All You Desire (42 page)

“
What?
That's not possible! . . . Okay,
fine
. I'll be right there. But make sure
she
knows this wasn't part of the deal,” Calum snipped. Then his tone sweetened abruptly. “Look, I'm sorry, handsome, but I didn't catch your name.”

“Gavin,” Haven heard his fan say.

“Gavin, it's been great talking to you, but I'm late for an audition uptown. Why don't I give you a ride?”

“Thanks,” Gavin gushed. “But I live just around the corner.”

“So?” Calum asked, his meaning perfectly clear.

“Then sure,” Gavin replied, his voice low and conspiratorial.

“Hey!” It was Alex. “Calum, you big whore. Were you about to leave while I was still in the bathroom?”

“Don't worry, I'll pay you back for the food,” Calum said.

“That's what you
always
say. Where are you going?”

“On a pleasure cruise,” Calum told her. “Tell Haven I said sayonara.”

“Where
is
that girl?” Haven heard Alex ask. “She left her phone.”

“Give it to me. I'll make sure that she gets it,” Calum said.

CHAPTER FORTY

Haven made it out the back door of the restaurant and around the corner just in time to see Calum and his boy toy tumble into a cab. Haven jumped in the next available taxi. Her car followed Calum's for ten blocks before the first cab pulled over to the side of the road. Gavin stumbled out of the curbside door. The pitiful expression on his cherubic face made it clear that all his dreams had been crushed.

“Don't stop yet,” Haven told her driver. “Looks like we have a bit farther to go.”

The meter read $35.15 when the cab finally pulled up behind Calum's car on the corner of 114th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

“You getting out, lady?” the driver inquired.

“In a second,” Haven said passing two twenties and a ten through the partition. “You can keep the change if you tell me which building that guy enters.”

“Isn't that the TV star? You some sorta stalker?”

“You want the fifteen-dollar tip or what?”

“West side of the street, two doors down. Whoa!” the man suddenly yelped.

“What?” Haven demanded.

“Looks like your friend has a few unexpected guests.” Haven peeked out the window. Five police officers had surrounded Calum with their guns drawn. Slowly, he sank to his knees and placed his hands behind his neck. The cops handcuffed Calum and dragged him back to his feet. His beautiful green pants were blackened with winter sludge. “Holy shit,” said the cab driver, holding his phone out the window. “I gotta get a picture of this.”

Haven jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the scene. Calum saw her heading for him and smirked. He didn't appear to be shocked or chagrined. The police were guiding him toward a patrol car when Haven finally reached him.

“Back up, miss,” one of the cops ordered.

“It's okay,” a voice said behind her. Haven didn't need to turn around. She recognized the Brooklyn accent. “Give the girl a second.”

“Where's Beau, you asshole?” she growled. She wanted to punch him, kick him, break his pretty little nose.

Calum looked back at the house behind him. “Gone,” he said, completely unruffled. “I guess you'll need to keep looking.”

“Gone?” Haven asked. “What do you mean
gone
? If something's happened to him, I swear I'll—”

“You'll what? Have your boyfriend kill me? Just because I've been playing house with a big blond stud?”

“But
why
, Calum? Why would you do something like this?”

“Don't act like a poor little victim, Haven. No one is innocent here. Especially not you.”

Haven was about to demand what he meant when inspiration struck. “I have twenty OS points. I can hire someone to beat the truth out of you. I'll have him do things that plastic surgery won't be able to fix.”

“Isn't that sweet?” Calum cackled. “So willing to turn to the dark side to save her best friend. Go ahead and try, Haven. Soon, no one will dare take that job no matter how many points you offer.”

“Don't worry, Miss Moore. They'll make Mr. Daniels talk at the station,” Commissioner Williams assured her.

“Will there be a cavity search, Gordon?” Calum winked at the police chief. “I've always wanted to try one of those.”

“Just get him in the damn car,” Commissioner Williams growled at his men.

