  He leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest.  "Listen, I have some things I need to do, and I don't want you to leave Cassie alone, so I'll arrange for Sam to pick up Logan and bring him home.  I want you to take my phone number and call me if there are any problems.  I'll try to be back later tonight."

The last part must have surprised her because her eyes got big before she asked, "You could be gone all night?  What should I tell Cassie?"

Gage gave her a reassuring smile to let her know everything was okay.  "Don't worry, Cassie knows where I'm going and what I'm doing.  You won't be hiding anything from her."

That seemed to set her mind at ease, for she let out a long breath then gave him a smile.  "Okay, I'll call if there are any problems."

Gage gave her shoulder a squeeze.  "Thanks, Laurie."     

Chapter Twenty-five

Gage's first stop was Allure.  He called ahead and talked to Jack, so he was in the lobby waiting for him when he arrived. 

As soon as Jack spotted Gage, he made a phone call.  "Chuck and Scott will be here in a minute," he said, putting away his phone.  "They're both ex-military, and I've been assured by my head of security, they're the two best men I've got."

"Thanks, Jack.  I appreciate it."

"What's the plan?"

Gage shrugged.  "Other than finding the fucker that beat Cassie up and shoving my fist up his ass?  I don't know, thought I'd play it by ear."

Jack laughed.  "Okay, well if you need someone to bail you out of jail, you've got my number."

Gage chuckled.  "Yeah, I can see the headlines now,
Gage Hunter "hunted" down criminal and "Engaged" him in battle
."

Jack laughed outright.  "That was pretty good.  Ever thought of becoming a journalist?"

"Hell no, I hate the fucking media." 

Jack laughed again.  "Spoken like a true rock star."

Two brawny guys walked up to them and introduced themselves as Chuck and Scott.  Scott was tall, at least Gage's height, but more muscular, with mocha skin and closely-cropped, curly, black hair.  Chuck was a little shorter but just as muscular with spiky, blond hair, brown eyes, and a stocky build.

Gage explained why he needed them.  "This is a dog fighting operation.  I'm not exactly sure how many people are involved, and what we'll encounter, that's why I want backup, but I'm after one man, and he's
mine
." 

"I'm not a fan of animal abusers, so I wouldn't mind bashing in a few heads," Scott said, with an evil little smile that was rather sinister.  Gage was just happy the guy was on his side.

"What the hell is this?  A party I wasn't invited to?" 

Everyone turned.  Mase strode toward them, dressed in jeans and his football jersey with a shit eating grin on his face. 

He spread his arms wide.  "Where's the love, people?"  He took in the serious looks on everyone's faces and his smile fled.  "What's going on?  Is Alexis okay?"

"Alexis is fine," Jack said.  "This time it's Cassie."

Mase turned his gaze to Gage.  "What happened to Cassie?"

"She got beat up yesterday, so bad she was hospitalized."

"What the fuck?  Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, but I'm going after the fucker who did this."

"Count me in," Mase said, raising his hand.

"No way," Gage said, shaking his head.  "If the media gets a hold of this, it'll be bad for your career."

"This is my pups Godmother we're talking about here.  There is no way in hell I'm not doing this."

Gage shook his head.  Mase really was a total kook.  "Okay, then let's hit it."

Gage's Escalade pulled up in front of the house Cassie had directed him to.  Mase was in the front passenger seat next to Gage, and Scott and Chuck were in the back.

Mase looked over at him.  "What's the plan?"

Gage looked at the house, then back at Mase.  "Let's just walk up to the front door and knock.  I don't think this fucker would be expecting something like that."

Scott spoke up from the backseat.  "What are the odds he's actually here?  He's got to know the cops are looking for him."

Gage turned his body to look at Scott.  "If he's not here, I've got a list of addresses to hunt for him at that the cops don't know about."

Chuck spoke next.  "What's this Jeremy guy look like?"

Gage closed his eyes, trying to recall what the dude looked like.  "He's tall, probably about six-four or six-five, bald, and has a lot of tattoos."  Gage looked at all the men.  "Any other questions?"  At their negative head shakes, he said, "Good, let's go."

Gage banged loudly on the front door and rang the doorbell three times.  No answer.

"Could be he's in there but not answering 'cause he's worried it's the cops."  Either Scott or Chuck said, from behind him.

"Good point," Gage said, before he yelled, "Jeremy Beckett, this is not the police.  Open the fucking door." 

He banged on the door three more times.  Still no answer.  Gage went around the side of the house and into the backyard.  A large dog run, empty of dogs, took up a large portion of the space.  He tried the back door, and the knob turned under his hand.

A few minutes later, he stepped out the front door.  "Place is empty," he reported.

They tried two more addresses with the same result.  "If it weren't for all this damn traffic, I'd think it was The Apocalypse," Mase said.  "Where is this fucker?"

Gage looked down at his GPS.  It was leading them into a pretty shitty part of town.  They pulled up in front of a fourplex.  Gage went into his photos and pulled up the picture of the address list.  "Shit, this doesn't have a unit number written on it." 

Mase looked over at the mini apartment building.  "Then I guess we knock on all of them.  It's only four units." 

They got lucky.  The first unit they knocked at, a greasy dude who looked stoned, opened the door.  After giving him a description, he pointed them to the unit Jeremy Beckett lived in. 

"How reliable do you think that guy was?"  Mase asked, as they walked down the breezeway.   "'Cause, I'm just saying, he was fucked up." 

"We're about to find out."  Gage banged on the apartment door.

The door was thrown wide, and Beckett stood in the opening with a pissed off look on his face.  "What the fuck, man?  Who the hell are you?"

