“I’m sorry,” Cecily said again.
“Not your fault,” Joel said. “I’ve gone up and down the block this afternoon to see if anyone’s security camera captured something that might give us a clue as to who did this.”
“Isn’t that police work?” Cecily asked.
“I was bored, and they hadn’t done it,” Joel said. “Unfortunately there was nothing new.”
“Well, thanks for trying,” Cecily said. “We’re going to stay at a hotel until the police figure out what’s happened. I hate to leave y’all to deal with the problems.”
“I doubt they’ll be back, and we have a security system,” Joel said. “You should have one, too.”
“You’re right, I should,” she said. “Marcus has been on me about it for years.”
“Where are you staying?” Joel asked.
Ethan squeezed her hand and she understood the message immediately. Joe might be her longtime neighbor, but it was best not to let too much information out in the open.
“We’re going to go back to Silver Creek,” Ethan said. “The cops can find us there. Cee’s been packing a bag.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that resort you own,” Joel said. “Would my wife and I enjoy a visit there? Do you do horseback rides? Or hikes in the desert? Maybe treasure hunts? I’ve heard of resorts that do things like that. I think that would be fascinating.”
“You should look us up on the internet,” Ethan said. “We’re a specialty resort. It’s best something you read about then have us tell you about.”
“Okay,” Joel said, although he seemed put out that Ethan was avoiding his question.
“If you decide it’s something you’re interested in, you let me know and I’ll make sure you get a reservation, at half price.”
“Thank you,” Joel said. Then he stood. “I’m going to go back to the house. If you need anything while you’re at Silver Creek and we’re here, you let us know.”
Ethan stood and showed him to the door. When he was gone, Ethan sat back down next to Cecily. He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. She put her head against his shoulder and sighed.
“I’m sorry for the argument.”
Ethan chuckled. “If you think that’s an argument, I hate to see how things are going to go when we really fight. That was just a heated exchange of words, sweets.”
“Whatever you say,” she replied. “Do you think Joel and Brenda are Master/sub?”
“You don’t know by looking at someone,” he said. “BDSM appeals to many different types of people. If they call, don’t be surprised.”
“They won’t,” she said.
“Are we taking wagers?” he asked.
“Sure, but I don’t know what for yet. I’ll think about it and get back to you.” She snuggled up against him. “What’s on tap for tonight?”
“Well, Randy called and said his friend Lady Samms was willing to show us around her place tonight. Are you up for it?”
“Definitely,” Cecily answered.
“Good, then we go and take a room at the Tate, we eat at the hotel there, and then we go to The Lady’s Playground. From there we go to Dylan’s house and stay at the tree house.”
“Have you ever met Lady Samms?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “From what I understand she started out as a sub, and she and Randy were M/s for a while. But then she grew restless, and he figured out she was a Domme. She’s quite popular around town, or so I’ve heard. Dylan told me her club is quite popular, and she helps keep him in business.”
“Do you think you guys will really open a club here in town?”
“I think we might,” he said. “If we do, then you and I need to go house hunting.”
“Cool!” She pumped her fists in the air, before she put her hand over her mouth. “Not that I wouldn’t be thrilled to live at Silver Creek with you, but the idea of starting a new club, of running it. I like that idea. A lot. It’s exciting.”
She got up and danced around the room. Ethan’s laughter followed her around, and she smiled like a kid in a candy shop. “I have a lot of ideas. We can discuss it over dinner. We’ll keep our voices low, so we don’t scare the straights.”
“Aren’t you the one who said you don’t know what people are into?” She plopped down next to him again. “Maybe some of our fellow diners could give us an idea of what they would like in a club. It might prove interesting.”
“You’re a naughty girl,” he said. “But you could be right. We can ask Dylan and his wife, too. I’ll let him know about what time we’ll be back. Maybe we can play in his dungeon before we go to sleep.”
Cecily liked the sound of that. Very much so.
* * *
The plan was simple, at least to Cecily’s point of view. She and Ethan would check in at Tate’s, a symbolic gesture since that was near the place where Leah had been killed. They would take suitcases up, empty except for one change of clothing for dinner that evening.
While they were getting dressed, or maybe while they were eating dinner, Marcus and Jake would drive two cars into the parking garage. They would transfer the suitcases from Ethan’s car into the one that had been rented in Jake’s name. He would leave the keys for them in a magnetic lock box under the back wheel. Then they would leave in Marcus’ car, and Ethan’s car would stay parked in the garage as a decoy.
When Ethan and Cecily were done with dinner, they would hit the casino for a little bit, then duck into the garage and drive the rented car out, leaving behind Ethan’s ride. That way if someone were watching the exit, they wouldn’t see them drive out. For one thing it would be after dark, and they had already decided she would duck down so that no one could see her in the passenger seat.
The original plan was to go to The Lady’s Playground, but Lady Samms had called and asked them to postpone it for a day or two. She’d told Dylan she had unexpected out of town guests who needed to be tended to and would need all of her attention.
