Switched

by O'Connell, Anne

  “Should I let you come?” Kali asked, knowing damn well Amy’s answer would be yes.

  “Yes, Mistress,” she cried out. Then she begged, “Please Mistress!”

  She pressed on the vibrating bullet and began moving it around in a circular motion. “Oh, yes, I suppose I probably ought to let you come since you did such a good job eating my pussy. How’s this?”

  As she talked dirty, Amy’s moans grew louder until she cried out in release. That was the hardest Kali had seen Amy orgasm.

  “Thank you, Mistress,” Amy said through labored breath.

  Kali turned off the vibrator and removed the harness, butt plug and dildo. “You’re welcome, my dear. I’m going to clean myself up and then you can have the bathroom to freshen up and wash these toys.”

  Giving Amy a bright smile, she slipped into the bathroom.

  It didn’t take long for both women to find themselves dressed again. Kali wandered from the bedroom, content and happy when she realized the answering machine was blinking.

  Amy, whose mind was back on their shopping trip from earlier, trailed behind her. “You have to try on those jeans with the blue blouse,” Amy was saying.

  Kali looked at the answering machine, confused. She had just seen Brad and she was with Amy, and those were the only two people who would have called. Something bad must have happened. Her stomach did a somersault.

  Amy came up behind her. “Ghost?”

  “What?”

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Everything okay?” Amy rummaged through her purse, pulled out some lip gloss and put it on, then dropped her purse next to the table with the answering machine on it.

  “I have a message,” Kali said.

  “Okay…” Amy lifted an eyebrow.

  “No one has this number except you, Eric, and Brad.”

  Amy shrugged. “It’s probably just Brad wondering where you are. Or Eric wondering where I am. Of course the best way to find out is to press play,” she finished with a snarky grin.

  “That flippant attitude of yours is what gets you in trouble,” Kali told her with a forced smile. With a sense of dread she pressed play. She regretted it almost immediately.

  The lilt of her Russian accent filled the apartment and seemed to linger. "Laura, hi. It's Misha. It took some work to find you so I hope this is really your number. Look, I'm calling because you need to know Victor is looking for you and he is not happy. If this is you and I was able to find you, you know he'll find you, too. He sent Richard along with two of his men. I thought you should know."

  Kali's blood ran cold and a nauseated feeling overwhelmed her. Oh God, not Victor. It had been three years since she'd seen him kill a man, and three years since she ran away from L.A. with only the clothes on her back and a hundred grand from Victor's safe. That's what it took to get away from that abusive bastard. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone what she’d seen. Victor had cut a man’s throat ear to ear, and then shoved the lifeless body into a car loaded with explosives. She remembered the car exploding as they drove away. Russian mafia was nothing to mess with. Some of the stolen money she'd spent to get here. All so she could disappear into a suburb outside of Boston. The rest she'd spent on the plastic surgery to have Victor's brand and tattoo removed from her shoulder and left buttock respectively. The only thing she couldn't do was leave the bdsm scene. She tried - she really did. But she needed it too much. It was really all she'd ever known after her parents passed. So she reincarnated herself as a Domme named Kali and hid in plain sight, privately switching with some of her play partners to get the submission she craved. Now, her past was catching up to her. She was again that terrified sub named Laura who accidentally fell in with the wrong crowd with the wrong Dom.

  Victor was going to find her and kill her for running away and taking his money. Or he'd drag her back to California and make her work it off playing sex slave to all of his friends. He'd put his marks back on her and probably beat her for having them removed to begin with. The weight of her body seemed almost too much to bear. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  “What was that all about?” Amy asked, her cute blonde head peeking into Kali’s line of vision.

  Kali jumped slightly. She’d forgotten Amy was standing there. “Umm.”

  “You look sick, like you’re going to pass out. Are you okay?” Amy rushed to take Kali’s arm, leading her to the couch so she could sit down.

  It was all a blur.

