Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"So what are you going to do about Adrienne?" he continued.

"Same thing I'm going to do for the other three who have disappeared - try to find whoever is responsible."

"Trying is not good enough."

"Well, it'll have to be." I paused. "Where did you get that picture of the man that was in the files you sent?"

"Found it on her desk."

"At home?"

"Yes." He frowned. "Why is this important? Have you found out who he was?"

"Not yet. Was there anything else on her desk? Notes or anything?"

"If there were any notes, it'd be on her laptop. Which," he added, "has disappeared along with her."

She'd had the laptop on the island, so her disappearance had to have happened sometime between her stepping off the island boat and getting the plane back to Melbourne.

Was that drawing of the man she'd bumped into at the club, and was he connected to the disappearances? Or something else?

"There were no notes on the drawing itself?"

"Nothing at all."

Then how the hell did he get the name Jim Denton? I doubted that he just plucked it out of thin air. "If there's nothing else, then you and I have nothing more to talk about. So you can just fuck off and leave me alone."

He glowered at me for several seconds, then said, "Patrin and Kye are coming to Melbourne. Patrin wants a full report."

Great. Just what I needed. One arrogant son of a bitch harassing me in person. "Who the hell is Kye?"

"His bodyguard."

"So the great Patrin needs a bodyguard?" The thought cheered me no end.

"Patrin has been helping police with certain inquiries and, as a result, has been receiving threats. Hence Kye's presence."

"And these threats have absolutely nothing to do with Adrienne's disappearance?" No.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. He should be in Melbourne tomorrow. I expect you to be helpful."

"If Patrin comes anywhere near me, I'll break his fucking neck."

"Remember your mother," he said, and disappeared from sight.

Bastard, bastard, bastard.

I blew out a breath, then drained the rest of the beer and tossed the can into the trash. The buzz of anger and alcohol running through my system suggested that while I might need to sleep, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. For several seconds I internally wrestled with the idea of going to the Blue Moon and catching some action, but Kellen's image kept swimming through my mind. If I wanted to explore the depths of our relationship, then I would have to start getting serious. Maybe not commit-to-a-solo-relationship serious - not just yet, anyway - but I would have to start proving to him that he - that we - were important.

Giving up the clubs would be hard. I loved them, loved the feel of them, loved the passion and excitement within them - but if I had to ditch the Blue Moon to prove that I didn't want to lose what I had with Kellen, then I would.

Because there was a whole lot of passion and excitement there, too.

So I settled for the next best thing to the Blue Moon - a hot, scented bath and several bars of chocolate.

Mirror Image sat in the hub of an industrial estate, far away from any residential area, nullifying any complaints they might otherwise have gotten over the bass-heaving music issuing from the joint.