That meant that after they left Tate’s they would drive to the house where Dylan Clampe and his wife, Amanda, lived. Behind it was a tree house they used for their guests. Ethan had laughed when he’d told her it had a fully-stocked dungeon. Dylan operated a sex toyshop, and Cecily had never been there. She was hoping for a tour, so she could see what was made, and how it was done. If she and Ethan were going to run an extension of Silver Creek here in Vegas, then she needed to know these things.
When they were checked in and up in their room, Cecily lay down on the bed, rolling onto her side and wincing just a little.
“Problem?” Ethan asked.
“My ass is a little sore.”
“And whose fault is that?” he asked.
“You were the one wielding the whip,” she said. “And the belt afterward when we were home.”
“You were the one who was sassy and came without permission,” he said. “Don’t blame me for your sore ass.”
“As you say, Master Ethan,” she said. She jumped up and went to the window. Tate’s was an old casino, near the end of the strip. It didn’t have all the bells and whistles that other casinos had, no rides or bright lights. But it had a great restaurant, and Cecily was looking forward to the surf and turf that was their specialty.
But as she stared out the window, she couldn’t help but remember why they were there. And remember that this was the last place Leah was before she was killed. She shivered, and when Ethan put his hands on her shoulders she whirled around as if she were on fire.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I feel… odd.”
“Don’t be nervous,” he said.
“It’s not nerves.” She turned back to the window. “It’s something else. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He turned her around and kissed her.
“I’ll make the same promise,” she said. “We’ll protect each other.”
He
tipped her head up and placed his lips on the end of her nose. “You’re a cheeky one.”
“That’s why you love me.”
“True, true.” He’d just placed his lips on hers when his cell phone rang. Cecily jumped as if someone had shot off a gun.
“No, you’re not nervous at all,” Ethan said as he pulled out his phone. “It’s Murphy.”
“Chase, how’s it going?” Ethan asked.
Cecily moved to the bed and listened to one side of the conversation.
Ethan said, “Okay,” and “I see,” and “It sounds strange to say, but I do want to see it,” and, “We’re having dinner here at Tate’s. Join us, it’s my treat.” The call ended with, “We’ll meet you in the dining room in about half an hour.”
“What do you want to see?” she asked as she watched him put his phone in his pocket.
“The report on Leah’s death,” he said. “Chase made me a copy.”
He sat down next to her. “I’m not really sure I want to see it.” He plopped back on the bed, and she did the same. She stared at the ceiling as she knew he was doing, and for a moment the room was silent.
“You haven’t seen any of it?” she asked.
“I’ve not read a word of it,” he said. “Sanchez didn’t like me, and I don’t think he ever gave up on the idea that I killed Leah. I think he searched and searched and tried to find evidence against me. Finally, I think he just gave up because he couldn’t make a case against me.”
“I’m sure that’s what Chase figured out when he read the file.”
“What did he figure out? That I didn’t do it, or I didn’t leave any evidence?”
“Well, either way works,” she said. She hoped her flippancy would break the tension in the room, either that or it was going to tick him off.
“Maybe I should teach a class on it at our new club.” She felt him stiffen, and then he said, “I shouldn’t joke about it. Over the years I couldn’t not joke about it, though. Either that or it would drive me crazy.”
I’m sorry sounded trite, so she simply said, “I can’t imagine.”
“Nobody can unless they’ve been through it,” he said. “All my friends would say, ‘I know how you feel’. They didn’t. I know they were trying to be nice, trying to boost my spirits, make me feel better about the fact that the woman I loved was dead.”
“Of course, when word got around that she was murdered, then people started treating me differently. I must be the man who hit my wife with the car, and then got out and shot her for good measure.” He threw one arm above his head. “No matter what the police say afterward, people still look at you differently. They say things like ‘That Ethan Pratt, he got away with murder’. It’s one of the reasons I left Vegas for Silver Creek.”
She wanted to ask if he was hiding away from reality, but she didn’t have to.
“It was easier to hide than to face the whispers. Even the people I worked with treated me differently, gossiping behind my back. When the opportunity came up, I took it, and I never looked back.”
There was a pregnant pause before he said, “Until now.”
“Is this looking back?” She turned to face him. “Or has it been thrown in your face? It’s not like you dug it up.” She cringed at her choice of words. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “Listen, let’s change and go down and meet Chase. I don’t want to brood about it. If that report can give us any information to figure out what happened then and find out if it has any connection to what is happening now, then we’re going to read every word.”
He jumped up from the bed and headed toward the bathroom. Cecily was thrilled that he’d used the word we. There was every chance he would keep her from helping him, and he would justify it by saying that he wanted to keep her safe. She’d been ready to argue that he needed her help.
It thrilled her to know she didn’t have to. They would get to the bottom of things together. And then they would spend the rest of their lives living happily ever after.
Chapter 7
Although the food was out of this world, the atmosphere was so stressful that Cecily pretty much ignored her food after the first few bites. Chase had come without his partner, which told Cecily that the file sitting next to him in the booth wasn’t exactly above board.
