Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
Kurt
“Littles?”
“Uh… yeah. Littles.”
Kurt waited for what he suspected was coming. He’d kept this bit of information squirreled away until they were on the plane heading to Rawhide Ranch because she’d already balked once about going when they’d discussed the details of what kind of resort Rawhide was. Dana truly wasn’t a judgmental person, but like anyone she wouldn’t intentionally put herself in an uncomfortable position if it could be avoided. Bringing up Littles was potentially something that might’ve colored her decision to take this assignment if he’d led with it, and so he hadn’t brought it up.
Until now.
Dana tapped the fold-down seat back tray in front of her. “You told me Rawhide Ranch was a BDSM-adjacent resort.”
“And it is.”
“But now you’re saying it caters to Littles?”
Kurt made a rotating motion with his fingers, emphasizing his words. “I’m not saying it only caters to Littles, I’m just saying it’s… well-known for helping Littles find their Daddies or Mommies.”
“And you know this… how?”
“Little—no pun intended—bits and pieces I picked up in conversation at a few events we’ve been to.”
Dana took another sip of her club soda before setting the plastic cup back down. Kurt watched as she toyed with the container, twirling it around in the little indentation on the tray, the muted rumble of the jet engines filling the first-class cabin.
“I’ve never been one to judge other people’s kinks or choices, especially in the lifestyle, and I’m certainly not doing that now, but…” She glanced over at him, her dark eyes serious. “I am one hundred percent not a Little.”
“And there’s no reason you need to pretend to be one.”
“Listen,” she said, pointing her finger at him, “you were the one who said we needed to blend in, not draw attention to ourselves.”
“I did, and I’m sure you can do that without putting your hair in pigtails and calling me Daddy.” He bit back a grin, because the idea of Dana putting her gorgeous mane of rich black hair into twin rows, each tied back with little pink bows…
She shook her head as if she could read his mind. “God, you are loving this, aren’t you?”
“That’s not fair, Dana.”
“And that’s not a no.”
He pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. “Okay, so… yeah, sure, I might be enjoying this a little.”
“Well, stop,” she fired back. “Nothing’s going to happen at Rawhide. I’m not gonna pretend to be a Little, or your submissive, or even acknowledge you exist if you keep this up.”
“Harsh.”
“Fact,” she countered, tapping her fingertip against her tray. “Even if Rawhide Ranch does cater to Littles, it’s still nothing more than a BDSM-adjacent resort, and a glorified dude ranch. We’re there to investigate the mine, nothing more.”
Kurt thought back to a night a few weeks ago when he’d gone over to Dana’s place, a stack of forms in his hand. He’d informed her Gary had said they were both required to complete an application packet before they’d be allowed to step a single toe on the resort’s grounds. She’d bitched about having to fill out page after page of forms, questions that had made it clear there was a certain expectation—or at least a tacit understanding—about why they’d be interested in going to Rawhide Ranch. Still, despite her initial protests, in the end she’d filled out every page, ensuring they’d be able to get onto the property to make their investigation.
“You know what, you’re right, Dana,” he made a placating gesture. “I’m sorry for teasing.”
“See, the thing is, it doesn’t really feel like you’re just teasing. It feels like you actually want to partake of the amenities, as it were.”
“Fair enough. I mean, I did say the other night, as long as we’re there, we could have… fun. And, yeah, I kinda meant that.”
“We have fun after work.”
“Oh, come on,” Kurt grumbled. “You have to admit this situation is a little different.”
“That doesn’t matter. We’ve never mixed business with pleasure before.”
“Oh my God, that’s bullshit, and you know it. I’ve fucked you plenty of times in the field.”
“That was… different. That was… stress relief.”
Kurt groaned. “I seriously don’t understand your reluctance about this. You and I have been in all sorts of clubs and dungeons around the world, but ever since I mentioned what Rawhide Ranch is, you’ve made it abundantly clear nothing’s going to happen there. Nothing.”
Dana snatched up her drink and finished it off. “I have my reasons,” she said firmly, setting the empty cup down. “Now, can we move on and discuss business? ”
“Sure,” Kurt replied. She was hiding something, and she could keep dodging what it was about Rawhide that made her uncomfortable, but he’d find out eventually.
“The mine attraction…”
“The Exploration Zone,” Kurt said, filling in the name.
“Right. The manager, Roman… Zenturio? What do we know about him?”
Kurt frowned. “Not much, honestly. He’s not a geologist or anything related to the field. He’s… well, I mean, essentially, he’s just a gift shop manager.”
“This thing they do with the sapphires… I assume he’s the one who sets that up?”
Kurt nodded. “Near as we can tell. It’s a pretty simple operation. They have an area they’ve set up with a washer. They allow the customers to come in, take a little bucket they’ve pre-filled with dirt, then use the sluice to wash through the diggings they’ve been given. Separate the stones and rocks, keep a sharp eye out, and— voilà. A sapphire.”
“Which they’ve salted each bucket with.”
“Yep. Every customer comes away happy with a pretty little stone they can have cut and set into a ring or bracelet or necklace.”
“Seems innocent enough.”
“Oh, it’s completely touristy and kitschy and fun, and the thing is, they’re not making a helluva a lot of bank off it. But it’s cute, and it fits with the theme of the place, so it serves its purpose.”
“From what I can tell off previous surveys and historical data, the mine continues back quite a ways into the mountain.”
