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Oh, why was Vanessa surprised? Her partner did this all the time!
“I hope you understand my reservations.” Vanessa, accompanied only by Luke while Mitch was out of town for the day to visit her family, talked not only to Det. Moran but his superior Capt. Orchard. Vanessa was informed that Orchard was technically in charge of overseeing the investigation, but Moran ran the show. Luke stayed out in the hallway, talking with another detective as if they were best buds.He has that skill with everyone he meets.Vanessa appreciated that about her bodyguard, but she preferred it stay away from her antisocial aura. “Asking my partner and I to go undercover like you’re suggesting is putting ourselves into potential danger. You’ve said so yourself that you believe she’s guilty of human trafficking for sexual purposes. Someone like that is surrounded by protection, even if you can’t see it with your bare eyes. People like me could disappear if I stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“I certainly understand, Ms. Richards,” Moran said. “You would have the full backup and protection of every officer we can spare whenever we’re inside.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
Even the captain was put off by that. “Excuse me?”
“This isn’t an underground casino run by a local loan shark,” Vanessa said with a huff. “We’re talking about an old-money heiress who, for whatever reason, is running a sex trafficking ring out of her nightclub.Allegedly.”
“Yes, allegedly,” Moran said.
“You don’t get inside that barrier without being completely cut off from other people. Detective, I’ve been to parties on private islands outside of any other country’s jurisdiction. I’ve been to some of the most depraved parties you can discover in international waters. Now, I’m a picky woman. I don’t go anywhere I sense something foul going on. My partner and I like to go places where our safety is paramount. That means parties hosted by trusted friends or through shadow companies that come highly recommended by those same friends. We don’t go to nightclubs or swingers bars with poor reputations. We guard our bodies like we guard the lives inhabiting them. I would never ask my partner to put herself into such a vulnerable position that she might get hurt. I couldn’t bear it. I’d rather have my reputation stained and tarnished by your mud than see a single hair harmed on her head.”
Both Moran and Orchard were quiet for a moment. When the captain subsequently spoke, it was with the fake candor of a man who didn’t truly care about what she thought. “It’s admirable that you’re willing to throw yourself into the fire for your partner, Ms. Richards,” he said. “And I won’t pretend to know how cut off some of these parties are, but we’re talking about a club somewhere within the jurisdiction of this city. Ms. Richards, if you can find out its location for us, we will strike you a new deal – and guarantee that you will have professional undercover operatives on the inside with you. You willnotbe thrown to the wolves. We understand what we’re asking of you… and your partner.”
“Why are you asking us, specifically?” Vanessa asked. “We’re not the only couple in the circles you threaten to bust even though you barely have a legal leg to stand on.”
Neither man addressed that last point. However, Moran did say, “Your partner, Ms. Cruise, has what it takes to go undercover. Based on what we know about her, anyway.”
Vanessa should have been flattered. Instead, she asked, “Besides what’s public record regarding the attempted murder on me, how would you know what she’s capable of?”
“We have all sorts of officers and detectives on our roster,” Orchard said. “We have informants not only in this city but all over the state of California. You are a known entity to us, Ms. Richards. Maybe that makes you uncomfortable, but it’s the truth. There are things you and your partner have done in the supposed privacy of these parties out in international waters that are well-known to us. You might be surprised to discover that one of our undercover officers was at one such party out in the Pacific.”
“Why?” was all Vanessa could ask.
“Our officers also have a life,” Moran said. “Welcome to San Francisco. We’re a bunch of freaks.”
That only made Vanessa furrow her brows. It implied that the threats against her image had been bullshit from the start.
Chapter 3
Itstartedwithacall to the manager of an exclusive lunch club in the Financial District. Vanessa rarely utilized her “pull” around town, especially since she was technically an outsider who had made San Francisco her home out of necessity rather than a genuine joy to be in the city that split California in half. But most of the upper echelon was aware of who “Vanessa Richards” was, whether they knew her father or not. Some of the older ones expressed their condolences, having heard everything she had been through in her life.The murder of my father, and the subsequent hunting of… me.That fear was supposedly behind her, but what was she supposed to say when the likes of a lunch club manager talked to her likethis?
“I can absolutely secure you a table at your convenience, Ms. Richards.” He turned on the sweet charm the moment she dropped her name. “Tell me the time and I’ll make it happen.”
Vanessa had already mulled this over. “Friday around noon should be fine for us.”
“Ah, Friday at noon…”
She knew she put him in a spot. Friday was when Candace commandeered half of her lunch club to dine with her closest “friends,” people Vanessa didn’t know well either.I need to get better at these things.She had been a recluse for so much of her adult life that she forgot how to make friends outside of the women Mitch gravitated toward when they went out for a night on the town.Part of the reason I call her my pet is because she’s great at helping me meet other women.There were other reasons, of course, but Vanessa liked that one.
“You would be giving me a great deal of help,” she said to the manager. “We’ll take whatever you can get us.”
The more she pressed him, the easier it was for Vanessa to get her way.I’m told I have this effect on people.They listened to her. Especially when she turned on the dominant charm.
She secured the lunch. The rest would have to come naturally.
“I feel so silly dressed like this.” Mitch pulled down the hem of her black dress, the only thing she had that was both appropriate for this lunchandwent with her natural look. Which was a feat, since Vanessa’s submissive partner was as butch as they came when left to her own devices. She liked to dress up as a femme alter ego for playtime, but this was different. This was “public.” This was stepping out of the house in the middle of the day in makeup and a dress because they had to catch Candace’s attention.
Vanessa knew the woman’s preferences. She wasn’t difficult to figure out once Vanessa perused a list of Candace’s public exes.
“You look amazing.” Vanessa meant it as they exited the elevator taking them to the rooftop brunch spot. “Dark colors suit you so well that it should be illegal.”
“I hear it is in certain countries.”
“Did you make sure of it?”
