Chapter 4 #2
When Dash returned to the office, Davis and their newest hire, Gordon Parks, sat waiting in his office.
Davis had taken Gordon under his wing, training him in the field, which he had with quite a few of their newer investigators of late.
Dash refused to say a word and potentially put an end to the assistance. It was past time the guy stepped up.
“Hey, Boss,” Davis murmured as Dash walked to his desk.
Gordon parroted the response.
Dash lifted a brow, glaring at Davis.
Mason Davis wasn’t his employee. He was an equal partner—one who preferred to remain fully behind the scenes and pretend he wasn’t in charge of anything.
He made up for his refusal with his skills as an investigator and tireless, brute strength when it was required.
The man was a dog with a bone and had ten times the bite strength, and solved every case handed his way, for better or worse.
Not only was he daunting in his work, but he also stood just over seven feet and his shoulders could block out the sun.
The man was a giant, especially considering he wasn’t an alpha.
Dash tossed the plastic baggy with the napkin and Jaye’s keys onto his desk before sitting down. “Hey, Gordon. How’s everything going?”
“Pretty straightforward. The process is pretty much the way we did things with the Guard,” Gordon replied.
“I told you it would be. The system works, so why change it. Much,” Dash replied with a grin. “Until you learn how much wiggle room we have, just ask.”
“I’d say a few more days, and we can give him a smaller case to work and see how he does,” Mason said. “Light supervision.”
“You’ll have to handle that,” Dash said, lifting the baggy with the napkin. “We’ve acquired a new client as of this morning who demands my full attention.”
“Oh, shit,” Gordon said, narrowing his eyes on the napkin. “Something to do with the Dragon?”
Dash’s gaze whipped to Gordon’s. “The dragon? You’re familiar with this symbol?”
“My old boss has a hard-on for that place. He used to send us on raids there every few months. We’d end up arresting at least a dozen men, if not more.” Gordon scoffed. “If you can call the guys inside there men.”
Dash narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“It’s one of those sex dens. Alpha fuckers,” Gordon said, scrunching his nose like he smelled something terrible. “Not any place a respectable alpha wants to find himself, that’s for sure.”
“Alpha fuckers?” Mason asked, a hint of danger in his tone.
“Alphas who’re into other alphas,” Gordon said. “Fucking deviants.”
Dash’s gaze whipped to Mason’s and back to Gordon.
“I’ve got a missing alpha, and I need to find him,” Dash said. “Someone there might know something. Where’s this place?”
“You really want to avoid that place,” Gordon said. “You don’t want to accidentally get arrested during a raid.”
“You could call in a favor with your ex-co-workers, maybe?” Mason asked. “See if there’s a raid coming up soon or not?”
“I burned a few too many bridges there,” Gordon said. “They won’t tell me anything.”
Mason’s gaze met Dash’s.
“Just tell me where it is,” Dash said. “I’ll have to take my chances.”
Gordon nodded. “Entrance is in an alley near Fifth and Trumball, not far from the marina. Just be careful—and be ready to run. We just did one a few weeks ago, so you should be good for a bit, but I can’t make any promises.”
“I don’t think it’s a great idea for you to go,” Mason said. “Why don’t you let me handle it?”
“I can ask questions just as well as anyone else,” Dash said, glaring at Mason.
“I’m a beta.”
“Who looks like an alpha. You’d get arrested just as fast as I would,” Dash said.
“But I’m not an alpha,” Mason said. “And the Lucky Dragon is no place for you.”
Dash glared at Mason, not having missed the addition of Lucky added to the name Gordon mentioned.
“Gordon, can you give Davis and I a moment?” Dash asked.
“Sure thing.” Gordon rose from the seat beside Davis and exited.
As soon as the door closed, Dash turned his attention to Mason. “You knew about this place?”
“I didn’t recognize the napkin at first, but as soon as Gordon mentioned it, I remembered an old investigation that led me through there once. It was years ago when I was still Black Guard. I got in because they thought I was an alpha.”
Dash held Mason’s gaze. “They didn’t notice your lack of alpha pheromones?”
