Chapter 7

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

I arrived in Los Angeles and went straight to being briefed on the mission before heading to the hotel for a small nap. I hated time zone changes, and while this particular one gifted me an additional hour, it was still annoying me. I'd have much rather been at home, or Syn where I could've brought Shelby to another orgasm or two.

The redhead had seemingly gotten under my skin, and I had yet to figure out how to get her out of it. Ordinarily, I'd scene with a submissive and that was that. There'd been a few occasions where I would see the same woman a few times, but usually the pressing need to have her would dissipate after the first full scene. Shelby was proving to be different which should've worried me, but so far it hadn't.

I'd watched those around me fall in love, but thankfully I'd been able to avoid drinking that same water. I didn't love Shelby. I just wanted to fuck her a few more times. I knew once I did that she would be out of my system, then I could move on to someone else. She'd also move on, but neither of us would forget the memories made with one another. Memories we could be making as I lived and breathed, but work called and my loyalty was to the DEA.

My cell phone rang and I shook my head as I looked down at it. "Right on time," I said as soon as I answered.

"Right on time for what?" my boss asked.

"I thought about why I'm here in California, then you call."

"Sounds like perfect timing. Your mind is already on work, so I can cut straight to the chase."

"Lay it on me, Warden."

Bob made a huffing sound but didn't lecture me this time. "There's a new player we'd been unaware of when sending you, Loundes, and Barr the mission notes."

"Such as?' I asked, then reached for my briefcase. Inside, I pulled out my laptop. "And before you answer, let me get signed in."

It took a few minutes to get the laptop not only powered on but connected to this hotel's wi-fi network. I hadn't thought to do it upon arrival, so it took a bit longer than anticipated.

"You ready?" Bob asked me.

"Yeah. Who's this new player, and how did you find them?"

"It's a woman."

"A female drug trafficker?" It wasn't unheard of, especially since a lot of mafia and cartels had women in positions of power, some even being headed entirely by females. "I guess it's not too out of the ordinary. Who is she?"

"That's the problem," he told me. I heard some rustling on the other end and knew he was likely looking through either his own notes or departmental intel. "We haven't been able to glean much on her."

"But it's definitely a her?"

"Yeah, appears so."

"Do you have any surveillance on her? A face? Address? Anything?"

"No, and it's because we've just gotten the goddamned transcripts from two of the girls who've died. Both mentioned the drugs to other people, but neither indicated the person they received them from was a guy. In fact, they both specifically mentioned a ‘she' in numerous text messages. We've only been looking at the usual male suspects, but now we have to expand our search."

I knew what this meant, and this time I was the one to huff aloud. If there were more people to apprehend, the odds of getting this over and done with so I could go back home had those fantasies shot to hell. I knew it, and Bob knew I knew it.

"I'm really sorry. Hopefully you can find whoever this woman is. These drugs have got to get off the street, and if she is working with someone more than we anticipated, we have to know. Elections are coming up soon, and–"

"I don't give a damn about their elections."

"You should, Bradford."

Yeah, I knew I should, but right now I was more annoyed than I'd been earlier. While I'd hoped this would be a short trip, it looked like it was going to be even longer. I looked to my side at the bed and sighed. "I need to put in for some personal time when this is all over and done with," I muttered.

"And it'll be much deserved, especially if you find this woman for us. You're one of the best agents I have, and I'm hoping to stop you from having to go undercover again."

"Fuck no," I responded, remembering exactly how long that last mission had been.

I'd been stuck in Miami for several months. It'd taken that long to get into a Cuban drug smuggling ring. Gaining trust and alliances took time and while I'd been busy posing as Mark Jones, the days turned into weeks, then months as I spent over nine of them on the job. The last thing I wanted to do was uproot my life once again, even though I loved the thrill of the hunt.

"Don't get all worked up. We're hoping it doesn't come to that, but we'll evaluate things again down the road."

I wanted to tell him I wouldn't do it, but this was unfortunately a part of my job. I might've not even been as upset over the prospect if it didn't mean having to stay away from Shelby. Again, I was back to her which was a bit unnerving considering I'd already somewhat slaked my need of her. I refused to give it worry in my brain though, instead clearing my throat.

"About this mystery woman... Could you send me over a copy of those transcripts? I want to see the messages, then look into the database for any clues."