Ethan must have realized it, too. “This is not going to get you canned, is it?”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Chase said as took a drink from his beer. “I’m just an off-duty cop having dinner with friends.” He cut into his steak, continuing as if nothing were wrong. “I looked the file over. There’s no evidence, nothing. There were people around when she was shot, but nobody got a good look at the shooter. She was sitting on the ground, a man knelt down next to her. Everyone thought he was helping her, but then she fell back, and he ran off. That means he used a silencer. He came prepared.”
Cecily glanced over at Ethan, who held an empty fork in his hand and stared at Chase.
“I’m sorry if I’m being blunt,” Chase said. “It’s better than beating around the bush, if you ask me.”
“I agree,” Ethan said. “No one ever told me anything like that. They just said someone hit her, and then she died. It wasn’t until hours later that they told me she’d been shot. We just kept going over and over things. Over and over.” His voice broke on the last word, and Cecily wanted to take him in her arms again.
“Classic move,” Chase said as he put down his fork. “They wanted you to give away that little tidbit of information so they could say you knew something they’d never told you. Then try to break you down.”
“I always thought they spent so much time on me that they never looked for anyone else.”
“Oh, they looked,” Chase said as he tapped a finger against the file. “But not until after they were sure you didn’t do it, and I hate to admit that took a while.”
“You think whoever killed Leah has now set his sights on Cecily?”
“I think there’s every possibility,” Chase said. He relaxed against the back of the booth. “I think it’s strange that nothing happened with Cecily until now, until the two of you got engaged.”
“But I hadn’t asked her before the road thing,” Ethan said. “I had thought about it, true, but I hadn’t asked yet.”
“Had you bought a ring?”
No,” Ethan said. “I wanted—I still want—her to pick it out.”
Warmth spread through Cecily’s midsection. They hadn’t talked about a ring, only about a collar. But she didn’t want to tell Chase that. Somehow it seemed much too personal for anyone to know.
But as the thought passed through her mind, she was pretty sure Chase, and officer Brightly already knew everything about Silver Creek, and the things that went on there. That was a little unsettling, but she knew in murder investigations that secrets came to light.
Not that she wanted to keep her sexual preferences a secret. It just seemed the thing to do; her parents didn’t talk about their sex life, thank the stars above. She rather hated the idea of her father taking her mother over his knee and spanking her.
Cecily chuckled quietly, then put her napkin in front of her mouth to try and hide the sound. Secrets would come out sooner or later. She hadn’t told her parents about Ethan’s job, and she wondered what they would think.
“We have to have dinner with my parents this week, remember?” She gasped, and then she turned to Chase. “You don’t think whoever this is would go after my parents? Or Marcus?”
“I’d like to say no, but since we have no clue who it is, or why he’s doing it, there is no way of knowing,” Chase said. “I don’t think he would, but just in case you need to warn them. Marcus already knows, of course, and he and I have talked about it. He told me, and I quote, ‘Screw the asshole. He better hope I don’t catch him trying to hurt my sister again, or anyone else I love. I have access to a great number of kitchen knives’.”
Cecily laughed. “That sounds like my brother.�
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“So what’s the plan for the evening?” Chase asked.
“Well, we were going to visit The Lady’s Playground, but the owner asked us to come later in the week,” Ethan said. “We were going to eat, and then go to Dylan’s house. But I’m not ready to settle down for the night.”
“Try Cassidy’s,” Chase said. “I believe they are having a spank-off tonight. It’s always entertaining.” He leaned forward. “Marcus tells me you’re thinking about opening a Silver Creek Club here in town. I think that’s a great idea.”
“We’re still working on it,” Ethan said. “I had planned to visit a few of the clubs this week, depending on how things go with our—situation. But tell me, what exactly is a spank-off?”
“And here I thought you were a Master Dom who owned a resort that specializes in BDSM,” Chase said.
Ethan glared at him, and for a moment, Cecily was afraid he would call him out in the old-fashioned duel sort of way. She imagined them out in the parking lot, settling who was the better Dom with fisticuffs. Instead Ethan grinned and said, “We don’t have spank-offs at Silver Creek.”
“If you’re planning on opening a club here in town, you might consider it,” Chase said. “Although you should. I’ve been to many of the clubs here, and they attract a great crowd. Yours could do the same.”
“You looking for a consulting fee?” Ethan asked with a laugh.
“If it works for you, yes,” Chase said. “Trust me when I say Cassidy’s is the place to visit tonight. I’ll tag along and introduce you to the people that make waves there, if you like.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ethan said. “And maybe we can take part in this spank-off. It sounds intriguing.”
For the first time, Cecily sat forward. “We? As in three, or two? I’m confused.”
“Just the two of us,” Ethan said. “I don’t share my subs, especially when they will soon be my wife.”
* * *
As it turned out there wasn’t two or three of them, but five. After dinner, Ethan checked in with Dylan and told him what they were doing.
Ethan’s NaughtySubmissive: Silver Creek Resort Book Three Page 8