“Pretty sure it does. They built the whole Exploration Zone around where the original mine entrance was. The actual shaft extends beyond the entrance and is totally sealed off to the public. They left a small portion of it visible with a purely decorative fa?ade around it. Like an old-time mine you’d see in a Western or at Knott’s Berry Farm.”
“I don’t remember there being any recent activity in the mine.”
“As far as the info we got, there hasn’t, or if there has, the owners have kept a tight lip about it. The original mine was pretty much a horizontal tunnel with a lot of laterals. I couldn’t find any indication of vertical boring having taken place, new or old.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Dana murmured.
“What we don’t have is any recent data on how far the main lateral still goes back. Like we discussed, the mine hasn’t been operational in over a hundred years, and for all we know, the main could be collapsed twenty feet back from the entrance.”
“And Gary couldn’t get any details about the current condition beyond those pics?”
“Not without drawing attention, and remember, they don’t want any?—”
“Anyone knowing why we’re there. Yeah, I remember. We’re spies.”
Kurt grimaced. “We’re not spies. We’re just doing what we’ve always done.”
Which was something she already knew, because they’d handled assignments like this in a similar fashion on plenty of occasions before. She was just being salty this time because there was something about Rawhide Ranch that had her on edge. And if it wasn’t Rawhide specifically, then it was something else. Something he couldn’t put a finger on at the moment, but he knew would come out eventually .
Just give her time…
“Yeah, sure, like we’ve always done.” Dana glanced out of the airplane window. “Have you or Gary spoken to this guy Roman?”
“Not me, and Gary didn’t mention anything about talking to him either.”
“Hmm.” She studied the back of the seat in front of her, lips pursed. “The mine hasn’t been in operation for over a hundred years, so where are they getting their sapphires? Bringing them in from overseas?”
“No.” Kurt shook his head. “They have an inventory of chips from when the mine was last in production they pull from. The sapphires they salt with are small, not commercial jewelry grade. Given the tourist attraction nature of how the business is run, it’s more than enough.”
“That makes sense,” she said, pausing to think. “So, there’s our angle.”
Kurt cocked his head. “Our angle?”
“On how to get in. We talk to this guy Roman, tell him we’re speculators researching potential gem sources. We’ll say we’re with McKerr-Dennison acting on behalf of De Beers or… Zales or something.” She waved her hand. “We’ll tell him we’re doing a feasibility study to rework the mine for sapphires.”
“Ugh,” Kurt grunted. “That seems risky.”
“How so?” she shot back.
“Well, isn’t that just a variation on what Gary already said he didn’t want us doing? Drawing the owner’s attention to the mine as a revenue source?”
“Kurt, I need to get in there. Now, I’m pretty sure if we walk up and announce, ‘Hey, we need to tromp around in your hundred-year-old mine, no questions asked please, m’kay?’ they’re gonna tell us to pound sand. They know sapphires were once mined there. From the description they gave, Rawhide Ranch was built off them. They know the value the gems have. But these people aren’t miners, or geologists, so they have no idea whether the potential of reopening the mine is realistic or not. All we need is for them to let us in for a bit. A day or two at most. You keep reminding me we’ve done this before, so I’ll remind you when we have it’s been something along these lines. Like Bogotá.” She stared at him pointedly.
“We paid those people off to get in there.”
“Yeah? You wanna try that first? Slip this dude Roman a bribe?”
Kurt narrowed his eyes. “Don’t be an ass.” Glancing away for a moment, he considered what Dana had just proposed. Like always, she was pushing hard to do things her way. The thing that concerned him most—as it had for some time now—was that her way wasn’t always the safest way. The fact was, especially in light of what had happened in Argentina, lately it hadn’t been safe at all . She took risks, and as Gary had warned, those risks were starting to catch up with her.
So, make sure she plays by the rules this time.
“We’re gonna have to run this by Gary, get him onboard.”
Dana sighed. “When have we ever needed to do that in the past? Gary trusts us. He’s confident in our methods because we get results. There’s nothing different here.” She tapped the chair arm between them. “Besides, before we left, did he provide a better plan?”
Kurt grunted. “Point taken.”
They both went silent, lost in their thoughts. The flight attendant came by, replenished their drinks, and when he left, Dana was the one who resumed the conversation .
“If I’m going to find what I need, I’m going to have to get in there. Not twenty feet back or even two hundred. I’ll need to go back deep where the real dig was. If I can’t do that, this whole thing is a wasted trip.”
“How far back?”
She shook her head. “I won’t know until I’m in there.”
Kurt’s jaw tightened. And there it was, a refrain he’d heard from her in one fashion or another for seven years now. A prevarication, a hedging to give herself maneuvering room to do something later she knew she probably shouldn’t. This wasn’t the first time…
But if she gets hurt, it’ll be the last.
“You’re only going in as far as is safe. No further,” he said with determination.
She slowly turned her head, her dark brown eyes flashing. “Oh, really? Well, in case you’ve forgotten, you’re my partner, not my boss. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Kurt stopped his fingers from curling. “Dana, this is supposed to be an easy assignment. One where you can earn some brownie points with The Powers That Be. Not one where you go off and run the risk of getting yourself hurt. Again.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “You need to stop worrying. I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”
“Goddammit”—he sighed, leaning back in his seat—“you can be so frustrating.” He closed his eyes for a second. “After all the years we’ve been together, the fact you can say that without any trace of irony…”
He tapped his finger on her tray. “ That’s what worries me most.”