Bounce Down: 1st Quarter: Start of Play (6 page)

“
So, have I
scared you off or are you willing to come back next
weekend?”

Well, what a
surprise?
He was satisfied with me, but
could I say the same about him, even taking into consideration my
best ever orgasm?

“
I have one
question.”

He raised an eyebrow in
amusement, “Only one?”

“
One main
one, it’s really more of a clarification.”

He nodded and gave me his full
attention. “Sure, what would you like clarified?”

“
If I come
back next time and if I did everything you ask of me, would it mean
you won’t discipline me?”

His guilty expression gave me
my answer. “Well, not exactly.”

I digested this, before
continuing, “But isn’t that what you said?”

He held my gaze before he
reiterated his earlier statement. “I said I would not discipline
you without a reason. Disobeying me is one reason.”

Multiple
reasons?
That was an important detail to
leave out.
What did he want of me
now?

“
So, another
reason for disciplining me would be...?”

“
For my
pleasure.” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

I shook my head, as the
implications of his words became clear and opened my mouth to
speak. Before I could mention my concerns, he added, “I know it
sounds a bit autocratic, even to my ears, but it wouldn’t mean I
would discipline you whenever I wanted.”

“
It would if
it gave you pleasure.”

He took my hands in his. “Look,
all it means is, in addition to the three D’s, disobedience,
disrespect and dishonesty, occasionally I would like to discipline
you simply because I want to. But going by today’s result, it would
be followed by hot and heavy sex.”

I felt my face heating, knowing
he had again made me blush.

Brendon checked his watch. “You
know it’s gone five. Of course you’re welcome to stay the night if
you wish; no pressure.”

I was still a bit wary of the
whole situation and wanted to process everything, without the
distraction his presence was causing. Plus my periods were due, but
I was too embarrassed to tell him this was one of the reasons.

“
I really
should be going. I have to call Mandy and besides, I’m afraid if I
stay I may never leave.”

He seemed surprised, yet
pleased at my comment. “And would that be such a bad thing?”

I peeked at him shyly from
beneath my lowered lashes and whispered, “Maybe.”

“
I know you
have a lot to think about and decide, but you do realise you cannot
tell anyone about any of this, including my name?” His tone had
lost some of its warmth, confirming he was serious.

“
Yes I know;
you have my signature on that document.” I gave him a questioning
look as if to say what more do you want, my signature in
blood?

“
Yes I do,
which reminds me….” He reached over to the pile of papers. “Here,
this is your copy.”

After placing it in my bag, I
moved to stand and offering me his hand, he helped me to my feet.
He could be quite the gentleman at times. Standing toe to toe, he
lifted my chin so I was no longer staring at his chest.

“
I will call
you on Thursday at 6.00 p m and if you agree, you will come here on
Friday.”

As usual, he was clear and
concise with his words, stating his intention instead of
asking.

“
If you have
any questions or concerns that can’t wait until then, you can call
or email me.”

He handed me a business card
with his contact details. I was now allowed this information, since
I was barred from divulging it. He had handwritten his home address
on the card. This confirmed his aversion to giving it out. I felt
honoured to be one of the privileged few.

He walked me to the side door,
into the garage and then hit the door remote button. Instead of
getting into the Mazda, he escorted me out to the front courtyard
where, to my astonishment, I saw my royal blue Nissan Micra parked
on the circular drive waiting for me.

“
But
how...?”

“
What did you
think I was doing all the time you were upstairs? I got a lift to
the car park and drove it back here. It’s quite zippy, isn’t
it?”

I was stunned! “My
keys...?”

“
Are back in
your purse where you left them.”

I was about to say he had
overstepped the mark, before he confessed, “I thought it may be
risky leaving your car there... overnight.” He had the grace to
look sheepish at his overbearing comment.

I smiled and
shook my head at the boldness of his actions. “It seems this time,
at least, you were a little
too
confident.”

“
Ouch.” He
put his hand over his heart as though I had wounded him. “Next
time, and I truly believe there will be a next time, you and your
car will be staying overnight; both locked behind my security
gate.”

Once again, I answered with
what was fast becoming my favourite word, “Maybe.” It was a word
which could mean whatever I wanted, yes, no, or truly maybe.

As I drove to work Monday
morning, it almost felt as though my fantasy weekend had never
existed, with the possible exception of the cat-that-ate-the-cream
smile on my face.

I had better be careful at work
and not let anything slip. Working with detectives when keeping a
secret was difficult, as it was their job to read people;
especially any changes in demeanour or expression. In the past, I
found it quite annoying they had always been able to tell when I
had boyfriend issues.

It was a fairly easy day. I was
catching up on some typing, mainly statements and transcriptions
for presentation in court. Like myself, the police staff also
caught up with paperwork when it was quiet; hence everyone was in
the office.

Mandy came up to have a cuppa
at morning tea, as she often did when my workload allowed.
Naturally, the first topic she brought up was my blind date.
Apparently she was not satisfied with my brief limited account of
my encounter with Brendon.

After firing off several
unanswered questions, she finished with, “So, when are you seeing
him again?”

It was at this point my good
friend and co-worker, Detective Peter Hampson (Hammer to his
mates), came into view from behind an office screen at the rear of
my reception area. From his expression, it was obvious he had at
least heard her last question.

This was confirmed as he
repeated, “Yes Suze, do tell?”

