Page 67 of Spies Like Us

“You know I’m dominant, and I like to take control, but it’s also about giving my partner what they need. I’m pretty sure this club is more on the extreme end of that. I may have to do things we are both uncomfortable with, so if I hit you or demean you, please know that I don’t mean any of it.” I can see how sick he feels about this, and I stand up and wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest.

His entire body shudders under my touch, and I can feel the tension seep out of him as he brings his arms up to hold me. “I promise I’ll be fine. I’ve endured worse from people I fucking hate, so I can deal with anything you’ll do to me because I don’t hate you, and I know you don’t hate me.” That’s as far as I’m willing to go with him about my feelings. Max’s and my relationship is complicated. I’ve spent less time with him than any of the others because of the situation, but we were the first to fuck. It’s kind of backwards and messed up, and I wish we had more time to talk about this and sort through our feelings, but now is not the time.

“Come on, let’s go.” Miller barrels into the room and picks up his backpack that’s lying on the table with mine. He stops when he sees Max and I hugging. “God, you’re not being all dramatic, are you? We all know you’re dominant and like to boss people around. Mac will be fine. Now come on. Martha will kill us if we’re not home for a couple of hours before we go to work.”

After giving Max a big squeeze, I pull away and turn to glare at Miller. “What the fuck is this?” I ask him, pointing at the mark on my neck before going around to Dayton and Anders and giving them both hugs. I just kind of feel like we all need it before tonight, and I feel the tension drain out of them when I do. I’m sure it will return, but for now at least, they aren’t all so worried.

He smirks, and Ry, who came in behind him, rolls his eyes. “He likes to mark his belongings.” He lifts his shirt, and I see a hickey on his chest that I hadn’t noticed before when I rolled over it.

“You’re such a fucking child,” Max grumbles good-naturedly.

“The timing kind of sucks. I’m not sure Matthew will be happy seeing that since he’s trying to sell me to Max. We need to stop at the drugstore so I can cover it. Let’s go.” I grab my bag and wave goodbye, but before I can hurry to the car, Lathan swears violently.

“Fuck!”

“What’s wrong?” Max asks, instantly on alert as he pushes off the sink and goes to look over Lathan’s shoulder.

“The cells have three more people in them. There are six now.” I can practically feel the tension rise in the room again as we all gather around to look at the screen.

Like the other three, I can’t make out features from the cameras, but we can see they are drugged and have catheters as well.

“There’s a blank spot on the cameras again when they brought them in,” he tells us.

“I very much doubt they brought them through the club this time,” I point out, “It must have happened sometime last night. It was packed, and Matthew was there all night.”

“No, they must have used one of the other entrances,” Dayton says as Lathan’s fingers fly across the keyboard. “I doubt it was the library one. It would have been too tricky to get them through the library, down the elevator, and then through the two storage rooms.”

“And I doubt it was the ranger’s cabin either. They would have had to get them all the way out there first and then over the bed and into the tunnels. That’s a lot of work.” Anders rubs his chin thoughtfully.

“And the ones in the cinema would be out, unless they used the loading dock. That’s a possibility,” Ry says. “We should have stuck one of our cameras at each of the entrances.”

Lathan looks up and grins smugly. “I did when we went on Monday, but it shows no sign of being used.”

“So that leaves where?” Miller asks, and I think about the map and what Ben told me.

“Ted and June Standish are supposed to have an entrance in their house. Have you been there with Stella?” I turn to Max, not sure I really want to hear the answer.

He shakes his head, and I feel a wave of relief. “No, I only ever dropped Stella off, I never went inside despite her begging me to. Thankfully she still lives with her parents, so it would have been awkward as fuck, but she did mention a basement. She was thinking of asking to convert it into an apartment.

I wrinkle my nose at that thought, but I really have no leg to stand on. I still live with my parents too. “So they could have used that one?”

“It would be a safe bet,” he confirms, and because their place is surrounded by landscaped gardens, nobody could see anything from the street.

“If I gave you a camera, do you think the next time you went, you could slip it close to the basement entrance?” Lathan asks.

“Yeah, I guess. She’s been trying to get me to come inside from the start.”

A wave of irrational jealousy washes over me, followed by a desire for deadly violence. I suck in a deep breath and let it out again in the hopes it will help my turbulent thoughts settle. It doesn’t work, and now I need to get out of here. I don’t even bother with goodbyes, I just turn around and head out of the kitchen. I can’t worry about them and their feelings. I need to focus on me tonight.

Thankfully, only Ry and Miller follow me, because I’m not ready to discuss what just happened, and they don’t force me to. We don’t talk on the drive, the three of us getting into the right head space for tonight’s part of the mission. It’s a major step and should show us who all the players are. If they are parading the captured teens around, then we know the auction has to be soon, and some of the potential buyers will be in the room.

Lathan will hack the system and make note of everyone who attends, though I remember the girls saying most of them wear masks, so that may be a problem. I’m hoping they take them off if they use one of the rooms, and he can get their faces then.

Ry delivers us to the back door this time, and Martha’s frown turns into a smile and a wave when she sees him.

“The power of a family name. Imagine if she knew who you really were,” Miller mutters as we say goodbye to Ry and make our way inside. “She would wet her pants.”

Chapter 30

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