A Shadow of Scarlet (Book #3)

Randy hung up. "He says he'll be here. Less than half an hour. But, he wants cash."

Callie just nodded.

"I'm going to need this regularly. God, I hate this place too. So, how can I get hold of you directly? Instead of coming here? Someplace more private?"

"I dunno. I do all my business here."

"In this shithole? You want me to come here on a regular schedule? With all these assholes around to watch us deal? That's fucked up and you know it."

Randy held out his hands.

"Dude, you fuck with me, I'll put your bloody ass down in the same alley you used for Leon. Get me?"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with that." Randy protested.

"Yeah? Why don't I believe you?"

"I told you. It wasn't me. He got too close to something and they off'd him. I didn't do it. I wasn't there. I didn't see anything."

Callie sniffed. "That don't matter to me. You screw me and I'll drop you. Hard. You know I'll do it too."

"Ok, ok. I'm for real here. No need to get nasty. We're gonna be doing business together, so we kinda need to trust each other. Ok?"

Callie let that brittle glass look that she used when fighting appear in her eyes. "I trust you. Until you fuck up. Then, I get mine back. Always."

"Like I said, I'm for real. So just calm down."

"I'm calm. It's your guy who's going to get you in trouble if he doesn't show up soon."

"He'll be here."

"He'd better."

Lyle walked over as Callie and Randy were waiting.

"Hey babe." He greeted Callie.

"I'm not your babe." Callie glared at him.

"Easy sugar, just saying hi."

Callie looked at Randy. "He for real?"

Randy looked at Lyle. "This is business. Knock it off."

Lyle held up his hands. "I'm cool."

A noise behind them made them turn. Callie watched as Fox shuffled her way across the floor. She was wearing a leather collar with a metal tag dangling from it. The tag had the number twelve engraved on it. She wasn't wearing much more than the collar. She had her head down to not pay any attention to anyone as she headed their way.

"Whoa." Lyle grabbed Fox's arm. "Hi there! What's yer name?"

"Lyle! That's owned property. Leave it alone." Callie growled low in warning.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm just checking if she's interested. I see her here before." Lyle ran his finger lightly across the collar around Fox's neck before transferring to her shoulder then down her breast toward her nipple.

Callie moved. She pulled Lyle around by his wrist, shoving her other hand up under his arm. Lyle's elbow overextended with a crunch. Callie kicked his feet out from under him, watching as he dropped to the floor.

"I told you to leave my property alone. I wasn't kidding. So, I'll tell it to you once more, real clear. That's MY property! Get it?"

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing as Lyle finally managed to choke out a real scream.

"My ARM!"

"You know the rules." Randy sneered at his buddy who was cradling his arm and crying.

"You! I told you to wait for me." Callie pointed her finger at Fox before pointing at the entrance. "Over there!"

"It got crowded . . ." Fox mumbled the pre-arranged code phrase that their full backup had arrived before Callie cut her off.

"No! I told you."

"Please?" Fox pleaded as she went to her knees to huddle against Callie's leg kissing the leather clad thigh.

"Gah!" Callie threw up her hands at first, then ran her fingers through Fox's hair gently. Fox pressed her face into Callie's thigh, closing her eyes in contentment.

Randy looked at Callie.

"She's new. She'll learn. Pain is a wonderful teacher." Callie let some of the brittle leak into her eyes before pulling it back again.

Randy shivered. "Man, am I glad I ain't like that."

Callie looked over at him and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "I could teach you to learn to like it. Like it a lot."

Randy stepped back to hold up his hands in refusal. "No thanks."

Callie shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Randy looked at Lyle on the floor. "Get up dude."

"My arm! She broke my arm!"

"It ain't broke. Quit whining." Callie toed Lyle on the floor with her boot. "God, I hate snivelers." Callie looked directly at Randy as she made a broad hint. "I hope he's not going to be around every time we have to do this."

"He won't be. From now on, you'll deal directly with me." A new voice came from behind Callie.

Callie turned to look at the speaker. He was similar to Randy in appearance. Medium build, black hair, brown eyes, hispanic features. Several men stood behind him. Callie spotted some tattoos she recognized in the group. The three men glared at her. Obviously, they recognized her too.

"Who are you?" She asked the new guy.

"My supplier." Randy told her proudly. "This is Marcus."

"So, you got a present for me?"

