Dash of Peril

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

RELIVING THE SHAME all over again, Margo forced herself to face one and all during her admission. “My father, along with a few others in supervisory positions, was involved in a nasty little game of using female informants for more than information.”

Logan and Reese, she knew, had heard the rumors. Who hadn’t? But true to her word, she’d kept quiet about those involved—as long as they left the force. None of them could be trusted to protect the public.

Not when they’d already breached that trust in the worst way possible. Not when they’d already taken advantage of vulnerable women under their protection.

“I knew there was some bad blood....”

She gave Logan a humorless smile. “You always know when something is happening. And no doubt Reese gleaned the whole story through his different sources.”

Reese didn’t look happy, but he shrugged an affirmative.

“I should have had them all prosecuted,” she said, struggling once again with her conscience. “Unfortunately, for some of them, it would have been very difficult to prove.”

“For your father?” Rowdy asked.

“Far as I know, he didn’t actively involve himself, but he did turn a blind eye to what was happening. That’s just as bad. I should have—”

“No,” Logan disagreed. “An investigation would have just dragged it out and divided the department more. The locals already had enough to chew on.”

“We’d all but lost their trust,” Reese added. “You took care of it without stirring up the muck more than necessary. And by doing so, you protected everyone else in the department.”

What they thought of her mattered, she admitted. It always had. They were good cops, good men, and as such she wanted—craved—their approval. It made her heart feel better to know they didn’t judge her harshly.

But what Dash thought mattered most of all. So many times he’d told her how she impressed him, how he admired her. She didn’t want to now see disappointment in his eyes.

She didn’t want to let him down.

It wasn’t easy, but she faced him.

He surprised her by taking her hand, then kissing her knuckles.

He said nothing, but then, he didn’t really need to. She let out the breath that had caught in her lungs and finally felt a little of the strain ease from her shoulders.

Earlier, when she’d realized how easily she could have lost him...

Rowdy interrupted those dark thoughts. “So how many got the boot? Besides your dad? Who else was involved?”

Leave it to Rowdy to take it all in stride. But then, he never had much faith in the police to begin with.

Dash didn’t give her a chance to answer. “You’re thinking someone else could have a vendetta against her?”

“It’s possible,” Reese agreed. “An ex-cop would make more sense than anyone else, because he’d possibly still have ties to people at the station. That’d give him access to current information. He’d know how to attack her in a way that just tied in with another case.”

“The world is overrun with idiots who do wrong, then blame others for busting them.” Rowdy realized what he’d said and turned to her. “Not to call your dad an idiot—”

Margo waved that off. “To this day, he doesn’t see the big deal in taking advantage of women who were trying to get their lives together. Believe me, I’ve called him worse.”

“So many people were shuffled around,” Logan said. “I’m not sure who retired, who left under duress, who was implicated.”

She remembered well. “My father, serving as the police chief, two sergeants, a lieutenant, a dozen officers and a civilian crime-lab tech.”

Rowdy whistled. “That’s quite a haul.”

In a protective gesture, Dash moved closer to her. “How many female informants were there?”

“Five.” It sickened her still. “One of them was only nineteen.” When she’d given her father his ultimatum, she’d been completely alone. Her department, as well as her family, had turned on her. Even West hadn’t entirely understood her position. Oh, he’d known it was wrong, and he was all for shutting it down. He even agreed that some reprimands were in order.

But to kick out “good” officers? Their own father?

No, that he hadn’t supported. After all, to him the women were criminals, prostitutes who’d been busted.

He hadn’t been alone in that opinion. Most everyone had seen them as “less” than the men involved. It didn’t matter that they’d been coerced into sexual situations, that they’d possibly been raped, demeaned....

She pulled in a deep breath, calming herself.

This time she knew she wasn’t alone. As she’d retold it all, she had Dash with her. And she knew 100 percent that he backed her—whatever she wanted to do—because he trusted her to do the right thing. Somehow that made it all so much easier.

But it was more than that. She now knew Logan and Reese well enough to know they would never turn away from that type of injustice, the abuse of others. They were honorable cops, through and through.

