Stripper: The Fringe, Book 4

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

  “That’s fine with me.” Duster slipped the bracelets into his pocket. “Hate to break it to you, but Diane stands to gain nothing by turning on you.”

  “I just don’t trust her.”

  “I understand that.” Duster was not going to reopen that wound. Even after everything he and Diane had been through, there was still a part of him that didn’t quite trust her. Not all the way.

  “How can you love a woman you don’t trust?”

  The question startled Duster. “Damn you and your nose. Stop sniffing me.” There was no point trying to cover up his feelings when Michael would just read them anyway. “It’s complicated.”

  “Matters of the heart usually are.” Michael checked that his wrist com was synced to Duster’s. “You said that to me once.”

  “As I recall, it was right before Mary got you into that fluffy blue robe that barely covered your ass.”

  “Let’s just leave that alone too.” Michael smiled, then turned and made his way to the main door.

  “Does Mary have a security bracelet on?”

  Michael stopped dead.

  “You didn’t have the guards check before you tossed her into lockdown?”

  “I forgot.”

  “Did you have her frisked?”

  Michael’s clenched fists were all the answer Duster needed.

  “Oops.” Duster laughed.

  Michael lifted his wrist to issue commands, then shook his head. “No point now. She’s probably already out.”

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “You’re gonna be a daddy. Man, that’s a kick in the pants, isn’t it?”

  “More like a boot to the head.” Michael considered. “It’s difficult to be happy about it with the other hanging over her head.”

  “Yeah.” Duster didn’t envy Michael that conversation.

  “How’d you feel when you found out Diane betrayed you a second time?” Michael tried to phrase it as a simple question, but his hatred for Diane bled through.

  “About Scott? She didn’t. Came clean almost right away. Stop trying to paint her with that big wide brush of resentment you’ve got.”

  “Diane could have found you had she wanted to.”

  “I could have done the same. And she didn’t look because she thought she’d killed me. Believe me, I think she’s suffered enough thinking that for seven years and raising our son almost single-handedly.” Duster stopped Michael with a touch to his arm. “Do me a favor and stop insulting her around me. Say it in your head all you want, just not around me.”

  “Fair enough. Just—be careful.”

  “That I can do.”

  “I see you moved your ring.”

  Duster nodded. “I’m not a widower anymore.”

  “Bet she threw hers away.”

  “Nope. Obviously you had her trussed up, or you would have seen it on her hand.”

  “She really kept it all these years?” Michael sounded a tiny bit impressed.

  “She wore it on a chain around her neck. Couldn’t let the ladies of Network Thirteen see it. As a member, she wasn’t supposed to marry or have kids. Diane’s been leading a double life, and it hasn’t been easy, Michael. Please try to cut her a little slack.”

  “Not me, amigo.” Michael pushed open the double doors of his office. “Like I said, I’m staying out of it, because I’m your friend and not your dad.”

  “You’re going to make a good father.”

  “I hope so.” Michael nodded to the guards, then continued on down the enormous hallway. “How am I going to tell Mary about the ALS?”

  “Very, very gently. And be prepared for her to go off. She’s a lot like you.”

  “How so?” Michael asked, leading the way to lockdown.

  “Neither one of you can accept any personal weakness, so she’s going to go into denial big-time. Be ready for it. Maybe have reports from Murphy to back you up. Hey, did Jynx have a look at her?”

  “No.”

  “Maybe Jynx could do something.”

  “Jynx could confirm Doc Murphy’s diagnosis with her own healing hands, but I doubt there’s anything she could do.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

  “You genuinely care about Mary, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. She’s… I get where you were coming from all those months, Michael. How much you love her and trust her. Whether you see it or not, she’s still worthy of your trust. She did the right thing. Mary kept Windmere security uppermost in her mind. And that’s walking a tight line, trying to protect an entire world, you and me. Mary did her best.”

  “Yes, she did.” Michael took a deep, centering breath. “I love her.”

  “I know.”

  “I’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

  “Going in to get her out of lockdown without a shirt will help.”

