SCENE ONE
A Call After Midnight
Ripped from a sound sleep, Alain answered the phone with a groggy, “Danvers here.”
“Captain Danvers?” The throaty female voice seemed barely able to speak.
“Yes, this is Danvers.”
“I’m sorry to bother you so late, sir. You must have been sleeping.”
“Yes, like a baby, who is this?”
“M-Meredith, Meredith Shaw, sir. From the office,” she paused, and when he didn’t
respond, went on, “there’s been an incident.”
Meredith Shaw… yes, the pretty brunette clerk in his unit. Long hair, lovely body,
whimpering sort of female angst that had on more than one occasion caused his cock to
engage. But not now. Not at two am.
“Incident? Where? What is this about?”
“I thought I should call you first. It’s my roommate, Kat. She’s disappeared.”
“You’re calling me in the middle of the night about a missing person?” he gruffly
barked, as he ran his hand through his thick greying hair.
“No, sir. We think she’s been kidnapped from…” she suddenly stopped.
“From where?”
Her voice quavered miserably as she replied, “The X Club, sir.”
“You’re there now?” he was strangely aghast.
“Yes, sir. I think you’ll want to be here, too. I’m sure you’ll be called about this…and
I could have called the station first, but I thought I should reach you now, you know the
discretion thing…” she was rambling on and he wasn’t hearing very much of her confused
blather, although he was finally getting his wits about him. Sitting up in bed helped.
“Is Ms. Argentine in the vicinity, Miss Shaw?”
“You know her, sir?”
“Would you just put her on the phone, please?”
There was a lot of shuffling about he could hear over the connection, as if the girl
were walking. Then background voices and strange noises until he finally heard Ana
Argentine’s lush, unhurried pitch.
“Alain this is Ana speaking.”
“Ana, it’s the middle of the night…why this call?”
“Been awhile, I’d say, hum?”
“No personal revelations, please, especially not in front of Miss Shaw. Why is she
calling?”
“You’ll want to be here, Alain,” her tone less sumptuous now. “Kat Bloom is missing.
Meredith’s roommate.”
“And what’s wrong with filing a missing person’s report?”
“The girl, the missing girl, she only took the name Kat Bloom about nine months ago when
she had a falling out with her father,” Ana paused, “but I rather not say more…not over
the phone. I don’t trust you or your department, not to have my place bugged. But you can
trust, Captain Danvers, that your presence will be invaluable in this situation.”
“Yes, well give me a few minutes, in the meantime, try not to say too much in Miss
Shaw’s presence.”
“You have my word.”
“Yes. Right.”
Meredith Shaw heard just one side of the conversation between Alain and the X-Club’s
owner Ana Argentine. But her curiosity was piqued. Her boss must get around if he knew
Mistress Ana by name. Maybe it was right to have called him. But he didn’t seem very happy
about the situation. But then, maybe Meredith had just learned exactly what she wanted to
know about the captain. Already her belly was feeling that familiar warm, squeamish rush
she associated with her boss.
Even in middle age with greying hair and a ruddy face, Alain Danvers was a handsome man.
Not necessarily the kind to turn a woman’s head. He was too closed, too curt for that on
most occasions. But he was a man’s man sort of police captain, observant, clear-thinking
and decisive. Strong, broad-shouldered and direct. He could peer over his glasses with a
stare to cause an underling to shrivel, or reflect his amusement with no more than the
slightly raised eyebrow, and a turn of his lip. Only after a few beers, only after work on
a good day, could his grim look become a real smile, or a real smile turn into a genuine
laugh.
On the other hand, Alain Danvers might be perfect for a woman seeking a dominant force
to mature and guide her—which was probably why Meredith Shaw thought to call him first,
before she called the station to report the crime. He might also have some tact
considering the current situation in which she found herself—he would have found out
sooner or later about her association with the X-Club. She couldn’t hide that fact, not
now. But despite the way Kat’s disappearance was going to thrust her into the proximity of
her boss, this had been a bad night, a very bad night.
Kat was gone. She’d disappeared into thin air and Meredith believed that she was the
only one who could have prevented that from happening.
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