Mason grinned. “You had a T-shirt in your gym bag inside your locker. I rubbed it all over me and then put it on.”
“It fit?”
Dash wasn’t small, but Mason had him by a good six inches and fifty pounds.
“Not exactly, but I put my shirt over it,” Mason said. “I replaced yours a couple of days later since I stretched it out.”
Dash shook his head.
“And I can do it again,” Mason said. “Let me handle the Dragon. Just tell me what we’re looking for.”
“I had to promise the client’s attorney that I’d handle this investigation myself. No one else.”
“What? Why?” Mason said, frowning.
“If you agreed to put your name on the door, perhaps I could’ve handed this over,” Dash said. “He wanted the reputation and the name that went with it.”
Mason sighed. “You don’t need to go into the Lucky Dragon, Dash.”
“I’m a big boy. I can handle myself.”
Mason sighed, pinching his nose. “Let me go with you if you feel you have to go.”
“I can manage an investigation on my own. I don’t need you there to hold my hand,” Dash said cooly.
“Remember what happened with Walker? I had to step in and take over.”
“That reaction has never happened with any other alpha but Emerson Walker. As long as I avoid him, I’m fine,” Dash said, not trusting that a hundred percent. If it happened once, it could happen again.
“Dash…”
“Mason, I can manage walking into a nightclub and asking a few questions without a babysitter. I’ve been doing this job long enough to know what I’m capable of.”
Mason sighed, rising from the chair. It groaned after being relieved of his immense size. “So be it. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“Famous last words,” Mason muttered on his way to the door. He paused before walking out and eyed Dash. “Last I heard, they’re only open on the weekends, so you might have to wait a few before going. If you change your mind about me tagging along, let me know.”
“I won’t.”
Mason gazed at him, clearly wanting to argue more.
“Tough break about Gordon,” Mason said instead. “He seemed like a decent investigator. Should we let him go now or give it a day or two so he doesn’t connect it to what he just said?”
“Why’re we letting him go?” Dash asked, confused. “I thought you said he was doing great?”
“I’m not paying a bigot to work here,” Mason said. “Fuck him.”
“You don’t do the hiring or firing around here—or help with payroll for that matter. I do because you don’t want to deal with it,” Dash said. “Remember?”
“This one’s getting fired,” Mason snapped. “I’ll hire and train his replacement if I have to.”
Dash’s face grew red, realizing why Mason was getting so wound up. “Don’t fire him on my account.”
Mason’s brow furrowed. “Any person who sees someone like you as less than human doesn’t belong here. The moment deviant came out of his mouth, he’d written his own walking papers.”
I am a deviant.
Mason walked a few steps closer. “Whatever you’re telling yourself right now, just stop.”
Dash rolled his eyes.
“You’re not doing anything wrong,” Mason said. “You’re not wrong.”
“According to the law, I am.”
“A law written by fallible men, some of which likely spent time at the Lucky Dragon themselves.”
“The law was written hundreds of years ago,” Dash said. “I doubt the Lucky Dragon was around back then.”
“It’s been there forever,” Mason replied.
Dash scoffed.
“It might’ve been called a different name or found at a different address—but as long as alphas have existed, there have been those who needed a Lucky Dragon.”
Dash held Mason’s gaze, struggling to control his emotions. “I hate it when you remind me why I put up with all your shit.”
Mason grinned softly before walking back to the door.
“Just promise me you’ll be careful if you go alone,” Mason said, his hand on the knob.
“I’ll ask questions and get the fuck out. I promise.”
Mason nodded, silent, but his eyes were full of emotion.
Once Mason closed the door behind him, Dash eyed the glittering, golden dragon in the corner of the napkin again.
An alpha-attracted nightclub? How did Davis know, but he didn’t?
He made a habit of avoiding anything alpha-attracted, simply out of fear of being caught.
Why the fuck had he been so adamant he would be the one to go?
Not just that, but to go alone?
He knew the answer even if he wouldn’t admit it.
A particular alpha’s face appeared in his mind’s eye. Instead of lingering too long on it, he opened his laptop to research that phone number. Maybe he’d get lucky.
If he continued playing with fire, his luck would surely run out.