  “She’s got a thing for my fabulous body.” Michael preened like a Greek god.

  “You and her both. Sometimes you are the most arrogantly pig-headed guy I know. But still, I love you.”

  Michael stopped dead in his tracks, but he didn’t turn around. “You mean that, don’t you?”

  “Don’t get all homophobic on me.” Duster shoved him forward. “I’m just saying that you’re like the older, annoying brother I never had. Mary may be all impressed with your body, but I’m certainly not. Mary’s body is nice too, but I prefer Diane’s.”

  Michael laughed loud and long. “Tell me why you insist on naming my planet Windmere.”

  “Nope. Our deal was in the naming, not the explaining.”

  “I am so sick of hearing that. Come on, give. I’ve been asking you for five years.”

  Duster sighed and figured maybe now was the time after all. “Okay. But you can’t laugh. Or roll your eyes. Or name it back.”

  After a long pause, Michael said, “I promise.”

  “I named it Windmere because I thought at night I would hear Diane coming to me, but it was merely the wind.”

  Michael stood stock-still considering for almost a full minute before he spoke. “You know, that’s down right—poofy.”

  “It’s poetical, Michael. And it’s a hell of a lot better than Prime Bastard.” Duster hated that name with a grand and abiding passion.

  “At least that name strikes fear in the heart.” Michael returned to his leisurely pace. “Windmere sounds like a geriatric retirement community.”

  Duster laughed. “In a few more decades, that’s what this place will be.”

  “Without Mary.” Michael stopped.

  Coming up beside him, Duster quietly offered, “Let’s go find out how far Mary is from lockdown.”

  Michael laughed gently.

  Duster slapped his back. “For all we know, she’s taken over and renamed the planet again.”

  “What do you think she’d call it?” Michael asked.

  “If she took it over?” Duster considered. “I think Mary would name this ball of rock Gotcha.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Michael will forgive Duster. That’s a given. Those two have tangled over worse than this. I know they’ll patch things up as soon as—” Mary casually flicked her gaze to the guards, then tensed. “Something’s fixing to go.”

  Mary popped up, took the disk off the wires, flopped to her bed, tucked the disk to her boot, then rolled onto her side. It happened so fast Diane couldn’t help but cast a worried, caught-in-the-act gaze over her shoulder. Nothing happened. Diane sat up, fixed her hair while Mary rolled to her back, grinning up at the ceiling. As far as Diane could tell, Mary mouthed the words, Wait for it, wait for it.

  Shirtless, shoeless, wearing only an obscenely clinging pair of black leather pants, Michael strode into the room that housed their cells. Seven feet tall, displaying the enormity of his body, Michael stalked right up to Mary’s glass cage. Diane realized his right fist was dripping blood. Had he fought with Duster? Had he beat him so soundly he injured his hand? Diane’s heart was in her throat with panic. />
  Mary refused to look at Michael. She kept her attention on the ceiling. Michael stood there, simply looking at her with a crooked half grin on his face.

  After a long time of looking at her, he said, “Mary.”

  Diane heard his voice in her cell. Turning away, she offered them as much privacy as she could manage. Whatever electronic trick Mary had in her boot that allowed them to converse was still active. The voices were muffled but loud enough to hear.

  “I love you, Mary.” Michael’s voice sounded broken, a bit lost. After a long pause, he said, “Please look at me.”

  Diane listened with a poignant curiosity. She found it difficult to reconcile the harsh, abrasive Michael with the vulnerable man she heard now. It was almost as if he were two different people.

  Casually as she could, Diane peeked over her shoulder. Mary kept her gaze on the ceiling.

  “Would you have me on my knees?” Michael asked.

  When Mary still refused to answer, Michael got down on his knees in front of her cell. It shocked Diane, and she turned away.

  “I’m sorry for what I said, for what I did,” Michael whispered, his regret evident in the tone of his voice.

  “You turned on Duster, me and—”

  “Given five more minutes you would have worked your way out of lockdown.”

  Diane feared Michael would find the talking device on Mary, and somehow Diane would get blamed for it.

