Marie Harte - Flight of Fancy

Jack frowned, and Aidan further explained. “When the buyer opened her purse and flashed a fake ID, she happened to have her real license tucked away. Gail, the owner of the bookshop, saw it but didn’t realize what she’d seen. It was buried under stacks of books and an obsession with cats, let me tell you.”

Jack grunted. “Good work. The store owner’s okay, though, right?”

“I left her with a little headache. It was unavoidable,” he said to defend himself.

“We don’t hurt civilians.”

“No shit.”

Jack glared.

“I tried my best. It wasn’t easy to get the name, but without some movement, I wouldn’t have found it.” Movement—what Aidan referred to as his method of searching through the brain. He mentally sifted through thoughts and memories, and sometimes his probing brought pain to the subject under scrutiny. Not his problem.

“Fine. So we have a name.” Jack mulled over the idea while Aidan succumbed to temptation and tested his boss’s shields, searching for a crack.

Prying was instinctive, and it passed the time while Jack pondered what to do next. Just once inside Jack’s head, and Aidan would stop. It killed him that he couldn’t see more than a solid, blank wall of thought. He’d read the other members of the PowerUp! team at one time or another and, after that, made it a point to stay out of their heads. They didn’t like his intrusion, but Aidan subscribed to the axiom better safe than sorry . He had to be able to trust the team, to an extent. They all had secrets, but none of them meant him any harm, personally. He could live with that. He just wished he could figure out Jack.

“If you want to walk without a limp, fucking shut it down. Now. ”

That Jack spoke in a calm tone while he continued to look through the folder on his desk shocked Aidan out of his intrusion. He hadn’t thought the man could sense the light touch of his mind. “How can you feel that?”

“Same way you work your way into the brain. It’s mind magic.”

Aidan snorted.

“You keep poking, I’ll cut you off at the knees.” Jack lifted his head and pierced Aidan with a wolf-bright glare.

“Uh, okay. Sorry.”

“Right. So what else can you tell me about our newest buyer?”

“Michelle Nolan. A nice girl from Kentucky, now living with some high roller with a thing for kink, specifically, domination.”

“Right up your alley, eh, Aidan?”

How the hell his boss knew of his nighttime proclivities, Aidan couldn’t say. Nor did he care at the moment. They were close to completing the mission, something Aidan always did. He’d never tolerated failure. He couldn’t. So he ignored Jack and continued, “Her boyfriend is Doug Polski. He’s a big name on the D/s scene in select circles in New York, and he’s done time for grand larceny, assault, rape, you name it. But he always manages to find a Get out of Jail Free card. From what I learned, he bought the book for his boss, who happens to be having an intimate party at his beach house this Saturday in Mendocino, California. He’s extended an invite to a ton of deviants with criminal connections spanning the country.”

“So get yourself invited.”

That was what Aidan had hoped Jack might say, yet the cost might be higher than they could afford. “See, the thing is, this party isn’t for your everyday mafioso wannabe. Only bigwigs have been invited, those with a particular fetish for certain things. And they have bankrolls substantially higher than ours. Hell, just getting into the party costs fifty grand. We’d be better off reconning the place, then stealing the thing.” He paused. “Oh, and Polski’s boss? That would be Carl Kerr.”

“Hold on.” Jack scowled. “Carl Kerr, the trust-fund millionaire who owns the seedier half of Portland?”

“The same. He won’t let just anyone into his party either. And he’s known for some deviant shit—I did some digging. He’s into bondage, games, and young men to sate his appetites. Sorry to say, I’m not his type. Too aggressive.”

Jack grunted.

“So unless you have fifty thousand dollars sitting around to pay my way in and a background for me that will stand up to scrutiny and get me included on that party list, we’re done before we’ve started.”

“There’s no point in trying to steal the book unless we know for sure it’s the one we’re looking for.”

“True. My intel could be wrong, and this book isn’t the one our client wants. No point in inviting trouble with these dickheads if we don’t have to. But I think Kerr has it at his beach house. Polski already got paid, from what I hear. A big thank-you from the boss for a job well done.”

“Hell. We’ll need an in.” Jack paused. “Hold on.” He turned away and dialed the phone. A few curt niceties gave way to a discussion about money. Jack hung up and nodded at Aidan. “You’ll have your fifty thou, as well as a cover to get you in.”

Wow. That was serious pull. “Great. Now I just have to find someone I can dominate for a weekend who’ll catch Carl’s eye.” Aidan scoffed. “Seriously. I can work with a fake identity and the money, but going into a Dom party with a new sub won’t work. First of all, I won’t bring a civilian into danger, and second, the only person I can think to work with in this type of situation would be Ian. Kitty’s too hard. She’s a spitfire, not the image we’d need. And with Carl’s penchant for dudes, she’s not the best person for the job anyway. The rest of the guys around here are too big and aggressive to make a suitable partner. Ian’s pretty enough to distract Carl, but he’s such a smart-ass.” Aidan shook his head. “He’s the only guy I can think of, though. I’ll need time to train him. With the party in just a few days, it’ll be tight—”

“No. Not Ian. I’ve got a partner for you.” Jack held up a hand. “And before you start, this isn’t up for discussion.”

Terrific. Aidan just knew he wasn’t going to like Jack’s next words.

“You need to keep this as real as possible to convince Kerr you’re on the up-and-up. I don’t see you pulling this off with a woman.”

Aidan didn’t either, but he’d done worse to bring home a case.

“You need someone to handle, someone who’s already familiar with the book and you, who won’t need to be brought up to speed on more than how to obey when you tell him to.”

“Makes sense,” he said cautiously. So far, he and Jack were on the same page.

“This is going to be dangerous. Finding that book should have been easy, but it’s been one chase after another.”

“No kidding. So are you going to match me up with one of the Cannons, then?” They were the only psychics and mercenaries Aidan knew besides the team. He wouldn’t mind a shot at one of the younger twins, Justin or Kyle. They didn’t fit Kerr’s type, but he could work around that. Both men were brawny and had stamina, but they looked young and were hot. He’d love to order one or both around. Plus, they could no doubt handle themselves in a fight. He wasn’t sure what they could do psychically, but Jack had warned the team to be wary of the Cannons, so Aidan considered them a serious threat.

Jack smiled, and Aidan took an immediate mental step back. “I have someone better in mind.”

A name flashed at Aidan so powerfully, he knew Jack had to have projected it. “Oh shit, no.”

“Oh shit, yes. He’s yours for the duration. Don’t fuck it up. We need that book back to satisfy the client. Period.”

“But—”

“Yes or no? Because I can always give the case to Keegan and James. I’m sure they could pull this off.”

And then everyone would know he’d failed, that he couldn’t handle it, no matter that Gavin had messed up. It had been Aidan’s case to begin with. Hell, the team already looked at him with caution because of his telepathy. He didn’t want to add scorn to the mix. Look at how he viewed Gavin, that perennial screwup.