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She rubbed anyway, and Monroe shook his head. Her genuine personality was showing, and she was a sassy one. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
Monroe was a firm but careful Dom and an attentive lover. He never forced, but often encouraged, his play partner to push her boundaries. He suspected that pushing her boundaries would not be the issue. It was trying to rein in her explorations that would be the greater challenge. She had already shown that if she saw a need, she rushed in, head-first, into the troubled waters without considering her own immediate safety.
While she would never have helped the woman pick up her groceries if she had even an inkling that the act would put Mallory in danger, helping was in her nature. He didn’t want to discourage that, just the way she went about it. He walked into Sharlee’s computer room and got to work.
Chapter 9
It was near the end of the day, and Monroe was restless and disheartened. They had tried to locate where Craig Romaine worked, but he didn’t seem to have worked anywhere. Monroe told Sharlee to look at the social security or tax records, but Jac put his foot down at her breaking into the federal databases.
“I have my contact for that kind of information. Arturo has asked for another interview with Mallory. I have requested he do it here. He is going to see if he can get authorization for that. However, I clarified that she was to do it with us in attendance and her attorney or not at all.”
Kaden walked in the door and said, “Hell yeah, they have to do it here. Didn’t we learn from law enforcement’s less than kind tactics with Ivy? Have you put in a call to Ryker?”
“I’ve called him, and he agreed to be here whenever anyone wants to talk to her. He wants to meet her and read the reports. Since she doesn’t work for me, Ryker needs Mallory to pay him a dollar to officially retain his services.”
“I don’t want her to do it at all,” said Monroe. “But if she does, you’re right about the circumstances.”
“I want to help, Monroe.”
Monroe looked up to see Mallory in the doorway, her arms crossed. His girl was feisty, but there were some things she would have to know he wouldn’t give in on and keeping her safe was one of them.
“If they come here, then we can monitor the interview with Ryker, and I’ll be fine with that.”
Mallory took a step into the room and leaned against the wall; arms still folded. “I interviewed without you the first time, and they were not pushy at all.”
“Because you were in the hospital and had just been found. They would have had their asses handed to them by the hospital staff and, later, me if they were anything but careful. They knew Jac was attached to this case the minute you asked for me.”
“Then why did Jac have to vouch for you?”
Jac answered. “It’s a game with the Feds. I make them verify their people, and they reciprocate. The difference is I vet my people and theirs… well, let’s say things can change. I checked Gutierrez’s record from his first case. They vouched, and I vetted. That is the only reason he can come here at all.”
“Who is Ryker?”
Jac lifted his head. “He’s our attorney. He has a small firm and is U.S. Army, retired. After he graduated college, he went to law school and then military law. When his wife died in a home invasion while living in post housing, he had to change the direction of his life. It was another soldier that murdered his wife, and his office had to defend the man.”
“Oh, no. How devastating for the poor man. Did they convict?”
Jac nodded. “They did, but it was little comfort, as I’m sure you can understand. He finished his time, retired, and came here when I asked him to be our legal counsel. He has been with me from the beginning and has done everything from criminal to civil to corporate law. You’ll like him.”
“I’m sure I will.” Mallory sat on the sofa and laid her head on her palms. “I just want to do whatever it takes to get this over and done with, and if that means another interview, then so be it.”
Monroe spoke with conviction. “I’m good with that if it’s well attended.” He walked to the desk to grab a sheet of paper. “New subject. The lists are hard to go through because, in the groups, we only have first names. I don’t know if they aren’t pseudonyms. If the Fed’s want to get the full names with a court order, then so be it, but I understand the need for some anonymity. Sharlee and Kaden will tell us how they think they can make this work better.”
Kaden nodded. “Right, I’m going to go through and tap into the surveillance cameras that are around each location of the groups. Mallory can look at them and connect the faces to the names and then Sharlee will run it through her recognition program and try to find last names or real names.”
Mallory spoke up. “Then what? Are you going to call them up? I’m not good with that. It will take away their security when going to these events.”
Sharlee smiled. “Nope. I don’t have to with the recognition program. I can do all sorts of background checks with a name and a face, even telling you where most of them were when you were taken. And I can probably tell you if you have crossed paths.”
“But,” said Jac, “all that takes time, and we are short on that. We have to figure out if there is an accomplice, so using old-fashioned groundwork will go a long way in finding that out. And networking. So if you are up to another interview, then we might get more information.”
“But I don’t understand.” Mallory pulled her feet under her crisscrossed legs on the sofa. “If the FBI and the local cops don’t have certain information, then how can you expect to get it?”
Mark walked in and leaned against the same wall Mallory had earlier. “We do things differently.”
“What do you mean, differently?”
Monroe leaned over the sofa back. “Our methods are more goal-oriented because we don’t have the same protocols that we must follow to get the job done. If we find tidbits of information, we just follow it instead of talking about it and getting approval. We have a primary target and a plan to get there.”
