* * * *
Barbee, who had been secured in this position for a while before she had been blindfolded and gagged, was beginning to get very uncomfortable and extremely worried. This was not part of a regular scene. She had no other experience in BDSM, but she didn’t think this felt like normal operating procedure. It just felt off. She had known Alex was puzzled by the scar on her knee, and she thought he must be wondering if he had just missed it before. Damn. She should have had that scar removed surgically, but it was just a part of her childhood, and she had really never thought about it. Anyway, she didn’t expect to be in a sexual relationship with the same man as Baylee and certainly not where he would not be aware of it.
Someone stepped up behind her, and she could feel his heat against her back. Was it Alex? The person felt a little taller and slightly broader than Alex. It was the captain then. She was sure when he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Where are the jewels from the Devereau and Rossiter suites? The game is up. If you want to spare yourself a lot of trouble, some pain, and a possible prison sentence, you had better start talking right now.”
Oh, boy. Did they know about Baylee? She wished she could see. What the heck was he talking about? She couldn’t say a word if she wanted to.
* * * *
Jamie Devereau and Nik Rossiter were amazed when Con took them aside to brief them about what had just transpired and his plans for the two women. Anne and Violette had also been advised of the developments, and they were among the passengers gathered in the dungeon. Morgan and Harper were also in attendance. Jamie knew he could count on Harper Cameron for legal advice if it was needed.
When Jamie saw the two women side by side, he was astonished. There truly was no difference between them. This was obviously a well thought out plan. After observing them fidget in the chains for a few moments, he turned and said, “Con, these girls are as nervous as a couple of long-tailed cats on a porch full of rocking chairs. I hope you will be able to get them to reveal the location of the jewelry without going too far over the line.”
“That’s my hope as well, sir. I wish the whole procedure was unnecessary, and I know Alex does as well. Unfortunately, I think they have thought this plan out carefully, and neither of them will talk. Short of involving the police, which I am sure you don’t want to do at this point, this is the only thing I can come up with.”
“You’re right about that.”
Alex nodded his head. “As angry as I am right now, I wouldn’t feel right about turning them over to the police.”
* * * *
Con and Alex positioned themselves beside each of the girls. He put a squeaky toy in each of their hands. “When you are ready to tell us what we want to know, squeeze the toy and this will stop. That is your safe word. Nod if you understand.”
When each of the girls had nodded, Con and Alex stood back and each landed a simultaneous strike across their bare bottoms with a short crop. The dual reports of the strike echoed in the dungeon. The sound was loud and scary. The strikes were not particularly painful but were more stinging in nature. It was the drama of the blindfolds and the inability to speak that Con was hoping would get results.
Each of the girls flinched, but Con knew the strikes were quite mild. The pain delivered by a crop was not nearly as intense as that of a strap, paddle, or cane, and certainly nothing compared to any of the more serious whips, especially when applied by a skilled Master. It was the drama he was counting on.
Con looked over at Alex to be sure he was okay with this, and when he received a nod from his friend, he raised his eyebrow to indicate they should proceed. They delivered the second strike with a slightly harder intensity. He wanted the girls to feel a rising anxiety with each strike. He wondered which of them would crack first. He only knew one name, and he wasn’t sure which of them was actually Baylee.
After they had delivered five strikes, Con was starting to get worried. He was only willing to go so far, and he knew Alex probably had a shorter leash than he did due to his personal interaction with both girls. He indicated they should each approach the girls from behind. Con leaned in and whispered “Let me know when you are ready for this to be over.” Alex did the same. The girls were breathing hard, but neither squeaked her toy.
Con shook his head in disappointment although he knew neither girl could see him. “Okay, we will continue then.”
Anne Sutton leaned over to Jamie and said, “How much further are you going to let this go?”
“Not too much. But, babe, actions have consequences. They are jewel thieves. This is not a coincidence or a mistake. All they have to do to stop this is squeak the toy and tell us where the jewelry is. It’s really up to them.”
* * * *
Baylee knew she couldn’t take too much more. Even though she was not in serious pain, only mildly uncomfortable, she was scared and knew this punishment or interrogation, or whatever it was, could escalate to a place she didn’t want to go. She was worried about Barbee. She had no idea where she was. She had thought Barbee was in the dungeon with Alex earlier, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Over their careers as jewel thieves, there had been a few scary incidents and close calls, but she had never been in a position such as this.
* * * *
Barbee knew she was tough but didn’t know if a few pieces of jewelry were worth getting a real beating. This wasn’t sexual play. She was trying to think, but the continued smacks across her butt were very distracting, and she was having a hard time putting two thoughts together. If she could negotiate an amnesty for Baylee and herself, she would be willing to give back the jewelry. She wondered how far the captain, Alex, and Jamie Devereau were willing to go. If Alex knew there were two of them and that they had fooled him, he might be really pissed. She was pretty certain her scar had given him a clue in that direction. But where is Baylee?