“How did you know it was Calum Daniels?” Haven asked the police chief once Calum was locked inside the police car.

“We got an anonymous tip an hour ago. The caller suggested we check out this building. We found belongings and identification belonging to Beau Decker in one of the apartments, but he was already gone. The super told us the apartment belongs to Calum Daniels. It's not his primary residence, just a crash pad.”

“Where's Beau now?”

“We don't know, Miss Moore. But we'll find him. Calum Daniels won't last an hour under interrogation.”

“Would it be okay if I took a look inside his apartment?”

Although he didn't appear too fond of the idea, Gordon Williams could hardly refuse. “Just wait until all my guys are gone and go up to the fourth floor,” he said, barely moving his lips. “But don't touch
anything
, okay?”

Haven marched over to a stoop across the street and waited for the cops to vacate the scene. The crowd of civilians on the sidewalk had scattered after the handsome television actor had been dragged away in handcuffs. Haven stared at the building where Beau had passed the previous weeks, and tried to arrange the facts she'd gathered into some sort of order. If Calum Daniels had been holding Beau captive, why wasn't he still in there? Where had he gone?

“Mind if I join you?” Haven glanced up to find Mia Michalski, looking like she'd just stepped out of a shampoo ad. “I'm Mia. We never officially met.”

“Oh!” Haven exclaimed, feeling awkward and exposed. “Right! Yeah, sure, have a seat,” she said, making room for Mia and hoping the beautiful girl wouldn't attract too much attention from male passersby.

“Did they find Beau?”

“No. But he's been here. All his stuff is inside. I'm waiting to check out the apartment for myself.”

“I'm sorry this took so long,” Mia said. “I wish I'd found the address quicker.”

“Wait—
you
were the one who called the police?” If she hadn't been sitting down, the news would have knocked Haven off her feet. Iain's girl detective had succeeded where everyone else had failed. The meetings with the Horae, the evenings with Adam—none of them had been necessary.

“My partner and I broke into Beau's accounts,” Mia said. “E-mail, Facebook, all the rest. He'd deleted his conversations with Roy Bradford, but nothing ever really disappears online. We found what we were looking for early this morning.”

“Why didn't the police think of that? Or the FBI?”

“The authorities have to play by certain rules. I don't. I'm part of the best hacking team in the business. If one of us can't do something, the other one usually can. But both of us are too young to work for the cops, and my partner prefers to be paid in sexual favors.”

“
What
?” Haven blurted out.

Mia winked at her. “It's my girlfriend. She's a genius.”

“Girlfriend?”

Mia seemed to enjoy Haven's bewilderment. “Ha! I think your head might implode any second now. Iain told me you asked if we'd ever hooked up. I had a good laugh about that, but I bet you didn't find the idea so funny. When I saw you here, I figured I should set a few things straight. So did Iain even tell you why I took this case? I mean, aside from the fact that he begs so sweetly?”

“No.”

“I figured. He's like that. Getting himself into trouble just to protect a girl's honor. You see, a while back, I had a little, bitty drug problem. I snorted through all my OS points and found myself on Padma Singh's hit list. She told me to make my body available to high-ranking members, or I could face the gray men. I was seventeen years old. I didn't know what to do. I tried begging Adam for help, but he wouldn't give me the time of day. I didn't even know Iain back then. He heard about my problem from Padma, and he gave me the points I needed to survive. He told Padma they were payment for sex, but Iain only asked me to do two things—get off the drugs and promise I'd never set foot in the OS again. Believe it or not, I actually tried to argue. I was hooked on the Society's sick little game. So Iain took a chance and told me all about Adam and his club. He could have been executed if I'd ratted him out, but Iain knew the truth was what I needed to hear. To this day, I don't understand why he risked his life to help someone he barely knew.”

“I understand why Iain did it,” Haven said. “He just thought it was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, at first I thought he'd expect me to pay him back. But he didn't. He never asked for a single favor until now. And as far as I know, he never told another soul about my escape from the Society—not even you. I mean, let's face it: How many guys would give up a chance to make themselves look like Prince Charming?”

