Uncovering Satisfaction [Satisfaction, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Diane Leyne

  “That’s nice, Leah. I hope you have fun with Randy.”

  Chapter Twelve

  That night at the saloon, Nicola looked at Daisy with new eyes. Could it be that easy? When she’d gotten home from Leah’s, she started cross-referencing the incidents to Daisy’s shifts. Daisy wasn’t working when most of the incidents happened. It could be that some of them were genuine coincidences. Not everything had to fit the pattern.

  Impulsively, she called Cara. Turns out the shoes had only been worn once before the incident. She’d worn them in to work to show them off. Both Micah and Dace had made a huge fuss over her and the shoes. Daisy had been working that night.

  Damn. A jealous woman. No nefarious plans by sanctimonious people trying to put Micah out of business. Just a jealous woman attacking anyone that she saw as a threat to her or to Micah. Some of the folks targeted, based on the incidents that Leah had told her about, were those who were against the club. Micah wouldn’t have known about them, but they fit the pattern. Daisy was obsessed with Micah and Dace. And Daisy had said she wasn’t into BDSM. Maybe she did want the place closed down so Micah and Dace wouldn’t have any more subs to play with.

  And then Nick showed up and started a relationship with them. It explained the direct attack. The word slut on her SUV was a pretty direct message. Was Daisy losing it? She knew she was the first permanent sub the two men had played with since the club opened. Daisy didn’t know it was an act. Maybe if she pushed her a bit harder, she could get her to confess.

  Tuesday was a quiet night in the saloon. Leah was off on her date, and it was just Daisy and Nicola serving. As usual, Trace was behind the bar. Dace and Micah were huddled in a booth at the back. Looking at Daisy, she made a decision.

  Walking over to where the men sat, after setting down a beer in front of each of them, she then leaned down and kissed one and then the other on the mouth and stayed to chat for a few minutes before sauntering away.

  Walking up to Daisy, she leaned over and whispered so that only she could hear, “You know, when I came here, I had only planned on staying a few weeks, but I can’t believe how wonderful Dace and Micah are. They are amazing in the sack, but they are great guys, too. And after someone vandalized my car, I couldn’t believe how tender and caring they were. I think they may be the ones, if you know what I mean. I am seriously thinking of moving to Satisfaction permanently.”

  Daisy looked at her and the mask slipped, just for a moment, but in that time, Nick saw the hatred in her before she was back to the pleasant friend she’d always pretended to be.

  “You aren’t afraid?”

  “Of what?” Nicola forced herself to play dumb.

  “You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? About someone out to cause trouble for Micah and maybe get this place shut down. If that happens, he’ll be broke. He put everything he had into it. And Dace could lose his job, too, in the next election. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  “I think I love them, Daisy, and I think they love me. We’ll make it work.”

  She smiled and watched and could almost see the gears shifting in Daisy’s head.

  “You are right. Love conquers all. I’m very happy for you all.”

  * * * *

  “What the hell was that about?” wondered Micah after Nicola kissed the both of them and then made small talk about the weather for five minutes, laughing uproariously about nothing really and then patting them both suggestively before walking away.

  “I can only think of one thing. She’s setting herself up again.”

  “Dammit, Dace. I know she’s an investigator and all, but she’s our sub. I feel like we should be protecting her.”

  “I know what you mean. Whenever she has one of those nightmares and refuses to talk to us afterwards, it just guts me, but this is all pretend, remember? We are supposed to be having a no-strings-attached fling while she finds the person who’s behind the incidents.”

  “But what can we do? She’s in the middle of a case. I want to say something, talk to her about sticking around and maybe trying this for real, but I feel I have to wait until after her investigation is over.”

  “All we can do is just continue what we are doing, Micah. We show her just how good it is with the three of us together. But she’s probably going to leave when this is all over, and it’s going to kill me. I’m trying really hard not to get pulled in any deeper than I am.”

  “That’s bullshit, Dace. You can’t turn it on and off like that. She’s our woman, our sub, the one we are meant to be with.”

  “We’ve only known her for a week.”

  “And your point? Jules and I grew up with the stories of how our parents fell in love at first sight. I believe in that, Dace. Our folks had the kind of marriage I want to have, except well, there will be two husbands, but they love and respect each other and used to embarrass us all the time with their constant touching and groping. We grew up with sounds coming from the bedroom until they finally had it soundproofed when I was ten. When I got older, I was shocked that all marriages weren’t like that.”

  “You were lucky, my friend. And, hell, I want the same things you do, but she’s going to leave us. I can see it in her eyes. She’s going to finish up here and run.”

  “Then what do we do, Dace? I’m not giving her up that easily.”

  “We’ll think of something. In the meantime, did you notice who’s got a booth at the back?”

  “Yes, everyone’s favorite ginger, Garth Ford.”

  Suddenly, Dace’s radio crackled. “Attention all first responders, fire out at the Double S. Main building fully involved. Assistance requested from all neighboring towns and counties.”