  “Five?” Mary laughed. “Toodle back out that door, give me two minutes and I’ll blow this place apart.”

  “I will not challenge you,” Michael said. “Come to me, Mary.”

  Diane almost turned automatically toward him. Michael’s voice wasn’t one that demanded compliance but more compelled action with his plaintive need.

  Mary asked, “Where’s Scott?”

  Diane understood that Mary knew the disk in her purple suede boot was active and knew she was listening. Diane felt her heart surge in shock, surprise and stunned compassion. Mary gave the gift of trust to Diane in the most incredible way. Mixed up with wanting Scott and Duster safe came the confusion of wanting Mary safe too. Because she did not ask after her own safety first but Scott’s, a little boy she barely knew.

  “Scott is safe. Unaware of the pain I’ve caused.”

  “And Duster?”

  “You love him, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Diane? I know you can hear us. Turn around and pay attention.”

  Utterly stunned, Diane did as Michael commanded. When she turned, she found Michael standing outside Mary’s cell, leaning against the glass while Mary still pointedly ignored him by lying on her back and looking at the ceiling.

  “Mary, you just never stop, do you?” When Michael yanked open the door of her cell, Mary swung her legs to the side of her bunk and launched herself into a fighting stance.

  For a moment, they faced each other, and Diane feared they were going to fight. And then Michael dropped to his knees in front of Mary, who grinned down at him.

  “That’s a perfect place for you—kneeling at my feet.” Mary put her hand on the top of his head.

  “This position is better when you aren’t wearing pants.” Michael’s large hands felt around Mary’s boots. “Ah.”

  “Damn it.” Defeated, Mary sank to the bunk.

  Michael pulled her boot off, dumped the disk out into his palm, then laughed. “Duster? Get in here.”

  To Diane’s seemingly endless surprise, Duster entered with a thick, weapon-riddled belt slung low around his hips. Shiny boots covered his feet, and the pockets of his pants and vest once again bulged with surprises. Duster strode in as if he owned the place. He didn’t have a scratch on him, which begged the question, what the hell had happened to Michael’s hand? Diane blinked rapidly, assimilating. Fearful of a friendly turn of the card, she didn’t believe what she was seeing. As Duster passed her cell, he gave her a wink and a grin.

  “What has Mary done now?” Curious, casting mossy-green eyes away from her, Duster peered at what Michael held in his palm. “Looks like a modified trans com.”

  “Can use wires or even the human body as a pulsemeet. Low energy feed.” Mary yanked her boot back on. “Neat, huh?”

  “Head of security,” Michael said.

  “Fox in charge of the hen house,” Duster pointed out.

  “Low-tech solution to your high-falutin’ techno-gear and you’re lucky I’m feeling nice about it, because I didn’t have to point it out.” Mary stood. “Right now I’ve got three ways out of here with that in my hands or not.”

  Duster flicked a gaze to Diane, then Michael. “I’m sorry, but I so want to see this.” He backed away from Mary’s cage.

  “So do I.” Michael assessed Mary with a cool knowing. “Play escape, but don’t go too far.”

  Mary nodded as Michael swept the disk to his palm.

  To Diane’s utter shock, both men left the room with the two guards after they closed Mary’s glass cage.

  “Suckers.” Mary grinned. Lifting her finger in a shushing motion, Mary took an even smaller disk off one of the buttons of her shirt. “It’s a game, Diane. I’m good at it. Just don’t ever turn on me.”

  Baffled, Diane nodded. “Two minutes?”

  “Less.” Mary took the disk in her palm, jumped and slapped it to the wires buried in the glass over her door. “Wait for it.”

  Darkness plunged.

  Gasping, Diane clutched her ring-bound finger to her heart. “Don’t hurt anyone.”

  “Don’t need to.” Lights and alarms flicked off and on in a dizzying pattern. “Open sesame.” Flicking open her cage, Mary exited her cell, then yanked Diane’s door open and fumbled for Diane’s hand. “Never submit to technocrap.”

  “Where are we going?” Diane allowed Mary to pull her toward the back end of the lockdown room.

