by P Nelson
“You’re like the Dom next door,” Thea remarked. “Scary enough to make sure your subs behave themselves but approachable.” She let out a breath. “I’ve watched you operate.”
“I thought you were supposed to be ignoring me,” Dillon teased.
“Hard to ignore the Dom who is in my face every two seconds and planning scenes with every available sub in the dungeon.” Thea sounded disgruntled.
“Jealous.” Dillon held his breath.
“Hardly. Just more work for me. And you could leave a couple of the subs for the rest of the single Doms and Dommes.” She was never going to admit to her feelings for him. Dillon’s mind drifted off when she spoke again.
“He licked my face.” The words were unemotional filled faintly with disgust. “Before I spat in his face, and he beat the shit out of me. He licked up the side of my face. He nuzzled my cheek. That’s when I bit a part of his lip off.” She sounded proud of her actions. Dillon thought she deserved a medal.
Most victims would have been crying and begging for their lives, especially when they realised there was no fucking way Esposito was going to let them go. All his other victims had turned up dead. But not his Thea. She had fought with everything at her disposal. Used her saliva to mark him, her teeth to harm him.
“What’s it’s like? You know to bite a chunk of someone’s lip off?” Thea craned her neck to frown at him. “Seriously, you and Mike Tyson are the only ones I know who have bitten a piece of someone off, and I’m never going to meet him. So, you have a duty to satisfy my curiosity.”
“I don’t have a duty to tell you anything,” Thea muttered as she snuggled back into position. Dillon shrugged and waited. “It was surprisingly easy. I didn’t even think about it. I just bit down and jerked my head around. Part of his lip was in my mouth and I swallowed. I was hoping they might get some DNA from it when they performed the autopsy. None of the other girls had managed to get any DNA.” Her words trailed off.
As far as Dillon was aware, this was the first time she had spoken about details of her abduction. Normally, Thea kept to the facts of her injuries or discussed details related to the investigation. In her sessions with Calla, Dillon was aware they only spoke about her recovery, where she wanted to be mentally in one week, two weeks, and a month to a year. She’d never divulged even a hint of what had taken place in the basement for the hours she was missing.
“Still, it must have been fucking gross.” Dillon waited for her reaction. Thea stilled before she moved off his lap and kneeled on the couch facing him.
“Really? That’s all you can say? It must have been gross? Yes, it was gross. It was fucking horrible. The taste of blood in my mouth, I was going to have to swallow and keep a piece of the evil bastard inside of me.” She shuddered, and Dillon felt guilty for pushing her. But last night’s failed attempt at domination had led to a crack in the dam. Thea needed to take a sledgehammer to the rest of her pent-up feelings. “I did what I had to do believing the cops needed evidence. I wasn’t going to make it out of there.”
“But you did make it out.” Dillon reached a hand out and leaned forward far enough to grasp her chin. “You are not in that fucking basement anymore, Thea. The Reverend only has the power you give him over you now. And frankly you’ve devoted enough time to him.”
“He’s still out there.” Thea pointed out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the view of False Creek. “There’s no way of predicting if he has another victim right now.”
“Or if he’s planning to come after you.” Dillon added, and Thea rubbed a hand over her face. “I know you want to lure him out, but we have to do it in a controlled fashion. Dillon’s cell phone rang, and he glanced at the screen. It was a message from Joe downstairs. Thea glanced at the screen too. “It looks like they were meeting about me, after all.”
“Nothing they say matters.” Dillon followed Thea as she stood up from the couch. “This day has been inevitable since the first Domme Detective headline hit the media. There was no way you were ever going to be a detective again.”
&
“I know. It just feels like a big fucking waste.” Thea meant every word as she entered the kitchen. Focusing on the task of brewing another pot of coffee, she retrieved a few mugs, the sugar and milk from the fridge and put them all onto a serving tray. She was tired of all the bullshit, of hiding from a bunch of people who were never going to accept her in their ranks again. This was the first severing Thea thought as the elevator chimed in the new arrivals. The next would probably be her absent family.