"I do. Let's see the money first." Marcus was all business. The money part anyway.

Callie pulled the wad of cash out of her pocket again handing it to Marcus. "That what you want?"

"It'll do for a start." Marcus counted the bills by rapidly flicking them between his fingers and thumb. Finished, he snapped his fingers behind him. One of the men in the group passed him a foil wrapped package about half the size of a ping pong ball. Marcus handed it to Callie.

"Here you go."

"That's not five grams. Randy said five grams."

"It's what your money will buy you. Take it or leave it."

"Thanks, but I'll leave it." Callie held out her hand. "Too expensive."

Marcus looked at Callie's open hand and sneered. "Deposits are non refundable."

"This a rip off? Because if it is, I'll hurt you. Bad."

Callie shook Fox away from her legs. Fox scurried off to one side, making sure that Lyle was well away from where she stopped.

"No rip off. You paid, you got what you wanted. We're done." Marcus smiled at Callie smugly. He flipped his finger over his shoulder towards the men standing there. "Besides, I got a reputation to uphold. So, don't threaten me. My boys here don't like it."

"Your reputation isn't worth anything." Karen walked out from behind some props stored against the wall. "You're a thief. A liar."

Marcus froze for a second as Karen spoke. Slowly turning to face her.

"Oh good. You're here. I was wondering how I was going to get rid of you. You and that other bitch. Too bad it didn't work out the first time."

Marcus smiled. "It was funny though. Hearing you two ho's call me to help you when I set it up in the first place. You have no idea how hard it was to keep from laughing in your faces. Too bad it didn't go as planned."

"You? You set us up? To be raped?" Wolfe strode out from behind an X frame. "By that son of a bitch who attacked us? You bastard. We trusted you. This is how you repay us? You steal from us? To buy and deal drugs?"

"You know how it is. A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do. I wasn't getting what I wanted, so I took what I wanted. From you. From Scarlet."

"From GreenWood. The money you stole came from GreenWood."

"GreenWood. Scarlet. Same thing."

"No it's not." Karen made it over to stand next to Callie. "I am Scarlet."

"Not any more. Now I am. Or will be, once I get rid of you two. No one will ever find your bodies."

"Like Leon? You kill him too?"

"He got too close, found out what I was doing. He was going to rat me out to you. I had to."

"I thought so."

Karen stepped back out of the way. Pointing at Marcus she denounced him.

"Thief. Liar. Murderer. I break the chains that bind you. I cast you out. By my word and seal."

Marcus laughed. "Who cares! Scarlet belongs to me now."

"Scarlet belongs to us. She is ours. You may not have her."

Many voices rose from behind Karen and Callie. Marcus looked startled as he realized that the participants in the dungeon had stopped what they'd been doing. They were now standing arrayed in a large group that outnumbered his. Even the women were standing there, some of them still naked.

More people had filtered in from the entrance to stand behind them. Ready to protect what they believed to be theirs. To protect Karen. All of them looked very angry at what they'd seen and heard.

Howell opened the door to the office at the top of the steps. He stepped out onto the platform to descend the stairway. As he did, several other uniformed officers came in from the entrance maneuvering through the group facing Marcus and his men.

None of the police paid any attention to the blatant nudity. Nor the smell and scenes of all the sex that had been going on in the building. They'd all been briefed on what to expect. Some of the men Rhines picked had refused to be part of the team. Rhines had allowed them to cover the shifts and duties for those who were.

"Marcus and Randy Morales. You and your companions are under arrest for embezzlement, murder, narcotics trafficking and conspiracy. There are other charges too but those are minor compared to how much trouble you're in. We have your confession on tape. For that, I thank you. It makes my job so much easier." Howell informed Marcus as he began to walk across the dungeon floor toward them.

The men behind Marcus looked for an exit but there was no way out. As uniformed officers poured in from the emergency exits, the members of Los Perros held up their hands in surrender. The sound of cuffs ratcheting closed was sweet to Karen's ears. Callie had never heard anything so satisfying in her entire life either.

"Want to do something fun?" Callie asked Fox after the last member of Marcus' group was finally loaded into a police van to be taken to jail.

Fox looked at Callie as if she was crazy. "Fun?"

"Watch."

Callie walked into the middle of the room. She faced the men who were still standing around. She went rigid lifting and holding her arms out to her sides. Some of the men looked at her at first but most ignored her. Callied dropped her arms walking back to Fox.

