Pleasing Her Racy Doms [Racy Nights 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

Still, trying to stay away from either one at this point would be like trying to keep from eating. That realization scared the hell out of her, but at the same time she knew she was already in too deep to back off now.

“All right. Okay. By the way, next time we go to the club, it’s okay to bring along street clothes to change into so we can take you out for something to eat afterwards. But for now, how fast can you change out of that dress?”

* * * *

Chad and Sean didn’t look happy when Cherilyn walked into the conference room with Thayer, but she didn’t care. Evan looked surprised for a second, but she didn’t miss the quick flash of happiness in his eyes. She tried not to make more out of it than it probably was, but her emotions were still back in that room in Maddox’s house with him and Thayer. No matter what came of this, nothing in her life would ever be the same again and she knew it.

“Have a seat,” said Sean, clicking a remote control. The screen behind him came alive with the image of what looked like a database. She’d used similar databases in her day-to-day work. “This is what our suspect was trying to hack into.” Sean clicked around it, and Cherilyn realized it was a list of The Fit Bod members, complete with names, home addresses, phone numbers, birthdates and photos.

“This doesn’t contain payment information”—Sean cut his gaze quickly to Thayer—“and kudos to you both for keeping that separate from the database with the birthdates.” He clicked through the pages and Cherilyn sucked in a sharp breath as the photo of her taken on the day she joined flashed past. Chad had asked Evan on the phone how well he and Thayer knew her. Why? Surely if they thought she had anything to do with this she wouldn’t be here?

It suddenly occurred to her that until now, she hadn’t realized that their computer system was involved. She leaned close to Evan and whispered. “Someone tried to hack into your computer?”

Sean gave her a stern look, and she wanted to crawl under the table in embarrassment. As Sean began to speak again, Evan pulled a pad of paper and a pen close to him and wrote that he would tell her later. She flashed him a grateful look.

“As I was saying, we are assuming the same person who trashed the gym also tried to hack into this.” Sean cut his gaze to her quickly, only this time his face wasn’t stern. Rather, he looked hesitant. “He couldn’t reach this list because he wasn’t able to type in the password to get to it, and it locked him out after three tries. But before he reached this, he went to the search box on the home page and typed in the following search keywords.”

The box that came up contained the words “female,” “thirties,” and “widowed.”

All four men glanced toward Cherilyn, and she didn’t even have to ask. Evan was closer to her than Thayer, and he scooted his chair over to place an arm around her shoulder. Sean narrowed his eyes slightly, and Chad shot Thayer a glance full of questions.

“What else do you have?” asked Thayer. Cherilyn hoped he was receiving her telepathic message, thanking him for not saying anything to Chad or Sean at that moment. She wasn’t ashamed of what they’d done, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss it.

“Well, we think it’s someone who doesn’t specifically know that Cherilyn is a member or he would have simply searched for her by name, but obviously he has his suspicions.”

Thayer leaned back in his chair. “Sean, don’t you think that’s a helluva leap? We have more than one female member in her thirties.”

“How many of them are widowed?” asked Chad quietly.

“No clue.”

“Probably not more than one or two,” said Chad.

“Okay. So what do we do now?”

“I have more.” Sean flipped off the projector and pulled a cardboard box onto the table. “We pulled this out of the river yesterday.” He pulled out a tattered, faded necktie with black panthers on it, and Cherilyn gasped. The room started to spin. Someone held a plastic cup to her lips and she drank cool water.

“This is why I was upset that you brought her.” That was Sean’s voice.

“Don’t you think she has a right to know this?” Thayer sounded pissed off, and she hoped it wasn’t at her.

“She’s okay now.” Evan’s blue eyes came into focus. “You are, right?” His face was filled with concern and tenderness, and her heart gave a strange lurch.
Don’t go there
.

“Where did you get that?”

“The river,” said Sean, sliding it toward her. “You can touch it. We couldn’t get any prints or DNA from it.”

“I gave this to Chuck. Or rather, I sent it to him. He had this thing about big cats, especially panthers. I thought it was just a silly thing but he loved it. He wrote to me that he’d showed it to all the men and women he served with.”

