Liam’s whole face changed when he caught sight of that picture. “He’s good. Looks more like his mum every day. He’s lifting his little head up and, oh, when that boy cries, he can shake the roof, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Having babies was one of those things she’d given up on. She told herself it was for the best, but watching all her friends with their kids brought back memories of the plans she’d made with Kevin. At least two kids. She didn’t care if they were boys or girls, but Kevin said he needed a boy to keep the balance of power in the house.
She wondered how Brighton felt about kids. Don’t even go there. Shaking off the thought, she got down to business. She couldn’t avoid it any longer. “Now, what is this about e-mails?”
He turned his laptop around. “Here it is.”
She quickly read through the e-mail. Blah blah bitch. Blah blah whore. Blah blah sins. Typical asshole serial killer stuff. He needed new material. What she found deeply interesting was the address it had posted to. “I haven’t used that e-mail in years. I didn’t even realize it still existed. If you’ll let me hop on, I can try to trace where the message came from.”
“I’ll get Adam on it as soon as he finishes fucking with Jake. If anyone can track this guy down, it’s Adam.” He took back his laptop and started typing. “I have other news. I just sent the files to the lieutenant. We’ve got background checks on almost everyone in the club. It’s the usual stuff. We’ve got a couple of ex-cons, but only one violent offender.”
“Who?”
“A man named Jim Benson. The other two were drug arrests, but Jim has an aggravated assault charge on his sheet.”
She tried to put a name with a face. “He doesn’t ring a bell.”
“He’s only been in once since we started working, but according to the gossip, he’s a regular. He’s got an upcoming trial for beating up his ex-girlfriend. They really don’t give a shit who they let into this club, do they? I’ve also got some interesting news on your boy.”
“I have a boy?”
“Brighton seems to think you do. He’s got a hard-on for this William Daley fellow.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve talked to the man a couple of times. Derek is high.”
“Derek is jealous. Very jealous from the looks of it.” Li sat back. “Are you sure you want to do this with him? You know what he’s looking for, right?”
She sighed. She should have expected to get the big brother talk from Li. “I know what he wants. He knows I’m not interested in a true twenty-four seven relationship. I know I’m not his dream sub.”
“But he’s your dream Dom?”
She liked Liam better when all he did was work and drink beer and go to Hooters. He was more fun then. “Of course not.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t have a dream Dom. I had one. He died. That story is over. Brighton and I are just passing time.”
“He didn’t sound like he was just passing time when he asked me to look into the good doctor here.”
That perked her up. It was way more interesting than talking about her non-relationship with the man who kind of really was her dream Dom. “Will isn’t a doctor. He’s an EMT.”
“Haven’t run a trace on him, have you?” Liam sat back with a self-satisfied smile.
Damn, she should have done her own leg work. She hated someone knowing more about her own case than she did. “I haven’t had time. I was getting everything ready when the DPD swooped in, and then you took over and I thought it was best to leave the paperwork to you.”
“Or you were having too much fun playing house with Brighton.”
There was truth to his words. Truth she didn’t want to deal with. “Just tell me.”
He frowned in that way that let her know she was no fun to play with. “Fine. William Daley. He’s thirty-five. Graduated from Johns Hopkins. He’s a surgeon.”
“Why would he lie and say he’s an EMT?”
“My best guess? He’s trying to hide his association with the lifestyle from his colleagues. Hospitals are notoriously political. He actually works in Fort Worth, but he drives all the way to Dallas to play. He’s trying to keep his lifestyle very private. He’s also in the middle of a wrongful death lawsuit. It looks like a woman under his care died. I bet he doesn’t want her lawyers to find out and get himself outed as the pervert surgeon who kills young women.”
If she had to bet, she would put her money on the fact Will was one of the good ones. “That’s not fair.”