Page 97 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

I shake my head, then my whole body as adrenaline dumps into my veins.It’s just a game, I remind myself. But there’s something so primal about being hunted that I can’t control my fight-or-flight response. Tessa suddenly wraps her arms around me and I realize I’ve started scooting down the corridor away from Daddy’s voice, nearly bowling her over.

“Little girl, I can hear you moving.”

It’s not me he can hear moving. It’s Georgie, who climbs over me. I get flattened against Tessa as he scrambles away from Daddy’s voice.

“Little girl, what do you imagine I’m going to do with you when I catch you?”

I smash the heel of my hand between my teeth to keep from squealing. I can’t hear Daddy moving over the rustle of Georgie’s fursuit, so I don’t know if he’s really climbed into the small passageway. I hope not. Or if he does, he takes off his top hat. I really like that hat. But if I squeak or squeal or eep, he’ll definitely come in.

“I brought lots of toys to torture you with, little girl,” Daddy continues. “I have a Y-clamp, and the biggest butt plug you’ve ever seen, and my metal-tipped flogger, and—” There’s a roar from the back of our group. “Gotcha!”

“Fuck!” Austin howls. “Not it!”

“You’re all caught,” Daddy says. “Be careful coming out around that grate. It doesn’t look strong enough to bear your weight.”

“We know!” We chorus, high-pitched in our disappointment.

“Damn,” Tessa says as we all start crawling back toward the entrance. “I didn’t think Master Logan even knew about this one.”

“Daddy’s very devious,” I say, commiserating. “He probably found all the secret passageways when we were building the Nursery. I know he spent a lot of time with the architect looking over the building’s plans. Bad Daddy.”

We’re almost to the grate when I realize we’re one short. “Where’s Georgie?” I ask Tessa.

She looks over her shoulder. “I thought he was right behind me. Georgie?” she calls.

No answer.

“He couldn’t have gotten lost,” Tessa says. “That branch of the passageway leads to the Stocks eventually.”

“Okay, you go out. I’ll get him. He knows me. Tell Daddy I’m coming. I’m just taking care of Georgie.”

Tessa chews on her lip. “Are you sure?”

I’m a fierce, white, baby dragon who isn’t afraid of the dark. Dragons don’t leave their friends behind.

I nod and crawl back into the darkness.

twenty-seven

LOGAN

My baby dollwould be in thelastplace I looked.

The rule of the Hunt is that prey who don’t get caught after thirty minutes win. I’ve got three watches on my left wrist plus a pocket watch in this costume and they were all telling me the same thing: I had four minutes left when I remembered the Spa vent behind that bloody awful Hudson River landscape. It may be worth a million but it’s the most boring painting ever. Shade after shade of brown, green, and gray. In fact, I think the club had it appraised on the basis of being one of the most boring paintings ever.

When Tessa climbs out of the vent and Emily isn’t behind her, my eyebrows shoot toward the brim of the hat I crushed climbing into the cramped passage.

“Where’s Emmy?” I ask.

“She’s gone back for Georgie. He panicked when he heard your voice. It’s okay. We were in the branch of the passageway that leads to the Stocks. They can’t get lost.”

I look over at Maude, who is having an intense-looking conversation with Twitch. “Maude, Emily and Georgie haven’t come out.”

She immediately breaks off whatever she was saying to Twitch and comes to stand beside me at the mouth of the vent. “He may have been spooked. Blunts is still somewhat unfamiliar territory.”

“The passageway they’re in lets out into the Stocks,” I say. “You stay here. I’ll head to the Stocks.” I take out my phone and waggle it at her. “Call me if they come out. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll get in at the Stocks entrance and herd them back this way after checking they’re okay.”

Maude nods. She looks doubtfully at the vent. She’s wearing a black leather skirt suit and four-inch heels. Getting up into that vent, much less crawling down it, is going to be a challenge for her.

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