My Addiction

by Cassie Ryan

  He sighed. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and not all of it good for either himself or the case.

  A slow sigh escaped and his chest tightened at the thought of leaving Kate. She touched his heart in a way no woman ever had. If it weren’t for his case and his responsibilities he would still be back up there.

  But he did have responsibilities he needed to take care of.

  After that…He didn’t allow his mind to go there yet.

  He made a quick call to Shapiro to tell the man what he had learned about Kate’s client. Analysts did their best work when the agent in the field kept them informed. He remembered how he had always appreciated field agents who kept him in the loop, and he wanted to do the same for his own support team.

  “Dex. Quick question before we go back to pleasantries. Has your phone been out of your possession in the past twenty-four hours?”

  Dex frowned at the question, but thought back over the time he had been with Kate. Last night the screen had been locked, and it had been in the front pocket of his pants on the floor next to the bed. He was such a light sleeper, he would have woken instantly if Kate had gotten up or anyone else had entered the penthouse. Especially with the alarm beeping if anyone turned it on or off.

  He had woken immediately when Kate got out of bed this morning, but had given her some space to see what she would do, so he’d feigned sleep.

  There was little to no chance that Kate or anyone else could have gotten into his phone. He changed lanes and returned his attention to Shapiro. “No. My phone has been locked down tight. Why, what’s up?”

  “Just making sure everything is secure. What do you have for me?” Dex frowned at the explanation but could see no reason for evasion by a man on his own team, so decided to roll with it until he had good reason not to.

  Shapiro’s bubbly good humor, even early in the morning, made Dex crave coffee. Fortunately, Starbucks opened at four thirty. He took the next right toward a drive-through location he had found on the map soon after arriving in town.

  “I have some information on the Merestone Houston site for you. New changes should’ve gone live about twenty minutes ago. Nine hidden turtles, if I found them all when I glanced at the page.”

  He couldn’t help but feel he was betraying Kate by passing on that information and shook his head. He needed to remember he had a job to do. If Kate was in on this, then she was betraying her nation, which would take precedence over any personal feelings he had developed, or any responsibility he felt toward her as her Dominant.

  He stopped at the thought about Kate, remembering her eyes glazed with passion and her skin flushed with exertion. He pushed those images firmly aside. He didn’t have time to deal with them right now, although he did admit their existence.

  Shapiro laughed. “You and that computer brain of yours. Makes the rest of us look like amateurs. Some of the pages I’ve had to stare at for an hour to find the hidden images, and then one of the other guys will come up behind me and find a few more.”

  Dex shook his head as he pulled into the drive-through lane for Starbucks. “Trust me, it’s not as much of a blessing as everyone thinks. Everything has its downside as well as the up.”

  Shapiro didn’t answer, but the sound of keys clicking told Dex he was taking notes.

  “Thanks, Dex. We’re on it. Have you talked to Tanner yet this morning?”

  Dex frowned again. First a question about his phone’s security, and then a question about whether he’d checked in with his boss? He might be reading too much into it, but his gut told him he was on the right track. “No. Why?”

  “You might want to call him next. He’s been up all night putting together news updates, coordinating staff, and working with our team. He told me to stay on the analysis of the computer code and the graphic design updates, but there was a lot of action going on last night that Ripley and Burgener were involved with. I think Jason wanted to let you continue to work the Miss Fretwell angle to see what you could learn there, so didn’t want to bother you.” The man paused, and Dex heard him take a sip of liquid.

  The car in front of him at the drive-through pulled forward. Since there were concrete medians on both sides of the lane, he had no choice but to follow the line through. “Speaking of coffee. Give me a minute, Shapiro.” He pulled up to the speaker box and gave the barista his order before edging up to wait behind the line of cars for his drink.

  “Shapiro, thanks. I’m at ‘The BUX,’ getting my morning caffeine fix,” he said, using the acronym the analyst pool had come up with for their favorite java joint.

