“I’ll try.” A haunted look filled her gaze.
“There are programs that can help you kick your drug habit,” Lacey said gently.
Nicole’s face hardened. “I don’t need help. I’m fine.”
“Okay.” Lacey knew only too well it was senseless trying to help someone who didn’t want to accept help.
“So, when did you last see Rory?” Gray asked, his voice growing impatient.
“Last Saturday night,” Nicole told him. “Just as she was headed out to meet her boyfriend at that kink club.”
“Whip It?” Lacey asked. She still couldn’t believe Travis had never told her he owned a BDSM club. Maybe because he’d have to confess to having named it Whip It. Not exactly discreet.
“Yeah, that’s it. Hottest kink club in the city, apparently. If you’re into that thing. There’s a huge waiting list to get a membership, but Rory’s guy has connections.”
“What’s the boyfriend’s name?” Gray asked.
“Don’t know. Rory just calls him her Latin lover.”
“What? Why does she call him that?” Lacey asked sharply, her heart racing. It wasn’t possible. He was dead.
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve never met him?” she urged.
“Nah, but according to Rory he’s hot, rich, and kinky. The top three things on her list for a man.”
“Jesus, help me,” Gray muttered.
“Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything that would help us find her?” Lacey asked.
Nicole looked a little unsure. “No, just . . .”
“What?” Gray asked.
“She met this guy because he started sending her things. Like notes and flowers and stuff. He told her he’d seen her at a club and then followed her home so he knew where she lived. Then he started to send her love letters, like a secret admirer. I thought it sounded a little creepy, but she was excited. Especially after she first met him.”
Lacey felt ill.
It can’t be.
He’s dead.
“Thanks,” Gray told her. “We’ll be back tomorrow but if you remember anything else, call me right away.” He handed her a card with all his details. Lacey shook herself out of her panic and managed to follow him out the door and along the hallway to the elevator. When they stepped inside, he turned to her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He growled. “You want to rethink that answer, sub?”
She stared up at him then dropped her gaze. “I’m just trying to process some things, Sir. I’m not hiding anything.”
Wasn’t she? She wasn’t so sure. Maybe she should tell him. But he’d think she was insane. The case was closed. The Latin Lothario had been shot and killed by the cops when he’d been caught trying to dump a body. There was no way he could have anything to do with Rory disappearing. So why did she feel so ill?
Gray could tell something was worrying Lacey. Under other circumstances he wouldn’t let her brush him off the way she had. But now wasn’t the time to discuss the way she sometimes shut down on him, pulling in on herself. A conversation for another day.
Right now, he needed to focus on finding Rory. Then he’d tell his family they needed to sort their own shit without involving him. And then he could concentrate totally on Lacey.