She bit her lip and looked at him. “I called him by his first name.”
“What do you normally call him?” Carson asked, perplexed.
“He’s into BDSM,” Viola said, and Shelby was relieved she’d come to her rescue. “What do you think?” she asked sarcastically. Shelby looked at her, and she was glaring at Carson. Then she looked at Shelby and gave her a short nod of encouragement.
“I call him Master during a scene. He and the other Doms that own the club are called Master by all the subs who are members.”
Darrell mumbled something unintelligibly, and Shelby was smart enough not to ask him what he’d said. She was pretty sure she heard the words kill and motherfucker, though.
She swallowed before going on. “He’s rattled. At one point, he was ready to call it quits with my training. Besides his boss, he mentioned details we already know—where he’s from and his POW brother, Caleb, although he said he’s deceased and not a prisoner. He eventually agreed to continue, but next time is not going to be easy.” She took a deep breath and forged ahead to the other hard part of this conversation. “It’s Tuesday night, and it’ll be public.”
“What the fuck,” Darrell boomed, and a few others verbalized their concern and shock. Shelby shut her eyes and waited.
“Quiet!” Rick yelled, not willing to wait out the brief chaos. Once everyone hushed, he continued. “We knew this was a possibility.” He looked at Shelby, and she nodded. He was right. This was a known complication. It was one thing to submit to a man in private. Knowing she had to do that had been hard to accept, but the possibility of being on display had lingered in the back of her mind where she refused to acknowledge it…until last night when Mason had told her it was happening.
“He’s already fucked her,” Darrell sneered. “He could take her right there in front of God and everybody. Tell me again how the hell this helps our case!”
“Because he’s beginning to trust her.” Viola said what they all knew. “And we need him to talk.” There was no reason rehashing all the reasons why. Darrell was just angry, and although not helpful, Shelby appreciated his concern.
“I don’t fucking like it,” Darrell seethed.
“But Viola’s right,” Shelby said, and gave her arm a gently squeeze, thanking her for having her back. “He’s not happy with me right now, but I also think he’s not happy with himself.”
“Which can make him dangerous,” Carson said matter-of-factly.
Shelby glanced at him. “Yes, but I don’t think he’d hurt me.”
“Interesting choice of words,” Rick said as he clasped his hands and leaned back into his chair. “The reason I called this meeting is because Carl O’Brian is missing. We have reason to believe he’s dead, and one of the last known people to talk to him before he disappeared was Showalter.”
Oh God. What was left of Shelby’s tattered heart plummeted before taking off in a sprint. Had Mason been involved?
“That could be a coincidence,” Viola said, waving her hand dismissively while Shelby sat there mute. He couldn’t be a killer, could he? That was crazy. So far beyond white collar crimes. Her thoughts continued to race as fast as the blood in her veins, but at every dark corner, she rejected the idea. Criminal? Maybe. Deadly? Not really. Not Mason.
“Or our Master could be a murderer,” Darrell said, shaking his head. “Boss, we have pull Shelby from her assignment. It’s too dangerous.”
Shelby’s gaze shot to Rick when he didn’t immediately reject Darrell’s suggestion. She understood their concern, but she hadn’t considered they’d take her off the case. If she’d suspected this as a possibility, she sure as hell wouldn’t have fought to keep her sessions with Mason. In some ways, this case was more hers than theirs, and it wasn’t fair to remove her after all she’d been through. She could not let it all be for nothing.
Her boss regarded her as the silence stretched. “Is that what you want?” he finally asked.
“No.” But that answer was laced with double meaning. No, she didn’t want pulled from the case. No, she didn’t want to stop seeing Mason. He might be through with her, and honestly, she was hurt and angry with him, but she wasn’t ready to be done with him in any aspect. She couldn’t wrap her head around the possibility he had something sinister to do with Carl O’Brian. It didn’t add up to her. She wasn’t sure how she’d get through Tuesday night at this point, but from the depths of her soul, she knew she had no other choice.
Rick nodded. “I want backup there that night.”
Shelby gaped at him. “Why? I haven’t had backup before.”
“Because you’ve only been there on nights it’s closed to the public. It would’ve been too obvious if a bunch of people showed up with you. We have an opportunity to get in and help you in the field, and we’re going to take it.”
It was bad enough strangers would see her naked—because she had no doubt that would happen—but her teammates seeing her was totally different. “It has taken him this long to talk to me. He’s not going to start chatting with a stranger.”
“Pull your head out of your ass, Landry. Someone else could snoop around while you’re busy with Showalter. It’s a public night and a chance we hadn’t counted on. This is a good thing. We have a chance to blow this case wide open.”
Oh God, she knew he was being logical, but if anybody showed up to investigate, they’d see her being whipped out in the open. Naked. Mason was pissed and closing himself off from her. There was no telling what he’d do to her. She had a feeling his decision to showcase her had been born out of anger, punishment for several reasons, not all she had any control over. Would he use their scene as further torment? Would he degrade and humiliate
