Reckoning Read online

  Ramesses flinched for a minute, and there was no way to avoid the inevitable. Dude went over the line, and I didn’t know if he meant to do it, or if he was really that damn stupid to not realize he would be waking a sleeping giant? Why did they always play the “we’ll hurt your family/close friends” card when they were backed into a corner? It was obvious that he wasn’t aware of who he was dealing with, or the persons he had at his disposal.

  Ramesses almost lost his cool for a few seconds, but he cleared his throat, and readjusted his voice to the same “devil may care” attitude he’d possessed earlier in the call. He sounded ice-cold and calculating the moment he got a moment to speak again. “Okay, I’m going to tell you how this is going to go down; when I find you—and I will find you—you’re going to beg me to forgive you for threatening my family. You won’t get a whiff of the perfume that my girls are wearing. Walk away now, and my face won’t be the last thing you see on this earth before you leave it.”

  The chuckle over the phone only enraged him further. “I’d love to see you try to find me. Good luck with that.”

  The line went dead, and Ramesses slammed the receiver onto its base, nearly cracking the phone beyond repair. He immediately put up his hands and covered his face, chanting something I couldn’t make out. It was easy to figure that he was talking himself into calming down, trying to not become the old hotheaded version of himself that shot first and asked questions later.

  I tried to figure how best to approach him, finding a bit of a cruel twist of fate. The endgame was simple, too; there was only one call to make, and I wanted to give the pleasure of making that call to one very irritated business partner. “Ghost Squad?”

  “You read My mind, but I have to see about something first, to confirm My suspicions.”

  “There’s nothing to confirm, Sir; that was one of Kraven’s heavies, and You know it.” Sometimes, his analytical nature worked my nerves. By now, I’d be rolling with J-Roc, snatching him up by the neck and razing him, making sure he knew he was being beaten within an inch of his life. “Make the call so Me and the boys can erase this fool and send a message to Kraven about trying to be a gangster.”

  “I don’t think you’re feeling me on this one, Dom.” He seemed hell-bent on figuring this out. Ever the chess player, he absolutely had to see things two or three moves ahead. “Something’s not right; he was talking entirely too long, trying to bait me, get me riled up.”

  “Well, he did a damn good job of that; now make the call, Sir.” I was nearly incensed that he was being so calm about things. That seemed to be the difference between him and me, at least in the here and now; the old Kane would have already strapped up and beat me out the door, blasting through anyone that even breathed in his direction until he got to his intended target. “We don’t have time for this ‘what if’ game You’re playing right now.”

  I picked up my cell phone and dialed J-Roc’s number. Ramesses narrowed his eyes as he stared at me, trying to figure out why I would make the move before he gave the go-ahead. A few seconds later, he leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the desktop. “Put it on speaker.”

  He picked up on the second ring. “D, what’s poppin’?”

  “I need the boys; V12, 30-30, Illmatic, I need them all.”

  “Who’s the idiot, and what did he do?”

  “He threatened damage to the Lambo, the Ferrari and the Maserati.” Those were the code names for Neferterri, shamise and sajira. Thank God that fool didn’t say anything about their daughters; half of Atlanta would be in flames right now. “I have a feeling there’s gonna be some others on the scene, but you know the drill: extract the target for interrogation, the rest can be sorted out by the proper authorities.”

  “Say no more, D. We’ll meet you at the usual spot so we can go handle this.”

  “That’s a negative, J-Roc.” Ramesses cut in, glaring at me like he’d let this go far enough. “You and the squad can handle this without Dom. Bring the bitch to me, personally, so I can take care of him. Do it quietly, and there’s an extra quarter in it for you.”

  I hoped this dude had his life insurance paid up or something; for Ramesses to talk extra dollars on top of the usual fee, I guessed it was more personal than I’d originally let on.

  J-Roc didn’t flinch. “You know we’d do it for free, boss, but you take care of us; that’s why we continue to fuck with you. Consider it done, and on the whisper-quiet tip. One.”

