Secrets Remembered (11 page)

“Point taken, but seeing you like that sure brings the Dom out in me.”

Ailsa nodded and let him help her out of the car. She turned around and stood on tiptoe to kiss Aidan on the cheek.

“Good, and please, Sir, hold that thought. For now I need to get my scattered thoughts together and forget all about you, me and subbing. I want to get this sorted as best I can, and then enjoy what’s left of the weekend. Well, if you want me for a sub after I’ve told you all everything?”
Damn, I sound all pathetic and whinging. I’m a bloody police inspector with a job to do. So if he decides his Domming of me is over almost before it’s begun, suck it up buttercup.

Aidan hugged her. “You’re not getting out of me scribing you that easily. Come on, let’s go in and you can get your confess-fest over and we can drink wine and bitch about arsehole fathers and whatever.”

He went to the door and rang the bell.

“They might not want me within a hundred miles of Diomhair once I’ve told them everything. Nor might you. But this is my job, and it’s better I do it than someone unsympathetic to your lifestyle.”

Aidan swung her around and gave her two short and hard smacks on her bottom. Even through the linen and her knickers—they were firmly back in place—it hurt.

“Enough already. Stop whining. We’re better people than that and you do us all a miscarriage of justice.”

The door opened and Jeff stood back to let them in.

“I have a wife who is eaten up with curiosity, a sister blaming herself because she knows you and a mate who hopes Aidan has the balls to show you the error of your ways,” he said. “For myself, the jury is out, but if you upset my wife, it sure won’t be.”

Ailsa took a step back. Okay, she hadn’t thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but such out and out antagonism was hard to accept.

“And I don’t have a warrant, but I’m sure I could get one for something or other, and a Dom who is backing me one hundred percent.” Well, she hoped he was. “Plus a job to do, so thank your lucky stars it was me, who could check for things without exposing everyone and everything to those wolves otherwise known as journos. Because believe me when I say they have contacts everywhere, and seem to get in and out of anything and anywhere like a bloody midge. Swift and unseen. At least I can keep my mouth shut. As can my boss. So it’s up to you. I have permission to come and talk to you all, ask for your opinions and such. However…” She shrugged. “If you’d prefer for it to be all official, I can arrange for that, no problem. Then I can dump your problems onto someone else, go away with my Sir and have a great weekend.” She looked at Aidan who seemed to be doing his best not to laugh, then at Jeff. “Up to you, Mr Richie.”

“Oh, come in.” Jeff’s tone had no invitation in it whatsoever. “No need to go all official on me. Aidan vouches for you, so we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” He stood back to allow Ailsa and Aidan to enter.

It was a grudging acceptance, but under the circumstances Ailsa didn’t think she was badly off. She walked past him and stood to one side.

“After you.”

Jeff glared. However, he led the way upstairs.

“You, pet, are pushing your luck. He doesn’t lose his temper often, but when he does, we all duck,” Aidan said in a low voice as he patted Ailsa’s bum to urge her upwards.

“Likewise. I’m trying not to be rude or offensive or officious, but if he carries on that way, I can go exactly by the book. Tedious, time consuming and a lot of paperwork. I’ve been given the opportunity to, shall we say, tell a few tales out of school, but I don’t have to, not if I think it will cause trouble.”

“It won’t, not if you’re honest.” Jeff had overheard her. His tone implied that he thought she’d be anything but.

Ailsa bit her lip on the retort she wanted to give. Antagonizing him now wouldn’t be a good move. If she upset him later, that was just tough.

“Jeff, you’re being a prick,” Aidan said in a conversational tone. “Give her a chance, and
then
sound off on one if you see the need. Remember, Ailsa’s put her job on the line for you. The least you can do is have the courtesy to listen.”

“Eh?” Jeff had the grace to look somewhat ashamed. “Yeah, ‘kay. This way.”

“If that’s consideration, never let me be near him when he’s
not
in a considerate mood,” Ailsa said as they followed Jeff into a lounge where Jess, Kath and David sat. None of them looked much more welcoming than Jeff had.

Ailsa sighed. It was going to be a long evening. Her tummy rumbled and she took her notebook, pencil and oat bar out.

“No, don’t eat it if you can hold on ‘til you’ve talked,” Kath said. “There’s chili and rice ready for us.”