“Not many,” Haven admitted.

And that was it, she realized at last.
That
was the difference between Adam and Iain—the one she'd felt but hadn't been able to pinpoint. Iain was always Iain—even when no one was watching. But Adam's benevolence was strictly for show. Every improvement he'd made at the OS had been made to please Haven. Every little kindness had been a step toward winning her heart. It flattered Haven to think she was responsible for Adam's transformation. But Adam was hoping to be rewarded for his efforts. There was nothing selfish about what Iain had done for Mia. He had kept Mia's secrets though they could have proven his own innocence. Iain had done the right thing without expecting anything in return. And that was why Haven's heart would always be drawn to him.

“Heads up.” Mia pointed across the street. The last of the cop cars was pulling away from the curb. “Your friends are leaving. Have a look around, and let me know if there's anything more I can do.”

“Thanks,” Haven said. “You have no idea how much you've already helped me.”

“There's no need to thank me,” Mia told her. “I've been hoping I'd get a chance to repay the favor.”

 

THE POLICE HAD left the apartment door unlocked. Haven ducked under a strip of crime scene tape and into another era. The shades had been pulled, and the living room was dark. As Haven fumbled her way toward a lamp in the corner, she tripped over something large lying in the middle of the floor. With the lights on, she could see it was a tiger-skin rug with amber glass eyes and polished fangs. The other furnishings—heavy chairs upholstered in velvet, leather-bound books stacked neatly on shelves, a pair of old boxing gloves hanging by the fireplace, crystal decanters half filled with scotch—looked as though they'd been stolen from a bachelor's apartment circa 1910.

A portrait hung above the mantel. It showed a debonair man in his early thirties, his hair slicked back and a rakish grin on his face. Nearby, a framed cover of
Motion Picture
magazine featured an illustration of the same fellow in a tweed jacket, a pipe in one hand and wisps of pale blue smoke issuing from his lips. Wallace Reid. The silent-film actor Calum claimed he'd once been. Haven suddenly realized that the apartment was decorated with a dead man's things. Calum had created a shrine to his former self.

Inside one of the two small bedrooms, Haven found Beau's suitcase open on the bed. It looked full, and he'd left his wallet behind. There was no sign of struggle, and the bedroom door lacked a lock.

“I'm sorry, Haven.”

Haven wheeled around to find Adam behind her. In his timeless dark overcoat and charcoal scarf, he fit in well with the antique furnishings. He looked tired, and Haven wondered if he sensed what she felt—that the bond between them was weakening. Mia had opened Haven's eyes to the truth, just as Iain had once done for her. Haven could see that Adam's transformation was nothing but a performance for her benefit. And now that Haven had been given a glimpse behind the scenes, she knew the show would never be the same.

“Gordon Williams called me before they raided the apartment,” he said. “I'm afraid the news took me by surprise. I never expected Calum to betray me this way.”

Haven crossed her arms and watched him through narrowed eyes. “Did you have something to do with all of this, Adam? Padma told me that Calum Daniels is your little lapdog.”

“When did you speak with Padma Singh?”

“She followed me to a diner this afternoon. She wants money to keep her mouth shut.”

A murderous look passed over Adam's face. “I'll take care of Padma. I should have seen to it first thing this morning, but you were my most pressing concern. Padma knows enough to create plenty of trouble, but she doesn't know
everything
, Haven. And she knows absolutely nothing about Calum Daniels.”

“Maybe you should tell
me
what there is to know.”

Adam's eyes made a rapid tour of the apartment before he began to speak. “Calum's mother brought him to the Society ten years ago. Until then, I'd never considered inviting children to join the OS. But the woman wouldn't take no for an answer. She had concocted a dozen stories about past lives her son remembered. The boy had heard the lies so many times that he believed them himself. His mother desperately wanted Calum to be special. And he was—just not in the way that his mother had hoped. I could tell in an instant that he hadn't lived before.”