Haven 1: How to Save a Life (17 page)

Before tonight they’d been no closer to figuring out where the men had gone or what had happened to them. They hadn’t even been able to prove any of them hadn’t left town of their own accord.

Including the latest one Vargas had mentioned. Based on Walter’s suggestion, Vargas had searched the club’s membership file and activity logs and found only one man in his twenties who was a regular—coming in at least three or four nights a week—who hadn’t been in the club in the past two weeks. Aaron Benton. From the way he’d gone upstairs alone on his last night there, like the others, they’d added him to their list of missing men.

What had royally pissed Walter off was the last night the new missing man had been at the club was the night after Walter had first learned about Seth Fisher, the night after he and Kevin had started looking into the disappearances.

The only good news lately was that, after all their efforts, they’d finally gotten a lead.

They’d tracked down Cory Nelson, the man with the drugs at the club and the last person Seth had slept with. A member had recognized Nelson’s picture from the one the club had on file. He said Nelson usually showed up on Friday nights, but he hadn’t seen him in the last few weeks. He had talked to him earlier in the day, though, at the gym where they both worked out. Nelson had said he’d be in the club that night.

Now they just had to wait to see if he made an appearance.

Kevin finally gave up on his pacing and dropped into a chair beside Walter. “Can’t we do something else besides wait for this guy?”

Walter sat back in his chair and clasped his fingers behind his head. “We’ve talked to everyone who’s here tonight.”

They’d interviewed the most active members, the newest ones, those with the most sordid pasts Tucker had dug up, and those with high-profile jobs, including a federal district judge, a lawyer, a firefighter, a parole officer, and two traffic cops from outlying communities. None had offered information that could help, and none had appeared to be hiding anything. They’d corroborated everyone’s statements as best as they could, and nothing stood out.

Walter glanced Kevin’s way. Between covering his regular beat and the long nights they’d been spending together on the investigation, Kevin looked exhausted, the discouragement evident on his face and in his posture as he continued to watch the video monitor.

A minute later Kevin gave up on the video and nabbed another Twinkie from the stash he’d brought with him. Maybe he was a stress eater. He’d been scarfing the things down all week. Must be nice to have the metabolism of a twenty-year-old.

If Walter had to watch him suck the cream out of one more Twinkie, he was going to lose it. Since that night they’d spent in a room upstairs, they hadn’t so much as kissed.

Walter only had himself to blame. He was the one who’d pulled back. Each time Kevin made an advance, Walter had found something about the case to distract them. Not that Kevin made it easy to resist him. But their lack of progress with the investigation and the need to step up their efforts to find out what had happened to the missing men had Walter determined to hold back on touching Kevin again, on doing everything he’d imagined since the last night they’d been together.

No, the investigation was only part of what had him holding back.

It was hard to ignore their age difference with that innocent way Kevin had stared up at him that night they’d been together, cum on his face, the awe evident in the swipe of his fingers through the sticky remnants of release.

Or maybe it was the damn Twinkies.

What grown man ate those things?

The worst part? Walter had a feeling Kevin wasn’t even trying to turn him on with the way he ate them.

But he was.

Every single time.

Kevin bit off the end of the Twinkie in his hand. “Do you think this guy will know anything?” He stuck his tongue into the open end of the spongy treat and swirled it around.

Christ.

Maybe he
was
doing it on purpose.

Walter sucked in a quick breath and sat forward, his elbows on the arms of the chair, his eyes focused on that tongue jamming into the end of the Twinkie, slurping out the white cream. “I’m not sure.”

Slurp
. “You still think they’re alive?”

“I do, but honestly, every day that goes by, it’s less and less a likelihood.”

Kevin stilled, the half-eaten Twinkie in one hand, a dollop of cream on the tip of his index finger on the other. He dropped the Twinkie to the wrapper on the desk and stared at it like he was about to be sick.

“Hey.”

He looked up.

“No matter what,” Walter said, “we’ll find out what happened to them.”

Kevin nodded. He licked the cream from the tip of his finger and gestured to the live feed of the club. “Maybe he’s not coming tonight. Or maybe we missed him.”