Ailsa obligingly put the bar down. She sighed again and took a deep breath. Aidan winked and sat on a chair as near to her as he could. He tapped his lap. “Want a seat?”

“I wish. Later maybe,” she said in a low voice. Then she raised it. “Right so let me introduce myself properly. My name is Ailsa McLagan. I’m a police inspector attached to a special squad who are tasked to do jobs that perhaps are not run of the mill. I met Jess by accident, just after I’d been detailed to try and find out if anything”—she hesitated—“nefarious or illegal was occurring in here. We were tipped off that something illegal
was
happening inside Diomhair. Because I knew the castle from childhood, I was detailed to get inside and see what I could find out.” She smiled. “And also, I suspect, to keep my boss out of it. I can tell you now, I saw nothing untoward inside, but why on earth was a white van parked outside that half-ruined cottage set off the drive?”

Jeff shot up out of his chair like a bullet from a rifle.

“When?”

Chapter Eleven

“Several times. Once I had to hide whilst it drove along the front drive and out of the back. Why?”

“Someone in a white van knocked Kath over when she was pregnant. It was a woman.”

“Well it wasn’t me.” Alisa stared at Jeff who looked anywhere but at her.

Aidan glared at Jeff, who flushed and sat down again. He had a right to be angry, but truculence directed at Ailsa was a waste of energy.

“I didn’t say it was.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair, and Aidan could see the worry in his eyes and in his stance. “But happenstance and all that. Breaking in, white vans, someone digging and moving stuff around in the grounds. Then you pop up so conveniently. Well.” He shrugged. “Even I can add two and two together.”

“And make twenty. Arsehole, do I really have to admit you’re my brother?” Jess asked. She was sitting on David’s lap and even his pinch to her arm didn’t faze her. “Well, listen to him, Sir. He sounds like a dong, not a Dom.”

Jeff lifted his shoulders and spread his hands out in supplication. “God, I’m sorry, but this should be a happy time. The club is successful. My sister is accepting what she is. We have two healthy babies, and I’m soon going to be a husband as well as a Master.”

“If you stop behaving like a right royal prick you will be,” Kath said. “Seriously, Jeff, you should hear yourself. Whine, whinge, woe is me. Grow a pair. Listen to the inspector and then throw the dummy out if you need to, not before.”

Aidan loved it. Women power was alive and well, even in the lifestyle.

“Go ahead, Inspector. Ignore those who are talking out of their arse.” Kath tugged on Jeff’s T-shirt and pulled him back into a seat. “This is where I wish I was a switch, and had a ball gag handy.”

Jeff laughed and kissed her. It seemed his good humor was restored. Aidan was glad. He suspected it was going to be hard enough for Ailsa as it was without open hostility.

Ailsa smiled. “Thank you. Right, so to reiterate, we were given a tip-off that the castle was being used for something illegal—nothing specific, but more than likely narcotics. We’ve known for a long while drugs were coming through this area but not exactly where and how. The tip-off hinted it was here, inside the castle. I was asked to get in and have a look around. Which I did, and found nothing illegal or untoward. I was on the last visit I intended to make when I was busted. Luckily for me, Aidan accepted I was a missing sub. Or decided to give me enough rope to hang myself. When he asked how I wanted to play, I gave in to temptation. Of course, as he told me later, he had no intention of doing anything of the sort, until Ross and Connie reappeared.”

“Ah, Connie, the WPC. Is she in on this as well?” Jeff asked. “She was open about her profession, and I’d hate to think it was all for this.”

Ailsa shook her head. Aidan noticed that now she was talking about her work, she was calm and confident.

“No, she was as shocked to see me as I was her. I don’t know half of the local force, but we’d worked together on a case a fair while ago. The only thing I did do was pull rank over her, and insisted on confidentiality. So, that’s it in a nutshell. My boss is now certain that you and the castle are in the clear. We don’t know what’s going on in the grounds, but with your permission we would like to be around to see. And yes, we probably could have done it without you knowing, but I advised that in this instance you should know. It could be an employee. It could be major. It could be someone burying the proceeds of a wee breaking and entering. We don’t know if it’s anything to do with our tip-off or not. That’s all I know.” She leaned against Aidan. He felt the shivers and trembles that she was doing her best to hide.

“Well done, pet. Good girl.” He hugged her then cleared his throat. “Over to you now, Jeff. If you want us to leave we will do. If you want us to stay, likewise. And if you don’t mind later, we might like to borrow a dungeon for a while.”