"You try it." Callie urged her. "Go on."

Fox walked slowly out in front of the men. She started to turn back when she got about halfway, but Callie pointed to where she'd stood urging Fox onward.

"Go on. Do it. See what happens."

Fox uncertainly held out her arms for the barest fraction of a moment. The men totally ignored her. She scampered back to Callie's side.

"Nothing happened." Fox whispered to Callie.

"I know. Now watch."

Wolfe walked confidently to the same spot. The men turned to look at her expectantly. All of them.

"Gentlemen. And, ladies. Your attention please." Wolfe announced in a carrying voice.

Karen remained where she had been standing near the entranceway as the last of Marcus' men had been taken from the building. She stood feet together tipping back her head as she slowly raised her arms. As one, the group went down to one knee bowing their heads to her.

"I am Domna Karen Harper. All here are given praise for their loyalty, devotion and dedication. This event is concluded. Dismissed." Karen dropped her arms.

"Domna." The mixed voices were quiet. They still knelt. Waiting. There was a soft rustling as the people kneeling on the floor held up their arms toward her. They re-affirmed her. Her and no one else. Their choice. Their choice in whom they would have for their protector. She was Scarlet. No one else. They didn't even have to speak for her to know it.

"I accept. Yes. As long as you will have me, I accept."

Fox goggled in surprise at the show of respect and obedience.

"Fun huh?"

Fox nodded with wide eyes that followed Karen as she walked toward them straight through the group of people still kneeling on the floor. Anyone in her way moved to clear a path for her. Occasionally, she reached out to touch one or another of them gently. Twice she spoke soft words. Callie could not hear what she said but each time she received a small nod from the person she spoke to.

Once, she knelt down to look straight at one of the women. She didn't speak, just peered intently into the other woman's eyes for a few moments. As she stood again, the woman dropped her eyes once more, though Callie saw her sigh softly. Karen caressed the woman's face lightly before moving on.

Paul got up from the floor to head toward them arriving before Karen did. One of the still naked women followed him over to hook her arm through Paul's.

"Now that the interruption is over, can we get back to the fun?" She spoke to Paul in a husky voice filled with the promise of sex. Lots and lots of sex. Soon.

"In a second." Paul told her before transferring his attention to Callie.

"Wings and BBQ. And beer. You owe us a party." Paul's voice was steady as he slid his arm around the naked woman. She looked at Callie, grinning in anticipation.

"I do. At her place." Callie ignored the sexuality in front of her, nodding toward Karen instead.

"Cool. When?"

Callie looked at Karen, who had overheard their conversation as she approached.

"Next weekend. I'll let everyone know where and when. But, next weekend for sure. I'll make sure no one who was here today is on duty for it." Karen told them both. "Even my new head of security will be off duty. So, there won't be any excuse for you being late for the party; Paul."

Paul looked at Karen. Karen nodded to him in confirmation before locking elbows with Callie heading for the exit. Fox, hurrying to go with them, caught Callie's hand.

"Maria told me that Rio is nice this time of year. Lots of fun things to do and see. Want to take a vacation? With me? I'm bringing my family, so you can bring yours if you want." Karen looked at Fox as she said it.

Fox blushed as Callie smiled at her.

Afterward

That night, after Wolfe had gone to sleep, Callie got out of bed. To give her a reason for getting up, in case she'd disturbed Maria enough to wake her, she went into the bathroom and closed the door. A few minutes later, she left the bathroom and grabbed her phone. Quietly she closed the bedroom door behind her before sitting on the couch in the living room.

Callie waggled her phone up and down as she tried to decide if what she was about to do was the right thing. Should she? Was it her place to get involved? Enough already. Either do it or go back to bed.

Dialing, she waited until the phone on the other end was picked up. She didn't wait any longer before speaking.

"All you need to do is ask her. That's it. Just ask." Callie was abrupt. She didn't bother to identify herself. If he wanted to know, he was certainly capable of finding out. She didn't care if he did or didn't.

"Who is this? The tinny voice from the phone's speaker was curious.

Callie punched the button to end the call. Yawning, she crawled back into bed with Wolfe. It had been a very long day. Cuddling close, she draped her arm over Wolfe's still sleeping body. Wolfe clasped their hands together automatically.

"I love you. Always and forever." Callie murmured as she drifted to sleep.