“Oh, I got plenty of respect for her,” Morales pantomimed, making a grab for his crotch. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.”
Reed felt his temper growing. It had been a long night. Damn, it had been a long month.
“Back off, Manny,” Tommy said, standing up to get between the two of them. “Sorry man. Didn’t know we were treading on dangerous ground.”
Reed shook his head. He shouldn’t let their good-natured banter get to him. Now that he had Willow back, he should feel better. She sat off to the side, against the wall, waiting for him to take her home. Instead, he looked back at Mandi. His job may have been over, but he wasn’t through yet.
“So did you know and/or recognize any of the people who kidnapped you, Ms. Wilkinson?”
Question after question, the female police officer taking her statement repeated herself. After a while, the chaos of the room fell to a low din as Ms. Officer Margaret Monotone droned on.
“As I said before, one of the guys was an instructor at the school,” Mandi answered. “I’d seen him before, but no one else.”
Ms. Monotone took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Pale green eyes flecked with spots of gold met hers, and Mandi thought that with her glasses off, hair down and a touch of make-up, Officer Margaret could easily transform into a hottie – Madam Margaret. Wonder why she hid behind the disguise. Maybe she needed to sign up for some lessons in her vacation time.
“Do you know the name of the individual?”
“Ralph Tingsly. He administered public punishments,” she said, the memory of her own spanking bringing a blush to her cheeks.
“Would you be able to pick Ralph out of a lineup?”
“What do you think?” she replied.
“Honestly, Ms. Wilkinson, if you’re asking, I think if you hadn’t signed up for this sex school then you never would have been in a position to have been kidnapped, first, and possibly sold as a sex slave.”
What brutal honesty. “You have no right to judge me,” she said. Suddenly, all the noise of the room assaulted her senses: phones ringing, people talking, papers shuffling. The past few days came crashing back to Amanda. Too much. Too quickly. An underlying smell of vomit clung to the room, and she felt ill.
The chair beneath her felt like it was pressing in her ass, and she longed for a long, quiet soak in the tub.
The detective she was talking to suddenly stopped and looked past Amanda’s shoulder, and that’s when she felt him. His strong presence standing there behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up, taking in his concerned expression. His dark blue eyes clouded with worry.
“How’s it going here, Marge?” he asked, continuing, “I’m sure Ms. Wilkinson has had a few trying days and would like to decompress.”
“Sure thing, Reed,” the mono-bot replied with so much more inflection in her voice. “I think we’re about done here. Ms. Wilkinson, I may call you to follow up on a few items, if that’s all right.”
“No problem.”
It was hard to stay mad at someone when he looked like that, and every cell in her being cried out for the comfort of his touch.
“Why don’t you gather your stuff, and I’ll get Willow.”
At the mere mention of Willow’s name, he could feel Amanda tense beneath his palm. He didn’t understand her deal, but he’d sure like to work off a bit of her stress.
Chapter Nineteen
Reed brushed past her in order to open the car door. The quick flash from the heat of his body sent shivers down her back. She might want to be mad at him, but her body sure didn’t want to be. Instead, she wanted him to wrap his strong arms around her, hold her tight and listen to him promise her that everything would be all right.
The cool leather seat bit into the backs of her thighs. She seriously had to stop running around without any clothes on, she joked to herself. That, or at least stop getting into cars half-naked. Fantasies of a warm bath lulled her once again.
Quiet. Peaceful. Warmed to the bone. Leaning her head back against the car seat, she shut her eyes, letting the stress of the last few days go. If only it would be that easy.
The driver’s side door opened and then shut. Amanda could feel Reed looking at her, awaiting some type of acknowledgement. Keys rattled as he started the ignition, and still she kept her eyes closed. Breathing in, and out.
“So, taking you home?” he asked.
Home? That was the last thing she expected. She sat up, taking him in. “Back to the school,” she responded. “I want to finish the program.”
After clearing his throat, Reed said, “Do you think that’s the best idea, after all that’s happened?”
“Now who are you, my keeper?” she said. Part of the reason why she had enrolled at SFSU was to get away from the constraints of the world. Yes, it had rules that must be followed, but it still was more liberating than day-to-day life. She got to be who she wanted to be, and she’d thought Reed understood that. Now she wasn’t quite sure what to think.
“What about Willow. Don’t you need to take her home?”
“She’s not done yet,” he sighed. “I plan on meeting up with her later tonight.”
A pit of worry settled in the bottom of Amanda’s stomach. Was he just acting like a taxi driver right now? She was part of his responsibility. His job. Nothing else.
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Amanda asked, afraid of his answer.
“Yes, of course she does. We’re all that we have,” he said. “I’d do anything for her.”
“Well, don’t let me keep you waiting. I’m sure you know the way back to the campus better than I do.”
With those words, Amanda settled back into the seat once again, eyes closed. She knew that she should ask Reed more questions. Like why he’d lied to her about being an instructor. And if everything that had happened between them had been part of his job.