She listened for a minute in the safety of the kitchen. Dillon greeted whoever was in the elevator with his patented Dom voice. She was sure if anyone out there were a sub, their eyebrows would have frosted over by now but no point in delaying the inevitable. Picking up the fully laden tray, she came into the living area where three cops were standing with Dillon. All she could think about was trying to keep the anal plug firmly in her ass and how the hell she was supposed to sit down.
The chief was in his full uniform, Officer Mertz was likewise in uniform discreetly surveying the room, and her old partner Bill stood off to one side in rumpled street clothes. It looked like the four of them were in a standoff. Dillon spotted her and smiled. He took up residence on the sofa they had vacated, legs spread wide, and arm resting on the back of the couch. Total overt dominance display. She would have to poke fun at him later for it.
She stopped for a second at the thought of teasing him. It had been a long time since she had tweaked his nose over anything. Only now did she realise the hole left in her life without ribbing the man on the couch about something, anything.
“Coffee anyone? There’s a teapot back there, but this is hot now.” Thea strode into the room with a confidence she didn’t fully feel. All eyes swung to her face, three sets continued down the rest of her body. Only one set, only Dillon’s stare remained on her face, giving her the inner strength she needed to carry on. Setting the tray down, Thea fought every instinct she had to stay standing and forced her body to sit down beside Dillon. The plug in her ass shifted and Thea was comforted by its presence. It was a secret between only her and Dillon.
She hated looking at anyone, but Dillon clearly had a strategy and Thea needed to feel as if she were in control for this meeting. By the expressions on the three of VPD’s best, she was going to need every ounce of control she could muster.
“Coffee?” she enquired again and sat forward on the sofa. She was certainly by no means an experienced hostess, but her mother had drilled the rudiments of etiquette into her brain.
“Yes, thank you, Detective Demopoulos.” Chief Barnes sat down in one of the silk-covered captain’s chair facing the sofa and the coffee table where Thea had set the tray down.
“Black, I believe,” Thea commented as she poured a cup of coffee for the man who had guided her entire career. She handed him the mug over top of the table and wondered how many conversations he and her father had over the past few weeks.
“One with a splash of milk.” Thea poured another cup of coffee and handed held it out to Bill.
“Because you’re sweet enough without the extra sugar.” He stepped forward and took the cup with a nod before going back to his position to the right of the captain’s chair, clearly uncomfortable with what was about to happen.
“And as a woman, I’m sure you know how to make your own.” Thea sat back on the couch, allowing her leg to brush up against Dillon’s. Her quip hitting its mark in Officer Mertz’s hide.
The other woman pasted a stiff smile that did not reach her eyes on her lips and sat down on the edge of the open captain’s chair. She remained silent as she fixed a cup of coffee for herself. The VPD might have moved into the twenty-first century, but it was still damn hard to be a woman on the force. Thea had to make hundreds of cups of coffees for assholes she worked with over the years and had only minor investigations as a rookie detective before she earned her chops on the big cases.
Normally, women stu
ck together on the force, looked out for one another. Thea had no idea where Officer Mertz planned to go, but Thea realised this would follow her around for the rest of her career.
“Quite a place you have here.” Officer Mertz sat back in her chair, cup in hand. “Your little side business must pay exceptionally well indeed.”
“Not at all.” Thea could play the game. Hell, she had invented most of it. “I have many friends in low places.”
“Enough.” Chief Barnes set his coffee mug aside. “You know why we’ve come, Detective Demopoulos. Your ex-military friend has given you plenty of warning. It would be nice if he used his resources to aid the police investigation rather than work against us.” Censure and judgement coloured his tone.
“If he had done that, one of his favourite people would be dead right now.” Thea shot back even though it would have been far better to remain silent. The VPD did not need any more information on Linkin’s activities. Chief Barnes flinched at her statement.
