CHAPTER 02| BAD GUY

" Any eyes on the target yet?" I ask Roxie as we walk out of the restroom.

" Reynold Boyce is a ghost. He deals in secret and likes to keep everything in secret. That piece of shit." And that's the worst part of this case. 

   It's hard to keep an eye or hands on Reynold Boyce. He's smart and cunning as shit. 

" We'll get him this time." Walking past the hallway, Roxie and I curve into another hallway and there are rooms on either side of it. 

  The doors are nearly open as different kinds of atrocities take place here. Women in handcuffs and every other bondage object satisfy the horny men that are seated like Kings. According to my little report, Reynold Boyce works hand in hand with the owner of this BDSM sex club. 

" This is driving me crazy. I've seen so many arousing things in just one night." Roxie says. 

" Are you okay?"

" Yeah. I don't wanna talk about my personal life while handling a criminal case. Don't worry we'll talk about it when we're done catching the bad guy." She giggles and nudges my ribs with her elbow. I smile and nod. 

   At times like this, she's probably having a fight with her boyfriend Stevie. They're the on and off couples. He would cheat and then apologize to Roxie because he felt guilty he was caught. And she would forgive him because she 'loves him' too much. They will go back to their loving relationship and then he'll cheat again, and they will fight. It's crazy. 

  We go back to the club area where the bar is located and Roxie sits next to me. 

" Where's Regina?" I ask.

" Somewhere around the corner." Roxie whispers. 

   The club is already filled. More filled before I got angry and stormed to the restroom. Strippers with just panties covering their vagina and nipples patches dance around the pool. The men scream and throw a bundle of dollars at the naked girls. 

   I look away from the scene and snap my fingers at the bartender. It's a girl. Brown hair with pixie cut and multiple tattoos. She wears barely fitting clothing cause I can see all her breasts pouring out from her shirt.

" What can I get you?" She asks. Great, she's chewing gum.

" What do you have?" I ask her.

" Is this your first time here?" She asks, her brown brows furrowing as she looks between Roxie and I. 

" Yeah." I reply for Roxie and I. 

" Hmm. So are you here to get laid? Or to watch? We have different kinds of drinks for your exact reason you decide to visit the club."

" We're..."

" We're here to get laid." Roxie says at once.

   The bartender shoots Roxie a smirk.

" I'll get you your drink then." She smiles at us and leaves. 

   Roxie leans closer to whisper. " Creepy." 

   I chuckle and insert my earpiece back and I activate it. Roxie activates hers too. 

" Lauren, Roxie, come in will you. This is getting harder than I imagined."

" Tanner, breathe. We're at the bar." I whisper.

" Oh Jesus. I was scared, I thought something must have happened."

" Something like what?" Roxie asks. 

" Like maybe Lauren has been hit by a truck." Regina Foxx. I really need to gauge out her eyes and beat the shit out of her. 

" We're good." Roxie speaks before me, probably stopping my rude and savage comeback. 

" Sure. Lauren, any lead then?" Regina snickers on the phone. I can't believe she's trying to mock me. Things Caleb Shawn can do to a woman's brain. 

   He's so toxic. They are both toxic and I give them that. 

" Don't ask me shit. I don't work for you." I grit out. The bartender comes back and places two glasses of cocktails in front of us. It has a pink color. 

" Drink it and thank me later." She winks at us and saunters away.

   I nearly didn't want to drink mine. 

" Are you guys ordering drinks?" Tanner asks. 

" Yup." Roxie replies as she chugs down her drink little by little. " Shit. This tastes really good." She murmurs and I sip mine. 

   The taste is sharp and strong. I don't often drink alcohol 'cause I'm bad at drinking. I'm a lightweight and I don't act like myself when I'm drunk so I make sure not to drink too much. Roxie empties her glass and stands up. 

" Aren't we supposed to be investigating this place? Lauren, what exactly are you doing?" Regina's annoying voice comes through the earpiece and I'm tempted to deactivate mine. God please send that bitch away. Far away from my life before I murder her myself.

" See you around, Gray. And be careful." Roxie pats my back and leaves. 

  Game time. 

                           ***

    Twenty minutes at the bar and Reynold Boyce is not yet to be found. I'm getting bored, and tired and I'm already starting to think this is a failed mission. Why did I think I of all people can apprehend Reynold fucking Boyce. That man has all the tricks up his sleeves. I won't be surprised if he knows there are undercover agents working for the Miami police department in his club. 

" D'you mind if I join you?" A male voice speaks beside me. I turn around and I'm met with a very attractive man. 