  “Damn, you field guys get all the perks. I’m drinking bad break-room coffee.”

  Dex remembered all the long nights and all the pots of horrible break-room coffee he had endured as an analyst. He promised himself he would do something nice for his team as soon as this case was done. He knew how hard they were working to support him.

  “All right, Shapiro. I’ll call Tanner now. Thanks for the heads-up.”

  Dex picked up his drink at the last window, and then called his boss on his way back to his town house.

  He would have liked to speak to Tanner from the bedroom that was set aside as his office, rather than the car, so he could take any notes he wanted. But after Shapiro’s update, he knew he needed to find out everything he’d missed, sooner rather than later.

  The analyst’s odd question about the security of his phone bothered him. It was a strange question unless there was some reason to suspect that his phone had been compromised. Normally, the overly eager man would have spilled the reasoning along with the question.

  “Dex.” The sound of wind over the line made him think his boss was driving, or standing outside with a breeze hitting the phone mic.

  “Hey, boss. Shapiro said you had a busy night last night.”

  Tanner coughed. “That’s an understatement. Are you alone? As in, is anyone waiting for you to come back?”

  Dex’s brows bunched, and a throb started behind his eyes.

  What the fuck was going on?

  “I’m alone. Headed back to the town house. Why?”

  “Dex. Listen. Don’t go back there.” Jason’s voice had an urgent note in it that sent a cold spear of dread through Dex’s stomach.

  “Drive around for a while. Make sure you’re not being tailed. Go anywhere but the town house, then when you can, head back to Phoenix. We’ll make sure everything at the town house stays secure, and we’ll grab all of your personal items and our equipment when we can. I’ve already got a team on Kathryne Fretwell.”

  Icy arrows of fear shot through his veins. What had he missed last night? “Jason. Level with me. What happened?”

  A long sigh carried across the phone line. “I’m getting there. Sorry, Dex. It’s been a long night. I knew you were going to have a long day today; that’s why I didn’t contact you when we were in the thick of it. If we hadn’t heard from you by nine a.m. I would’ve touched base.” Tanner’s exhaustion and frustration were clear, and both twisted Dex’s stomach into knots. “I can’t say for sure if they are directly related, but my gut tells me that putting you in The Dungeon opened up a whole can of shit-storm.”

  Dex frowned as fingers of dread raced down his spine. He braced for whatever Jason would tell him next. The fact that Tanner sounded angry and stressed was a big concern. He was usually pretty unflappable. There had to be one hell of a clusterfuck for it to have this much effect on the man.

  Dex turned onto a side street that would take him in the opposite direction of the town house. “That sounds pretty ominous. You’d better fill me in on what I missed.”

  “After I spoke to you last night, reports began to trickle in, and then flood in.” The exhaustion in Jason’s voice clearly carried across the line. “Action all across the board. Attacks on the political, powerful, moneyed, and special-interest targets, large sums of cash being moved, and a few terrorist training cells kicking into high gear. We ended up raiding two of th
ose last night.”

  Dex clenched his fingers into tight fists as a long pause fell between them. Logically he knew that even if he’d sat at the FBI town house last night keeping tabs on everything, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything that his team hadn’t done without him. Guilt bit at him, nonetheless.

  Jason cleared his throat. “We are still cleaning up loose ends all across the nation, but I think the worst is over. I hope.”

  Dex’s mind whirled, as memories of last night spilled through him, along with no small measure of guilt that his team was out dealing with lots of other things while he had spent a very enjoyable night with Kate.

  “Did you find out anything on your side, Dex?”

  He blew out a slow breath. “Shapiro had asked me to find out anything I could about Kate’s involvement with Merestone Resorts and her graphic design work for them. This morning, she was up early completing work they wanted done before seven a.m. local time. Hiding nine turtles in their logo on the Houston page. Shapiro is looking for cash movements that correspond to that number somewhere in Houston.”

