The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) 📕

Neither do I, but conveniently I already have a lunch date with a Rebecca and I can’t believe there’s more than one Pink Pearl Domme named Rebecca, even on this big ship.

“Thanks. Did Black tell you about any medical problems before you did scenes with him?”

“Yeah. He mentioned sciatica and I was careful with his back. He also said he’d had a heart attack a few years before but he had one of those balloon things done to his arteries so he was okay. He didn’t have a pacemaker or anything. I didn’t do any breath play with him, though, just in case.”

“Probably wise,” I say encouragingly. “Chrisjean told me she did primarily sensory dep and impact play with Bill, plus some CBT. Is that along the lines of what you did with him?”

“No, our private scenes were bondage, humiliation, and rough sex. I wanted to strip Bill right back to his most primal flight-or-fight instincts.”

“How would you say the scenes went?”

“Great, honestly. The Olympics scene was just for fun. Some wrestling and an egg race. Bill didn’t win, but we all had a good time. The two private scenes were more intense. Bill fought initially but eventually submitted. The sex was damn hot. I thought Bill learned some things about himself. During the aftercare, Bill said things had grown stagnant between him and Chrisjean, and our scenes were what he was looking for as a jumpstart.”

“Did you get the impression Chrisjean gave Bill permission to scene without her?”

“No, but it wasn’t clear to me that her permission was required, either. Bill said they weren’t exclusive. They’re both married to other people.”

True, but I’m pretty sure Olsen thought they were exclusive when it came to kink.

“Tell me to back off if I’m getting too personal, but did Bill orgasm?”

Rod barks a laugh. “That’s not personal. Not to me, at least. Yes, he did. Quite a few times.”

“Did he have any trouble getting or maintaining an erection?”

“During the scene with Chrisjean, yes.”

“Not while he was with you?”

He hesitates. It’s just a second, but it’s there. “No.”

He knows.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That’s true of investigations, too. But Ed told me to handle this man with care. Sometimes, you have to take the circular route.

“Anything else you can remember?” I ask.

“Like what?”

“Did you talk with Bill outside the scenes?”

“Yes, quite a bit. Bill was well-travelled. We talked a lot about places in the PacRim we’d both been. A little bit about golf, but Bill is—damn, was—a much more serious golfer than I am. He lost me on the technicalities of the courses pretty quickly.”

“Did Bill tell you anything that concerned you as top? Stresses he was under? Triggers?”

“Not really. Bill mentioned that he and Chris worked together and I got the sense that it was a pretty stressful environment, but I think that was more from Chris than Bill. Bill said he’d come on the cruise to chill out, but it hadn’t really worked out that way. I gathered it had been more of a working vacation than he wanted. I’d like to think I helped him relax. He certainly seemed very relaxed by Sunday morning.” Rod pauses for a moment during which I hear a clink and a swallow. Iced drink or is he having a liquid breakfast? “Bill didn’t have any triggers that he told me about or that I found. He told me he’d been a bottom for a long time. It seemed to me that he’d worked through most things a top could use against him.”

“Uh-huh.” McCall’s given me a golden opening to ask about the brick by referring to Black’s desire to relax, but I want to ease him out of the interview so he thinks he got away with it. “How did things end? Did you make any plans to see each other again?”

“It ended well. Bill seemed very happy with the scenes we’d done. Aftercare was over. He went back to his cabin to take a shower and pack up. We exchanged phone numbers but didn’t make any definite plans to hook-up again. We’re not exactly on each other’s doorsteps.”

About four hours apart, if I’m remembering Californian geography right. It’s not a prohibitive distance for a relationship. I’ve certainly dated women who lived much further away, even before Miranda. But I can see how it would be a deterrent for something casual. Which tells me how both Black and McCall viewed their “interactions.”

“Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Mr. McCall. You’ve been really helpful.”

He clears his throat. Here it comes. “So, do you have any idea what happened to Bill? He was fine when we parted on Sunday.”

“No, I’m just starting my investigation. Mostly, I’m trying to rule out the possibility that it was food poisoning.”

“Food poisoning? Really? That would be a shame. The food was so good. Bill and I actually talked about that. He’d taken the cruise when it was run by the old company. He said their caterer must have been straight out of Vegas. Big buffets with fifty different kinds of carbs. He was impressed by how good the food was on this trip. No, it really would be a shame if it was the food.”

I notice he doesn’t admit to taking the cruise more than once himself. Does he think the cruise line doesn’t keep track?

“Thanks again for talking to me,” I say. “If you think of anything else, please give me a call on this number any time.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks. I will. Good luck. I mean, I hope you find out what happened to Bill.”

He had to work himself up to the lie. He doesn’t want me to find out what happened to Black. But does he only know about the brick, or did he supply it? That’s a question I’m not asking of the man I’m supposed to be handling with embryonic sheepskin gloves. At least, not yet.

After I say goodbye, I quickly scratch out notes and action items. McCall