Memories flooded her senses. How would she ever get through this? And what did it mean that Chuck’s tie was in the Iroquois River? It hadn’t been among his personal effects she’d received from the Army, but at the time she’d been too disjointed to do an inventory.

“Is that the last time you saw it?” asked Chad.

She nodded.

“The man who was seen fleeing the gym Wednesday night jumped in the river. When we dragged it—”

“What?” She must have misunderstood Chad. “What did you just say? There was a second break-in?” Why hadn’t Thayer or Evan told her?

“No,” said Thayer. “Adison Kincaid installed an upgraded security system for us, and it rang straight to this station. He didn’t know a second code now has to be keyed in. The police got there before he could do anything and he fled.”

“He jumped in the river? Did you find his…” She couldn’t even bring herself to say the word.

Chad shook his head. “No. But we did find the tie. We’re assuming he had it on him.”

Cherilyn stared at it, trying to make sense of everything he and Sean were saying. “Why would he have it?”

“We were hoping you could shed some light on that,” said Sean.

She could only stare at him. She couldn’t seem to put together a coherent thought.

“Cherilyn, I won’t pretend to know how painful this is for you, but do you have any contact information, or even a list, of the men and women Chuck served with?”

She shook her head. “No. I really don’t. I can recall a few names, but he went into Basic Training less than a year after we were married. I really don’t know any of them. But I’m sure you can get that information from the Army, right?”

Sean nodded. “Maybe. We’ll have to have Dean reach out to the JAG in Indy or Chicago and see if they can help.” Dean Ramsey was the Racy Chief of Police.

She turned her attention back to the tie. Had Chuck given it to someone? But why would he have done that? The other possibility was too chilling to think about. But why would someone take it after he’d been killed, and then come here to Racy and break into The Fit Bod to look for her? It made no sense. She would have been easy to find. Anyone in Racy would be.

And why was someone who broke into businesses, hacked into computers, and jumped into cold rivers yet survived looking for her to begin with?

Cherilyn didn’t want Thayer to leave her alone in the house. He walked her inside and waited until she’d turned on all the lights, and then he pulled her into arms. She didn’t feel arousal this time. She only felt numb.

All during the rest of the conversation at the police station between him, Evan, Sean, and Chad, Cherilyn had racked her brains trying to remember any of the people that Chuck used to write her about, or some detail he might have mentioned during a phone call that would tie this all together, but she came up blank.

“Will you be all right?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Thayer, and that’s the truth.”

“Want me to stay?” He hadn’t even hesitated, and her heart gave another strange lurch. She studied his face, looking for some clue that he’d said it just to be polite, but the question appeared to have been a sincere one.

“Look. I have an idea.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Why don’t I ask Evan to come over here once he finally tears himself away from Sean and Chad, and we’ll both stay with you? Do you have any popcorn? Actually I’m starving, now that I think about it. We could get Chinese or something. Or go to Nan’s Place and get take-out, and then stay up all night and watch really bad movies on TV.”

“You would do that for me?” She was truly overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say.

“Sure.” He opened his phone and called Evan. Cherilyn heard him say he was just about to leave. “Would you mind stopping at Nan’s Place? I’m pretty sure she’ll still be open. Pick up some greasy cheeseburgers and onion rings, and bring them over to Cherilyn’s. We’re going to stay with her.”

“That sounds perfect. Be there soon.”

“You two are pretty special, you know that?”

Thayer looked slightly embarrassed, which surprised her. He pulled her close again and stroked her hair. “Don’t think this is getting you out of your training, Cherilyn.” She shivered at the tone in his voice. “This is part of it, in fact.” He pulled away to smile at her.

“Oh, is it? What part, exactly?”

“The part where you’d better not expect to spend a night alone after getting seriously creepy news, that’s what part. And the part where we tell you that one night in six months of eating the food from Nan’s won’t derail your work at the gym.”

“Ah, actually, true confession time.” Nan’s Place had been a local hangout famous for its greasy junk food since Cherilyn’s parents had been kids. “I’ve eaten there quite a few times recently.”