  “I’ll get you some water. Stay here.” Amy disappeared into the kitchen.

  Kali could hear the cupboard door opening and the water running, and seconds later Amy sprinted out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. She handed it to Kali and Kali took a long drink. The cool water sliding down her throat brought her back from that dark place her mind had gone to. “What am I going to do?” She asked aloud.

  “About what? Who’s Laura, is that your real name or something?” Amy sat down next to her.

  “Something like that.” She set the glass of water on a coaster on the coffee table. “You know, I should go try on those jeans.”

  “With the blue blouse,” Amy said, her brows furrowing together as if the change in subject perplexed her.

  Kali didn’t offer an explanation; she simply got up and went back to the bedroom. She took the shopping bags filled with clothing from the closet and set them on the bed, then started peeling off her clothes so she could change into the new jeans and the blue blouse. Just when her life was starting to resemble what she deemed normal it was all falling apart again. It figured. She had a loving Dom who treated her well. Brad made her feel safe. He was an ex-Marine after all. She had friends in Amy and Eric, and yet none of them knew or could know. What would they think of her if they knew about her previous life as a full-time sex slave? She'd have to run again. She pulled the new jeans up over her hips. They fit perfectly. Right now clothes were the last thing on her mind. She needed a stiff drink. Maybe vodka and cranberry juice.

  She paused, grabbing the blue blouse from the second bag. Victor loved vodka; probably too much. In Soviet Russia vodka drinks you, she mused. She started to laugh and realized Amy was standing in the doorway watching.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing, just thinking.” She buttoned the blouse then turned to Amy. “What do you think?”

  “Gorgeous. So much better than your usual chic Domme gear,” Amy told her.

  “I happen to like my usual Domme gear and I’ve been told chic suits me,” she smoothed the blouse and looked at herself in the full length mirror on the bathroom door.

  Amy wandered into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, pulling two more blouses from the bag. “So, who’s Victor?”

  Kali felt her teeth grind together. “I bet the red blouse would look even better.”

  “Why are you changing the subject?” Amy wasn’t a naïve school-girl, after all.

  “You want a drink? I have some vodka and cranberry juice.” She exited the bedroom still wearing the tagged clothes.

  Amy followed. “Nope, I’m driving, but I see this Victor guy makes you want to drink? Was he a dick like Paul?”

  Kali shrugged. Amy’s ex, Paul, was an abusive jerk, too. But nothing like Victor. Victor was sadistic, and not in a good way. She took a glass out of the cupboard and took the vodka off the shelf in the corner. Then she took the cranberry juice from the refrigerator. If anyone could understand her dilemma it was likely Amy. "From the time I was nineteen, up until about three years ago, I was hooked up with a guy who was bad news. He was an abusive asshole. When I moved here it was because I left him and wanted a fresh start. Remember how I told you at lunch that I had once allowed a guy to control my life?"

  Amy cocked her head to one side. “Oh. It was him?”

  She began pouring the vodka. “Yeah.”

  “Well, Brad isn't going to let the douchebag get within a hundred yards of you. You know that. Can't you just get a restraining order?" Amy p
ut the cranberry juice back in the fridge and took the vodka and put it back on the shelf with a raised eyebrow.

  Kali took a long drink. "I could, but you don't understand. Victor is Russian mafia. A restraining order won't stop a bullet. Not to mention Brad doesn’t know about him."

  “Oh. Well if you told Brad…” she started.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I probably shouldn’t have even told you because it puts you in danger. The guy’s a psycho.” She took another long drink, realizing that the alcohol wasn’t going to change the fact that Victor was looking for her and if Misha was able to find her, Victor wasn’t far behind. Not to mention the liquor wasn’t helping her stomach.

  "You think he would kill you?" Amy's eyes went wide as she followed Kali back to the couch.

  Kali nodded and sat down, setting her drink next to the glass of water. "Maybe. If he didn't want revenge first. When I left him I kind of took some money. I didn't have a real job which means I had no money of my own. I figured it was the least he owed me for making my life a living hell."