“We’ve had our eyes on that door since the club opened.” There were several emergency exits, but the front door was the only way members regularly entered and exited the club.

Kevin pointed to the computer beside Walter. “Just to be sure, can you check if he’s logged in?”

Walter ran a report on the computer. “Son of a bitch. He’s been here for an hour.”

“Where did he come in at?”

He checked the report again. “Through the employee entrance by the kitchen.”

“But you said his card shouldn’t have worked on any door but the front.”

“It shouldn’t have. Unless someone reprogrammed it for him.” Walter brought up the video feed of the employee door and rewound to an hour before. “That’s him.”

The young man on the monitor made his way into the club, walked across the back of the dining room, and got in the elevator. Alone. Like each of the missing men.

“Shit.” Kevin stood so fast his chair went skidding backward and rammed into the wall behind him. “How do we find him?”

“I had cameras installed on the other floors.” Vargas was going to kill Walter for sharing that information, but there was no time to keep Kevin out of this. And Walter didn’t want to.

He removed his phone and opened the surveillance app. He found Nelson walking along the fifth floor just minutes after he’d gotten in the elevator. “Got him.” Walter strode for the security room door. “Come on.”

Kevin followed him out to the elevator. “Why aren’t those cameras on the monitors in the security room?”

“I promised Vargas I’d keep them private.” He hit the elevator button for the fifth floor. “No one’s supposed to know about them.”

Kevin flashed him a look, more pissed off than his usual curious one. “You made me a promise too.”

That stung. Walter hated the idea of disappointing Kevin. He ignored the reaction for now and focused on the video feed via his phone. “He went to the last room on the right.” The elevator doors opened, and they headed down the hall. Walter kept on reviewing the recording until it caught up to the current time. “No one else entered the room after him.”

Kevin said, “We should’ve gone to the desk for the room key.”

“I’ve got a master if we need it.”

They stopped at the door to the room Nelson had entered. Kevin made like he was going to knock.

Walter held up a hand. “Wait.” There was a low murmur of voices behind the door. Too bad he didn’t have his surveillance equipment. He pressed his ear to the door, and Kevin followed suit. Like a couple of teenagers listening in on two people having sex. Which was exactly what they were doing if the sounds inside the room were anything to go by.

More murmuring and kisses. Then the distinct slap of body against body. Nelson and whoever he’d met up with had already been in the room for an hour.

Walter moved to wait against the opposite hall wall. “I’m guessing this is round two.”

Kevin pulled away from the door and the noises of sex that were now spilling out into the hall despite the thick interior doors on the club’s rooms. “Guess they want to get their money’s worth.”

“They’ll probably be awhile.”

Kevin gestured to the door. “Shouldn’t we…”

“What?”

“Knock or something?”

“Sounds pretty consensual to me. We’ll wait right here.” Walter wasn’t leaving without talking to Cory Nelson—and making sure he was okay. Although, considering the way they were going at it inside, no one could leave that room without feeling more than okay.

A low, rumbling moan came through the solid door, loud and clear.

Definitely more than okay. “Noisy bottom.”

Kevin shifted on his feet. “Do you like that?”

Walter waited a moment to keep the surprise at Kevin’s question from his voice. Seemed Kevin was drawing out more reactions from him lately, not vice versa.

“I like a guy who doesn’t hold back what he’s feeling.”

“I seem incapable of holding back on anything around you.”

“I’ve noticed.” And Walter wasn’t complaining. That open honesty was such a draw. Funny when he thought about how they’d met on the night Kevin had been lying his ass off.

Kevin dropped his gaze to the phone in Walter’s hand. “Can you rewind the video and see who came in before him?”

“Good idea.” He hit Rewind, and Kevin leaned in to watch. This was the closest they’d gotten since that night they’d spent alone up against a wall in a room on the third floor. With effort Walter kept his breathing even as he watched the video and tried to ignore the current of desire racing through him.

The playback cut off before anyone else entered the room ahead of Nelson.