   He wears a black suit with a white dress shirt. He has tattoos cause I can see some of them from the top of his dress shirt that is unbuttoned. He has unruly dark hair, styled pretty perfectly and he's got an accent. Russian, Italian. I can't point it out. And to my utmost surprise, this man is the man I've been waiting for tonight. Reynold fucking Boyce. Who knew he looked so hot up close. 

" Uh..." I stutter and he smirks, sitting right next to me.

" Yeah, you can sit." I mutter. He chuckles and pearl white teeth greets me. 

    I look away and sip my drink. 

" What are you drinking?" Reynold asks. 

    I raise my glass to inspect. 

" I really don't know. The bartender gave it to me."

" So you're here to get laid then?" 

I chuckle and bite my lip. 

" Why would you say that?"

" Your drink. It puts you in the mood I think." Shit! Put you in the mood, as in turns you on or what?

" I... I don't know. She just gave it to me."

  Reynold chuckles and nods, his left hand clad with a silver Rolex wrist watch and tattoos, taps on the counter.

" I'm Reynold. What's yours?"

" Uh..." I clear my throat. " Sasha." I smile at him. I can not believe I almost forgot my cover name. 

" I don't wanna think she's stuttering at the sight of Reynold. Some old boring male." Regina's voice comes in and I ignore it. I won't let her ruin my gig like she ruined my relationship with a man that I love. 

" Sorry to cut your balls, hon, Reynold Boyce is not a boring male." Roxie says and I remind myself to buy her dinner after this mission.

" So Sasha, first time here?" He ask me. 

" Yeah. I'm still learning new things and I heard this club is the best place to discover your true self. And your deepest desires." I whisper the last part. 

   Reynold smirks. 

" Ginger, more drinks please." Reynold calls out to the pixie haircut bartender. 

" I would like water. I've been drinking all night and another drink you won't like me again."

" So lame." Regina mutters. It's like she forgot we all can hear her jealous remarks. 

" Why don't you fuck off, Regina." Roxie yells at her. 

" Girls." Tanner tries to calm them now. 

" I didn't know you're fucking Lauren too alongside your boyfriend." Regina retorts. 

" How dare you, you bitch." Roxie yells at her. 

   See! See why I want to gouge out Regina Foxx's eyes. She's a low life scum. And a retarded loser. I angrily deactivate my earpiece to block out their quarrelling. Next time Chief Bradford won't think about pairing Regina with us 'cause I'm gonna make sure of it. 

" You're okay, Principessa?" 

  I nod. " Thanks, I'm okay. So you're Italian huh?"

" No. I'm a lot of things, Süße." He winks at me. 

   So the bad guy speaks a lot of languages then. That's good. Ginger brings the orders and gives me my water. 

" Thank you." I smile at him.

" Why don't you drink up while I take you somewhere to discover your deepest desires." Reynold whispers. His voice is deep and I don't know if it's the drink but I felt something weird. Like desire pulling deep inside me. This is crazy. 

  Am I sexually frustrated or what? Because after Caleb cheated on me which is literally a year now, I've never had another man. I just couldn't. It didn't even cross my mind. But sitting here with Reynold talking about deepest desires fuels that urge again. I reactivate my earpiece as Reynold watches me with interest, clearly oblivious to what I did. 

" I uh..." I stutter, not really knowing what to say. I'm bad at flirting. In fact I consider myself to be boring because Caleb actually said the same thing to me. Calling me vanilla and every awkward daddy's girl name you can think of. 

" Oh thank God, she's back on again." Tanner says from my earpiece. 

" And girls please quit it. Wait till this is all over. Reynold Boyce is a difficult man." Tanner adds. Why do I think Regina is trying to be a nuisance just so she could sabotage everything. 

" And I would like that." I say. " Actually, I don't know if it's inappropriate to tell you but I just wanna say it out loud. My boyfriend is the reason I'm out here tonight. He cheated on me with his co-worker and we were supposed to get married. He called me vanilla and said I was boring."

" Unbelievable." Regina mutters. 

" So I just wanna be someone else. I want to do crazy stuff and I don't give a fuck it it's bad. I just wanna be bad, wild, and reckless. I don't know you Mr. Reynolds..." I trail off, turning around to look at him as my knees touch his. He watches the action. 

" ... but, I want you to teach me bad things. I want to feel alive and move out of my comfort zone. At least for tonight. Show me what I've been missing all these years" I whisper, biting my lip. 