  Amy, despite being ten years her junior, became the voice of common sense then. "I think you need to tell Brad. He's got friends in the police department. He has old military pals who still work in the FBI and CIA..."

  "I can't." She leaned back into the cushions of the leather sofa.

  Amy gave her a puzzled look. "Why not? You can't hide it from him."

  She let out a resigned sigh. "If I tell Brad about my past will he really want to keep seeing me?"

  "You don't know that's how Brad is going to react. Besides, I hardly think the fact that you dated a jerk when you were younger is grounds for relationship termination. You’ll have to tell him eventually. What happens if Victor shows up and you and Brad are out? Are you going to explain it then? In the middle of a restaurant after Victor makes a scene or he’s shooting at you from a moving car? It seems to me explaining it now is the only option.”

  Kali didn't answer. No, she had another option and that option was to run again. How did you tell your closest girlfriend that you were going to have to leave? Just like she'd told Misha. She was sure Misha had taken at least one beating for her.

  But again, Amy was young, not stupid. "So you just disappear, Brad is left heartbroken, and you're safe from Victor for what, another three years before you have to do it all over again? Sounds like a lonely life, Kal. Maybe you need to take a stand and refuse to let this guy from your past control you."

  "What I can't figure out is what made him start looking all of a sudden." It was a stray thought really. She hadn't even meant to say it aloud.

  Amy looked away guiltily.

  Kali cocked her head to one side. "What?"

  "If I tell you you're going to be mad." Amy cast her eyes downward, like a scolded child, to her hands in her lap.

  A surge of fear ran through Kali. "You have to tell me, Amy. This is my life we're talking about here."

  Amy's eyes began tearing up, but she didn’t cry. "Brad asked Eric to have his investigator friend, Ted, look into your past because you refused to talk about it. Brad doesn't like secrets. I wasn't supposed to tell you..." Amy gave her an apologetic look. "He had no way of knowing having someone look into your past would spark your ex to start looking for you. Please don't be mad at him."

  She felt her entire body go numb. Obviously Brad had found something otherwise Victor wouldn't have started looking and Misha wouldn't have made the warning phone call. Fuck.

  "Kali?"

  She heard her name in the distance and willed herself back to the present moment. Her eyes met Amy's. "Amy, what am I going to do?"

  Amy already had her cell phone out. "We're calling Brad and Eric."

  "So I'm going to call Brad and then what? He's going to come clean that he's been spying on me? Which pisses me off, by the way. Then he's going to be my knight in shining armor and save me from Victor?" Yes, there was an edge to her voice, but she didn't care. Amy was her friend and deserved to know exactly how she felt.

  Amy shrugged. "Well I don't know about the whole save you thing. I just figured he would have some ideas about hiding, self-protection, that sort of thing. I'm not an idiot."

  "Sorry." Now she felt bad for getting down on Amy. After all, Amy was really the only close female friend she had out here. “I need another drink.”

  With cell phone on, Amy began tapping in the number. Kali didn’t stop her. Instead, she got up and went to refill her glass.

  ***

  It didn’t take more than twenty minutes for Brad and Eric to show up at Kali’s after Amy’s urgent phone call. He didn’t even knock, he just walked right in.

  “This door should have been locked,” he announced loudly.

  “We’re in the living room,” came Kali’s hard voice.

  Yeah, he was pretty sure she was pissed at him. Vaguely aware that Eric had paused to close and lock the door, he made his way into the living room to find both women sitting on the couch. Kali with a drink in her hand.

  Brad looked down at Amy who sat on the end of the couch with her hands in her lap and her eyes downcast. "Why did you tell her, Ames?"

  "Because she needed to know why the douche bag was looking for her again." Amy gave him a look that said, jackass. "You have to take responsibility for the Russian mafia hunting down your girlfriend whether you like it or not."

  Eric laughed but quickly stifled it when Brad gave him ‘the look’.

