Page 42 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“I do.”

“She worked for the CIA at the time, and Lindsay had to convince me not to kidnap her... which means when we took off, I had to ghost her. Girls with personalities like hers don’t come back from that. Even when we resolved the charge and I started going back to The Underground, she refused to scene with me again. And by that time, almost six months had passed. Maybe longer... and she’d moved on.”

“Would you do a scene with her again?”

“Hands down, any day of the damn week.”

“Was it just play, or did you two have a dynamic?”

“Monthly scenes. I won’t play more than once a month with anyone; it’s too intense on the body. She did lighter stuff with Pierce during the interim.”

I knew from experience that Pierce didn’t play light. Then again, Michael’s scenes were usually monitored because of the intensity, and rarely did he do anything outside of the private rooms, because people tended to get upset by watching.

“Did she ever give you pushback? Talk back to you?”

“You can’t talk back when you’re gagged and hogtied.” He had a smug smile on his face.

I tried not to be jealous of Michael and the way he was speaking about Alice, but it made me angry to know he had played with her, and probably fucked her, and I still hadn’t even gotten my hands on her body. It pissed me off that for years, she’d been right around the corner, in my own neighborhood, in my community, had known some of my best friends, and I hadn’t run into her.

Why hadn’t I met her sooner? Why did I have to wait?

Lindsay interrupted my mental rant by flopping down on the couch beside me, setting a large pint glass on the table in front of us.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” I asked her.

“Teaching the newbies how to use ourfancy schmancynew computer system,” she said. “He’s down at Basecamp 1 for a few weeks and then he’ll be back here where he belongs.”

“Careful,” Michael said as he rose to go get a refill of his own drink. “She’s moody.”

Lindsay stuck her tongue out at him as he walked away, but he ignored her.She was a bit of a brat herself, though her bullshit seemed to roll of Michael’s back like it was nothing to him.

“How do you feel about an off-the-record assignment, Lindsay?” I asked her softly.

She glanced at me with a side-eye, and I recognized the sensation of her pulling ideas and memories from my own mind into hers. It always had a physical sensation with it. Unlike Alex, Lindsay’s clairvoyance seemed less refined and more aggressive.

Or maybe that was just Lindsay’s nature. Alex was subtle. Lindsay was very far from that.

“Alice Benson,” she said softly. “IthinkI remember her. What’s the scoop?”

“I need to acquire her belongings. They’re currently in her former Dom’s house.”

“Ooh,” she grinned widely, her bright green eyes sparkling with excitement as she rubbed her hands together. “Breaking and entering, and theft! Sounds like a fun evening.”

“I also need to know the names of the friends he had over for his Christmas Eve party where he assaulted Rachel... I assume you heard about that?”

“Oh yeah. Don’t worry, I’ve already got that list for you.” She dug into her jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with three names and addresses listed on it.

“How did you...”

“Don’t ask.”

“You’re terrifying.”

“Obviously.” She flipped her dark shoulder-length hair dismissively. “Tell me about the plan for Woodrow.”

“I plan to take him out for drinks, convince him I need to apologize for my previous behavior and get his side of the story. That will give you time to get into his house and collect all of Alice’s stuff. While you’re there, see if you can find any kind of contract or paperwork he may have related to her.”

“Sounds fun. Can I beat him up afterwards?”

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