Wet Leather: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Read online

  “Thank you,” Tori said.

  “One night,” he said pointedly and got to his feet. “Now drink your coffee and just go to bed before you keel over.”

  The flood of relief that she didn’t need to get out added to her tiredness, and she quickly drank the coffee then got to her feet. The weakness in her legs made her slap a hand on the table and she closed her eyes to try and shrug off the dizziness that made her head spin. The touch of a hand going around her shoulder gave her a start, and she was aware again of her body touching on solid muscles.

  “Thanks,” she said after Patch helped her to the bedroom and sat her down on the bed.

  “I’m sure you can manage to get your clothes off yourself now,” he commented.

  It put a weak smile on her face and she watched as he walked to the door.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  Patch glanced at his watch as he turned.

  “It’s four o’clock,” he said.

  Tori nodded her head and waited until he was gone before taking off her top and skirt. She looked across at the hangers on the wardrobe door, but in the end couldn’t face getting up to walk over to them and just dumped her clothes on the floor beside the bed as she lay down. It made her phone fall out of her skirt pocket and she stared at it for a few seconds before finally reaching down to pick it up.

  She hesitated to switch it on, but in the end couldn’t stop herself. It was as she suspected when the phone came to life and she saw how many missed calls there were. Scrolling through them revealed just one number and she knew whose it was. The cold trickle of fear that she would never escape the clutches of Matt slid down her spine and she quickly turned off her phone. Her pulse was racing and she lay quietly staring up at the ceiling as she tried to calm down. It took a while for the tiredness to creep over her once more, but when it did she eventually managed to drift off to a fitful sleep.

  Chapter 5

  “I’m not sure what we can do for you at this stage, Mr. Mosswood.”

  Matt’s annoyance welled up even more at the way the conversation was going, and he fidgeted in his seat as he stared across the table at the uniformed police officer opposite him. The meeting definitely wasn’t panning out as he envisaged when he decided to go to the authorities about Tori not coming home the previous night.

  “Didn’t you hear what I just told you about my girlfriend going missing?” he let out irritably. “I came here for help.”

  “I understand that,” the policewoman said in a calm voice. “But…” she quickly glanced down at the notebook in front of her then up again to go on speaking, “Miss Sanders has been gone for less than twenty-four hours and she’s not a child. Maybe she could be visiting with her family or one of her friends.”

  “What, and hasn’t bothered calling to tell me?” Matt remarked pointedly.

  “Have you tried calling her?”

  “Of course,” he let out in a raised voice. “But the phone is either switched off or she’s not picking it up.”

  “Maybe the battery is dead,” the policewoman suggested. “It does happen.” She paused for a few seconds before carrying on. “Our experience in this type of circumstance is that it’s just someone’s lack of thought or a simple misunderstanding.”

  “It’s not a misunderstanding,” Matt snapped in an agitated voice and banged his fist down on the table. He saw the startled reaction of the woman opposite turn to one of suspicion, so he tempered his aggression as he went on. “Tori never stays out all night and it means something is wrong. I know it.”

  “Did anything happen yesterday evening that would lead you to believe she’s in trouble?” the police officer asked.

  “No,” he blurted out hastily. “What would make you say something like that?”

  “Well, people don’t just disappear for no reason,” the policewoman pointed out. “Was she worried about anything? Did she tell you about any unusual circumstances in her day?” She looked down at her notebook. “You say you went out and she wasn’t there when you got home. Why did you go out?”

  “I went to have a drink,” Matt answered.

  “And Miss Sanders didn’t want to go with you?” the policewoman went on.

  “What is this?” he let out, unable to contain the petulance in his voice. “Twenty questions?”

  The policewoman stared across at him and remained quiet, as if her mind was ticking over. She eventually started speaking again.

  “I’m just trying to understand the full details,” she said.

  “Don’t you listen?” Matt complained. “I’ve told you what happened. Tori wasn’t there when I got back to the apartment last night and I waited up for her to return. When she didn’t, I got worried and came to the police for help. I expected them to take my concerns seriously.”

  “We do,” the policewoman assured him. “But like I’ve explained already, Miss Sanders has been gone for a lot less than twenty-four hours and she’s a grown woman. My suggestion would be that you go home and wait for her return.”

  “And if that doesn’t happen?” he asked.

  “I’m sure it will,” the policewoman replied. “Most people suspected of going missing usually turn up within twenty-four hours with a good reason as to where they’ve been.”

  “Fucking waste of effort,” Matt muttered under his breath.

  “Excuse me?” the policewoman said, but he could see on her face that she caught what he said.