  “Out of here once I give the computer some loop issues.” Mary yanked off what she wore as an earring and rammed it into the security panel by the door, which opened with a dull wick of metal on metal. “Michael and Duster are terribly impressed with tech-gear. Rather silly, if you ask me, but they rarely do. Being so manly and all. What would a woman like me know?”

  Dragging her into the hall, Mary shoved open a door with her foot, left it open and took Diane into a second room. With the door partially closed, they crouched behind what Diane thought was a desk.

  Peering out to the amber-lit hallway, Mary whispered, “Men won’t ask for directions. That’s a given.” Scanning the hallway, Mary tossed something that made a puff of milky-white smoke. “Illusion and subterfuge.” Mary closed the door and pressed her finger to Diane’s lips. “Mouse quiet from here on out.”

  Diane heard footsteps in the hall that came closer and then retreated. Mary held her finger to Diane’s lips. Even though she wanted to whisper questions, Mary wouldn’t let her.

  After a minute or two, Mary moved to the door and cupped her ear against it. She grinned. “Now we go the one way they won’t expect.”

  When Mary offered out her hand, Diane took it. “What way is that?”

  “Right back at them.” Leading her in the dark, Mary took Diane back to the cell room, then through twisting hallways to—Michael’s office. Suddenly, they were just there. At gunpoint, Diane wouldn’t be able to retrace their steps.

  The massive room dwarfed everything, including Mary, who stood behind the mahogany desk with a triumphant grin, then cast her knowing gaze about the banks of sensors. “Not bad for a girl.”

  Diane’s head spun. How in the world had Mary managed this? Moreover, why had Michael allowed it?

  “Take a seat.” Mary threw herself into Michael’s chair and turned herself to face the hidden door they’d come through.

  Diane sat facing the door.

  Mary leaned back and tapped her wrist com. “Any day now, boys.” She tapped it again. “Hmm. Wait for it.” Leaving off her wrist com, Mary peered up at the door.

  Diane did too.
r />   Michael and Duster burst through the door that Mary had yanked Diane through.

  “About time,” Mary said.

  Diane sat and waited, utterly baffled by all three of them.

  Casually, Mary checked her watch com by tapping it, then holding it to her ear. Looking at the device as if it were defective or they were, Mary demanded, “What’d you do? Stop for a pee break?”

  “You are so very clever, Mary.” Michael shook his head. He didn’t smile, but Duster did.

  “About three minutes all told. And most of that time was spent listening to you two chase your own tails.” Mary lifted her hand, breathed sharply on her short nails, then rubbed them briskly across her chest.

  “Tomorrow you are going to explain in detail how you managed all of that, but for tonight, I’ve got other plans for you, my wily bandit.”

  Grinning widely, Mary stood. “I’ll bet you do.” Sauntering up to him like a jungle cat on the prowl, Mary ran her fingers up the center of Michael’s bare chest.

  Preening back, Michael clearly basked in her stroke. Michael’s eyes widened and his body visibly tightened. Diane couldn’t help but notice how Mary and Michael affected each other. Carnal thoughts of Duster ran through her head. How could she help it with such a naked display of love and lust before her eyes? Mary and Michael dismissed everyone else in the room when they focused on each other.

  “Michael and I need to be alone.” Mary cast her gaze to Duster. “Given that Michael gave you back your boots, knife-boy, your wrist com and your gnarly weapon-riddled belt, I’m assuming he gave you back the keys to the kingdom. Raid the place. Plunder and pillage yourself simple. Just give me twenty-four hours alone with my husband, and you can have it all.”

  “Mary, what are you doing?” Michael asked.

  “Taking you captive.” Mary grabbed the belt loop of his pants and yanked him close. “I don’t have to hold you at gunpoint again, do I?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Duster shook his head and laughed. It felt good to be home and to see Michael and Mary back in each other’s arms. All the dangling doubt he had about Mary seemed to have evaporated. She would never hurt Michael or do anything to hurt Windmere, and he finally grasped that. This was the first time Duster had played escape with Mary without getting all uptight about how sneaky she was.