84
“Come in,” I said at the knock on my office door. It’s been two weeks after the general meeting and things haven’t yet calmed down. There were plenty of things that needed my attention and everyday I had people showing up at the office with requests or thank you gifts, members coming to introduce themselves and problems to sort out.
“Good morning Sire Ryder, if you’re busy at the moment I can come back,” the woman said as she stood in the doorway.
“Not at all, please take a seat,” I said to her.
“My name’s Linda Wyatt, my husband used to be the lair doctor,” she introduced herself.
“It’s nice to meet you Linda, how can I help you?” I asked her.
Link was out in the field, taking meetings with business interests and Megan was at work. She’d hired staff for the house two days after moving in and I was grateful for having her take charge of the house.
“Before Andrew died, he was busy investigating my daughter’s disappearance,” she said.
“He was? I’m sorry I’ve gone through all his paperwork but I didn’t see that,” I said to her.
“I know you’re new to all of this but she’s been missing for months…” she said and I could hear her voice break.
“Tell me everything you know,” I said as I stood up and closed the office door for privacy.
“Brenda had just turned sixteen, she’d gone to school in the morning and when she didn’t return that afternoon I started calling everyone. She’d never even made it to school that morning and they assumed that she wasn’t feeling well. Andrew told me not to open a missing person’s case, that he would handle it with Chief Komanski. The Chief met with me once and every time I asked Andrew for any developments he just told me that they were still looking for her. She vanished without a trace and I fear that she might be dead.” She had started crying at the end.
“I’ll go see the Chief myself Linda,” I said to her.
“I think something else is going on. Brenda isn’t the first girl to go missing. Every year one sixteen year old girl disappears in this area. None of them have ever been found,” she said as she looked at me pleadingly.
“Every year?” I asked her.
“Yes, I made a list of other families who also lost daughters,” she said and took a piece of paper from her jacket pocket.
“Linda, I’m going to need a picture of Brenda and something personal she touched,” I said to her.
“I’ve kept her room exactly as she left it,” she said to me.
“Write down your number as well so I can contact you with any developments,” I said to her.
“Thank you, I wanted to wait until you were settled in but I just miss her so much and I’m so worried,” she said.
“You should’ve come sooner,” I said my heart tightening with emotion as I watched the broken woman in front of me.
I sat behind my desk lost in thought after Linda left my office. There was a definite pattern but I’d speak to the other families too. I had goosebumps all over my body as I thought about what that could possibly mean, one sixteen year old girl every year.
“This is Lucas,” he answered his phone.
“Dad, we might have a problem,” I said to him.
“What kind of problem?” he asked me.
“I just had a woman in my office, her daughter went missing a few months ago right after she turned sixteen and apparently she’s not the first girl to go missing, none of them have been found and she felt like Andrew was stalling her,” I said.
“Shit,” he said.
“I’m already thinking the worst,” I said to him.
“Either he sold those girls or he knew who took them,” Lucas said.
“That’s what my gut’s telling me,” I said to him.
“I assume you’ve gone through everything in his office and found nothing related to this?” he asked me.
“Not even an inkling, I’m going to arrange to talk to the other families, see what similarities there are. Where the hell do I begin to look for these girls?” I said feeling dismayed.
“Someone has to know something, I’ll spread the word among my network,” he said.
“Thanks Dad, I knew Andrew was an asshole but using your own lair members or selling them? What the fuck kind of Sire does that?” I asked him.
“You remember the McIntyre story I always told you. There are sick fuckers out there,” he said to me.
“Let me know if you hear anything,” I said to him and we ended the call.
I looked at the list of names Linda had left me and accessed their member files for their addresses. This wasn’t something you did over the phone. I grabbed my jacket and keys and headed out to my car. There were three other families who’s daughters had gone missing, never hearing from them again.
I felt exhausted by the time I came back home after meeting with the three families. Their stories were similar. They had all disappeared right after turning sixteen, all heading out somewhere and never arriving. Gone without a trace which didn’t make sense, there had to be something to this.