  Once that call was done, Ramesses made another call, one that I didn’t see coming. Once I heard his voice, it gave new meaning to the phrase, “shit just got real.” “Sigma, it’s Ramesses. I need you to meet Me in the Cage in about three hours. I need your specialized interrogation skills; I have some information that needs to be extracted, and I expect things to get messy.”

  “Sir, i’m at Your disposal. i’ll be there.” Click.

  Now, this was the Kane I was waiting to see! I walked over to him and tapped fists, realizing that I had some time to take care of something before I came back to witness the showcase. “I’ll see You in three hours, I need to squeeze our former client to find out what she knows. There’s an angle there, and I’ve got to find out what it is.”

  SIXTEEN

  “Come in, Sir. I was wondering when You would be stopping by to see me.”

  As I stepped through the door into Serena’s condo, I couldn’t help wondering about the strange nature of her comment. Considering she was related to the victim, and the fact that she was the one who contracted me in the first place, she sure wasn’t acting like she should be. Well, it might have been the way I thought she should be acting. Usually, it was a surprise to see someone involved with law enforcement come calling, and this wasn’t exactly a social call.

  The way she was dressed, however, and the manner in which she addressed me, that was definitely something that I couldn’t ignore. She wasn’t naked or anything, but the sarong she wore left very little to the imagination, showing off her lithe and tight body, with the assumption that it was to get my attention.

  It got my attention all right, but it might not have been the attention that she thought she was getting from me.

  “May I ask why you addressed Me as Sir, as opposed to detective when you opened the door?”

  The confused look on her face suggested that I had her at some sort of disadvantage. She gave a slight smile as her eyes lowered and her body language resembled that of the way Natasha normally acted when she forgot that she wasn’t on the streets at work. “Forgive me, Sir, i didn’t mean to overstep. i was speaking to my Sir, and i guess i’m still in that mindset. i can’t help myself, considering You’re in my presence, i just seem to find myself compelled to be my authentic self around You.”

  I was more curious about the Dominant she was referring to before my arrival now.

  When she first approached me with the job of finding her sister, she gave me no indication that she was in deeper than what she was showing right now. I had to remind myself that not everyone was out and proud and public, and that not everyone could afford to be so. After all, she was the daughter of a legend, as was her sister; I was certain all of her moves had to be made with the idea that eyes were always watching. For what it was worth, her Dominant could very well be in the same boat.

  Once I got out of my head about her ulterior motives, there was the wantonness that she showcased that was proving difficult to have a conversation with her. It was obvious that she felt we didn’t need to discuss any business, but that was exactly what I was there for, and quite frankly, I wasn’t in the mood to be seduced.

  I kept things on the level, the tone remaining business-like, whether she liked it or not. “How did you and your sister come into contact with the local BDSM community?”

  Serena pouted, realizing that her wiles weren’t having their desired effect. “You really are loyal to Your submissives, aren’t You? Your reputation precedes You, Sir. To answer Your question, i found the community sometime around
five years ago; i introduced my sister to it a little over a year ago.”

  That was interesting. How was she able to function and Ramesses nor any of the other longtime kinksters were unable to cross paths with her? “And you’ve been a private player the entire time?”

  “Well, obviously i have to, as did Kendyl. Why else did You think I wanted You to find her without arousing the interests of the media?” Serena answered, leading me into her living room. She invited me to sit down as she made herself more comfortable, letting the sarong flow freely, showing off the naked flesh underneath. “We have to do whatever we can to protect the name and the family.”

  “So how did you come across your Sir?”

  “It’s the Internet, silly. Anyone can collar and lead anyone nowadays, without ever having to enter the real-time community, Sir. I thought You would have figured that part out by now.”

  I was trying to lead her to my questions regarding her Dominant, mainly in that I wanted to know who he was, so I could get the rundown on him. “Who is the Sir you serve? Is He in the local community?”