Thayer gave her a look of pretend shock. “I wish you hadn’t told me that. I have no choice now but to think up a suitable severe punishment.”

“I understand, Sir.”

His eyes turned dark and full of lust. “You tempt me beyond all reason, Cherilyn Barker. Do you even realize that?” His voice was so soft and full of awe that she just stared at him. When he kissed her, it was with plenty of passion, but it was also tender and emotional. Cherilyn tried to stop her thoughts from hurtling headlong into oblivion, but this night had simply been too full of the high of new experiences, followed by an icy cold plunge into fear.

He released the kiss as his cell phone rang, and she excused herself to the bathroom, more to get a handle on her feelings than any real need to use it at that moment. When she finally emerged, Evan was in her living room with bags of food that smelled like manna. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that moment. Thayer picked up the TV remote as Evan divided up their food onto the coffee table, and soon the three were eating and watching
All About Eve
on one of the movie channels.

“I love this movie,” said Cherilyn, settling in between Thayer and Evan.

Evan started singing “Bette Davis Eyes” and Cherilyn laughed.

He pretended to pout. “Is my singing voice that bad?”

“No, not at all. It’s just funny that you broke out into song when I said that.”

“Fucking show-off,” muttered Thayer, popping an onion ring into his mouth.

“Not my fault you can’t sing worth shit.”

“Fuck you.”

Cherilyn couldn’t stop her giggles. “I love it when you two are like this. You do this at the gym, too. It makes doing squats and lunges a lot more fun.”

Thayer narrowed his eyes. “Just exactly how much time do you spend watching us when you’re supposed to be working out?”

A flush crept up her neck and she had to avert her gaze. She sighed out loud. “Guess I’m busted. Pretty much all the time, if you want the whole truth.”

“I think it’s fair to say we’ve done a decent amount of watching you, too, Cherilyn.” Evan leaned back against the cushions and put an arm across her shoulder.

“I’m flattered.”

“Oh come on,” said Thayer, grinning at her in a way that made her want to stop eating and take off her clothes. “You know you’re gorgeous. Guys look at you all the time.”

“If that’s true, I don’t know it,” she said quietly. “I really have shut myself off from life for a while now.” Thayer immediately looked guilty, and she wished she hadn’t said anything. “Time to talk about the elephant in the room, okay?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. Look, I don’t know where all this is going with us, but we can’t ignore the fact that I was married, and now my husband is dead. So, ask me anything you want to. Let’s get it all out in the open.”

Thayer nodded, and a look of relief passed over his face. “Okay, fair enough. I didn’t really know Chuck. He was several grades ahead of us, but everyone who knew him liked him.”

“I know. He was a good guy. And he was a good husband, too. We dated for three years before we were married because I wasn’t sure I was ready to settle down.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

Evan’s soft question caught her off guard. She turned slightly to face him. “I don’t know. I’m not saying it was awful being married or anything, but I don’t need to be.”

“So what do you need to be?”

“I don’t know, Evan. Right now I want to keep hanging out with you two and see what happens, if that’s all right. I’m in uncharted territory here. I’d like to take some time and absorb it all.”

He nodded. “Absolutely. We know being in the role of a sub is new to you. The lifestyle is new to you. You need to figure out for yourself if this is something you truly want, twenty-four seven. Because that’s what it is, Cherilyn. A total commitment, just like marriage.”

“Can we talk about your lives for a moment?” She glanced at Thayer. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” he said. “What do you want to know?”

She pushed her food aside and picked up her water bottle to take a large drink first. “Well, I’ve been curious about something since the night of the benefit. And it’s none of my business, but I overheard you on your phone, talking to someone named Cassie.”

Thayer nodded. “Yeah. Cassie Alvarez. That’s over. It’s been over for a while, but it took me some time to realize it.”

“Was she your sub?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask why you broke up?”

“I let her go because she kept telling me that I wasn’t meeting her needs, but she could never tell me in what way I was failing her. I prefer women who are direct. I can’t give you what you want and need if I don’t know what that is.”