Chapter 10
ten
LOGAN
Nothing is harder than focusing on the thief I can’t seem to catch when all I want to do is watch that video of Livvy over and over.
I had no idea what a visceral reaction I’d have to seeing my daughter.
The pictures I’ve seen made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The video provoked a completely different reaction.
Suddenly, I feel like that baby’s father.
I’m nervous about failing her and anxious for her safety but I can’t wait to hold her and I’m so fucking proud.
How did I have a hand in making that adorable little human?
But mooning over my daughter is not going to solve the situation at Sacrum, and its owners are getting desperate.
Now that we’ve both gotten some much-needed sleep, Mac joins me on a video call with Jaimie, Olaf, Vizzi, and two other members of Sacrum’s management committee to report on the stake-out. Everyone at the other end of the call is frowning by the time we finish.
“This Joker’s B had some way of knowing what you were doing, Logan,” Olaf says, chewing on the tuft of beard under his lower lip. “It had to be someone who was here that day, who saw you arrive.”
“That’s just the people in this room,” Vizzi responds. “I cleared out the club fifteen minutes before Logan and Mac arrived.”
“I hate to say this but I think the Joker’s B has a way of monitoring the club,” I say. “They knew exactly where I’d placed the cameras and where the blind spots were. It’s entirely possible they have their own camera or cameras in the club.”
This is something I’ve told Jaimie and Olaf before but we’ve been keeping it quiet to avoid panicking the larger membership. When my stakeout netted nothing, Jaimie and Olaf agreed it was time to let the management committee know.
A burly, black-bearded Dom throws up his hands. “How do we find them? Cameras today can be just a small, black dot.”
“I’m working on that,” I reassure them, remembering how Max found a hidden camera planted at Brenna’s shop by tracing its signal. “There are some scanning tools I can use.”
“How much is that going to cost?” Jaimie, who is the club’s money person, asks.
“Nothing. I’ll do that for free. I’m invested in resolving this. I’m not going to abandon you. I’m in this until the Joker’s B is caught.”
Beside me, Mac clears his throat. I know what he’s thinking. I’ve done what I was hired to do. I’ve installed a much better CCTV system than they could pay for. I’ve secured the office. They can’t afford much else. I should be calling it “job done.”
But I haven’t solved their problem. And that’s what I do.
“Thank you, Logan,” Jaimie says. “What are the next steps?”
“I haven’t given up on the stakeout idea.
I think that’s how we catch the Joker’s B.
We just have to be sneakier about it. After I scan the club to make sure the Joker’s B hasn’t tucked cameras in every corner, we’re going to set a trap.
I’ll need some manpower. I’d love volunteers from the management committee, since I don’t believe any of you are involved. ”
There are nods all around the table.
“I’ll round up a posse,” Vizzi says, smirking. “We’ll catch this filly.”
“Let me guess, it’s Western theme night,” I say to her.
“Yippee-kay-ay, motherfucker,” she responds, absolutely straight-faced.
“Okay, let’s plan that for after the weekend. It’s too busy at the club on weekends to try anything and the Joker’s B is a weekday thief. You should have a few days reprieve now.”
More nods.
“I’ll remind everyone to use the lockers,” Vizzi says. “We can do phone and key collections for anyone who’s worried.”
There’s agreement, and a few more suggestions, before we say goodbye. Once I close out the call, I turn to Mac.
“What am I missing?”
He ruffles his graying crew cut. “Nothing that I can see, son. Slippery little minx.”
“You agree with Bren and Emmy’s theory that it’s a woman?”
He shrugs. “I’m willing to entertain any theory at the moment.” He cracks a huge yawn. “Particularly after I get another hour or two of sleep. Were you thinkin’ of that newfangled tech Maxie used to find the bug at Bren’s shop?”
I nod. “We’ll have to wait until Max is back but I think that’s the next step. I don’t see any other way Joker’s B could have known where all the cameras were.”
“Uh-huh. You gonna show me this video of the baby?”
The subbie network. It’s terrifying.
I key up the video on my phone and offer it to Mac. He watches it, a slow smile creeping across his face. When the video finishes, he thumbs my phone and watches it again.
“Not sure what’s cuter, your little ‘un or this bromance Maxie and Myles got going.”
I chuckle. “I think they’re good for each other, don’t you? Myles challenges Max and Max softens Myles.”
“They bring out the best in each other, like any good marriage.”
That gets me laughing. “Don’t let them hear you say that.”
“Myles needs a girl,” Mac observes.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure but I think he swings both ways.”
“Then Myles needs a boy.” Mac shrugs. “Whatever gender, he needs someone other than Maxie to fixate on. They’re cute together but Maxie goes home to Cynnie when he’s done having their Hardy Boys adventures. Myles goes back to an empty house. He’s been alone too long. I know the signs.”
I know the signs, too. But I still worry about inflicting Myles on a little, although he was extremely well behaved at playgroup.