“At this point, we consider Linkin Pearce an armed and dangerous vigilante the VPD will keep a close eye on,” Chief Barnes informed the group.
“Mr Ross’s activities are not what we’ve come to discuss this morning.” Officer Mertz sat with her knees pressed together and coffee in one hand. The faux expression of sympathy on her face made Thea’s hand itch to slap it off. “We were all concerned at witnessing your erratic behaviour last night.” Thea’s gaze narrowed on the other woman. So, this is how they were going to fire her. Use her recent actions as an indication of a mental health problem. Assholes. Thea remained silent. She wasn’t going to say anything to add fuel to their speculations.
“The fact is you obviously need more time to help you cope with the consequences of your abduction. The department feels it has done its best to support you, but we cannot have members of the force behaving erratically in public. It gives the whole department a bad name.” Officer Mertz took a break in what Thea believed was a well-rehearsed speech. She wondered if the other woman had practiced it for the past month. “While your fellow officers are sympathetic to everything you’ve suffered, we feel it’s time to formally cut ties with you.” Again, Officer Mertz paused in her speech, waiting for a reaction. Thea only raised her eyebrows. “Of course, you’ll receive your full pension, and the department will continue to provide medical support as a part of your union dues.
“Thank you for coming to inform me personally despite your numerous commitments.” Thea’s response may not have been as well practiced as Officer Mertz’s speech, but she was a damn good Domme. She understood better than most how to handle an unruly sub, and right now Officer Mertz needed one hell of a spanking. Followed by some orgasm denial and then handcuffed to the bar at The Cage with a bare ass and a sign reading, free spankings. Thea stood up; Dillon remained seated casually on the sofa. “If that’s all, thank you and have a nice day.”
“No, it damn well isn’t all.” Chief Barnes stood up in his chair. “That’s all you have to say after allowing your career to go down in flames. Thank you, have a nice day? You’re no longer a detective, not even a desk jockey. What were you thinking last night?” He sounded confused.
“Chief Barnes, we do have several other commitments today,” Officer Mertz said as she stood up slowly beside him.
“Go wait in the car,” Chief Barnes barked at her. Officer Mertz jumped like her ass was on fire, looked around the room once. Realising she wasn’t about to get any support from Thea’s partner, she stalked out of the living room. No one spoke until the doors of the elevator shut on the fuming Officer Mertz.
“Great public relations officer you have there, Chief.” Thea smirked sitting back down again.
“Watch your mouth.” Chief Barnes remained standing.
“I’m not on the force anymore. I can tell you to your face what an asshole you are, and you can’t do shit.” Thea leaned back on the sofa. “By the way, you’re being an asshole.”
“You’re still the little girl I watched grow up, guided through her training at the academy, and promoted to detective.” Thea couldn’t believe the lack of control of her mentor. She had never heard the roughness in his speech until now.
“Please. I’m a grown woman who has been making her own choices for a long time now. Don’t think I’m not grateful for everything you did for me over the years. There’s no way I would have made detective without your help. It was a man’s world, but you stuck by me.” Thea was grateful for all his support. “I don’t blame you for this decision. I’m a liability you need to cut loose. You might as well go and join the rest of my family in wailing with one another on where they went wrong.”
“First of all, you made detective all on your own. You do great police work, and you’ve always had a head for figuring things out. I had nothing to do with your advancement.” Chief Barnes shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks in a move she’d witnessed countless times over the years. Whether it was at work or at family BBQs or dinners. “Second, I fought for you.” The words silenced the room and made Thea’s heart pound. “I want you to know that I fought for you.”
Chief Barnes lips twisted before he turned away and walked to elevator. Thea wanted to reach out to him but didn’t know what to say. Dillon placed a hand on the nape of her neck, and she shuddered. The man who had been more of a father to her than her own stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby without even turning around to look at her. If there was ever a time she thought her heart might break, this was it.
