Dancing with Deception

by Avery Gale

  Tobi shook her head and grinned. “Nope didn’t hurt my feelings a bit. I’ve been trying to get Marshall Dillon and Festus to get rid of that room for over a year. It’s embarrassing, but for some reason, the Doms seem to like it. I’m really hoping Snoops-R-Us is tuned in to this channel and heard what you said because that’s been my argument all along.”

  “Oh, I don’t think there’s much chance they aren’t listening. There’s someone new for us to corrupt, so they’ll be zeroing in on each and every word…you can count on it.” Gracie didn’t seem terribly alarmed by their husband’s obvious stalking, just very matter of fact.

  “Does it ever bother you…being watched so closely, I mean?” Joelle didn’t want to offend anyone, but the whole situation seemed almost like an episode of Conspiracy Theory.

  Tobi rolled to her side and took a big gulp of her margarita before answering. “Honestly? Not as much as you might think. We know their hearts are in the right place and the truth is there are times their skepticism has saved our backsides. Neither Gracie or I had great childhoods, but we hadn’t seen the worst of humanity either. The men, on the other hand, have a world of experience with the darker side of the human race.”

  Gracie sat up and smiled ruefully. “Even with the horrors I knew awaited me when I was being held by Raphael Baldamino near my home in Costa Rica, I was never exposed to the worst. The elderly doctor who helped my mother, brother and I escape paid for his good deed with his life.” Joelle watched a single tear slide from beneath the Latin beauty’s sunglasses and she instinctively reached out grasping Gracie’s hand in her own giving her fingers a squeeze. “If they hadn’t been listening, my pride would have kept them from having the information that ultimately saved us both.” Her small hand elegantly waved in Tobi’s direction and Joelle wondered how on Earth the two women had managed to find such trouble.

  “What my sister-in-crime is trying to say is, too often we’ve gotten our ass…ets in a sling and being watched has pulled said ass…ets out of the fire. But I want it noted there are times having every word shared among the security staff is more than a little annoying.” Tobi’s honesty was so refreshing Joelle found herself smiling.

  “Of course, I don’t suppose either of you has used that extra mode of communication to your advantage, have you?” The blush that washed over Tobi’s fair complexion was answer enough.

  “Hello? Do we look dim-witted to you? Of course, we use any advantage we can, after all, we’ve each got two husbands. Two alpha males of the highest order husbands. Two sexually dominant husbands.” Tobi waved her hand dismissively. “I could go on, but you get the idea. Drat, now we’ve probably given them all big heads.” The sinister smile that traced over the pretty blonde’s lips probably gave her husbands nightmares. “We may be submissive in our sex lives, but we’re also building a successful business of our own.”

  Joelle smiled at her new friends and wished Coral was there, she had the feeling her newly married friend was going to really blossom now that she didn’t have to spend so much time and energy looking over her shoulder. “Tell me about your business, I’ve picked up bits and pieces but I’d love to hear more about it from you.”

  “Oh Lord, now you’ve gone and done it.” A woman’s laughing voice sounded from behind her and Joelle turned quickly. She was startled to realize the elfin looking young woman had gotten so close without her being aware of her. “Woah, honey. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I’m just such a shy and retiring little ole thing I forget how quiet I can be.” The woman’s eyes danced with mischief as Tobi and Gracie fell into the fakest coughing fits Joelle had ever witnessed…and the barely disguised profanity laced denials made both Joelle and the newcomer smile.

  The tiny woman stuck out her hand introducing herself as Regi, the West’s former Office Manager. “Happy as we are to see you Reg, what brings you out to Happy Acres?” Gracie and Tobi’s affection for their friend was easy to see.

  “My husbands let me tag along. They were called out here for a consult.” Turning to Joelle, she grinned. “Evidently the powers that be think someone is under a huge amount of stress and may need medical attention.” When Joelle groaned, all three women laughed.

  “Holy fu…tile helmets. I’m so glad it’s not me for once. Those docs Regi’s married to can be relentless. And if they have six Doms pushing them? Oh sister, you are so gonna be naked and prodded in every way but the ones that make you smile.”

