Dungeon Games (18 page)

“I do.” Having babies was one of those things she’d given up on. She told herself it was for the best, but watching all her friends with their kids brought back memories of the plans she’d made with Kevin. At least two kids. She didn’t care if they were boys or girls, but Kevin said he needed a boy to keep the balance of power in the house.

She wondered how Brighton felt about kids.
Don’t even go there.
Shaking off the thought, she got down to business. She couldn’t avoid it any longer. “Now, what is this about e-mails?”

He turned his laptop around. “Here it is.”

She quickly read through the e-mail. Blah blah bitch. Blah blah whore. Blah blah sins. Typical asshole serial killer stuff. He needed new material. What she found deeply interesting was the address it had posted to. “I haven’t used that e-mail in years. I didn’t even realize it still existed. If you’ll let me hop on, I can try to trace where the message came from.”

“I’ll get Adam on it as soon as he finishes fucking with Jake. If anyone can track this guy down, it’s Adam.” He took back his laptop and started typing. “I have other news. I just sent the files to the lieutenant. We’ve got background checks on almost everyone in the club. It’s the usual stuff. We’ve got a couple of ex-cons, but only one violent offender.”

“Who?”

“A man named Jim Benson. The other two were drug arrests, but Jim has an aggravated assault charge on his sheet.”

She tried to put a name with a face. “He doesn’t ring a bell.”

“He’s only been in once since we started working, but according to the gossip, he’s a regular. He’s got an upcoming trial for beating up his ex-girlfriend. They really don’t give a shit who they let into this club, do they? I’ve also got some interesting news on your boy.”

“I have a boy?”

“Brighton seems to think you do. He’s got a hard-on for this William Daley fellow.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve talked to the man a couple of times. Derek is high.”

“Derek is jealous. Very jealous from the looks of it.” Li sat back. “Are you sure you want to do this with him? You know what he’s looking for, right?”

She sighed. She should have expected to get the big brother talk from Li. “I know what he wants. He knows I’m not interested in a true twenty-four seven relationship. I know I’m not his dream sub.”

“But he’s your dream Dom?”

She liked Liam better when all he did was work and drink beer and go to Hooters. He was more fun then. “Of course not.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t have a dream Dom. I had one. He died. That story is over. Brighton and I are just passing time.”

“He didn’t sound like he was just passing time when he asked me to look into the good doctor here.”

That perked her up. It was way more interesting than talking about her non-relationship with the man who kind of really was her dream Dom. “Will isn’t a doctor. He’s an EMT.”

“Haven’t run a trace on him, have you?” Liam sat back with a self-satisfied smile.

Damn, she should have done her own leg work. She hated someone knowing more about her own case than she did. “I haven’t had time. I was getting everything ready when the DPD swooped in, and then you took over and I thought it was best to leave the paperwork to you.”

“Or you were having too much fun playing house with Brighton.”

There was truth to his words. Truth she didn’t want to deal with. “Just tell me.”

He frowned in that way that let her know she was no fun to play with. “Fine. William Daley. He’s thirty-five. Graduated from Johns Hopkins. He’s a surgeon.”

“Why would he lie and say he’s an EMT?”

“My best guess? He’s trying to hide his association with the lifestyle from his colleagues. Hospitals are notoriously political. He actually works in Fort Worth, but he drives all the way to Dallas to play. He’s trying to keep his lifestyle very private. He’s also in the middle of a wrongful death lawsuit. It looks like a woman under his care died. I bet he doesn’t want her lawyers to find out and get himself outed as the pervert surgeon who kills young women.”

If she had to bet, she would put her money on the fact Will was one of the good ones. “That’s not fair.”

Liam shrugged. “Not saying it’s fair, darlin’. Just saying it’s what would happen. His sub, on the other hand, is not quite so well educated. Her real name is Leslie Starling. She’s originally from New York. Looks like she made it through a year of community college and then quit. She’s had a couple of jobs, but mostly waitressing and serving drinks at golf courses. She worked a couple of jobs on private boats. Do you think that makes her a hooker?”

