Lean on Me

“The money,” not “my money,” to distance herself.

“She stole your money and didn't bother to close the door or lock the padlock?” Dan asked, his voice grating. Vanessa jumped, her gaze jerking to him. “That seems stupid, don't you think?” he asked.

“I-I don't know. How do I know what she was thinking?” She toyed with her diamond ring, no longer looking at them.

“So then what did you do, Vanessa?” Cullen asked.

“I left the room. Since you weren't here, Master Cullen, I told Marcus, and he got Master Dan.” Back to the facts.

Dan took a step closer to her. “Look at me.”

She looked up, and he asked, “You left the room right away? Didn't do anything else?”

“What would I do? There was no money in my locker.”

Cullen moved closer, forcing her to divide her attention between him and Dan. “When I talked to Sally, she definitely remembers that you locked your locker.”

Vanessa's mouth dropped for a second, and she took a step back. “No. I think she's mistaken.”

“You were there when I told Andrea to go put on cuffs. You knew she'd be in the locker room,” Cullen said, keeping his voice level and cold. “The other trainees say you're always sniping at her. Saying she doesn't belong in the group.”

Vanessa's hands clenched. “Well, she doesn't. Look what she did. She's just a thief.”

“And you're a liar,” Dan said. “A petty, vindictive liar. Why did you lie?”

Her hands clenched, and red splotches stood out on her cheeks. “I'm a respected person. I have money, and I don't have to steal. For anyone to believe I could do something like that—it doesn't make sense.”

Not answering the question, was she? “I don't like liars,” Cullen said. He considered her the worst kind of viper, one that bites without warning. “How did you get into Andrea's locker?”

“I had—” Her breath sucked in. “I didn't. Why—”

“Of course you did,” Dan said. “We know that already. Don't be stupider than you already are.”

“I'm not—”

Good. Frightened, distracted…ready. Cullen grasped her chin in a punishing grip. “How did you open her lock? Tell me, sub. Right now.”

Too confused to hold out against his will, she started to cry. “She left the combination on the bench. The first day. Master, she doesn't deserve—”

“Stop.” Cullen stepped back, disgusted. He glanced at Dan. “More?”

“No, I think that's clear enough.”

“I believe so,” Z said from the doorway. The mind reader shrink could have undoubtedly obtained the truth faster, but he'd graciously relinquished control to Cullen and Dan.

Vanessa whirled. She saw Z, and her face turned white. She wasn't totally stupid after all.

Z's voice sounded like smooth ice as he said, “Thank you, masters.” His head tilted. “I believe Vanessa and I should talk.”

Dan nodded. “We're through here.” His gaze ran down Vanessa, and his mouth twisted as if he tasted something foul before he walked out of the room.

“Please, Master Cullen, I'm sorry.” Vanessa held her hands out.

“So am I.” Cullen glanced at Z. “All yours, boss.” He closed the door on the sound of her increasing sobs.

As he stepped outside, Cullen breathed in the fresh air. First problem down. The next would be harder. The little tiger was probably in a very bad mood.

* * *

Cullen didn't particularly like the Hogshead Tavern, but at least it was close to the station and not filled with yuppies enjoying happy hour. His temper rode on a thin edge. Andrea still hadn't answered her phone.

The peanut shells covering the floor crunched under his feet as he got a beer and chose a corner booth where he could watch the door.

Antonio came in and spotted him immediately. He stopped at the bar for a cup of coffee, then joined Cullen. “Make it fast; I have a deadline to make.” He slid into the seat and added, “You look like shit, amigo.”

Fuck the amenities. “Where's Andrea? She's not answering her phone.”

Antonio gave Cullen a level look over the rim of the glass. “She said she's done with the club, so that's something you don't need to know.”

“And did she say she was done with me also?”

Antonio choked, coughing hard enough to turn his face red. He tried to talk, coughed again. “Mierda, you don't screw around with the trainees. Ever.”

