Janelle Denison: Wilde Thing

She nodded in agreement, obviously having come to the same conclusion on her own. "As much as I hate the thought of Valerie being involved in such a shady organization-and believe me, I discouraged her as much as possible about taking on the job-I know she's attended those work parties with other coworkers and with this guy she recently started seeing."

"Do you know this man's name?" he asked.

"Rob. Valerie never mentioned a last name." Seemingly feeling restless, she stood and paced to the windows overlooking the building's parking lot from two stories up. "Valerie and I live together. Over the past month, there have been times when she's been gone a day or two with Rob, but she's never been away longer than a weekend," she said, her voice tinged with what sounded to him like a heavy weight of guilt. "Since I haven't heard from her and it's already three days into the week, I can't help but worry that she's gotten herself in over her head with this guy she's seeing. And the only link I have to her right now is through The Ultimate Fantasy."

As his gaze lingered on her profile, he listened as she went on to explain her conversation with the police, and heard the frustration in her tone when she told him that they refused to do anything more than file a missing-persons report until they had something more substantial to investigate. As a former police officer, he was familiar with the department drill. He also knew how important it was to start a trace on a missing person ASAP, when there was still a warm trail to follow and before potential leads dried up.

He needed something substantial to give him a solid lead. Something more tangible to trace.

Steve thought about the scenario Liz had laid out for him, his gut instinct agreeing with her suspicion that her cousin's disappearance was somehow connected to her date and The Ultimate Fantasy party she'd attended. Which made his normal, straightforward investigative procedures a bit more difficult to follow. Because in a case like this, he needed inside connections to pursue eyewitness accounts of Valerie actually being at the party, when she'd left, and whether any of those people knew who her date was, or even his last name. At this point, any small kernel of information would help him to trace Valerie.

He wished the proceedings could be as simple as flashing his badge to an employee or office manager and asking questions about Valerie and The Ultimate Fantasy parties, but he was certain any mention of an investigation on his end wouldn't go over well with the owners. He'd probably immediately get tossed out on his ass with a warning not to return.

He wasn't looking to bust anyone, but he needed to unearth related and helpful facts, which meant going undercover to dig up details on Valerie Clark's whereabouts.

"If you decide you want me to take on the case, I'll need to find a way to get an invitation to attend one of the fantasy parties, which might take a little time since I'll have to establish a calling pattern with one of the operators and work my way in from there."

She turned around quickly, her green eyes bright with enthusiasm. "Maybe I can help you with that."

He frowned, unable to guess what she was getting at. "How so?"

She cast a glance at the watch on her wrist, then back at him. "I have an interview at The Ultimate Fantasy in about an hour for part-time evening work as a phone operator. My cousin told me it was pretty easy to get hired on, and I thought if I could get inside the company, I could ask around about Valerie and find out where she was last seen, and with whom."

He raised a dark brow at her daring. "That was-"

"Stupid?" she interjected before he could finish, her spine straightening defensively.

A slow burn of arousal ignited in his blood. God, even that determined spark and fire of hers turned him on, because he knew she'd be just as zealous and hot in his bed. "I was thinking more along the lines of gutsy."

"Oh." She relaxed and offered him a contrite smile he found too damned sexy. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He meant the compliment. Not many women would have the nerve and fortitude to embroil themselves in the business world of sex and sin, all for the sake of finding a cousin. It made him wonder if Liz would be willing to indulge in fantasies and erotic games for the pure pleasure of it. With him, of course.

Having established that she was single, he intended to find out.

But for the moment, he tapped his pen against his notepad and considered her willingness to help find her cousin. While he didn't usually allow his clients to get directly involved in the cases he chose to investigate, he couldn't deny that having Liz working the inside track of The Ultimate Fantasy would give him easier and faster entry to the private parties they held. Which in turn would, hopefully, provide the access and information to Valerie's whereabouts they needed, especially with Liz, an employee of the business, on his arm. And since he had a strong hunch she'd pursue the phone sex business with or without his agreement, he figured she'd be better off with him on her side, making sure she remained safe.

"I'll take the case," he said, knowing he was offering his services for more reasons than just to find her cousin.

Being with Liz added a huge incentive as well, but Steve had a sixteen-year-old daughter of his own, and Steffie was never far from his mind when he came across cases that involved young girls or women in perilous situations. The "What if it were Steffie?" question always seemed to prey on his conscience and prompted him to accept the case in hopes of securing a happy ending for all and peace of mind for himself. Based on what Liz had told him about Valerie's personality, his gut told him she wasn't in mortal danger, but he'd never play Russian roulette with another person's life.

"I'll need as much information as you can give me on Valerie." He withdrew an application from a side drawer for her to fill out. "Any bank account numbers you know of, statements, credit cards, social security number, driver's license. And I'll need a recent photograph of her, too. Give me anything you think would be helpful in tracing her."

"I'll go through her mail." She was quiet for a moment, then said, "There is one thing that I found in a pile of papers on her desk at home that seemed odd. I found a receipt for a passport."

"Great. That's exactly the kind of stuff I need to know." He made a note of the passport receipt on the form. "Did she ever mention that she was planning on leaving the country?"

Liz shook her head. "No. Surprisingly, that's one thing Valerie hasn't done yet. But I suppose there's a first time for everything."

"It's definitely something to consider, along with the possibility that she left the country with this Rob guy. We just need more crucial pieces to the puzzle, like Rob's last name, to figure out where the hell she is." He made another notation on the application before setting his pen aside.

"By the way, I normally charge one-fifty an hour, plus expenses," he went on, laying out his fee and terms. "But on a case like this that might take hours of prep work, I can offer a flat rate of five grand for up to a month's time, which will include my services, twenty-four-hour access to my pager, as well as my protection and professional advice in terms of you working for The Ultimate Fantasy."

She visibly winced at the amount he quoted. "Five grand? Wow, that's more than I expected."

A shrug lifted his shoulders. "I may not be the cheapest PI in town, but I'm definitely one of the best."

She laughed, but the sound was tinged with disappointment. "While I don't doubt your abilities and professional expertise, that's about four times more than I can afford."

The defeat in her tone, along with the despair he saw glimmering in her eyes as she met his gaze, hit him hard and low.