  “What? Hey, I don’t need a doctor. And, I sure as hell don’t need two. Damn, I am a doctor for heaven’s sake. Why do I have to get naked for a couple of physicians I don’t know? What about patient’s rights? And who is talking about my medical condition? Haven’t they heard about HIPPA? Good Lord, this just sucks big donkey dicks all the way around. I’m not stressed out. I’m just fine thank you very fucking much.”

  By this time all three women were laughing like hyenas and Joelle couldn’t hold back her own chuckle. “Well, shit. Maybe I am strung a little tight, but I think calling in two doctors is really over the top. What I really need is a couple of really strong margaritas and maybe a massage. And not one of those that ends up being an insert body part A into slot C massage either. I mean a real massage by a trained therapist.”

  All three women stood up. “This we can arrange. Come on, you asked about our business. Well, this is a part of it. We’ve set up Forum Shops in clubs all around the country. And I happen to know our on-site massage therapist has kept her schedule open for us today.” Tobi was leading the way and the rest of them fell in line behind her.

  “As a matter of fact, we’ve signed a contract with Taz’s brother, Nate. We’ll be heading to Mountain Mastery in a few weeks to do a preliminary on-site. Taz has told him enough about what we’ve done here and he wants to do something similar in his own club. Have you heard of it?”

  “Yes, indeed. And boy do I have a story to tell you.” Joelle felt herself relax as they made their way to the club’s on-site day spa. She was pleasantly surprised to see the spa was large enough to accommodate all four women at the same time. “I’m guessing your husbands are responsible for this facility being ready and waiting for us.”

  Gracie and Regi both grinned and said, “Kent” at the same time. Regi laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, Kyle is a softy under all that Lion King persona. And, Kent’s roar is just as dangerous as Kyle’s, but it’s also much more covert.” Tobi skittered off to the back of the spa to the laser treatment area and Gracie went for a manicure leaving Regi and Joelle to settle onto side-by-side massage tables.

  Regi’s voice was more muffled now, but it was still easy enough to hear the tenderness in her voice when she spoke about her former bosses. “Kyle and Kent West gave me a job and looked after me even though they knew I wasn’t who I pretended to be. How I thought I could fool a group of men, who’d made a career of unearthing the truth is still a mystery…even to me. I love them like brothers, Jax, and Micah, too. But it also means I know them, and this has Kent’s name all over it. Kyle would simply order us to stay put, but Kent would make staying on-site so appealing we wouldn’t want to leave.”

  Joelle moaned in anticipation as the massage therapist drizzled the warm sesame oil over her back. The scent of the oil was more pungent than she was accustomed to; but it was oddly medicinal and the tingling sensation spreading over her skin made Joelle wonder what the masseuse added to the mixture. “Makes perfect sense to me. I don’t even feel particularly man­ipu­lated…man­euv­ered perhaps, but if the results were going to be the same, this is a much better way to go.”

  The therapist’s hands were heavy and not particularly skillful. It surprised her that the Wests hadn’t hired someone better. The fuzzy feeling inside her head made it impossible for her to think past the intense pressure being used to ease the knots in her back. Hell, wait until you hit my ass and thighs…we may be here until dark before you work out all the kinks. Chuckling mentally at her double innuendo, Joelle felt herself drifting into t
he sweet fuzzy place between being alert and comatose and barely registered the pin-prick against her oil-slicked skin.

  Jax McDonald listened as Kyle explained what the Templar and Prairie Winds teams had uncovered during the past twenty-four hours even though he’d been briefed earlier. It seemed their combined efforts had finally paid off. They had enough evidence to notify their local FBI office and everyone was now looking for the man Helen Rodrick hired to retrieve the information from Joelle. Unfortunately for them, Joelle Freemont Phillips had turned out to be brilliant in more ways than one. She’d done a bang up job of hiding the documentation the man and his team had so far failed to find. Despite the fact they’d broken into her apartment and house, they were still empty handed. And he damned well intended for them to stay that way.

