Page 4 of Master Cordell

Cordell’s eyes narrowed at the device. “Is that a camera?”

“Yup, with Wi-Fi capability.”

Milo crossed his arms. “I was doing a walk-through of every guest room, making a list of things that still needed attention, and I noticed a missing screw on the vent. It was on the floor, so I grabbed one of the ladders and went up to fix it. That’s when I spotted the camera. And before you ask, I’ve got no idea who could’ve put it in. There’ve been my guys, painters, electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, cable guys, carpet layers, tilers, et cetera, in and out of every room over the past five days since I did my last walk-through. It could’ve been anyone and would only take a minute or two to unscrew the vent, stick it in there, and then put the cover back on.”

“Fuck.” Cordell ran a frustrated hand down his face. They weren’t even open yet and someone was trying to sabotage the place—or was at least trying to get material for illegally-obtained amateur porn or blackmail. “Is that the only one?”

“In this suite, yeah,” Jared responded. “I was waiting to talk to you first before I started checking all the other guest rooms. Troy’s on his way up with some transmitter detectors, and Dante’s putting a call into Evans up in Tampa to see if there’s a way to track where the videos would be streamed to. When I’m done checking for more of these, I’ll take this one back to the office. Do you think you can pull some prints off it? Milo said he only picked it up by the wire, so hopefully there’s a viable print on the transmitter case.”

“I’ll grab my old evidence collection kit from the cottage. If there are any prints, I can scan them into the computer and send them to Brody to run.” While the resort employees were all being fingerprinted for the security team’s files, the contracted workers hadn’t been. No one had foreseen a need for them to be. “Let me know if you find any more cameras. Triple check the dungeon and playrooms too. I’m going to contact the rest of Dante’s team and see if any of them can report to work earlier than scheduled, so we can beef up the security. If not, I’ll hire some guards from a local firm the Sawyers already vetted in case we needed additional help. Milo, I want the name of every goddamn worker who had access to this place. Every single one. I’ll have security badges for you by tomorrow, and there’ll be a guard at every entrance and walking every floor. No badge, no access, no exceptions.”

“You got it.”

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Cordell left the room and headed for the elevator. He hit the speed dial for Mitch and prepared to give his boss the bad news.

Shit.

* * *

“Hi, Dante,”Tiffany said with a large grin on her face as she entered the trailer the security team was using as their base until they could move into their new headquarters in the resort. Sasha and Sloan were on her heels. When Cooper got up from where he’d been snoozing in his dog bed to greet her, Tiffany gave him an ear scratch. “Hey, Coop. Who’s a good boy?” The dog let out a soft woof, then sniffed the other two women before accepting pats on the head from both. She wished she could spoil Cooper with doggie treats, but that was a strict no-no. Dante had told her it would mess with his specialized training.

The head of security had been frowning when they’d first walked in, as he disconnected a phone call he’d been on, but when he saw the three women his face lit up. “G’day, ladies. What brings you into my lair?”

Not for the first time, Tiffany thought it was a loss for all the heterosexual women of the world that the gorgeous man was gay. With blond hair, just a little longer than a crewcut, stunning, sharp blue eyes, a muscular body to die for, two delicious dimples, and that Australian accent of his, Dante was totally swoon-worthy. She didn’t doubt he got hit on by both sexes regularly. However, from the way he spoke about his Master, Reed Montgomery, he was very much in love with him. The man was the founder and CEO of Montgomery International (MI), a professional services company, and split his time between Miami where MI was located and his second home in Marathon in the Keys where Dante lived with him. While she’d known Dante since the day she and Sir had arrived at the resort a few months ago, she had yet to meet Master Reed. However, that would be rectified later in the day.

Cordell, Tiffany, Sloan, Jared, and Troy were going to a barbecue at Dante and Reed’s house in a few hours. Dante had said his Master had told him to extend the invitations so he could finally meet some of the people his submissive would be working with. While Tiffany was comfortable around Dante—he was like a big brother to her now—and Sloan, she was not looking forward to being in the presence of four Masters, one whom she’d never met and two she barely knew. Although, truth be told, Jared and Troy had been nothing but respectful of her assistant manager title. They also didn’t seem to have any issues with their direct supervisor, Dante, being a sexual submissive. It was nice to know the two men could keep their professional and private personas separate—hopefully, the rest of the Doms who’d been hired for a few different positions would be the same way. While it wasn’t a requirement to be in the lifestyle to be employed at the resort, there were numerous Doms and subs who would be working there.

Tiffany gestured to their new employee. “Dante, this is Sasha Lewis, the manager of the boutique. This is Dante Calvano, the head of security, and his dog, Cooper.”

Dante and Sasha shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before he said, “So, I guess you’re here for your ID badge and to get your fingerprints scanned into the system. C’mon, I’ll get you all set up.” As he booted up the scanner, he asked, “Aren’t you the one who worked at The Covenant and decided to take the job here?”

“Yup, I am,” Sasha responded with a little lilt in her voice and a flirtatious grin. “While I’m going to miss everyone in Tampa, I didn’t have any family keeping me there, and I lost my full-time job as a store manager when the place closed down. This sounded like such a great adventure, so I accepted Master Mitch’s offer and got my butt down here as fast as I could. I just moved into my new apartment yesterday.”

“All by yourself?”

“Yup. Well, sort of. I have a cat I adopted about a year and a half ago. But this isn’t the first time I’ve relocated—I tend to be a bit of a nomad every few years. Hopefully, one of these days, I’ll put down some roots because I’m really tired of packing and unpacking.”

He took her hand and began rolling her fingers one by one over the scanner which recorded her prints. “Well, if you’re not doing anything this evening, why don’t you join Cordell, Tiffany, Sloan, and a few others for a barbecue at my place? My Master told me to invite some of the people I’d be working with, and we’d love to have you.”

Her gaze had flittered to Tiffany’s when Dante had mentioned his Master, but Tiffany just smiled and shrugged to silently say, “Sorry, he’s gay and a sub.”

The disappointment in Sasha’s eyes was evident, but it was gone in a flash. “Thanks, I’d love to.”

“Great—you can get the address and directions from Tiffany or Sloan.” Dante switched to her other hand to repeat the process. “Just a heads-up—Master Reed prefers his guests adhere to basic club protocols during informal get-togethers involving lifestyle members. High protocols aren’t required, and there won’t be any play tonight—he just expects the subs to show respect to the Doms.”

“No worries. I’m used to it.”

Once he finished scanning her fingerprints, Dante keyed her information into another machine and took her photo before producing a digital ID badge for her. “You’re starting Monday, right?”

Sasha nodded.

“Okay, by then I’ll have your badge programmed to open all the doors you’re cleared for, including the boutique and its storeroom. Since there’s nothing to steal yet, all the doors are unlocked, but that’ll change tomorrow.”

Tiffany narrowed her eyes. “Tomorrow? I thought we weren’t locking the place down until the beginning of next week when everything starts getting set up.”

“I guess you haven’t spoken to Cordell yet. He just went up to see Milo and Jared. Someone planted a spy camera in an air-conditioning vent in one of the suites on the sixth floor.”

“Seriously?” Sloan and Tiffany said at the same time, their eyes wide with disbelief.

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