"Sure thing. Let me know what you find, Bradford."

"I always do."

"Take care."

"I will." The line then went dead, and I glared at the cell phone for a few seconds before tossing it onto the bed beside me.

I'd initially hoped this would be a day or two mission at the most, but now I knew it could be a week or more. Since I wasn't undercover yet, I was able to stay in a pretty decent hotel. It had great views of the city, but again there was only one view that interested me. Unfortunately, it was one I'd have to wait an unknown amount of time to see.

The email notification cut into my thoughts before they could go any farther, and I fell back against my pillows and set the laptop onto my lap. I pulled up the encrypted email and saw about a dozen strings of texts from different phone numbers. I assumed they were all from some of the most recent victims, and kids I'd already pulled up profiles on.

I began to compare the phone numbers to those on the file, and about an hour later, I had labeled and sorted them out so I could start to review them. The first girl was the nineteen year old daughter of a local state representative. Her name was Julie, and she was a freshman at the University of Southern California. USC, as it was often called, was where most of these kids went, so it wasn't surprising that they all fell victim to the same drug around the same time. If I had to guess, I would assume they all potentially purchased drugs from the same dealer, if not from the same batch.

The DEA was still processing the drugs found at the scene near several of the victims which was usually a much shorter process. It was easy for most of us in the field to see a single pill and know what it was, but this one was green and oddly shaped. It was like nothing I had seen before, not even in Miami or most recently in Texas. New drugs found their way onto our streets every day and we always uncovered what they were so I'd leave the analyzing of the pills themselves to the labs, and I'd just focus on the victims.

There were parts of the text messages that were redacted which again was not surprising. I didn't need to read the lewd thoughts of horny teenagers when I had enough of those in my own head. Only, the women I fantasized about were the type that would be found at Syn and some University rave.

"I certainly do remember those days, though," I murmured out loud to myself.

I'd been very popular throughout high school and college so women came easily to me. I was definitely the ‘love them and leave them' type that women claimed to hate. My ego was huge, and in a way, it still was. I had more notches on my bedpost than I could count, even though the quantity had lessened in the last several years. My career was demanding and had been since training at the DEA Academy in Quantico.

It"d been there that I had actually gotten my first taste of the BDSM lifestyle. There were a few clubs in the DMV and I'd likely worn my welcome out at all of them by the time I returned to Denver. I truly thought I had everything made, but this job also came with real risks. In fact, I'd seen some agents go underground for an assignment, then never return alive. Hell, in some cases, their bodies had never been recovered, but this was the life I signed on for, and it was the one I had to live.

My cell phone chimed once more, and this time I noticed it was a text message.

A tornado watch has been issued for the entire Denver metro area, stretching through Boulder, Fort Collins and Fort Morgan, and parts of northeast Colorado until 1 AM Sunday. Counties in the watch area include...

I didn't need to look at the long list of counties. I did scroll down to see that half dollar-sized hail was being reported with the storm, but that there was a threat of golf ball-sized hail. Flash flooding was also a concern for the area, and I was glad that I was not in the middle of it. I didn't hate storms by any means, but I didn't like traipsing around dodging puddles.

Someone did hate storms. Or maybe she didn't actually hate them, but she was scared of them. I remembered Shelby talking about them the night before. If I was in Denver, I could've gotten her to Syn and made her forget about them all, but it was much harder from here.

"Harder, but not impossible," I said as I pushed my laptop off to the side of me.

I kept my cell phone in my hand, then pulled up Denver's local news app on my cell phone. They were still talking about the severe weather as another round was expected to hit the metropolitan area any time now. The severe thunderstorm warning covered Denver and most of Eastern Colorado. A few red boxes also started popping up on the screen and I knew she would be terrified.

I had no idea where she was, but I suspected she would be home. If not, she might've stayed at work. It was a Saturday night, but knowing how genuinely scared she was of any storms, I doubted she would be out and about in these. From what I could see, it had been raining for several hours as earlier rounds passed through the area, but with far less intensity than these current ones.

I was glad that I had gotten her phone number now. It didn't take much deciding on my part to figure out what to do. As soon as I found her name in my contacts, I pressed call and leaned farther back against my pillows. The phone rang a few times, and just when I was about to end the call and try back later, she answered. At the sound of her voice, I grinned. I could hear the fear in which only confirmed I'd made the right decision to call her.