Liam always went to the worst possible place. “No, I think some crazy rich people can afford to hire staff. My brother-in-law used to captain boats for people. Some of the yachts he worked on had staffs of up to ten people to wait on the owner.”

“I bet she still probably slept with them. She’s definitely sleeping with the doc. She moved into his condo a month ago. No idea why she suddenly up and moved. She was working in New York and from what I can tell, she just quit and moved here. She got a job at a doctor’s office as a receptionist and now she’s seeing Master Will. That’s probably where they met.”

“I know some people in the lifestyle in the city. If she was bottoming there, someone should know her. Maybe I’ll give them a call.” It was likely nothing, but she liked to follow up when her instincts started to flare. Something was wrong with Starr. She didn’t fit, but Karina couldn’t put her finger on why.

“Already did,” Liam shot back. “I have contacts there, too, and god knows everyone knows Tag.” He leaned forward. “No one’s heard of her. If she was playing, it wasn’t at any of the good clubs. They did ask about you, though. You still have people who care about you up there. Why don’t you call them?”

There was something about the way he said it that just let her know. Maybe it was the sympathy that crept into his tone. Maybe it was the way his eyes looked through her. “You know.”

He didn’t prevaricate. “Are you talking about the fact that you were arrested twice before you were eighteen on drug charges and the only reason you didn’t have an adult arrest was the fact that Officer Kevin Mills took you in and got you through rehab?”

She felt her body go numb. Well, if he knew everything it was stupid to lie. “Are you going to tell Tag?”

“Darlin’, Tag knows. I knew. This is not information I dug up today. I vetted you before we hired you the first time. I’ve known for years. What I didn’t know was that you don’t talk to your friends anymore. They miss you.”

She shook her head. “You can’t have known. The records were sealed. They were sealed by the courts and then I buried them myself.”

“Unsealing records is my job. And you should know nothing ever stays buried. Talking to people is my job. Figuring out who the bad guy is and who the girl who got herself into trouble and was strong enough to get herself out—that’s me job, too.”

She clenched her fist to stop the fine tremble. If everyone knew, would they look at her differently? “Liam, it was bad.”

“Most drug addictions are. And the rate of people who fall off the wagon is high. You didn’t. As far as I can tell, you never went back after that last rehab.”

She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm herself. She could sit around in a meeting and talk for hours, but talking about it to Li was different. “Five thousand four hundred and seventy-nine days sober. And I can’t forget to count the days. I do it every morning when I wake up. I shower and brush my teeth and I add another day to the calendar. I look in the mirror and make the decision to not use. Do you understand, Liam? I’m always one step away from falling off the edge.”

“Karina, we all are. You seem to think there’s something shameful about this. I admire you for getting up and choosing. Why on earth would you hide this?”

“Because I am ashamed. Liam, this is nothing to be proud of.”

He shook his head. “You’re wrong. You were a kid. You made some rough mistakes but then given what happened to you, I think I understand. You got yourself out. You have nothing, I mean nothing, to be ashamed of. I’m quite proud to call you my friend.”

If he kept this up, she was going to lose it. She took the only out she could see. “So I’m not getting canned?”

“Never,” Li promised. “But I’m telling you all this because Brighton knows about the sealed records. The fucker forensics guy told him. Eve told me and I thought you should know. He didn’t tell Brighton what you’ve been arrested for, but I doubt it will take him too long to figure it out. Tell him.”

“I can’t.” Because if she did tell him, it would be the end. He might not run, but he would look at her differently. He was looking for a soft, sweet woman, not someone who had spent her youth in and out of foster homes. Not one who had escaped the pain by shoving a needle in her arm.

“Damn it. You’re in love with him.” Liam sighed. “I don’t know that’s such a good idea. Don’t get me wrong. I like Derek. He’s okay, but he’s very straight and narrow. He didn’t grow up the way the rest of us did. His mum and dad are still married. They still go to church and drag him there on holidays. His brother might have slept with Maia, but they still go to family functions together. Derek still goes to Sunday dinners with the fucker. They’re very all-American. I don’t want him to break your heart, but you have to be honest with him. It’ll be better than him finding out some other way. I don’t think you have a thing to be ashamed of, but he might. Best to get it over with and know where you stand.”

