Chapter 16
A little discipline, he’d said. From her point of view as the recipient, there had been nothing little about it. It had felt like a whole lot of discipline, but if it was meant to deter her from doing anything remotely similar, it was about to fail miserably.
After setting her backside on fire with the paddle, Logan had told her, in no uncertain terms, to hold off questioning Tani. In Lucy’s opinion, however, her appointment with the therapist was an opportunity they couldn’t afford to waste. If people’s lives were at stake, time was of the essence.
Twenty-four hours later, Logan had dropped her off at the spa’s reception desk, his parting expression a final, silent warning that she wasn't to take any unnecessary risks. Her counterargument, should she need one, was that it either wasn’t a risk, or it wasn’t unnecessary.
In theory, she’d win either way.
Logan, however, didn’t seem to be a big fan of theories.
Having waited while Lucy and Logan said goodbye, Tani escorted her to the treatment room. Like most of the resort’s female staff, she was petite and pretty, and made Lucy feel as graceful as a carthorse.
“Good afternoon, Miss Lisa. How are you today?”
“I’m fine, thank you, Tani. I’ve only been here a few days, but I can’t believe how quickly the time’s going.”
“It does seem to fly when you’re on vacation. When you’re ready, if you’d like to lie face down on the table?”
“Thank you.” Lucy exchanged her robe for a towel. “I’m going to miss all this pampering when I go home. I’ll have to remember to thank my friend for telling me all about Nenufar.”
“Your friend has stayed with us?”
It was a long shot, but Lucy had to try, even if she did earn herself another session with the paddle in the process. She jumped up onto the table and manoeuvred herself into the correct position. “Yes, she was here just a couple of weeks ago—you might have given her a massage, although I don’t suppose you’d remember one guest out of the hundreds who come here.”
Tani arranged the towel over Lucy, and pumped scented massage oil into her palm. “I might. What is your friend’s name?”
This was it. Lucy strived for an air of nonchalance. “Diana. Diana Carstairs. She’s British, quite tall, and has blonde, shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, and a large birthmark on her right shoulder. It’s quite distinctive. She was here with her boyfriend.”
And bingo. There was no mistaking the tremble of reaction in the hands that had just started to spread the oil over her back. Diana’s name wasn’t that unusual, but Lucy was willing to bet the birthmark would make her stand out from the crowd.
“I am so sorry, Miss Lisa. Yes, I do remember your friend, but… It was quite upsetting. Most of our guests love it here, and many return often, but some people do find it too intense. Your friend was one of them. I am sad to say there were many arguments and fights. I do not normally listen to gossip about guests, but I did hear it was so bad, they went to see Dr. J shortly before they returned home.”
They returned home? That was a new one on Lucy. Although Tani appeared genuine in her belief that that was the case, the truth was a different matter entirely.
“Really?” In the circumstances, innocence wasn’t too difficult to feign. “Oh dear, that is bad news. I appreciate you don’t like to gossip, but she is my friend, and I really don’t want to say the wrong thing when I see her again—do you know what happened? Did they make up?”
Okay, it was a pretty feeble attempt, but it was the best she could do.
“No, I do not know. The doctor has strict client confidentiality rules when it comes to his counselling sessions. Now, if I may suggest that you relax, Miss Lisa? You will get far more out of this treatment if you do.”
And that was the end of that, especially when the new-age music that had provided a muted backdrop suddenly grew in volume enough to act as an effective barrier to further conversation.
It didn’t matter, though—she’d heard enough. At last they had something to go on, and as Tani continued to work on her back and shoulders, Lucy was working on some ideas for taking their investigation further.
~~*~~
With Lucy safely delivered for her massage—although he harboured major misgivings about her ability to take his warning seriously—Logan headed back to the bungalow to log his regular report with Sir Guy, and also set the wheels in motion to track down Sasha’s friends. He hoped like hell there was an innocent explanation for their radio silence, because the only alternatives he could see were about as ugly as they could get.
“Master Lucan, I’ve been looking for you. I hope you and your delightful submissive are enjoying your stay with us.”
The cultured tone set Logan’s teeth on edge, just as it had at the Dominants’ welcome session. Master Hugo, as obnoxious as ever. Logan relaxed into the persona of the corporate arsehole he was supposed to be and turned around to face the voice.
“Yes, thank you, we are. It’s already been… a revelation. Brought us closer together.”
That much was true.
“That’s what we like to hear.” Hugo came to a halt a couple of feet away from him. “Surroundings like this can often make—or indeed, break—a relationship. I’m very glad the latter isn’t the case for you.”
“No, we’re having a great time. I’ve introduced my girl to a few different activities since we arrived.” And the sex had been off the charts, but he wasn’t about to reveal that in a hurry.
“As a matter of fact, in a way, that’s why I’ve been looking for you. On your profile, you list one of your interests as Florentine flogging. In a couple of days’ time, we’re holding one of our demonstration evenings, and I wondered if you and Lisa would do us the honour of giving us a display.”