  The chair legs screeched on the floor as he got to his feet.

  “If she’s dead, then it will be on your head,” he said.

  He saw the suspicious expression return to the policewoman’s face and realized it was a stupid thing to say, but he couldn’t hold it in. The meeting was over as far as he was concerned, and he turned away before she could respond. Striding across to the door of the small interview room, he let himself out and walked away. He only slowed his pace when he got to the front of the building and moved down the stairs.

  “Fucking idiot,” he cursed and wasn’t sure if he was aiming the comment at the policewoman he just spoke to or himself.

  He took out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and quickly lit one. It was something stronger than a hit of nicotine he wanted, but he’d taken the view that carrying drugs into a police station was probably a bad move.

  “Going to the police was a bad move full stop,” Matt let out under his breath and shook his head.

  The idea that he could get the cops to track Tori down and bring her home was what made him go to them in the first place. His superior attitude that he was smarter than anyone working for the police gave him the confidence that nothing bad would come of it. With the meeting now over, it looked like nothing would happen at all and they weren’t going to do a goddamn thing to find her. That left it up to him if he wanted to track her down.

  “Stupid whore bitch,” he cursed as he thought of the police officer he talked to.

  He sucked furiously on the cigarette, but it did little to quell the jittery shakes now afflicting his body. Coming down from the stimulants in his system was never an easy ride, and the amount he swallowed last night as he waited for Tori to come home was making it more difficult than ever. He wished he’d brought some of the pills with him, but he’d decided not to when he finally left the apartment with the intention of going to the police. Making the trip was something he now knew he shouldn’t have bothered doing, but it was too late for that. The police officer would probably write up some notes to file away that would never see the light of day afterwards, so there was no harm done as far as he was concerned.

  The urge to get off his feet made him sit down on a bench at the front of the station, and he dropped the butt he was holding to grind it under his heel. A smile flashed across his face as he imagined it was the policewoman’s face his boot was crushing and the violent fantasy drained some of his irritation away. Immediately after, he got the pack from his pocket to light another cigarette. Sweat prickled on his brow and he tapp
ed his foot incessantly as his mind went over what to do next. His gaze moved around restlessly, but came to a stop and settled on the sign when he saw it. He let out a laugh as he read it, but was on his feet straight away to cross the street. The door he got to was unlocked, so he walked inside to a small office. The man sitting behind a desk looked up from what he was doing.

  “Is the sign outside yours?” Matt asked.

  The man nodded his head.

  “What do you need?”

  Matt ignored the question as he went on talking.

  “You’re Adrian Bryant then,” he said. “And you offer your services as a private investigator?”

  “Yes,” Adrian answered. “What is it that you need?”

  Matt stepped across the room to drop on the chair at the desk.

  “I need someone found,” he said.

  “OK,”Adrian replied. “Just so you are aware of it straight away, my fee is one hundred and fifty dollars a day. For that I’ll find who you want and prepare you a report.”

  “I can live with that,” Matt replied.

  “What’s the person’s name?”

  “Tori Sanders,” Matt told him. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  “Is her first name spelled with an i or a y at the end?” Adrian asked.

  “An i,” Matt replied. “And her surname is S-A-N-D-E-R-S,” he went on to spell it out.

  “What’s her phone number and address?”

  Matt gave the details and answered the next few questions that were fired at him then watched as the man opposite wrote the information down. Adrian stopped to read what he’d written for a few seconds, but eventually lifted his head.

  “How long has she been gone?”

  “I went out for a drink yesterday evening,” Matt told him. “She was gone when I got home and I haven’t seen her since. I went to the police, but they didn’t seem interested.”

  “Standard procedure,” Adrian told him. “They’ll pull out all the stops for kids, but not for an adult in less than twenty-four hours unless there is any compelling evidence that something is seriously wrong. I’m taking it that there isn’t any and you have no idea why she’s gone?”

  “That’s right,” Matt lied. “She was fine when I went out last evening.”

  “You two didn’t have a disagreement about anything?” Adrian asked.

  Matt kept his gaze firmly on the man opposite as he shook his head.

  “No,” he went on lying. “Things were fine between us, but I’m concerned that she didn’t come home. It’s not like her and she hasn’t done it before. I’ve tried what I can to locate her, but have hit a dead end and was hoping you might be able to help.”

  Adrian leaned back in his chair and put a hand to his chin as he stared down at the notes in front of him. He was silent for a while before leaning forward and settling his elbows on the desk.

  “I need the first payment up front to get started.”