But she was pretty sure where she would stand. “You’re making more out of this than you should, Li. I’m not in love with him. We’re just playing around. It’s nothing serious so let it go, please.”

Liam stood up and crossed the space between them, pulling her up and into a hug. “I’m glad to hear it.”

She hugged him back. He knew about her past and he didn’t hate her for it. Apparently everyone knew. She’d been hiding in her little closet but the door had been open and everyone was staring inside, likely wondering why she wouldn’t come out.

But the idea of Derek finding out? They were happy. Relatively so. Why couldn’t she just have her couple of weeks with him? She held on to Liam for a minute, taking comfort knowing he was still her friend.

“Are you done here, Karina?”

She nearly jumped out of Liam’s arms. Derek was staring at her with arctic eyes, every muscle in his body tense. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say. Defending herself seemed silly. Liam was her friend. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. She didn’t owe him explanations. “Yes.”

“Good, we need to get going. O’Donnell, do you have the files I requested?” Cold as ice. There was no mistaking it. He was pissed.

Liam nodded. “I sent them to you ten minutes ago. Eve is looking through them this afternoon. Hopefully we’ll have a couple of prospects Sean and I can look into.”

“See that you do. I want to get this done.” He turned and Karina was left watching his back as he walked away.

“If you need anything, you know where to come,” Liam said. “My and Avery’s door is always open.”

And that was a good thing, because it felt a little like Derek had slammed his closed.

Chapter Nine

Derek slammed the car door shut and looked up at Karina’s building. It was a piece of crap and he’d already had a talk with the super about getting the lights in the parking lot changed.

He was going to have to leave her soon and he wouldn’t have any right to even check in. She would be here all alone with no one to watch out for her. No one to hold her or make sure she was okay. He wouldn’t be able to do it because she wouldn’t let him. And he couldn’t stay involved in another relationship where he didn’t matter.

“Are you seriously going to spend the rest of the night not talking to me?”

He was too pissed to talk and his anger wasn’t all with Karina. He was pissed as shit at himself because he knew better. He knew better than to let himself really think he could have her for anything beyond a brief moment in time. What the hell had he been thinking? The minute he walked away from her she was in someone else’s arms. O’Donnell’s. God, he hated the fucker.

And he was pretty sure O’Donnell knew her secrets. “Let’s just get upstairs. We don’t have long before we need to be at the club.”

“Why don’t we take the night off?”

He turned to her. “We have a job to do.”

“We can take a single night off.”

So they could what? So he could fuck her and fall more for her and then watch while she played around with O’Donnell? “The club won’t be open Sunday through Tuesday. We can take plenty of time off then.” She was leaning against the car door, staring at him with big eyes. So fucking pretty it hurt to look at her. “Unless you have something you want to talk about tonight? Is that it? Do you have something to tell me?”

Maybe if she was just honest with him, they could deal with it. She was so open when he was making love to her, but the minute he wanted to talk she clammed up. She turned it right back around and he found himself talking.

She was hiding something from him and it was starting to make him crazy.

He’d talked to her. Really opened up. He’d told her things he hadn’t told another person in the world, but she wouldn’t give him anything.

Was she using him? Was he just another in a string of men she played with? Would she expect him to be all buddy buddy with her after they were done? He wasn’t sure he could be friends with her.

“No, I just thought we could have dinner and maybe watch some TV. I don’t know, Derek. I’m just tired.”

And avoiding the subject. “You might be tired, but that won’t mean a damn thing to the guy who’s after you. I’m wondering how he knew about that e-mail when you seem to have forgotten it.”

She shook her head and he couldn’t help but think about how the setting sun hit her hair, bringing out the warmth of the color. It always seemed so dark, but when the light hit it just the right way, he could see some auburn in there. “I have no idea. Derek, I’m not trying to hide an e-mail from you. I really haven’t checked that account since Kevin died.”