  “Good. Being able to watch for it up front rather than looking for it after the fact may help shed some light.” He paused for a long moment. “The leads you found us this week with all the casual meetings were invaluable, by the way. Is there anything else?”

  Dex slowed at the yellow light, and then stopped as it turned red. “Kate mentioned she’s been searching for another BDSM club. It sounds like she’s tired of L.A., and especially living in the same town as her overbearing father. She asked me since I had gone to Arizona State if I’d heard of Club Desire.” The light turned green, and Dex drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as a group of elderly jaywalkers slowly traversed the crosswalk in front of him. A few cars honked behind him, and he ignored them.

  “What did you tell her?”

  Dex sipped his coffee and then lifted his foot off the brake when the last pedestrian was clear.

  “Bare bones. It’s a great dungeon. I’ve played there before. I didn’t mention that I’m part owner. I told her if she was interested in joining, I could get her a meeting with the owner.”

  “Good.” Some of the tension seemed to leave Tanner’s voice. “We’ve been making sure Club Desire pops up in her search results, and have even dropped in references in nonspecific web searches where it wouldn’t seem too obvious.”

  Dex would have to ask his team about that last part. Kate was smart, and she obviously thrived in the world of graphic design with one foot in IT. If search results popped up where they shouldn’t, it might set off alarm bells with her. But since she had seemed so interested in what Club Desire was like, she might have taken those as more signs from the universe that she was supposed to check it out. He hoped so.

  Jason cleared his throat. His voice was rough, as if he had used it too much in the last twenty-four hours. The sound of wind against the mic had died down. “Did Miss Fretwell say when she plans on moving, or checking out Club Desire?”

  Dex shook his head. “No. Just that she was tired of L.A., and looking for somewhere better. Somewhere that was a technology hub so it would be easy to network and find more work, and somewhere with a good fetish scene.”

  Tanner made a general grunt that Dex took for agreement. “We just want to be ready if she bolts this way.” A yawn sounded across the line. “Oh, I talked to Ed Ralston this morning…which reminds me. Several of the people who were targeted last night are members of The Dungeon. There were four injuries in L.A., and one death. With a handful more injuries around the nation. Hopefully none of those will result in additional deaths.”

  Dex’s mind recoiled. “What were the incidents that happened here?”

  The sound of shuffling papers told him Jason was referencing a list. “In L.A., injuries among members of The Dungeon included a severe knife wound. He made it to the hospital, but died an hour later. The others include a traumatic brain injury from a beating, a few cracked ribs after being hit by a car, and multiple injuries from an apparent fall down three flights of stairs.” Tanner blew out a breath, causing a crackling sound over the phone line. “Anyway, I figured letting Ed Ralston in on those up front would allow him to clamp down on any panic within the club. After all, it’s one day after Stanton’s murder, and now there are four more members attacked and injured, with one dead. That might cause some concern among the members.” He paused. “As for Ralston, he seemed so concerned we don’t suspect him of anything that it’s making me suspect him. Is there anyone else there who set off your alarm bells?”

  Dex thought back and then shook his head. “No. There were a few horrible Doms I met. Senator Balkins, for one, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him other than saving Kate from a night with him. And you already know about Stanton.”

  Tanner’s yawn sounded over the line again. “Balkins is still fine, as far as we know.”

  Dex blew out a breath. Balkins was an ass, and there was a tiny bit of him that wouldn’t have minded if he had been on the main hit list. But the fact that he was still healthy might say something too.

  “You sound like shit, Jason. Why don’t you get some sleep, and I’ll make my way home?”

  “All right, Dex. Get back here as soon as you can. I have someone watching your place in Phoenix to make sure it’s secure. Why don’t you go straight to Club Desire, and I’ll meet you there?”

