Page 22 of Bad Enough

Once he had exited the room, TB heard the security protocols go back in place as Waters sealed the room.

He texted Cherry to let her know he got the message, then he entered the code on his phone to make it look as if his call was going through his fictitious work number.

She picked up on the second ring, but he barked out, “What’s wrong?” before she even had a chance to say hello.

“Hello, Lobo, I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” the voice purred teasingly on the other end of the call. “Nothing’s wrong. I have some news, and I apologize for sneaking into your application to get your number, but I assumed you’d want to know this right away.” She paused, then dropped the bomb on him. “Flame called me. She wants to come to the club. Said you invited her.”

His mouth went desert dry instantly, and he nearly swallowed his tongue. When he finally was capable of responding, he had to clear his throat twice so that his voice sounded normal when he spoke. “When?”

“Tonight at ten o’clock.”

Closing out the call, he let his arm drop to his side, and he stood in the hall staring into space.

Tonight.

He was going to see Flame tonight.

Lost in thought, TB knocked on the conference room door. The security measures kicked off, he went into the room, and the security measures went back on as soon as the door closed behind him. His eyes caught the screen, and that’s when it hit him.

TB had never believed in coincidences, higher powers, serendipity, fate, or anything like that, but today, he was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.

I am never going to live this down, but here goes.

“I may have us a gateway to gather some intel the police can’t get.”

He sat back down at the table.

“What’s that?” Waters asked.

“A while back, Tabitha, the owner of The Library, asked me for a favor. She had an author friend, a woman who writes romance novels, who wanted some research for writing a BDSM romance novel. They’re all the rage right now, apparently. Anyway, over the past couple of months, she’s been interviewing me about the lifestyle. I’ve never seen her, but Tabitha just called to tell me she’s coming to the club tonight for the first time.”

“Fifty Shades of Total Bastard.” Nemo started up the porn music again.

“Shut it, Neanderthal,” TB warned.

“What are you suggesting?” Waters asked.

“She’s new to the scene. I’ve laid out the foundation of the lifestyle to her, but seeing it in action is a whole other thing. She’s going to have more questions. As my guest at the club, she could be the key to getting information from other club members that I can’t easily get.”

“So, you’re suggesting you use her as a cover story,” Steel connected the dots. “You’re a regular at the club, and people know you, so you’re not out of place. But if you asked about people’s personal lifestyles, activities, connections to the missing women, and so on, it would be a red flag that something was out of the natural order.”

“Correct,” TB confirmed. “For a first visit, a new member has to either go with a mentor, or they have to be a guest of an established member for more than six months.”

God chimed in. “And if she goes in as your guest, you can introduce her to people and features of the club that will allow you to potentially check out members you normally wouldn’t come into contact with. She can ask a lot of questions of members that won’t seem out of place.”

“Yes,” TB acknowledged. “She’s always got another question to ask, and since she’s new, if it’s improper, they’ll let it slide. It will pass off as a newbie error, and they’ll know I’ll correct the behavior as her Dom. They’ll never know anything hinky is going on.”

“Hinky?” Nemo asked. “Is that the technical term? Thought it was ‘kinky.’” He cracked his gum with a smart-ass grin.

“Watch it, mister, or I’ll put you back in that locker, and this time I’ll solder the lock,” TB warned.

“All right, children, settle down,” Waters urged.

“So, the current plan would be that TB has his author friend as his guest and squires her around the club. He becomes a repeating non-repeater,” Midas summarized.

“Exactly,” TB confirmed.

Nemo sat up straight with an exaggerated, innocent schoolboy look on his face, his hand raised. “I have a question.”

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