“He did. Fight for you, that is.” Bill came forward and set his empty mug on the table. He sat down. His gaze swept between Thea and Dillon a few times before he ran a hand over his face. “I have a confession to make, and I give you full liberties to beat the fuck out of me.” Thea’s heart sank. “It was me who leaked the details of your Mistress Thea persona and activities to the press. I will not make any justifications for what I did. My reasons are selfish and, frankly, not worthy of repeating.” He stared straight at Thea. “I am sorry, though. None of this was meant to happen.”
“You little fucking weasel.” Dillon spoke for the first time since greeting their unwanted guests. He sat up in his seat.
“Why?” Bill and she may never had gelled as best buddies, but their unique and often abrasive relationship had aided in solving many cases together. Thea absurdly felt she had caught a sub cheating on her.
“This is my last case.” Bill shook his head. “I’m retiring after it’s over. Wife number four wants to divorce me. I have four different kids with three different wives; the alimony and child support payments are killing me. I needed to make a name for myself.”
“So, you could retire and get a job in the private sector making the big money.” The sting of betrayal hurt, but understanding why he had done it, even for selfish reasons, at least he had reasons.
“Not all of us have friends who own premier security firms where they can get jobs after they retire.” There was accusation in his statement, like Thea had been holding out on him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Thea responded. Now she understood why Bill had been so insistent on getting more information about Linkin and his firm. If he thought Linkin would give him a job after this stunt, Bill had no idea who Linkin was or what made him tick. Linkin was all about loyalty and friendship despite his antisocial demeanour.
“Right.” Bill’s face fell. “I never, ever meant for you to get into the cross hairs of the Reverend. Fuck. I might have put Thompson and Stacks onto you at The Feather Flogger, but I never meant for Esposito to take any consideration of you in that way. I only wanted him to know who you were so that you couldn’t make any progress on the case.”
“Thus, freeing you up to be the detective in shining armour,” Thea finished for him. The guilt eating away at her old partner was a terrible thing to see. Once she inspected his appearance, Thea thought he had aged at least ten years since before her abduction.
“I’m j
ust so fucking sorry.” And that was when the hardened police detective who had been to countless crime scenes with murder victims broke down and cried. Thea had no interest in consoling him. Not only had he ruined her career and perhaps her life playing with forces he had no control over, he had taken her family from her. Her brothers and their wives would never look at her the same again. Gone were Christmases with her nieces and nephews, her parents.
“I can’t forgive you.” Thea’s throat was sore with keeping her emotions from bubbling out of her.
Bill wiped his face and stared at Thea, his eyes bloodshot. “I’m not looking for absolution here. This is a confessional.” He took a few deep breaths. “Thanks to Officer Mertz and whatever the fuck vendetta she has against you, the committee voted to slash your protection budget. One cop, in uniform. Downstairs. He’s not allowed to respond to calls upstairs and is staying to keep an eye on your movements in and out of the building.”
“That’s a bonus.” Dillon stood up and stretched his arms and legs. Thea stared up at him.
“If it’s one guy, and he has to stay here, we’re free to do whatever the fuck we like.” Dillon was clearly over Bill and the rest of his shit. He cleaned up the coffee tray.
“You have to protect Thea.” Bill sounded earnest. “The police profilers...” Dillon cut him off.
“I know what the profilers are saying, dick.” He placed his hands on hips and squared his shoulders. Thea liked watching Dillon go to bat for her. It was nice to have someone fighting for her best interests. “Why do you think people who give a shit about what happened to her are protecting her?”
Bill shook his head and stood up. “I care for her, too.”
“Enough to put her in the line of sight of Esposito.” Dillon accused. “You didn’t even take the information she had on The Supplicants of the Lord seriously. Instead, you focused on me.”
“It wasn’t me who was sent pictures of her the next morning,” Bill shot back.