   Reynold is quiet and his face is stoic. He watches me quietly without any emotion. 

" It's okay if you don't find me attractive. Trust me, I won't be hurt. I've heard that a thous..."

" Drink up your water and meet me upstairs. Third room. Don't keep me waiting or I'll change my mind." He stands and I watch him disappear into the night crowd of dancing bodies. 

   I'm speechless as I watch the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Reynold, but he's gone. Upstairs, third room. 

" Guys." I whisper giddily as I bite my lip. 

" And she did it!" Roxie screams. " An alone time with Reynold. This is a big gig."

" Unbelievable." Regina mutters. 

" Yeah, eat shit, you retarded fuck." I spit out, drinking from my bottle of water. 

    Regina chuckles bitterly and I stand up. 

" I don't know if you know but, he's definitely going to have sex with you tonight. You just presented yourself to him as a lonely depressed, sex crazed woman." Fuck, I hate if she's right. But I don't care. I just seduced a man who for years no one has ever gotten close to and I caught his attention in less than ten minutes. At least I'm better than what they see me as. 

" Regina, enough with your hate speech. You've got Caleb now, leave Lauren alone. She did nothing to you. You're just being bitter and spiteful. We're a team and we're gonna work like one. If you can't cooperate, you can just excuse yourself." Tanner says something sensible for once in his life and I'm grateful. 

   I imagine Regina with her arms folded across her chest as she tries to hide her shameful defeated self. 

" Thanks, Tan." 

" You're welcome. Go win us that bad guy, Gray." I smile as I climb the stairs and I appear in the hallway. 

   

   There are just six rooms here. Three on either side so I'm expecting Reynold Boyce's room to be the last. I open the first one, hoping to find anything suspicious. 

    The door won't budge. Fuck it's locked. I take out my emergency pin from inside my trench coat and begin to pick the lock. I learnt this from my dad and I'm pretty good at it. It clicks open and I take out my pin, sneaking inside the room and it's dark. I turn on the light and the room comes to existence. 

   Oh my God. I quickly and quietly shut the door. There are girls here. They are so young and they are barely clothed, and their wrists and ankles are tied with ropes. They look to be around eighteen to 22. Jesus. Their mouths are sealed with tapes and they look like they haven't bathed or eaten for days. 

" Lauren, what's up."

" This is crazy." The girls are whimpering now and I put my forefinger to my lips, shushing them. They quiet down. 

" Where are you?" 

" In a room. The first room to Reynold Boyce's office. Tanner, there are girls here. Tied and held captive." I say. .

   

   I count the girls and they're thirteen in number. All in different skin and complexion. I approach a dark skinned girl and peel out her tape. 

" Don't scream." I whisper and she nods. I pull out my phone and take pictures of them, sending it to Roxie and Tanner. I click on the sound recorder on my phone to record their talk.

" What happened? Why are you guys here?" I ask her. 

" We were kidnapped. I was brought here five days ago. This man always comes into this room and he'll take us to a room here where there's an auction every Mondays and Wednesdays and men will purchase us."

" Guys, did you hear this?" I ask. 

" Fuck, yes." Roxie answers. 

" This is crazy." Tanner mutters. I'm guessing he has seen the pictures I sent.

" How old are you?"

" 19." She says. I breathe out. 

" Do you know this man's name?"

" No. I can identify him if I see him." She says. I nod and pull out a picture of Reynold and show it to the girl. She nods swiftly.

" That's the man. That's the man who would take us to the auction."

" Good." I peel out another girl's tape. She looks Asian. 

" Is she right?" I ask the Asian girl. 

" Yes. He sold my sister four days ago." She begins to weep. 

" He's so heartless." Tanner mutters. And hot. Insanely gorgeous. 

   Fuck's sake Lauren, focus on the mission at hand. I put their tapes back and stand up. They begin to weep. 

" Shh." They stop sobbing. They look scared. " I'm not here to hurt you. I work for the MPD and we're here to rescue you girls okay. I just want you to stay calm till tomorrow and we'll be here to take you out. If we try to make an arrest tonight and bring in a rescue team, things might get shitty and some of you might get hurt and shot in the process because it's heavily guarded. So do me a favor and stay calm. Can you girls do that for me?"

  They nod. 

" Good. You're all brave women and I'll get you all out of here. I promise." I flash a small smile at them and they nod. 

    I quickly sent the voice recording to Tanner as a souvenir.

   I hurriedly leave the room and lock the door only to be faced with the devil himself. 

    Reynold fucking Boyce.