  He sighed. “Amy, if you were my sub, I’d cane your ass for that kind of insubordination.”

  Eric shook his head, “She’s right though. It was you who hired Ted.”

  Brad motioned Amy off the couch and took her place on the couch next to Kali. "Kal, I'm sorry. I had no idea your ex was Russian mafia. But in all fairness, you could have clued me in. You could have at least said, hey, I have a psycho ex who, if he ever found me, would kill me."

  She looked him straight in the eyes. "And then you would have asked why and if I didn't say anything you would have nosed around in my past anyway. For the record, I am pissed you sent a private detective digging into my life. I would have eventually told you."

  Eric and Amy exchanged glances. "Maybe Amy and I should go," Eric started.

  "No, hold on a minute," Brad said, stopping him. He turned to Kali again. He had to make things right with her and he knew the only way to do it wasn't to try and justify what he did, but rather admit he was wrong and apologize. "Fair enough. I'm an asshole and I fucked up. I really didn't mean to cause any harm. Now that that's out of the way, we need a plan. We don't have time to kick my ass. You need to disappear so this guy has to get through us to find you."

  Kali let out a deep sigh. "That just puts all of you in danger."

  "Kal, I served two tours in Iraq. I think I can handle a little danger."

  "You'll have to stop driving." She shook her head.

  "What?" Now she wasn't making any sense.

  "Car bombs. That's one of Victor's signature trademarks. He likes to blow up cars, preferably with his enemies in them," she said offhandedly.

  The light bulb went off in Brad's head. That explained a lot. More than the expense of a car and saving the planet, it explained why Kali didn't own a car and didn't drive anywhere. It also explained why she always looked at every car warily before getting in.

  “I’ll sweep my car for explosives and detonation devices before I go anywhere. Or I’ll start taking taxis everywhere,” he said, hoping Kali would relax a little.

  She gave him a weak smile.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “I believe you.”

  “Good, now what I want you and Amy to do is to put together a few bags, grab anything really important, and take it to my place. You’ll stay with me for now,” he said.

  Again, she didn’t argue.

  He leaned forward and pulled her into a hug and she relaxed into his arms. At that moment he never wanted to let her go.

  Chapter Seven

>   After Kali’s revelation earlier that afternoon, and after closing down the store for over an hour, Brad once again found himself standing behind the counter at By the Book. It was just before five thirty. Eric had some errands to run and Amy was helping Kali move some of her stuff to Brad’s house, so he was alone. He had just finished reading his e-mail. In it, Ted Agares told him everything he’d just learned, and a little more. He had no idea Kali’s parents were dead, or that she was an only child, though he’d assumed the only child part since he figured no one could help but mention siblings in passing. The ex, Victor, even made Agares wary, which is why the PI left, but Agares never wrote back. He probably got busy with his family and forgot, he told himself. With a heavy sigh he began wiping down the counter.

  When the agents walked in he found himself immediately on alert. Some people just have that certain vibe about them and these two definitely did. While people from all walks of life came through that door, it was unusual for two older men dressed in suits to walk in at once.

  He gave them a tight, welcoming smile. “Can I help you gentlemen find anything specific?”

  The short, dark haired man looked at the notepad in his hand. “Yes, we’re looking for a Brad Hudak?”

  “That’s me. What can I help you with?” Brad didn’t change his stance or do anything that might indicate discomfort.

  The man pulled out his badge and set in on the counter so Brad could inspect it. “I’m Special Agent Brocco and this is Agent Salazar. We’re here about Ted Agares and Laura Stanton.”

  Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Brocco’s credentials again. He only had to give the second agent a wary eye before he had Agent Salazar’s credentials on the counter in front of him, too. “It’s not illegal to have a PI dig into your girlfriend’s past is it? Certainly not a case for the FBI?”

  “Not at all. However, Ted Agares ended up dead in Los Angeles last night, so it became our business,” Brocco said.