And Rowdy... No, Rowdy would have defended the women, the same as she had.

Reese folded his arms over his chest and studied her. “From what I’ve heard, the commander had some say in how it all went down.”

“Yes. Dan insisted on keeping things quiet,” she confirmed. “He and my father were close. Together, they had a lot of influence.”

“They pushed for you to take the lieutenant’s position?” Rowdy asked.

“Yes.” She shook her head. “I even had the mayor breathing down my neck. I think they had some misguided notion of controlling me through a promotion.”

Logan’s grin went crooked. “You’d damn well earned the promotion and you know it.”

Dash said, “That was probably just their way of getting you on the inside circle.”

“The boys’ club,” Rowdy added with disdain.

True, all of it. Except... “It didn’t work.”

“No,” Dash said, confident. “I’m sure it didn’t.”

She wouldn’t sugarcoat the truth. “I suspected others of being involved, but I couldn’t prove it. Not without going through an official, department-wide investigation.”

“What you did was cleaner and quicker,” Logan assured her.

Dash’s thumb moved over her knuckles. “You remember the names of everyone that was involved?”

“Yes.” She would never forget—and they all knew it. It was one of the reasons so much strife remained between her and the commander. And one reason she could ignore his edicts when she chose to.

“So now,” Rowdy said, still in an analytical mind-set, “you think your dad might’ve dicked with the window lock? You think he’d use the details of this current cluster-fuck to set you up...for what?”

She just didn’t know. She couldn’t imagine her father wanting her dead, but... “The window got open somehow.”

Reese began to pace. “Maybe he just wanted to scare you off.”

“Surely he never intended for an actual fire to be set,” Logan added.

Dash pushed to his feet and stood in front of her. “You’re not safe here.”

But where would she be safe? “Only an idiot would try to strike twice at the same place.”

“And we already confirmed we’re dealing with idiots.” He towered over her, so tall, so leanly muscled. “I think you should come away with me for a while.”

“What?” Discrediting such a suggestion, Margo blinked up at him. Run? Is that what he wanted her to do? Abandon her job? Adamant, she shook her head. “No.”

“Where to?” Reese asked, deliberately exacerbating Margo’s overall mood. “Your secret cabin in the woods?”

“No.” Dash held her gaze. “By now it’s not so secret anymore. I have another place in mind.”

With Oliver finally sleeping, Margo eased him aside and stood to face off with Dash. Before she got a single word out, he leaned forward and kissed her.

In front of everyone.

Not a wimpy little kiss, either, but a kiss of bold possession and honest caring.

As he straightened again, he looked far too serious. “The threat is real, whether you want to admit it or not. And I’m willing to bet Logan and Reese will back me up on that.”

LOGAN AND REESE both raised their hands.

“Agreed.”

“Absolutely.”

Seeing them, Rowdy, too, raised his hand. “Just for a little while, Lieutenant. Until we can sort this out.”

She felt cornered, Dash knew, and he hated that. But if she was right, if her father was now trying to throw her to the wolves, then how much protection would be enough?

He rallied arguments to convince her. “Someone was in your house.”

“Believe me, I’m aware of the significance.” She started to turn away, but he brought her back around.

“The news has probably already shared the whole break-in. By the afternoon every creep out there will know right where you are.”

“It’s likely.” She put a hand to her forehead.

Dash wanted to coddle her—but he knew she neither wanted nor needed that. She needed his support.

She needed his insistence.

“I’m not talking about your walking away from the job.” He needed her to know that he understand the importance of what she did, and supported her diligence in doing it. “Just take a weekend.” With me. “Let Logan and Reese do their thing.”

“It’s my thing, too.”

It meant a lot to Dash that the others kept quiet and let him handle it. They’d back him up if he needed it, but he was hoping Margo would relent without their input. “I know that, honey, and you’re damn good at that job. No one thinks otherwise.”

“You don’t have to placate me.”

“I was shooting for honesty, actually.” He used her experience against her. “Think about it from another angle. If another cop was in your circumstances, what would you tell him?”

