—
Dex let himself into the three-bedroom townhouse in downtown L.A. that the FBI had set up as his cover residence. From his past work as an analyst, he knew this property was owned by the bureau. But if anyone checked into it, they would find a paper trail that looked like it had absolutely nothing to do with any government group. Dex had helped create the line of documents for this place, as well as several others around the country. No one would find out who he was that way.
He flipped the switch by the door and winced as light flooded the room.
He was glad he’d gotten Kate home, and at least safely inside her penthouse. He had tried to stop somewhere to get her some food, but it was obvious she wasn’t up for eating a meal at that point. She promised she would grab something out of her fridge before she went to sleep.
He had wanted to tuck her into bed. Still groggy, but aware, she hadn’t seemed comfortable inviting him inside. Considering what she’d told him of her past Doms and boyfriends, he didn’t want to invade her space without her being fully able to consent.
He would gain her trust in time, and hopefully wouldn’t lose it if she turned out to be completely innocent. Which was something he sincerely hoped for.
He didn’t want the vibrant, intelligent, beautiful woman who had blossomed under his touch to be in any way involved in the wrongdoing.
Dex set his tool bag inside the coat closet in the foyer and headed deeper into the town house. The second bedroom had been set up as his office and had secure phone and computer lines, while the third was decorated as a full guest bedroom that would sleep four easily.
His first priority was to talk to his boss, Jason Tanner, and find out the latest details surrounding this case. Early this morning he had been given a clean, secure laptop with the case files and dossiers of all the suspects and innocents involved. Then he was sent to Los Angeles to establish his cover at The Dungeon.
There had to be something extremely high priority going on elsewhere to have kept his boss from reading him in personally for his first case as a field agent. Dex had never known the man to put new agents in the field without doing exactly that. But Dex trusted him, and in the meantime, had no problem thinking on his feet.
Tanner had requested a video call, so it was a good thing Dex had showered and changed out of his leathers and black, sleeveless T-shirt before leaving The Dungeon. He now wore slacks and a dress shirt. Not that his boss had any doubt what went on inside a BDSM club, but it still felt more professional to take a video call in normal attire.
His body was still keyed up from his time with Kate, but addressing that would have to wait. Dex plugged the laptop into the docking station the setup team had installed. When the machine booted up, he entered his credentials, waiting for the secure connection to complete.
In less than a minute, the large monitor flickered to life to show his boss, Jason Tanner, sitting in his home office back in Phoenix. Tanner’s family photos hung on the wall behind him, as well as some of his wife’s touches—mirrors, artsy abstract paintings, and framed awards.
Jason’s hair was still dark, but now had a slight peppering of gray. Which made him look more his actual age of early to mid-forties than his dark hair combined with his normal baby face had. Tanner hated hearing it, so Dex didn’t mention it.
Jason gestured toward the screen. “Dex. I wasn’t expecting you to be able to check in until tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “I’ve established myself as a Dom at The Dungeon, and I’ve met Kathryne Fretwell and set her up as my sub. It’s a good start. Besides Miss Fretwell, I’ve already met one of the suspects, and one person of possible interest.”
Tanner leaned forward in his chair. “I apologize for the quick read-in and insertion. Time was of the essence. That’s why I had Shapiro give you all the dossiers and run the highlights by you to get you started. I was tied up with something extremely high level that couldn’t wait, or I would’ve done it myself.”
“No problem.” Dex bit back his impatience. He appreciated Jason thinking about his difficulties from the quickie intro to the case, but he was ready to move forward. “As I understand it, it’s my job to find out what Miss Fretwell knows, determine her involvement, if any, and see if I can uncover any other perpetrators or aspects of the case. Is there anything to add?”