  According to the former senator’s latest communication, she had only asked the men to retrieve the formula. But Jax agreed with the rest of the team, the Presidential candidate definitely had more in mind than a simple theft. It was just a matter of time before she arranged something more personal to force Joelle’s compliance—and their scheduled press conference was certainly going push the time table up exponentially.

  Casually scanning the numerous security monitors lining the wall in the West brothers’ office, Jax froze when he looked at the camera covering the back of the day spa. “Fuck! We’ve got a problem.” Seeing the two massage therapists who’d worked at the small facility since it opened bound and gagged behind the building sent a fission of white-hot fear surging through him. In that split second, he was damned glad he was still sitting down because he wasn’t sure his knees wouldn’t have folded out from under him. Knowing his wife was in danger could level him faster than anything else in the world. Kyle was beside him in an instant tapping out commands on the adjacent keyboard and Micah had taken off out the door—no doubt heading to the club’s main control center. Jax activated the wireless communication device he wore, his order to lock down the perimeter going out to every employee on duty.

  Jax waited for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, until Micah announced he’d taken his place in the control room. Without missing a beat, Jax sprinted out of the West’s office hitting the outside door with enough force to send it smashing into the wall behind it. He’d only covered half the distance to the spa when a woman’s scream rent the air. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary his knees might still fold right out from under him. All the women in the small facility were important to him, but one of them was the center of his universe.

  Before he rounded the corner of the hedge to get a visual on the spa he heard Tobi West shouting. “You bet your ass I’ll shoot you. Set her down gently, right fucking now.” Evidently whoever the little spitfire was talking to hadn’t complied because the next thing he heard was the distinctive pop of her Sig Sauer P238. The small black pearl handled gun had been a gift from Lilly West—a gift Tobi’s husbands had been none too pleased with. But they’d patiently taught Tobi everything she needed to know about the small, but extremely accurate weapon. And Jax knew she would have only used it as a last resort, but he was still completely stunned by what he saw as he rounded the last corner.

  With Tobi’s laser session completed, she joined Gracie for a manicure. During an unusual lull in their conversation, they’d looked at one another in question when they heard a muffled cry from the next room followed by what sounded like someone falling into the wall separating them from the massage therapy room. Tobi called out to her friends in an attempt to make sure they were both okay. When they didn’t answer, she was out of the manicurist’s chair before the poor woman had even blinked. Rummaging to the bottom of her ginormous purse, Tobi pulled out the small semi-automatic pistol her mother-in-law had given her and flipped off the safety.

  Tobi stepped into the hallway just in time to see a short, stout man with a swarthy complexion carrying Joelle toward the back door. She heard Gracie’s frantic voice behind her and knew her friend was already sounding the alarm. It was obvious Joelle had been drugged, her body was far too lax for sleep. Tobi had learned the hard way how completely limp limbs became when drugs were involved, and right now Joelle looked more like a rag doll than a woman sleeping in a man’s arms.

  “Hey, ass wipe. Set her down gently and I won’t shoot you.” Okay, that might not have been the most polite approach, but she wasn’t feeling particularly charitable.

  “Fuck off, cunt. You won’t shoot me—you probably can’t hit the broad side of a barn and you’d be afraid of hurting your friend.” There wasn’t another word in the English language Tobi hated more than the one he’d just used. She narrowed her eyes as she heard Gracie suck in a breath behind her.

  “You want to rephrase that, you dickless piece of monkey shit?” She noticed the taller man in front of Mr. Soon-to-be-mortally-wounded hunched shoulders shaking and he wanted to shoot him for just for laughing at her. “I’m not fucking kidding. Put her down. I will take you out and even if I don’t you’ll never make it off the property with her.” Tobi had never been more grateful for all the damned security feeds in her whole life. And she knew what he didn’t…she was a damned good shot. She would definitely hit what she was aiming at. Even though she wanted to shoot the man in the back of the head, she remembered Kyle complaining to his mother about not leaving suspects alive so they could be questioned. Sighing to herself, she reluctantly lowered the barrel of her Sig to the man’s left knee.

