Undercover Submissive

Undercover Submissive

Michelle Hughes

© United States 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

©2012
by
Tears of Crimson Books

Printed in the United States of America

Hughes, Michelle
, 1969-

1
Judging

Walking into the police station, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.  Before last week she had only visited this place when renewing her driver's license.  Making her way up to the glass partition she waited for the officer to notice her.  When his eyes found hers she could notice his expression change to one of frustration. 

"How can I help you," his voice exasperated because he knew the woman was here to badger the detective again, just as she had every day for the last week.

"I'm here to speak with Detective Ingram," fighting to keep her eyes level with his.  In her normal life, she wasn't the type of person who enjoyed confrontation.  Hiding behind her books as the local librarian gave her a sense privacy that she enjoyed.  This wasn't about what she needed right now though, her sister was missing and she had every intention of finding her.

"Have a seat, Ms. Miller, I'll let Ingram know your waiting," this was sure to make his day, he thought.  He felt a little sympathy for the lady, but a missing persons on a stripper wasn't going to get much notice around this place.  They were overwhelmed with unsolved murders, abductions, and gang-related activity as it was and most cases like this one usually ended up with the so-called victim returning after they got off a drug-induced stupor.

Cayce gave the officer a small smile and began pacing the waiting area in frustration.  Seven days and not one word from her sister and it was almost driving her crazy.  Cait had disappeared for a few days at a time, but normally there was at least a phone call to let her know she was alive.  She just knew something horrible had happened and refused to rest until she found her.  They may have been like night and day, but she still loved her twin sister.

It still amazed her how differently the past had shaped both of their lives.  They had both suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their stepfather in their teenage years, it had been a year of hell that Cayce
never wanted to relive.  Her mother had been working two jobs and was never home, so she couldn't even blame her for not noticing the signs of what was going on around her. 

Cait on the other hand hated their mother and thought she should rot in hell for allowing such a thing to happen.  She had been the one that finally told her mother what was going on, and she left with them that very night.  For Cait, that wasn't enough.  She wanted their mother to pay for not protecting them, and spent the next five years making her life a living hell.

While Cayce had retrieved into her shell and refused to date, Cait had slept with any man that paid her the slightest bit of attention.  Cayce devoted her time to studies and went on to get a college degree, her twin dropped out of high school and took a job as a stripper as soon as she reached the legal age limit. 

They had absolutely nothing in common except that one year of torture that bound them together like prisoners of war.  Cayce knew her sister was just dealing with what they had suffered in her own way, and she never judged her for her life.  Even after years of therapy neither of them were truly whole. 

As far as Cayce was concerned, she had to save Cait.  No matter what anyone else thought about her twin, she had a beautiful soul.  It didn't matter what she did for a living, there was a longing in her sister, just like in herself that just needed to be loved.  She didn't understand how Cait could want men looking at her in such a way, but that didn't dampen the love she had for her.

Josh was not having one of his best days and being notified that the stripper's sister was waiting was not making it any better.  Two children had gone missing in the last week and he knew his window of opportunity was closing fast if he wanted to find them still alive.  Calling out to the front desk, he told Butch at the front desk to send her back.  The sooner she was gone the faster he could get back to the real work at hand he thought in frustration.

"Ms. Miller, the Detective says you can come on back,"
Butch hit the button on the desk that would let her through the door. 

Pulled out of her memories, she gave a small smile to the officer and walked back toward Detective Ingram's office.  She knocked lightly on the glass door, hoping he had something new on her sister's case.

"Come in," Josh called out while running a hand through his dark blond hair.  He hadn't slept well in two days.  Spending most of his time here or out looking for leads on those missing kids didn't afford him much off time.

"Hello Detective," Cayce forced her eyes to meet his, hating how awkward she still felt around the male species.

"Ms. Miller, please have a seat," he tried to keep his tone polite even though he was wishing she was gone so he could get back to work.  He looked up at her and noted that she was a very attractive woman but everything about her expression said hands off.  No problem there, he thought, he had little time for his own needs much less that of a partner.  "How can I help you today?"

"I was hoping you had some new leads on my sister's case," sitting down in the little metal chair, she clenched her hands nervously in her lap.

"I wish I had some news to give you, Ms. Miller, but no new information has come forward." 

"Have you talked to the people at the club she worked at?"  Cayce was getting desperate, after seven days it was pretty apparent that Cait hadn't just went off on another one her escapades.