Grousing, she again tried to walk away.

Dash again brought her back.

“Stop that!” Vibrating with agitation, she fisted her hand against his chest. “I need to talk to Yvette. I want to ask her about those rims. I want—”

“To know she’s okay?”

In a bid to reclaim her calm, she breathed deeply. “Yes.”

He could almost read her thoughts, feel her distress. She’d just experienced a fraction of what Yvette had suffered and her sympathy for the younger woman was a live thing.

He understood that better now after learning of her history with her father. That very understandable empathy interfered with her sound judgment, and showed her selflessness.

If they had any privacy, he’d calm her the best way he knew how—by loving her, by draining her tension through sexual release. But it would be a while before they had that opportunity.

Logan cleared his throat. “That can be arranged. Today even.”

Reese spoke softly. “Maybe after your doctor’s appointment.”

They both sounded so ill at ease, it made Dash drop his head forward and laugh.

Not giving Margo a chance to get riled over his misplaced humor, he put his hand over hers and grinned at her. “It is endlessly amusing to me how such a small woman can make such big cops so perturbed.”

“Yeah, well,” Logan grumbled, “she doesn’t usually come off as ‘small.’”

True, because Margo had the spirit of an Amazon. Dash cupped her chin, marveling again that a woman so strong could be so sweet and soft. “Your house is done for, honey. It’s going to take a professional cleaner to come in here and get the floors cleaned.”

“I know.”

“Oliver needs a calm, quiet place to recover.” Dash could just imagine the looks on the faces of the other guys. Using her cat as a lure was desperate—but he’d bet on it being effective. She loved Oliver.

Sighing, Margo put her forehead against his chest. “I agree. But your address was probably never well hidden to begin with, and as you said, this secret cabin of yours isn’t secret anymore. I can’t just take Oliver to a hotel—”

“I wouldn’t ask you to.”

She leaned back to see him. “So then...where?”

Shoving his hands into his pockets and resenting that he had to share here and now, in front of others, Dash said, “I have another place.”

Logan, who had the same access to funds as Dash, thought nothing of that assertion.

Reese and Rowdy...yeah. They were more surprised.

“Another place?” Rowdy asked.

“Like...a third home?” Reese marveled.

Logan kept quiet. He understood that they could each buy multiple homes and not be strapped.

“Another lake house.”

Her jaw loosened. “You have two lake houses?”

Feeling ridiculous, as he always did over excesses, Dash rolled a shoulder. “I was going to give the first one to Logan.”

Logan perked up. “Really?”

He twisted to see him. “I know you guys have been looking. But Pepper has fond memories of my place, which is maybe why she hasn’t been able to settle on a different one, right? So I figured you should have it.”

“Right you are.” Smiling, Logan stepped forward and took his brother’s hand. “Thanks, man.”

“You earned it.” Dash would forever think of that rustic cabin as the place where Pepper sealed the deal with his brother—and in the bargain made him a very happy man. Even now, the very inventive and sexual way she’d tormented Logan made Dash want to laugh. “Anyway, the new lake house is a little more modern. Still private, though. Until I just told you guys, no one knew about it.”

Margo stared at him hard. “Just how well-to-do are you?”

Deflecting, he said, “No more so than Logan.”

Her gaze transferred to his brother.

Proving he didn’t like talking about money any more than Dash did, Logan scowled. “We inherited a small fortune.”

“Your parents are still alive!”

“Grandparents,” Dash explained. “They were loaded, and they adored us.”

Logan tried to downplay it. “It doesn’t matter. Usually.” He glanced at Dash. “But at times it comes in handy.”

Like a junkyard dog, Margo found a new bone to gnaw on. “You keep this private place so you can take women there?”

“Not exactly, no.” He hadn’t taken women to either place. For Dash, the lakefront cabin had been an escape from everything and everyone else. But he wanted to share it with Margo.

“Is it far away?”

“An hour.” He looked down at the cat. “Does Oliver travel well?”

“No, he pukes.”

