Page 124 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

“Like gravity,” I agree. Daddy-gravity. I’ll share that with him when he gets back. He’ll get a kick out of being Daddy-gravity.

thirty-five

LOGAN

“Basedon the interviews I’ve submitted with Shannie and Annabelle and Chess’ relation of Tessa’s treatment, I move that Andrew Selman and Emmett Hornby be removed as members of the club and banned for life,” I say. “That concludes the motion.”

I sit down and look around the table.

We’re short one member. Nico, our Master of Blood, wasn’t able to get out of a family commitment to attend the emergency meeting. He’s given his voting proxy to Karl, which makes me nervous, because Nico usually votes with me, Maude, and Javier, and I can’t count on Karl’s vote. But I have to have faith in my brother Doms. That’s what this is all about.

It's hard to hold on to that faith when not everyone around the table will meet my eyes.

“We also have a motion from Master Logan for mandatory member re-training on guest security measures and to limit the number of guests per member at any time to two for a period of three months while the club reviews the security measures. This would exclude club events and members of the Elephant’sPlayground,” Chess says, going down the printed agenda that’s in front of everyone.

“Is the security retraining necessary if we eliminate these troublesome elements from the club, Logan?” Felix asks.

“Yes,” says another voice before I have a chance to answer. It’s Guy, Master of Wire, who handles the club’s IT. “Frankly, I’d be more comfortable if there was mandatory security training every six months. Members are too lax about guests bringing their own equipment into the club. I’ve had to speak with people about guests having phones four times in the last two months. No guest should have a phone inside the club. It just needs to stop.”

I nod at Guy, perfectly happy to let him make my point for me.

“Happy to amend the motion to a mandatory security training every six months,” Chess says, making a note on his agenda. “Any other urgent business?”

When no one speaks, Chess nods. “Logan, Theo, please recuse yourselves. I’ve asked Drew to address the committee.”

Fuck.

I tap my pen on my agenda. “Since when do we allow non-committee members to address the committee?” I ask.

“Since you railroaded Sante out of here,” Franco responds. “Emmett’s an annual member and I’m happy to vote without hearing from him. We refund him what’s left of the year and that’s that. No great harm done. But Drew’s a lifetime member. Refunding his buy-in represents a financial loss to the club. We’re depriving him of substantial privileges, including a spot on this committee that I know he’s been working toward. He should have a chance to speak.”

Maude reaches across and closes her fingers around my pen. I release it in disgust. Sante had few friends at the club but Franco was one of them. Clearly, he’s harboring a grudge.

Theo cups his hand under my elbow and pulls me up as he rises from his chair. “Thank you, everyone. I realize this is a rough introduction but I’m looking forward to working with you all as Master of Fur.”

There are nods all around the table. Maybe it will help that Theo’s well-liked. He let me present most of the motion, since he didn’t sit in on the interviews with Shannie and Annabelle but he offered support from our investigation yesterday, including that Emmett’s been banned from The Pump House, a fetish club in Rochester, due to an alleged consent violation.

I walk out of the small conference room with him. Once the door closes behind me, I stop and rub the back of my neck to release the tension gathered there.

“Did we do enough?” I ask Theo.

“Time will tell. I hate to do this to you, buddy but I’ve got to get back to my desk. I’ve got a report to file for the district attorney and she’ll string me up by my balls if it’s five minutes late.”

“No problem. I’ll let you know what happens.”

Theo pats me on the back. “Hang in there. We’ve got infinite opportunity to take these fucks down. This is just the first salvo.”

“Right, mate. Talk to you soon.”

He leaves me with another reassuring pat. There’s nowhere to sit while I wait, so I retreat down the hallway to the room where we have the breakfast buffet on the weekends.

I nearly slam into Drew as he opens the door and strolls out.

“Ah, Logan.” His smile is unbearably smarmy. “Good to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” I respond. “But hopefully this is the last time I’ll have to see you.”

His smile widens. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

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