I rolled my eyes at him and his
naturally inquisitive nature. Peter was that typical male friend
most girls had. He was always looking out for you, someone to seek
advice from and to share the highs and lows with. Admittedly he was
quite handsome, well over six feet tall with short cropped sandy
brown hair, light-brown eyes and a wicked smile. The reason our
relationship worked so well, was we were friends of the opposite
sex with no interference of any sexual tension. This was especially
true in our case, as Peter was happily married and had recently
become a father.

“
Mind your
own business Pete and Mandy was just leaving, weren’t
you?”

They both looked stunned. It
was not like me to keep secrets from them. But as I was
uncomfortable making up a cover story, they would have to quell
their curiosity this time.

In hindsight, this was probably
the worse course of action to take, as police officers, especially
Detectives, were experts when it came to getting the information
they wanted. It was their job to get to the truth of the matter and
they were relentless in their endeavours; especially if it was
gossip about one of their own. I knew I had not heard the end of
this.

I soon saw my folly in not
giving Peter any details whatsoever as, over the next few days, one
by one he and his mates cornered me, pumping me for information on
my hot date. As they all knew I blushed easily they asked probing
questions, which would be answered by my traitorous flushed
features. It was times like this I wished I had a job with normal
office workers.

I had a smile on my face as I
drove to work on Thursday morning, knowing Brendon was going to
call me later. It seemed like weeks since I had spoken to him. I
did have questions and doubts, loads of them. I knew I could have
rang him during the week, but like our first phone call, I found it
hard to talk about what I wanted.

My smile faded as I heard the
newsflash on the radio. A teenage girl had gone missing the
previous night and the circumstances were suspicious. It looked
like a hectic day ahead.

As expected, on arrival I was
the only one in the office. Everyone else would have first attended
a situation report (sit-rep) meeting, along with staff seconded
from other squads, before hitting the streets. This was the norm
when we had a job – all available police personnel would be out
gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses, in order to
establish a timeline leading up to and immediately following the
disappearance.

As the day continued, the
various teams returned and I typed several witness statements, in
between inputting data into our high tech database system; the same
one used by Scotland Yard.

At five o’clock I packed up my
things in readiness to go home. The Squad Senior Sergeant, Steve
Jacobs, saw my intention to leave. “Where do you think you’re
going?”

Steve was easy going most of
the time, but if there was a job on, he was extremely professional.
He was a family man in his late thirties and was approximately six
feet tall, slightly shorter than Peter. He had thinning brown hair
and sparkling hazel eyes; eyes that made people wonder what he was
thinking.

I smiled up at him. “No-one has
asked me to work back.”

“
Nice try. We
will need you to stay. They are going to cover it on all the news
channels, so we expect Crime Stoppers to receive lots of
calls.”

This equated to having to input
all the details from those calls. I would have other staff to help
but, as in all major cases, the first 24 hours was the most crucial
and the quicker the evidence was collated, the more valuable it
was.

At 5.50 I took a five minute
break before the flood of information from the six o’clock news
came through. Back at my regular desk, I fished out Brendon’s card
and dialled his mobile number from the office phone.

I was about to hang up, when he
finally answered with a wary, “Yes?”

“
It’s
Suzie.”

“
I was going
to call you.” He sounded almost apprehensive. “Where are you
calling from?”

“
I’m still at
work. I’m afraid this is one of those occasions I have to work
overtime.”

Another pause. “I see.”

“
I rang you
now so I didn’t miss you call.”

“
Do you know
how long you will be?”

At this point Peter arrived and
sat on the corner of my desk, obviously prepared to wait out my
phone call, while eavesdropping in the process.

“
Um, I don’t
know.” Jeez, I didn’t want to give anything away in front of
him.

“
Well, will
you be able to come over tomorrow night?”

From experience, it was highly
likely I would be required to work late on the second day of an
investigation of this nature.

“
I might have
to work.” It irritated me to see the smug look of satisfaction on
Peter’s face, confirming he knew I was talking to my mystery
man.

“
You’re not
trying to put me off are you, Suzanna?” His words held a note of
authority.

Flustered, I quickly reassured
him. “No, no of course not.”

Damn it, I knew I was blushing,
another telling sign I did not want Peter witnessing. Then to my
horror, he stood up and held out his hand for the phone.

“
Here, let me
explain it to him.”

I shook my
head mouthing “
no”
to Peter.

“
Who’s there
with you?”

OMG, this was like a
nightmare!

I backed away from him, as far
as the phone cord would allow. “One of my work colleagues. I have
to go.”

I quickly put my hand down on
the receiver to break the connection, just as he grabbed the phone
out of my hand.

“
What do you
think you’re doing?” I was so angry. This time he had gone too
far.

He smiled, not in the least
phased at my anger. “The news is on. Steve wants everyone in the
ops room.”

Not waiting for my reply, he
handed back the phone and headed towards the large conference room
at the end of the corridor.

It was after ten by the time I
put the key in the door. I knew my flatmate Diane would be home
from work soon, with her afternoon shift finishing at eleven. I was
feeling guilty about hanging up on Brendon, but it was too late to
call him.

Having made
up my mind to send an email instead, I grabbed my laptop and,
sitting in my comfy chair, opened the email program. I entered his
address and typed,
‘Sorry’
into the subject line.

After informing him I had
arrived home, I briefly apologised for the quick hang up,
explaining I had a meeting to attend.

Then I touched on some of my
doubts; the main point being forced to disappear off the radar
whenever I was with him. I had always been readily contactable by
my friends and family. They would all think it strange if they
could not contact me; this basically amounted to having access to
my mobile phone.