Dash winced, but persevered. “So we’ll put him in a carrier and hope for the best. Don’t you think he’ll be more comfortable without having to deal with cleaning people and cops coming and going and the stench of kerosene?”

“Yes.” She glanced at the clock by the TV. “He’s usually okay by himself while I’m at work, or if I have to be away a few hours, but you’re right. Today is not a good day to leave him alone.”

“I didn’t say—”

“I think I should cancel my doctor’s appointment.”

Rowdy stepped forward. “Leave him with me.”

Margo lifted both brows, but Dash nodded agreement. “You have time for that?”

“I don’t have to be at work for a while,” Rowdy told them. “And even if I’m late, Cannon can get the place opened up.”

Still resistant, Margo asked, “Is there anything Cannon can’t do?”

“Not that I’ve seen so far.” Hands on his hips, Rowdy studied her. “But how long could the doctor’s appointment take anyway? A few hours at most, right?”

“I assume no longer than that.”

“Oliver knows me now and he doesn’t hate me. I’ll hang around, ensure no one comes in here that shouldn’t and make sure the cat gets whatever he needs.”

Margo’s attention went from Rowdy to her sleeping cat and back again. “He’s old and blind....”

“And a real trouper, I know.” Coming closer, he looked down at Margo. “I can even get hold of the cleaning people and get things set up. That way you guys can be gone for the weekend without any worries.”

Logan said, “I’ll make sure someone is here for the cleaners. No one will be in your house unattended.”

“I’ll call Mr. Sweeny right now and make sure he knows you’ll be stopping by to chat with him and his granddaughter.” Reese pulled out his cell. “Since you aren’t sure how long you’ll be, I’ll just say sometime after your doctor’s appointment. Will that work?”

Everyone watched her, and Dash could see she felt put on the spot. Usually that’d make anyone defensive.

Margo suddenly laughed. “It’s absurd. All the big strong men arranging my entire weekend for me.”

“Honey—”

“It’s okay, Dash.” The laugh faded into a fond smile that encompassed them all. “Honestly, other than expecting me to abandon my job, I appreciate the effort. I’m not used to all this...fussing.”

They all scowled over that. “Men don’t fuss,” Dash told her.

“Apparently they do—when they mean well. And yes,” she said quickly, cutting off Dash’s automatic objection, “I do understand that a weekend away might be smart. If for no other reason than just to regroup. But only for a weekend. If Logan and Reese can’t make real headway by then, I’ll be taking over.”

“We’ll be on it,” Logan told her. “We’ve got plenty to work with now.”

“Discreetly seeing what the senior Peterson has been up to, looking into the customized rims, interrogating the swine who broke in here.” Reese rubbed his hands together. “Three days, counting today. I think we should have some answers by then.”

Rowdy agreed. “Someone is going to know the guy who broke in. That’s bound to be a lead of some sort. And by now it’s all over the street that the department has evidence from the garage fire. Something will turn up.”

Rather than be reassured, Margo looked unhappy to be missing all the police work. “I want to be kept apprised of every single detail. I want to be updated at least twice a day. I want—”

“To run us like puppets, yeah, we get it.” Logan clasped her shoulder. “You know damn good and well we can handle this, so stop micromanaging.”

“But she does it so well,” Reese said.

To forestall any fireworks, Dash smoothed down her unruly curls. “We’ve only got about twenty minutes before we have to leave.” He kissed her forehead. “Are you hungry? Want me to fix you something while you get dressed?”

To his surprise, she leaned into him, her uninjured arm sliding up his chest as she...cuddled. “I’m not hungry, but thanks.”

It took Dash a second, and then his arms went around her, keeping her close. Such a paradox. Near her ear, he whispered, “You’re okay?”

“Yes.” She rested there only a moment, and then with a sigh, she stepped away. “I can be ready in ten.”

Knowing the turn of events wore on her, Dash watched her leave the room. She went into her bedroom to get clothes, then back into the hall bathroom. When he heard the door close, he turned, expecting his brother and Reese to once again act ridiculous.

