Page 7 of Obsessed

"Not feds and the guy was killed before Ten went undercover. See, and this is why I can’t send you in. You can’t even think straight about this whole fuckingthing."

"What? Bullshit. I’m thinking straight. If not feds, thenwho?"

"Turns out Nutrite, the big pharmaceutical company, hired a private eye to get into the Lace Underground. Not to bring Freestone down but to steal the drug he invented. It’s the female version of male potency drugs. Only apparently it’s about a hundred times moreeffective."

"The lady part version of 'if your erection lasts four hours head to the hospital'?" I sit backhard.

"Yeah, I’ll let you chew on that little fantasy for a second. I know I did." He pulls a picture from a folder. "Same bashed in skull. The fancy bathroom was in a house the company rented to make the guy look rich. Just like us. Only Freestone saw through it and had the guykilled."

I push the picture back toward him. "That's cuz they sent in an amateur. He probably got caught stealing the stuff out of there. Did any get out, by the way?" I ask with enough enthusiasm that it pinches his face inannoyance.

"If it did, it wasn't found in the evidencesearch."

I shrug. "Just wondering. Could be the next best thing to bacon toppedmilkshakes."

"Yeah, like you've ever needed help in that department." His eyes tighten to a squint. "Haven't seen Tiffany around much. Did you tell her that you'd be going onassignment?"

I shake my head. "No, and you won't be seeing her. We brokeup."

His eyes pop back to normal size. "Really. Too bad. I thought she was good for you. I'd say you lost on thatone."

"Yep, she'll do way better than me." I sit up straight to shake away the topic. "So my mind is fucking clear as glass now. I'm ready to get in there. Just give me the go ahead, and I'll get in contact with the few names on the possible club memberlist."

I know the captain well enough to know he's rethinking the whole fuckingthing.

"Don't pull the plug on this,Clark."

"I've already risked one of my detectives, I don't relish the idea of sending another one into theabyss."

"No abyss. I'll be working it from a different angle, a participating member of the club who is free to travel in andout."

"Unless Freestone figures out it's a trap. He's fucking smart. We interviewed a few of his coworkers from when he was in pharmaceutical research. They said the guy is basically an introvert. Hates most people. And he's calculating andcold."

"Except he's apparently big on protecting the women he has working for him. It's the first thing you've said that has put me a little more atease."

Clark looks across the desk at me with a grim set mouth. "What if your presence alerts him that something isn't right with one of his girls? You could do more harm thangood."

I stand up angrily and the chair rolls back a few feet. "And what if she's fucking stuck in there? He might be protective of hiscommodities," I say the last word through gritted teeth. I've been working hard to not think about what goes on in the club and what part Ten is playing in the whole damn thing but it's getting harder to ignore. "We don't know if those women are being held there against their will. Maybe Ten hasn't figured a way out. She's been there for nearly six weeks. I need to infiltrate the club and find out what the fuck is going on. Like I said before, I'll go in there with or without yoursupport."

"Yeah, you fucking told me that. Fine. I won't pull the plug. There's a good chance you won't even find a way in. They'll probably take one look at you and say 'nope can't trust this yahoo'. Now get out of my office. I've got some calls tomake."

"Thanks. I won't let youdown."

"Hmm, let me think, where have I heard those words before?" he mutters as I walk out of hisoffice.

7

Angie

Blake is skippingaround the room like he just won the lottery. "I think those two bathing suits are all you'll need." He peers back over his shoulder at me from the dresser. "Besides, the boss prefers you not to be overdressed," he sayswryly.

"This is all so sudden." I'm sitting on the bed still trying to absorb the news. "So we are actually going above, on the surface, where sunlight and oxygen mingle together? And on top of that, we'll be on a boat? On the water? The real live ocean and not just some artificial body of water with pretend waves and addedsalt?"

"Can't promise the ocean will be live, although there's plenty of slimy stuff beneath the waves that qualifies as live." Blake shivers in disgust before whipping a pile of panties out of the dresser. He grabs some bras too and carries them to the bed where a suitcase sits wide open, waiting to be filled with vacation necessities. He packs the underwear and reaches over to nudge me. "Hurry in and take a shower. They'll be driving us to the airport in thirtyminutes."

My thoughts dash around so fast in my head I can't focus on one. For the first time in nearly two months, I'll be free from the underground complex. Freedom? Freedom. If the opportunity presents itself, do I run? Or swim? A laugh shoots from my mouth. I quickly stifle it and head into the bathroom. I stop in front of the mirror, hoping I can see brave, adventurous, independent Angie in the reflection, but the thin, wide-eyed girl looking back at me doesn't look hopeful. For the first time in weeks I have a chance to free myself from this world, from Kane, the nectar. I stare at the face in the mirror and think hard about that possibility. The tears flow almost instantly. It's impossible. I've grown so dependent on all of it, on him. How on earth could I leave it? Is there even enough of the old me left to survive without the LaceUnderground?

The other women living here had lives of despair, rotten luck, terrible families. This place is their home. This place keeps them alive, and from what I've observed, happy. The nectar helps with that, of course. I left a good life behind. There was some absolute heartbreak and major disappointments along the way, but for the most part, Angie Tennyson was a successful, independent woman. But she disappeared somewhere along theway.

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