"Now that hurts my feelings, Jeremy,"  Gage said, planting both his hands on Beckett's chest and giving him a hard shove into the apartment, "that you don't know who I am.  But I'll be happy to introduce myself."

Jeremy stumbled backward into the living room but righted himself before he could fall.  A look of disbelief crossed his face, and he pointed to Mase.  "I know who you are.  You're Mason Connor." 

Mase, in turn, pointed his finger at Jeremy.  "And I know who you are.  You're a fucking limp-dick woman beater."

Jeremy seemed to catch on as to why they were there.  His eyes got wide, and he got a panicked look on his face.  He eyed all four men, then slowly raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. 

Gage gave him an evil smile.  "Don't worry, Jeremy, you're all mine, and I don't like to share." 

Jeremy's eyes traveled back to Gage and locked on him.  "Listen, man, if she would've just kept her nose out of things, I wouldn't of had to fuck her up."

Gage reacted without thinking.  He took a step forward, swung with his arm, and landed a punch to Beckett's jaw, knocking him on his ass.  "Well shit," Gage said, flexing his hand to get rid of the sting.  "I hope you're gonna put up more of a fight than that.  Or do you only beat up girls?"

Jeremy got up and made a lunge for Gage, who easily sidestepped, out of his way.  Gage turned to Mase and gave him an exasperated look.  "This isn't as fun as I thought it would be.  He might be big, but he's slow and clumsy."

"Sorry, dude, maybe if you try to rile him up a bit more, you'll get more action."  Gage heard Scott and Chuck chuckle in the background. 

Gage looked over at Jeremy.  His face was red, and a vein in the center of his forehead throbbed.  Gage grinned, that's better.  He flicked his hand casually for Jeremy to approach and that seemed to really piss him off.  He charged arms straight out, hands made into claws, aiming straight for Gage's neck.

Gage ducked, shoulder butting Beckett in the diaphragm and flipping him over his shoulder.  He landed on his back with a hard thud.

"Dude, this is getting ridiculous," Mase said, squatting by the wheezing Beckett.  "He can't even land a punch."

"I know," Gage said, looking disgusted.  "I'm done playing.  Get his ass up, so I can beat the shit out of him and get the information I came for."

"I'm not telling you shit," Jeremy said, getting to his feet with the help of Mase.

"Now, that's where you're wrong.  You're going to tell me everything I want to know."

"You're an asshole," Beckett shouted.

Gage laughed, and Beckett lunged for him.  Gage sidestepped him again, but this time followed through with an uppercut to Beckett's jaw and a left-handed jab to his sternum. 

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill you," Jeremy shouted.  He raised his right fist, aiming at Gage's head.  Gage ducked then proceeded to beat the shit out of Jeremy Beckett. 

Gage felt arms encircle him from behind, and he was pulled into an upright position.  "He's done," he heard Mase say, close to his ear.  He mentally shook himself and looked down at the bloody mess that was Beckett's face.  "Pick him up boys and move him to the couch," Mase directed Scott and Chuck.  Then he said to Gage, "He's groggy but still conscious.  If you want information, I suggest you get it from him now."

Gage looked over at Jeremy, sitting upright on the couch with the help of Scott and Chuck sitting on either side of him and figured Mase was right. 

He walked over and sat on the coffee table across from Jeremy.  "Tell me when the next dog fight is."

Jeremy, whose head was down, chin resting against his chest, slowly looked up at Gage.  "I can't tell you that," he mumbled, as if speaking were difficult.

"This can get worse for you, Jeremy.  See the two men beside you?  They don't have a problem with breaking all your fingers."  Gage looked at Scott and Chuck.  "Men."  He gave them a nod.

Scott reached down and took a hold of Jeremy's pinky.  Chuck, seeing this, did the same.

"Wait!" It came out garbled, but they still understood.  "There's a fight tonight."

Gage sat up straighter.  "Where?"

Jeremy mumbled an address, and Gage plugged it into his GPS.  The location came up.  Gage recognized the area.  The fight was being held in a commercial district a few miles off the strip. 

Next, he pulled up Officer Cruz on his phone and hit dial.  No way in hell was he letting this asshole get away with what he did to Cassie and not pay the ultimate price for it.  Beckett would go to prison, he would see to it.

Gage informed Cruz of the fight taking place that night, told him he would be there, and last, shared where he could find Beckett.

Gage heard Cruz sigh over the line.  "If I send some officers to that location, will they need to call an ambulance?"

"Let's just say, Beckett won't be going anywhere, anytime soon, so there's no need to rush over."

"So noted," Cruz said, before disconnecting.

Gage put his phone back in his pocket.  "So who's staying with our friend here until the cops arrive?"

"I'll do it," Chuck said.  "It will be my pleasure to watch him squirm a little longer."

Gage nodded, then turned to Scott.  "I'll take you back to the hotel, so you can grab a car and come back for Chuck."  He then turned to Mase.  "You coming with me to the fight, or am I dropping you at the hotel, too?"

"Hell no, I'm in."

"You sure, man?  This is where it can get tricky.  If we're spotted at a dog fighting match, the media could be brutal if they claim we're there as spectators."

"It's cool and for a good cause.  I'm not backing out now."

Gage gave Mase a chin lift and stood from the table.  "No offense, Chuck, but I'm out of here.  I don't want to be detained by the cops.  It's one thing, them knowing I beat this piece of shit up and another, being found at the scene of the crime."

Chuck grinned.  "No offense taken.  Get your ass outta here."