  * * * *

  Nick looked down at the note. An honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned love note. Sort of. Actually, it was more of a booty-call note, but she liked that, too. She looked over to where Micah and Dace sat, wondering which one wrote it, but it didn’t matter. She’d be playing with the both of them soon, and she couldn’t control the excitement coursing through her veins. She’d had a crush on them before she ever got to Satisfaction, and now it was love. She loved them both, and it would kill her when she left, but for them, it was just a fling, a bonus while she investigated Micah’s little problem. It wasn’t their fault. She, like a good sub, had set the limits, and no-strings-attached was one of her stupid limits.

  She was going to enjoy every minute while she could. She was even tempted to delay telling them about Daisy. She had a few more i’s to dot and t’s to cross, but she was pretty sure it was her. The only question was if she was working alone or if she had a partner. Nick was coming to the conclusion that there might be two separate perps at work, with two different agendas. That would explain why Dace had so much trouble finding the pattern.

  Maybe, maybe not, but Daisy was definitely responsible for most, if not all, of the lesser happenings, including vandalizing Nick’s SUV.

  “Do me a favor? Shut down the cameras in room seven for the next hour or so?” she asked Tanner who was manning the control room, as usual.

  He winked at her and nodded. Moving quickly, she went into the women’s locker room and stripped down to a thong, cuffs, and a collar. She wasn’t ready to be totally naked, not if the men weren’t with her. Following the instructions on the note, she made her way to the dungeon room. It was dark, creepy, and looked just like one would expect a dungeon to look.

  The instructions were to pick the blindfold, then hop up on the torture table, attaching her ankle cuffs to the table. Then she was to put on the blindfold, lie back with her arms spread wide, and wait.

  It didn’t take long, although it would have been easier if she was a contortionist, but then it was done and she couldn’t wait to find out what her men had planned. She didn’t have to wait long. Soon after she lay down, she heard the door open. She strained to hear, but Dace and Micah were moving quietly. She frowned and started to sit up, but she found her right and then her left wrist quickly connected to th
e table.

  Something didn’t feel right. She struggled against the bonds and heard the sound of laughter. There were two people in the room with her, but not the two she’d been expecting.

  * * * *

  Dace jumped out and rushed toward the door, Micah at his heels.

  “I want to help.”

  “Fine. Come with me.”

  Dace got behind the wheel of his cruiser, and Micah hopped in the passenger seat. He put the car in gear and then stopped.

  “Something doesn’t feel right. Listen.”

  “What am I supposed to be listening for? All I hear are the normal night sounds.”

  “Exactly. I know that the Double S is half an hour from here, but where are all the sirens? We should be hearing something.”

  Micah pulled out his cell phone and pressed a few buttons. After speaking a few words, he hung up.

  “That was Jess. She’s fine. She was up watching some late movie on television and assured me that the house wasn’t burning down around her.”

  “So someone wanted to get rid of me for at least an hour, which would have been how long it would take for me to drive out there and back.”

  “And they could be pretty sure I’d come with you when I heard what was going on.”

  Dace drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Micah, have you seen Nick lately?”

  “Not for the last few minutes. She went down the back hall. I assumed she needed to answer the call of nature, but she should be back by now.” He frowned. “I’m sure she’s back by now.”

  Moving quickly, they headed inside. Looking around, it was clear there was no sign of Nick. “Dace, Daisy isn’t around either.”

  They hurried toward the back of the bar where the entrance to the club was. He frowned. Garth Ford had been sitting at a table at the back surrounded by a bunch of his cronies earlier. Now he was gone and they were trickling out. Dace had a bad feeling.

  They quickly entered the club. Dace was all for searching the place from top to bottom, but Micah grabbed his arm and shoved him into the control room.

  Tanner frowned. “What are you two doing here? I thought you’d be in the dungeon playing with your new sub.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “She asked me to turn the camera off in room seven. I thought…”

  He hit a few buttons, but the feed wouldn’t come up. “Damn. Someone must have busted the camera.”

  “Have you seen Daisy lately?”

  “Yeah, she came through here a couple of minutes ago. Is something wrong?”

  “You see Garth Ford around here?”

  “No, I know he’s banned, boss. I’d have had his ass thrown out. But I did get an alert that the back door was opened briefly. Damn. I’m going to kick his ass.”

  Dace didn’t wait. He headed toward room seven at a run with Micah on his heels. Moments later, he was at the door. None of the rooms were supposed to be locked, but this one wouldn’t budge. Micah shouldered him aside.

  “I have a pass card. It overrides everything.”

  Dace prayed his friend was right. Micah swiped his card and the light blinked red once, twice, and then changed to green.

  * * * *

  She could feel the hands moving over her breasts and stomach, but it wasn’t her men. These were a stranger’s hands, squeezing and probing, brutal even as they prodded and pinched.

  “Who is this?”

  “Oh, Nicola. Didn’t they tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “It’s a test. You know how much they like to share. Well, this is a test to make sure that you will do as you are told and let them share. Next time, it’ll happen in the club in front of the members.”

  “No, no, I don’t believe you, Daisy. They wouldn’t do that to me.”

  “I’m so sorry to be the one to disillusion you, Nicola, but this is exactly the sort of thing they do. They didn’t tell you. I’m so sorry. Look, if you can’t handle it, I can make it stop. You just have to get in your truck and leave. I’ll pack your stuff up.”