  “No, haven’t You been listening?” The irritation showed on her face, and she took to the defensive, nearly shutting down on me completely. “Look, He’s married and it’s complicated, but it’s the only real way i can satisfy my kinks for the moment, until i’m in a better position to do what i want to do. Right now, that’s not possible.”

  I didn’t care too much about the pity-party she was trying to throw and expect me to be in attendance for it. The way I saw it, that was on her to deal with the stresses of dealing with someone who didn’t want to be completely honest about himself, much less his wife and presumably a family, too. I kept my focus on trying to figure out how she fit into this whole mess.

  Thankfully, the Internet told on everyone, so it wouldn’t be hard to figure it out. So, instead of hammering her about the phantom menace in her life, I focused on the heart of the matter. “It might come out in the next day about the person who almost killed your sister. I thought I would come by and tell you personally. The media coverage could be extensive due to the status of your parents, I figured you might want to have a prepared statement or something.”

  Serena’s body language gave rise to her being more worried about how she could get closer and maybe get a little play time in, rather than showing any real concern over the particulars of the case. She did, however, feel the need to offer something of a theory of her own. “Sir, i appreciate You coming by to tell Me about sirius confessing to the attempted murder. Do You think someone else put him up to it? Maybe someone who might have wanted my sister but couldn’t have her?”

  She tripped a wire or two with her response. First, how did she know that sirius was in custody? Second, how would she have been so intimately involved in her sister’s relationship and sexual history, and why, for that matter?

  The answer to my first question came in the form of the news broadcast on Fox 5 Atlanta reporting footage of sirius being taken into custody at his house, along with the information being broadcast that he was the prime suspect in the attempted murder. While they didn’t give his scene name, the fact that she even knew who he was said more about her supposed lack of participation in the real-time community than anything else.

  “How do you know sirius, Serena?”

  “We’d seen each other at a private dungeon party at Mistress Lohyna’s house a while ago.” Serena sighed, making sure she didn’t maintain eye contact. I waited for the inevitable punchline to the story, since it was the same story I’d heard a hundred times before. “he and i went out on a few dates before i stopped seeing him. he was a good lay, but he wasn’t a Dominant.”

  I hated when I was right. This case was getting messier by the moment. “Lohyna is careful about the guest list at Her house. I’ll have to check that out, of course.”

  “Of course, i wouldn’t expect anything less from You, Sir.” Serena’s facial expression turned serious, almost like she was as invested in finding out the truth as much as I was. “i remember Kendyl telling me that Mistress and sirius were vetting each other for Her to place him under consideration. i don’t know what that might have to do with my sister, but there’s gotta be something there, right?”

  “Yeah, but you have to know that I’m having a problem with how you know all of this information, Serena.” I put my cards on the table to flush her out. She was hiding something, and it was only a matter of time before I figured it out. “Come clean and tell me what you know, or I’ll be apt to suspect you in some way for what happened to your sister.”

  Serena looked shocked, like I’d sent a bolt of lightning through her body. After realizing that she wouldn’t be able to hide anymore, she shrugged in resignation. “Okay, so i’m a bit more involved in the Atlanta scene than i led You to believe. i guess i talked too much instead of trying to seduce You, huh?”

  I laughed out loud, more at her candor that she wanted to seduce me to try to throw me off the trail. She might have been able to, but she wouldn’t have gotten too far. I learned my lesson while dealing with Mistress Edge, and I wasn’t inclined to make the same mistake twice. “There’s no way to know now, you decided not to, so it’s time to come clean. And for that matter, how is it you’ve been able to stay off Ramesses’s and Neferterri’s radar all this time?”

  Serena didn’t hesitate in her response. “They run in a lot of circles, but the one thing i learned about Ramesses and Neferterri, it’s that they rarely move in the circles i run in. i prefer to indulge in more interracial relationships, which puts me outside of their radar. The people i play with also usually play in the swingers circles a lot of the time, and Ramesses and Neferterri have been out of that scene for a while now. They might know of me through my scene name, shadow kitten, but they don’t know me.”