  They’d cleared the door so Tobi shouted hoping someone nearby would hear her. “Listen, this is your last warning. Set her down or I’m shooting, you ugly bastard. God damn it look what you’ve done. I’m cursing. I’m going to be in trouble and it’s all your fault. Fucking put her down.”

  “Fuck off, bitch.” Bitch? Oh you just had to add that nasty assed frosting to already calling me the c-word, didn’t you? The sharp crack of her gun had sounded a fraction of a second before the man crumbled to the ground sending Joelle rolling across the soft grass. The first man turned to her with his gun raised, but he was too slow, and she shot the revolver out of his hand with a second shot into his shoulder…just in case he decides to try again.

  The second man dropped to the ground screaming, as the world around her erupted into chaos. Shouts to lay down her gun sounded to her right, but she simply jerked her weapon in that direction until she saw Kent running toward her with his own gun in hand. She turned away from him, stalking toward the men writhing on the ground, fully focused on Joelle when Kent’s arms came around her like bands of steel lifting her off her feet. Tobi had been so focused on getting to her new friend her mind didn’t register who’d actually picked her up. Fighting for all she was worth, she squirmed in his arms, but he simply tightened his hold. “Let me go. I have to check on her. I think they drugged her. God damn it let me go.”

  “Stop.” The sharp crack of Kent’s voice sounded against her ear, and Tobi instinctively responded. Relaxing in his arms, she felt herself sag. “Good girl. Sweetness, you scared another fucking decade off my life.” He swept her up into his arms and turned to block her view of the screaming men she’d just shot. If their curses were to be believed, she’d probably need an exorcism or spirit cleanse or some other New Age treatment sometime soon. I don’t know what they’re bitching about…it’s not like I killed them. Geez, I didn’t even shoot off any of the parts guys seem to think they can’t live without. Tobi managed to suppress the shudder she felt trying to work its way to the surface as the reality of what she’d done started to sink in.

  Kyle seemed to appear out of nowhere reminding Tobi her husbands’ skills as former Navy SEALs were never far below the surface. “Kitten, are you alright?” His fingers trailed down the side of her face with such care she couldn’t help pressing closer into his touch. “I swear I don’t know why we ever let you out of our sight.” Tobi heard the mix of emotions in his voice and was grateful when Kent released her into Kyle’s arms.

  “I’m sorry I cursed. I was so scared he was g
oing to take her.” She heard her voice crack under the strain. She was afraid she was losing the battle to keep herself together. For several seconds she tried to shut out everything around her, absorbing as much of their strength as she could before facing all the questions she knew were coming. The sound of approaching sirens brought her out of the peaceful shelter of their arms. “Is Regi okay? She was in the same room with Joelle.”

  “Kirk and Brian have both checked on her. She seems to be coming around, but I’m worried about Joelle, she doesn’t seem to be regaining consciousness as quickly.” Tobi assumed they’d given Joelle a larger dose of whatever sedative they’d chosen, it would have been important to keep her as quiet as possible while they made their escape. She worried because most of those drugs were easily overdosed unless you really knew what you were doing. Kyle pushed the loose strands of her hair behind her ear and tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. “Kitten, in case I forget to tell you later when the shit hits the fan over this—I’m damned proud of you. And thank you for leaving them alive for us to interrogate, that’s going to go a long way to help wrap this up.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then turned her back into Kent’s waiting arms. “I’m going to go run interference with local law enforcement until our FBI contact arrives. The feds aren’t going to want these two falling under local jurisdiction.”

  Tobi didn’t even pretend to understand, she just let Kent hold her knowing this situation was going to get a whole lot more complicated before it was all over. She was grateful their children were gone on vacation even though Kodi and Kameron hugs were pure healing magic. The next few hours were going to be challenging and right now she could use the distraction. Tobi knew she’d done the right thing, at the end of the day, she didn’t like hurting other people, and having to rehash every second of it wasn’t something she was looking forward to. She held on to Kent hoping he’d be able to infuse her with some of this strength as the sounds of sirens died suddenly replaced with slamming doors. A cavalry of outsiders was invading the grounds of the Prairie Winds Club and Tobi felt the adrenalin crash move over her like a tidal wave.