“Sir.” Ailsa’s tone was reproachful. It was a measure of her agitation that she had slipped into Dom/sub mode without, it seemed, any hesitation. “Not here, please.”

“Pardon, pet? Who’s topping from the bottom?”

She bit her lip and to his dismay her eyes were full of tears. “Quack.”

Oh shit, fuck and bugger.
Aidan noticed the others were staring at them. After a quick look at David, and getting a brief nod, Jess got off David’s lap and walked across to them.

“Sir, my Sir says may I take Ailsa with me to get our supper ready?”

Aidan nodded. It was a good way to defuse the situation and maybe Ailsa would confide in Jess and get sub-to-sub guidance. Sometimes Aidan wondered just where a woman’s mind went. Mind you, he thought fairly, men weren’t a lot better.

“Of course. Okay, pet?”

Ailsa nodded. “Yes, thank you, Sir.” Her voice was hardly above a whisper. Where was his confident, in charge Ailsa now? He accepted he’d been in the wrong. She’d said before she wasn’t happy scening in public, and how was she to know he’d wanted a dungeon for the two of them to talk in, so he could explain about all the various aspects of the club? To show her what he meant by scribing, but not hurting her, and to perhaps then and only then play a little with or without a Dungeon Master. As friends, each of them could play alone, just like they did at home. Of course maybe they hadn’t gotten to that stage, but after their little session earlier, Aidan had hoped they had.

Aidan kissed her cheek. “Trust me, pet. It’s maybe not what you think.” He wasn’t used to explaining himself. Once again Aidan had to remind himself how green Ailsa was with regards to the lifestyle. “Talk your worries over with Jess. Then we can chat. In a dungeon. Alone.”

Her eyes widened and she let her head bend downwards. “I’ve jumped to conclusions, haven’t I, Sir?”

“Yes, but I did nothing to help you. We both have a lot to learn. Go on, get my supper, woman.” He rubbed his stomach in a way that any actor would be proud of. “Feed my stomach so we can feed my soul later.” He patted her bum, not even hard enough to sting.

Ailsa rolled her eyes. “Pitiful. Okay, Sir, gone.” She followed Jess to the door, giggling as she went.

Aidan looked at the others. Kath put her fingers in her ears. “I’m deaf. Anyway I need to go and check on the babies. You can go all Dommly and brag amongst yourselves. Give me a hand up, Jeff. I’m rig welted here.” The expression used by farmers to say a sheep couldn’t get up was one Aidan hadn’t heard for ages, but watching Kath trying to get to her feet, it seemed apt. She went out of the room, and the three men looked at each other.

“Apart from the fact we’re being cussed from here to the capital and back, and being trashed along with it, what the fuck is going on?” David asked as he poured three whiskies out.

“Not for me, I’m driving,” Aidan said.

“Rubbish. We’ve both got spare rooms. Relax, let your lady relax and understand we’re not all whips and chains, and let’s try to sort some of this shit out.”

* * * *

“Any idea what really is going on? Sub to sub, friend to friend and sod the men?” Jess walked around the kitchen, taking out plates and cutlery as easily as if it was her own flat, not her brother’s. “Damn, where does Kath keep the chutney?”

“In the fridge?”

“Yeah, ta. So?”

Ailsa shrugged. “Not a lot. I covered it all, I think.”

“Except the bit about a certain high heid yin policeman and his wife being members.” Kath came into the room with Grey in her arms. “Lola’s still asleep so I’ve brought him with me so he doesn’t wake her up. He forever needs top-ups. Typical male. I do the records.”

“Ah well, you’ve confirmed what I suspected,” Ailsa said. “Male wise and everything else. But I didn’t know for sure. It was just the way he winked and said Aidan would be good for me that made me wonder.”

“And will he be?” Kath latched the baby on, and held him tight. “He’s a good man and, I think, a good Dom. We’ve got to know him well since he began to help out.”

“I hope so. I didn’t know what I wanted or needed until he showed me. But I do know I don’t want or need it in public.”

“Why? You scened in front of Ross and Connie, didn’t you? What’s the difference?” Kath asked as she burped Grey and swapped him to the other nipple. “This one is a snacker, I tell you. Lola now will stay on one side for ages. Not my boy. Sorry, so what
is
the difference?”