  “How long do you think it will take?” Matt asked as he got out his wallet to count the money then slid it across the desk.

  “I wouldn’t think more than a day,” Adrian replied. “The phone and computer technology around today makes most people traceable, and there are other avenues to tracking someone down. I’ll start the hunt straight away and get in touch with you tomorrow to let you know what’s happening.”

  “What do you give me?” Matt went on. “A location where I can find her?”

  “Well, I’m in no position to apprehend someone and bring them to a client,” Adrian replied with a smile. “If I find out where she is, I’ll give you the details of that.”

  “Will you approach her?” Matt asked.

  Adrian shook his head.

  “Nope,” he replied. “All I’ll do is confirm it’s her and let you know where she is. It’s your choice what you do with the information after that. Do you have a photograph of her that I can have?”

  Matt glanced down at the wallet he was still holding then opened it up. He searched through for a photograph of Tori and eventually pulled one out to hand it over.

  “She’s a pretty girl,” Adrian said when he looked at it.

  “Yeah, I just want to make sure she’s OK,” Matt replied.

  Adrian narrowed his eyes as he stared across the desk. He detected something in the comment that didn’t quite ring true, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Tori Sanders left her home after an argument or fight with the man sitting opposite. It wasn’t uncommon in relationships and plenty of men walked through the door of his office seeking assistance after a bust up resulted in their girlfriend walking out.

  Then again, what actually happened in a relationship wasn’t something for him to worry about – all he was interested in was a payday. If a client was willing to stump up the cash to have their girlfriend found, that’s exactly what he would do for them.

  Chapter 6

  Tori was lying in the darkness of the bedroom with her eyes wide open when she heard the creak of the door. The noise brought on a momentary surge of panic, but it faded quickly when she glanced across the room and saw Patch walking in. She expected the flare of brightness the light being switched on would bring, but it didn’t happen and she watched as he moved to the side of the bed. Her brow furrowed when he dragged his top up to take it off and that was when she spoke.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Fucking hell,” Patch hissed under his breath as the sound of her voice startled him. “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “I’ve been awake for a while,” she informed him. “What’s the time?”

  “It’s almost eleven o’clock,” he answered. “You’ve been asleep for hours. How are you feeling?”

  “A little better,” she told him.

  “Is your cheek still sore?”

  She worked her arm out from under the covers. The bruise did still hurt and she sucked in her breath sharply when she touched her fingertips to it. It was all the answer Patch needed and he walked to the door to leave the room without saying anything. He returned less than a minute later and held out the small plastic cup when he got to the side of the bed. Tori didn’t need to ask what it was and just reached out to take the liquid painkiller then lifted her head to drink it.She gave the empty cup to him and he dumped it down on top of the small cabinet at the side of the bed. He reached for the buttons of his jeans and she asked the question once more.

  “What are you doing?”

  “It’s late,” he told her. “I’m going to bed.”

  “You’re going to get in here with me?” Tori said in a concerned tone and gripped the edge of the bedcover firmly as she pulled it up to her chin.

  “Well, do you see any other beds in here?” he asked as he worked the denim down his legs and stepped out of the jeans.

  “I’m only wearing my underwear,” Tori told him.

  “That makes two of us then,” he said as he sat down on the edge of the mattress to take off his socks.

  Tori’s nervousness grew at the prospect of him getting in the bed with her, and she asked the question that came in her head.

  “Can’t you sleep on the sofa?”

  She heard Patch’s exasperated sigh and knew that what she said probably made her sound ungrateful considering what he did for. Not that she asked for his help.

  “Look.. relax,” he told her. “All I want to do is get some rest. The bed is big enough for both of us. Just move over next to the wall.”

  Tori squirmed around as she shuffled her way across the mattress until she was pressed right against the wall. Patch grabbed a couple of the pillows to make a barrier down the center of the bed.

  “Happy?” he asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

  “I guess,” Tori said.

  He got under the covers and she was aware of him moving around as he tried to get comfortable. She heard his calm breathing once he settled down and closed her eyes to try and rest. Having slept for much of the day, she was no longer tired and guessed it was going to be a long
night. Her nervousness died away to an extent in the silence that followed and she wasn’t expecting any conversation, so it was a slight surprise when she heard Patch’s voice.

  “What will you do tomorrow?” he asked.

  Tori let out a sigh as she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling in the darkness.

  “Not sure,” she eventually said.

  “Don’t you have family or friends that will put you up?” Patch asked.

  “Some,” she replied in a flat voice. “But if I stay with someone I know, it gives Matt a chance to find me.”