Jed opted to go inside. The windows, high and rectangular, were propped open to aerate the room, and sound carried through them. He couldn’t hear it all, but he made out enough to know that Anton Schatz was berating Zarah for not disclosing that it was a full day excursion. He’d been under the impression it was a half-day adventure. For her part, Zarah didn’t seem to be taking his abuse, but her hissed responses were too high-pitched to carry very far.
As soon as Jed heard them come closer, he headed to the door. Waiting a few seconds meant he timed his exit to coincide with the couple as they went past the bathrooms. He glanced back toward the trees and pasted a welcoming grin on his face. “Hey! It’s good to be back on land.”
Schatz stared at him, but Zarah returned his smile. “It sure is. I can’t believe we’re not all soaked through. I always thought you were supposed to wear a wetsuit when white water rafting.”
The river was relatively calm, with just a few patches that could be considered a class three, so Jed wasn’t surprised. “I think we’ll get wet this afternoon. I hear the class four portion is still ahead of us.”
“Fantastic.” Schatz’s tone dripped sarcasm. “Can’t wait. We’d better be back by four.”
Jed grinned knowingly. “You’re looking forward to public sex night?”
Dare and Jed had discussed their plans for this featured night at Zangari’s Fetish Inn. Though Dare liked to watch, Jed didn’t care to perform for a crowd. It was different when Dare watched—it enhanced the experience to have his friend and Tru’s other love interest there. But with a crowd? Being an exhibitionist just didn’t appeal to Jed. They’d agreed that if Tru wanted to participate, Dare would tie her up and make her have as many orgasms as he wanted to see, and then he’d bring her back to the room where they could have their way with her privately.
Schatz shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll watch for a bit, anyway, but our room has some great décor that appeals to me more than a public performance.”
They’d made it back to the picnic tables where Tru had saved a place for the foursome. Evan, the pesky guide, stood across from her, his foot perched on the bench as he openly flirted. He had that sparkle in his eye that players got when they thought they were going to score. Jed was well acquainted with the man’s attitude and the way he stood over Tru because prior to Tru, he had been a master at the Love-Em-and-Leave-Em game.
Schatz and Zarah took off in the direction of the grill, and Jed sat next to his submissive. He wanted to kiss her on the lips, but she’d just taken a huge bite of chicken. “Miss me?”
Tru didn’t seem to notice or hear him. She was smiling, and her eyes sparkled with joy, but she seemed to be frozen in time. Though her face was tipped up in Evan’s direction, she seemed to be looking through him. Wondering what she was doing, Jed took his place next to her where she’d set his plate, but he directed his inquiring frown at her. “Tru?”
She blinked, and she seemed to shake herself out of her funk, but she didn’t immediately reply because she had a mouth full of food. Instead she turned her brilliant smile on him, and suddenly the feelings of intense jealousy that dogged him made sense. He’d fallen for this woman, and he’d fallen hard. Logic couldn’t explain when or why it had happened, and identifying the emotion did nothing to ease his heart.
She finished chewing and swallowed. “I saved you a seat.”
“I see that. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?” She popped a cherry into her mouth.
Evan watched her lips with open fascination, even when she puckered them up to spit the seed into a napkin.
Obviously Evan didn’t pick up on subtle hints, like the fact that her reaction to Jed indicated that they were a couple, so he opted for the direct approach. He gripped Tru’s ponytail, turned her face to his, and staked his claim with a deep kiss even though he hated cherries. She melted into him, a kittenish moan purring from the back of her throat. When he let her go, she nestled her head against his shoulder in a lingering cuddle, and Evan had gone.
“That guy keeps flirting with you, and I may sucker punch him.”
She laughed. “I can’t imagine you sucker-punching anyone. You’re too honest and noble for that kind of underhandedness.”