The silence in the car stretched out. Reed swore that he could hear the sound of Amanda’s breathing. And was that her stomach growling? She’d been at the police station for hours. She must be starving. He glanced over at her. Everything was pulled up tight together. Her feet up on the seat, knees against her chest, arms wrapped around her knees. It was like she’d rolled up into a little ball and blocked out everything around her.
“You know, Claire’s headed back home,” he threw out there.
“Good for her,” she mumbled without even looking at him, and then followed with something even more unintelligible.
“What did you say?”
She lifted her head, eyeing him with a mixture of distrust and disgust. At least that’s what it looked like to him, and having grown up with an irate younger sister, he was familiar with those expressions.
“I said, ‘I’m not Claire.’”
Amanda stabbed the power button for the radio. The Killers’ song “Somebody Told Me” flowed through the car, and she cranked up the volume to the point where Reed could feel the bass thumping through his bones.
“Well somebody told me
You had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February of last year.”
And she didn’t say another word for the remainder of the trip.
As soon as they pulled up in front of the school’s compound, Amanda threw open the door and literally jumped out of the car. She didn’t even bother to shut the door, and she certainly didn’t look back to see if Reed had followed her.
Hands on the steering wheel, Reed looked at the empty seat vacated by Mandi. Her presence gone, the feeling of animosity that had physically permeated the car on the ride back had also dissipated. Still, he felt nervous, and he wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He was so used to always being in control, but now he felt like he’d lost all power.
Through the car’s open door, he could see Mandi’s retreating figure, her slender legs carrying her back onto the school grounds. In his oversized jacket, she looked frail an
d fragile. Not the persona of “toughness” that she usually gave off. He wished that he could protect her from any future unpleasantness, but at the same time he felt like she wasn’t going to give him the chance. She’d built up a wall of independence around her, and it was going to be an uphill battle to make his way back in.
The cool San Francisco summer evening chilled Amanda as she dashed toward the campus doors. In the last few moments of the drive back, she would have done just about anything to get out of the car with Reed. Her emotions raged out of control. Could she really be mad at him for rescuing her? Did that make sense at all? She knew that he drove her back to the campus out of some sort of misplaced duty, not that he really cared about her at all. It was, after all, his job.
As she reached the school’s entranceway, she heard the slam of a car door behind her, followed shortly by the closing of another and the quick progression of footsteps. The moment she entered the waiting area, she instantly felt better, almost as if she was returning home after a long and unwanted trip. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d first come to the school, but really it had been a little more than a month. Hard to believe that she’d been gone only a week.
A draft of air skimmed up her long shirt. She shivered and pulled Reed’s black leather jacket tighter around her body.
Inside the waiting area, she heard a door open off to the right. Outside was marked “Staff Only.” Ms. Lucy approached her with an expression that looked both concerned and stern. Reed fell in step behind her, and she felt his reassuring hand rest on her lower back, as if he were guiding her.
For a moment, Ms. Lucy’s external façade broke down, and the headmistress enfolded Amanda within her arms, pressing Amanda’s face into her more-than-generous breasts. Amanda breathed in the scent of lavender and lemon zest, and she was struck by the odd combination.
“Ms. Wilkinson, I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “I take it that you are all right? No long-term harm came to you?”
Basically, the same question all the officers seemed to have wanted to know: Had she been raped? The answer was no. Besides being whisked away from the campus and kept mostly locked up in a room, nothing “untoward” had happened to her.
After one more tight squeeze, Ms. Lucy stepped back, and it was as if another personality took over.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Amanda said. “I’m fine. Just glad to be back.”
With a nod of her head, Ms. Lucy’s attention turned toward Reed. “And you, Officer McAllister,” she said greeting him more formally than normal. “I and the school’s founders would like to thank you for figuring out what was going on here. If word of this gets out, the school, well, I’m not sure what would happen to the school.”
Caught in the spotlight of Ms. Lucy’s demanding gaze, Reed shuffled his feet, seemingly uncomfortable. “I only did what was necessary,” he replied.
“You took on more than your average job duties, wouldn’t you say?” Ms. Lucy asked, her right eyebrow slightly raised. “And talking about jobs, this bust is going to leave us short-staffed for the rest of the session. With Mr. Tingsly being arrested for human trafficking, and you returning to your civic duty …” she trailed off.
Amanda hadn’t really thought it all through. With the undercover job done, there was no reason for Reed to stay on staff at the school. Was there?
“I plan to finish out my contract, if the school will still have me,” Reed said. “Aside from some paperwork that I have to finish, I still have some leave time coming to me. I try to live up to my commitments.
“If that’s all right with you and the school, that is?”
Ms. Lucy smiled as if she’d been expecting his reply. “All the students and the staff love you, Reed. We’d be happy to have you stay on.
“Any limits to your, ahem, duties? We do have an opening in Rules, Regulations and Punishments now that Ralph is gone.”
Amanda felt like her remaining energy was being sucked out of her core as each moment passed. She sagged against Reed. Enough chit-chat. Could they just go in now?
Reed chuckled. “We can talk about that later. Right now I think Ms. Wilkinson needs to unwind and get something to eat.”