Logan surprised him by smiling. “I think I’m getting used to seeing her like that.”

“Easygoing,” Reese said, agreeing. “I wouldn’t have believed it, since she’s usually hard as nails, but it suits her.”

Unaccountably pleased, Dash nodded. “It suits her when she’s with me.”

“None of you should forget—” Rowdy went to sit by the dozing cat “—she’s still an alpha female when necessary.”

“Like your sister,” Logan pointed out. “But I imagine Margaret will balance it as well as Pepper does.”

“It occurs to me,” Reese said to Dash, “that you’re a lot like Logan.”

Knowing where he was going with his comment, Logan said, “And you?”

Reese nodded. “You wouldn’t be content with some sweet little bit of fluff no matter how cute or sexy she might be.”

Rowdy looked up. “Luckily for him, Margo is all of the above.”

It still nettled Dash to hear Rowdy speak so familiarly of Margo, and that got the others grinning. At least until the knock sounded on the door. They all looked up with menace. Oh, it would just be too perfect if that was her father, showing up to see the damage he’d caused.

Dash strode forward, followed closely by Logan. He looked out the peephole, but didn’t recognize the man there.

When he swung the door open, Logan said with a note of surprise, “Commander.” He stepped back to allow him entrance. “We weren’t expecting you.”

Dan Ford, tall and fit, with silver hair and dark eyes, stepped in as if he owned the place. He scowled at the small crowd, sniffed the air with suspicion and narrowed his eyes. “Where the hell is Margaret?”

FROM THE ROOF of a building a block away, flat on his belly, Toby surveyed the building where the girl and her grandpa lived. He had the side view, so he could see the front, back and south side of the aged redbrick building.

He didn’t doubt that someone watched the front, where a security light lit the big wooden door. But around back, a narrow basement window left enough shadows to make entry accessible. There were no neighbors back there—just a noise-reduction wall that separated the old houses from the newer expressway. Tall trees grew up and around an old separate garage that looked ready to crumble.

That low-to-the-ground window didn’t look real secure. And it was small, so it’d be a tight fit—but it’d probably work. Later, he’d check it out. Or maybe pay someone else to do that, just in case.

He wouldn’t get locked up for Curtis, the crazy bastard. Sure, he enjoyed the pay, and the fucking wasn’t bad, either. He grinned at his own humor.

Unlike Saul, he wasn’t desperate to get laid. He could get some tail whenever he wanted. But there was something special about the depravity of what the brothers had set up, the thrill of the taboo. Nothing was sexier than a woman who fought hard—and lost anyway. Taking her against her will, recording all her mewling sounds, her desperation and eventual defeat...it made a man feel like a man.

Curtis liked to share his little creations with other rich assholes who craved the real deal instead of the absurd porn supplied by lousy actors.

They liked to see it, but were afraid of doing it themselves. The cowardly pricks.

Toby wasn’t afraid of doing it, but he didn’t want to get busted for it. And why should he? Moving to another area would be a piece of cake. Why fuck with problems when they didn’t need to?

But Curtis... He could be blinded by determination. He often saw insults where none existed. Because of his wealth, he was spoiled, powerful enough that he felt authorized to do just as he pleased and to hell with the consequences.

At times, he was so violent that Toby knew he wasn’t entirely sane. Left to his own devices, Curtis would get busted and they’d all go down.

But Toby planned to continue enjoying the game, so somehow he had to keep everyone protected. After meeting the little ponytail at the pawnshop, well, he wanted her. He wanted to tie her down and take his time, he wanted to hear her cry, feel her struggle, and he wanted it all recorded.

So he could enjoy watching it again and again.

Curtis and Saul could rape the crazy-ass cop if they wanted. Toby just wanted to kill her. Quick and clean.

Goddamn Curtis and his stupid, risky schemes.

For now, Toby had no choice but to do it Curtis’s way. But someday soon Curtis was going to push him too far. Unlike Saul, he wouldn’t just take the abuse and beg for more.

No, if it became necessary, he’d kill Curtis with his bare hands.

Sometimes he actually looked forward to it.