Before today, Jed would have thought so as well. Now, he wasn’t so sure. The words jumped to the tip of his tongue, and he shoved food into his mouth to keep them from leaping off. He couldn’t come out and profess his undying love and devotion to a woman who viewed him as a vacation fling. It looked like he would be joining Dare on the love boat. They’d have to convince Tru that a permanent cruise would be worthwhile.
The two of them ate in silence until Schatz and Zarah Braithwaite joined them. Jed didn’t know whether he should think of her by her last name—as he would a suspect—or her first name—as he would a victim, so he opted for both. Tru went with her plan, and she tried her best to engage Zarah Braithwaite in conversation.
“Have you been to Zangari’s before?”
Zarah paused, her lips slightly parted, and she glanced at Schatz. “I’ve been here a few times before. You’re new, right?”
“No. I’m friends with the owners, so I mostly come to visit them.” Tru wiped her hands on her paper napkin. “This is my first time bringing anyone with me, though. I wanted my Sirs to meet Alex and Jewell. Are you from around here?”
With a polite smile, Zarah shook her head, but before she could speak, Schatz interrupted. “This is our vacation. We don’t want to think about home. What do you guys think of the theme tonight? We sure lucked out. They only have an exhibitionist/voyeur night once a year. Are you guys watchers or performers?”
Tru had that faraway look again, her face frozen with an annoyed slant to her eyes. Jed worried that maybe she was having a seizure, but then he realized that she must be having a vision. He covered for her sudden imitation of a statue by chuckling. “Liam likes to watch for a little while, so we’ll probably do a little of both.”
“We’re watchers,” Schatz said. “So we’ll probably watch, and then we’ll head back to our room. Have I mentioned that we have a great room? It has one of those beds with a stockade in the footboard and a cage underneath. I prefer my subs caged when I’m not using them.”
Jed may have played around a lot, but he’d never harbored a utilitarian view of submissives. Their service was a gift, one he cherished for a night or two before moving on. Though he understood that some subs craved that level of submission, and he didn’t judge, he had the impression that Schatz wasn’t the kind of Dom who cared about his submissives as people or cherished what they gave him. He hated assholes like that. These fake, wanna-be Doms gave real Doms a bad name.
Evan called them back to the raft, and as everyone got up to dispose of their paper plates, Tru stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. Why?”
“Because you suddenly got all dark and brooding again.”
He leaned down and kissed her neck, and then he whispered. “I hate that fuckwad.”
“Well, you can’t let him know that yet,” she whispered back. She took his plate and piled it on top of hers. “I’ll take care of these if you want to go grab our life jackets?”
Before she could take a step, he put a hand on her waist. “Did you have a couple of visions today?”
She froze, her eyes wide as she stared at him. It was different from earlier because she was mentally present. “How did you know?”
“You kind of get a far-off look and your expression freezes. You’ll have to tell me about them later.” He kissed her forehead and went to retrieve their life jackets.
The afternoon part of the trip wasn’t bad. Much of the river was quiet, and the views were spectacular. After a longish rest period during which Evan chattered about what they were seeing, the history of the place, or fishing, they’d paddle furiously through rapids. Jed kept an eye on Schatz and Braithwaite, but he was mostly conscious of Tru. He wanted to reach out and
touch her—just because he could. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her or say something that would make her laugh. But he didn’t, and she spent a lot of time watching the suspects as well.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re approaching the Wreck Rapids.” Evan interrupted Jed’s musings with his pronouncement. “This is a tricky bit of river, but I’m an awesome guide, so I’ll get you through it with no problem. We need to enter this section backward, otherwise we’ll get flipped.”
Jed and Tru followed Evan’s instructions, but the kids in the front couldn’t seem to figure out when and how to paddle no matter how many times they were told. It didn’t help that the parents gave advice opposite from what Evan was saying. This resulted in half the raft not paddling at all or paddling counter to what they needed.
“Brace yourself.” Tru had a huge grin on her face as they entered the rapids sideways.