After several more stinging smacks that were beginning to add up to a really sore butt, Barbee was ready to give in. As she squeezed the squeaky toy in her hand, she heard an almost simultaneous squeak from what seemed to be a few feet to her right. Was that where Baylee was all along?
* * * *
Con motioned for Alex to stop. When both of the blindfolds and gags had been removed, he watched the girls’ reaction to seeing each other in similar conditions—naked and in chains with sore, red butts. He saw the moment they both realized their situation was hopeless, and the proverbial jig was up.
Barbee turned her head toward Con with a calculating look in her eye. “If I tell you where the jewelry is, can we negotiate our release at the next port?
“What is your name? You’re not in any position to negotiate. If we get the jewelry back and the injured parties are satisfied, we might be able to work something out, but I’m not promising anything right now.”
“Barbee, just tell him. I don’t see a good end to this situation.”
“Ah, so you are Barbee and Baylee then. Last name Baxter, I presume.”
“That’s right. Obviously, you can see we’re twins. I’m the older by two minutes.” She glanced over at her sister with a look of apology in her eyes. Con could see that they were close. “I want to be sure that you will let my sister go. I’m the one who actually took the jewelry.”
“Obviously it was a conspiracy. I’m sure you are both equally to blame, but it shows some semblance of character that you would try to protect your sister. If we can deal in good faith, I might be able to do something for you. Where is the jewelry? Is it still aboard?”
“It’s in our cabin. I’ll show you.”
Con and Greg accompanied the girls back to Baylee’s cabin on the crew deck. Con had to fight his natural tendency to be a gentleman and allow them to put clothes on. He wanted them to stay off balance until the Devereau and O’Reilly jewels had been recovered. When they got to the cabin and Barbee had revealed the hidden compartment in Baylee’s suitcase, he and Greg looked at each other in amazement. It was very cleverly concealed, and he doubted it would have be
en discovered in their search of the cabin.
He looked down at the tidy pile of sparkling diamond jewelry. “Well, I have to say you have excellent taste in stolen jewelry,” he said with a sarcastic twist to his smile. There were two pairs of diamond earrings, a diamond pendant, a diamond and sapphire bangle bracelet, a diamond tennis bracelet, and the five-row diamond bracelet that Anne Sutton had not been sure she had brought aboard. The total value looked to be over a couple hundred thousand dollars, maybe more. He was no expert on the value of expensive diamond jewelry. The stellar pieces were Anne Sutton’s five-row bracelet and the five-carat pear-shaped diamond pendant. All the diamonds appeared to be of top quality. “You know if you had only taken the diamond bracelet you would have gotten away with it. Ms. Sutton wasn’t sure she had packed that particular piece.”
“Do we have a deal, captain? Can Bay and I leave the ship at the next port of call?”
Con scooped up the jewels and wrapped them in a small hand towel. “I’ll speak with Anne Sutton and Violette O’Reilly and see if they are satisfied. In the meantime, there will be a guard on your door. I don’t see any reason to separate or move you to the brig cabin unless you give me one.”
Both girls looked scared. Despite the problems they had caused him, he felt a little sympathy for them. It was his Dom nature to want to solve every problem and take care of those under his control, although he would really like to beat their butts again for all the problems and worry they had caused him.
* * * *
Con and Alex met with Jamie, Anne, Nik, and Violette in the master suite. Con had also asked Harper Cameron to attend the meeting as well in case a legal opinion was required.
“Please look over the jewelry found in Baylee Baxter’s cabin and make sure we have recovered everything that was stolen. Please also check your safes again to be sure nothing else is missing. If we have recovered everything, I think we should discuss what to do with the Baxter sisters. The girls are currently under guard in Baylee’s cabin.”
“Anne has been through the safe several times, and there is nothing else missing from our suite.”
“I didn’t bring that much jewelry with me, and I’m sure that’s all that was taken,” Violette responded.
Con looked at Jamie Devereau to see how his boss was taking this. “What do you want done with them, sir? We can contact the authorities at our next port of call, or we can hold them until we are back in San Juan or Miami—U.S. jurisdiction.”
“Since we have recovered the jewelry, I don’t know that we want to call attention to the ship by contacting the authorities. They both have clean records, right? Baylee wouldn’t have been hired on if there was even a smudge against her name. It seems unlikely that this is their first heist, but there is no evidence to the contrary of any previous criminal activity. In a sense, justice has already been done.” Jamie looked at Anne and Violette. “How do you ladies feel about that?”
Violette looked troubled. “I really liked Baylee. I felt just awful when I realized she was the one who stole my bracelet. Even so, I would hate to see her go to jail over this, especially since it has all been recovered.”
“It was Barbee who actually stole the jewelry, but both of them were involved. I can’t believe I never knew there were two of them.” Con could see that Alex was still extremely troubled by the whole episode.
“Con, how would you and Alex feel about letting Baylee resume her duties? Now that the jig is up and we know there are two of them, I don’t think there is much more trouble they can cause.” Jamie continued, “I, personally, am not inclined to press charges against them, especially not in a foreign jurisdiction. We always have that option when we get to a U.S. port if they cause any more trouble.”