“I can only go back two hours on the mobile app. The full feed is stored on a computer in the security room. We’ll have to access it there. Later. Right now we’re staying here until that kid comes back out.”

Unharmed.

Kevin reclined against the wall beside him. “He’s not a kid.”

“What?”

“He’s a grown man. You keep calling them kids.”

“You’re right.”

A loud grunt came from inside the room, then a series of groans, quick slaps of flesh to flesh, and the rustle of the mattress shifting with each slap and grunt. Another loud groan. Then silence.

Kevin leaned in and whispered, “I feel like a perv.”

“You’re only a perv if that got you hot.”

He hesitated. “It got me hot.”

Walter laughed. “Then you’re my kind of perv.” He turned his head until they were facing each other, both leaning against the wall. Intimate. Like the oldest of lovers offering a comforting word. Or new ones locked in that moment that changes everything.

Kevin licked his lips. “Then why haven’t we—”

A scream filled the silence from behind the door. Then came a crash.

Kevin straightened. “What was that?”

Another scream, followed by, “No. No, stop.”

Walter was at the door. He banged on it with a fist. “Security. Open up.”

An annoyed, deep voice called out, “Hang on.”

A minute passed. Another. Walter pounded on the door again.

Silence.

Evidently Kevin was done waiting. He stepped back and came at the door, ramming his shoulder into it. He was going to damage something. And not the door.

That didn’t stop him. He slammed his shoulder against it a second time.

“Move. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Walter produced the master key card, slid it into the lock, and burst inside. A young man was alone in the room, lying on his back spread-eagle on the bed, naked, sweaty.

“Where’d he go?” Walter asked.

“Huh?” Cory Nelson lifted his head. “What are you doing in here?” Not the voice who’d first answered before they’d entered the room.

“Where is the other guy who was in here?”

Nelson glanced around the room. “He left?”

Kevin stormed into the bathroom and came back out. “Nothing in there.” He pointed to the window.

Walter nodded and checked it out. The fire escape was easily accessible, but there was no one climbing down or in the alley. Whoever this guy had been, he would’ve had to be someone incredibly fast and physically fit to have gotten down the ladder already. But even then, there hadn’t been enough time. The guy could’ve traversed the small ledge running underneath the window. If he were agile enough. But that still didn’t leave him a lot of time. Walter faced Kevin. “There’s a ledge. He might’ve made it to another room’s window.” He returned to the door and checked the hall. Nothing. Who was this guy, and why had he taken off?

Nelson slid off the bed and grabbed his pants from the floor. “What are you doing breaking in here?” He looked Walter’s way. “Oh, Mr. Simon. Is there something wrong?”

“There have been reports of a man causing problems with other members. We thought you might be in danger.”

Nelson yanked on his pants. “Danger?”

“You screamed.” Walter pointed to the bedside lamp where it lay busted on the floor. “And we heard that break.”

“He was…”

“What?”

“He was tickling me.”

Kevin threw Nelson a surprised look, then offered the same to Walter before swinging his gaze back to Nelson. “Oh, come on.”

“He was.”

“Tickling you?” Kevin asked with an incredulous tone.

“Yes. Haven’t you ever horsed around in bed?”

Kevin clamped his mouth shut and dropped his gaze.

“What’s his name?” Walter asked Nelson.

“He never said.” He craned his neck to see behind Walter. “Did he go out the window?”

Walter ignored that and kept the questions going. “You came upstairs alone, so when did you meet him?”

“I’ve known him for a few months. I usually see him at another bar, but tonight he said he wanted to meet here. Told me which room he’d be in.”

“You’ve been seeing him for months and you don’t even know his name? What do you know about him?”

Nelson shrugged. “He fucks like a machine.”

“What does he look like?”

He gestured to Walter. “About your height. Bigger than you, though. Solid, all muscle. A goatee. Long blond hair. Usually he has it pulled back. Had a baseball cap on when I got here.”

Kevin nodded at Walter. They were thinking the same thing. This was their guy. Why else would he run the minute he’d heard the word
security?
Kevin said, “We should go see if we can find him downstairs.”