Jed heeded her warning, and he prepared to get wet. The first wave hit them hard. The kids screamed. One of them sounded afraid, but the others were of the excited variety. Evan called out commands, but if the family heard him, they ignored everything he said, and they shouted orders at the kids while not paddling at all. Similarly, Schatz shouted at the kids—mostly unkind things—and Zarah screamed in terror. Evan had lost control of his passengers, and the monster-sized paddles he used to steer the raft were no match for the water’s might.
Tru propped her toes under the edge of the thwart. Jed figured she knew what she was doing—she was the only one not freaking out—and he mirrored her position. The raft was pummeled by waves and flung down the class four drop. The kids in front and their father were the first to go. The mother held on for another few seconds, but she ended up in the water too.
Behind them, Evan swore. Across the raft, Schatz swore. Next to him, Tru laughed as if she was having the time of her life. Jed had to admit that it was a fun ride.
Zarah pitched into the water at the bottom of the drop. When everything calmed down, the only people left in the raft with him were the woman he loved, a probable murderer, and a playboy guide. The raft came out of the rapids backward, and Jed looked to make sure everybody was all right. The entire ordeal had lasted perhaps ten seconds, and the rapids didn’t look all that intimidating from this angle. He counted three kids and two parents, but he didn’t see Zarah.
“She’s clinging to the rock.” Tru pointed to a place near the bank of the river.
“We’re going to pick up the Golinas first, and then we’ll get Mrs. Schatz.” Evan instructed them to paddle upstream to where the family had come out of the rapids unscathed.
Jed pulled two of the kids into the raft while Tru helped the mother and the youngest kid. Evan helped the father in, and Schatz merely watched. Loading them took no time at all, and then they crossed to the other side to pick up Zarah. She clung to the rock and refused to get on the raft.
“I want to go home.” She sobbed. This hadn’t been a fun ride for her. “I don’t want to go rafting anymore.”
“Get in the fucking raft.” Schatz eyed her with calm detachment.
If his sub had been traumatized by an experience, Jed wouldn’t have responded so insensitively. She needed a strong shoulder, not cold commands.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Schatz. The rest of the ride is pretty calm. That was the hardest part.” Evan tried to provide encouragement, but Zarah wasn’t listening. She shook her head and refused to look at them.
Jed noted her gulped breaths. He slid out of the raft and waded to her. “Sarah, it’s okay. I’ll help you get back in, and the rest of the trip is going to be like floating on a lazy river. We won’t flip again.” He spoke with calm authority, and he put his hand under her forearm, urging her to hold onto him.
After a moment, she transferred her hold from the rock to his neck. He held her gently and guided her back to the raft. Tru helped her on board, and Jed climbed in once she was safe in her seat.
Schatz glared at Zarah, but he said nothing. Tru also said nothing, but the look on her face was one of pride, awe, and deep affection. The heaviness in his heart and the last vestiges of jealousy fled. By the end of this investigation, she would be his.
_____________
The rooms were quiet, soundproofed. If Liam had been here to have a wild time with his submissive, he would have appreciated the care Zangari had put into crafting this haven for kinksters. Because his lookout had gone on a white water rafting adventure with the suspects, he cursed the foamy layers in the walls that absorbed sounds and the seals around the doors that kept noise to a minimum.
Schatz’s room was messy, which suited Liam fine. Though he was careful about putting everything back where he found it, the slovenly environment meant that if he messed up, they were unlikely to notice.
He searched everywhere, especially inside the pill bottles he found cleverly hidden in the lining of Zarah Braithwaite’s suitcase. Stumbling upon a cache of diamonds was unlikely. There was no way they’d leave those unguarded for a moment. However he was impressed by the amount and variety of pills Braithwaite had at her disposal, and none of them were in a legal prescription bottle. He took pictures of them just in case they became relevant later.
The search of the room turned up nothing. Liam sat on the lone chair in the room and stared at the frame of the bed—iron bars that formed a cage—and thought. If he were Schatz, he’d keep diamonds or incriminating documents with him. As he was going to get wet, anything of note would likely be found in the car.
Which would be left unattended in the parking lot of the expedition outfitter.