“Of course,” Ms. Lucy said. “I should have thought about that. Why don’t you take her to the private baths, and I’ll arrange for a meal to be sent over.”
Chapter Twenty
“You know all of this isn’t necessary,” Amanda said as Reed ushered her into one of the private lounges. The school grounds continued to be bigger than she’d imagined. Here she was seeing yet another area that she’d never had before.
“Yes, it is,” Reed said. “You’ve been through a lot over the last week, and whether you want to admit any weaknesses or not, you need to decompress.”
His response and gentleness made her feel even more bristly. Amanda knew that she should feel thankful to Reed for rescuing her, and the others, and for bringing her home safely. Still, she felt jealous, vindictive and downright angry with him.
Despite her feelings, she couldn’t help but be wowed by the bathing area. The floors and walls were all done in the same cobalt blue marbled tiles, with inlays of gold leafing. Rather than a “bath” like its name implied, the oversized hot tub or mini-pool could have comfortably sat Amanda, Reed and more than a dozen of their closest friends. It made her think of stories of the Roman baths that were better known for their sexcapades. Years ago, Amanda had done a tour of Hearst Castle on the Central California Coast, and this area looked like a much smaller version of Hearst’s elaborate indoor heated pool, which was also rumored to have seen many an intimate encounter.
Next to her, Reed stripped off his clothes and laid them on some warmers in the corner. A few plush white robes hung on another warmer, and there were even a couple of pairs of fuzzy slippers. Just like a fancy day spa, Amanda thought wryly.
Amanda took in Reed’s muscular frame, the ripples running down his back and toned calves, and suddenly felt oddly self-conscious. The past week had been frightening, and she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with herself, or her future. Suddenly, all the choices she’d made were put into question. Here she was, at a sex school, and she’d been kidnapped and almost sold as a sex slave. But did one really equal the other? She wasn’t selling her body. She just wanted to feel comfortable within her own skin, to learn how to enjoy some pleasures of the flesh a bit more.
As if sensing her hesitancy, Reed approached her slowly and took her in his arms. It felt strange, standing there, mostly dressed and having Reed nude. But his comfortableness seemed to flow through her and into her body, as if he was giving her comfort and strength. Peace. Everything about him evoked strength and control. Now that she knew that he was an undercover detective, she understood better that sense of security that flowed around him. It was one of the reasons why he always seemed to be in power.
That thought of his true nature, though, led Amanda to once again question what she knew about Reed and who he really was. Did she even really know him at all? Before she’d been taken, she thought that they had the start of something going, a relationship. Now, she even questioned if those feelings had been real, or just hopeful thinking on her part.
Even worse, she might have been part of his job. Maybe he’d gotten to know her as part of his cover.
“You’re shivering,” he said, “let’s get you in that warm water.”
Before he mentioned it, she didn’t even realize that she literally was shaking on her feet. She didn’t feel cold. Was it nerves? Shock?
Reed took his jacket off her shoulders and pulled the long T-shirt off over her head. Beneath it, she didn’t have any underwear on. Of course not, where would she borrow a matching bra and panties set? She crossed her arms protectively over her bare breasts, hiding her nakedness, her vulnerability.
Steam rose off the tub water, and Reed took her hand and led her down into the soothing depths. When her foot first touched the water, she cringed; it felt so hot, but she quic
kly walked the whole way in and sat on one of the benches. Warmth embraced her body in a liquid hug. She sighed and sloughed down, letting the water rise up over her shoulders and neck, until it touched the bottoms of her ears. The heat seeped down to her bones, chasing away the chill. Very much within her own languid world, she still remained aware of Reed, just an arm’s length away, watching her with his shadowy eyes. Tonight, she didn’t want to try to figure him out or read his thoughts. She wanted to forget and heal. Maybe he was right to bring her here, after all. She didn’t like feeling or looking weak, but sometimes, she needed to let others help her. If anything, she’d learned that with this recent escapade. Without Reed, she might not have gotten out of there. She would have tried her hardest, though.
She relaxed further, letting the weight of the past week flow from her pores. She sunk under the water, feeling it pass over her ears, until her head was completely submerged.
A strong grip pulled her back up, and Reed wrapped her within his even stronger arms. Sobs broke out. She didn’t even know that she was about to cry. No precursor. Suddenly, the tears were just there. Raw and open.
“Why me?” she asked. “What was it about me that attracted them? Did I bring this on myself?”
“Never,” he replied, whispering in her ear. “You cannot ever put this upon yourself. People don’t ‘deserve’ crime. Crime happens because some fucked up people are bad.
“Unfortunate, but true,” he said.
“Do you know what their plans were? What they were going to do with us? With me?” she asked, wanting to know but not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.
“Don’t think about that,” he said, stroking her wet hair back. “Just think about tomorrow, and the day after that. Let yesterday go.”
“I can’t. I know that you know. Tell me.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Reed settled in beside her, without letting her go. “Ohio,” he said. “It looks like they were going to move all of you to Ohio over the next few days.”
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