"We have interviewed all the staff, Ms. Miller," he wondered if the young lady before him had any idea how useless such questioning was.  The people in those types of businesses weren't very forthcoming with information to law enforcement.

"Someone must know something," standing up she stomped her foot childishly in aggravation. Remembering herself, she quickly sat down as a deep blush covered her cheeks.  "Forgive me for my outburst," she whispered in embarrassment.

He wondered if she had any idea how sexy she was when she let her anger rise.  Shaking his head, he thought to himself he definitely needed a vacation.  Angry at his own frame of mind he shook his head.  "I will call you if I discover anything, Ms. Miller, now I do have other work to do here." 

"Detective, are you even attempting to find leads," Cayce was frustrated but even as the words left her mouth she regretted them.  It wasn't like her to step outside the boundaries.

His eyebrow rose at her question and he fought to remain calm.  "Ms. Miller at the moment I've working on 15 unsolved cases, two of them involving young children and so if you ask me if my top priority is your sister who will probably show up in a few days, then the
answer is no!"  He hadn't meant to be so abrupt, but her sister was not his top priority, she wasn't even his middle priority.  He only had so many resources available to him and only so much time in a day.

Feeling the heat find her face, she splayed her hands across his desk and looked him straight in the eye.  "My sister may not mean anything to you detective, but she deserves the same consideration that any other person would get."  "I expect you to do your job, and if you can't then I will report you!"  Turning she walked out of the office feeling proud of herself for finally standing up to someone.

Josh could only stare after her as she left having no idea there was that type of spunk in the little lady.  Perhaps he had been a little unfair in his handling of this case, he thought to himself.  He would try to put some of the rookies on some leads later this afternoon, he decided.  The woman was right, he couldn't deny that even with her sister's past she deserved the same attention any other citizen of this county would get. 

Cayce was fuming as she left the police department.  There had to be something she could do, she thought to herself.  Making her way back to the apartment she and Cait had shared, she decided to go through everything her sister owned and hopefully turn up something that would help find her.  She had left everything just the way her sister had, in case the police ever decided to check over the room.  It was pretty apparent to her that they couldn't be bothered.  She was her sister's only hope of being found, and she refused to fail her.

With a sense of determination she parked her car and walked inside, determined to unravel some clues.  Going through Cait's personal belongings made everything seem so much more urgent.  Tears filled her eyes but she refused to give in to emotion.  Her sister was coming back, she reminded herself with a mental shake.  Somewhere in this room there was something that would give her the information she needed. 

Refusing to leave any hiding place untouched, she spent the next hour going through every receipt and bank statement her sister had.  Fighting back the urge to organize, she glanced up at the jewelry box that sat on the dresser top.  When they were girls they would leave notes underneath a piece of torn fabric telling each other what shifts their stepfather was working so they could disappear. It couldn't be that easy, Cayce thought.

Lifting the top of the old box, she held her breath as she slipped her fingers underneath the torn place.  Her fingers pulled out a business card and she could only look at the name confused.  Reading the information she felt her heart race, Dylan St. Clair owner of St. Clair Industries, with a private phone number scrawled in by hand.  How would her sister know St. Clair?  He was one of those millionaire playboys that the press loved to talk about.

She remembered his picture vividly from the cover of some tabloid at the grocery store last week.  Unable to recall the story, Cayce found it amusing that she did remember those mesmerizing hazel eyes of his.  She was definitely not one to be blown away by good looks, but something about how he looked on that cover made her heart race for a few seconds.  Maybe it was an Omen, she thought to herself.

Placing the card on the dresser, she decided to call the detective with the information after she finished her search.  There was only one place left to look and she walked over to the bed.  Lifting up a corner of the mattress, she let her hand skim along the inside edges.  As her hand felt a book, she pulled it out and glanced at it while biting her lip. 

Her sister's diary was the one thing she didn't feel comfortable searching through, and here it was in her hands.  If these had been different circumstances she would have stuffed it right back under the mattress, but she needed answers.  Thankfully it wasn't locked with a key, she thought to herself as she curled up on Cait's bed to start reading.

Dates were scrawled at the top of every page in her sisters flowing curled handwriting.  Just looking at the words had her heart aching.  She felt guilty for looking at her sister's private thoughts and decided to start on a date that was only a week before her disappearance.  The words on the pages shocked her to the core and her hand covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.