Link was in the living room watching a movie and I sank down on the couch opposite him. It was almost dinner time and Megan walked into the living room and we both sat up and stared at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, you just look… wow,” I said to her as she smiled.
“My poor heart Megan,” Link said as we both stared at her.
“Thank you, I’ll see you guys later,” she said and turned towards the door with her purse in her hand.
“Wait, where are you going?” I asked her.
“I have a date,” she said.
“Lucky guy,” Link said as she blushed.
“What’s his name and where are you going?” I asked her.
“Geez Ryder are you my father?” she asked.
“What if he’s a weirdo?” I asked her.
“Fine, geez, his name’s Alex Redford, he’s a temp teacher at the school and we’re going to dinner in town,” she said.
“Don’t put out on the first date,” I said to her as she blushed like crazy.
“Not everyone’s a man slut like you Ryder,” she said and I heard the front door close behind her as Link laughed.
“I’m not a man slut,” I said as I settled back down on the couch.
“No comment,” Link said as I glared at him.
“I’m not!” I said adamantly.
“Dude if we went to a bar right now, I know for a fact that within an hour you’ll have some girl grinding on your lap,” he said with a laugh.
“You want to go to a bar?” I asked him as he almost fell off the couch laughing.
“It is Friday night,” he said.
“Good but let’s go out of town, I don’t want to accidently be grinding a lair member,” I said.
“It’s never good to shit where you eat,” he said as we grabbed our jackets and headed outside.
“Thanks, now I’ve got that image in my head.”
We headed to North Utica which was only twenty-six miles away and parked in front of the open air restaurant that had live music with pool tables, slot machines and an excellent vibe at the bar. We ordered drinks and Link disappeared into the crowd. Like I said, he knew a lot of people, so I stayed at the bar and observed.
The bar lady was hot and we flirted with our eyes only. There was a group of women having a hen night and they were already wasted. I wouldn’t necessarily go there, they were human. I didn’t have anything against humans, but they tended to be more emotional and clingier than the women I usually picked up.
My eye caught hers across the room and I instantly knew that she was dragonkin. She was with the hen party and she seemed interested. I stayed at the bar for another ten minutes and then went outside with my drink to get some fresh air. Link was missing in action but no doubt getting some action. I considered going home and leaving him at the bar.
“Hi,” she said behind me.
“Hi,” I said back as I focused my attention on her.
“Didn’t think we’d run into dragonkin at a predominant human bar,” she said with a smile.
“Didn’t think I’d find our kind mingling so freely with humans,” I said to her.
“Anyway, the reason I followed you out here, we want to help out our friend, would you mind chatting her up a bit?” she asked me and I burst out laughing.
“That’s really weird,” I said to her.
“I know, but she just got dumped by her boyfriend and she could use a little positivity,” she said.
“And you think some random guy chatting her up is going to change her life?” I asked her.
“Well yes,” she said.
“I don’t hook up with humans,” I said.
“But you wouldn’t be hooking up, just a little flirtation,” she said.
“I don’t flirt for nothing,” I said as she looked at me.
“Please! Come on, help a girl out here,” she said and I sighed.
She showed me her friend who was actually really hot and I moved in for the kill. I bought her a drink and then four more and she was laughing and acting all flirtatious after an hour. After another ten minutes she was ready to follow me anywhere.
“Take your underwear off,” I said to her. We were standing outside next to my truck which was parked a few spots away from the other cars. The music was loud and there was nobody else but us outside. She complied willingly as I picked her up and pressed her against the side of the truck.
I was breaking my own rule but this woman had me so aroused that I needed to find release and fast. I unzipped my jeans with one hand and pushed her skirt up with the other hand and then I was inside her. Her back slammed into the side of the truck and I had my hand over her mouth. She was pretty loud even if it was a turn on I didn’t want someone to find us.
She climaxed fairly quickly and I pulled out before releasing. We stood next to the truck for a moment catching our breaths before she pulled her underwear on again. This was where I had to end it now, she’d hate me for a few days but in the long run she’d get over her ex quicker by being mad at me.
“Thanks, you can go now," I said feeling like the biggest asshole ever.
“What?” she asked as she looked at me in disbelief.
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