On the face of it, the request was innocent enough, but Logan couldn’t help but wonder at the motive behind it. Had his questions aroused suspicions, and this was some kind of test?
And while passing such a test would be a breeze for him, he couldn’t and wouldn’t speak for Lucy. She’d made it clear she wanted to try it, but on show here? That was asking too much of her incredible courage.
“Lisa isn’t a natural exhibitionist—back home, it’s a hard limit for her. Here though… All I can do is ask her to consider it. When do you need to know?”
“If you could confirm by 5 p.m. today, that would be ideal—it’ll give us a chance to work out the best running order. If Lisa isn’t comfortable with the idea, I’m sure we’d have no end of willing volunteers among the staff.”
“Unfortunately, that’s a hard limit of mine. I only scene with my girl. I’ll let you know.”
In the privacy of the bungalow, he contacted headquarters to make his daily report and obtain an up-to-date picture of the situation at home. The duty officer didn’t have much to tell him—Diana and her boyfriend hadn’t miraculously turned up out of the blue in the last twenty-four hours. Adding Sasha’s missing friends to the mix made the matter even more disturbing.
His report filed, Logan took another look at the website gallery, at the picture of Diana with the beautician, and the one where the arguing couple on the background could have been her and her boyfriend.
So what the hell was going on? Two couples, unknown and unrelated to each other, had come here for a vacation, only to vanish from the face of the earth. Coincidence? His gut said no, but then again, his gut also demanded the impossible—to get Lucy off the island and to safety within the hour.
For now, Logan parked the issue at the back of his mind. He had just enough time to get to the spa to pick her up. After this, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight again.
A few minutes later, and faking an air of relaxed good humour, he ambled into the spa’s reception area, acknowledged the receptionist behind the desk, and took a seat. The sooner Lucy joined him, the better.
He didn’t have long to wait. Nor did he miss how the weight lifted from his shoulders when he sa
w her smiling face. He greeted her with a kiss and made a point of wrapping his arm around her. “Okay, babe? Did you have a good time?”
“The best, Sir—it was wonderful!” She turned to Tani. “Thank you for suggesting the treatment—I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so relaxed.”
He’d have to congratulate her on her acting skills later. “Thanks for taking care of her. Let’s go, sweets.”
On the way back to their bungalow, Logan remained vigilant, constantly on the lookout for any possible threat. Now that his suspicions were truly aroused, he wasn’t about to take anything for granted. Lucy maintained her cover, giving him a detailed account of her pampering session, until they were safely inside. As soon as he closed the door behind them, her demeanour underwent a sea change.
“Logan, I’m sorry.” She dropped to her knees in front of him. “I know you told me not to do anything, but the opportunity was too good to miss.”
He knew it. “What did you do?”
“I described Diana to her, and told her she was my friend, and she’d recommended coming here. Tani remembered her. She told me Diana and her boyfriend had had a lot of arguments. So many, they’d gone to von Brandt for counselling—before they went home. Logan, we know they never got home—they must have gone missing here. Anywhere else, surely they’d have shown up on CCTV footage?”
He should have been mad at her, but if she hadn’t taken the chance, they might have ended up leaving the island a couple of days from now with nothing more to show for their investigation than more unanswered questions. “Come here.”
She felt so good in his arms. For a moment he just held her, using the silence to gather his thoughts. “The couple you saw in the photo on the website must have been them having one of those rows. Our cover’s still intact. As far as they know, we’re just nosey civilians, asking a lot of questions about friends.”
“Time’s running out—we need to up the ante, force their hand.” Her arms tightened around him.
“What are you thinking?” Whatever it was, he was pretty damn sure he wasn’t going to like it.
“I don’t know why, but I believe the men were collateral damage in these disappearances. I think they were after the women. But why?” Her brow furrowed in frustrated thought.
His girl had good instincts. “We know they haven’t been taken for ransom—any kidnappers would have made their demands long before now if that were the case.”
“So what else? If they don’t want money or… Dear God.”
Her face drained of all colour. She was too clever by half. Even as he watched her, he could see she was putting pieces together.
“They’re trafficking the women.”
Logan nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Why they targeted Diana and Sasha’s friend is anyone’s guess, but I think what’s happened here is a drop in the ocean.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think there’s some sort of central operation—the hub of a wheel, if you will—and this is one of the spokes, one of the places where they source their… product.” Logan almost vomited at the thought.
“So they choose their victims and spirit them away somewhere else?”
“It’s likely. They’ll hold them there, and then sell them off, by whatever mechanism they use. Online auction, maybe, or they might even invite buyers to attend in person. There has to be one hell of an operation behind this.”
“They’ll need passports, papers, if they’re moving these women around the world. It’s crazy! It can’t be true!”
Unfortunately, Logan knew only too well how true it could be. This wasn't the first time he’d come across a trafficking operation. “It can be, and most likely is true, but we don’t have any evidence.”
“How do we get it?”
“We can’t—we don’t have time.” And even if they did have time, there was still precious little they could do on their own. “All we can do is report our suspicions.”