  Dex shook his head, convinced he hadn’t heard correctly. Something else was going on here. “Jason?” He hadn’t meant it to come out as a question, but he did have lots of them he was hoping his boss could answer. “I’m fine with that, but why didn’t you ask me to meet you at the FBI office, downtown? It seems like there are a few puzzle pieces missing.”

  “Sorry, Dex. We aren’t sure if you’ve been made or not, but just in case, we want to keep your FBI life and the rest of your life very separate while we sort this out. We can discuss it in detail when you get back.

  “Wait until you get to Phoenix to let Miss Fretwell know you’re gone. Even then, be very sparing in the information you give beyond that you were called back to work on an urgent matter, and aren’t sure for how long.” Background noise drowned out Jason’s voice for a few long seconds, but Dex couldn’t make out what the sounds were.

  “Sorry about that, Dex. Anyway, if you can be vague about the location of where you were recalled to, that might be a good idea as well. Until we figure out if you’re a direct target, and who is involved, it’s better not to invite trouble.”

  Dex clenched his jaw. Even without all the details, he could understand the need for discretion, but he didn’t have to like it. After the night he and Kate had shared, such a cold goodbye would hurt her. He just hoped that once all of this was sorted out, she would forgive him.

  He should be telling himself that until she was cleared of any wrongdoing, he shouldn’t even consider seeing her again. But deep down, he knew Kate had done nothing wrong. Now he had to prove it.

  Because the thought of never seeing Kate again squeezed his chest and tightened his throat. That wasn’t an option, so he would just have to find a way forward.

  Dex kept watch in his mirrors as he took side roads and then freeways, and made unexpected direction changes. He didn’t see anyone tailing him, and he needed gas for the long, unplanned drive to Phoenix. He pulled into the next gas station he came to and cut the engine. “Jason, both you and Shapiro have asked me some odd questions, and you have a protection detail on Kate. Have you found something new on her? Or is she in some kind of danger from last night? I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  His boss cleared his throat. “Some details that made the rounds were apparently those you only told Miss Fretwell.”

  Suspicion snaked through him before a flash of anger filled his chest. “How the hell would anyone know if it was something I only told Kate?”

  “We’ll talk when you get back here.”

  Dex resisted the urge to slam his hands against
the steering wheel as frustration tightened his chest and started a throb behind his eyes.

  Chapter 18

  Pinpricks of pain against her stomach and a plaintive yowl finally woke Kate. She slowly opened one eye and wished she hadn’t, as the midday sun poured in through the window and into her face.

  After she had said goodbye to Dex this morning, she had forgotten to close the blinds before falling back into bed.

  Her entire body was pleasantly sore and had that well-used feeling. But she could easily go back to sleep for another eight hours or so, if the exhaustion weighing her down was any indication.

  Rusty continued to knead her stomach with his claws, reminding her he wanted attention. She needed to check his water and litter box before she moved on to other concerns. But first, she had to get out of bed.

  Right now that task seemed as difficult as climbing Mount Everest. Dex had pushed her body to new heights of pleasure in several different ways over the last couple of days, and all of that hard-earned bliss had taken its toll. Although she could never regret it.

  She slowly rolled over onto her side, a baby step toward getting out of bed, earning an annoyed yowl from Rusty.

  Dex’s masculine scent teased her nose, and she couldn’t help the large smile that curved across her whisker-burned face. She reached up to touch the abraded skin, but that only brought another smile.

  Memories of the last two days flooded back, and she buried her face against the sheets, breathing deeply to imprint as much of his smell on her mind as she could.

  Rusty head-butted her shoulder, and she reached around him to hug and pet him. “I’m coming, buddy. I’m sorry.”

  When she finally made it to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, she admitted she wouldn’t get far without a shower.

  She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand, disappointed to see no messages from Dex but four emails from Merestone, and one from another client. She scanned them briefly and sighed at the full day of work ahead of her. She still had three projects from Merestone that she hadn’t finished this morning, although they had said she had until the end of tomorrow to complete those.