There were very few people that I trusted. The guys at ALFA PI and anyone I called family I trusted with my life and Izzy’s too. But at Taboo, with so many new faces and over a decade since I’d stepped foot through the doors, I wasn’t sure who still had my back except for the two men who sat next to me and maybe Hagan. They’d mentored me from the moment I became an official member at Taboo and never fucked over another person as far as I remembered.
Rider had an iffy past, much like Bear, but I knew he was rock-solid and trustworthy. I had Thomas run a criminal search on him before I arrived, just to be sure he was still on the up-and-up. If someone at Taboo had been pulling some shit, I assumed he’d know because trouble tended to follow him.
Anders was a lawyer by trade and seemed to know everyone at the club, taking on more than a few of them as clients in the past. He and I kept in touch over the years, getting together outside of the club for a beer anytime I made it back to Miami.
Even though we were friends, I wasn’t sure they’d willingly hand over information about another member. It wasn’t something that was typically done, no matter how much they may have disliked the person. What happened at Taboo stayed in Taboo, and no one wanted to get into each other’s business. But since I knew these men, and Matías was such a motherfucker, I hoped they’d help.
“I’m here looking for information on someone.”
This wasn’t the sort of place I was used to conducting business. Sex clubs were where I went to have fun and unwind, not question someone about the whereabouts of a criminal. But here we were, sitting in front of two girls going at it with Izzy kneeling at my leg as I started the questions.
“We were told that he spent time at Taboo, and I figured I’d come here to see if I could get any leads.”
Anders and Rider glanced at each other, but Rider spoke first. “If you’re looking for him, then he’s bad news. You know we vet every member very carefully.”
“What’s his name?” Anders asked, glancing at Aria and Cat.
They were going at it, and struggling, suffering Aria was biting her lip and slithering around the couch, trying to avoid Cat’s lips.
Poor girl. None of us was even paying attention to them anymore, and I knew Rider wasn’t going to give Aria permission to come anytime soon.
“Matías.”
Anders rubbed his chin and furrowed his brow as he pondered the name. “I don’t remember a Matías. Was he here lately?”
“Yeah. About a month back.”
Rider leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, his expression matching Anders’s. “You got a picture of him? Because the name doesn’t ring a bell.”
I figured Matías, being high-profile and one of the top wanted men in the country, wouldn’t use his real name. But then again, there were stupid criminals everywhere…just not Matías. The man had evaded some of the best minds in the FBI, and they’d only caught a whiff of him after he’d already vanished.
I reached into my pocket before unlocking my phone and pulling up a photo of him. I handed it off to Anders, and Rider leaned in to take a look.
“Ahh,” Rider said and nodded. “I remember this asshole.”
“Me too. Complete dick.” Anders handed the phone back to me and shook his head. “He left because Hagan and I threw his ass out. What’s he wanted for?”
“Human trafficking.” In our community, that was a hard limit, and I didn’t want their subs to overhear.
Anders and Rider rocked back in their chairs like I’d punched them in the gut. It was something that could never be forgiven. Everyone in this club was here under their own free will to have fun and live out their every fantasy.
“Son of a bitch,” Anders muttered and scrubbed his hand down his face. “He was so rough with a few of the girls too.”
“Didn’t…what’s her name disappear?” Rider turned toward Anders and snapped his fingers.
“Victoria?” Anders answered quickly. “She did.”
“You think he had something to do with it?” Rider asked.
“Come on. Girls stop coming to the club all the time. It’s probably nothing,” Anders told Rider.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” I told them, adding a visit to Victoria’s to my agenda before we headed back to the other coast.
If she was truly missing, Matías would be my number one suspect. “When did she stop coming around?”
“A few days ago,” Rider replied.
“No cops came by?”