As the idea struck Liam, so did the notion that a cage could hold more than a submissive, and that there was no reason to lock an empty cage. He found a couple of hair pins in Zarah Braithwaite’s haphazardly placed collection of personal care products, and he picked the lock. This lock wasn’t designed for containing an unwilling prisoner, and it came open quickly. He crawled in, rolled to his back, and studied the underside of the bed.
The first thing that struck him was the lack of cobwebs underneath the bed. He knew the cleaning staff was well-paid and dedicated, but this was an area that many people wouldn’t even think about, right?
He looked to the side, and he realized that he was wrong. As long as they weren’t blindfolded, any sub locked in this cage would definitely notice cobwebs. The underside of the bed was a solid sheet of wood broken by wide slats that reinforced the expanse. He touched the surfaces, running his fingertips and palms over them to find anything that might indicate a hidey-hole.
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Just to be sure, he inspected the metal bars and pulled up the soft, plush rug that lined the floor. He found a nipple clamp and an earring, which he left there.
Exiting the room was almost harder than breaking into it had been. Liam peeked out through the peephole to see two couples standing a few feet down the hall conversing. He watched them laugh and talk for almost fifteen minutes before the coast was clear enough for him to leave.
It looked like he was going on a road trip.
Alex caught him as he crossed the lobby on his way to the staff wing. The tall, skinny guy had the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up, and the juxtaposition of his tattoos with his professional style of dress struck Liam as kind of cool. This guy was living his dream as the owner of a fetish-themed destination inn, and he marked each year of life with a fresh tattoo to commemorate the fact that he’d lived it. Perhaps when he left the FBI, Liam would get a tattoo or ten. Maybe he wouldn’t wait that long. What were they going to do—fire him?
Alex held a hand out in greeting. “Hey, how are you faring today?”
Liam shook his hand heartily, as if greeting someone he’d known for years. He could see why Tru had maintained a friendship with this man for so long. He was inherently friendly and welcoming. “Great. I was just out and about, checking out the public areas.”
“Fair enough. Listen, what are you doing for lunch?”
Driving to t
he rafting outfitter was the next item on Liam’s to-do list. “I was going to go for a drive, check out the area.”
“After lunch. Jewell wanted to make sure you had something to keep you occupied today, but I managed to get her to leave you alone for the morning. I figured you were noodling on that work problem you’ve been thinking about for the past two days.”
The “work problem” wasn’t going to be solved in one morning. Their task force expected to spend months or years researching The Eye in order to take it down. They didn’t want the murderers and thieves at the lower end of the organization—they wanted to take down the whole enchilada. Liam laughed sheepishly. “Guilty.”
“Dedication is a great quality to have. Anyone who wants a future with Tru needs to be dedicated.”
“To keeping her from killing herself with some crazy stunt?” Liam huffed at the memory of Tru jumping from that bridge. “She needs to be kept on a short leash. Did she tell you that she tricked us into letting her base jump on our way here?”
Alex lifted a brow. “You don’t approve?”
“No. After she pulled that shit, she tried topping from the bottom and manipulating Jed to get him to intervene. I spanked her, and then Jed had a go.” He couldn’t go into the way she’d teased them about having a hero complex because that would be too hard to explain. Liam knew the man was judging him based on the way he talked about Tru. Jordan had impressed upon him that a good Dom doesn’t shy away from punishing his sub when she needs to be punished.
Alex’s expression was guarded. “How did she react to that?”
“I think she was mostly shocked, but she was definitely contrite. She hasn’t tried to top from the bottom again.”
Lips pressed together and arms crossed, Alex stared into the distance for several long moments. “I get that you need to keep her in line. She respects strength of character. But with the stunts...” He shook his head and nailed Liam with a fierce light in his eyes. “Her jumps are like my tattoos. They’re milestones that commemorate the fact that she made it another month, season, or year. Think about that, and talk to her about it, before you decide it’s a good idea to try to take that away.”
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