Free Dangerous Times by Moira Callahan Page A

it, I just don’t understand. They know ways to put a man on his knees. To make his mind complete and total mush. And, of course, the big one, getting him to agree to anything they say or want. All stuff a guy wouldn’t normally agree to. It’s a conspiracy, man,” Vincent said, in not quite a whisper.
    “ Right,” he said, drawing the word out. “And how do they go about this exactly?”
    “ Seriously?” Vincent huffed out a breath. “Sex, my man, sex. They know that when they have a guy by the balls, he’s not thinking with his big brain. You know, the one that keeps him from agreeing with her insanity? They know that if you’re thinking with your dick, then they’ve got you.”
    “ Ah, I see,” he said, rolling his eyes when Vincent wasn’t looking. Sometimes, he really worried about the man.
    “ You don’t believe me, but you will, you’ll see.” Grinning, Vincent let out a cackle and shook his head. “You’re doomed, doomed,” he said, his voice deepening and making the word pretty damned creepy.
    ****
    “ Where is she?” he asked. Drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, he squinted at the screen.
    “ Inside, somewhere in the back. I tried to get a look but they were in session, so I didn’t have much of a shot. And she’s got the pit bull with her today,” Collin reported. The pit bull he referred to was that bitch, Rhonda Delacour. A hanger-on that used Tamara for her own purposes. The bitch had also kept Tamara from him. Unacceptable.
    “ Son of a bitch.”. Pounding his fist down on the chair, he got up and began to pace around the room. “Have you even managed to get a look at her? Any idea where she’s been holed up?”
    “ Got a quick glance when she went in, it was by the back door and the pit bull was keeping watch, so I couldn’t get close. And no, Marty was trying to follow them from her place last night, but an accident a few blocks over screwed him up. Everyone had to get down to one lane and by the time he’d crawled through, they were long gone.”
    “ Has Jason managed to find anything out on the plate yet?” he demanded.
    “ He’s got his guy at the DMV working on it. His guy said he would likely had to wait until after hours, when the supervisors logged on so he could use one of their ID’s to hide what he was doing. We should know around five or so,” Collin told him.
    “ Good, good,” he nodded, stopping his pacing. “All right, stay at the studio until they leave and follow them. Maybe you’ll get lucky and that bitch will take you to where they are stashing Tamara.”
    “ Copy that. I’ll check in when I have movement on my end.”
    Hitting the release button on his phone, he collapsed back into his chair. This whole thing should have been over already. Instead, he was being kept from her. Again, unacceptable. Picking up the framed picture, he traced a finger down the glass. “Soon, my love. Soon we’ll be together forever.”

Chapter Eleven
     
    “ Why do you keep checking the mirrors, Rhonda?” Tamara asked. She’d been watching her friend for a while now and noticed the very specific pattern.
    “ Because, I’m nearly a hundred percent sure we have a tail.”
    “ Seriously? I thought that shit only happened in movies.”
    The look Rhonda shot her spoke volumes. None of them very complimentary. “Where the hell do you think they get the crap that they blow out of proportions for movies?”
    Shrugging, Tamara grinned. “I dunno. Overactive imaginations and too many late nights running on energy drinks and junk food, maybe?”
    Rhonda barked out a laugh. “That too, but from real life was the actual answer, smart ass.”
    “ Sorry,” she said, not sorry at all. “So, we have a tail. Is it one of the C&M guys?”
    “ Doubtful. They would have told me if they were giving us a tail. Professional courtesy and all that. No, I think this is something nefarious.”
    Tamara stared at her. “Seriously? Nefarious? Who the fuck uses that