Well, this was where Andrea had received her information. Cullen leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Apparently I do.”

“With Andrea?”

“Yes.”

“No.” Antonio thumped his head against the back of the booth. “Fuck, no. You can't hook up with her. You're in law enforcement.”

He remembered the way her face had changed when he said he was a cop. His voice came out rough. “True. I also know she was caught breaking into a liquor store.”

“Damn you,” Antonio said slowly. “The records were sealed.”

“I have trouble seeing her as a thief. Talk to me, Antonio.”

“You are such a fucking asshole.” Antonio took a deep drink. “Fine. You might as well know. Her cousins had just gotten into robbing liquor stores, thought it was a fun deal, and dragged her along.” Antonio closed his eyes for a second. “She…she wasn't used to having friends other than me, so for her the thrill was in being included. Being part of the family. Her first and only night of crime.”

“But she's the one who got caught.”

“Yeah. Tomás—” Antonio stopped, counted on his fingers, stopping when he reached seven. Obviously making sure the time of prosecution had passed. “Tomás said she deliberately turned back when it looked like the cops would get them all. She diverted them into arresting her.”

Now that sounded like his little sub. “She resisted arrest too.”

“Originally just to keep their attention on her.” Antonio gave a bitter smile. “But apparently one of the cops groped her…and you've seen how she reacts to that.”

“I saw that she decked him.” Cullen snorted. “Good for her. She might not know it, but it's one of the reasons the prosecutor declined to adjudicate. Internal affairs was already looking into the cop's behavior.”

“'Bout time she caught a break.”

“Her cousins sure didn't give her one.” The roil of anger changed to one directed at the family.

“They were nineteen and twenty. Although their mother managed to instill a conscience, they're also Enrique Marchado's kids.”

Cullen frowned. Marchado had been a big-time drug dealer. Definitely a “background.”

Antonio sighed. “The boys were so freaked at screwing Andrea up that they went straight. A marine captain and a lawyer. The whole family helped her with startup expenses for her business—against her protests—when the bank turned her down.”

The bank turned her down. Had it rough, hadn't she? “She protested getting help?”

“Is there a word for being past independent?” Antonio pulled out his pack of cigarettes, frowned, and put it back in his pocket.

“She definitely goes overboard.” Like why the hell hadn't she called him? “Is there a reason?”

“Her father made promises, then ended up too drunk to keep them.” Antonio's face tightened. “Even I let her down, dammit.”

Cullen raised his eyebrows.

“She was…fourteen? Gang activity was up, so she asked me to go with her after school to pick something up. Safety in numbers, right? But I caught a detention and was sitting in the principal's office when she almost got raped.” He scrubbed his face. “God, I don't think she's asked me—or anyone else—for anything since.”

She'd mentioned the assault. But the trust issue—that was worse than he'd thought. Bad little sub, not sharing everything with your Dom. Cullen leaned back. “A vindictive sub at the Shadowlands gave Andrea grief. It's resolved, but I need to see her for the club. And for me.”

Antonio scowled. “She left town, went backpacking into some wilderness area. But she's due back today for a party that I'm going to miss. You think she wants to see you?”

“She will…eventually.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Your mouth is smiling, but your eyes are sad, mija.” Andrea's grandmother set her knitting in her lap.

Andrea sighed. Her abuela could read people even better than a Dom. The vision of her tiny, stooped grandmother in latex and holding a flogger lightened her thoughts, at least until Master Cullen stepped over and took the flogger. The pendejo. “I had a disappointment, Abuelita. The man who I liked turned out to be…unavailable.”

She'd wanted to stay buried in the forest for a few more days, until her emotions didn't bounce around, but today was her grandmother's birthday which the whole family always celebrated together.

“Unavailable? Ah, this is the one we spoke of. Did he turn out to be so fainthearted?” Her grandmother had, at one time, been a social power in the ghetto, despite having a daughter foolish enough to marry a drug dealer. And she hadn't reached the top by fearing to ask questions.