He interacted with all the littles but didn’t seem to have any instant connection with any of them the way Max did with Cynnie.
He played board games with them and let Brenna paint the Union Jack on his cheek, since face-painting was our activity for the day.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if his internal darkness would be too much for a little.
“Cappa mentioned that he and Myles spent time together after Emmy’s Halloween party. From everything Cappa said, it went well. Evidently, they’re going on a date when Myles gets back from England.”
Mac scrubs a hand through his hair again. “That boy’s awfully fragile.”
I nod. “I’m concerned about that, too. He’s had a rough time of it lately. I plan to keep topping him. Keep an eye on things.”
“Seems wise. This phone thing of Max’s work well for that?”
“It actually does. I can keep tabs on Lucy and Cappa all day without them feeling like I’m breathing down their necks.
” I take my phone from Mac, flip it over to Max’s app, and show Mac the charts I have for Lucy and Cappa.
“These are wellness graphs. The app tracks hydration, eating patterns, and hours of sleep. When they remember to wear their cuffs, which isn’t as often as I’d like, it also tracks heart rate and blood pressure.
It asks them questions through the day to track mood. That’s this line here.”
“All these are trending upward,” Mac points out, tracing Cappa’s sleep line with his finger.
“They’re both doing better. Lucy’s had a setback or two.
The first time I gave her a warning. The second time, I had Karl and Rob punish her.
That seemed to really help. She’s been much better about self-care since then.
You can see here and here she’s earned small rewards and she’s working toward a big one.
Cappa’s not responding as well to incentives.
He’s stable but I’m worried he’s going to spiral, particularly as we get toward the holidays. ”
“Holidays a trigger for either of them?”
I nod. “Cappa’s estranged from his family. Holidays are a tough time.”
“And you’ve got just a little going on through the holidays. Want back up?”
“Yeah, I’ll take you up on that. If things continue to go well between him and Myles, I’ll let Myles have access to the app, too. He can use it to set rewards for Cappa. That might keep Cappa going in the right direction.”
“You don’t think Myles will want to take over? He’s a man who needs control.”
I tap my fingers on the phone. “I don’t mind giving him some control but I’m not giving the reins to a baby Dom.”
“I wouldn’t use that term in his earshot, if I were you.” Mac snorts.
Remembering Max’s reaction to me calling him a baby Dom, I shrug. It might be mildly insulting but it’s a good reminder that they’re in the learning stages of being Daddies.
“I’m not afraid of gatekeeping his ass. Bravo seems to think he’ll mind his Ps and Qs because he wants into our lifestyle. I’m not sure I share his confidence; Myles strikes me as a wild card.”
“Agreed.” Mac puts his heavy hand on my shoulder.
“Watch yourself. We’ve all had to make hard calls.
Myles has made too many. Nothing against the fella but it’s scarred his soul.
He’s also scary smart and has way too many resources.
I had a frank conversation with a guy who knows the guy he reported to in the SAS.
Did you know he’s the oldest son of British nobility?
He’s a fucking baronet, or he will be when his father dies.
Old man’s absolutely loaded. I’m not sure how much Myles has access to now but figure on him having the kind of money that he can throw at problems and make them disappear. ”
I nod. I did my own due diligence on Myles before I let him come to playgroup.
I know about his family money, and that his father’s been making noises since Myles left the armed services about retiring and turning the management of the family estates over to the “younger generation.” Myles was listed as the keynote speaker for the family at a conference on land management and conservation of the Forest of Clitheroe last year.
His father had to step in after “urgent business” called Myles away—all the way to east Africa.
Having done my own time in west Africa, I know the kind of urgent business that calls a former SAS sniper into that part of the world.
It’s the kind of urgent business that won me a friendly call from a deep-voiced gentleman on a D.C.
number in the investigation lottery. After being told in the interests of national security to bugger off or I’d find myself audited by the Internal Revenue and the British tax authority every year for the rest of my life, I stopped poking around.
But I didn’t need to poke any deeper, because my team has a secret weapon named Max.
I didn’t ask Max to investigate Myles because I didn’t want to damage their friendship.
I should have known better. With that weird preternatural sense Max has—probably arising from monitoring my search history and phone calls—he sent me a huge file on Myles, covering everything from where the man went to primary school to his kill count.
“He doesn’t need family money to make problems disappear,” I tell Mac.
“He’s connected in Washington. And then there’s his K-count.
It’s a number that makes me deeply uncomfortable.
What his buddies in Washington can’t make disappear, he can accomplish with his own L119A2.
I understand the need to handle Myles like a feral cat but there’s no fucking way I’m letting him hurt Cappa. Or any other submissive.”
Mac pats my shoulder. “Bravo thinks that highly of the fella, let’s bring him in. More eyes on Myles the better. You shouldn’t have to beard that particular lion on your own, son. You’ve got enough going on.”
I nod. Myles will probably object to mentorship by committee but he’s going to have to suck it up if he wants into our lifestyle. Our submissives are too precious to risk.