Page 64 of Hurt for Me

“So, not right now doesn’t mean never.” Angel flashed her bright smile, and Rae couldn’t help but return it.

“You’re too optimistic for meright now.”

“What do you prefer, Rae-Rae? Some of that goth music you’re always listening to and a vial of tears around your neck?”

Rae laughed. “Maybe.”

Angel held her shoulders. “Listen, you had sex with a hot man, and you survived some fucked-up shit with a bunch of privileged white people. Trade out the man for a woman, and that’s a typical night for me.”

“One-night stands are your thing, sis,” Rae said. “I just ... I don’t know. With Lily getting older, I guess I realized how alone I’ll be once she goes to college in two years.”

Angel hugged her. “I love you. We’ll find someone for your crazy butt. Okay?”

“I love you too.”

Rae didn’t tell Angel what she was really thinking, which was that she didn’t know how to trust her gut now when it came to potential relationships. So many times, she’d thought an attraction was goingone way, only to find herself alone. Dayton was no different. She had thought there was a strong current between them, and it hurt to know she’d been wrong again. But anything with him would’ve been impossible anyway. A dominatrix with a detective? It’d never happen.

They closed for the day, and Rae checked her phone as soon as she got in her car. She had a few missed calls and a text from Dayton:Call me as soon as you get this.

Ominous. She called him back.

“I’ve tried calling you all afternoon,” he said.

“I’ve had clients all day.”

“We found a body matching the description for one of the missing women.”

Rae heard herself gasp.

“Is it ... is it Devon?”

“No,” he said. “From the tattoos on the body, we’re fairly sure it’s Cierra Martin.”

Cierra. She’d forgotten that was the sub’s real name. She had golden-blonde hair and was tiny. And so young. Only twenty. God, when her family finds out.

“How did she die?”

He sighed. “I shouldn’t even be telling you any of this, but it looks like a possible overdose. She was badly beaten as well, so we don’t know yet if her injuries contributed to her death.”

She suppressed the emotions rising in her when all she wanted to do was scream. Devon could be next. The other missing woman could already be dead. Thomas Highsmith too. “Have you found out anything on Felton Holdings?”

“I’ve been too busy with this new development to check yet, but I will.” He paused. “I’m worried about how close you are to what’s going on.”

“I know how to take care of myself,” she said, not meaning for her tone to sound so harsh.

“I don’t doubt it, but we both saw what kind of people were at that party. Just be careful and stay vigilant.”

“You too. And let me know if you find out anything.”

She ended the call and allowed herself a good cry in her car before she had to go home to Lily and pretend that people within her circles weren’t showing up dead.

Rae doubled up on her medical cannabis again that evening before crawling into bed. She kept scrolling through images on Cierra’s Facebook page on her phone, knowing it would only make her insomnia worse. Cierra had been an intelligent, beautiful young woman attending her junior year in college. She had every possibility ahead of her. She’d also been new to kink and only wanted to explore her sexuality, and someone powerful had used it against her.

Rae finally closed out the Facebook page and was about to read a book when her phone buzzed. It was a texted link from an unknown number.Nope.She went to delete it when another message popped up:Have a good night, Pussy.

What the fuck? Everything in her told her not to click on the link, but she did.

A video came up, and she immediately knew what it was going to show her when she saw the tall hedges surrounding the small garden enclave. There was no sound on the video, but the bastards had recorded everything between her and Dayton. She watched as the effects of the drug took them over, remembering how it had made the grass feel like heaven beneath them, and she knew what was coming next.

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