Harper Cameron interrupted at that point. “Before you make that decision, I would advise you to speak with both of the Baxters again and see what their attitude is going to be, how contrite they actually are. Also, you should have Barbee Baxter sign a confidentiality agreement and the Pleasure Club Rules and Regulations since she is technically a stowaway, and her sister is the only one that has signed the ship’s documents. I would further suggest that you see if she has a passport with her, and if so, put it with the other crew passports for presentation with the ship’s documentation to port authorities. She should also have her own blue GPS bracelet.”
Jamie smiled at her. “Thanks. Those are good points, Harper. We are accustomed to thinking of them as one entity. If they are going to remain on board, it would be good to be able to keep an eye on each of them.”
Con looked at Alex for his reaction then said, “I think that might be a good idea. Let them earn their keep. There is no reason to turn this into a vacation for them. Losing Baylee as a steward would put a burden on the other stewards who would have to cover three additional suites.”
Alex nodded. “I personally would like to keep a close eye on them. I have to admit this whole thing has left me a little shaken—not to mention majorly pissed off.”
* * * *
It was early evening, before the cocktail and dinner rush, when Con convened a meeting in the top deck lounge. Alex, the Devereaus, the Rossiters, and the Courts were present. All three couples were concerned in that Baylee had been the steward responsible for their suites. “I wanted to bring you all up to speed before we bring Baylee and Barbee Baxter in to discuss the resolution of this matter. Does anyone have anything else they want to say before we do that?”
They all looked at each other before the ladies deferred to Harper to speak for them. Apparently they had had a conference of their own before the meeting. “We, that is Anne, Violette, and I, have discussed this separately from the guys. The jewelry that was stolen was Anne’s and Violette’s after all. I personally did not have anything stolen. I don’t know why I was so lucky. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw or timing.” She glanced at her husband and the other men before she continued. “While we don’t condone what they did, we think the punishment they have already received is sufficient. We would all be very uncomfortable turning them over to the authorities unless there was no other option or their larcenous behavior continued. We think that letting them continue as our stewards, since we are all now aware of the actual situation, would be acceptable if they agreed to forego all further dishonest pursuits and promised no more funny business, to coin a legal phrase.” She smiled.
Con could see the look of resolve on the three lovely faces. It would be difficult to convince them to turn the two sisters over to the police. He had to admit he didn’t want to do that either for several reasons, but he knew he had to maintain a strict façade if he was going to keep control of the Baxter sisters and the situation. “Let’s see what they have to say. Alex, have Greg bring them up.”
While they waited for the sisters to be brought up from the crew deck, one of the stewards served wine to the ladies and scotch on the rocks to the gentlemen. Everyone was relaxing over their drinks when Baylee and Barbee were escorted into the lounge. They were both wearing cuffs, but they were now also wearing clothes.
“Do you have anything you want to say to this group, ladies?” Con was a practiced Master, and he had the stern face and Dom voice down pat. He found it came in handy in a variety of situations.
Barbee stepped forward. “We want to apologize to all of you for abusing your trust. Before we were caught, we had decided not to take anything else from the suites. I know that isn’t much in the way of mitigation, and you probably won’t believe that, but it’s true. I was the one who actually stole the jewelry so please don’t punish Baylee any further.”
Baylee jumped in. “That’s not true. We were in it together, and we’re both to blame. I’m sorry, too.”
“That’s a very pretty apology, but I don’t know that it’s sincere. Please explain why you did it. We have checked your backgrounds, and you both have excellent jobs and obviously don’t need the money. You’re certainly not sad charity cases by any means. You come from a good family and ha
ve had the best educations and opportunities.” Con had been puzzled by this. Barbee was a Wall Street stockbroker, and Baylee was a Manhattan realtor specializing in high-end properties. They had no need of a second career in burglary. This just didn’t make sense.
“It started on a small scale when we were in college—almost as a joke,” Barbee explained. “We needed some extra cash for books and living expenses after we had blown through our allowances, and it just grew from there. We seemed to have a natural talent for it. I really don’t have a compelling explanation. It just happened. The twins thing factored into the equation as well. I can’t explain it. We were planning to retire permanently after a couple more scores.”
Con could see that Alex was seething. He knew his friend felt like a fool as well as betrayed by his sub—subs? He didn’t know what he could say that would ease his friend’s anger.
Con stepped back in. “We have several options open to us. We could turn you over to the authorities in French Guiana or wait until St. Barts or San Juan. How does Devil’s Island sound to you?” He could see both of them flinch. Good. Let them worry for a couple of minutes. “Or we could wait and turn you over in Miami.” Their expressions eased a little.
Harper caught his eye before she said, “In any of those instances I might have to act as their legal counsel, and I would rather not have to do that as it might be a conflict of interest due to my prior representation of Devereau Shipping.” Baylee and Barbee looked over at her in amazement. They clearly hadn’t expected that.
Violette's Vibrato [Golden Dolphin 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 12