  I wanted to argue the point, but the fact was that she was right. While they had a lot of friends in the Leather circles that were on the other side of the racial spectrum, they weren’t as entrenched in the Euro-centric areas of the city. That’s not to say they weren’t well-known in those circles, either, but they had a lot to deal with when it came to the compounds and such. It made it difficult to be everywhere that people wanted them to be.

  “Okay, so now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, why do you think that sirius and Lohyna are connected to this?”

  “When we were still fucking, sirius used to talk about how Lohyna always wanted a submissive boi and girl to serve Her together, and he was convinced that She had found both, but She was going through the vetting process.” Serena spun the story as she understood it, but until I could verify any of it, it was only a story. “Rumors started swirling that my sister was the one She was vetting, but Kendyl was dealing with someone else, too. Maybe Lohyna might have gotten irritated that my sister was playing both Dominants against each other to see what would be the best situation for her?”

  I didn’t want to give myself away at that moment, but she’d gift-wrapped a motive for Kraven to want his submissive harmed. Maybe she knew, maybe she didn’t, but one thing was for certain: I had that son of a bitch dead to rights. All I needed to do was get with Lohyna to corroborate the account, get Serena to testify in court, and several birds could be killed with one stone.

  Today was going to be a good day after all.

  “Do Me a favor and make sure you don’t have any travel plans over the next few days. I might need you to corroborate some things, for the sake of making sure an innocent man doesn’t go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.” I got up to leave, waiting for her to lead me to the door and let me out of her space.

  She still couldn’t avoid trying once more to get my attention, this time being more blatant about her intentions by unraveling the knot on her sarong and letting it fall to the floor. “Are You sure You wouldn’t want to place some marks on this body, Sir? my Sir is a bit of an exhibitionist, and He loves showing off the marks I have on my body on Fet, regardless of who puts the marks on me. I
f You want me to beg, i have no problems begging You. Please, Sir, my body is Yours to abuse as You see fit; i beg You.”

  She dropped to her knees, arching her back to show off her flexibility as she presented her naked form in a position that any and everything could be done to her, without hesitation or resistance.

  For a moment, I was tempted.

  In the next moment, I let myself out.

  She had me completely fucked up if she thought I was going to compromise myself again. Frankly speaking, I almost considered it an insult; what self-respecting Dominant would allow their submissive to do anything with anyone without vetting them first?

  She’s playing games, and now I was convinced more than ever that she had something going on that had her implicated in all of this. The only problem was finding out what role she played in all of this.

  My cell phone rang, and I saw it was J-Roc. Things were about to get even more fun. “You got him?”

  “Yeah, we got him, D.”

  “Good, get him to the Cage. I’ll be there in an hour. Don’t start the fun without me.”

  SEVENTEEN

  “Is everything okay, Dom? You have a different aura around You from the last time You came to see Me.”

  The one thing I always hated about people who read auras and chakras and all of that metaphysical shit was that they could read people to the damn letter. When Neferterri did that shit to me the first time we met, I was ready to think she had some cameras in my damn house or something. Over the years, I got used to it, but that didn’t exactly mean that I wanted them to do it on every given occasion, either.

  There was no hiding from Lohyna, and considering I had more intense things to handle once I got back to the office, I needed to cut to the chase with the quickness. “My Lady, were You vetting Kendyl with the intention to place her under consideration?”

  Lohyna wasn’t the least bit surprised about my question. “I’d hoped that the connection wouldn’t have come up, but yes, I was vetting diamante. she was at one of My parties a few months ago, and we engaged in a scene together. The energy between us was electric. she initially inquired about whether I would be interested in accepting her, and I couldn’t resist. A couple of days later, she told me that she was in a D/s relationship with someone else, but she was trying to figure out how to separate from that relationship to be with Me.”