  “No, Daisy. I want to talk to them.”

  “But they don’t want to talk to you. Who do you think set this all up? It’s a test that Dace and Micah do with all the new subs they are thinking of keeping around for a while. You have to be willing to service their friends, and you can’t be jealous when they fuck other women. You look upset, Nicola. Can’t you handle their perverted demands?”

  Nicola froze. She was helpless the way things were. Once she was free, she’d flatten the bitch and her henchman. Last time she’d been taken prisoner, it had been professionals. If she couldn’t outwit and then kick the butt of one jealous skank and her henchman, she didn’t deserve her job back at SSP.

  “Oh, Daisy. Help me. I don’t want to…Oh, I can’t even say it.”

  “Poor Nicola got in over her head?”

  “Yes, yes I did. I admit I liked being the center of attention, but this takes things too far. Help me, Daisy!” She wailed on the last word and tried to force out a few tears.

  For a few moments she thought she had her, but then she heard another voice.

  “She’s lying. Get out of my way and let me at the bitch. When I’m done with her, she’ll run so far no one will ever find her.” She felt the horrible groping hands again. She wasn’t acting when she let the disgust show on her face. “I’ll show you what a real man is, bitch. I don’t need no pussy safe words. I know what you need, and I’m going to give it to you.”

  “No, wait. Garth. We were just going to scare her.”

  Nicola wished she could see. Something was off, very off. It was the voice. She’d never heard Garth speak before, but the voice she was hearing…He was trying to disguise it, but it sounded familiar. One of the hands ran down her body and squeezed her thigh.

  It suddenly felt horribly familiar.

  “Andy. Deputy Andy Bentano. I recognize your voice. You are trying to frame that ass, Garth Ford.”

  “Won’t take much. He’s behind a lot of the dirty tricks that have plagued this place. It was easy to whisper in his ear how his dad would be so proud. He is such a fuck-up. He’ll do anything to make daddy proud, especially if it means sticking it to Micah and Dace. That set things up beautifully for him to take the fall.”

  He pulled off the blindfold.

  “I guess it’s time for Plan B.”

  “Plan B? What’s Plan B?” Daisy’s voice was thin and tremulous. It was clear to Nicola that she hadn’t been in on the whole plan.

  “Why, Daisy? Why did you do this to me?”

  “We were just going to scare you away. A little touching and you’d go running back East. That’s what Andy told me. I’m innocent. I just wanted you to go home so Micah and Dace would look at me. I’ve spent two years trying to get them to notice me, and they were starting to come around. Then you showed up, and I’m back to square one. Good old Daisy, everyone’s friend but no one’s lover.”

  “That’s no reason to be a part of this.”

  “I didn’t think it would happen like this. I just wanted to scare you.”

  “I know.” Nicola pitched her voice low and soothing. “I know what it’s like when you are in love. I don’t blame you, Daisy. But you can’t let things go any further. Help me. Please.”

  Daisy looked uncertainly from Nicola to Andy. She felt bad about Nicola, but she was clearly afraid of Andy. Finally, she took a step toward Nicola but didn’t get more than a step before he backhanded her across the face. Then he sighed heavily, dragged her unconscious body to the wall, and chained her to some convenient outcroppings.

  Nicola used his momentary distraction to start working on the quick-release fastenings of her cuffs. If she could just get one off, the rest would be easy. She just needed a longer distraction.

  “It really is very easy to hold hostages in a dungeon. I might have to have one of these installed in my house, Maybe once I’m sheriff.”

  He looked around. “You k
now, I’d like this a whole lot better if Dace and Micah were here. I wonder what’s taking them so long. I sent them off on a wild goose chase. They should have figured it out and been back by now.”

  Just then, the door burst open and Micah and Dace ran in, only to be greeted by a Taser blast. Damn, that wasn’t what she had in mind, but she’d use it.

  “Like shooting fish in a barrel. Now just let me get things arranged. Then a little gasoline and this thing will be a death trap for at least the four of you.”

  “You have gasoline with you? Admit it. This isn’t plan B. It’s always been your goal. You used Daisy and Garth, and now she’s going to die and he’s going to go to jail for something he didn’t do.”

  “No, he’s going to die, too, fleeing from the police. That will wrap things up nicely, and I’ll be a hero and win the election handily.”

  “And what about all the people in the club and the saloon? Don’t you care if some of them die, too?”

  “Who cares about a bunch of drunks and pervs? Not me. I’m just cleaning up the town.”

  Nicola felt herself freezing. More people were going to die if she didn’t do something, innocent people. She’d failed once. She wasn’t going to fail again. She heard Daisy moan, and that seemed to break her trance. This was her second chance, and she wasn’t going to blow it.

  With one eye on Andy, she wanted to yell when she got the first cuff off. But now she had to move to get the other one, and she had to do it without catching Andy’s attention.

  She looked up and realized that Dace was looking at her. She raised her wrist, and he seemed to know she needed him to keep Andy occupied, but then the big lug did something stupid. He tried, his body still twitching and barely under his control, to tackle Andy, who pushed him out of the way easily.