“A fat lot of good that’ll do. Those women need help now. There must be something we can do. What made them choose Diana and Sasha’s friend? They look completely different, so it’s not a physical type. Do you think it could be the arguments? We know Diana fought with her boyfriend in public, and if Sasha’s friend did the same thing, that might have put them on the radar.”
“I suppose it’s possible, but then again, we’ve seen a dozen spats between partners, and they haven’t gone missing.”
“Then maybe it’s a combination of the arguments and physical type, and the women were abducted to order. If a client specified a tall blonde, say, and Diana happened to be the tall blonde who put herself in the spotlight by rowing with her boyfriend? Could that be it?”
“Again, it’s possible.” Anything was possible in the mind of a perpetrator of such an abhorrent crime—Logan knew from experience of battling fuckers like that while serving with the Royals.
“Logan, if we can come up with a reason to have a very public argument, that could attract the same kind of attention that Diana did. I know there’s no guarantee they’re looking for someone like me, but we might get lucky.”
“You know what you’re saying, don’t you?”
“I think so. We use me as bait.”
“No way. Absolutely no fucking way.” Satan would be seen buying thermal underwear first.
“What choice do we have? We’re almost out of time.”
It was a hell of a dangerous strategy. Logan didn’t believe for one minute that Sir Guy would agree to it, yet, as Lucy said, what choice did they have?
“If I agree to this, you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Absolute obedience. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, no questions. Understood?”
She burrowed into him, providing the sense of comfort he needed right then. “Yes, Sir. I promise. Now what can we argue about?”
Logan remembered his earlier conversation with Master Hugo. “I have an idea.”
~~*~~
Three blistering, excoriating, public arguments later, they’d breached the inner sanctum of Dr. Jaeger von Brandt. Logan had been surprised how few rows it had taken to attract the attention of Master Hugo, and earn them a strongly worded recommendation to take advantage of the resort’s counselling service.
So here they were, like a couple of naughty schoolchildren who’d been sent to see the headmaster. At this precise moment, Lucy was curled up in her seat, looking every inch the petulant, moody brat. Logan had had no idea her many talents included putting on such a convincing performance.
And how the hell was he supposed to act all pissed off when all he felt was immense pride in the woman who meant the world to him?
“So, now that you’ve aired your grievances, where do you see your relationship going? Lisa?”
To give him his due, Dr. J had done a stellar job of getting to the bottom of their supposed breakdown in communication.
“I don’t know.”
Logan almost laughed at the sullen shrug she gave, like a teenager from hell on steroids. For effect, he gave an exasperated sigh. “You see what she’s like, Dr. J. I had hoped coming here would give us a new start. I thought it had, but then—”
“Then you started acting like a dictator instead of a Dom! What did you expect me to do? I’m not a slave!”
“I never thought you were!” he retaliated. “Jesus, give me strength!”
“Lucan, Lisa… please. You know that raising your voices to each other won’t solve this. Might I suggest a little time apart to cool off?”
Divide and conquer? Logan wondered if that was how they’d got to Diana and her man. Split them up, tell each of them that the other had gone their separate way, and then… what? Anything could have happened, and that was the part he really didn’t like. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Dr. J,” he replied smoothly.
“I wouldn’t be so sure!”
The brat was turning into a spitting wildcat. He mig
ht have been reluctant to have her as a partner on this mission to begin with, but right now, Logan doubted he’d ever have found a better one. “Fine, you want separate accommodation, you pay for it, sweets.”
“Bastard!”
“Please, both of you, try to remain calm, this isn’t helping. Lisa, we can find you some accommodation in the hotel for the remainder of your stay. Would you like me to arrange it for you?”
His girl elevated the sulk to an art form. “No, I’ll be okay, thank you, Dr. J.” Then she turned to Logan. “I’ll do your stupid demo, Sir.”
“Don’t put yourself out, darling.” Logan could do a sarcastic tone with the best of them.
“I’m not. I’m doing it for me, and because I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“Please yourself, you always do.” He feigned an air of boredom. “Are we done now, Doc? She’s staying with me, the demo’s going ahead, and much though I’m tempted, I’m not about to kill her any time soon.”
“We’re done—for now—but I’d like both of you to come back at the same time tomorrow.”
For the sake of appearances, Logan and Lucy maintained their mutually hostile attitude all the way back to their bungalow.
Once the door closed behind them, Lucy collapsed against the wall and slid all the way down to the floor. “Thank God that’s over. The things I said… I’m so sorry.”
“Come here.” Logan took her hands and lifted her to her feet again. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. “If I’ve never told you how proud I am of you, I’m telling you now. You’ve done an amazing job, princess. And while there’s no need to apologise for working your cover like a pro, if you want to get into that, I’m sorry, too. “
“Do you think it’ll work?”
“I don’t know, but we’ve done the best we can. If it is enough, we need to be on our guard now. You’re not leaving my sight.”
“You won’t get any argument from me. Have we done the right thing, Logan?”
He shrugged. “Right or wrong, it’s done. I need to let London know. Then we need to talk.”
Winter's Fire Page 18